On This Day: January 23

On This Day January 23

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1737 – John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and first to sign the Declaration of Independence (d. 1793) 

1919 – Comedian, writer and actor Ernie Kovacs (d. 1962)

1930 – Poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 (d. 2017)

1933 – Tony-winning actress-dancer-singer Chita Rivera (“The Rink,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Chicago”)

1944 – Golden Globe-winning actor Rutger Hauer (“Blade Runner,” “The Hitcher,” “Ladyhawke,” “Sin City,” “The Blood of Heroes,” “Batman Begins,” “Hobo with a Shotgun”) (d. 2019)

1951 – Retired pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who became a hero after safely landing a crippled passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2008, an event dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson”

1957 – Princess Caroline of Monaco

1964 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay, best known as Detective Olivia Benson in the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman physician in U.S. history when she earns a medical degree from the all-male Geneva Medical College in upstate New York, graduating at the top of her class at the age of 28. Blackwell devotes her life to advocating for women in the healthcare professions and, in 1868, opens a women’s medical college in New York City.

1957 – The Wham-O toy company introduces the first aerodynamic plastic disc known as the Frisbee, and forever changes outdoor recreation. The disc was the creation of Walter Frederick Morrison, who originally named it the Pluto Platter.

1968 – North Korea seizes the U.S. intelligence-gathering ship USS Pueblo and interrogates its 83 crew members claiming the vessel violated North Korean territorial waters while spying.

1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord had been reached in Paris to end the Vietnam War.

1975 – The ABC sitcom “Barney Miller” debuts. It’s about an NYPD precinct captain played by Hal Linden, and the shenanigans he endures with his detectives.

1976 – Singer, actor, athlete and civil rights activist Paul Robeson dies at the age of 77. 

1977 – The miniseries “Roots,” based on the book by Alex Haley, debuts. It runs for eight consecutive nights on ABC Television and becomes the single most-watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.

1997 – One day after her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Madeline Albright is sworn in as America’s first female Secretary of State by Vice President Al Gore.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – Bert Kaempfert begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Wonderland By Night.”

1965 – Petula Clark strolls to the top of the singles chart with “Downtown.” The recording features Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page on guitar. Page was a studio session player at the time.

1971 – “Knock Three Times,” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for three weeks.

1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members at a ceremony in New York City. Inductees include Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley. 

1988 – Michael Jackson owns the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” off his “Bad” album.

2000 – Santana’s “Supernatural” reaches the top of Billboard album chart for the second time. The album, which contains the hit single “Smooth,” ultimately remains at No. 1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks and goes on to capture eight Grammy awards. 

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On this Day: May 24

On this Day May 24

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1941 – Grammy, Golden Globe and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman

1943 – Actor Gary Burghoff, most remembered for playing Radar O’Reilly in the movie and CBS sitcom “M*A*S*H”

1944 – Grammy Hall of Fame vocalist Patti LaBelle, most remembered for her 1974 smash, “Lady Marmalade”

1945 – Actress-business magnate Priscilla Presley, who performed in the “Naked Gun” movie series and the prime-time TV series “Dallas”

1955 – Grammy winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash (“Seven Year Ache,” “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me”)

1960 – Actress Kristin Scott Thomas (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “The English Patient,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Gosford Park,” “Nowhere Boy”)

1965 – Actor John C. Reilly (“Boogie Nights,” “Chicago,” “Talladega Nights,” “Step Brothers,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Sisters Brothers,” Stan & Ollie”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1775 – Meeting in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress unanimously elects John Hancock of Massachusetts as president. That is why Hancock has the honor of being the first to sign the Declaration of Independence.

1883 – New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge opens, concluding a 14-year, $18 million construction project that cost more than two dozen workers their lives. The span links the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan across the East River.

1899 – The first public parking garage in the U.S. opens in Boston as part of the Back Bay Cycle & Motor Company. It is advertised as a “stable for renting, sale, storage and repair of motor vehicles.”

1935 – Major League Baseball’s first night game is played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.

1976 – Service aboard the Concorde supersonic (SST) airliner begins between London and Washington, D.C.

1991 – “Thelma & Louise,” starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis and directed by Ridley Scott, opens in U.S. movie theaters. The film earns six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Scott and Best Actress for both Sarandon and Davis, but wins for Best Original Screenplay. It introduces a young, unknown Brad Pitt and becomes a fixture of American pop culture with the two main characters representing strong women overcoming obstacles in a male-dominated world.

1991 – The firefighting drama “Backdraft,” starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Scott Glenn and Donald Sutherland, and directed by Ron Howard, opens in U.S. theaters. The film goes on to receive three Academy Award nominations.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1952 – “Blue Tango,” an instrumental composed and conducted by Leroy Anderson, tops the Billboard pop chart.

1969 – “Get Back,” by The Beatles with Billy Preston, begins five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. A different mix of the song is later produced as the final track of the “Let It Be” album, the band’s last album, released just after breaking up.

1974 – Legendary jazz composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington dies of lung cancer and pneumonia at the age of 75. “The Duke’s” career spanned more than half a century, during which he composed thousands of songs for the stage, screen and contemporary songbook.

1975 – Earth Wind & Fire climb to the top of the singles chart with “Shining Star,” the group’s first and only No. 1 in the U.S. The track goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

1986 – Whitney Houston reigns over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Greatest Love of All.”

1997 – “MMMBop,” by Hanson, kicks off three weeks on top of the pop chart. The band consists of three brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1997 – The Spice Girls land reach No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with their debut production, “Spice.” They become the third all-female band to ever top the album chart, after The Supremes and The Go-Go’s.

2003 – Sean Paul wraps up three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Get Busy.”

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