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Gene Hackman is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor that came to fame during the 1970s after his role as Popeye Doyle in The French Connection and continued to appear in Hollywood films playing major roles. He was born in San Bernardino, California and his family moved from one place to another until finally settling in Danville, Illinois.

Hackman’s parents divorced in 1943 and he left home at 16 to join the United States Marine Corps where he served three years as a field radio operator. After finishing his service, he moved to New York, working in several minor jobs before moving to study television production and journalism at the University of Illinois. Hackman decided to become an actor at 26 and joined the Pasadena Playhouse in California where he forged a friendship with another aspiring actor, Dustin Hoffman. Hackman moved to New York City in the 1960s and began performing in several off-Broadway plays.

In 1971, he won the Best Actor Academy Award for his memorable performance as New York City police officer Popeye Doyle in The French Connection. By the end of the 1980s, he was well-respected actor and alternated between leading and supporting roles, earning a Best Actor nomination for Mississippi Burning. In 1992, he played a sadistic sheriff in the western Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood and earned an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

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“The Raven” is a narrative poem by the American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven’s mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man’s slow descent into madness.

Poe claimed to have written the poem very logically and methodically. His intention was to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes. The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in the novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty by Charles Dickens. Poe borrows the complex rhythm and meter of Elizabeth Barrett’s poem “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.”

The first publication of “The Raven” on January 29, 1845, in the New York Evening Mirror made Poe widely popular in his lifetime and was soon reprinted, parodied, and illustrated. However, it did not bring him significant financial success. “The Raven” has influenced many modern works, including Vladimir Nabakov’s Lolita in 1955, Bernard Malamud’s “The Jewbird” in 1963, and Ray Bradbury’s “The Parrot Who Knew Papa” in 1976. The poem is additionally referenced throughout popular culture in films, television, music and more.

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Pride and Prejudice, first published on January 28, 1813, is one of Jane Austen’s novels, and is her second published novel. Its manuscript was initially written between 1796 and 1797 in Steventon, Hampshire, where she lived in the rectory. Called First Impressions, it was never published under that title, and in following revisions it was retitled Pride and Prejudice.

Austen’s father wrote to London bookseller Thomas Cadell offering it for publication, but it was rejected unseen by return of post. Buoyed by the release of her first published novel, Sense and Sensibility, Austen revised the manuscript for First Impressions, probably between 1811 and 1812. She renamed the story Pride and Prejudice, an “apparent cliché” of the times.

In the years between the completion of First Impressions and its revision into Pride and Prejudice, two other works had been published under that name. Austen sold the copyright for the novel to Thomas Edgerton in exchange for 110 pounds. Austen had published Sense and Sensibility on a commission basis, whereby she indemnified the publisher against any losses and received any profits. Unaware that the book would sell out its edition, she passed the copying to Edgerton for a one-off payment for Pride and Prejudice. He made a substantial profit.

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The Gunpowder Conspiracy of 1605 was a failed assassination attempt by a group of provincial English Catholics against King James I of England and VI of Scotland. The plot intended to kill the king, his family and most of the Protestant aristocracy by blowing up the Houses of Parliament.

On hearing of the failure of the plot, the conspirators fled towards Worcester but heavy rain slowed their travels. Many of them were caught when they arrived in Stourbridge. The remaining men attempted a revolt in the Midlands and this failed with a shoot-out resulting in the capture of several principal conspirators. They were tried on January 27, 1606 in Westminster Hall. The trial lasted one day and ranked highly as a public spectacle.

Four of the plotters were executed in St. Paul’s Churchyard on January 30. A number of others implicated in the conspiracy were taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, in front of the scene of the intended crime, where they were to be hanged, drawn and quartered. Guy Fawkes cheated the executioners: when he was to be hanged until almost dead, he jumped from the gallows, so his neck broke and he died, thus avoiding the gruesome later part of this form of execution.

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The Rum Rebellion of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia’s recorded history. The Governor of New South Wales was deposed by the New South Wales Corps on January 26, 1808, 20 years to the day after Arthur Phillip founded the European settlement in Australia.

William Bligh, well-known for his overthrow in the Mutiny on the Bounty, was a naval officer and headed for Sydney but his style of governance led to problems with his subordinates. Bligh had the captain of the fleet demoted, canceled his land grant and shipped him back to England. Once in Australia, he used the colony’s stores and herds to provide relief to farmers affected by flooding.

This earned Bligh enmity of traders who were profiting greatly from the situation. Over time, he made enemies of some of the most influential people in the colony, including Lieutenant John Macarthur, who, along with Major Johnston, drafted a petition calling for Bligh’s arrest. He was arrested and Lt.-Col. Joseph Foveaux took over the colony in July 1808. Bligh was put on trial in England and found not guilty of any wrong-doing.

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Guiding Light is an American television program credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the longest-running soap opera in production and the longest running drama in T.V. and radio history. The 15,000th episode aired on September 7, 2006.

The program was created by soap writer Irna Phillips and began as an NBC radio serial on January 25, 1937 before moving to CBS on June 30, 1952 as a televised serial. The show’s title refers to a lamp in the story of The Rev. Dr. John Ruthledge, a major character when Guiding Light debuted in 1937, that family and residents could see as a sign for them to find help when needed. The show has been broadcast from three locations: Chicago, Illinois, from 1937 until 1946, Hollywood, California, from 1947 until 1949, and New York City, from 1949 until the present.

In the 71st season, the show changed its look to a more “realistic” experience. The new look of Guiding Light includes hand-held camerawork and less time in traditional studio sets. Also new are the shooting of outdoor scenes that take place in actual outdoor settings. CBS and the show’s producers hope that the new look can help reinvent the show and raise ratings, making it a model for the future of daytime.

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Neil Diamond is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He is one of pop music’s most enduring and successful singer-songwriters. He scored a number of hits worldwide in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. As of May 2005, Diamond has sold 160 million records worldwide, including 48 million records in the United States.

Diamond was born in New York City into a Jewish Russian-Polish family. He sang in the high school choir and during his senior year in New York University, a music publishing company offered him $50 a week to write songs. Later in 1963, he signed with Columbia Records as a solo performer. Sales were disappointing and the label dropped Diamond. He spent his early career as a songwriter in the Brill Building.

Both The Monkees and Elvis Presley recorded versions of Diamond’s songs. IN 1966, he had a hit with “Solitary Man” and followed it with “Cherry, Cherry.” In the 1970s, he signed with MCA Records and had a major hit with “Sweet Caroline.” Diamond starred in a remake of the Al Jolson classic The Jazz Singer in 1980 opposite Sir Laurence Olivier. His record sales slumped somewhat in the 1980s and 1990s but his concert tours continued to be big draws. He continues to record and tour.

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Rorke’s Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa, situated near a natural ford on the Buffalo River. During the Anglo-Zulu War, the defense of Rorke’s Drift immediately followed the British Army’s defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier in the day. 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by 4 to 5,000 Zulu warriors.

Rorke’s Drift was a mission station and former trading post located near the border between Natal and Kwa Zulu. The British ultimatum to the Zulus had expired. The British officers directed their men to make preparations to defend the mission station. When they realized that the Zulus were about to attack, several British soldiers deserted, and leaving only 139 men to defend. A column of 4 to 6,000 Zulus approaching was reported.

A heavy volley of gunfire was opened up at 500 yards and the British fire resulted in the piling up of the Zulu dead. The British wall was too high for the Zulus to scale and they resorted to crouching under it or firing their weapons through it. The Zulu attacks began to slacken after midnight and finally ended by 2 am. The British were exhausted, having fought for the better part of ten hours. As dawn broke, they could see that the Zulus were gone and all that remained were the vast piles of dead.

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Diane Lane was born in New York City to Colleen Farrington, a nightclub singer and Playboy centerfold, and Burton Lane, a Manhattan drama coach who ran an acting workshop with John Cassavetes. She began acting professionally at the age of six, appearing in an acclaimed production of Medea, and at age 12, she had a role in Joseph Papp’s production of The Cherry Orchard with Meryl Streep.

Lane made her feature film debut at 13 opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in A Little Romance. A year later, she was featured on the cover of Time magazine declaring her one of Hollywood’s “Whiz Kids.” She was one of the few child actors to make a successful transition into adult roles with Streets of Fire and The Cotton Club. Both films were commercial and critical failures and she took three years off.

During the 1990s, Lane alternated between conventional studio films (Judge Dredd) and independent films (My New Gun). Her strongest film to come out of this decade was 1999’s A Walk on the Moon, opposite Viggo Mortensen. Lane delivered the best performance of her career as a housewife who has an adulterous affair with a mysterious book dealer in Unfaithful. She earned widespread praise for her performance, including Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

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The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in northwestern Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam between January 21 and April 8, 1968 during the Vietnam War. The combatants were elements of the United States III Marine Amphibious force, elements of the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), and two to three division-size elements of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN).

The American command in Saigon initially believed that combat operations around Khe Sanh during the summer of 1967 were just part of a series of minor North Vietnamese offensives in the border regions. That appraisal was altered when it was discovered that PAVN was moving major forces into the area during the fall and winter. A build-up of Marine forces took place and actions around Khe Sanh commenced when the Marine base was isolated.

During a series of desperate actions that lasted 77 days, Khe Sanh Combat Base and the hilltop outposts around it were under constant North Vietnamese ground, artillery, mortar, and rocket attacks. During the battle, a massive aerial bombardment campaign was launched by the U.S. Air Force to support the Marine base. In March 1968, an overland relief expedition was launched by a combined Marine/Army/South Vietnamese task force that eventually broke through to the Marines at Khe Sanh.

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