On this day in ...... 1959 (50 year ago today), Disney released Sleeping Beauty, a full-length animated version of a very old fairy tale. It featured 2 very different women: Aurora, a careless wool-spinning princess, and the aptly named Maleficent (right), a snubbed sorceress who shapeshifts into a frightening dragon in a final effort to exact revenge. Subsequently released in theaters in more than 2 dozen countries -- most recently Russia, just 2 months ago -- the film remains a fantasy favorite a half-century later.
... 1982, Britain's House of Lords refused Canadian Indians permission to take their case, which sought greater entrenchment of their rights in Canada's new constitution.
