On This Day: March 28

On This Day March 28

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1944 – Actor Ken Howard (“1776,” “The White Shadow,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “Crossing Jordan”) (d. 2016)

1948 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Parenthood,” “The Lost Boys,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “In Treatment,” “Law & Order”) 

1955 – Grammy-winning country singer and actress Reba McEntire, who starred in her own sitcom, “Reba,” from 2001-07

1970 – Actor Vince Vaughn (“Swingers,” “Wedding Crashers,” “The Break-Up,” “The Internship,” “True Detective”)

1981 – Actress Julia Stiles (“Save the Last Dance,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Dexter”)

1986 – Grammy and Golden Globe-winning pop superstar and actress Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1834 – The U.S. Congress censures President Andrew Jackson over his refusal to turn over documents regarding his dealings with the Bank of the United States.

1881 – The Greatest Show on Earth is born when P.T. Barnum and James Bailey merge their circus troupes.

1915 – The first American is killed during World War I, before the U.S. had even entered the conflict. Leon Thrasher, a 31-year-old mining engineer from Massachusetts, drowns when a German U-boat (submarine) torpedoes the British steamship RMS Falaba off the coast of England. The vessel was on its way from Liverpool to West Africa when the Germans attacked. The sinking is reported by American media as the “Thrasher Incident.”

1969 – Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and one of the most highly decorated American generals of World War II, dies at the age of 78.

1979 – The worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history takes place at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, PA. A mechanical failure in the Unit 2 reactor, compounded by human error, forces thousands to evacuate and triggers a public backlash against the nuclear power industry.

1984 – Baltimore Colts owner Robert Irsay outrages fans and local officials when he moves the NFL franchise to Indianapolis in the middle of the night with no public announcement.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1958 – Composer William Christopher “W.C.” Handy, regarded as the “Father of the Blues,” dies in New York City.

1964 – “She Loves You,” by The Beatles, tops the U.S. pop chart. It is the second of three consecutive singles that keep The Beatles at No. 1 from the beginning of February through the beginning of May of that year.

1970 – “Bridge over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, sits at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1981 – Kim Carnes delivers new music to the Billboard singles chart in the form of “Bette Davis Eyes,” which reaches No. 1 that May and holds there for nine weeks.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, becomes the first rap song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track, off the band’s “Autoamerican” album, claims the top spot for two weeks.

1987 – Club Nouveau’s cover of the Bill Withers soul classic, “Lean On Me, ” wraps up two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1992 – Vanessa Williams rules the singles chart for five weeks beginning this day with “Save the Best for Last.”

1998 – Will Smith wraps up a three-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It.”

2001 – Sean Combs, the Grammy-winning artist formerly known as both Puffy and Puff Daddy, tells MTV that he now wants to be known as P. Diddy. In August 2005, he changes his stage name to simply Diddy.

2009 – “Right Round,” by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, tops the pop chart.

READ MORE
On This Day: January 9

On This Day January 9

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Richard Nixon, 37th U.S. president (d. 1994)

1935 – Actor Bob Denver, best known for his starring role in “Gilligan’s Island” (d. 2005)

1941 – Folk singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez 

1944 – Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page

1951 – Grammy-winning country singer Crystal Gayle (“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”)

1955 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor J.K. Simmons, born Jonathan Kimble Simmons (“Oz,” “Law & Order,” “Juno,” “The Closer,” “Spider-Man,” “Whiplash,” “The Accountant”)

1967 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and actor Dave Matthews (“Ants Marching,” “So Much to Say,” “Crash Into Me,” “Satellite”)

1982 – Kate (Catherine) Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

History Highlights
History Highlights

1768 – Englishman Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London, drawing up a ring and inviting the public to see him on a horse waving a sword in the air while he rode with one foot on the saddle and one on the horse’s head.

1951 – The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City along the East River in Manhattan. 

1965 – “Goldfinger,” starring Sean Connery as British secret agent James Bond (007), opens in movie theaters across the U.S. It is the third installment in the James Bond franchise, but the first to become a blockbuster and capture an Oscar.

1972 – Fire breaks out aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Victoria Harbor during a project to convert the luxury liner into a floating school and the vessel capsizes. 

2007 – “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” With those words, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone at the Macworld convention in San Francisco, calling the device “a revolutionary mobile phone” and “Internet communicator.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – “Wonderland by Night,” by Bert Kaempfert, begins three weeks on top of the singles chart.

1968 – Elvis Presley’s “Guitar Man,” from the “Clambake” movie soundtrack, is released. The song eventually reaches No. 1 on the country chart and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1971 – George Harrison is mid-way through a four-week domination of the singles chart with “My Sweet Lord.” It’s Harrison’s first hit as a solo act following the breakup of The Beatles.

1981 – One month after his murder, ex-Beatle John Lennon is at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Double Fantasy.” The album, which he co-produced with wife Yoko Ono, spends eight weeks on top of the album chart and captures Album of the Year honors at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.

1988 – Whitney Houston scores her sixth consecutive chart-topping single with “So Emotional,” off her “Whitney” album.

1999 – The Céline Dion-R. Kelly duet, “I’m Your Angel,” begins its sixth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2010 – Kesha is in the middle of a nine-week domination of the singles chart with “Tik Tok.”

2016 – “Hello,” by Adele, is in its ninth week as a No. 1 single. The track holds the top spot for a total of 10 weeks and goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance Grammys.

READ MORE