On This Day February 11 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1847 – Inventor Thomas Edison (d. 1931) 1926 – Actor-comedian Leslie Nielsen (“Forbidden Planet,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun”) (d. 2010) 1936 – Golden Globe-winning actor Burt Reynolds (“Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Evening Shade,” “Boogie Nights”) (d. 2018) 1941 – Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes 1962 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow (“If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is a Winding Road”) 1969 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jennifer Aniston, who has appeared in many movies, but is best known for playing Rachel in the NBC sitcom “Friends” 1971 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers,” “Life,” “Homeland,” “Billions”) 1979 – Grammy-winning singer-actress Brandy, born Brandy Rayana Norwood (“The Boy is Mine,” “Moesha”) History Highlights 1805 – Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. 1932 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the flathead V8 engine, giving the world affordable, mass-produced V8 power. It becomes the darling of hot-rodders, road racers and stock car racers for more than two decades. 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin wrap up the Yalta Conference following a week of intensive talks over the progress of World War II and the post-war world. 1963 – Chef Julia Child’s show, “The French Chef,” premieres on public television (NET, which later became PBS). 1968 – New York City’s 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden officially opens between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, becoming the fourth version of that arena. The showplace for sports and entertainment opens with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. 1970 – Japan’s first satellite (Ohsumi) is successfully launched into an orbit around Earth, making Japan the world’s fourth space power — after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958, and France in 1965. 1990 – Anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for more than 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later, he is elected South Africa’s president. Musical Milestones 1964 – The Beatles play their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. More than 350 police officers surround the stage to keep some 8,000 screaming fans under control. The set includes “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy”, “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man”,” Please Please Me”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Twist and Shout” and much more. 1967 – The Monkees begin their seventh and final week on top of the pop chart with “I’m a Believer.” 1978 – The Bee Gees stay on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Stayin’ Alive,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. The single remains at No. 1 for a total of four weeks. 1984 – Culture Club is midway through a three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon.” 1989 – Paula Abdul starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Straight Up.” 2012 – Six-time Grammy-winning pop sensation Whitney Houston is found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel at the age of 48. Cause of death is determined to be drowning, with complications from cocaine use and heart disease. READ MORE
On This Day December 1 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1935 – Oscar-winning screenwriter-actor-director Woody Allen (“Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”) 1939 – Pro golfer Lee Trevino 1940 – Standup comedian-actor Richard Pryor (d. 2005) 1945 – Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning singer-actress Bette Midler, best known for her pop hits “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Wind Beneath My Wings” and the movies “The Rose,” “Beaches” and “For the Boys” 1946 – Singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan, best known for his 1970s hits “Alone Again (Naturally)”, “Clair” and “Get Down” 1951 – Actor Treat Williams (“Hair,” “Prince of the City,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “The Late Shift,” “127 Hours”) 1970 – Comedian and “SNL” alum Sarah Silverman (“School of Rock,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “A Million Ways to Die in the West”) History Highlights 1891 – James Naismith shoots and scores! The 30-year-old physical education teacher from the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts invents basket ball (originally two words) using two peach baskets and a ball. At the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, the year basketball was introduced to the international competition, Naismith was in Berlin, Germany to present medals to the winning teams of the three North American countries: United States, Gold; Canada, Silver; and Mexico, Bronze. 1913 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line. 1914 – The Maserati company is founded in Bologna, Italy, and goes on to produce its first car in 1926. 1953 – The first issue of “Playboy” magazine is published, featuring a nude Marilyn Monroe centerfold. More than 50,000 copies sell at 50 cents apiece. 1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man — a violation of the city’s racial segregation laws. The incident, which triggers a year-long boycott of the city’s bus system, is considered the birth of the modern civil rights movement. 1992 – Workers drill a hole through a wall of rock 132 feet beneath the English Channel connecting both ends of a tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time in 8,000 years. The Channel Tunnel or “Chunnel” finally opens for passenger service in 1994. Musical Milestones 1957 – Buddy Holly and the Crickets appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” performing “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue.” Sam Cooke is a guest on the same show performing “You Send Me.” 1958 – The Teddy Bears are No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “To Know Him is to Love Him.” It remains a chart-topper for three weeks. 1962 – The Four Seasons are midway through a five-week domination of the singles chart with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” 1973 – “Top of the World” puts the Carpenters on top of the singles chart, where they remain for two weeks. It is the duo’s second No. 1 single following “(They Long to Be) Close to You” in 1970. 1984 – Wham! begins its third and final week with a No. 1 single: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” 1990 – “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” by Whitney Houston, begins a week-long run at No. 1 on the pop chart. It is Houston’s eighth chart-topping single. 2001 – Mary J. Blige has the No. 1 single with “Family Affair.” 2007 – Alicia Keys kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “No One,” from her “As I Am” album. The track captures Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. READ MORE
On This Day September 4 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1931 – Actress-singer-dancer Mitzi Gaynor (“My Blue Heaven,” “Anything Goes,” “South Pacific”) 1942 – Singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Merald “Bubba” Knight (Gladys Knight & the Pips) 1949 – PGA champion Tom Watson 1960 – Comedian, actor and writer Damon Wayans (“In Living Color,” “The Last Boy Scout,” “Major Payne,” “My Wife and Kids”) 1970 – Actress Ione Skye (“Say Anything,” “Four Rooms,” “Zodiac”) 1981 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles History Highlights 1886 – Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to U.S. federal troops in Arizona. For 30 years, the Native American warrior battled to protect his tribe’s homeland. However, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and outnumbered. With his surrender, Geronimo becomes the last Native American warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces, signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest. 1951 – President Harry Truman takes to the microphone for the first live coast-to-coast TV broadcast. It originates from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco. 1957 – In what becomes a landmark event in the civil rights movement, nine African American students attempt to enter Little Rock Central High School, but are blocked by National Guard troops ordered in by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. The group is known as the Little Rock Nine. 1957 – Ford introduces the Edsel, a car named after company founder Henry Ford’s only son. The vehicle is widely considered to be one of the greatest marketing failures in automotive history. 1967 – The popular 1960s TV sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” sails off into the electronic sunset with its final episode. The show ran for three years but continues sailing across the airwaves and on cable through syndication. Musical Milestones 1962 – The Beatles assemble for their first formal recording session at London’s EMI/Abbey Road Studios, recording “Love Me Do” and “How Do You Do It?” with newest band member Ringo Starr on drums. 1971 – About a year after the Fab Four break-up, one of them enjoys his first No. 1 single. It’s Paul McCartney with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” from the “Ram” album — a collaboration with his wife, Linda. 1976 – The Bee Gees are chart-toppers with “You Should Be Dancing,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. 1976 – More than a year after entering the album chart, Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album reaches No. 1. This breakthrough work contains the hits “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me,” and has sold more than five million copies. 1982 – “Abracadabra,” by the Steve Miller Band, appears at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1993 – UB40 ends a seven-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart with the cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” 2004 – Terror Squad begins its fourth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lean Back.” 2010 – “Love The Way You Lie,” by Enimen featuring Rihanna, is in the middle of six weeks as a No. 1 single. READ MORE