On this Day: August 25

On this Day August 25

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Actor-director Mel Ferrer (“War and Peace,” “Green Mansions,” “Wait Until Dark”) (d. 2008)

1918 – Grammy and Tony-winning composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein (“West Side Story,” “Peter Pan,” “Candide,” “Wonderful Town,” “On the Town,” “On The Waterfront”) (d. 1990)

1921 – Producer, actor, singer and sportscaster Monty Hall, best known as host of the TV game show “Let’s Make a Deal” (d. 2017)

1930 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Sir Sean Connery, best known for playing British secret agent James Bond/007 in seven Bond movies

1931 – Emmy-winning TV host, actor and singer Regis Philbin (“Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee,” “Live! with Regis and Kelly,” ” Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)

1933 – Actor Tom Skerritt (“M*A*S*H,” “Up In Smoke,” “Alien,” “Top Gun,” “A River Runs Through It,” “Contact,” “Picket Fences”)

1941 – Rock singer-bassist and KISS founder Gene Simmons, born Chaim Weitz 

1954 – Singer-songwriter Elvis Costello (“Alison,” “Everyday I Write the Book,” “Veronica”)

1958 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning director Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Ed Wood,” “Big Fish,” “Alice in Wonderland”)

1961 – Country music singer-songwriter and actor Billy Ray Cyrus, best known for his 1992 smash “Achy Breaky Heart”

1968 – Emmy-winning TV chef Rachael Ray

History Highlights
History Highlights

1916 – The National Park Service is founded to manage and preserve national parks and monuments for future generations.

1939 – MGM Studios’ “The Wizard of Oz” premieres, starring Judy Garland as Dorothy. It and “Gone With The Wind,” which was released later that year, are the first major motion pictures to use Technicolor at a time when films were shot in black and white.

1944 – Allied troops liberate Paris after more than four years of Nazi occupation. German resistance proves to be light and the commander of the German garrison, General Dietrich von Choltitz, defies Adolf Hitler’s order to blow up Paris landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Choltitz signs a formal surrender that afternoon, and the next day, Free French General Charles de Gaulle leads a liberation march down the Champs d’Elysees.

1984 – Author Truman Capote (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “In Cold Blood”) dies in Los Angeles at the age of 59. 

1985 – Samantha Smith of Maine, the 11-year-old “ambassador” to the Soviet Union, dies in a plane crash. Smith was best known for writing to Soviet leader Yuri Andropov in 1982 and visiting as Andropov’s guest in 1983.

2009 – Edward “Ted” Kennedy, the youngest brother of President John F. Kennedy and a U.S. senator from Massachusetts from 1962 to 2009, dies of brain cancer at age 77 at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Seventeen-year-old Eva Narcissus Boyd, a.k.a. “Little Eva,” scores her first and only No. 1 hit with “The Loco-Motion.”

1970 – Elton John plays his first American gig at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. 

1973 – One-hit-wonder Stories has the most popular song on the radio with “Brother Louie.” 

1975 – Bruce Springsteen releases his breakthrough album, “Born To Run,” which contains fan favorites including the title track, “Thunder Road” and “Jungleland.” 

1979 – The Knack kick off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sharona.” The track becomes Capitol Records’ fastest gold status debut single since “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles in 1964.

1984 – Ray Parker, Jr. begins his third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Ghostbusters,” the theme from the movie of the same name.

1990 – “Vision of Love,” by Mariah Carey, enters its fourth and final week on top of the pop chart.

2001 – Alicia Keys rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Fallin’,” off her debut album, “Songs in A Minor”

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On this Day: June 13

On this Day June 13

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1892 – Actor Basil Rathbone, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in more than a dozen movies by the mid-1940s (d. 1967)

1926 – Actor-comedian Paul Lynde (“Bewitched,” “Hollywood Squares”) (d. 1983)

1943 – Actor Malcolm McDowell (“A Clockwork Orange,” “Star Trek Generations,” “Heroes,” “Entourage,” “The Mentalist”)

1951 – Actor Stellan Skarsgård (“Breaking the Waves,” Good Will Hunting,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”)

1951 – Emmy-winning actor Richard Thomas, best known for playing John-Boy on the CBS series “The Waltons”

1953 – Actor-comedian Tim Allen (“Home Improvement,” Buzz Lightyear in the “Toy Story” movies, “Galaxy Quest”)

1962 – Actress and “Brat Pack” member Ally Sheedy (“War Games,” “The Breakfast Club,” “St. Elmo’s Fire”

1981 – Actor Chris Evans, best known for portraying Captain America in the “Avengers” and “Captain America” films, as well as the Human Torch in “Fantastic Four”

1986 – Actress-turned-fashion designer Ashley Olsen, best known for sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with twin sister Mary-Kate Olsen in the ABC sitcom “Full House”

1986 – Actress-turned-fashion designer Mary-Kate Olsen, best known for sharing the role of Michelle Tanner with twin sister Ashley Olsen in the ABC sitcom “Full House”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1966 – In a landmark ruling (Miranda v. Arizona), the Supreme Court establishes the Miranda Rights, requiring police officers to advise criminal suspects of their rights before questioning them.

1967 – Calling it “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place,” President Lyndon Johnson nominates U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Thurgood Marshall as the first African American Supreme Court Justice. Two months later, after heated debate, the Senate confirms Marshall’s nomination by a 69 to 11 vote. Two days later, he is sworn in by Chief Justice Earl Warren.

1967 – The fifth James Bond movie, “You Only Live Twice,” opens in theaters across the U.S. Once again, Sean Connery stars as suave British secret agent 007.

1971 – The New York Times publishes the “Pentagon Papers,” revealing the growing political and military involvement of the U.S. in Southeast Asia.

1983 – The NASA spacecraft Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1960 – The Everly Brothers are chart-toppers with “Cathy’s Clown.”

1963 – The Dixie Cups are midway through a  three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Chapel of Love.”

1970 – Before breaking up, The Beatles enjoy their last No. 1 single in the U.S.: “The Long and Winding Road.” The album it came from, “Let It Be,” tops the Billboard album chart that same day.

1981 – Kim Carnes is in the middle of a nine-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bette Davis Eyes.” The song goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

1987 – “Always,” by Atlantic Starr, is the most popular song on American radio.

1992 – Billy Ray Cyrus’ debut album, “Some Gave All,” launches a 17-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. The album spawns Cyrus’ breakout single, “Achy Breaky Heart.”

1998 – Brandy and Monica own the No. 1 spot on the pop chart with “The Boy is Mine.”

2005 – A California jury clears pop sensation Michael Jackson of all charges following a four-month-long child abuse trial. Charges were brought against Jackson after the airing of a 2003 TV documentary in which he admitted to sharing his bed with young children.

2009 – “Boom Boom Pow,” by The Black Eyed Peas, is in the middle of a 12-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

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