The Who guitarist Pete Townshend wrote the hit “My Generation” on this day in 1965, not only saving the English band from obscurity but also handing baby boomers their youth anthem.
It was Townshend’s 20th birthday.
History.com wrote that Townshend penned the song on a train out of frustration after finding his car towed. His stylin’ 1935 Packard hearse had disappeared from the street in front of his house near London’s Buckingham Palace.
“It turned out that [the Queen Mum] had it moved, because her husband had been buried in a similar vehicle and it reminded her of him,” the website quoted Townshend as saying. “When I went to collect it, they wanted 250 quid. I’d only paid 30 for it in the first place.”
And that, the website said, inspired the infamous lyric, “Hope I die before I get old.”
The Who guitarist Pete Townshend — known for the windmill style of strumming, followed by the smashing of an expensive guitar and for his songs such as “Baba O’Riley” — is 72.
Actress Eleanor Tomlinson of “Jack The Giant Slayer” is 25.
English actress Olivia Cooke of “Bates Motel” and “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” is 24.
British singer Sam Smith — who won the Golden Globe for best original song earlier this week with “Writing’s On the Wall,” for the “Spectre” movie soundtrack — is 25.
English actess Lily Cole — “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Snow White and the Huntsman” — is 30.
Actor Eric Lloyd of “The Santa Clause” is 31.
Singer Jordan Pruitt is 26.
French actress Berenice Marlohe — “5 To 7,” “Skyfall” — is 38.
Underoath guitarist Tim McTague, second from left, is 34. He’s shown with bandmates, from left, Aaron Gillespie, James Smith, McTague, Spencer Chamberlin, Grant Brandell and Christopher Dudley.
Country and Southern-fried rock singer Shooter Jennings is 38. He’s son of singers Jessi Colter and Waylon Jennings.
Retired Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett is 41. The Wolves drafted the South Carolina native straight out of high school in 1995. He played for the Celtics and Brooklyn Nets in between his two stints here.
Swedish singer Jenny Berggren of Ace of Base is 45.
Singer and former college football player Rohan Marley is 45. He’s a son of reggae legend Bob Marley, and he and singer Lauren Hill have five children together.
Jazz musician Kyle Eastwood, son of actor Clint Eastwood, is 49.
Former AC/DC drummer Phil Rudd is 63. He can’t tour with the band on account of his trying to hire a hitman to kill someone, and for having methamphetamine. He’s shown in a New Zealand court in April 2015.
Singer-actress-model Grace Jones is 69.
Singer-bassist Dusty Hill of ZZ Top is 68.
This, friends, is the 7-foot-3-inch-tall actor who portrayed the Wookiee Chewbacca in “Star Wars.” Actor Peter Mayhew is 73.
Actress Nancy Kwan is 78.
Actor James Fox — “The Remains of the Day,” “Downton Abbey” (as Lord Aysgarth) — is 78.
TV personality David Hartman is 82.
PBS newscaster Jim Lehrer is 83.
Do You Remember Rock ‘n’ Roll Radio? Singer Joey Ramone was born Jeffrey Hyman on this day in 1951. Ramone died in 2001.
The late screenwriter, novelist and Nora Ephron was born on this day in 1941. Her credits include “”Julie & Julia,”” ““When Harry Met Sally,”” ““Sleepless in Seattle”” and “”Silkwood,”” for which she won an Oscar. She died in 2012.
Poet and humorist Ogden Nash was born on this day in 1902. Here is his poem “Constant Landmarks”: “As American towns and cities I wander through, / One landmark is constant everywhere I roam; / The house that the Banker built in nineteen-two, / Dim neon tells me is now a funeral home.” Nash died in 1971, seven years after this photo was made.
