On This Day April 25 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1874 – Nobel Prize-winning radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937) 1908 – Pioneering broadcast journalist and longtime CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow (d. 1965) 1917 – Legendary Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Song” (d. 1996) 1932 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, born Meadow Lemon III (d. 2015) 1940 – Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor Al Pacino (“The Godfather” movie series, “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” ” …And Justice for All,” “Scarface,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “The Insider,” “Oceans Thrteen,” “Danny Collins,” “The Irishman,” “Hunters”) 1946 – Actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” films and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series 1964 – Emmy-winning actor-producer-comedian Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons,” “The Birdcage,” “Mystery Men,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “The Smurfs,” “Brockmire”) 1969 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Renée Zellweger (“Jerry McGuire,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Me Myself and Irene,” “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Cinderella Man”) History Highlights 1901 – New York becomes the first state to require license plates on cars. Owners had to display their initials on the back of the vehicle and the letters had to be at least three inches tall. Since the state did not produce license plates, owners were forced to make their own, and they did so using metal, leather or wood — or they painted their initials directly onto the vehicle. In 1903, Massachusetts became the first state to produce license plates. 1945 – A milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe is achieved when U.S. and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting Nazi Germany in two. 1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs the nation that eight U.S. servicemen were killed in the collision of two military aircraft to be used to rescue 52 Americans held hostage in Iran. Those hostages are finally freed the following January, on the day Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president. 1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov personally invites American fifth-grader Samantha Smith of Maine to visit his country after reading her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. She makes the trip that summer and becomes an honorary ambassador for peace at a time when U.S.-Soviet relations were strained during the Cold War. Sadly, Smith dies in a plane crash two years later. 1990 – The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. Hubble — named after astronomer Edwin Hubble — continues to provide astronomers with an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. 1995 – Oscar-winning entertainer Ginger Rogers, best known for her films with dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83. Musical Milestones 1956 – Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley signs a seven-year movie contract with Paramount Pictures. 1960 – Elvis Presley gets stuck on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks with “Stuck On You.” It’s his first hit single following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army. 1970 – The Jackson 5 give The Beatles’ “Let It Be” the boot and claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks with “ABC.” 1981 – Daryl Hall and John Oates begin their third and final week as chart-toppers with “Kiss On My List.” 1987 – U2 begin a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “The Joshua Tree,” which packs chart-topping tracks including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It goes on to capture Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. 1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival is auctioned off for a record $330,000. His two-hour set at the 1969 rock festival included a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” 1992 – “Jump,” by hip hop duo Kris Kross, grabs the top spot on the singles chart and remains there for eight weeks. 1998 – Next has the No. 1 single with “Too Close.” The track remains on top of the pop chart for five weeks. 2007 – Leukemia claims the life of 69-year-old Bobby “Boris” Pickett, best known for his hit novelty song “Monster Mash,” which still gets radio airplay every Halloween. READ MORE
On This Day October 29 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1891 – Actress-singer-comedian Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, best known for her work with the Ziegfeld Follies (portrayed by Barbra Streisand in the movie “Funny Girl”) (d. 1951) 1925 – Best-selling author, journalist and TV personality Dominick Dunne, who covered high-profile murder cases, including the O. J. Simpson trial, for Vanity Fair (d. 2009) 1945 – Tony-winning singer and actress Melba Moore (“This Is It,” “Lean on Me,” “Love’s Comin’ At Ya”) 1947 – Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss (“American Graffiti,” “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “The Goodbye Girl,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”) 1948 – Actress Kate Jackson (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”) 1957 – Actor Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson and several other characters in “The Simpsons” 1971 – Golden Globe-winning actress Winona Ryder, born Winona Laura Horowitz (“Beetlejuice,” “Heathers,” “Mermaids,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Reality Bites,” “Girl, Interrupted,” “Mr. Deeds”) History Highlights 1901 – President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, is executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York. Czolgosz had shot McKinley on September 6, 1901. The president succumbed to his wounds eight days later. 1929 – Pandemonium erupts on Wall Street as the New York Stock Exchange crashes. Black Tuesday, as it is known, is considered the worst economic event in world history and triggers the Great Depression. 1966 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) is established as the grassroots arm of the women’s movement. 1969 – The Internet is born as bits of electronic data begin to flow between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. 1998 – Nearly four decades after making history as the first American to orbit the Earth, U.S. Senator John Glenn heads back into space — this time as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. At 77, Glenn becomes the oldest human ever to travel in space. Musical Milestones 1966 – The Michigan-based garage rock band Question Mark & the Mysterians dominates the singles chart with “96 Tears.” Some music critics credit the song with starting the punk rock movement. 1971 – Guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dies in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia just three weeks shy of his 25th birthday. 1972 – The novelty song “My Ding-a-Ling” becomes rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry’s first and only No. 1 single, holding the top spot for two weeks. The track was recorded eight months earlier in concert at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England. 1977 – “You Light Up My Life,” by Debby Boone, is in the midst of a 10-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. 1983 – The Dolly Parton-Kenny Rogers duet “Islands In The Stream” is the No. 1 single. The song, written by the Bee Gees, holds the top spot for two weeks. 1988 – Phil Collins holds first place on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Groovy Kind of Love,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Buster,” in which Collins stars. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. 1994 – Boyz II Men continue their 14-week rule over the singles chart with “I’ll Make Love to You.” 2005 – “Gold Digger,” by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, is in the middle of 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 2011 – Adele rules the pop chart with “Someone Like You.” READ MORE
On This Day September 29 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1907 – Entertainer Gene Autry, born Orvon Grover Autry, affectionately known as “The Singing Cowboy” (d. 1998) 1929 – NFL coach Bum Phillips, most associated with the former Houston Oilers (d. 2013) 1935 – Rock and Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” “Great Balls of Fire”) 1942 – Jazz-rock violinist-composer Jean Luc Ponty 1942 – Actress Madeline Kahn, born Madeline Gail Wolfson, best known for her roles in the Mel Brooks comedies “Blazing Saddles,” “High Anxiety” and “Young Frankenstein” (d. 1999) 1943 – Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa, former Polish president and leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement 1948 – Emmy-winning former “Today Show” co-host and “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” host Bryant Gumbel 1980 – Actor Zachary Levi (“Less Than Perfect,” “Chuck,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “Tangled,” “Thor: The Dark World”) History Highlights 1941 – The Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children begins on the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine. The two-day bloodbath becomes a symbol of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust. 1966 – General Motors rolls out the sporty Chevy Camaro in an effort to go head-to-head with the popular Ford Mustang, which debuted two years earlier. 1988 – NASA launches the so-called “Return to Flight Mission” — the first space shuttle launch since the devastating Challenger explosion that claimed the lives of all seven crew members in January 1986. STS-26 marks the seventh flight for shuttle Discovery. 1988 – Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, becomes the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. 1995 – President Bill Clinton posthumously awards voting rights advocate Willie Velasquez the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Velasquez and the organizations he founded are credited with dramatically increasing political awareness and participation among the Hispanic communities of the Southwestern U.S. 2005 – New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from a federal detention center after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the leaking of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. 2008 – Congress fails to pass a $700 billion bank bailout plan, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 780 points — at the time, the largest single-day point loss in history. The free fall follows the bankruptcies of Wall Street brokerage firm Lehman Brothers, Savings and Loan bank Washington Mutual and the Fed’s pledge to extend an $85 billion bailout for insurance provider AIG. Musical Milestones 1962 – “Sherry,” by The Four Seasons, is in the middle of a five-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart. 1973 – Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is the No. 1 single. 1976 – Enjoying a little target practice during his own birthday party, rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shoots his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, in the chest. Twice! Owens survives and sues Lewis. 1979 – The Knack begin their fifth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sharona.” 1984 – Prince and the Revolution rule the singles chart with “Let’s Go Crazy,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Purple Rain.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks. 1990 – The hard rock band Nelson begins one week atop the pop chart with “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.” 2004 – Keith Moon’s five-piece silver Premier drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sells for £120,000 ($215,772 U.S.) at Christie’s auction house in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums. 2007 – “Stronger,” by Kanye West, is the No. 1 single. READ MORE