On This Day: December 7

On This Day December 7

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Celebrity Birthdays
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
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
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.

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On This Day: September 11

On This Day September 11

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Director Brian DePalma (“Carrie,” “Dressed to Kill,” “Blow Out,” “Scarface,” “The Untouchables,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Mission: Impossible”)

1961 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Virginia Madsen (“Candyman,” “Ghosts of Mississippi,” “The Rainmaker,” “Sideways,” “Designated Survivor”)

1962 – Emmy-winning actress Kristy McNichol (“Family,” “Empty Nest”)

1965 – Singer-songwriter-producer Moby, born Richard Melville Hall (“Go” and “Porcelain,” “Everything is Wrong and Play”)

1967 – Grammy and Emmy-winning jazz singer, pianist and actor Harry Connick, Jr.

1977 – Grammy-winning rapper and actor Ludacris, born Christopher Brian Bridges and best known for playing Tej Parker in the “The Fast and the Furious” movies

History Highlights
History Highlights

1961 –  Packing winds of 175 miles per hour, Hurricane Carla barrels into Texas. It kills 46 people and injures more than 450 others, with many lives spared due to the evacuation of nearly half a million people from the Texas coast. Carla is the first storm to garner live television coverage, featuring a young reporter named Dan Rather, who went on to become an acclaimed CBS News journalist.

1970 – Secret agent Maxwell Smart calls Agent 99 for the last time as the final episode of “Get Smart” airs on CBS. 

1971 – One of the most colorful figures of the Cold War dies: former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who went head-to-head with President John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

1974 – The St. Louis Cardinals take seven hours, four minutes and 25 innings to beat the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. The contest sets a National League record for innings played in a night game. Fans finally go home after 3 a.m. 

1985 – Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the all-time hit leader with his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb’s record. Rose lined a 2-1 pitch off San Diego pitcher Eric Show to left-center field for a single in the first inning. It was the 57th anniversary of Ty Cobb’s last game in the majors.

2001 – Four coordinated attacks using commercial airliners are launched against the U.S. by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda, leaving thousands dead or injured. New York City’s iconic World Trade Center is destroyed, part of The Pentagon outside Washington, D.C. is damaged, and heroic passengers aboard another jet wrest control from the terrorists and crash it into a rural Pennsylvania field to prevent it from striking a major city. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – The Beatles conquer the singles chart with “Help!”

1969 – John Lennon tells his business manager he’s quitting The Beatles, but doesn’t inform the band until days later. 

1971 – “Go Away Little Girl,” by Donny Osmond, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. 

1976 – “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” by KC and the Sunshine Band boogies its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the band’s third No. 1 single.

1982 – Chicago’s “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” is on top of the singles chart.

1993 – Mariah Carey kicks off an eight-week domination of the singles chart with “Dreamlover.”

1999 – “Bailamos,” by Enrique Iglesias, begins its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2004 – “Goodies,” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, kicks off seven weeks on top of the singles chart.

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