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The titantic forces of history were colliding in December, 1971. Shirt collars were wide and pants were bell-bottomed. The Vietnam war raged through Asian rice patties and flickered across American television screens. Bangladesh's struggle for independence ended when Pakistani occupation forces withdrew this month (thanks, in part, to the massive love-in concert featuring former Beatle George Harrison). NASA's Mariner 9 probe became the first to make a soft landing onto the frozen hell-planet Mars. Richard Nixon was completing is first successful term in office. The James Bond film Diamonds are Forever opened this month to thrill audiences everywhere. The Monkey's Davy Jones accepted the challenge of his actor career by appearing as himself on the Brady Bunch episode "Getting Davy Jones."

Of course, the most important of event of this momentous year was when the British Academy awarded The Benny Hill Show "Best Light-Entertainment Programme." The award not only validated Hill's subtle use of irony to satirize the staid culture of post-war Britain, it also gave tacit approval the show's unflinching portayal of rampant British cross-dressing and boob fetishizing.

Into this swirling cauldron of fate, love and war, a child was born this day in Leominster, Massachusetts. That child was I. The rest, as they say, is history.

Other noted celebrities born today include:

• Frank Sinatra
• Connie Francis
• Bob Barker
• Sheila E
• Edward G. Robinson ("Yeah, see? Yeah...")
• Alyssa Milano (not born today, but in December. Plus she's a hottie)

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