Happy birthday, Qui-Gon Jinn!

Liam Neeson, born June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is an Oscar nominated actor and played Qui-Gon Jinn in Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace (my favorite role of his). He has continued to voice Qui-Gon Jinn in other Star Wars productions.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in Schindler's List. He's been nominated for 3 Saturn Awards and 3 Golden Globe Awards. He received a Grammy nomination in 2001 for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for The Polar Express. He has also been nominated for two Tony Awards.

He appeared in Excalibur where he met Helen Mirren and began a relationship with her.  He later appeared in Krull in 1983 with Robbie Coltrane. He starred in Suspect with Cher in 1987.  Neeson appeared in Wrath of the Titans with Ralph Feinnes 

Star Trek episode "The Ultimate Computer" airs 1968

The 24th episode of the second season of Star Trek (TOS), The Ultimate Computer, aired March 8, 1968.  The crew of the Enterprise is ordered to test an artificial intelligence computer, the M-5 Multitronic system.  Star Fleet is considering having the M-5 computer replacing crews on star ships.

What could possibly go wrong?

The computer goes berserk and starts attacking everything.  Captain Kirk has to talk the computer down, which he did several times during the series.

The episode stands out in a couple of ways.  First, it contained most number of galaxy-class starships in one episode - five:  Enterprise, Lexington, Potemkin, Excalibur, and Hood.

Second, it was considered ground-breaking in casting an African-American actor, William Marshall (as Dr. Richard Daystrom), as the Nobel-prize-winning black cyberneticist.  During the era of Martin Luther King and Civil Rights, it was important to have a white captain deferring to a black man.  Marshall said that he, as an African-American, was referred to as "sir" throughout the episode.