"Laverne & Shirley" debuts 1976

The Happy Days spin-off, Laverne & Shirley, aired its first episode January 27, 1976.  It starred Penny Marshall as Laverne DeFazio and Cindy Williams and Shirley Feeney, two working class girls, making it through the latter part of the 1950s in Milwaukee. In the last three seasons, they move to Burbank, California in 1965 when they are replaced by automatic bottle cappers. 

The show ran for 8 seasons, ending in 1983, racking up numerous awards nominations.  Although Marshall and Williams had many fights during filming, Cindy Williams stated later that they still remained good friends.  

Happy birthday, Gul Dukat!

Marc Alaimo, born May 5, 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is probably best known for his role as Gul Dukat in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space 9.  According to imdb.com, he has more distinct roles than anyone else in the Star Trek universe: two different humans, two different Cardassians, an Antican and a Romulan. 

He has also one of six actors to appear in ten different seasons of Star Trek series.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut & UFO spotter, Leroy Chiao!

Leroy Chiao, born August 28, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a veteran of 3three Space Shuttle flights and one Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.  He received a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1987.

His first mission was on board Columbia (STS-65) in July 1994, which carried the first Japanese woman in to space, Chiaki Mukai.

Chiao's second trip was on board Endeavour (STS-72) in January 1996 and his third was aboard Discovery in October 2000 (STS-92).  Since he was fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he studied Russian and flew to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-5, Expedition 10, in October 2004.  He remained on the ISS until April 2005.

Here is some interesting footage of him experiencing strange lights during an EVA: