By StephanieLee Elliott
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1985–1989) and has appeared in over one hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero for his portrayal of John McClane in the Die Hard franchise (1988–2013).
Willis’s other credits include The Last Boy Scout (1991), Pulp Fiction (1994), 12 Monkeys (1995), The Fifth Element (1997), Armageddon (1998), The Sixth Sense (1999), Unbreakable, The Whole Nine Yards (both 2000), Tears of the Sun (2003), Sin City (2005), The Expendables, Red (both 2010), Looper (2012), and Glass (2019). In the last years of his career, he starred in many low-budget direct-to-video films, which were poorly received. Willis retired in 2022 due to aphasia, and was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023.
As a singer, Willis released his debut album, The Return of Bruno, in 1987, followed by two more albums in 1989 and 2001. He made his Broadway debut in the stage adaptation of Misery in 2015. Willis has received various accolades throughout his career, including a Golden Globe Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two People’s Choice Awards. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006. Films featuring Willis have grossed between US$2.64 billion and US$3.05 billion at North American box offices, making him in 2010 the eighth-highest-grossing leading actor.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
We’re tempted to say two, but then it would be a small herd and a “giggle” instead of a gaggle! Actually, if you’re speaking of domestic cattle and geese, the only limit we can think of is the farmer’s ambitions.
As for the size of a pride of African lions, these family units may be as small as 2 lions to as many as 40; usually with 1 to 4 males (often related), about 12 related females, and their young cubs. The lionesses, which may include mothers, sisters, and cousins, usually stay together in the same pride for life, while the resident males may vary, staying for an average of about 2 years. Young males (often brothers and cousins) may be driven from their original pride, but stay together in separate groups (coalitions), until they are strong enough to seek to join a new pride, challenging the resident males in order to take their place. Lionesses do most of the hunting, while the males will guard the pride and hunt occasionally.
There are lots of little-known collectives, such as these bird groupings: a “chatter” of budgerigars, a “twittering” of magpies, a “murmuration” of starlings, and an “exaltation” of larks. Discover more interesting animal group names!
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- David Livingstone (explorer) –
- Richard Francis Burton (explorer, scholar) –
- Albert Pinkham Ryder (painter) –
- Wyatt Earp (legendary marshal) –
- William Jennings Bryan (politician) –
- Earl Warren (Supreme Court justice) –
- Albert Speer (architect) –
- Adolf Eichmann (Nazi leader) –
- Leonidas Alaoglu (mathematician) –
- Jay Berwanger (football player) –
- Irving Wallace (novelist) –
- Phillip Roth (writer) –
- Phyllis Newman (actress) –
- Glenn Close (actress) –
- Bruce Willis (actor) –
- Connor Trinneer (actor) –
Died
- Edgar Rice Burroughs (author) –
- The Rev. Carl McIntire (right-wing radio preacher) –
- Brian Maxwell (Canadian world-ranked marathoner who created the PowerBar in his kitchen to improve his performance) –
- John DeLorean (automotive innovator who left General Motors Corp. to develop a radically futuristic sports car) –
- Gus Bernier (host of the children’s program The Uncle Gus Show) –
- Arthur C. Clarke (science fiction writer, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey) –
- Paul Scofield (actor) –
Events
- $245,000 stolen from City Bank of New York –
- Daylight Saving Time was first enacted in the United States –
- Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles by a vote of 49-35 –
- Academy Awards were first televised –
- Senate confirmed the nominations of William Brennan and Charles Whittaker to the U.S. Supreme Court –
- Elvis Presley paid a $1,000 deposit to buy Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee –
- Great St. Bernard Tunnel, 3.6 miles long, between Italy and Switzerland in the Alps, officially opened to automobile traffic –
- Nicolae Ceausescu became head of the Romanian Communist Party and government –
- President Johnson signed into law a bill eliminating the requirement that U.S. currency be backed by gold –
- East German Premier Stoph and West German Chancellor Brandt met in Erfurt, East Germany, at the first meeting of the heads of the postwar German states –
- Rev. Jim Bakker resigned as head of his TV ministry, the PTL Club, after admitting to an affair with a church secretary –
- 1,383-square-foot omelet made, Yokohama, Japan –
Weather
- A tornado jumped from Ohio City to Landeck to Columbus Grove, Ohio –
- 17.6 inches of snow, Boston, Massachusetts –
- 5.38-inch-wide, 9.8-ounce hail fell in Walter, Alabama –
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