Today in History and Celebrity Birthdays

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.

Today in History for Jan. 25: In AD 749, Emperor Leo IV of Byzantium was born. He led the Eastern Christian Church away from iconoclasm and towards a restoration of icons.

Today in Music History for Jan. 25: In 1899, (Sleepy) John Estes, an important early bluesman, was born in Ripley, Tenn. He played on the streets of Memphis in the 1920s, supporting himself by working the night shift at a trainyard.

Celebrity Birthdays for Jan. 29: Feminist author Germaine Greer is 86. Actress Katharine Ross is 85. Feminist author Robin Morgan is 84. Actor Tom Selleck is 80. Singer Bettye LaVette is 79. Actor Marc Singer is 77. Actress Ann Jillian is 75.