On This Day: October 27

On This Day October 27

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1858 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States (d. 1919)

1914 – Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, whose works include the poems “Do not go gentle into that good night,” “And death shall have no dominion”, the “Play for Voices” and “Under Milk Wood” (d. 1953)

1922 – Emmy and Grammy-winning actress and playwright Ruby Dee (“A Raisin in the Sun,” “Do The Right Thing,” “The Stand,” “American Gangster”)(d. 2014)

1939 – Actor-comedian, author and Monty Python founder John Cleese (“Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” “Fawlty Towers,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” “Harry Potter,” “Shrek”)

1942 – Country singer Lee Greenwood, best known for his song “God Bless the USA,” which gained popularity following the September 11, 2001 attacks

1952 – Actor-director Roberto Benigni, best known for his Oscar-winning 1997 film “Life Is Beautiful”

1958 – Musician Simon Le Bon, lead singer of the Grammy-winning band Duran Duran (“Girls on Film,” “Hungry Like the Wolf,” “Save a Prayer,” “Rio,” “The Reflex,” “A View to a Kill,” “Ordinary World”)

1984 – Actress, singer and fashion designer Kelly Osbourne, who rose to fame on the reality show about her family, “The Osbournes”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1904 – America’s first rapid transit system begins operating when the New York City subway opens to the public. More than 100,000 people pay a nickel to take their first ride aboard the Interborough Rapid Transit (I.R.T.) under Manhattan.

1954 – “Disneyland,” Walt Disney’s first TV series, premieres on ABC. It airs for 34 seasons, in later years under different names, including “Walt Disney Presents” and “The Wonderful World of Disney.”

1962 – Thirteen days after an American U-2 spy plane first captures photos of Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba aimed at the U.S., a Soviet missile destroys the U.S. Air Force jet during another Cuba flyover. The pilot, Major Rudolf Anderson, Jr., becomes the first casualty of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Anderson’s death is believed to have saved millions of American lives in a potential nuclear attack.

1978 – The Nobel Peace Prize is jointly awarded to Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat in honor of the Camp David Agreement which brought about a negotiated peace between Egypt and Israel.

1986 – The New York Mets become world champions of baseball, as they beat the Boston Red Sox in Game Seven of the World Series, 8-5.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1960 – Soul and R&B sensation Ben E. King records “Spanish Harlem” and “Stand by Me,” launching his successful solo career after leaving The Drifters.

1973 – Gladys Knight & the Pips have their first No. 1 single with “Midnight Train To Georgia,” which stays on top of the pop chart for two weeks and goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group or Chorus. 

1975 – Bruce Springsteen’s early career gets a shot in the arm as he lands on the covers of two national news magazines on the same day — Newsweek and Time.

1982 – Prince releases his breakthrough double-album “1999,” which contains the hits “1999” and “Little Red Corvette.” The album peaks at No. 9 a few months later, but climbs to No. 7 on the Billboard album chart following Prince’s death in 2016.

1984 – “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” by Stevie Wonder, marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1990 – Janet Jackson rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Black Cat,” off her “Rhythm Nation 1814” album.

2001 – “I’m Real (Murder Remix),” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, is in its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

2006 – Amy Winehouse releases her second and final studio album, “Back to Black,” which spawns five singles, including “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good.” It goes on to capture Album of the Year honors at the 50th Annual Grammy Awards. 

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On this Day: July 17

On this Day July 17

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1899 – Oscar-winning actor James Cagney (“Yankee Doodle Dandy,” “Angels With Dirty Faces,” “Love Me or Leave Me”) (d. 1986)

1912 – Radio and TV host Art Linkletter (“House Party,” “People Are Funny”) (d. 2010)

1917 – Comedian-actress-author Phyllis Diller (d. 2012)

1935 – Actress-singer Diahann Carroll (“Julia,” “Claudine,” “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” “Dynasty”) (d. 2019)

1935 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Donald Sutherland (“M*A*S*H,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers,” “Ordinary People,” “Backdraft,” “Space Cowboys,” “The Hunger Games” movie series)

1950 – Singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow, best known for her 1975 chart-topping hit “Poetry Man” (d. 2011)

1951 – Actress-singer-dancer Lucie Arnaz (“Here’s Lucy,” “The Jazz Singer,” “Down to You”)  

1952 – Actor David Hasselhoff (“Knight Rider,” “Baywatch,” “Click,” “Dodgeball,” “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” “Hop”)

1976 – Country music singer Luke Bryan (“All My Friends Say,” “Rain Is a Good Thing,” “Someone Else Calling You Baby,” “I Don’t Want This Night to End”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1955 – Disneyland, America’s first theme park, opens in Anaheim, California. The Walt Disney Company built the $17 million complex on 160 acres of former orange groves and it quickly became a cash cow. Each year, Disneyland hosts over 14 million visitors who spend close to $3 billion.

1975 – Two Cold War adversaries meet in space for the docking of the U.S. spacecraft Apollo 18 and the Soviet’s Soyuz 19. It is the final Apollo mission.

1980 – Ronald Reagan, an actor who went on to become governor of California, accepts the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency at the party’s national convention in Detroit. 

1981 – A walkway at the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri collapses during a dance party, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200. 

1996 – Minutes after takeoff from New York’s JFK International Airport, a TWA 747 jetliner bound for Paris explodes over the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 people aboard. A lengthy and extensive investigation concludes that the flight was brought down by a fuel tank explosion, but others dispute the findings citing eyewitness accounts of missile-like objects that allegedly flew toward the plane.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1959 – Billie Holiday, widely regarded as the greatest jazz vocalist of all time, dies at the age of 44 of heart and liver disease following years of alcohol and drug abuse.

1961 – “Tossin’ and Turnin’,” by Bobby Lewis, is No. 1 on both the Billboard singles and R&B charts. It remains atop the singles chart for seven weeks and the R&B chart for 10.

1967 – Iconic jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer John Coltrane dies of liver cancer at age 40. 

1968 – The Beatles’ psychedelic cinematic adventure, “Yellow Submarine,” premieres in London, introducing fans to Blue Meanies and a host of new hits. The animated movie musical opens in the U.S. four months later.

1971 – Carole King enters her fifth and final week on top of the Billboard pop chart with “It’s Too Late,” off her Grammy-winning “Tapestry” album.

1982 – “Don’t You Want Me,” by The Human League, begins its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1999 – Destiny’s Child is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bills, Bills, Bills.”

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