On This Day: October 13

On This Day October 13

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, known as the “Iron Lady” (d. 2013)

1941 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Paul Simon, formerly of the folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel (“The Sound of Silence”, “Mrs. Robinson,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “My Little Town”)

1959 – Entertainer Marie Osmond, who started out as half of the Donnie & Marie singing-dancing family act.

1962 – Actress Kelly Preston (“Twins,” “Mischief,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Jack Frost,” “For Love of the Game”) (d. 2020)

1971 – Comedic actor Sacha Baron Cohen, best known for his portrayal of unorthodox fictional film characters Ali G, Borat and Brüno.

History Highlights
History Highlights

1792 – The cornerstone is laid for a presidential residence in the newly designated capital city of Washington. Eight years later, John Adams becomes the first U.S. president to reside in the executive mansion, which is referred to as the White House beginning in 1812 because of its white-gray sandstone exterior.

1943 – With World War II raging, the government of Italy declares war on Nazi Germany, its former Axis partner, and joins the battle on the side of the Allies.

1967 – The Anaheim Amigos lose to the Oakland Oaks, 134-129, in the inaugural game of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In its first season, the ABA consists of 11 teams. In 1976, the ABA merges with the National Basketball Association (NBA), with only four teams remaining intact: the Americans (later renamed the New Jersey Nets), the Spurs, the Nuggets and the Pacers. 

1974 – TV host Ed Sullivan, who introduced American viewers to Elvis Presley and The Beatles, among other up-and-coming entertainers, dies of cancer at the age of 73.

1977 – Four Palestinians hijack a Lufthansa passenger jet and demand the release of 11 imprisoned members of Germany’s Baader-Meinhof terrorist group, also known as the Red Army Faction.

1999 – A Colorado grand jury investigating the highly publicized case of murdered child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey is dismissed, and the Boulder County district attorney announces no indictments will be made due to insufficient evidence.

2010 – Thirty-three miners are rescued after being trapped half a mile below ground for more than two months in a northern Chile mine collapse. The miners survive longer than anyone else trapped underground in recorded history. Their rescue is described in one media account as “a feat of engineering and a triumph of faith.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1963 – The term “Beatlemania” is coined after the Fab Four’s first appearance on the “Sunday Night at The London Palladium” TV show, which is broadcast live to more than 15 million viewers.

1970 – The ashes of rock legend Janis Joplin are scattered at Stinson Beach in Marin County, California. The singer died of an accidental drug overdose at a Hollywood hotel nine days earlier. She was 27. 

1973 – Cher begins her second and final week on top of the pop chart with “Half-Breed.” The track is her second chart-topper as a solo performer.

1979 – Michael Jackson reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” from his “Off The Wall” album. The song garners MJ his first solo Grammy Award.

1984 – Stevie Wonder scores his seventh No. 1 single with “I Just Called To Say I Love You,” from “The Woman in Red” soundtrack. The track holds the top spot for three weeks and garners Wonder a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar for Best Original Song.

1990 – George Michael rules the Billboard singles chart with “Praying For Time,” the final solo No. 1 of his career.

2008 – Beatles drummer Ringo Starr announces through a video on his website that he no longer has time to sign autographs and asks fans not to send him any mail at all.

READ MORE
On this Day: June 3

On this Day June 3

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Dancer-singer-actress Josephine Baker (d. 1975)

1925 – Actor Tony Curtis (“Houdini,” “The Defiant Ones,” “Some Like It Hot,” “Spartacus”) (d. 2010)

1929 – Game show creator-host Chuck Barris (“The Dating Game,” “The Newlywed Game,” “The Gong Show”) (d. 2017)

1936 – Author-screenwriter Larry McMurtry, best known for his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Lonesome Dove”

1942 – Soul singer-songwriter-producer Curtis Mayfield, formerly with The Impressions and best known for his 1972 “Super Fly” movie soundtrack (d. 1999)

1950 – Singer and bass guitarist Suzi Quatro, best known for her 1978 hit “Stumblin’ In”

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Deniece Williams (“Free,” “Let’s Hear It For The Boy”)

1967 – CNN host and reporter Anderson Cooper

1986 – Grand slam tennis champion and Olympic gold medalist Rafael “Rafa” Nadal

History Highlights
History Highlights

1800 – John Adams, the second president of the United States, becomes the first president to make his home in Washington, D.C. when he takes up residence at Union Tavern in the Georgetown section.

1937 – The Duke of Windsor – formerly King Edward VIII of Great Britain and Northern Ireland – marries Wallis Simpson, the American divorcée for whom he abdicated the British throne six months earlier. It is considered the wedding that forever changed the Royal Family.

1943 – A group of white U.S. sailors descends upon a majority-Mexican American neighborhood in East Los Angeles, harassing and beating hundreds of Mexican American youth. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the so-called “Zoot Suit Riots” are the culmination of simmering racial tensions. They continue for 10 days.

1965 – NASA launches Gemini IV, the first multi-day manned space mission. Astronaut Ed White performs the first spacewalk by an American.

1979 – A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico leads to one of the largest oil spills in history. More than 176 million gallons spills before the well is finally capped nine months later. 

1989 – China’s government sends troops to force pro-democracy demonstrators out of Tiananmen Square following seven weeks of occupation.

2002 – Lew Wasserman, an agent and studio executive who was arguably the most influential Hollywood mogul for some 40 years after World War II, dies at the age of 89.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Authorities in Santa Cruz, California impose a ban on rock and roll at public gatherings, calling the music “Detrimental to both the health and morals of our youth and community.” Media coverage of the ban sparks a backlash, and it isn’t long before the ban is suspended.

1967 – Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin begins a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with her Grammy-winning R&B smash, “Respect.”

1972 – The Staple Singers take their soulful single, “I’ll Take You There,” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In 1999, the song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1975 – Actor and bandleader Ozzie Nelson dies of cancer at the age of 68.

1978 – The nation’s hottest single is a duet by Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams: “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.”

1989 – Soap opera star-vocalist Michael Damian’s cover of the David Essex classic, “Rock On,” climbs to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

1992 – Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, performs soulful renditions of “Heartbreak Hotel” and “God Bless The Child” on “The Arsenio Hall Show.” Many believe the jam was just what Clinton needed to set himself apart from his opponents — Republican President George H.W. Bush and independent candidate Ross Perot — and go on to win the election.

1995 – Bryan Adams begins five weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The track is featured in the Johnny Depp movie, “Don Juan DeMarco.”

2006 – The No. 1 spot on the pop chart belongs to Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone with “Ridin’.”

READ MORE