Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 4: Hockey Hall of Fame centre Alex Delvecchio is 93. Game show host Wink Martindale is 91. Singer Freddy (Boom Boom) Cannon is 88. Actor-producer-director Max Baer Jr. ("The Beverly Hillbillies") is 87.

Today in Music History for Dec. 4: In 1927, Duke Ellington’s band began a four-year engagement at the famous Cotton Club in New York. Among the Ellington classics to emerge from this period were "Creole Love Call" and "Black and Tan Fantasy.

Today in History for Dec. 4: In 1619, a group of settlers from Bristol, England, arrived at Berkeley Hundred in present-day Charles City County, Va., where they held a service thanking God for their safe arrival.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 3: Singer Jaye P. Morgan ("The Gong Show") is 93. British singer and actor Paul Nicholas is 80. Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne is 76. Singer Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship is 75. Don Barnes, of the Florida rock band .

Today in Music History for Dec. 3 In 1908, the Regina Orchestral Society, the forerunner to the Regina Symphony Orchestra, gave its first concert.

Today in History for Dec. 3: In 1170, Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, returned to England after six years of exile in France. He would be martyred on Dec. 29 -- killed by soldiers sent by his former friend, King Henry II.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 2: Jazz saxophonist P.J. Perry is 83. Bassist Tom McGuiness ("Manfred Mann," "McGuiness Flint") is 83. Actress Cathy Lee Crosby ("That's Incredible") is 80.

Today in History for Dec. 2: In 1552, St. Francis Xavier, the founder of the Jesuits, died while on a missionary journey to China. In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

Today in Music History for Dec. 2: In 1923, soprano Maria Callas, renowned for her dramatic intensity and versatility, was born in New York City. She moved to Greece at the age of 13, studying at the Royal Conservatory in Athens.

Celebrity Birthdays for Dec. 1: Actor-director Woody Allen is 89. Singer Dianne Lennon of the Lennon Sisters is 85. World Golf Hall-of-Famer Lee Trevino is 85. Television producer David Salzman is 81.