Welcome to ON THIS DAY! Each day, we'll look at a few moments from history and popular culture. We'll show you where you can rediscover classic movies and music, or read more about great moments in history. We'll point you to e-books, downloadable and streamable music and film, and e-audio; and of course, we haven't forgotten about physical books or DVDs.

	On this day in 1925, Rod Steiger was born. Steiger was a steadily working character actor for a decade before he began to land leading roles in the 1960s, in movies such as The Pawnbroker and No Way to Treat a Lady. Those career heights did not last long, sadly; health problems made it harder for him to work, and many critics complained that his performances grew increasingly broad as he aged. Steiger's Academy Award-winning performance in In the Heat of the Night is available for streaming at Hoopla.
	On this day in 1932, Loretta Lynn was born. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lynn was a regular presence on the country charts. Her songs often pushed the boundaries of acceptable subject matter in a relatively conservative genre; she sang about birth control ("The Pill"), the stigma of divorce ("Rated X"), and women whose husbands were killed in Vietnam ("Dear Uncle Sam").  Lynn continues to perform and to record new music. Her latest album, Full Circle, was released last month; it's available for streaming and download at Freegal.
	And on this day in 1935, Erich von Däniken was born. The Swiss author found fame and notoriety in 1968 with his book Chariots of the Gods, which put forward the idea that Earth had been visited by alien astronauts early in human history, and that such artifacts as Stonehenge and the Pyramids had been built by these aliens. Von Däniken's ideas were rejected by historians and scientists as illogical and based more in imagination than evidence, but the book has always had loyal believers, and remains in print today. Chariots of the Gods is available as an e-audio from OverDrive, or in print.