* 1974 – Christina Davis, Australian ballet dancer and contestant on the first season of Big Brother Australia

* 1984 – Matt McDonald, American roofing foreman and contestant on the 9th season of Big Brother

Big Brother is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase " Big Brother is watching you ", which is the core " truth " of the propaganda system in this state.

Since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the term " Big Brother " has entered the lexicon as a synonym for abuse of government power, particularly in respect to civil liberties, often specifically related to mass surveillance.

Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener | Lord Kitchener, a possible inspiration for Big Brother

In the essay section of his novel 1985, Anthony Burgess states that Orwell got the idea for Big Brother from advertising billboards for educational correspondence courses from a company called Bennett's, current during World War II.

Additional speculation from Douglas Kellner of UCLA argued that Big Brother represents Joseph Stalin and that the novel portrayed life under totalitarianism.

In the novel it is not clear whether Big Brother is ( or was ) a real person or a fiction invented by the Party to personify itself.

In Party propaganda Big Brother is presented as a real person: one of the founders of the Party, along with Goldstein.

At one point in 1984 Winston Smith, the protagonist of Orwell's novel, tries " to remember in what year he had first heard mention of Big Brother.

In the Party histories, of course, Big Brother figured as the leader and guardian of the Revolution since its very earliest days.

His exploits had been gradually pushed backwards in time until already they extended into the fabulous world of the forties and the thirties, when the capitalists in their strange cylindrical hats still rode through the streets of London ..." In the year 1984 Big Brother appears on posters and the telescreen as a man of about 45.

When Winston Smith is later arrested, O ' Brien, his interrogator, again describes Big Brother as a figure who will never die.

When Smith asks if Big Brother exists, O ' Brien describes him as " the embodiment of the Party " and that he will exist as long as the Party exists.

When Winston follows up his question by asking " Does Big Brother exist the same way I do?

A spontaneous ritual of devotion to Big Brother (" BB ") is illustrated at the end of the " Two Minutes Hate ":

Though Oceania's Ministry of Truth, Ministry of Plenty, and Ministry of Peace each have names with meanings deliberately opposite to their real purpose, the Ministry of Love is perhaps the most straightforward: " rehabilitated thought criminals " leave the Ministry as loyal subjects who have been brainwashed into genuinely loving Big Brother.

Since the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four the phrase " Big Brother " has come into common use to describe any prying or overly-controlling authority figure, and attempts by government to increase surveillance.

Russian comedian Yakov Smirnoff makes frequent reference to both Big Brother and other Orwellian traits in his Russian Reversal jokes.

The magazine Book ranked Big Brother No. 59 on its 100 Best Characters in Fiction Since 1900 list.

The worldwide reality television show Big Brother is based on the novel's concept of people being under constant surveillance.

In 2000, after the U. S. version of the CBS program " Big Brother " premiered, the Estate of George Orwell sued CBS and its production company " Orwell Productions, Inc ." in federal court in Chicago for copyright and trademark infringement.

The iconic image of Big Brother ( played by David Graham ) played a key role in Apple's 1984 television commercial introducing the Macintosh.

The December 2002 issue of Gear magazine featured a story about technologies and trends that could violate personal privacy moving society closer to a " Big Brother " state and utilised a recreation of the movie poster from the film version of 1984 created by Dallmeierart. com.

* 1943 – Janis Joplin, American singer ( Big Brother and the Holding Company ) ( d. 1970 )

Joplin first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist with her more soulful and bluesy backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band.

Her first two albums were recorded with and fully credited to Big Brother and the Holding Company and the later two being solo albums.

* Big Brother and the Holding Company ( 1967 )

; Big Brother and the Holding Company

Big Brother and the Holding Company, c. 1966-67: Janis Joplin is seated in the foreground.

Particularly prominent products of the scene were The Grateful Dead ( who had effectively become the house band of the Acid Tests ), Country Joe and the Fish, The Great Society, Big Brother and the Holding Company, The Charlatans, Moby Grape, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Jefferson Airplane.

The first Trips Festival, sponsored by the Merry Pranksters and held at the Longshoremen's Hall in January 1966, saw The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company play to an audience of 10, 000, giving many their first encounter with both acid rock, with its long instrumentals and unstructured jams, and LSD.

It was prefaced by the Human Be-In event in March and reached its peak at the Monterey Pop Festival in June, the latter helping to make major American stars of Janis Joplin, lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jimi Hendrix and The Who.

He and his cohorts created what became known as " The Red Dog Experience ", featuring previously unknown musical acts — Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Quicksilver Messenger Service, The Charlatans, and others — who played in the completely refurbished, intimate setting of Virginia City's Red Dog Saloon.

On Saturday January 22, the Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company came on stage, and 6, 000 people arrived to imbibe punch spiked with LSD and to witness one of the first fully developed light shows of the era.

The Charlatans, Jefferson Airplane, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and the Grateful Dead all moved to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood during this period.

Bands like the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company ( with Janis Joplin ), and Jefferson Airplane lived in the Haight.

Many of Taylor's early bands opened for many of the popular bands and artists of the ' 60s and ' 70s including Van Morrison, Janis Joplin's band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Crumb has illustrated many album covers, including most prominently Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company and the compilation album The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead.

The festival has hosted a number of jazz, classical, and Hawaiian folk musicians including Ray Brown, Gene Harris, James Moody, Howard Alden, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Hubert Laws.

That summer, MC5 toured the U. S. east coast, which generated an enormous response, with the group often overshadowing the more famous acts they opened up for: McLeese writes that when opening for Big Brother and the Holding Company audiences regularly demanded multiple encores of the MC5, and at a memorable series of concerts, Cream — one of the leading hard rock groups of the era — " left the stage vanquished " by the Detroit upstarts.

# redirect Big Brother and the Holding Company

As one of the first psychedelic bands, their contemporary influence has been acknowledged by 1960s musicians such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Peter Albin of Big Brother and the Holding Company, and Chris Gerniottis of Zakary Thaks.

She opened for the band at a benefit concert in Austin, and considered joining the group prior to heading to San Francisco and joining Big Brother and the Holding Company.

* February 19 – Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin perform at the Fillmore.

** Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company perform their last concert together before Janis goes solo.

# REDIRECT Big Brother and the Holding Company

He immediately signed Janis Joplin with Big Brother & the Holding Company, and Columbia went on to sign Laura Nyro, Electric Flag, Santana, The Chambers Brothers, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Billy Joel, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Loggins & Messina and Pink Floyd.