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On This Day September 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Retired Los Angeles Dodgers manager and National Baseball Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda 

1954 – Actress-model-singer Shari Belafonte (“Hotel,” “Beyond Reality,” “Babylon 5: Thirdspace”)

1956 – Singer Debby Boone, best known for her Grammy-winning 70s smash “You Light Up My Life”

1958 – Rock guitarist-singer and 2015 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joan Jett 

1958 – Golden Globe-winning Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli

1960 – Actor Scott Baio (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi,” “Charles in Charge”)

1987 – Actor Tom Felton, best known for playing the villainous Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” movie series

History Highlights

1862 – President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation establishing January 1, 1863 as the date that more than three million slaves in the U.S. would be freed. While the proclamation only frees between 20,000 and 50,000 slaves within the 10 states still in rebellion, it provides the legal framework for the eventual emancipation of all others.

1953 – The world’s first four-level interchange (“Stack”) opens in Los Angeles at the intersection of the Harbor, Hollywood, Pasadena, and Santa Ana freeways. The Saturday Evening Post called it “a mad motorist’s dream.”

1975 – U.S. President Gerald Ford survives a second assassination attempt in less than three weeks while leaving a San Francisco hotel. Sara Jane Moore had aimed and was getting ready to fire the first shot when a bystander thwarted her plans.

1976 – “Charlie’s Angels” premieres on ABC with Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and the late Farrah Fawcett as a trio of detectives working for their unseen boss, Charlie, who telephoned in their assignments. 

1980 – The Iran-Iraq War begins as Iraqi armed forces invade western Iran along the nations’ joint border. The conflict drags on for eight years.

1982 – “Family Ties” debuts on NBC, starring Michael J. Fox as Alex, the smart, conservative and financially driven teenage son of parents played by Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross. 

1994 – NBC introduces “Friends,” starring Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry, David Schwimmer and Matt Le Blanc. The sitcom becomes one of primetime TV’s most popular shows during a 10-season run.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley is king of the singles chart with “Don’t Be Cruel.” The song remains at No. 1 for 11 weeks. In 2002, it is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1962 – “Sherry,” by The Four Seasons, is in the midst of a five-week domination of the pop chart. It is the group’s first No. 1 single. It also spends a week atop the R&B chart.

1969 – The Band release their self-titled album, also known as “The Brown Album,” featuring the tracks “Rag Mama Rag,” “Up on Cripple Creek” and ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.” In 2009, the album was preserved into the National Recording Registry.

1973 – “Let’s Get it On,” by Marvin Gaye, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week and becomes his most successful Motown single.

1979 – The Knack hold first place on the singles chart with “My Sharona.”

1984 – “Missing You,” by John Waite, is on top of the singles chart.

1985 – The first Farm Aid concert takes place in Champaign, Illinois, organized by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp to benefit financially struggling American farmers.

1990 – Wilson Phillips has the No. 1 single with “Release Me.”

2001 – “I’m Real,” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, begins its third week as a No. 1 single.

2007 – Soulja Boy begins his second and final week on top of the singles chart with “Crank That.”

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