On This Day April 7 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1897 – Popular 1930s-50s radio host-gossip columnist Walter Winchell (d. 1972) 1915 – Legendary jazz and blues singer-songwriter Billie Holliday, born Eleanora Fagan (d. 1959) 1920 – Indian musician-composer Ravi Shankar, who popularized the sitar and Indian classical music in Western culture (d. 2012) 1928 – Golden Globe-winning actor James Garner (“The Rockford Files,” “Maverick,” “The Notebook”) (d. 2014) 1939 – British TV talk show host David Frost, most remembered for his revealing interview series with U.S. President Richard Nixon (d. 2013) 1939 – Oscar-winning director-producer-screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather” series, “Apocalypse Now,” “Cotton Club,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”) 1954 – Actor, martial artist, stuntman and choreographer Jackie Chan (“Rumble in the Bronx,” “Rush Hour” series, “Shanghai Knights”,”Kung-Fu Panda” franchise) 1964 – Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe (“L.A. Confidential,” “The Insider,” “Gladiator,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Cinderella Man,” “American Gangster,” “Les Misérables”, “Man of Steel”) History Highlights 1776 – U.S. Navy Captain John Barry (a.k.a. “Father of the American Navy”), commander of the warship Lexington, achieves the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he seizes the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turns Barry into a national hero and boosts the morale of the Continental forces. 1948 – The United Nations establishes the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote “the highest possible level of health” around the globe. A major cornerstone of WHO is the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. World Health Day is observed internationally every April 7. 1954 – President Dwight Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a “domino effect” in Southeast Asia. The so-called “domino theory” guided U.S. strategy toward Vietnam for the next decade. 1961 – President John F. Kennedy lobbies Congress to fund the preservation of historic monuments in Egypt’s Nile Valley threatened by construction of the Aswan High Dam. 1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material (Stanley v. Georgia). 1970 – At the 42nd annual Academy Awards, screen legend John Wayne ropes his first and only Oscar: Best Actor for his role in the Western “True Grit.” 1978 – President Jimmy Carter cancels the planned production of the neutron bomb. 1994 – Violence in Rwanda fuels the launch of what becomes the worst episode of genocide since World War II: the massacre of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million innocent civilian Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Musical Milestones 1962 – Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet Brian Jones at the Ealing Jazz Club in London and begin laying the groundwork for formation of The Rolling Stones. 1973 – Comedian Vicki Lawrence finds success as a vocalist, claiming the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” which holds at No. 1 for two weeks. 1984 – This day marks a second British Invasion, as an unprecedented 40 singles by British artists hold sway on the Billboard Hot 100. Two are in the Top-10: “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins (No. 3) and “Here Comes the Rain Again” by The Eurythmics ( No. 4). 1984 – Kenny Loggins holds the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Footloose,” from the movie of the same name, starring Kevin Bacon. 1985 – Wham! becomes the first Western pop group to play in China when they perform at the Worker’s Gymnasium in Beijing. Footage from their trip appears in the video for their song “Freedom.” 1990 – “Love Will Lead You Back,” by Taylor Dayne, lands on top of the singles chart for a week. 2001 – “Butterfly,” by Crazy Town, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week. 2007 – Akon begins two weeks on top of the singles chart with “Don’t Matter.” READ MORE
On this Day July 3 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1878 – Composer and playwright George M. Cohan (“Over There,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy”) (d. 1942) 1883 – Author Franz Kafka (“Amerika,” “The Trial,” “The Castle”) (d. 1924) 1937 – Playwright Tom Stoppard (“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour”) 1947 – Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist Dave Barry 1956 – Emmy-winning TV talk show host Montel Williams 1962 – Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Tom Cruise (“Risky Business,” “Top Gun,” “The Color of Money,” “Cocktail,” “Rain Man,” “Days of Thunder,” “A Few Good Men,” “The Firm,” “Jerry Maguire,” the “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise, “Edge of Tomorrow”) 1980 – Actress Olivia Munn (“Beyond the Break,” “Magic Mike,” “The Newsroom,” “Mortdecai,” “X-Men: Apocalypse”) History Highlights 1775 – George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered at Cambridge Common in Massachusetts and draws his sword, formally taking command of the 16,000-member Continental Army. 1863 – On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end. 1958 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Rivers and Harbors Flood Control Bill, which allocates funds to improve flood-control and water-storage systems across the United States. 1985 – The sci-fi adventure/comedy “Back to the Future,” starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd and directed by Robert Zemeckis, opens in U.S. theaters. It becomes a cult classic, spawning two sequels, an animated series, a theme park ride, several video games, a series of comic books and a stage musical. 1986 – President Ronald Reagan, with First Lady Nancy Reagan by his side, presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty. It re-opens to the public two days later during Liberty Weekend, celebrating the monument’s centennial. 1988 – While sailing through the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger jet that it mistakes for a hostile fighter plane. All 290 people on board are killed. The U.S. government admits to the error a month later, and in 1996, agrees to pay $62 million in damages to the families of the Iranians that perished in the attack. Musical Milestones 1969 – The Newport Jazz Festival features huge musical acts not typically associated with jazz: Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Blood Sweat & Tears and more. 1969 – Shortly after leaving The Rolling Stones, band founder and guitarist Brian Jones is found dead in his swimming pool at the age of 27. 1970 – An audience of more than 300,000 gathers for the second annual Atlanta Pop Festival, featuring the Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Mountain, Procol Harum and Rare Earth. 1971 – The No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 is Carole King’s “It’s Too Late,” off her legendary, Grammy-winning “Tapestry” album. 1971 – The body of 27-year-old Doors frontman Jim Morrison is discovered by his girlfriend in the bathtub of their rented apartment in Paris, France. The cause of death was officially labeled heart failure, thus averting an autopsy under French law. 1974 – The “Tony Orlando & Dawn” variety show premieres on CBS. 1982 – The Human League capture the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t You Want Me,” from their “Dare” album. The track holds at No. 1 for three weeks. 1999 – Jennifer Lopez is in the middle of a five-week domination of the pop chart with “If You Had My Love.” 2004 – “Burn,” by Usher, begins the last of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. READ MORE