On This Day: January 18

On This Day January 18

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – British author A. A. Milne, who created the Winnie-the-Pooh character (d. 1956)

1892 – Oliver Hardy, one half of the famous comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy (d. 1957)

1904 – Actor Cary Grant, born Archibald Alexander Leach (“The Philadelphia Story,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “Notorious,” “North By Northwest”) (d. 1986)

1911 – Golden Globe-winning actor, comedian and dancer Danny Kaye (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Court Jester,” “On the Riviera,” “Me and the Colonel”) (d. 1987)

1941 – Pop and country music singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro (“See the Funny Little Clown,” “Honey”)

1955 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor-director and musician Kevin Costner (“The Untouchables,” “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams,” “Dances With Wolves,” “JFK,” “The Bodyguard,” “Waterworld,” “Hatfields & McCoys,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Hidden Figures”)

1969 – Actor Jesse L. Martin (“Rent,” “Ally McBeal,” “Law & Order”)

1980 – Actor Jason Segel (“Freaks and Geeks,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Knocked Up,” “The Five-Year Engagement,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “The Muppets,” “Sex Tape”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1778 – British explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he lands at Waimea on the island of Kauai and names the island cluster the Sandwich Islands, after the voyage’s sponsor, the Earl of Sandwich.

1919 – Leaders of the Allied powers — the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy — convene in Paris, France to begin the long and complex negotiations that would pave the way for the end of World War I. The Paris Peace Conference, as it is known, leads to creation of the League of Nations, an international peacekeeping organization.

1975 – The sitcom “The Jeffersons,” one of several spin-offs from TV’s groundbreaking “All in the Family,” premieres on CBS and becomes a ratings bonanza of its own during an 11-season run. Another Norman Lear creation, it stars Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford as a successful African-American couple adjusting to life on Manhattan’s ritzy East Side after leaving their modest Queens neighborhood.

1977 – Scientists identify the cause of a mysterious outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed 34 people at a 1976 American Legion Convention in Philadelphia. 

1990 – An FBI sting leads to the arrest of Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry for possession of crack cocaine. After serving six months in federal prison, the so-called “mayor for life” makes one of the most improbable comebacks in the history of American politics in 1994 when D.C. residents elect him to a fourth term as mayor.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1944 – The first jazz concert — known as the Esquire All-American Jazz Concert — is held at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, featuring Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Jack Teagarden and Billie Holiday.

1960 – Johnny Preston starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Running Bear,” a song written by J. P. Richardson (a.k.a. “The Big Bopper”). The song was released shortly after Richardson’s death in the February 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

1964 – The Beatles make their U.S. singles chart debut when “I Want To Hold Your Hand” enters at No. 45. It goes on to spend seven weeks at No. 1. 

1969 – Marvin Gaye is midway through a seven-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” The track becomes Motown’s biggest-selling hit at that time.

1975 – Barry Manilow scores his first chart-topping single when “Mandy” reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1986 – “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick, featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, is the No. 1 single. The track, written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, wins Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year Grammys.

1989 – At 38 years of age, Stevie Wonder becomes the youngest living person inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has excellent company, as other inductees in his class include The Rolling Stones, The Temptations and Dion (DiMucci).

1992 – Michael Jackson wraps up seven weeks as a chart-topper with “Black or White,” off his “Dangerous” album.

2003 – Eminem finds himself on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for another week with “Lose Yourself,” from the “8 Mile” soundtrack.

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On this Day: June 22

On this Day June 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1936 – Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson ( “Me and Bobby McGee” and “For the Good Times,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “A Star Is Born”)

1949 – Emmy-winning actress Lindsay Wagner of TV’s “The Bionic Woman”

1949 – Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep (“Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Sophie’s Choice,” “Silkwood,” “Out of Africa,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Iron Lady”)

1953 – Grammy, Emmy and Tony-winning singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper, born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper (“Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” “Time After Time,” “She Bop,” “True Colors”)

1954 – Comedian Freddie Prinze, best known for starring in the TV series “Chico and the Man” (d. 1977)

1971 – Actress Mary Lynn Rajskub, best known for her role as Chloe in the FOX-TV action series “24”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the GI Bill to provide financial aid to veterans returning from World War II.

1950 – Prominent figures in the music industry, including Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, Lena Horne, Pete Seeger and Artie Shaw, are named publicly as suspected Communist sympathizers as part of America’s infamous Red Scare.T Their names appear in Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television.

1966 – Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton grace the big screen with the release of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” It’s the first movie to contain certain four-letter words and adult content, but still receive the production code seal of approval.

1969 – Award-winning actress-singer Judy Garland, best known for playing Dorothy in the classic film “The Wizard of Oz,” is found dead of a drug overdose in her London home just days after her 47th birthday.

1981 – Mark David Chapman pleads guilty to the murder of music legend and former Beatle John Lennon.

2001 – There’s plenty of burning rubber on the screen as the action movie “The Fast and the Furious,” starring Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, debuts in U.S. theaters. The film becomes a blockbuster — grossing $200 million worldwide — and spawns several sequels.

2011 – After 16 years on the run from law enforcement, James “Whitey” Bulger, a violent Boston mob boss wanted for 19 murders, is arrested in California. Bulger was among the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” fugitives. He dies in prison in 2018 at the age of 89.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1963 – “Fingertips, Part 2,” by 13-year-old singing sensation ‘Little’ Stevie Wonder, becomes the now-legendary Motown artist’s first of 61 chart records through 1988.

1968 – Trumpeter Herb Alpert finds success as a vocalist when he starts four weeks on top of the singles chart with “This Guy’s In Love With You” —  his first No. 1 hit. The track is a Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition.

1974 – “Billy Don’t Be a Hero,” by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods,” enters its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – The soundtrack from the Eddie Murphy action comedy “Beverly Hills Cop” tops the Billboard album chart. It spawns the hits “Axel F” by Harold Faltermeyer and “The Heat is On” by Glenn Frey.

1985 – Bryan Adams scores his first chart-topping single with “Heaven,” which holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

1991 – Paula Abdul conquers the pop chart with “Rush Rush,” which remains at No. 1 for five weeks.

1996 – “Tha Crossroads,” by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, tops the Billboard singles chart.

2002 – Ashanti wraps up a 10-week domination of the pop chart with “Foolish.”

2013 – “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, begins a 12-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100. The track samples Marvin Gaye’s 1977 smash, “Got to Give It Up.”

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