On This Day: February 21

On This Day February 21

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1946 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Tyne Daly (“Cagney & Lacey,” “Judging Amy,” “Gypsy”)

1946 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Alan Rickman (“Die Hard,” “Galaxy Quest,” the “Harry Potter” series, “Something the Lord Made,” “Eye in the Sky”) (d. 2016)

1955 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Kelsey Grammer (“Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Toy Story 2,” “X-Men: Last Stand”)

1963 – Actor William Baldwin (“Flatliners,” “Backdraft,” “Sliver,” “The Squid and the Whale,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”)

1979 – Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Party of Five,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer”)

1987 – Actress Ellen Page (“Juno,” “Whip It,” “Inception”, “X-Men” Series) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. The monument, built in the shape of an Egyptian obelisk, underwent two phases of construction: one private (1848-1854) and one public (1876-1884). When completed, it was the tallest structure in the world at 555 feet, 5-1/8 inches.

1925 – The New Yorker magazine publishes its first edition.

1948 – The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is officially incorporated and goes on to become one of America’s most popular spectator sports as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry.

1965 – Malcolm X, an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York City.

1972 – Richard Nixon makes the first presidential visit to the People’s Republic of China in an effort to normalize Sino-American relations. 

1995 – National Aviation Hall of Famer Steve Fossett lands safely in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, completing the first ever solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. Sadly, Fossett is declared dead in 2008 after a plane he was piloting vanished over the Nevada desert in September 2007. He was 63.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1970 – Sly & the Family Stone begin the second and final week as chart-toppers with “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).”

1976 – Paul Simon begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” The track, off his Grammy-winning “Still Crazy After All These Years” album, is the only No. 1 Simon has ever achieved as a solo act.

1976 – The Willie Nelson-Waylon Jennings album “Outlaws” becomes the first country music album to go platinum.

1981 – Dolly Parton rules the singles chart with the title track from the motion picture “9 to 5.” Parton co-stars in the movie with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman.

1987 – “Livin’ on a Prayer,” by Bon Jovi, is in the midst of a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1990 – “Let the River Run,” by Carly Simon, wins Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture at the 32nd annual Grammy Awards. The track, which had previously been honored with an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, is from the movie “Working Girl,” starring Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver and Harrison Ford.

1998 – Usher wraps up two weeks as a Billboard chart-topper with “Nice & Slow.”

2004 – “Slow Jamz,” by Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, begins a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

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On This Day: September 16

On This Day September 16

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan Perske (“To Have and have Not,” “The Big Sleep,” “Key Largo,” “How to Marry a Millionaire, “Designing Woman,” “The Mirror Has Two Faces”) (d. 2014)

1925 – Legendary blues artist B.B. King (d. 2015)

1949 – Actor Ed Begley, Jr. (“St. Elsewhere,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “Six Feet Under”)

1952 – Golden Globe-winning actor Mickey Rourke (“Diner,” “Angel Heart,” “Sin City,” “The Wrestler”)

1953 – Grammy-winning jazz fusion guitarist Earl Klugh

1956 – Illusionist David Copperfield

1968 – Singer-songwriter Marc Anthony

1971 – Actress, comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Amy Poehler

1992 – Pop singer-songwriter and actor Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1908 – Auto giant General Motors (GM) is founded By William “Billy” Durant, a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages in Flint, Michigan.

1919 – The American Legion is incorporated by an act of Congress.  It was established to support and assist veterans returning from World War I, but has since grown to support veterans of all wars and veterans of peacetime as well.

1920 – A bombing in New York’s financial district kills 38 people and injures nearly 200 others, becoming the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history until the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. While those responsible were never found, the so-called “Wall Street Bombing” was thought to be the work of communist agitators associated with the Bolshevik Revolution.

1932 – Civil rights crusader Mohandas Gandhi begins a six-day hunger strike in his Bombay, India prison cell to protest the British government’s decision to separate India’s electoral system by caste.

1940 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Selective Service and Training Act, which requires all male citizens between 26 and 35 to register for the military draft.

1981 – Sugar Ray Leonard beats Thomas Hearns in their first of two epic boxing bouts. 

1993 – “Cheers” spin-off “Frasier,” starring Kelsey Grammer, premieres on NBC.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – Bobbie Gentry wraps up four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her Grammy-winning “Ode to Billie Joe.”

1972 – “Black and White,” by Three Dog Night, is No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. The song was originally recorded by Pete Seeger in 1956 and a year later by Sammy Davis, Jr.

1978 – A Taste of Honey is in the middle of a three-week ride atop the singles chart with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.”

1979 – “Rapper’s Delight,” by The Sugarhill Gang, is released. While it is not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be responsible for introducing hip hop music to audiences around the world. The track reaches No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2011, The Library of Congress preserved it in the National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

1989 – “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” by Gloria Estefan, is the No. 1 single.

1995 – “Gangsta’s Paradise,” by Coolio featuring L.V., is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single.

2000 – Madonna is queen of the pop chart as “Music” kicks off three weeks at No. 1.

2006 – Justin Timberlake owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “SexyBack.” The single remains at No. 1 for seven weeks.

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