On This Day: March 8

On This Day March 8

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1921 – Actor Alan Hale, Jr., best remembered as the “Skipper” in the popular 1960s sitcom, “Gilligan’s Island” (d. 1990)

1945 – Micky Dolenz, drummer and lead vocalist for the 1960s rock band The Monkees

1958 – Musician Gary Numan (“Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Cars”) 

1959 – Actor Aidan Quinn (“Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Benny and Joon,” “Legends of the Fall,” “Blink,” “Michael Collins,” “Elementary”)

1959 – TV journalist Lester Holt, anchor of “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline NBC”

1976 – Actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. (“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” “She’s All That,” “Summer Catch,” “Scooby-Doo,” “24”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1950 – The Volkswagen microbus (also known as the VW Type 2) goes into production, becoming an icon of America’s counter-culture movement as the vehicle of choice for hippies during the 1960s. 

1971 – Boxing titans Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier meet for the “Fight of the Century” before a crowd of more than 20,000 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The showdown marks Ali’s return to the ring three and a-half years after his boxing license was revoked over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. Frazier wins by unanimous decision, retaining his heavyweight champion title and delivering Ali the first loss of his career.

1973 – Terrorists affiliated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off two powerful car bombs in London, killing one person and injuring 243 others. Most of the suspects are arrested trying to leave Heathrow Airport. The blasts cause chaos not seen since World War II.

1983 – Addressing the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Florida, President Ronald Reagan publicly refers to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” for the second time in his political career.

1993 – MTV airs the first episode of the animated series “Beavis and Butthead,” which goes on to become the network’s highest-rated series up to that point.

1999 – Baseball legend and cultural icon Joe DiMaggio (“The Yankee Clipper”), who devoted his entire 13-year Major League Baseball career as a New York Yankees center fielder, dies at the age of 84.

2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, loses contact with air traffic control less than an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur then veers off course and vanishes. Most of the Boeing 777, and everyone on board, are never seen again.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” which becomes his first Top 40 single, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track, from his “Bringing it All Back Home” album, is used in one of the first modern promotional film clips ever produced — a precursor to the music video.

1969 – “Everyday People,” by Sly & the Family Stone, enters its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single. The track is the band’s first chart-topper. 

1975 – Olivia Newton-John’s “Have You Never Been Mellow” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her second consecutive U.S. chart-topper.

1980 – Queen is in the midst of a four-week ride atop the singles chart with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” — the band’s first U.S. No. 1.

1986 – “Kyrie,” by Mr. Mister, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1997 – The Spice Girls are mid-way through a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Wannabe.”

2003 – 50 Cent kicks off nine weeks on top of the pop chart with “In da Club” — his first No. 1 single.

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On This Day: October 24

On This Day October 24

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1930 – Rock & roll singer The Big Bopper, born Jiles Perry “J.P.” Richardson, Jr., who died in a plane crash with musicians Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens (d. 1959)

1939 – Oscar-winning actor F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus,” “Finding Forrester,” “Mighty Aphrodite,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Grand Budapest Hotel”)

1947 – Oscar and Tony-winning actor Kevin Kline (“Sophie’s Choice,” “The Big Chill,” “A Fish Called Wanda,” “Dave,” “Cry Freedom”)

1960 – Tony-winning actor B.D. Wong (“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Seven Years in Tibet,” “Oz,” “Awake,” “Jurassic Park,” “Jurassic World”)

1986 – Grammy-winning rapper-actor Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, best known as Jimmy Brooks in TV’s “Degrassi: The Next Generation,” and for hit songs like “Best I Ever Had” and “Take Care”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1901 – On her 63rd birthday, widowed schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a wooden barrel and survive. Dubbing herself “Queen of the Mist,” Taylor had hoped the publicity stunt would generate money for her retirement, but 19 years later, she dies in poverty.

1929 – Frenzied trading begins on the New York Stock Exchange and culminates days later with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, which sends the United States into the Great Depression.

1931 – New York Governor Franklin Roosevelt dedicates the George Washington Bridge, a majestic span linking New York to New Jersey over the Hudson River. The bridge was the longest of its kind in the world at that time — 3,500 feet — and was completed ahead of schedule and under budget.

1945 – The United Nations (U.N.) is established to promote cooperation among the nations of the world. A charter officially creating the U.N. had been ratified four months earlier by China, France, the Soviet Union, the U.S., the U.K. and other signatories.

1978 – The U.N. General Assembly urges member states to call attention to the danger of the arms race and promote disarmament, so it declares October 24 – 30 Disarmament Week.

2003 – The iconic Concorde passenger jet makes its last commercial flight, traveling at twice the speed of sound from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to London’s Heathrow Airport. The supersonic aircraft enjoyed three decades of uninterrupted service with British Airways and Air France until a July 2000 crash in Paris killed 113 people.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Soul music legend James Brown records his landmark “Live At The Apollo” album, which is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and, in 2003, is ranked No. 24 in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

1964 – “Do Wah Diddy Diddy.” by Manfred Mann, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1973 – John Lennon sues the U.S. government over the FBI’s wiretapping of his phone. The former Beatle had been under surveillance because of his political activism, and along with his wife Yoko Ono, faced the threat of deportation.

1978 – Rolling Stone Keith Richards pleads guilty in a Canadian court to a charge of heroin possession. He receives a one-year suspended sentence and is ordered to play a charity concert for the blind.

1987 – Michael Jackson’s “Bad,” from the album of the same name, begins two weeks as the No. 1 single.

1992 – Boyz II Men notch another week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “End of the Road.”

1998 – Monica is at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “The First Night,” a track that features a sampling of Diana Ross’ 1976 smash, “Love Hangover.”

2009 – The No. 1 song belongs to Britney Spears with “3.”

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