On this Day: June 30

On this Day June 30

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Grammy-winning jazz and pop music singer, dancer and actress Lena Horne (d. 2010)

1956 – Actor-comedian David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”)

1959 – Actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Men In Black,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Judge,” “Run All Night,” “Jurassic World”)

1966 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson

1982 – Actress Lizzy Caplan (“Mean Girls,” “True Blood,” “Cloverfield”)

1985 – U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps

History Highlights
History Highlights

1859 – Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, a.k.a.  The Great Blondin, or Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Thousands of spectators line the American and Canadian sides of the falls to observe the feat, which he  performs along an 1,100-foot-long tightrope suspended 160 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Gorge.

1934 – In what comes to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future.

1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gone with the Wind,” one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for the blockbuster 1939 movie, is published.

1971 – “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” a movie musical-fantasy starring Gene Wilder, opens in theaters. It’s an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

1971 – Three Soviet cosmonauts who made up the crew of the world’s first space station are killed when their spacecraft, Soyuz 11, depressurizes during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere.

1974 – The July 4th scene from the movie “Jaws” is filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, with 400 screaming, panic-stricken extras in bathing suits running from the water multiple times until director Steven Spielberg gets the right take.

1989 – Writer-director Spike Lee’s celebrated third feature film, “Do the Right Thing” — about racial tensions boiling over in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on the hottest day of the year — opens in U.S. theaters. The movie receives Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello.

1993 – The legal thriller “The Firm,” directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman, opens in theaters. It’s based on the 1991 novel of the same name by John Grisham.

1995 – Director Ron Howard’s high-intensity drama “Apollo 13,” about NASA’s desperate efforts to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely home after an explosion that denies them a moon landing, opens in U.S. theaters. Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise, the movie receives nine Oscar nominations and wins for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Ray Charles enjoys his fifth and final week dominating the pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

1973 – George Harrison has the hottest single on the radio for a week with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” from his “Living in the Material World” album.” The track is the ex-Beatles’ second solo No. 1.

1975 – Less than a week after her divorce from Sonny Bono is finalized, Cher ties the knot with rock musician Gregg Allman only to divorce him 10 days later.

1984 – “The Reflex,” by Duran Duran, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single. 

1990 – New Kids On the Block step to the top of the singles chart for three weeks with “Step By Step.” The song is an international smash, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and becomes one of the biggest selling singles of 1990.

2001 – “Lady Marmalade,” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink, enters its fifth and final week as a chart-topper. The cover is from the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack.

2007 – Rihanna and Jay-Z rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “Umbrella.”

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On this Day: May 17

On this Day May 17

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1936 – Actor Dennis Hopper (“Easy Rider,” “Blue Velvet,” “Speed,” “Waterworld”) (d. 2010)

1955 – Actor-director Bill Paxton (“Apollo 13,” “Twister,” “Titanic,” “Big Love,” “Hatfields & McCoys”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Retired Olympic boxing champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard

1956 – Actor and TV host Bob Saget (“Full House,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Fuller House”) (d. 2022)

1960 – “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller

1961 – Grammy-winning Irish vocalist Enya, born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (“Orinoco Flow,” “Caribbean Blue”)

1962 – Peabody-winning comedian and former “Late Late Show” and “Celebrity Name Game” host Craig Ferguson

1965 – Nine Inch Nails founder-turned-Oscar and Golden Globe-winning film composer Trent Reznor, whose soundtrack credits include “Natural Born Killers” and “The Social Network”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1769 – George Washington brings a series of resolutions before the Virginia House of Burgesses protesting the British policy of “taxation without representation.”

1792 – Two dozen merchants and brokers get together to establish what is now the New York Stock Exchange. They begin by meeting under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street and eventually rent a room in a nearby building.

1875 – The first running of the Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Before a crowd of some 10,000 spectators, jockey Oliver Lewis rides Aristides to victory in a time of 2:37.75.

1954 – In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.

1973 – Watergate hearings open in the U.S. Senate and are broadcast on national television.

2004 – Marcia Kadish, 56, and Tanya McCloskey, 52, marry at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts, becoming the first legally married same-sex partners in the United States. Over the course of the day, 77 other same-sex couples tie the knot across the state. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” by The 5th Dimension, marks its sixth and final week as a No. 1 single. The recording goes on to win both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group Grammy Awards in 1970.

1975 – “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You),” by Tony Orlando & Dawn, enters its third and final week as the hottest single in the U.S.

1980 – “Call Me,” by Blondie, is in the middle of a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1986 – “The Greatest Love of All,” by Whitney Houston, begins three weeks as the most popular single.

1997 – The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” wraps up three weeks as a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.

2003 – Sean Paul grabs the top spot on the pop chart with his reggae-infused “Get Busy.”

2012 –  Five-time Grammy winner Donna Summer, who rose to fame during the 1970s and early 80s with disco anthems like “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” and “Hot Stuff,” loses her battle with lung cancer at the age of 63.

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