January 18, 1955

It's time for another edition of Wayback Wednesday!  And today's entry will pay homage to a man who has been in the acting industry for over three decades!  That's your only clue for now.  Let's hop right into the events that took place on January 18!

474 - Leo II, then aged seven, succeeds Leo I as Byzantine emperor

1535 - Francisco Pizarro founds the city of Lima, Peru

1778 - James Cook is reportedly the first European to discover the Hawaiian islands

1886 - Modern hockey is born with the formation of the Hockey Association in England

1896 - H.L. Smith demonstrates the very first X-ray generator

1904 - Actor Cary Grant (d. 1986) is born in Horfield, Bristol, England

1911 - Actor/singer Danny Kaye (d. 1987) is born in Brooklyn, New York

1919 - The Paris Peace Conference opens in Versailles, France

1940 - Race car driver Pedro Rodriguez (d. 1971) is born in Mexico City, Mexico

1941 - Soul singer David Ruffin (d. 1991) is born in Meridian, Mississippi

1950 - Race car driver Gilles Villeneuve (d. 1982) is born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada

1952 - "The Three Stooges" star Curly Howard dies at the age of 48

1958 - The first African-Canadian hockey player - Willie O'Ree - makes his debut on the Boston Bruins

1967 - Albert DeSalvo - known as the infamous "Boston Strangler" is convicted and sentenced to life in prison

1977 - A group of scientists discover a strain of bacteria that is linked to the cause of Legionnaires' Disease

1983 - The International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals and gives them to his surviving family members

1986 - "That's What Friends Are For" - a song performed by Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, and Elton John - reaches #1 on the Billboard charts

1990 - Political scandal takes place with Marion Barry - then Mayor of Washington D.C. - is arrested by the FBI on charges of drug possession

1993 - For the first time since the day was created, all fifty states observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day

1997 - Adriana Caselotti - the voice of Snow White - passes away at the age of 80

2002 - The Sierra Leone Civil War ends

2003 - Canberra, Australia is devastated by wildfires which destroy more than 500 homes

2016 - Eagles singer/songwriter Glenn Frey dies at the age of 67

And happy birthday to the following famous faces turning one year older!  David Bellamy, Denise Bombardier, Bobby Goldsboro, Paul Freeman, Brett Hudson, Peter Moon, Tom Bailey, Ted DiBiase, Mark Rylance, Mark Messier, Jeff Yagher, Virgil Hill, Dave Bautista, Jesse L. Martin, Jonathan Davis, Seamus O'Regan, Burnie Burns, Luther Dickinson, Crispian Mills, Estelle, Jason Segel, Samantha Mumba, Kristy Lee Cook, Benji Schwimmer, and Ronnie Day.

Okay, so what day are we flashing back to this week?

Ah, January 18, 1955.  That'd be 62 years ago.  And it was on this date that a modern Hollywood legend was born.  Some projects he's done have been brilliant, and others have been washouts.  But through it all, he's managed to survive and thrive.

And today, actor Kevin Costner turns 62 years old!  I know.  I don't believe it either.

So, to celebrate this actor's birthday...I thought I would attempt to post 62 trivia facts about this star.  I don't know if I can do it, but I'll give it my best shot!  Here we go!

1 - Kevin's middle name is Michael.

2 - He was born in Lynwood, California.

3 - He is a two-time Academy Award winner.

4 - He is the youngest of three children.

5 - His older brother died in childbirth.

6 - He has seven children.

7 - He has been married twice.

8 - His first wife, Cindy, once played the role of Snow White at Disneyland.

9 - Kevin himself worked at Disneyland before he became famous, working as a skipper for the Jungle Cruise ride.

10 - He has switched political party allegiances, going from Republican to Democrat to Independent.

11 - He was chosen as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine in 1990 and 1991.

12 - He starred in the 1983 movie "The Big Chill", but his scenes were notoriously cut out of the movie.

13 - He was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity.

14 - He is one of the few Hollywood stars who has NEVER done a sequel to any of his movies.

15 - Though he has starred in two movies about John F. Kennedy - he did not play JFK in either film.

16 - Turned down a role in "Platoon" because he didn't want to insult his eldest brother - a Vietnam war veteran.

17 - He owns a ranch outside of Aspen, Colorado.

18 - His 1995 film "Waterworld" is considered to be one of the biggest film failures of all time.

19 - He is one of the few actors to have won both an Academy Award and a Golden Raspberry Award.

20 - He directed the 1990 film, "Dances With Wolves", which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director.

21 - He used to play golf with President Ronald Reagan.

22 - He founded a country/rock band called "Kevin Costner and Modern West".

23 - Following the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech, he publicly called for stricter gun laws and tighter gun control.

24 - His starsign is Capricorn.

25 - His first major role in a motion picture was 1985's "Fandango".

26 - His first reported film role was in a forgettable film called "Sizzle Beach, U.S.A.".

27 - Many of Costner's films feature the theme of baseball - "Bull Durham", "Field of Dreams", "For Love of the Game", etc.

28 - He did his own horseback riding in the movie "The Postman".

29 - Was almost cast for Kevin Spacey's role in the movie "American Beauty".

30 - His role in "Bull Durham" was originally written for Kurt Russell.

31 - Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2003.

32 - He was a speaker at the funeral of Whitney Houston, his former co-star on "The Bodyguard".

33 - Costner based his performance in "The Bodyguard" after Steve McQueen, even cutting his hair to resemble his look.

34 - Whitney Houston reportedly gave Costner singing lessons in exchange for him giving her acting lessons.

35 - Kevin Costner's production company spent a quarter of a million dollars on animatronic buffalo for scenes shot for "Dances With Wolves" to avoid animal cruelty charges.

36 - Kevin Costner spent money out of his own pocket to keep the budget for "Dances With Wolves" in place.

37 - It took Costner five years to make "Dances With Wolves".

38 - Though the finished cut of "Dances With Wolves" was three hours long, the initial run of the film was five and a half hours!  Costner worked with the editing team to cut the film down so that it would be suitable for screening in theatres.

39 - For his role in "The Untouchables", Costner underwent police tactic and weapons training using 1950s guidelines.

40 - Kevin Costner spent $22 million of his own money on the 1995 film "Waterworld".

41 - He spent 157 days on the set of "Waterworld", filming six days a week.

42 - Kevin Costner had a falling out with long time friend and collaborator Kevin Reynolds during the filming of "Waterworld", but had patched things up when Reynolds and Costner worked together in the 2012 miniseries "Hatfields & McCoys".

43 - Costner wanted to use an English accent in the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves", but was convinced not to.

44 - Although not confirmed, it was rumoured that Costner had several of Alan Rickman's scenes axed from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" because he was worried that Rickman would upstage him.

45 - Kevin Costner had a full-frontal nude scene in the film "For Love of the Game", but it was cut after audiences reportedly responded with laughter.

46 - He was inducted into the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

47 - At the time that "The Postman" was filmed, all of Kevin's children made appearances in the film.

48 - He did all of his own stunts in the 1987 film "No Way Out".

49 - When cast for the role of Jim Garrison in "JFK", Costner did extensive research, including meeting the man himself!

50 - Interestingly enough, Costner nearly turned down the role of Jim Garrison.

51 - Kevin dyed his hair grey specifically for the role he played in "JFK".

52 - In the 1996 movie "Tin Cup", Costner plays most of his own golf scenes.

53 - Is very good friends with Don Johnson.

54 - Won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2012 for his work in "Hatfields & McCoys".

55 - In 2007, Costner was named ceremonial Grand Marshal of the NASCAR Cup Series' Auto Club 500.

56 - He serves on an honourary board for the National World War I Museum in Kansas City.

57 - During filming of a scene in "Message in a Bottle", actor Steve Mellor accidentally bloodied Costner's lip.

58 - He is 6'1" (which coincidentally happens to be my height as well).

59 - He graduated from Villa Park High School as the Class of 1973.

60 - Kevin Costner was supposed to take the lead in the film "Air Force One", but he couldn't because he was busy working on "The Postman".  He would later call up Harrison Ford and offered him the role.

61 - Is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club.

62 - His favourite genre of movie is Western, which could explain his love for making movies that have Western themes!

And there you have it.  One piece of trivia for every one of Kevin Costner's 62 years!  Happy birthday, Kevin!