Happy 60th Birthday to the English-French actress Kristin Scott Thomas. After making her film debut at 25 in Under the Cherry Moon, directed by Prince, she earned 5 BAFTA Award nominations—and won in 1994 after performing opposite Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral.

On stage, she won the Olivier Award in the Royal Court revival of The Seagull—and was also nominated for an Oscar for The English Patient in 1996. Appointed as a Dame by Order of the British Empire, Scott Thomas’s film work includes Mission: Impossible, The Horse Whisperer, Gosford Park, Tomb Raider, and won critical acclaim for I’ve Loved You So Long. Most recently, she earned an Emmy nomination for a guest role on Fleabag. WATCH that tremendous scene where she describes a woman’s life as ‘built-in pain’ but always leading to freedom… (1960)

–2013 photo by Georges Biard, CC license

MORE Good News on this Day:

• Mary had a Little Lamb was published by Sarah Hale (1830)
• The New York Public Library opened (1911)
• The first film starring the Marx Brothers opened in theaters: The Cocoanuts (1929)
• Amy Johnson became the first woman to fly from England to Australia landing 19 days after leaving on the 11,000 mile flight (1930)
• First International Women’s Day for Disarmament (1981)
• Israeli troops left southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation (2000)
• 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri became the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest (2001)
• Russia and the United States signed the Moscow Treaty with both parties agreeing to limit their nuclear arsenal to 1700–2200 warheads each (2002)

Happy Birthday to Bob Dylan, who turns 79 years old today. Born Robert Zimmerman in Minnesota, Dylan renamed himself after the Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas. The singer-songwriter produced anthems for young Americans in the 1960s that chronicled the nation’s social unrest, like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a-Changin.’” After leaving his mark on folk music, Dylan “went electric” and revolutionized popular music in 1965 with his six-minute single “Like a Rolling Stone” — enshrined by a Rolling Stone magazine poll of music professionals as the #1 Greatest Song of All Time. He also won the Nobel Prize in Literature and wrote a memoir, Chronicles: Volume One, which spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list. (1941)

And, on this day in 1968, The Rolling Stones released Jumpin’ Jack Flash. The single became their seventh No.1 hit in the UK, harkening back to their blues roots—their “funky, essential essence”—following several psychedelic LPs. Richards said he wrote the lyrics with Jagger while staying at his country house. They were awakened one morning by the sound of gardener Jack Dyer walking past the window. When Jagger asked what the noise was, Richards responded: “Oh, that’s Jack – that’s jumpin’ Jack.” WATCH an early Stones performance that might be the best version on video…