Daily Almanac for Sunday, November 19, 2023

By Mona Hatfield

Actress Meg Ryan was born on this date in 1961. She is 62 today. Here is Meg Ryan at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival. By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https commons.wikimedia.org

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in 1981 in the drama film Rich and Famous. She joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982. In the 1980s, Ryan appeared in Top GunPromised Land (1987) and the Rob Reiner-directed romantic comedy When Harry Met Sally… (1989), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination.

A prolific actress through the 1990s and 2000s, Ryan appeared in Joe Versus the Volcano (1990), The Doors (1991), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), French Kiss (1995), Courage Under Fire (1996)Anastasia (1997), Addicted to Love (1997), You’ve Got Mail (1998), City of Angels (1998), Proof of Life (2000), Kate & Leopold (2001), and The Women (2008). In 2015, she made her directorial debut with Ithaca, in which she also starred. Ryan returned to the screen in the romantic comedy What Happens Later (2023), which she also directed.

PERSONAL LIFE

Ryan married actor Dennis Quaid on February 14, 1991. They have one child together, Jack Quaid, born April 24, 1992. She and Quaid announced their separation in June 2000, and their divorce became final in July 2001.

In 2000, Ryan became romantically involved with actor Russell Crowe while working on their film Proof of Life.

In January 2006, Ryan adopted a 14-month-old girl from China whom she named Daisy True. From 2010 to 2014, Ryan was in a relationship with American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp. They reunited in 2017, and Ryan announced their engagement on November 8, 2018. In October 2019, it was reported that Ryan had ended their engagement.

TODAY’S ALMANAC

Question of the Day

What does it mean to “pull out all the stops”?

This phrase means to put all one’s efforts and energies into something in order to have it succeed. It originally referred to an organ player, who must manipulate the numerous “stops” of the instrument to achieve the desired musical effect, usually involving both hands, both feet, and several keyboards. If all the stops were pulled out on many traditional organs, the volume would be intolerable.

Advice of the Day

Nature, time, and patience are the three great physicians.

Home Hint of the Day

A rocking chair will “walk” forward or from side to side when one rocker is smaller or more worn than the other. To correct this, turn the chair over and plane the bottom of the larger rocker to match the size of the smaller one.

Word of the Day

Benny

East Indian annual erect herb; source of sesame seed or benniseed and sesame oil.

Puzzle of the Day

When may a chair be said to dislike you?

When it cannot bear you.

Born

  • George Rogers Clark (military leader) – 
  • James Garfield (20th U.S. president) – 
  • Tommy Dorsey (musician) – 
  • Roy Campanella (baseball player) – 
  • Larry King (radio & television personality) – 
  • Dick Cavett (talk show host) – 
  • Ted Turner (businessman) – 
  • Calvin Klein (fashion designer) – 
  • Eileen Collins (astronaut) – 
  • Meg Ryan (actress) – 
  • Jodie Foster (actress) – 

Died

  • Franz Schubert (composer) – 
  • Emma Lazarus (poet) – 
  • Sir Basil Spence (architect) – 
  • Mike Nichols (director) – 
  • Ron Hynes (Canadian singer-songwriter) – 
  • Della Reese (singer and actress) – 
  • Larry Korn (agricultural educator and author) – 

Events

  • Christopher Columbus first sighted what is now Puerto Rico– 
  • Jay’s Treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain signed– 
  • President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address– 
  • Hudson Bay Co. ceded territory to Canada– 
  • Boss Tweed sentenced to 12 years in prison, New York City– 
  • Frederick Blaisdell was granted a patent for a paper-wrapped pencil– 
  • Five-year old TIME magazine presented a cover portrait for the first time– 
  • Leonard Bernstein appointed Music Director of the New York Philharmonic– 
  • Ford Motor Co. discontinued the Edsel– 
  • Pele, Brazilian soccer star, scores his 1000th goal, at Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janiero.– 
  • John Carpenter became the first contestant to win $1,000,000 on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire– 
  • David L. Pickens granted patent for registered pedigree “stuffed animals”– 

Weather

  • Up to 18 inches of snow fell on the Great Plains of Colorado, with 5-foot drifts in suburban Denver– 
  • Seventy-nine degrees F, Denver, Colorado– 

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