On This Day April 18 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1946 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Hayley Mills (“Tiger Bay,” “Pollyanna,” “The Parent Trap,” “Whistle Down the Wind,” “Saved by the Bell”) 1947 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor James Woods (“The Onion Field,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Salvador,” “My Name is Bill W”) 1954 – Actor-comedian Rick Moranis (“Ghostbusters,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”) 1956 – Actor Eric Roberts (“King of the Gypsies,” “Star 80,” “Runaway Train,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Expendables”) 1963 – TV host and comedian Conan O’Brien 1984 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress America Ferrera (“Ugly Betty,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” “How to Train Your Dragon”) History Highlights 1906 – A powerful earthquake destroys large sections of San Francisco and sparks fires that burn for days. The death toll exceeds 3,000. 1923 – More than 74,000 fans attend opening day at the New York Yankees’ new home in the Bronx. Babe Ruth slams the door on the Boston Red Sox with a game-winning three-run homer and Yankee Stadium becomes known as “The House that Ruth Built.” 1955 – Legendary physicist Albert Einstein, who won the Nobel Prize for his General Theory of Relativity (E=mc2), dies at the age of 76. 1956 – American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony that is dubbed the “Wedding of the Century.” The 26-year-old American beauty becomes Princess Grace of Monaco. 1983 – A suicide bomber crashes a truck into the front of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, setting off a massive blast that kills 63 people. 1989 – Thousands of Chinese students take to the streets of Beijing to protest government policies and call for greater democracy. Similar demonstrations begin in other cities and universities across China. The movement culminates with the bloody Tiananmen Square Massacre that June. 2012 – Entertainment icon Dick Clark, best known for hosting “American Bandstand” — an influential music-and-dance show that aired nationally for more than three decades and helped bring rock and roll into the mainstream in the late 1950s — dies of a heart attack at 82. Affectionately called “America’s Oldest Teenager,” Clark also hosted ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” ringing in each new year from New York’s Times Square. 2014 – Sixteen Nepali mountaineering guides, most of them ethnic Sherpas, are killed by an avalanche on Mt. Everest, the Earth’s highest mountain. It is the single deadliest accident in the history of the Himalayan peak that lies between Nepal and China. Musical Milestones 1960 – The movie tune “Theme From a Summer Place, by Percy Faith, begins its ninth and final week on top of the pop chart. 1964 – The Beatles enjoy their third consecutive No. 1 hit with “Can’t Buy Me Love,” which holds the top spot for five weeks. 1970 – The Beatles’ “Let It Be” begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single. It is the last single released by the Fab Four while still officially considered an active group. 1984 – Michael Jackson undergoes surgery at an L.A. hospital for injuries sustained two months earlier when his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial. 1987 – “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” by Aretha Franklin and George Michael, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for two weeks. 1992 – Def Leppard begins five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Adrenalize.” The album spawns three major hits, including “Let’s Get Rocked” and “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad.” 1992 – Vanessa Williams kicks off her fifth and final week as a chart-topper with “Save the Best for Last.” 2009 – “Boom Boom Pow,” by The Black Eyed Peas, begins 12 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, from the band’s “The E.N.D.” album,” is nominated for a Best Dance Recording Grammy but wins for Best Short Form Music Video. 2012 – An original and extremely rare 1963 mono copy of The Beatles’ “Please Please Me” album, signed by all four musicians, sells in an eBay auction for nearly $25,000. READ MORE
On This Day March 20 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1906 – Bandleader, actor and director Ozzie Nelson (“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”) (d. 1975) 1922 – Emmy and Grammy-winning actor-comedian-writer-director-producer Carl Reiner (“Your Show of Shows,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “2000 Year Old Man,” “The Jerk”) (d. 2020) 1928 – Fred Rogers, minister and host of the beloved PBS children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (d. 2003) 1931 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor-singer Hal Linden, born Harold Lipshitz, best known for his role as an NYPD police captain in the 1970s ABC sitcom “Barney Miller” 1950 – Oscar-winning actor William Hurt (“Altered States,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “Broadcast News,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “The Doctor,” “The Challenger Disaster,” “Captain America: Civil War”) (d. 2022) 1957 – Emmy and Peabody-winning director-producer and actor Spike Lee (“She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do The Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Malcolm X,” “Crooklyn,” “Clockers,” “Summer of Sam,” “The Original Kings of Comedy”, “BlacKkKlansman”) 1958 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Holly Hunter (“Raising Arizona,” “Broadcast News,” “Always,” “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” “The Piano,” “The Firm,” “The Incredibles,” “Saving Grace”) History Highlights 1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his “General Theory of Relativity.” 1953 – Two weeks after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev is among five men named by the Soviet government to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. Khrushchev eventually leads the Soviet Union through some of the tensest periods of Cold War relations with the U.S. 1965 – President Lyndon Johnson places the Alabama National Guard under federal control to protect a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Governor George Wallace had assured Johnson that the National Guard would protect marchers. But Wallace, a segregationist, reneged and demanded that federal troops be sent instead. 1987 – A major medical breakthrough is achieved as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approves the anti-HIV/AIDS drug Zidovudine, better known as AZT. 1995 – A nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system by members of a religious cult kills 13 people and injures thousands of others. The incident sparks global worries about terrorist groups obtaining chemical weapons. Musical Milestones 1961 – Elvis Presley is King of the Billboard pop chart with “Surrender.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks and is among six No. 1 hits Elvis enjoys that decade. 1964 – The Temptations release their debut album, “Meet the Temptations,” on the Gordy (Motown) label. 1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono tie the knot at the British Embassy in Gibraltar. 1971 – Five months after her death from a drug overdose, Janis Joplin dominates the singles chart for a second and final week with “Me and Bobby McGee,” off her “Pearl” album. 1982 – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts begin a seven-week run on top of the singles chart with “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.” 1993 – The reggae-rap single “Informer,” by Snow, is in its second week at No. 1 on the pop chart. It remains there for another five weeks. 1999 – “Believe,” by Cher, is mid-way through a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, maintains its hold on the summit of the singles chart. READ MORE
On This Day March 14 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1879 – Physicist Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity (d. 1955) 1933 – Oscar-winning actor Sir Michael Caine (“Deathtrap,” “Educating Rita,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “The Cider House Rules,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Interstellar”) 1933 – Grammy-winning composer-producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Quincy Jones 1948 – Emmy and Tony-winning comedian-actor Billy Crystal (“The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “City Slickers,” “Analyze This,” “Monsters, Inc.”) 1988 – NBA superstar and 2015/2016 MVP Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors 1997 – Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history; also the first American woman to win seven national all-around titles and first female gymnast to earn three consecutive World All-Around titles. History Highlights 1879 – Albert Einstein, the physicist best known for his theory of relativity and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921, is born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany. 1950 – The FBI introduces the “Ten Most-Wanted Fugitives” list to help track down dangerous criminals who are at large. The first person placed on the list is Thomas James Holden, wanted for the murder of his wife, her brother and her stepbrother. 1964 – A Dallas jury finds Jack Ruby guilty of murder in the death of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby is sentenced to death. 1990 – Running unopposed, Mikhail Gorbachev is elected president of the Soviet Union. While the election was a victory, it also revealed serious weaknesses in Gorbachev’s power base that eventually lead to the collapse of his presidency in December 1991. 1991 – British authorities release the so-called “Birmingham Six” — six Irish men who had been sent to prison 16 years earlier for the 1974 terrorist bombings of two Birmingham, England pubs. Musical Milestones 1958 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards its first official Gold Record to Perry Como for his last No. 1 single — the smash “Catch A Falling Star.” 1964 – The Beatles begin their seventh and final week as Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The following week, the Fab Four are back at No. 1 with “She Loves You.” 1970 – Simon & Garfunkel are in the midst of a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” 1981 – Dolly Parton takes the theme song from the movie “9 to 5” to the top of the singles chart for a second time. The track spent a week at No. 1 beginning on February 21. 1983 – Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such form the rock band Bon Jovi in Sayreville, New Jersey. 1987 – “Jacob’s Ladder,” by Huey Lewis and the News, is the No. 1 single. It’s among five Top 10 singles to come off the band’s “Fore!” album. 1998 – Will Smith kicks off a three-week run atop the singles chart with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” The song is based around a sample of “He’s the Greatest Dancer” by Sister Sledge. READ MORE