Janet Jackson (born 1966) is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians. She first performed on stage with her family beginning at the age of seven, and later started her career as an actress with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976. She went on to star in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes. At age sixteen in 1982, Jackson signed a recording contract with A&M, releasing her self-titled debut album the same year. She faced criticism for her limited vocal range, and for being yet another member of the Jackson family to become a recording artist. Beginning with her third studio album Control (1986), Jackson began a long-term collaboration with record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Her music with Jam and Lewis incorporated contemporary R&B with elements of rap music, sample loop, triplet swing and industrial beats, which led to crossover appeal in popular music. By the end of the decade, Jackson was named the second most successful recording artist of the 1990s. Jackson is ranked by Billboard magazine as one of the top ten best-selling music artists in the history of contemporary music, having sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Jackson

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

732:

Charles Martel and the Franks defeated a large Andalusian Muslim army led by Abd er Rahman at the Battle of Tours near Tours and Poitiers, stopping the northward advance of Islam from the Iberian Peninsula. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tours

1780:

One of the deadliest Atlantic hurricanes on record struck the Caribbean Sea, killing at least 22,000 people over the next several days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hurricane_of_1780

1868:

Carlos Manuel de Céspedes made the Grito de Yara, declaring Cuban independence from Spain, sparking the Ten Years' War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Years%27_War

1943:

World War II: The Kempeitai, the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army, arrested and tortured over 50 civilians and civilian internees on suspicion of their involvement in a raid on Singapore Harbour during Operation Jaywick. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Tenth_Incident

1982:

Maximilian Kolbe, who had volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz in Poland, was canonized by the Catholic Church. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

lickspittle (n): 1. A toady, brown noser, base sycophant. 2. (by extension) The practice of giving empty flattery for personal gain http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lickspittle

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

When there are too many policemen, there can be no liberty. When there are too many soldiers, there can be no peace. When there are too many lawyers, there can be no justice. --Lin Yutang http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lin_Yutang