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On This Day September 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1923 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Cliff Robertson (“Charly,” “PT-109,” “Spider-Man”) (d. 2011)

1941 – Soul singing sensation Otis Redding, best known for his 1968 smash “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (d. 1967)

1952 – Musician-producer Dave Stewart, who made up half of the Eurythmics

1960 – Golden Globe-winning actor Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “About a Boy,” “Love Actually,” “Cloud Atlas,” “Man From U.N.C.L.E.”)

1966 – Comedic actor and musician Adam Sandler (“Saturday Night Live,” “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “50 First Dates,” “Click,” “Grown Ups”)

1971 – Actor Henry Thomas (“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Legends of the Fall,” “All the Pretty Horses,” “Gangs of New York”) 

1975 – Grammy-winning jazz/standards singer Michael Bublé

History Highlights

1893 – President Grover Cleveland’s wife Frances becomes the first first lady to give birth in the White House when the couple’s daughter, Esther, is born. She remains the only presidential child born in the White House.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs a bill establishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — a Cabinet-level agency — to oversee housing programs across the U.S. 

1971 – A riot erupts at Attica Prison in upstate New York as inmates lash out over living conditions. By the time the tear gas clears four days later, 10 hostages and 29 inmates are dead — most of them killed by state troopers retaking the maximum-security facility. Nearly 90 others are injured.

1974 – The sitcom “Rhoda,” starring Valerie Harper, debuts on CBS and runs for five seasons. It’s a spinoff of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

1975 – The TV show that launches John Travolta’s acting career premieres on ABC. It’s “Welcome Back, Kotter,” starring Gabe Kaplan as a Brooklyn high school teacher with his classroom full of troublemaking “Sweathogs.”

1976 – Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong dies in Beijing at the age of 82.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” singing “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” The show garners the largest TV audience ever up to that time, 50 million viewers—one third of the U.S. population. 

1957 – “Diana,” by Paul Anka, tops the pop chart, becoming the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 single.

1978 – A Taste Of Honey starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” The track also dominates the U.S. soul and disco charts.

1989 – The Massachusetts-based boy band New Kids On the Block rules two major U.S. music charts. Their “Hangin’ Tough” album is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 while the title track is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1995 – “Gangsta’s Paradise,” by Coolio featuring L.V., kicks off four weeks as a No. 1 single. The song is part of the soundtrack to the 1995 movie “Dangerous Minds,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer, who also appears in the music video. The track garners Coolio a Best Rap Solo Performance Grammy along with other music industry honors.

2000 – Janet Jackson begins her third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Doesn’t Really Matter.”

2006 – Justin Timberlake kicks off seven weeks on top of the pop chart with “SexyBack.” The track is his first No. 1 hit.

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