By Penny Bancroft
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra (born November 19, 1961), known professionally as Meg Ryan, is an American actress. Known for her leading roles as quirky, charismatic women since the late 1980s, Ryan is particularly recognized for her work in romantic comedies, a genre she dominated during the 1980s and 1990s. Dubbed “America’s Sweetheart” by the media, she became one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars of the latter decade.
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 Gun, Promised 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.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
What does it mean to “pull out all the stops”?
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Windbag
Puzzle of the Day
What never asks questions but requires frequent answers?
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) –
- Rosalynn Smith Carter (U.S. First Lady) –
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–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
