Happy birthday, Star Wars/Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis!

Warwick Davis, born February 3, 1970 in Surrey, England, has appeared in several Star Wars movies and all of the Harry Potter movies.  He was 11 years old when his grandmother encouraged him to audition for Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, when she heard they were looking for people under 4 feet tall.  He was cast as an extra and was given the role of Wicket, when Kenny Baker, who was originally cast in the role, fell ill.  Davis plays the Ewok who finds Leia in the woods.  

He's appeared in Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, Star Wars Episode 1: Phantom Menace, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

After the success of Return of the Jedi, he was cast in the title role in Willow.  He played Professor Flitwick in the Harry Potter movies.

Celebrating Black History Month: Capt. Janet Days, first black woman CO of Naval Station Norfolk today!

Today, February 3, 2022, Captain Janet Days will be sworn in as Commanding Officer of the Naval Station in Norfolk, becoming the first black woman to attain that position. She was born in Chicago and graduated from Old Dominion University in 1999 with a BS in Business. Later, she achieved her MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School and earned the Naval War College command and staff diploma. 

She has served as the Destroyer Squadron 28 material officer and staff director on the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.  She has also served in Afghanistan as the Joint Staff, J7 liaison. 

"The Woman In Black" released 2012

One of my favorite horror films, The Woman in Black, was released in the US February 3, 2012.  It stars Daniel Radcliffe as a lawyer in London in the early 1900s.  He is sent to a large, abandoned, spooky manor in a remote village where a woman in black has been seen.  Whenever she is spotted, a child dies.  The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Susan Hill, published in 1983. 

I liked it mainly because of its lack of gore and the suspense and intrigue without the violence.  I also liked seeing Radcliffe in a non-Harry Potter role.  The incredibly versatile actor Ciaran Hinds appears in a supporting role.

The movie earned $20M in its opening weekend. It made almost $128M world-wide and is the biggest British horror movie in 20 years. What was the biggest one before it?

Celebrating Black History Month: E. Melvin Porter, Oklahoma's first black senator

Edward Melvin Porter, born May 22, 1930 in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, was the first African American to sit in the Oklahoma State Senate.  He was a layer and served as the president of the Oklahoma City NAACP.

He was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate in 1964 and served until 1987.

He passed away in Oklahoma City in June 2016.

"1917" wins 7 BAFTA Awards 2020

1917, the WWI movie about the desperate attempt to deliver a message to the front lines, won 7 British Academy Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) at the 73rd ceremony held February 2, 2020.  It was nominated for nine.  It won:

Best Film 

Best Direction (Sam Mendes)

Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins)

Best Production (Dennis Gassner and Lee Sandales)

Best Sound

Best Special Visual Effects

Outstanding British Film

The only two categories the movie didn't win were Best Makeup and Hari and Best Original Music.  I was disappointed to see that 1917 did not get any Best Actor nominations, since the acting was spectacular.  George Mackay, the lead actor, put in a lot of hard work and did an awesome job, as did Dean-Charles Chapman, in the supporting role.  The movie had many other stellar actors such as Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Richard Madden. 

But it definitely deserved every one of the awards it received. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Wally Funk!

Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk, born February 1, 1939 in Las Vegas, New Mexico,  is the oldest woman to go into space.  At age 82, she went into space aboard Blue Origin's NS-16 in July 2021.   At the time, she was the oldest person in space, but later the same year, William Shatner, at 90, broke her record.

Funk is an original member of the Mercury 13 group, thirteen women who were selected to receive the same training as the male astronauts selected by NASA.  They were not part of NASA's official program and none of them went into space.

After the program ended, she completed her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education at Oklahoma State University, and at age 20, she became a professional aviator.  She became a civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.  In 1971, she became the first woman to complete the Federal Aviation Administration's General Aviation Operations Inspector Academy course.  

In 1974, she became the National Transportation Safety Board's first female Air Safety Investigator.  

In July 1, Blue Origin announced that Funk would fly on the first New Shepard flight with passengers.  On July 20, she spent over 10 minutes in space. 

Celebrating Black History Month: John S. Rock, first African-American lawyer to practice in US Supreme Court

John Stewart Rock, born October 13, 1825 Salem, New Jersey, was a teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer, and abolitionist.  His parents were free African-Americans and they encouraged him to study and provided him with formal schooling.  At 19, he became a teacher in Salem, teaching in a one-room school.  During this time, he began studying medicine under two white physicians, but was denied entry into medical school based on his race.

He transferred to dentistry and did an apprenticeship with a white dentist.  Rock opened  his dental practice in Philadelphia in January 1850. He was finally admitted to medical school, and graduated from American Medical College in Philadelphia in 1852, becoming one of the first African-Americans to attain a degree in medicine.  

He moved to Boston in 1853 and opened his dentist and medical practice, treating many fugitive slaves making their was to Canada via the Underground Railroad.  After a trip to Europe to seek treatment for health problems, he gave up his medical and dental practices and began to study law.  In September 1861, Rock gained admittance to the Massachusetts Bar where he advocated for the rights for African-Americans. 

On February 1, 1865, the day after Congress approved the Thirteenth Amendment to end slavery, Charles Sumner introduced a motion that made Rock the first black attorney to be admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court.  He became the first African-American to be received on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

Rock passed away in December 1866 from tuberculosis at the age of 41.