On This Day: October 11

On This Day October 11

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1884 – First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (d. 1962)

1925 – Crime novelist Elmore Leonard (“Get Shorty,” “Freaky Deaky,” “Glitz”) (d. 2013)

1946 – Singer-songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Daryl Hall of the duo Hall & Oates

1962 – Actress Joan Cusack (“Broadcast News,” “Working Girl,” “Say Anything…,” “In & Out,” “Runaway Bride,” “Toy Story 2,” “Toy Story 3,” “School of Rock”)

1966 – Actor Luke Perry, best known for the 1990s TV series “Beverly Hills, 90210” (d. 2019)

1968 – Stage, film and TV actress Jane Krakowski (“Ally McBeal,” “30 Rock,” “‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Guys and Dolls,” “She Loves Me”)

1969 – Actor Stephen Moyer, best known for playing vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series “True Blood”

1985 – Actress Michelle Trachtenberg (“Harriet the Spy,” “Weeds,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1793 – The death toll from a yellow fever outbreak in what was then the U.S. capital, Philadelphia, reaches 100. Two weeks later, a cold front wipes out the city’s mosquito population, reducing the number of casualties to 20 per day. But by that November, more than 5,000 people had died.

1950 – CBS becomes the first television network to secure a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license to broadcast in color.

1968 – The first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 7, blasts off and transmits the first live TV signals from orbit. The crew orbits Earth 163 times during 10 days and 20 hours in space.

1975 – Late-night television turns edgy with the first broadcast of NBC’s “Saturday Night,” later renamed “Saturday Night Live” and known today as “SNL.” Original cast members include Laraine Newman, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Garrett Morris and Chevy Chase. Comedian George Carlin hosts Episode 1, with musical perfomances by Billy Preston and Janis Ian.

1986 – Following up on their successful November 1985 summit in Geneva, U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, to continue disarmament talks. While negotiations break down, they pave the way for the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the Superpowers.

2002 – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter wins the Nobel Peace Prize “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – The Beatles make their first appearance on the U.K. singles chart with “Love Me Do,” which eventually peaks at No. 17. It performs better across the pond on the Billboard singles chart, where it reaches No. 1 on May 30, 1964.

1969 – The Archies wrap up four weeks as chart-toppers with “Sugar Sugar.”

1971 – John Lennon releases “Imagine,” which becomes an international anthem for peace and love and the most successful single of the former Beatle’s solo career. It peaks at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Shortly before his death in 1980, Lennon admitted that much of the song’s content came from his wife, Yoko Ono, and in 2017 she receives a co-writing credit.

1975 – “Bad Blood” by Neil Sedaka, with backup vocals provided by Elton John, begins a three-week run as the No. 1 single.

1975 – “Born to Run” becomes Bruce Springsteen’s first Top 40 hit. The single only climbs as high as No. 23, but propels The Boss’s musical career into the stratosphere.

1986 – Janet Jackson scores her first No. 1 single with “When I Think of You,” off her “Control” album. The track holds the top spot for two weeks.

1997 – Elton John begins 14 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with his musical tribute to the late Princess Diana, “Candle in the Wind.” The track is an updated version of John’s 1973 recording from the “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album, which was a homage to screen siren Marilyn Monroe.

2003 – “Baby Boy,” by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, is in the second of nine weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2008 – T.I. (a.k.a. Tip) is No. 1 on the pop chart with “Whatever You Like.”

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On This Day: October 8

On This Day October 8

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Actor Paul Hogan, best known for his role as “Crocodile Dundee”

1941 – Civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson

1943 – Actor, comedian, and “Saturday Night Live” alum Chevy Chase, born Cornelius Crane Chase

1949 – Golden Globe-winning actress Sigourney Weaver (“Alien” trilogy, “Ghostbusters,” “Gorillas in the Mist,” “Working Girl,” “The Ice Storm,” “Galaxy Quest,” “Avatar”)

1956 – Actress Stephanie Zimbalist, who starred in dozens of made-for-television movies and the series “Remington Steele”

1970 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Matt Damon (“Good Will Hunting,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “The Bourne” series,” ” Syriana,” “The Good Shepherd,” “The Departed,” “The Martian”)

1985 – Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter-producer Bruno Mars, born Peter Gene Hernandez (“Just the Way You Are,” “Grenade”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1871 – One of the most disastrous forest fires in history leaves more than 1,200 dead in Wisconsin as flames scorch six counties.

1871 – The Great Chicago Fire breaks out, according to legend, when Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicks over a lantern in her barn on DeKoven Street. The blaze quickly spreads, leveling 3.5 miles, killing 250 people and leaving 100,000 homeless.

1919 – America’s first transcontinental air race begins, featuring 63 planes, piloted by U.S. Army aviators, competing in the round-trip aerial derby between California and New York. As 15 planes departed the Presidio in San Francisco, 48 planes left Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York.

1956 – New York Yankees right-hander Don Larsen pitches the first no-hitter in World Series history. It’s a perfect game: no runs, no hits, no errors and no batter reaches first base.

1970 – Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wins the Nobel Prize for literature. His first publication, “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1963), was widely read in both Russia and the West. Its harsh criticism of Stalinist repression provided a dramatic insight into the Soviet system.

2001 – The U.S. Office of Homeland Security is founded less than a month after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is charged with preventing terror attacks, border security, immigration and customs, disaster relief and prevention and related tasks.

2014 –  The first person diagnosed with a case of Ebola in the U.S. dies in a Dallas, Texas hospital. Shortly before his death, the 42-year-old male patient, who lived in Liberia, had traveled to America from West Africa, which was in the throes of the largest outbreak of the often-fatal disease since its 1976 discovery.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1957 – Jerry Lee Lewis records the rock ‘n’ roll classic “Great Balls of Fire” at Sun Studio in Memphis. It climbs to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes one of the best-selling singles in the U.S., with sales of more than five million copies.

1966 – The Association’s “Cherish” enters its third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100.

1968 – Mama Cass Elliot debuts as a solo act at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She cancels the two-week gig after only one set of performances.

1977 – Billy Joel’s “The Stranger” hits the album chart. This breakthrough work contains some of Joel’s biggest hits to date, including “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song),” “Only The Good Die Young” and the Grammy-winning “Just The Way You Are.”

1983 – “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler is in the midst of a four-week ride on top of the singles chart.

1987 – Chuck Berry, considered by many the “father of rock and roll,” is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His film biography, “Hail, Hail Rock & Roll,” also premieres that same night.

1988 – British rock band Def Leppard has its first and only No. 1 single — “Love Bites” — which holds the top spot on the pop chart for a week.

1994 – Boyz II Men are in the midst of a 14-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’ll Make Love to You.”

2011 – “Moves Like Jagger,” by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera, marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

2016 – The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey are on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Closer.”

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