On This Day September 18 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1905 – Oscar-winning actress Greta Garbo, born Greta Lovisa Gustafson (d. 1990) 1933 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Blake (“Baretta,” “Money Train,” “Lost Highway”) 1939 – Actor Fred Willard (“This Is Spinal Tap,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “For Your Consideration,” the “Anchorman” movie series) 1940 – Actor, singer and former teen idol Frankie Avalon, best known for his hit single “Venus” and the “Beach Party movie series 1961 – Emmy-winning actor James Gandolfini, best known for playing mobster Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos” (d. 2013) 1971 – Actress-producer Jada Pinkett Smith (“True Colors,” “A Different World,” “The Nutty Professor,” “Menace II Society,” “Set It Off, “Scream 2,” “Ali,” “The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions,” “Madagascar”) 1971 – Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong 1973 – Actor James Marsden (“X-Men,” “Superman Returns,” “Hairspray,” “Enchanted,” “Hop,” “27 Dresses,” “The Notebook”) 1975 – Actor-comedian Jason Sudeikis (“Saturday Night Live,” “Hall Pass,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Epic,” “We’re the Millers”) History Highlights 1793 – President George Washington lays the cornerstone to the United States Capitol in the building’s southeast corner during a Masonic ceremony that concludes with a 15-gun salute. Washington would return periodically to oversee construction, but did not live to see Congress occupy the new building. He died in December 1799, less than a year before the Senate and House would first convene in the Capitol. 1851 – The first edition of The New York Times is published as the New-York Daily Times and costs readers two cents. 1964 – After a four-season run in primetime, Tod Stiles and Buz Murdock park their Chevy Corvette for the last time as CBS broadcasts the “Route 66” series finale. 1965 – Television viewers meet secret agents Maxwell Smart and 99 as NBC debuts “Get Smart.” The spy sitcom, starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon and created by comedic genius Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, runs for five seasons and introduces viewers to the first true mobile phone—embedded in the bottom of Smart’s shoe. 1975 – FBI agents in San Francisco capture newspaper heiress and fugitive Patty Hearst and charge her with armed robbery. Hearst is the granddaughter of media mogul William Randolph Hearst. Musical Milestones 1961 – Bobby Vee starts a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Take Good Care of My Baby.” 1970 – Jimi Hendrix, considered one of rock music’s greatest guitarists of all time, dies of an apparent drug overdose in London at the age of 27. Hendrix dazzled audiences in the 1960s with groundbreaking guitar-playing techniques and experimental sounds. 1976 – “Play That Funky Music,” by Ohio-based funk-rock band Wild Cherry, kicks off three weeks as a No. 1 single. The track sells more than 2.5 million copies in the U.S. and becomes the band’s only Top 40 song. 1983 – Members of Kiss appear without makeup for the first time during an interview on MTV. 1987 – The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Brian Wilson are nominated to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. 1993 – Mariah Carey dominates the Billboard Hot 100 with “Dreamlover,” which holds at No. 1 for eight weeks. It becomes her seventh career chart-topper. 1999 – TLC kicks off three weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Unpretty.” 2004 – “Goodies,” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, is in the middle of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart. READ MORE
On this Day June 19 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1930 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Gena Rowlands (“Gloria,” “A Woman Under the Influence”) 1947 – Novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (“Grimus,” “Midnight’s Children,” “Shame,” “The Satanic Verses,” “East, West”) 1948 – Tony-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” 1950 – Ann Wilson of the rock duo Heart 1954 – Actress Kathleen Turner (“Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Romancing The Stone,” “The War of the Roses”) 1962 – Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, dancer, choreographer and former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul 1972 – Actress Robin Tunney (“The Craft,” “Vertical Limit,” “The Mentalist”) History Highlights 1865 – Union soldiers land in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War has ended and that enslaved African Americans were now free. The announcement comes two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863. Some historians blame the delay on poor communication of that era while others believe Texan slave owners intentionally withheld the information. June 19 is observed around the U.S. as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, it became a federal holiday. 1905 – The world’s first nickelodeon opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and draws some 450 guests. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged each patron a nickel. 1934 – Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcasting in the United States. 1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both deny wrongdoing and proclaim their innocence right up to the time of their execution. The Rosenbergs were the first American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War. 1973 – In separate games, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the L.A. Dodgers achieve their 2,000th career hits. 1978 – Cartoonist Jim Davis introduces readers of 41 newspapers around the U.S. to a pleasantly plump, lazy, lasagna-loving cat named Garfield. 1981 – A caped superhero returns to U.S. movie theaters with the release of “Superman II,” starring Christopher Reeve as “The Man of Steel.” 2013 – Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his role as crime boss Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos,” dies of a heart attack at age 51 while vacationing in Italy. Musical Milestones 1961 – Pat Boone tops the pop chart for a week with “Moody River.” 1965 – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” by the Four Tops, is No. 1 on both the singles and R&B charts. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the song #415 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 1971 – Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” begins a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, from her now-classic “Tapestry” album, captures a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972. 1976 – Paul McCartney & Wings have a No. 1 single with “Silly Love Songs.” 1982 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a seven-week reign over the singles chart with “Ebony and Ivory.” 1999 – “If You Had My Love,” by Jennifer Lopez, holds the top spot on the pop chart. 2004 – Usher maintains a firm grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Burn.” The single remains a chart-topper for seven weeks. 2010 – “California Gurls,” by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. READ MORE