ED DANAHUE

Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins is 82 years old today.

Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins is best known for his portrayal of the
ingenious serial killer Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs 
(1991), a role that won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. He
has also played roles in The Mask of Zorro (1998) and Nixon (1995).  

Hopkins turned to TV in 2016 upon landing a starring role on HBO’s
series Westworld.  He was encouraged by actor Richard Burton to
pursue acting at age 15.

Colo died January 2017 at age 60 in the zoo where she was so
famously born. (Columbus Zoo and Aquarium)

On December 22, 1956, a baby gorilla named Colo entered the world at the
Columbus Zoo in Ohio, becoming the first-ever gorilla born in captivity. She
Weighed in at approximately 4 pounds, Colo, a western lowland gorilla
whose name was a combination of Columbus and Ohio, was the daughter
of Millie and Mac, two gorillas captured in French Cameroon, Africa, who
were brought to the Columbus Zoo in 1951. Before Colo’s birth, gorillas
found at zoos were caught in the wild, often by brutal means. In order to
capture a gorilla when it was young and therefore still small enough to
handle, hunters frequently had to kill the gorilla’s parents and other family members.

Colo, who generated enormous public interest, went on to become a mother, grandmother, and in 1996, a great-grandmother to Timu, the first surviving
infant gorilla conceived by artificial insemination. Timu gave birth to her first
baby in 2003.

ROSS SIMPSON

Steven Allan Spielberg is 73  years old today.

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is considered one of the founding
pioneers of the New Hollywood era and one of the most popular
directors and producers in film history. He started in Hollywood
directing television and several minor theatrical releases,
becoming a household name as the director of Jaws (1975).  

MIKE GRACIA

During World War II on this day in 1944, the Battle of the Bulge began in
Belgium. It was the final major German counteroffensive in the war.

The Germans achieved a total surprise attack due to a combination of
Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and
poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. American forces bore
the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any
operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany’s
armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them.

The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the
United States in World War II and the third deadliest campaign in
American history.

Kirk Douglas (Issur Danielovitch) 

The retired actor, producer, director and author is one of the last surviving
stars of the film industry’s Golden Age.

1960