Seventy-eight years ago today, the book The Little Prince was published. It is one of the best-selling and most translated books ever published. It has been translated into 301 languages and dialects. The Little Prince has been adapted to numerous art forms and media, including audio recordings, radio plays, live stage, film, television, ballet, and opera. The world has fallen in love with this book, with exhibits in New York, Paris, Japan, South Korea, Denmark, and Brazil. A playground in Israel, Schools in Genech, France and Maple, Ontario, Canada, a street in Brazil, illustrations and text on France’s 50-franc banknote, and numerous postage stamps. Two asteroids, an asteroid moon, and a Near-Earth object tracking foundation are named in the book and author’s honor. Personally, I was given this book by a dear friend who has since passed away. What he wrote on the inside, a quote from the book, is something I think of very often.

Today is the 165th birthday of the African American leader Booker T. Washington. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 113th birthday of Bette Davis.  You have seen All About Eve, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?, and maybe even Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte and The Nanny.  But have you seen Madame Sin, Return From Witch Mountain or her episode of To Catch a Thief?  You must.  The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

“But you ARE, Blanche. You ARE in that chair.”

Today is the 121st birthday of the actor Spencer Tracey.  Have you seen Adam’s Rib or Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? or Woman of the Year?  Watch the clip of his speech in Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner? below.  I know I have only named films in which he starred along side Katharine Hepburn, so I will continue:  Desk Set.  It is probably one of my very favorite films of all time.  The mid-century-ness, the actors, everything, I will always watch it if I come across and it and seek it out from time to time.  He was terrific.  The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Seventy years ago today, the film A Place in the Sun premiered at Cannes Film Festival. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift were never more beautiful than they were in this movie. This movie is phenomenal. Upon seeing the film, Charlie Chaplin called it “the greatest movie ever made about America”. It also won 6 Oscars and several other awards.

Today is the 88th birthday of the actor/director/singer Anthony Perkins.  You’ve obviously seen Psycho, but have you seen Pretty Poison or Murder on the Orient Express?  Those films will give you a more developed picture of his his talent and range.  Do yourself a favor and seek out a few other films, you will see that “that guy from Psycho” was actually more than just that.  The world was a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.

Today is the 93rd birthday of the poet Maya Angelou. The world is a better place because she was in it and still feels the loss that she has left.

Fifty-eight years ago today, the film Bye Bye Birdie premiered. This movie is so mid 60s, you will wish you were there.

Today is the 87th birthday of the anthropologist Jane Goodall. Her work and activism for chimpanzees has saved them. The world is a better place because she is still in it.

Today is the 128TH birthday of the actor Leslie Howard, best known for playing Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind or the controversy of surrounding his death in World War II. The world is a better place because he was in it and still feels the loss that he has left.