On This Day: December 7

On This Day December 7

Click each item below to learn more!

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.

READ MORE
On This Day: November 29

On This Day November 29

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Retired Hall of Fame sportscaster Vin Scully, play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn and later the Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 seasons

1935 – Golden Globe-winning actress Diane Ladd, born Rose Diane Lanier (“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Alice,” “Wild at Heart,” “Rambling Rose”)

1940 – Jazz trumpeter Chuck Mangione, best known for his 1978 smash “Feels So Good”

1949 – Comedian-actor Garry Shandling (“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) (d. 2016)

1954 – Oscar-winning director Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers (“Blood Simple,” “Raising Arizona,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” “No Country for Old Men,” “A Serious Man,” “True Grit”)

1955 – Comedian-actor and TV host-judge Howie Mandel (“St. Elsewhere,” “Deal or No Deal,” “Bobby’s World,” “America’s Got Talent”)

1960 – Actress Cathy Moriarty (“Raging Bull,” “Soapdish,” “The Mambo Kings,” “Casper,” “Analyze That,” “The Bounty Hunter”)

1961 – Emmy-winning actress Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue,” “All My Children,” “Philly,” “CSI: Miami”)

1962 – Actor-director Andrew McCarthy (“St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Mannequin,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Less Than Zero,” “Orange is the New Black”)

1964 – Golden Globe-winning actor Don Cheadle (“Boogie Nights,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Crash,” “House of Lies,” “Iron Man 2,” “Iron Man 3,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1929 – American explorer Richard Byrd and three companions make the first flight over the South Pole.

1947 – Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

1962 – Britain and France announce a joint agreement to design and build Concorde, the world’s first supersonic airliner.

1963 – One week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the fatal shooting. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Commission later concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

1981 – Actress Natalie Wood, who starred in such movies as “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Splendor in the Grass” and “West Side Story,“ drowns in a boating accident near California’s Catalina Island at the age of 43. Although the Hollywood star’s death was officially labeled accidental, suspicion continues to swirl around the case.

1986 – Two-time Oscar nominee Cary Grant (“The Philadelphia Story,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “Notorious,” “North By Northwest”) dies of a stroke at the age of 82.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – “Come Together/Something,” by The Beatles, claims the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. It is the band’s 18th chart-topper.

1975 – Silver Convention soars to the top of the singles chart with “Fly, Robin, Fly.” The disco smash nests there for three weeks.

1986 – Bon Jovi has its first No. 1 single with “You Give Love a Bad Name,” off the “Slippery When Wet” album. The track remains on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

1997 – Barbra Streisand’s “Higher Ground,” her first album in four years, tops the Billboard album chart. It contains the Grammy-nominated duet, “Tell Him,” with Celine Dion.

2001 – Beatles guitarist, singer and songwriter George Harrison loses his battle with cancer at the age of 58.

2003 – “Baby Boy,” by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, wraps up a nine-week run as a Billboard chart-topper.

READ MORE