On This Day: March 12

On This Day March 12

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Beat Generation poet and novelist Jack Kerouac (d. 1969)

1940 – Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Al Jarreau (“We’re in This Love Together,” “Moonlighting” TV theme) (d. 2017)

1946 – Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy-winning singer-actress Liza Minnelli (“Cabaret,” “Lucky Lady,” “New York, New York,” “Arthur”)

1947 – Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter James Taylor (“Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Shower the People”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1912 – Juliette Gordon Low gathers 18 girls in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, to share what she had learned abroad about a new outdoor and educational program for youth. She names the group the “Girl Guides” with a mission to embrace, together, their individuality, strength and intellect, and the Girl Scout Movement is born. Today, that group is known as the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.

1933 – One week after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation by radio from the White House in the first of his Sunday evening “fireside chats.” With nearly all U.S. banks temporarily closed in response to mass withdrawals by a panicked public, Roosevelt calms fears and outlines his plan to restore confidence in the banking system.

1947 – President Harry S. Truman establishes the “Truman Doctrine” to aid in the containment of Communism.

1989 – Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee submits his first proposal for an “information management system” that leads to development of the “World Wide Web” and ultimately revolutionizes global communication and human interaction.

1993 – One day after her Senate confirmation, Janet Reno is sworn in as the first female U.S. Attorney General.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1955 – Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker dies of a heart attack in New York City at the age of 34. Cause of death is determined to be lobar pneumonia and the devastating effects of long-term substance abuse.

1966 – “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” by Cher, premieres on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first solo Top 5 hit. It ultimately reaches No. 2.

1969 – The Temptations become the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award — Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance for “Cloud Nine, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – “Anything For You,” the first of three No. 1 hits for Gloria Estefan, debuts on the singles charts.

1988 – Rick Astley kicks off two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It is the first of Astley’s two career chart-toppers.

1994 – “The Sign,” by Swedish pop group Ace of Base, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks.

2007 – Amy Winehouse makes her American television debut on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” performing “Rehab.” The song goes on to win three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. 

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On This Day: November 6

On This Day November 6

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1854 – Composer John Philip Sousa (“The Stars and Stripes Forever”) (d. 1932)

1914 – Actor Jonathan Harris, born Jonathan Charasuchin, who played Dr. Zachary Smith in the 1960s sci-fi TV series “Lost in Space” (d. 2002)

1931 – Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning director Mike Nichols (“Barefoot in the Park,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” “The Graduate,” ” Silkwood,” “Working Girl,” “Postcards from the Edge,” “The Birdcage,” “Primary Colors,” “Angels in America,” “Closer,” “Charlie Wilson’s War”) (d. 2014)

1946 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Sally Field (“Gidget,” “The Flying Nun,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Sybil,” “Norma Rae,” “Places in the Heart,” “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Forrest Gump,” “Lincoln,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “My Name Is Doris,” “80 for Brady” )

1948 – Grammy-winning singer, songwriter and Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey (d. 2016)

1955 – Journalist, author and former First Lady of California, Maria Shriver

1970 – Actor Ethan Hawke (“Dead Poets Society,” “Reality Bites,” “Before Sunrise,” “Gattaca,” “Training Day,” “Before Sunset,” “The Black Phone,” “The Northman”)

1988 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Emma Stone (“Superbad,” “The Help,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Amazing Spider-Man,” “Birdman,” “La La Land,” “Cruella,” “Poor Things”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1860 – Former Illinois congressman Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th U.S. president, handily defeating three other candidates to become the first Republican to win the presidency.

1962 – The United Nations General Assembly adopts a resolution condemning South Africa’s racist apartheid policies and calling on all its members to end economic and military relations with the country.

1977 – Thirty-nine people die when the Kelly Barnes Dam bursts, sending a wall of water through Toccoa Falls College in Georgia.

1987 – “Less Than Zero” opens in theaters. It’s a movie about a group of wealthy, young friends in 1980s L.A., starring Robert Downey, Jr., Andrew McCarthy, James Spader and Jami Gertz.

1990 – Nearly a fifth of the Universal Studios back lot in southern California is destroyed in a massive fire that was deliberately set. The blaze also consumes vintage cars from the 1920s and 30s, causing an estimated $50 million in damage.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – Jimmy Dean kicks off a five-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Big Bad John.”

1965 – The Rolling Stones are on Cloud 9 when “Get Off Of My Cloud” hits the top spot on the singles chart and floats there for two weeks.

1971 – The soundtrack to the movie “Shaft,” by Isaac Hayes, tops the U.S. album chart.

1971 – “Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves” marks the first of two weeks as a No. 1 hit for Cher. It’s her first chart-topper as a solo act.

1976 –  The Steve Miller Band scores its second Billboard chart-topper with “Rock ‘n’ Me,” off the “Fly Like an Eagle” album.

1982 – Movie music propels Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes to the top of the Billboard singles survey as “Up Where We Belong,” from the motion picture “An Officer And A Gentleman,” begins three weeks at No. 1.

1993 – Meat Loaf starts a five-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’d’ Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).”

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