On This Day: April 29

On This Day April 29

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst  (d. 1951)

1899 – Jazz composer-pianist-bandleader Duke Ellington (d. 1974)

1917 – Actress Celeste Holm (“Oklahoma!” “Gentleman’s Agreement”)  (d. 2012)

1933 – Iconic Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and activist Willie Nelson

1954 – Comedian-producer-actor Jerry Seinfeld, best known for his long-running NBC comedy series “Seinfeld”

1957 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Gangs of New York,” “Lincoln”)

1958 – Actress Michelle Pfeiffer (“Scarface,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “Batman Returns,” “Hairspray”,”Ant-Man and The Wasp”) 

1970 – Retired tennis star Andre Agassi 

1970 – Golden Globe-winning actress Uma Thurman (“Pulp Fiction,” “Gattaca,” “Kill Bill”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1854 – Originally established as The Ashmun Institute, Lincoln University receives its charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, becoming the first degree-granting college in the U.S. founded solely for African-American students.

1945 – U.S. military forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany.  More than 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945, and more than 28,000 died in the camp and its sub-camps.

1974 – President Richard Nixon announces that he will release edited transcripts of taped White House conversations in response to a subpoena in the Watergate scandal. The House Judiciary committee insists that he also turn over the tapes. 

1986 – Pitching for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Roger Clemens sets a Major League Baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.

1992 – Riots erupt across Los Angeles after four LAPD officers are acquitted in the beating of unarmed African American motorist Rodney King. Protesters in south-central L.A. block freeway traffic, wreck and loot shops and set more than 100 fires. The rioting continues for five days and sparks a national conversation about racial and economic disparities and police brutality — a debate still raging today.

2004 – The National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million people who served as part of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 400,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. 

2004 – General Motors’ last Oldsmobile rolls off a Lansing, Michigan assembly line, marking the end of America’s oldest automotive brand. The final model is an Alero GLS sedan, which factory workers signed under the hood.

2011 –  Great Britain’s Prince William marries his longtime girlfriend, Catherine “Kate” Middleton, at Westminster Abbey in London. An estimated two billion people around the world watch the ceremony on television.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy maintain their hold on No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.” The duet remains a chart-topper for four weeks.

1969 – On his 70th birthday, jazz legend Duke Ellington receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon in the East Room of the White House. Nixon concludes the presentation by playing the piano and singing. 

1970 – George Harrison tells reporters that The Beatles will reunite eventually and announces plans for his first post-Beatles solo album.

1976 – Bruce Springsteen wraps up a concert performance in Memphis as part of his “Born to Run” tour and he and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt decide to pay their idol, Elvis Presley, a visit at his Graceland estate. Security guards escort Springsteen off the grounds after he jumps the gate and runs toward the front door. The King was not home at the time. 

1978 – Topping the singles chart for the seventh consecutive week: The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

1989 – Madonna has the No. 1 single with “Like a Prayer,” from her album of the same name.

1993 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Barry White appears in the “Whacking Day” episode of the animated series “The Simpsons.” As White sings, Bart and Lisa place loudspeakers on the ground to lure snakes away from Springfield residents trying to kill them as part of Whacking Day tradition.

1995 – “This Is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan, is in the midst of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. 

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, is in the middle of a 10-week domination of the singles chart.

2006 – Daniel Powter owns the top spot on the pop chart with “Bad Day.”

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On This Day: January 9

On This Day January 9

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Richard Nixon, 37th U.S. president (d. 1994)

1935 – Actor Bob Denver, best known for his starring role in “Gilligan’s Island” (d. 2005)

1941 – Folk singer, songwriter and activist Joan Baez 

1944 – Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page

1951 – Grammy-winning country singer Crystal Gayle (“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”)

1955 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor J.K. Simmons, born Jonathan Kimble Simmons (“Oz,” “Law & Order,” “Juno,” “The Closer,” “Spider-Man,” “Whiplash,” “The Accountant”)

1967 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and actor Dave Matthews (“Ants Marching,” “So Much to Say,” “Crash Into Me,” “Satellite”)

1982 – Kate (Catherine) Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge

History Highlights
History Highlights

1768 – Englishman Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London, drawing up a ring and inviting the public to see him on a horse waving a sword in the air while he rode with one foot on the saddle and one on the horse’s head.

1951 – The United Nations headquarters officially opens in New York City along the East River in Manhattan. 

1965 – “Goldfinger,” starring Sean Connery as British secret agent James Bond (007), opens in movie theaters across the U.S. It is the third installment in the James Bond franchise, but the first to become a blockbuster and capture an Oscar.

1972 – Fire breaks out aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth in Hong Kong Victoria Harbor during a project to convert the luxury liner into a floating school and the vessel capsizes. 

2007 – “Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” With those words, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone at the Macworld convention in San Francisco, calling the device “a revolutionary mobile phone” and “Internet communicator.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – “Wonderland by Night,” by Bert Kaempfert, begins three weeks on top of the singles chart.

1968 – Elvis Presley’s “Guitar Man,” from the “Clambake” movie soundtrack, is released. The song eventually reaches No. 1 on the country chart and No. 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1971 – George Harrison is mid-way through a four-week domination of the singles chart with “My Sweet Lord.” It’s Harrison’s first hit as a solo act following the breakup of The Beatles.

1981 – One month after his murder, ex-Beatle John Lennon is at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Double Fantasy.” The album, which he co-produced with wife Yoko Ono, spends eight weeks on top of the album chart and captures Album of the Year honors at the 24th Annual Grammy Awards.

1988 – Whitney Houston scores her sixth consecutive chart-topping single with “So Emotional,” off her “Whitney” album.

1999 – The Céline Dion-R. Kelly duet, “I’m Your Angel,” begins its sixth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2010 – Kesha is in the middle of a nine-week domination of the singles chart with “Tik Tok.”

2016 – “Hello,” by Adele, is in its ninth week as a No. 1 single. The track holds the top spot for a total of 10 weeks and goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance Grammys.

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