On This Day: April 16

On This Day April 16

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1867 – Wilbur Wright, who along with his brother Orville, is considered a pioneer of flight (d. 1912)

1889 – Silent film icon Charlie Chaplin (d. 1977)

1935 – Pop vocalist Bobby Vinton (“Roses Are Red,” “Blue Velvet,” “Mr. Lonely“) 

1939 – Pop singer Dusty Springfield {“Wishin’ and Hopin’,” “The Look of Love”)   (d. 1999)

1947 – Retired NBA legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor, Jr. 

1954 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Ellen Barkin (“Buckaroo Banzai,” “The Big Easy,” “Sea of Love,” “Switch”)

1965 – Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence (“Bad Boys,” “Blue Streak,” “Big Momma’s House”)

1971 – Grammy-winning Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla (d. 1995)

1993 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and record producer Chance The Rapper, born Chancelor Bennett (“Confident,” “Coloring Book”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1947 – A powerful explosion aboard a chemical-laden freighter docked at Texas City, near Houston, touches off fires that destroy much of the city. Nearly 600 people are killed in what is still considered one of the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history.  

1947 – Multimillionaire financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch coins the term “Cold War” to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The phrase sticks, and for more than four decades is a fixture of American diplomacy.

1968 – The longest night game in Major League Baseball ends in the Houston Astrodome in the wee hours of the morning with the Astros shutting out the New York Mets 1-0 in 24 innings. 

1972 – The Chinese government sends President Richard Nixon two giant pandas as a sign of friendship. The gesture becomes known as “Panda Diplomacy.” Female panda Ling-Ling and male companion Hsing-Hsing make their home at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

2007 – In one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, 32 people are gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, by a student at the college who would later take his own life.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles film chase scenes for their movie, “A Hard Day’s Night,” with actors dressed as policemen (“Bobbies”) in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. That evening, the Fab Four record the title track at Abbey Road Studios.

1966 – “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” by The Righteous Brothers, is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single. Billboard goes on to rank the track as the No. 3 single for all of 1966.

1973 – Paul McCartney’s first television special, “James Paul McCartney,” airs on ABC-TV. The show, which includes performances by McCartney and Wings, is broadcast in the U.K. about a month later.

1977 – The hottest song on the radio is “Don’t Give Up on Us,” by David Soul, best known as the star of the 1970s TV police drama, “Starsky & Hutch.”

1983 – “Billie Jean,” from Michael Jackson’s Grammy-winning “Thriller” album, wraps up seven weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – R. Kelly is midway through a four-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bump ‘N Grind.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, is in the midst of a nine-week domination of the U.S. pop chart.

2018 – Kendrick Lamar becomes the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize. The honor is for his 2017 album, “DAMN.” The recognition is part of a growing acceptance of hip-hop by reigning cultural institutions.

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On This Day: December 3

On This Day December 3

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1930 – Pioneering French “new wave” director Jean-Luc Godard

1948 – Grammy-winning heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne

1960 – Actress Daryl Hannah (“Blade Runner,” “Splash,” “Legal Eagles,” “Roxanne,” “Wall Street,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Kill Bill”)

1960 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Julianne Moore (“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Boogie Nights,” “The End of the Affair,” “Far from Heaven,” “The Hours,” “Children of Men,” “Game Change,” “Still Alice”)

1968 – Actor Brendan Fraser (“School Ties,” “Encino Man,” “George of the Jungle,” “The Mummy” trilogy, “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Inkheart,” “Gods and Monsters,” “The Quiet American,” “Crash,” “Gimme Shelter”)

1985 – Actress Amanda Seyfried (“Mean Girls,” “Veronica Mars,” “Mamma Mia!” “Red Riding Hood,” “Big Love,” “Les Misérables,” “Lovelace”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1967 – Dr. Christiaan Barnard performs the world’s first successful human heart transplant in Cape Town, South Africa.

1979 – After five years of production, the last AMC Pacer automobile rolls off a Kenosha, Wisconsin assembly plant.

1984 – An explosion at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India and the resulting leak of deadly methyl isocyanate gas kills over 4,000 people and injures 200,000 others. It is the world’s worst industrial accident.

1992 – The world’s first text message is sent by a British engineer who uses his personal computer to transmit “Merry Christmas” to a mobile phone.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – The Beatles release “Rubber Soul,” their sixth studio album. It incorporates a mix of pop, soul and folk musical styles, and contains such classics as “Michelle,” “Drive My Car” and “Nowhere Man.”

1966 – “Winchester Cathedral,” by The New Vaudeville Band, is the hottest song on the radio.

1968 – Elvis Presley’s first TV special airs on NBC and becomes the top-rated program of the year. It has long been considered The King’s comeback show. The 33-year-old Presley recorded the special the previous June. 

1977 – Debby Boone is in the midst of a 10-week ride at No. 1 on the singles chart with “You Light Up My Life,” a song that garners her a Best New Artist Grammy.

1994 – Fresh off a 14-week domination of the Billboard singles chart with “I’ll Make Love to You,” Boyz II Men begin two weeks at No. 1 with “On Bended Knee.”

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On This Day: October 23

On This Day October 23

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – NBC “The Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson (d. 2005)

1940 – Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento (d. 2022)

1942 – Doctor-turned-author and producer Michael Crichton (“The Andromeda Strain,” “Jurassic Park,” “ER”) (d. 2008)

1954 – Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi”)

1956 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and actor Dwight Yoakam

1959 – The Grammy-winning master of the musical parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic

1962 – Former NFL and Canadian Football League star quarterback Doug Flutie

1976 – Actor Ryan Reynolds (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Proposal,” “Buried,” “The Green Lantern,” “The Change-Up,” “Mississippi Grind,” “Deadpool”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1973 – President Richard Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the Watergate scandal.

1983 – A suicide bomber drives a truck into the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 military personnel.

1989 – Thunderous explosions rock the Phillips 66 refinery in Pasadena, Texas, outside Houston, killing 23 employees and injuring more than 130 others. The blasts pack the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake. The ensuing fires take nearly 10 hours to extinguish.

1998 – Dr. Barnett Slepian is shot to death inside his home near Buffalo, New York by an anti-abortion radical, marking the fifth straight year that a doctor who was willing to perform abortions in upstate New York and Canada was targeted by a sniper.

2002 – Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater and take close to a thousand people hostage during the sold-out performance of a popular musical. By the time the siege ends, the attackers and 130 hostages are dead.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – Dion kicks off a two-week run atop the pop chart with “Runaround Sue.”

1962 – Little Stevie Wonder is 12 years old when he records his first single for Motown: “Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way).”

1965 – The Beatles are midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Yesterday,” off the “Help!” album.

1971 – “Maggie May,” by Rod Stewart, is in the middle of of five weeks as a  No. 1 single.

1976 – Chicago scores its first No. 1 single with “If You Leave Me Now,” off the band’s “Chicago X” album.” The track remains a chart-topper for two weeks and goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1982 – Performing under the name “John Cougar” because of a contractual agreement with his record label, John Mellencamp enters his fourth and final week on top of the singles chart with “Jack & Diane.”

1987 – Madonna lands on the big screen, as the comedy “Who’s That Girl” opens in London.

1999 – “Smooth,” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, begins 12 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The single goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammys.

2006 – Amy Winehouse releases her autobiographical song, “Rehab,” from her second and final studio album, “Back to Black.” The track wins Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

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