Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 28: Bluegrass musician Vic Mullen is 92. Actor Alan Alda is 89. Actress Susan Howard (``Dallas'') is 83. Former NHL player and 1972 Summit Series star Paul Henderson is 82. Actress Marthe Keller (``Marathon Man'') is 80.

Today in History for Jan. 28: In 814, Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor, died. In 1547, Henry VIII, who split the church of England from Rome and presided over the founding of the Anglican church, died.

Today in Music History for Jan. 28: In 1834, Sabine Baring-Gould, Anglican clergyman and author, was born. He published numerous books on history, biography, poetry and fiction.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 27: Actor James Cromwell (``Murder in the First,'' ''Babe``) is 85. Drummer Nick Mason of Pink Floyd is 81. Singer Nedra Talley of The Ronettes is 79.

Today in Music History for Jan. 27: In 1731, Italian harpsichord manufacturer Bartolomeo Cristofori died. He is generally credited with inventing the piano.

Today in History for Jan. 27: In AD 398, John Chrysostom, the greatest preacher of his age, was consecrated bishop of Constantinople.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 26: Cartoonist Jules Feiffer is 96. Sports announcer-actor Bob Uecker is 91. Actor Scott Glenn is 86. Activist Angela Davis is 81. Actor Richard Portnow (``Trumbo,'' ''The Sopranos``) is 78.

Today in History for Jan. 26: In 1500, the mouth of the Amazon River in South America was discovered by Vicente Yanez Pinzon, a veteran of Christopher Columbus' first voyage to the New World.

Today in Music History for Jan. 26: In 1859, the Victoria Philharmonic Society was founded. It was the first amateur musical organization in what now is British Columbia.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 25: Actress Leigh Taylor-Young (``Peyton Place,'' ''Soylent Green``) is 80. Larry Good, of the Canadian country group the Good Brothers, is 73. Andy Cox, guitarist with The Beat and Fine Young Cannibals, is 69.