On This Day: March 13

On This Day March 13

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Singer-songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka (“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Bad Blood”)

1941 – Singer-dancer-comedian Charo, born María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baez, remembered for her catch phrase “cuchi-cuchi”

1950 – Emmy-winning actor William H. Macy (“ER,” “Fargo,” “Pleasantville,” “Boogie Nights,” “Shameless”)

1956 – Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany (“China Beach,” “Desperate Housewives”) 

1960 – Grammy-winning U2 bassist Adam Clayton 

1971 – Actress Annabeth Gish (“Mystic Pizza,” “Double Jeopardy,” “The West Wing,” “The X-Files”)

1972 – Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning rapper-actor Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (“Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop),” “Just Wright,” “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “Selma”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1781 – Astronomer Sir William Herschel discovers the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, named after the Greek god of the sky.

1933 – With the Great Depression raging, U.S. banks begin to re-open on this day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt had mandated a “bank holiday.”

1942 – The federal government authorizes the use of dogs in America’s war effort. Originally known as “Dogs for Defense” (DFD), the War Dog Program, or “K-9 (Canine) Corps,” initially allows the U.S. Army to work with 30 breeds of dogs, but later narrows it to seven. Dogs are also trained to serve the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

1969 – Walt Disney Productions releases “The Love Bug,” a comedy starring Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and Herbie — a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own.

2005 –  Walt Disney Company announces that Robert Iger, Disney’s president and chief operating officer, will succeed Michael Eisner as the company’s chief executive officer. The move ends Eisner’s storied and tumultuous two-decade reign at Disney.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – “Eight Days a Week,” by The Beatles, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the final of seven songs by the Fab Four to be No. 1 in the U.S. in a one-year period, an all-time record.

1976 – The Four Seasons are Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).” 

1982 – The J. Geils Band kicks off its sixth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Centerfold.”

1999 – “Believe” is Cher’s first No. 1 hit since 1974’s “Dark Lady.” The song tops the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and becomes the biggest-selling single in the U.S. for 1999. The recording is one of the first to use an Auto-Tune processor to alter vocal pitch, a technique now commonplace in pop music.

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, is in the middle of a 12-week domination of the singles chart.

2010 – “Imma Bee,” by The Black Eyed Peas, enters its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

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On this Day: August 31

On this Day August 31

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Comedic actor Buddy Hackett, born Leonard Hacker (“The Music Man,” “Loose Shoes,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “The Love Bug”) (d. 2003)

1928 – Oscar-winning actor James Coburn (“Our Man Flint,” “Affliction”) (d. 2002)

1945 – Singer-songwriter Van Morrison (“Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance”)

1945 – Grammy-winning violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman

1949 – Golden Globe-winning actor Richard Gere (“American Gigolo,” “An Officer and A Gentleman,” “Pretty Woman,” “Primal Fear,” “Chicago,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Arbitrage”)

1970 – Singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Gibson (“Only in My Dreams,” “Lost in Your Eyes,” “Shake Your Love”)

1971 – Actor-comedian Chris Tucker (“Def Comedy Jam,” “The Fifth Element,” the “Rush Hour” movie series, “Silver Linings Playbook”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1888 – A passerby in London’s East End discovers the mutilated body of prostitute Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper.

1964 – California surpasses New York to become the most populated state in the U.S.

1972 – American swimmer Mark Spitz speeds his way to an unprecedented seven Gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. 

1980 – Representatives of Poland’s communist government agree to the demands of striking shipyard workers in Gdansk. Former electrician Lech Walesa leads the striking workers, who go on to form Solidarity, the first independent labor union to develop in a Soviet bloc nation.

1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion, Dodi Al-Fayed, die in a Paris car crash while being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes. The tragedy leaves the world shocked and saddened.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1964 – The Supremes reign over the singles chart with “Where Did Our Love Go,” which holds at No. 1 for two weeks. 

1974 – “(You’re) Having My Baby, by Paul Anka with Odia Coates, is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single. It becomes Anka’s first chart-topper since “Lonely Boy” in 1959.

1976 – A judge rules that when George Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord,” he plagiarized The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine, written by Ronnie Mack. The crime costs the ex-Beatle $1.6 million for what the court calls “subconscious plagiarism.”

1985 – Huey Lewis and the News enjoy a second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Power of Love.” 

1991 – Metallica’s self-titled album, also known as “The Black Album,” kicks off four weeks on top of the Billboard album chart and goes on to sell more than 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. It contains popular tracks including “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” “The Unforgiven,” “Sad But True” and “Enter Sandman.”

1996 – “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” by Los del Rio, is in the midst of a 14-week domination of the pop chart. The track becomes an international hit and dance phenom. In 2002, VH1 dubbed Los del Rio the No. 1 Greatest One-Hot Wonder of All Time.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly and Kelly (Rowland), claims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart.

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