On This Day: April 16

In the mood for a good movie? Some toe-tapping music? A thrilling book? ON THIS DAY will lead you to new possibilities every day, tied to interesting moments from history and popular culture. Whether it’s streamable and downloadable music and film, e-books and e-audio, or physical books and DVDs, we hope you’ll find something to enjoy as you pick up a few bits of history each day.

	On this day in 1889, Charlie Chaplin was born. Chaplin is one of the major figures in film history; his "Little Tramp" character appeared in dozens of short films in the 1910s and 1920s, and in several of the eleven feature films Chaplin made. Chaplin not only wrote and directed his films, but composed the scores as well. Some of his compositions would go on to be popular songs -- "Smile," popularized by Nat King Cole, and "This Is My Song," a hit for Petula Clark. In Chaplin's first feature film, The Kid, the Tramp adopts a young child as his ward and sidekick; it's available for streaming at Hoopla.
	On this day, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born (under the name Lew Alcindor; he would adopt his new name at the age of 24). Abdul-Jabbar is one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history, and his talent was obvious at an early age. His high school team won 71 straight games; at UCLA, he was part of three national championship games; and as a pro, he won six NBA championships, five of them with the Los Angeles Lakers. Since his retirement, Abdul-Jabbar has become a successsful author, writing several books on African-American history and culture. His first novel, Mycroft Holmes (co-written with Anna Waterhouse), is the story of Sherlock's older brother; it's available as an e-book from OverDrive, or in print.
	And today is World Voice Day, devoted to the importance of voice in our lives, both as a tool of communication, and as a means of artistic and scientific expression. In her essay collection Let Me Clear My Throat, Elena Passarello explores many aspects of the voice in speech and song. Her topics include the most famous scream in Hollywood history, the connection between human song and birds' songs, the recordings we chose to send into space on Voyager, and Marlon Brando's "Stella!" Let Me Clear My Throat is available in print.

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