On This Day April 21 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1816 – Novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë, the eldest of the three sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels, including “Jane Eyre,” became classics of English literature (d. 1855) 1828 – Naturalist-conservationist John Muir (d. 1914) 1915 – Oscar-winning actor Anthony Quinn (“Viva Zapata!,” “Lust for Life,” “Zorba the Greek”) (d. 2001) 1926 – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history (d.2022) 1935 – Actor-comedian Charles Grodin (“The Heartbreak Kid,” “Beethoven,” “Dave,” “Midnight Run”) 1947 – Punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg, Jr. 1951 – Professional boxer-turned-actor Tony Danza (“Taxi,” “Who’s The Boss?”) 1958 – Actress-model Andie MacDowell (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Groundhog Day,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Michael,” “Multiplicity,” “Cedar Cove”) History Highlights 1836 – Republic of Texas forces (the Texians), led by General Sam Houston, defeat Mexican troops under the command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Battle of San Jacinto, waged just south of present-day Houston. It takes only 18 minutes for the Texians to seize control of the Mexican camp. 1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German World War I flying ace known as “The Red Baron,” is taken out in a hail of Allied gunfire over France. 1952 – The first Secretary’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. Decades later, it is renamed Administrative Professionals’ Day. 1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens, featuring the iconic Space Needle as its centerpiece. The event is the nation’s first World’s Fair since World War II. 1965 – The New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens with a theme of “Peace Through Understanding.” The fair showcases mid-20th Century American culture and technology in 140 pavilions across nearly 650 acres. 1980 – Twenty-six-year-old Rosie Ruiz is crowned the winner in the women’s division of the 84th Boston Marathon only to be stripped of the honor eight days later when officials determine that she cheated by entering the race a mile from the finish line. Musical Milestones 1956 – Elvis Presley scores his first No. 1 single with “Heartbreak Hotel.” The song remains on top of Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart for eight weeks. 1962 – Elvis returns to the top of the singles chart with “Good Luck Charm.” 1973 – Tony Orlando and Dawn begin a four-week run on top of the singles chart with “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree,” which becomes the hottest-selling single of the year. 1984 – Phil Collins has the most popular single on the radio with the title track from the movie “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).” The song spends three weeks at No. 1. 1990 – Paul McCartney sets a new world record for the largest concert audience for a solo artist. A total of 184,000 people attend the final show of his tour at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 1990 – “Nothing Compares 2 U” lands Sinéad O’Connor on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The song was written by Prince. 2008 – Soul singer-songwriter Al Wilson (“The Snake,” “Show and Tell”) dies of kidney failure at the age of 68. 2016 – Pop megastar Prince dies of an accidental opioid overdose at his Paisley Park compound in suburban Minneapolis. He is just 57 years old, and news of his death sends shockwaves among millions of fans around the world. More than 150 million of the Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winner’s records have sold internationally, ranking Prince among the best-selling musicians of all time. READ MORE
On This Day April 14 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1932 – Country music legend Loretta Lynn 1941 – Retired Major League Baseball slugger Pete Rose, a 17-time MLB All-Star and 1973 National League MVP 1960 – Emmy-winning actor and stand-up comedian Brad Garrett, best known for his role as Ray Romano’s sad-sack brother Robert in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” 1968 – Actor Anthony Michael Hall (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Weird Science,” “Edward Scissorhands”) 1973 – Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody (“The Thin Red Line,” “The Pianist,” “The Village,” “Midnight in Paris,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Houdini”) 1977 – Emmy-winning actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (“All My Children,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Cruel Intentions, “Scooby-Doo,” “The Grudge”) History Highlights 1828 – Noah Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language is published. Webster wanted Americans to have a national identity not based on the language and ideas of England. The dictionary, which took Webster more than two decades to complete, introduced more than 10,000 “Americanisms.” 1865 – Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln dies the next day. 1912 – RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic just before midnight during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. More than 1,500 people perish when the luxury liner sinks less than three hours later. 1918 – During World War I, two pilots from the U.S. Army Air Service’s 94th Aero Squadron engage in America’s first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft over Europe’s Western Front. In a battle above Toul, France, aviators Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow shoot down a pair of German two-seaters. Campbell is honored as America’s first “flying ace” about a month later after taking out his fifth enemy plane. 1969 – For the first time in Academy Awards history, there’s a tie for the Best Actress Oscar. The award is shared by Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”) and Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”). 1988 – The Soviet Union withdraws its military forces from Afghanistan. Musical Milestones 1962 – “Johnny Angel,” by Shelley Fabares — the actress best known for her role in “The Donna Reed Show” — starts its second and final week as a No. 1 single. 1979 – The Doobie Brothers rule the singles chart with “What a Fool Believes.” The song goes on to capture Song of the Year and Record of the Year Grammys. 1984 – Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose,” from the movie of the same name, wraps up three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song , but loses to Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from the movie “The Woman in Red.” 1990 – One-hit-wonder Tommy Page begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’ll Be Your Everything.” The song spends 13 weeks in the Top 40 and is certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). 2001 – “All for You,” by Janet Jackson, begins seven weeks on top of the U.S. pop chart and goes on to win a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. It becomes the longest-reigning single of 2001. READ MORE