On This Day December 18 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1886 – Baseball legend Ty Cobb, considered the most competitive and complex personality ever to appear in a big league uniform (d. 1961) 1943 – Rolling Stones guitarist and songwriter Keith Richards 1946 – Oscar-winning director-producer Steven Spielberg (“Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” the “Indiana Jones” trilogy, “Jurassic Park,” “Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “Munich,” “Bridge of Spies”) 1950 – Movie critic-historian Leonard Maltin 1954 – Actor Ray Liotta (“Something Wild,” “Field of Dreams,” “Goodfellas,” “No Escape,” “Corina, Corina,” “ER”) 1963 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Brad Pitt (“Legends of the Fall,” “Seven,” “Fight Club,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Moneyball,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Fury”) 1978 – Actress Katie Holmes (“Dawson’s Creek,” “Batman Begins,” “Mad Money,” “Jack and Jill,” “Touched With Fire”) 1980 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Christina Aguilera (“Genie in a Bottle”, “What a Girl Wants”) History Highlights 1620 – The British ship Mayflower docks at what today is known as Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers — dubbed Pilgrims — set out to establish a new settlement called Plymouth Colony. 1916 – The Battle of Verdun, the longest engagement of World War I, ends after 10 months and close to a million total casualties suffered by German and French forces. 1956 – Japan is admitted to the United Nations. 1966 – The animated Christmas classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” debuts on CBS, based on the beloved book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. The program features a throaty narration by legendary horror film actor Boris Karloff. 1968 – The movie musical “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” opens in New York, starring Dick Van Dyke, who made a splash four years earlier in “Mary Poppins.” Musical Milestones 1961 – “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” by The Tokens, roars from the top of the Billboard singles chart where it remains for three weeks. 1971 – After 13 years, rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis’ marriage to his 13-year-old cousin ends in divorce. 1976 – Rod Stewart is in the middle of an eight-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright).” 1982 – Hall & Oates begin a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Maneater,” off the duo’s “H2O” album. 1999 – “Smooth,” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, is in its ninth week as a No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for another three weeks, ultimately becoming what Billboard calls “the second most successful song of all time.” 2003 – Michael Jackson is formally charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of administering intoxicating liquor to a minor with the intent of committing a crime. READ MORE
On This Day December 7 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1915 – Tony and Emmy-winning actor Eli Wallach (“The Misfits,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Nuts,” “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”) (d. 2014) 1932 – Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn (“The Exorcist,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”) 1947 – Baseball Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench 1949 – Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and actor Tom Waits (“Jersey Girl,” “Hold On,” “One From the Heart”) 1956 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Indiana Pacers coach/legendary Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird 1979 – Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles (“Love Song,” “King of Anything”) History Highlights 1941 – Japanese forces launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, thrusting the U.S. into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls it “a date which will live in infamy.” 1963 – Decades before the DVR and years before the first Super Bowl, instant replay is used for the first time during an Army-Navy college football game. As the CBS broadcast replays Rollie Stichweh’s winning touchdown, commentator Lindsey Nelson tells viewers, “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!” 1972 – Apollo 17 hurtles toward space, carrying a three-man crew to the last moon landing of the Apollo program. 1982 – The nation’s first execution by lethal injection takes place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Charles Brooks, Jr. was convicted of kidnapping and murdering an auto mechanic. 1993 – Colin Ferguson opens fire on a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter train after it pulls out of New York’s Penn Station, killing six and injuring 19. Other passengers overpower Ferguson when he stops to reload his pistol. The incident comes to be known as the Long Island Rail Road Massacre. 2001 – The heist film “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts, and directed by Steven Soderbergh, opens in theaters. It is a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name that starred “Rat Pack” members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., along with Angie Dickinson. Musical Milestones 1963 – The Singing Nun begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Dominique,” which goes on to sell 1.5 million copies in the U.S. and win a Grammy for the year’s best Gospel song. 1974 – One-hit wonder Carl Douglas chops his way to the top of the singles chart with “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song, which holds at No. 1 for two weeks, sells 11 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time. 1985 – “Broken Wings,” by Mr. Mister, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1991 – U2 conquer the Billboard album chart with “Achtung Baby,” featuring “One,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and other popular tracks. 2002 – Eminem is in the midst of a 12-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lose Yourself.” The track, from his “8 Mile” movie soundtrack, becomes the first rap song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also garners Eminem two Grammys. READ MORE