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 Prohibition is officially repealed by the 21st Amendment in December 1933.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: May 22

On this Day May 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1813 – German classical music composer Richard Wagner (d. 1883)

1859 – Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (d. 1930)

1907 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Sir Laurence Olivier (“Wuthering Heights,” “Hamlet,” “Marathon Man”) (d. 1989)

1938 – Golden Globe-winning actor Richard Benjamin (“Goodbye, Columbus,” “Westworld,” “The Sunshine Boys”)

1950 – Pop music lyricist and longtime Elton John collaborator Bernie Taupin

1959 – Singer-songwriter and former The Smiths frontman Morrissey, born Stephen Patrick Morrissey (“This Charming Man,” “How Soon Is Now?” “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” “Girlfriend in a Coma”)

1970 – British supermodel and actress Naomi Campbell

1979 – Model-turned-actress Maggie Q, born Margaret Quigley (“Mission: Impossible III,” “Live Free or Die Hard,” “Nikita,” “Divergent,” “Designated Survivor”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1947 – The Truman Doctrine takes effect, providing U.S. aid to Greece and Turkey in an effort to combat Communism after World War II.

1960 – The most powerful earthquake ever recorded (9.5 magnitude) strikes southern Chile, killing 2,000 people and leaving two million people homeless.

1966 – Bill Cosby, the first African American actor to star in a regular dramatic series, wins the Best Actor Emmy for his role in “I Spy.”

1967 – The educational children’s series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” premieres on PBS, hosted by creator Fred Rogers donning his famous cardigan sweater.

1980 – Gaming is revolutionized with the release of PAC-MAN. The iconic video game features a maze filled with dots and prizes and menacing bright-colored ghosts that players must gobble up or avoid in order to win. It becomes one of the highest-grossing video games of all time.

1992 – After nearly 30 years as the king of late-night television, Johnny Carson makes his final appearance as host of NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – “Mother-in-Law,” by New Orleans native Ernie K-Doe, is the No. 1 single. The song was written and produced by Allen Toussaint, who also played the piano solo.

1965 – The Beatles have a ticket to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart with “Ticket to Ride,” from the “Help!” soundtrack.

1971 – “Sticky Fingers,” by The Rolling Stones, begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, spawning the hits “Brown Sugar” and “Wild Horses.” The iconic album features a cover photo of tight-fitting jeans with an actual working zipper, conceived by celebrated pop artist Andy Warhol. And the sleeve features the first use of the now-legendary “tongue and lips” logo designed by John Pasche.

1976 – “Silly Love Songs,” by Wings featuring Paul McCartney, begins a five-week run as the hottest single in the U.S.

1982 – The Paul McCartney-Stevie Wonder duet, “Ebony and Ivory,” is in its second of seven weeks as a chart-topper

1999 – Grammy-winning pop vocalist Ricky Martin is midway through a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”

2004 – Usher sears his way into the top of the pop chart with “Burn,” which stays at No. 1 for eight weeks.

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