On this Day: July 27

On this Day July 27

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV writer-producer Norman Lear (“All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” “Maude,” “Good Times”) 

1944 – Singer Bobbie Gentry, who claimed Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance honors for the 1967 hit “Ode to Billie Joe”

1948 – Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming 

1949 – Singer Maureen McGovern, the talent behind the 1973 hit “The Morning After” from the movie “The Poseidon Adventure” 

1972 – Comedian-actress and “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph (“50 First Dates,” “Grown-ups,” “Bridesmaids”) 

1977 – Golden Globe-winning actor Jonathan Rhys Myers (“Prozac Nation,” “Bend It Like Beckham,” “Match Point,” “Elvis”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1940 – Bugs Bunny makes his debut in the Merrie Melodies cartoon “A Wild Hare,” and remains an American cultural icon all these decades later.

1953 – After three years of combat, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agree to an armistice, bringing the Korean War to an end.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act into law, requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on every pack of smokes.

1974 – The Watergate scandal boils over as the House Judiciary Committee recommends that President Richard Nixon be impeached and removed from office for obstruction of justice. 

2003 – Entertainer Bob Hope—known for his decades of overseas tours to perform for American troops and who hosted 18 Oscar ceremonies and received five honorary awards from the Academy—dies at the age of 100.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1940 – “Billboard” magazine publishes its first music popularity chart. The No. 1 song for the week ending July 27, 1940 is “I’ll Never Smile Again” by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals provided by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers.

1959 – Paul Anka is in the middle of four weeks at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Lonely Boy.”

1963 – Jan & Dean ride the tide through a second week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Surf City.” It’s the first surf song to become a national chart-topper.

1974 – “Annie’s Song,” a tribute to his wife, propels John Denver to the top of the singles chart. 

1976 – Nearly four years after U.S. immigration officials threaten to deport him, John Lennon acquires his green card. It allows Lennon to settle in the U.S., where he lived, raised a son and remained until his tragic death on December 8, 1980.

1991 – “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams kicks off seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track appears on the “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” movie soundtrack as well as on Adams’ sixth studio album, “Waking Up the Neighbours.”

1996 – The No. 1 song in the U.S. is “You’re Makin’ Me High”/”Let It Flow,”  by Toni Braxton. The track holds the top spot for a week.

2002 – Rap sensation Nelly rules the Billboard pop chart with “Hot in Herre,” which remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.

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On this Day: July 18

On this Day July 18

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1918 – Nobel Laureate and former South African President Nelson Mandela (d. 2013)

1921 – Former astronaut (first American to orbit the Earth) and U.S. Senator John Glenn (d. 2016)

1940 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor James Brolin (“Von Ryan’s Express,” “Fantastic Voyage,” “Traffic,” “The Master of Disguise,” “The 33”)

1950 – British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Records and Virgin Airlines, among many other businesses

1954 – Grammy-winning country music and bluegrass singer Ricky Skaggs

1961 – Actress Elizabeth McGovern (“Ragtime,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Downton Abbey”) 

1967 – Actor-producer Vin Diesel, born Mark Sinclair (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Boiler Room,” “The Chronicles of Riddick” trilogy and the “Fast and Furious” film series)

1980 – Actress Kristen Bell (“Veronica Mars,” “Gossip Girl,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “Frozen,” “The Boss”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1936 – The Oscar Mayer company rolls out the first Wienermobile to market its hot dogs. The small, metal wiener-shaped shell on wheels — the brainchild of Oscar’s nephew, Carl Mayer — stretched 13 feet long and cruised the streets of Chicago with Carl behind the wheel. Over the years, modern, more spacious versions of the original Wienermobile began to criss-cross the U.S., and still do today.

1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt, who first took office in 1933 as America’s 32nd president, is nominated at the Democratic National Convention for an unprecedented third term. Roosevelt is eventually elected to a record four terms in office, the only U.S. president to serve more than two terms.

1947 – General Dwight D. Eisenhower appoints Florence Blanchfield to be a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, making her the first woman in American history to hold permanent military rank.

1969 – Mary Jo Kopechne, the 28-year-old passenger in a car driven by Massachusetts Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy, is killed when the vehicle plunges off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha’s Vineyard. The incident becomes a national scandal, referred to as “Chappaquiddick,” and is believed to have influenced Kennedy’s decision not to campaign for president in 1972 and 1976.

1976 – Fourteen-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 during the Summer Olympics in Montreal. 

1984 – James Oliver Huberty opens fire in a crowded McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, California, killing 21 people and wounding 19 others with several automatic weapons.

1986 – New close-up videotaped footage of the sunken ocean liner Titanic is released to the public. It shows one of the ship’s majestic grand staircases and a coral-covered chandelier swinging slowly in the ocean current.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1960 – Brenda Lee begins three weeks at No. 1 on the pop chart with “I’m Sorry.” 

1964 – “Rag Doll,” by The Four Seasons, kicks off two weeks as a No. 1 single — no small achievement for an American band during the early days of the British Invasion.

1964 – The Rolling Stones land on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time when their cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” peaks at No. 48.

1970 – “Mama Told Me (Not to Come),” by Three Dog Night, is No. 1 on the pop chart. The composition was written by Randy Newman.

1974 – The U.S. Justice Department orders John Lennon out of the country by September 10. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) had denied the former Beatle an extension of his non-immigrant visa because of his guilty plea in England to a 1968 marijuana possession charge.

1981 – Kim Carnes enjoys her ninth and final week ruling the singles chart with “Bette Davis Eyes.” The track goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

1992 – Sir Mix-a-Lot’s “Baby Got Back” is in the midst of a five-week reign of the Billboard Hot 100.

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Gotta Feeling.” The single holds the top spot for 14 weeks.

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On this Day: May 19

On this Day May 19

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Religious leader and civil rights activist Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little (d. 1965)

1934 – Journalist, author and former PBS anchor and political debate moderator Jim Lehrer (d. 2020)

1941 – Screenwriter-producer-director Nora Ephron (“Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Julie & Julia”) (d, 2012)

1944 – Actor Peter Mayhew, best known for playing Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” movie franchise (d. 2019)

1945 – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pete Townshend, lead guitarist of legendary rock band The Who

1946 – Wrestler-actor Andre the Giant, whom most remember from his role as the giant in the movie “The Princess Bride (d. 1993)

1951 – Joey Ramone, born Jeffrey Ross Hyman, guitarist and lead singer of the punk rock band The Ramones (“Blitzkrieg Bop,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” “Rockaway Beach”) (d. 2001)

1952 – Singer, model and actress Grace Jones (“Pull Up to the Bumper,” “I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango),” “Private Life,” “Slave to the Rhythm”)

1992 – Grammy-winning pop vocalist Sam Smith (“Latch,” “Lay Me Down,” “Stay With Me”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1749 – England’s King George II grants the Ohio Company of Virginia a charter of 200,000 acres stretching out from the forks of the Ohio River on the present site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1921 – Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act (also known as the Immigration Act of 1921), establishing national quotas on the immigration of foreigners into the U.S.

1935 – T.E. Lawrence, known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia, dies as a retired Royal Air Force mechanic living under an assumed name. He is just 46. The legendary war hero, author, and archaeological scholar succumbed to to severe brain injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident six days earlier. His death eventually led to development of the crash helmet. Lawrence was famously portrayed in the Oscar-winning 1962 movie, “Lawrence of Arabia,” by actor Peter O’Toole.

1962 – Marilyn Monroe takes center stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden as she sings “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy. About 15,000 people are on hand for the star-studded gala that takes place 10 days before JFK’s actual birthday.

2006 – Amid a firestorm of publicity and controversy, director Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s mega-bestselling thriller, “The Da Vinci Code,” debuts in theaters, starring Tom Hanks.

2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804, an Airbus A320 on a routine flight from Paris to Cairo, disappears over the Mediterranean Sea with 66 passengers and crew. It takes weeks to find signs of the wreckage, and while terrorism is suspected initially, investigators conclude that the aircraft broke up in midair after a fire broke out in the cockpit and quickly spread.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1958 – The “South Pacific” movie soundtrack, featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, is No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1960 – Disc jockey Alan Freed (a.k.a. “Moondog”), who introduced radio listeners across the U.S. to the music that came to be called “rock ‘n roll,” is indicted along with seven others by a federal grand jury in connection with a scandal over payola — the practice of accepting cash and gifts from music promoters in exchange for playing their records.

1973 – Stevie Wonder scores his third No. 1 single with “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” which later garners him a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1979 – “Reunited,” by Peaches & Herb, is in the midst of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1979 – Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” — featuring the hits “The Logical Song,”  “Goodbye Stranger” and “Take the Long Way Home” — reaches the top of the Billboard album chart and stays there for four weeks. The album goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1984 – Lionel Richie wraps up the second of two weeks as king of the pop chart with “Hello.”

1990 – Madonna starts a three week run at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Vogue,” off her “I’m Breathless” album.

2001 – Janet Jackson is queen of the pop chart as “All For You” achieves its sixth week as a No. 1 single. 

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