On This Day: March 22

On This Day March 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Karl Malden (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Streets of San Francisco”), best remembered for his line, “Don’t leave home without them,” in American Express commercials (d. 2009)

1923 – French actor and world renowned mine artist Marcel Marceau, most famous for his stage persona, “Bip the Clown.” (d. 2007)

1930 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “Sweeney Todd”) (d. 2021)

1931 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and author William Shatner, best known as Captain James T. Kirk in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1943 – Grammy-winning jazz guitarist-singer George Benson (“Breezin’,” “This Masquerade,” “On Broadway,” “Give Me The Night”) 

1948 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Cats,” “Evita,” “The Phantom of the Opera”) 

1948 – CNN anchor and host Wolf Blitzer

1952 – Emmy-winning NBC sportscaster and Olympic Games anchor Bob Costas 

1959 – Actor Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Married to the Mob,” “Memphis Belle,” “And The Band Played On,” “The Dark Knight Rises”)

1976 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress-producer Reese Witherspoon (“Pleasantville,” the “Legally Blonde” movies, “Walk the Line,” “Gone Girl,” “Wild”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act to help fund British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents and playing cards. Reactions range from boycotts of British goods to more violent protests, including riots and attacks on tax collectors.

1933 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Beer-Wine Revenue Act into law. The measure legalizes the sale of alcoholic beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol (this level was declared non-intoxicating). Prohibition is officially repealed by the 21st Amendment in December 1933.

1972 – The Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and sends it to the states for ratification. However, it falls short of the required three-fourths approval.

1983 – The Pentagon awards a $1.2 billion contract to AM General Corporation to develop 55,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), nicknamed the Humvee. Designed to transport troops and cargo, these workhorses became widely recognized when used by the U.S. military during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the first Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.

1984 – Teachers at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with satanic ritual-related abuse of their students. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases his fifth studio album,” Bringing It All Back Home” — the first of Dylan’s albums to break into the Billboard Top 10. The lead-off track, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” becomes Dylan’s first single to chart, peaking at No. 39.

1969 – “Dizzy,” by Tommy Roe, is in the midst of four weeks as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

1975 – Frankie Valli owns the hottest single for a week with “My Eyes Adored You.”

1975 – Led Zeppelin launches a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Physical Graffiti,” the group’s fourth chart-topping album. Among the most popular tracks on this double-album are “Kashmir,” “In My Time of Dying” and “Trampled Under Foot.”

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” is on top of the singles chart and holds there for four weeks. It’s the only No. 1 single the band has ever had in the U.S.

1986 – “These Dreams,” by Heart, becomes the sister duo’s first Billboard chart-topper. The song, co-written by longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, was originally offered to Stevie Nicks, who turned it down. The track spends a week at No. 1.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, kicks off a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “In da Club,” by 50 Cent, is in the middle of nine-weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

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On This Day: January 24

On This Day January 24

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine (“Marty,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Gattaca”) (d. 2012)

1941 – Grammy-winning singer Aaron Neville, formerly of The Neville Brothers (“Tell It Like It Is,” “Don’t Know Much”)

1941 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Diamond (“Cherry, Cherry,” “Kentucky Woman,” “Holly Holy,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue”)

1947 – Rock singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (“Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”) (d. 2003)

1949 – Actor-comedian John Belushi (“Saturday Night Live,” “Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers”) (d. 1982)

1951 – Comedian Yakov Smirnoff

1961 – Actress Nastassja Kinski (“Tess,” “Cat People,” “Paris, Texas”)

1968 – Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton 

1974 – Actor Ed Helms (“The Daily Show,” “The Office,” “The Hangover” movie series)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1935 – The first canned beer goes on sale. In partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivers 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Finest Beer and Krueger’s Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond, Virginia

1965 – Sir Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, dies in London at the age of 90.

1972 – After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local hunters discover 57-year-old Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who was unaware that World War II had ended. 

1984 – The first Apple Macintosh computer goes on sale two days after it was announced to the world in a dramatic TV commercial, directed by legendary film director Ridley Scott, that was broadcast during Super Bowl XVIII. This spot launched the tradition of specially produced, high-dollar commercials airing during the Super Bowl.

2006 – The Walt Disney Company announces plans to purchase computer animation giant Pixar for $7.4 billion.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Brian Epstein signs a five-year management deal with The Beatles that stipulates that he receive 25 percent of the band’s gross earnings at a time when the normal management deal was 10 percent.

1970 – “Randrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” by B. J. Thomas, marks its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single. 

1976 – “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” by Diana Ross, tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1979 – The Clash release their first single in the U.S., “I Fought The Law.” The song was originally written in 1958 by Sonny Curtis, formerly a member of Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets.

1981 – John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” wraps up five weeks on top of the pop chart. The track is from “Double Fantasy,” the last album Lennon produced before his murder.

1998 – “Truly Madly Deeply,” by Australian pop band Savage Garden, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

2004 – OutKast holds the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hey Ya!”

2009 – “Just Dance,” by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis, is in the middle of a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. The song garners a Best Dance Recording Grammy nomination.

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