On this Day: July 19

On this Day July 19

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1941 – Grammy-winning singer Vikki Carr, best known for her 1967 hit “It Must Be Him” 

1947 – Singer-songwriter Brian May, best known as lead guitarist for the rock band Queen

1954 – Actress Kathleen Turner (“Body Heat,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Romancing the Stone,” “War of the Roses”)

1961 – Actor Campbell Scott (“Longtime Companion,” “Dying Young,” “Big Night,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”)

1962 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Anthony Edwards (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Revenge of the Nerds,” “Top Gun,” “Zodiac,” “Miracle Mile,” “ER”)

1976 – Emmy-winning actor Benedict Cumberbatch (“War Horse,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “Star Trek: Into the Darkness,” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “12 Years a Slave,” “The Fifth Estate,” “The Imitation Game”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1848 – The first women’s rights convention called by abolitionists Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott takes place in Seneca Falls, New York. More than 300 men and women gather for the two-day event to “discuss the social, civil and religious rights and condition of woman.”

1879 – Dentist-turned-gunslinger Doc Holliday kills for the first time, shooting a man who started randomly firing his gun outside the Las Vegas, New Mexico saloon that Holliday owned.

1956 – Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announces that the U.S. will not help Egypt fund construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. The move leads to bumpy U.S.-Middle East relations for years to come.

1984 – New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro officially wins the Democratic nomination for vice president during the party’s convention in San Francisco. She becomes the first woman to run on a major party ticket.

1989 – It’s a tragic day for commercial air travel as 112 people are killed when United Airlines Flight 232, a DC-10 en route to Chicago from Denver, crashes during an emergency landing at Sioux City, Iowa. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – Wedding bells ring as legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra marries actress Mia Farrow. He’s 50, she’s 21. The marriage lasts just two years.

1969 – Zager and Evans are No. 1 on the pop chart with “In the Year 2525.”

1974 – The three-day Ozark Music Festival opens at the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia, Missouri, and draws a crowd estimated at 350,000 — bigger than the more famous Woodstock Festival. Acts include Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Blue Öyster Cult, Eagles, Aerosmith, America, Jefferson Starship, the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Joe Walsh.

1975 – Paul McCartney and Wings reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Listen To What The Man Said” off the “Venus and Mars” album.

1980 – Billy Joel holds the top position of both the album and singles charts. His album, “Glass Houses,” contains his first and biggest No. 1 hit, “It’s Still Rock ’n’ Roll to Me.”

1986 – “Invisible Touch,” off the Genesis album of the same name, grabs hold of the top spot on the Billboard singles chart for a week. It is the band’s first and only U.S. No. 1.

1988 – A year before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Bruce Springsteen performs for more than 300,000 fans in East Berlin, saying “I’m not here for any government. I’ve come to play rock ‘n’ roll for you in the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down.”

1997 – “I’ll Be Missing You,” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112, is midway through an 11-week domination of the pop chart.

2003 – No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second straight week: “Crazy in Love,” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z. 

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On this Day: May 25

On this Day May 25

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Robert Ludlum, author of more than 20 thrillers, including the Jason Bourne spy novels (d. 2001)

1939 – Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Sir Ian McKellen, best known as Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Magneto in the “X-Men” movies

1943 – Tony and Emmy-winning actress-singer Leslie Uggams (“Hallelujah, Baby!,” “Roots”)

1944 – Emmy-winning actor-director and “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show” puppeteer Frank Oz, who also provided the voice of Yoda in the “Star Wars” movies

1963 – Emmy-winning comedic actor Mike Myers (“Saturday Night Live,” “Wayne’s World,” “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” and the “Austin Powers” and “Shrek” movie series)

1969 – Actress Anne Heche (“Donnie Brasco,” “Volcano,” “Wag the Dog,” “Six Days Seven Nights,” “John Q,” “Men in Trees”) (d. 2022)

1972 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Octavia Spencer (“A Time to Kill,” “The Help,” “Hidden Figures,” “The Shape of Water”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1961 – Addressing a special joint session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy announces his goal to send an American to the moon before the end of the decade. He also requests financial support for an accelerated space program.

1977 – “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” With those words on the screen, cinematic history is made as George Lucas’ epic sci-fi adventure “Star Wars” opens on Memorial Day weekend at just 32 theaters across the U.S. with no official premiere. By August, more than 1,000 theaters are screening the film, propelling it box office glory. Later renamed “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,” the movie captures seven Academy Awards and becomes a marketing bonanza.

1979 – This day marks the worst domestic air crash in U.S. history. American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashes during takeoff at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground. Investigators blame a faulty pylon assembly for the tragedy in which the left engine fell off the LA-bound aircraft.

1979 – Six-year old Etan Patz disappears while walking two blocks from home to his bus stop in Manhattan. Investigators have the boy’s face and description printed on milk cartons all across the U.S. in hopes that someone would find him — the first time that method is used to aid in a missing child case. It takes 38 years for authorities to find and convict the suspect in Patz’s kidnapping and murder.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1963 – Jimmy Soul enjoys his second and final week on top of the pop chart with “If You Wanna Be Happy.”

1965 – Blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson dies in his sleep at age 65. Over the years, Van Morrison, Aerosmith, The Who, The Animals, Yardbirds and The Moody Blues have all covered his songs.

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bookends” becomes the duo’s second No. 1 album, delivering such classic tracks as “Mrs. Robinson,” “America,” “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” and “At The Zoo.” The album holds the top spot for three weeks.

1973 – More than 100,000 people flock to New York’s Central Park for a free concert by singer-songwriting sensation Carole King.

1974 – Ray Stevens’ novelty song, “The Streak,” is in the midst of a three-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – “Everything She Wants,” by Wham! (featuring George Michael), begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It becomes the pop duo’s third consecutive million-selling No. 1 hit in the U.S.

1991 – Mariah Carey’s “I Don’t Wanna Cry” rules the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

1996 – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony claim the top spot on the pop chart with “Tha Crossroads.”

2002 – “Foolish,” by Ashanti, is in its sixth week as a Billboard singles chart-topper. It spends another four weeks at No. 1.

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