On This Day: November 30

On This Day November 30

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Author Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, best known for his classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (d. 1910)

1874 – Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born in Oxfordshire, England. (d. 1965) 

1918 – Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (“77 Sunset Strip,” “The F.B.I.”) (d. 2014)

1927 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his role as the butler in the ABC sitcom “Benson”

1929 – Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark, born Richard Wagstaff Clark, who is credited with such popular shows as “American Bandstand,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes,” among others. (d. 2012)

1937 – Emmy-winning director-producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian”)

1947 – Tony-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet (“The Verdict,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Wag the Dog,” “Ronin”)

1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (“Yentl,” “The Princess Bride,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland,” “Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds”)

1955 – Rock singer-guitarist Billy Idol, born William Albert Michael Broad (“Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rock the Cradle of Love”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actor, director and comedian Ben Stiller (“Reality Bites,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Zoolander,” the “Meet the Parents” trilogy, “DodgeBall,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Madagascar” series, the “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”)

1978 – Singer and “American Idol” alum Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom

History Highlights
History Highlights

1965 – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a book that singles out the Chevy Corvair while criticizing U.S. auto safety standards. It immediately becomes a bestseller and prompts passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, seat belt laws in 49 states (all but New Hampshire) and other highway safety initiatives.

1967 – Senator Eugene McCarthy, who advocated for a negotiated end to the Vietnam War, declares that he will challenge President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic Party nomination. However, four months later, Johnson announces that he is not seeking re-election.

1971 – The made-for-television movie “Brian’s Song” premieres on ABC, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo, the Chicago Bears running back who is stricken with terminal cancer, and Billy Dee Williams as his teammate, Gale Sayers. It leaves audiences sobbing with its compelling portrayal of the strong friendship the two athletes form. The movie captures five Emmy Awards.

1977 – After nearly four decades with CBS News, anchor Eric Sevareid retires. Sevareid was among a group of elite war correspondents hired by legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, and nicknamed “Murrow’s Boys.” He was the first to report the Fall of Paris when the city was captured by the Germans in World War II.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1968 – Motown’s Diana Ross & The Supremes rule the singles chart with “Love Child,” their 11th chart-topper. The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – One-hit wonder Billy Swan has the No. 1 single with “I Can Help.”

1974 – “Elton John’s Greatest Hits” begins a 10-week run atop the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than 24 million copies worldwide.

1982 – The best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” is released, delivering a slew of hits, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” It goes on to capture eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

1985 – “Separate Lives,” by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the “White Nights” movie soundtrack, is the No. 1 single.

1991 – New Jersey-based hip hop/R&B band P.M. Dawn has its only No. 1 single, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is built around a sampling of Spandau Ballet’s “True.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

1996 – Quirky 1960s pop star Tiny Tim, best known for his falsetto singing and ukulele playing in the 1968 novelty hit “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips With Me,” dies at the age of 64.

1996 – “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, marks its fourth and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

2002 – Eminem maintains his hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Lose Yourself,” which remains a chart-topper for a total of 12 weeks.

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On This Day: November 10

On This Day November 10

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Golden Globe and Tony-winning actor Richard Burton, born Richard Walter Jenkins (“The Robe,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Becket,” “Equus”) (d. 1984)

1932 – Actor Roy Scheider, best known for playing police chief Martin Brody in the film classic “Jaws,” and four years later, starred in the musical film “All That Jazz” (d. 2008)

1944 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and Grammy-winning lyricist and author Tim Rice (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” “Beauty and the Beast, “The Lion King”)

1956 – Stand-up comedian-actor Sinbad, born David Adkins (“Necessary Roughness,” “Houseguest,” “First Kid,” “Jingle All the Way,” “Good Burger”)

1959 – Actress Mackenzie Phillips (“American Graffiti,” “One Day at a Time”)

1968 – Comedian-actor Tracy Morgan (“Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” “Cop Out”)

1977 – Actress Brittany Murphy (“Clueless,” “Girl, Interrupted,” “8 Mile”) (d. 2009)

1983 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert (“Famous in a Small Town,” “Gunpowder & Lead,” “More Like Her,” “Automatic”)

1986 – Actor Josh Peck, best known for Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh” show

History Highlights
History Highlights

1775 – The U.S. Marine Corps is founded with a mission to defend the U.S. Constitution, protect American citizens and stabilize the world in times of crisis.

1903 – The U.S. Patent Office awards Patent No. 743,801 to Mary Anderson for her “window cleaning device” for cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or sleet from the window. Known today as the windshield wiper, Anderson never made a penny on her invention because the patent expired before it was put into widespread use.

1951 – The introduction of area codes means callers no longer require an operator to place domestic long-distance phone calls for them. Rather, they can direct-dial anywhere across the country.

1969 – “Sesame Street” premieres on public television (PBS), introducing a generation of kids to Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster and many other beloved characters — some puppets, some animated as well as live actors — breaking new ground by combining fun with education on TV.

1970 – The Great Wall of China opens to world tourism.

1975 – The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a workhorse freighter that carried massive loads of iron ore from mines in Minnesota to various Great Lakes ports, sinks in Lake Superior after getting caught in a powerful storm. All 29 crewmembers are killed. The tragedy is immortalized in musician Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 hit, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

1989 – Germans continue to tear down whole sections of the Berlin Wall, and souvenir hunters quickly snatch up stone and concrete chunks from the crumbling Cold War icon.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – The Crystals begin their second and final week as chart-toppers with “He’s a Rebel.”

1973 – British singer-songwriter David Essex releases the only song of his career to become a No. 1 hit: “Rock On.”

1973 – Elton John begins eight weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the LP that gives us “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” and “Candle in the Wind” along with the legendary title track.

1973 – Former Temptations lead singer Eddie Kendricks drives his way to No. 1 on the pop chart with “Keep On Truckin’.” The single remains parked in the top spot for two weeks.

1979 – Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” off “The Long Run” album, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It sells more than a million copies and becomes the band’s last chart-topper.

1983 – Billy Idol releases his second studio album, “Rebel Yell,” on Chrysalis Records, featuring hits that include the title track plus “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh For Fantasy.”

1990 – Mariah Carey begins three weeks at No. 1 with “Love Takes Time.”

2001 – Mary J. Blige rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a second straight week with “Family Affair,” which holds the top spot for a total of six weeks.

2007 – “Kiss Kiss,” by Chris Brown featuring T-Pain, begins three weeks as a No. 1 single.

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