On This Day: April 22

On This Day April 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Actor Eddie Albert (“Roman Holiday,” “Green Acres,” “The Heartbreak Kid”) (d. 2005)

1922 – Jazz double-bassist Charles Mingus (d. 1979)

1923 – Producer-screenwriter Aaron Spelling (“The Mod Squad,” “The Rookies,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Melrose Place”) (d. 2006)

1926 – Actress Charlotte Rae, best known for her role as Mrs. Garrett on TV’s “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life” (d. 2018) 

1936 – Grammy-winning country music singer Glen Campbell (“Wichita Lineman,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “Galveston,” “Rhinestone Cowboy”) (d. 2017)

1937 – Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson (“Five Easy Pieces,” “Chinatown,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Shining,” “Terms of Endearment,” “A Few Good Men,” “As Good as It Gets,” “The Departed,” “Batman”)  

1950 – Rock singer-songwriter Peter Frampton (“Show Me the Way”, “Baby, I Love Your Way”, “Do You Feel Like We Do,” “I’m in You”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1864 – By an act of Congress, the words “In God We Trust” are inscribed on all coins minted as U.S. currency beginning with the two-cent piece.

1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world. 

1970 – The modern environmental movement is born as millions across America observe the first Earth Day, an effort to increase public awareness of global environmental problems.

1976 – ABC announces that Barbara Walters will co-anchor “ABC Evening News” with Harry Reasoner that October. The move makes Walters the first woman co-anchor of a network evening news program as well as television’s highest paid journalist, earning $1 million a year for five years.

1994 – 37th U.S. President Richard Nixon, who helped forge improved relations with China and the Soviet Union before resigning in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, dies of a stroke at age 81.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – Nancy Sinatra and her father, Frank, are midway through a four-week ride atop the singles chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.”

1978 – John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd debut as The Blues Brothers on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live (SNL).” The duo go on to earn three Top 40 hits (“Soul Man,” “Rubber Biscuit” and “Gimme Some Lovin'”), a No. 1 pop album (“Briefcase Full of Blues”) and a piece of screen immortality with their 1980 film, “The Blues Brothers.”

1978 – The Bee Gees maintain a grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Night Fever,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack.

1989 – “Like a Prayer,” by Madonna, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stays there for three weeks.

1995 – Montell Jordan dominates the singles chart with “This Is How We Do It.” The track has a lock on the top spot for seven weeks.

2000 – Santana featuring The Product G&B are midway through a 10-week  hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Maria Maria”

2006 – Daniel Powter is in the midst of a five-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Bad Day.”

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On this Day: July 30

On this Day July 30

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Industrialist and Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford

1890 – Baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel

1941 – Singer-songwriter Paul Anka 

1947 – Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

1961 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Laurence Fishburne (“Boyz n the Hood,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Matrix” trilogy, “Mission: Impossible III”)

1963 – Actress-comedian Lisa Kudrow, best known for her role as Phoebe in the popular sitcom “Friends”

1964 – Actress Vivica Fox (“Days of Our Lives,” “Independence Day,” “Batman & Robin,” “Alias”)  

1969 – Actor Simon Baker (“L.A. Confidential,” “Land of the Dead,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Mentalist”)

1970 – Director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Inception,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Interstellar”) 

1974 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Amelia”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1935 – Literature’s first paperback is introduced by Penguin Books in London. It’s “Ariel” by André Maurois, who traces the life of the poet Shelley. 

1945 – A Japanese submarine torpedoes the U.S. Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis in Pacific waters after it delivers the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The ship sinks in just 12 minutes. Of the approximately 1,200 crewmen, 300 go down with the ship. The rest face exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water. 

1956 – Two years after pushing to have the phrase “under God” inserted into the United States’ pledge of allegiance, President Dwight Eisenhower signs a law declaring “In God We Trust”  the nation’s official motto. 

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare bill into law, granting seniors access to affordable healthcare. The bill-signing ceremony takes place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, where former President Harry S. Truman is enrolled as Medicare’s first beneficiary and receives the first Medicare card.

2003 – The last of over 21 million Volkswagen Beetles, known as the “Volkswagen Type 1,” rolls off an assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, ending nearly 70 years of production. The baby blue car is sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where VW is headquartered.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – The Beatles own the No. 1 position on the Billboard album chart with “Yesterday…And Today.” The album, released in the U.S. and Canada only, holds the top spot for five weeks. It contains such fan favorites as “Drive My Car,” “Yesterday,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Nowhere Man” and “Day Tripper.” 

1966 –  The Troggs claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Wild Thing.” The track was originally recorded by the American rock band, The Wild Ones, in 1965, but never charted. The Troggs’ version holds at No. 1 for two weeks and reaches No. 2 on the pop chart in their native U.K.

1977 – Andy Gibb kicks off three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “I Just Want to Be Your Everything.” 

1988 – “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood begins four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – All-4-One wraps up an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “I Swear.”

2003 – Record producer Sam Phillips, who founded the legendary Sun Record Company and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, dies of respiratory failure. He discovered Elvis Presley and worked with other musical greats, including Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.

2005 – Mariah Carey owns the top spot on the singles chart with “We Belong Together,” which holds at No. 1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks.

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