On This Day December 5 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1901 – Animator, voice actor and producer Walt Disney, born Walter Elias Disney, who founded The Walt Disney Company and created the iconic character Mickey Mouse (d. 1966) 1932 – Rock and Roll legend Little Richard, born Richard Wayne Penniman (“Tutti Frutti,” “Good Golly Miss Molly”) 1947 – Singer-songwriter Jim Messina (Loggins & Messina) 1968 – Comedian, actress, producer and writer Margaret Cho 1985 – “Malcolm in the Middle” star and race car driver Frankie Muniz History Highlights 1933 – Fourteen years of Prohibition in the U.S. ends with ratification of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, which repeals the 18th Amendment. 1945 – A squadron of U.S. Navy bombers, collectively known as “Flight 19,” mysteriously vanishes in the Bermuda Triangle — a section of ocean between Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. A rescue aircraft also disappears during an attempt to locate the missing team. Despite countless theories throughout the years, there still is no definitive explanation for what happened to the six aircraft and 27 airmen aboard. 1955 – After 20 years of rivalry, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merge to become the AFL-CIO. 1955 – The Montgomery (Alabama) Bus Boycott begins, following the arrest of black bus passenger Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. The boycott lasts more than a year until a U.S. Supreme Court decision requires integration of Montgomery’s public transportation system. 1978 – In an effort to prop up an unpopular pro-Soviet regime in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union signs a “friendship treaty” with the Afghan government, agreeing to provide economic and military assistance. 1984 – “Beverly Hills Cop” opens, starring Eddie Murphy as Axel Foley, a Detroit detective who heads to Beverly Hills, California to solve the murder of his best friend. Musical Milestones 1960 – Elvis Presley tops the singles chart with “Are You Lonesome Tonight.” 1964 – Actor Lorne Greene, beloved star of TV’s “Bonanza,” achieves musical success when his song, “Ringo,” lands on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for a week. 1973 – Paul McCartney releases “Band On The Run,” his fifth album since the breakup of The Beatles. It spawns two hit singles: “Jet” and “Band on the Run.” 1987 – Former Go-Gos lead singer Belinda Carlisle enjoys her first and only No. 1 single as a solo act: “Heaven is a Place on Earth.” 1992 – Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Will Always Love You,” a song written and originally recorded by country music legend Dolly Parton in 1973. 1998 – “I’m Your Angel,” by R. Kelly and Céline Dion kicks off six weeks as a No. 1 single. 2009 – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys own the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Empire State of Mind.” The single holds at No. 1 for five weeks and becomes the last chart-topper of the 2000s. READ MORE
On this Day August 17 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1786 – Tennessee woodsman Davy Crockett, known as the “King of the Wild Frontier,” who was elected to Congress and died while fighting at the Alamo (d. 1836) 1920 – Actress-singer Maureen O’Hara, born Maureen FitzSimons (“Sinbad the Sailor,” “The Black Swan,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Our Man in Havana, “The Parent Trap”) (d. 2015) 1943 – Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro (“The Godfather: Part II,” “Taxi Driver,” “The Deer Hunter,” “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “Goodfellas,” “Backdraft,” “Cape Fear,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Casino,” “Meet The Parents,” “Shark Tale,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “The Intern”) 1958 – Singer-songwriter Belinda Carlisle, former lead singer of the Go-Go’s (“Mad About You,” “I Get Weak,””Circle in the Sand,” “Leave a Light On,” “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”) 1960 – Oscar-winning actor-director Sean Penn (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Dead Man Walking,” “The Thin Red Line,” “Sweet and Lowdown,” “I Am Sam,” “Mystic River,” “21 Grams,” “Into The Wild,” “Milk,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) 1969 – Actor and former New Kids on the Block band member Donnie Wahlberg (“Ransom,” the “Saw” movie series, “The Sixth Sense,” “Dreamcatcher,” “Righteous Kill,” “Blue Bloods”) History Highlights 1962 – East German border guards open fire on two 18-year-old men scrambling for freedom by scaling the Berlin Wall to enter West Berlin. One escapes with cuts and bruises, but the second — Peter Fechter — is killed, setting off clashes between angry West German witnesses and communist police officers. 1969 – Camille, the third deadliest hurricane of all time, batters the Mississippi Delta as it comes ashore near Bay Saint Louis. The storm kills 259 people and causes more than a billion dollars in damage. 1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic when it lands near Paris 137 hours after leaving Presque Isle, Maine. 1979 – Actress Vivian Vance, who played Ethel Mertz in TV’s “I Love Lucy,” loses her battle with breast cancer at the age of 70. 1998 – President Bill Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. president to testify before the Office of Independent Council as the subject of a grand jury investigation. Musical Milestones 1959 – Legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis releases “Kind of Blue,” the best-selling jazz record of all time and a production that is regarded by critics of all musical genres as a masterpiece. 1968 – The Doors begin four weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Waiting For The Sun.” The band’s only No. 1 album spawns their second chart-topping single, “Hello, I Love You.” 1969 – British rockers The Who take the stage in the pre-dawn hours of the third day of the Woodstock music festival and perform a 25-song set, including all the tracks from their rock opera “Tommy.” 1974 – “The Night Chicago Died,” by Paper Lace, is the No. 1 single. That band, from Nottingham, England, recorded the original version of “Billy. Don’t Be a Hero,” which only became a chart-topping smash when it was covered by Bo Donaldson and The Heywoods. 1985 – “Shout,” by Tears for Fears, begins its third and final week as a Billboard No. 1. The track is from the British duo’s chart-topping “Songs From the Big Chair” album. 1991 – Bryan Adams rules the singles chart with “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” from the movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” starring Kevin Costner. 1996 – The Spanish dance song “Macarena,” by Los del Rio, is in the midst of 14 weeks as a No. 1 single. READ MORE