On This Day March 7 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1934 – Longtime NBC weatherman and “Today” show personality Willard Scott 1945 – Actor John Heard (“Awakenings,” “Home Alone,” “The Pelican Brief”) (d. 2017) 1956 – Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Bryan Cranston (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Breaking Bad,” “Argo,” “Trumbo,” “The Infiltrator,” “Isle of Dogs,” “The Upside”) 1964 – Emmy-winning comedian Wanda Sykes (“The Chris Rock Show,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) 1970 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Rachel Weisz (“Stealing Beauty,” “The Mummy,” “The Constant Gardener,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “Oz the Great and Powerful,” “The Favourite”) 1974 – Actress-producer Jenna Fischer (“The Office,” “Blades of Glory,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “The Promotion,” “Hall Pass”) 1980 – Actress Laura Prepon (“That ‘70s Show,” “Slackers,” “Lightning Bug,” “The Pornographer: A Love Story,” “The Killing Game,” “Orange is the New Black”) History Highlights 1876 – Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary invention, the telephone, which remains a vital communications tool around the world today. 1924 – “The New Republic” publishes Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” The work, beginning with the famous line “Whose woods these are, I think I know. His house is in the village though,” introduces millions of American students to poetry. 1933 – Unemployed during the Great Depression, Charles Darrow creates the board game Monopoly, which he personally sells for two years until Parker Brothers begins mass-marketing it in 1935. Darrow dies a millionaire in 1967. 1965 – A peaceful civil rights demonstration ends in violence in Selma, Alabama when many of the protesters are tear-gassed and beaten by white state troopers and sheriff’s deputies. The day’s events become known as “Bloody Sunday” and mark a tragic but important milestone in America’s civil rights movement. The clash was reported on national television and other media, spurring demonstrations in 80 cities across the country over the next few days. 1999 – Acclaimed screenwriter-director-producer Stanley Kubrick (“Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “The Shining,” “Full Metal Jacket,” “Eyes Wide Shut”) dies in England at the age of 70. 2010 – Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director, for the movie “The Hurt Locker,” about an American bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq in 2004. Bigelow beats out directing heavyweights James Cameron (coincidentally, her ex-husband), Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino. Musical Milestones 1964 – “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” by The Beatles, is in the middle of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the band’s first No. 1 hit in the U.S. and marks the rising tide of the British Invasion and Beatlemania. 1966 – Tina Turner records her vocals for the legendary Phil Spector-produced “River Deep Mountain High.” 1970 – Just as Simon & Garfunkel split, the acclaimed pop duo’s final collaboration, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” starts a 10-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. 1987 – The Beastie Boys become the first rap act to have a No. 1 album with their debut work, “Licensed To Ill.” The album contains fan favorites including “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)” and “No Sleep till Brooklyn.” 1992 – Mr. Big is in the middle of three weeks as Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “To Be With You.” 1998 – Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme from the blockbuster movie “Titanic,” begins its second and final week on top of the pop chart. 2009 – Flo Rida is in the middle of a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” which was inspired by Dead or Alive’s 1985 hit, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).” READ MORE
On This Day January 30 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), 32nd U.S. president (d. 1945) 1930 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Gene Hackman (“The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Superman,” “Reds,” “Unforgiven,” “The Firm,” “Crimson Tide,” “Get Shorty,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”) 1937 – Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave (“Murder on the Orient Express,” “Julia,” “The Bostonians,” “Mrs. Dalloway,” “Howard’s End,” “Girl, Interrupted”) 1941 – Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who previously served as Defense Secretary under President George H. W. Bush 1951 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Phil Collins, formerly of the rock band Genesis (“In the Air Tonight,” “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” “One More Night,” “Sussudio,” “Two Hearts,” “Another Day in Paradise”) 1974 – Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale (“Empire of the Sun,” “American Psycho,” “The Machinist,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” “The Big Short,” “Vice”) History Highlights 1933 – Adolf Hitler is appointed and sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. 1933 – “The Lone Ranger” debuts on Detroit radio station WXYZ, introducing listeners to the legendary “masked rider of the plains.” The show remains on Detroit radio until the mid 1940s. The three main actors who played the Lone Ranger were George Seaton (in 1933), Earle Graser (1933-1941), and Brace Beemer (1941-1954). 1948 – Mohandas Gandhi (also known as Mahatma Gandhi), the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement and a global advocate for non-violent civil disobedience, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic. 1956 – Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed by an unidentified white supremacist in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. No one is injured, and shortly after the attack, King preaches non-violence to a crowd that had gathered near the site of the blast. 1972 – In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators are shot and killed by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.” The protesters, all Northern Catholics, were marching in opposition to the British policy of internment of suspected Irish nationalists. 1994 – American speed skater Dan Jansen sets a new world record of 35.76 at the World Sprint Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Musical Milestones 1961 – “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” by The Shirelles, begins two weeks on top of the pop chart. Co-written by legendary singer-songwriter Carole King, the recording is the first by an African American girl group to reach No. 1. 1969 – The Beatles entertain for the last time in public when they play a free rooftop concert above the London headquarters of Apple Records. Throngs of passersby gather below to take in the music. 1973 – Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss make their first appearance as KISS at the Popcorn Pub in Queens, New York (later known as Coventry). About 10 guests attend and, according to Simmons, the band earned $50 for playing two sets. 1982 – “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” by Daryl Hall & John Oates, becomes the duo’s fourth single to top the Billboard Hot 100. 1988 – The Australian rock band INXS rules the singles chart for a week with “Need You Tonight.” The track, from the “Kick” album, is the group’s only No. 1 in the U.S. 1999 – Britney Spears kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “…Baby One More Time,” her debut single. 2010 – Ke$ha is in the midst of a nine-week reign over the pop chart with “Tik Tok.” READ MORE