On This Day: March 22

On This Day March 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Karl Malden (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Streets of San Francisco”), best remembered for his line, “Don’t leave home without them,” in American Express commercials (d. 2009)

1923 – French actor and world renowned mine artist Marcel Marceau, most famous for his stage persona, “Bip the Clown.” (d. 2007)

1930 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “Sweeney Todd”) (d. 2021)

1931 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and author William Shatner, best known as Captain James T. Kirk in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1943 – Grammy-winning jazz guitarist-singer George Benson (“Breezin’,” “This Masquerade,” “On Broadway,” “Give Me The Night”) 

1948 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Cats,” “Evita,” “The Phantom of the Opera”) 

1948 – CNN anchor and host Wolf Blitzer

1952 – Emmy-winning NBC sportscaster and Olympic Games anchor Bob Costas 

1959 – Actor Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Married to the Mob,” “Memphis Belle,” “And The Band Played On,” “The Dark Knight Rises”)

1976 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress-producer Reese Witherspoon (“Pleasantville,” the “Legally Blonde” movies, “Walk the Line,” “Gone Girl,” “Wild”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act to help fund British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents and playing cards. Reactions range from boycotts of British goods to more violent protests, including riots and attacks on tax collectors.

1933 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Beer-Wine Revenue Act into law. The measure legalizes the sale of alcoholic beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol (this level was declared non-intoxicating). Prohibition is officially repealed by the 21st Amendment in December 1933.

1972 – The Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and sends it to the states for ratification. However, it falls short of the required three-fourths approval.

1983 – The Pentagon awards a $1.2 billion contract to AM General Corporation to develop 55,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), nicknamed the Humvee. Designed to transport troops and cargo, these workhorses became widely recognized when used by the U.S. military during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the first Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.

1984 – Teachers at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with satanic ritual-related abuse of their students. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases his fifth studio album,” Bringing It All Back Home” — the first of Dylan’s albums to break into the Billboard Top 10. The lead-off track, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” becomes Dylan’s first single to chart, peaking at No. 39.

1969 – “Dizzy,” by Tommy Roe, is in the midst of four weeks as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

1975 – Frankie Valli owns the hottest single for a week with “My Eyes Adored You.”

1975 – Led Zeppelin launches a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Physical Graffiti,” the group’s fourth chart-topping album. Among the most popular tracks on this double-album are “Kashmir,” “In My Time of Dying” and “Trampled Under Foot.”

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” is on top of the singles chart and holds there for four weeks. It’s the only No. 1 single the band has ever had in the U.S.

1986 – “These Dreams,” by Heart, becomes the sister duo’s first Billboard chart-topper. The song, co-written by longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, was originally offered to Stevie Nicks, who turned it down. The track spends a week at No. 1.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, kicks off a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “In da Club,” by 50 Cent, is in the middle of nine-weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

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On This Day: January 22

On This Day January 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Soul singing sensation Sam Cooke (“You Send Me,” “Chain Gang” and “Twistin’ the Night Away”) (d. 1964)

1934 – Actor Bill Bixby (“My Favorite Martian,” “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “The Incredible Hulk”) (d. 1993)

1940 – Actor John Hurt (“A Man For All Seasons,” “Midnight Express,” “Alien,” “The Elephant Man”) (d. 2017)

1949 – Journey frontman Steve Perry

1959 – Actress Linda Blair, best known for her portrayal of the demonically possessed girl in the horror movie “The Exorcist”

1960 – INXS founding member and frontman Michael Hutchence (d. 1997)

1965 – Actress Diane Lane (“Unfaithful,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Man of Steel”)

1968 – Restaurateur and TV host Guy Fieri (“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1968 – The variety show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” premieres on NBC and helps launch the acting careers of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin and many others. 

1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court delivers its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing elective abortion in all 50 states. The 7-2 ruling means that a woman’s right to privacy extends to her right to make her own medical decisions, including having an abortion.

1973 – George Foreman is crowned World Heavyweight Boxing Champion after knocking out Joe Frazier in two rounds during “The Sunshine Showdown” in Kingston, Jamaica. 

1973 – Four years after completing his last term as U.S. president, Lyndon Johnson dies at his Texas ranch at the age of 64. 

1998 – Mathematics professor-turned-domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. “The Unabomber”) pleads guilty to federal charges in connection with his 17-year campaign of package bombings that killed three people and injured more than 20 others. He receives a life sentence.

2008 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Heath Ledger, best known for his roles in the movies “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight,” dies from accidental intoxication by prescription drugs at the age of 28.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1963 – The Drifters enter a studio to record their classic, “On Broadway,” which climbs as high as No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. In 1978, George Benson’s cover of the hit makes it to No. 7 on the pop chart.

1966 – “The Sounds of Silence,” by Simon & Garfunkel, is the No. 1 single. 

1966 – Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, steps onto the Billboard Hot 100 with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” The track marches its way to No. 1 about a month later.

1977 – Stevie Wonder is on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Wish.” 

1983 – “Down Under,” by Australian band Men At Work, is mid-way through a three-week reign over the Billboard singles chart.

1994 – “All For Love” by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting is the No. 1 single. The track is from the movie “The Three Musketeers.”

2000 – Christina Aguilera has the No. 1 single with “What a Girl Wants.”

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On this Day: July 31

On this Day July 31

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1945 – Singer-songwriter and former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch (d. 2012)

1956 – Actor Michael Biehn (“Logan’s Run,” “The Terminator”)

1958 – Mark Cuban, entrepreneur, Dallas Mavericks owner and panelist on ABC’s “Shark Tank”

1962 – Actor Wesley Snipes (“Mo’ Better Blues,” “New Jack City,” “Passenger 57,” “Demolition Man,” “Money Train,” “Blade”) 

1965 – British author J.K. Rowling, best known for her “Harry Potter” series 

1979 – Actor-comedian-author B.J. Novak (“The Office,” “Inglorious Basterds,” “Saving Mr. Banks”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1941 – Hermann Göring, writing under instructions from German dictator Adolf Hitler, orders Reinhard Heydrich, SS general and Heinrich Himmler’s No. 2 man, “to submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question.”

1961 – The first tie in All-Star Game history takes place at Fenway Park in Boston when the game is stopped in the ninth inning because of rain. Players included such future Hall of Famers as Roberto Clemente, Brooks Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Nellie Fox, Willie Mays and Yogi Berra. The next tie to occur during a playing of the Midsummer Classic would be in 2002.

1964 – Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon. 

1971 – Humans take the first drive on the moon, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin cruise the dusty and bumpy surface in their lunar rover vehicle (LRV). It marks NASA’s first use of an LRV, which, among other tasks, enabled the astronauts to collect 179 pounds of lunar rocks and soil to be studied back on Earth.

1975 – Former Teamsters Union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of a suburban Detroit restaurant, never to be seen or heard from again. In 1982, he is officially declared dead. 

1981 – Cries of “play ball” echo throughout American ballparks after a seven-week players’ strike centered around compensation for free agents ends.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1968 – The Beatles begin a two-day recording session at London’s Trident Studios to produce “Hey Jude.”

1971 – James Taylor has the No. 1 single with “You’ve Got a Friend,” written by Carole King, which goes on to capture Grammy Awards both for Taylor (Best Male Pop Vocal Performance) and King (Song of the Year).

1976 – Jazz and soul singer-guitarist George Benson’s “Breezin’” begins two weeks on top of the Billboard album chart. 

1993 – UB40 is on top of the singles chart with their cover of Elvis Presley’s “(I Can’t Help) Falling In Love.” The song remains at No. 1 for seven weeks. Elvis’ original version from 1961 only got as high as No. 2.

1999 – Christina Aguilera kicks off five weeks at No. 1 the Billboard Hot 100 with “Genie in a Bottle.”

2004 – Usher wraps up two weeks at No. 1 on the singles chart with Confessions Part II.

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