On This Day: April 4

On This Day April 4

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson (d. 2014)

1944 – Actor Craig T. Nelson (“Poltergeist,” “Coach,” “The Incredibles,” “Parenthood”)  

1960 – Actor Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “V For Vendetta,” “The Hobbit” film series, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Hacksaw Ridge”)

1965 – Golden Globe-winning actor Robert Downey, Jr. (“Less Than Zero,” “Chaplin,” “Ally McBeal,” the “Iron Man” and “Avengers/MCU” and “Sherlock Holmes” movies, “The Judge”)

1966 – Actress Nancy McKeon (“The Facts of Life,” “The Division”)

1979 – Actor Heath Ledger (“10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Patriot,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Dark Knight”) (d. 2008)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by the U.S. and 11 other Western nations.

1960 – William Wyler’s Technicolor epic ,”Ben-Hur,” sets an Academy Awards record when it sweeps 11 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston).

1968 – A sniper shoots and kills civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, on the balcony of a Memphis, Tennessee motel. As word of the assassination spreads, riots erupt in cities across the U.S., and National Guard troops are deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. In 1991, the murder scene—the Lorraine Motel—is dedicated as part of the National Civil Rights Museum.

1969 – CBS cancels the most popular show on TV at the time, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” because the brothers failed to submit their script to network executives to review before broadcast. 

1973 – A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held in New York’s Lower Manhattan to dedicate the original World Trade Center. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC, or the North Tower, and 2 WTC, the South Tower, would provide nearly 10 million square feet of office space. Reaching more than a quarter of a mile into the sky, the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period, the tallest buildings in the world. 

1975 – At a time when most Americans are using typewriters, childhood friends and self-proclaimed computer geeks Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four years later, they relocate the business to Washington State and grow it into a major multinational technology corporation.

1986 – The last episode of NBC’s “Knight Rider,” starring David Hasselhoff as private eye Michael Knight, airs on this day. 

2007 – Radio shock jock Don Imus makes offensive remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team on the air, creating a firestorm of criticism across the country. Imus apologizes and loses his job, but ultimately is able to salvage his career.

2013 – Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV’s Sneak Previews program for 31 years, dies at the age of 70 after battling cancer.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles simultaneously claim the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Can’t Buy Me Love” at No. 1 where it remains for five weeks. Never before, and not since, has a single act achieved that kind of musical monopoly.

1970 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, begins its sixth and final week as a Billboard No. 1. The track goes on to capture five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, is in its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1987 – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship is No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for two weeks. The song appears in the movie “Mannequin,” starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1998 – K-Ci & JoJo rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “All My Life.”

2009 – Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha wraps up a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” a track that samples the chorus of the 1984 Dead or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”

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On This Day: April 3

On This Day April 3

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” “On The Waterfront,” “The Godfather” trilogy, “Apocalypse Now”) (d. 2004)

1924 – Golden Globe and Grammy-winning actress and singer Doris Day (“Sentimental Journey,” “Pillow Talk,” “The Doris Day Show”) (d. 2019)

1934 –  Primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall, best known for her extensive studies of chimpanzees in their African habitat

1958 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and frequent “SNL” host Alec Baldwin (“Beetlejuice,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “The Cooler,” “The Departed,” “It’s Complicated,” “30 Rock”)

1961 – Golden Globe-winning actor, comedian, singer and “SNL” alum Eddie Murphy (“48 Hours,” “Trading Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Coming to America,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Shrek,” “Dreamgirls”)

1986 – TV and film actress Amanda Bynes (“The Amanda Show,” “What a Girl Wants,” “Hairspray”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1860 – The Pony Express launches, with horse and rider relay teams simultaneously leaving St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California as part of a new effort to speed up U.S. mail delivery. 

1948 – President Harry S. Truman signs the Economic Recovery Act of 1948 — later known as the Marshall Plan — which would foster the recovery of war-torn Europe. 

1968 – Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey” — regularly voted as one of the greatest movies ever made, but whose philosophical meaning most fans cannot explain — opens in theaters around the U.S.

1968 – Another sci-fi classic opens at U.S. theaters. It’s “Planet of the Apes,” starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter and Maurice Evans. It’s the story about an astronaut crew that crash-lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes rule and humans are oppressed and enslaved.

1974 – More than 140 tornadoes rip through 11 states within 16 hours. The “Super Tornado Outbreak” kills 330 people and injures more than 6,000 others.

1978 – At the 50th annual Academy Awards, Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” wins the Oscar for Best Picture, beating out George Lucas’ “Star Wars.”

1986 – IBM unveils its first laptop computer. The 5140 “Convertible” retails for $1,995 and weighs 13 pounds.

1996 –  FBI agents arrest accused Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski at his rural Montana cabin. Kaczynski was linked to 16 mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 others during an 18-year period.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley is a guest on “The Milton Berle Show,” live from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego, California. He performs “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Shake Rattle And Roll” and “Blue Suede Shoes.” It is estimated that one out of every four Americans watched the program.

1961 – The Marcels start a three-week run on top of the singles chart with their doo-wop rendition of the Rodgers and Hart song, “Blue Moon.”

1971 – The Temptations score their second No. 1 single with “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me),” which holds the top spot for two weeks.

1971 – Six months after her death, Janis Joplin holds the top spot on the Billboard album chart with “Pearl,” which features her smash, “Me and Bobby McGee.” The album remains at No. 1 for nine weeks.

1976 – “Disco Lady,” by the so-called ‘Philosopher of Soul,’ Johnnie Taylor, is No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart and remains there for four weeks.

1982 – Joan Jett & the Blackhearts are in the middle of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

1990 – Grammy-winning jazz singer and pianist Sarah Vaughan, considered one of the greatest vocalists of the 20th century, dies of lung cancer at the age of 66.

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