On this Day July 8 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1935 – Pop singer-actor Steve Lawrence, best known as half of the “Steve and Eydie duo with his wife, Eydie Gormé 1944 – Actor Jeffrey Tambor (“…And Justice For All,” “The Larry Sanders Show,” “Arrested Development”) 1951 – Oscar-winning actress Anjelica Huston (“Prizzi’s Honor,” “The Grifters,” “The Addams Family,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”) 1958 – Golden Globe-winning actor Kevin Bacon (“Footloose,” “Apollo 13,” “The River Wild,” “A Few Good Men,” “Mystic River,” “The Following”) 1961 – Country music singer-songwriter and actor Toby Keith (“Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” “How Do You Like Me Now?!”) 1962 – Singer-songwriter Joan Osborne, best known for her 1995 hit “One of Us” 1970 – Rock singer-songwriter Beck, born Bek David Campbell 1998 – Actor Jaden Smith (“The Pursuit of Happyness,” “The Karate Kid,” “After Earth”) History Highlights 1776 – The Liberty Bell rings out from the tower of the Pennsylvania State House (now known as Independence Hall) in Philadelphia, summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. 1947 – Reports are broadcast that a “flying disc” has crash-landed in Roswell, New Mexico, however U.S. Air Force officials claim it is a weather balloon. The incident triggers conspiracy theories about a government coverup and accounts of aliens and UFOs that are still debated today. 1959 – American troops suffer their first casualties in the Vietnam War with the deaths of Maj. Dale R. Buis and Master Sgt. Chester M. Ovnand. 1960 – An emerging Cold War détente between the United States and Soviet Union suffers a setback when the Soviets charge U.S. Air Force and CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers with espionage. The move comes two months after the Soviets shoot Powers down while flying a secret spy mission. 1994 – Kim Il-Sung, the communist dictator of North Korea since 1948, dies of a heart attack at the age of 82. Hoping to reunify Korea by force, Kim launched an invasion of South Korea in 1950, igniting the Korean War, which ended in a stalemate in 1953. Musical Milestones 1957 – “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear” by Elvis Presley begins a seven-week run on top of the singles chart. Two months earlier, Elvis was king of the pop chart with “All Shook Up,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1. 1958 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards the first official Gold album (for achieving sales of $1 million). It goes to the cast album for the stage production of “Oklahoma!” featuring Gordon MacRae. 1967 – The Monkees begin a 29-date concert tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as the opening act. However, Hendrix is dropped after eight performances because the producers felt his act was not suitable for their “teeny-bopper” audiences. 1970 – “The Everly Brothers Show” starts an 11-week prime-time run on ABC- TV. 1972 – Bill Withers scores the first and only No. 1 hit of his career when “Lean On Me” reaches the top of the pop chart. It holds that position for three weeks. 1978 – Gerry Rafferty’s “City To City” reaches the top of the Billboard album chart, dethroning the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack which occupied that spot for nearly six months. 1989 – “Good Thing,” by Fine Young Cannibals, begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is the second chart-topper from the band’s “The Raw & The Cooked” album. Three months earlier, “She Drives Me Crazy” claimed the top spot. 1995 – TLC flows to the top of the Billboard pop chart with “Waterfalls.” The song remains at No. 1 for seven weeks. 2000 – Enrique Iglesias begins his third and final week on top of the singles chart with “Be With You.” READ MORE