On This Day: December 17

On This Day December 17

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Singer-songwriter (The Temptations co-founder) Eddie Kendricks (d. 1992)

1945 – Actor Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters,” “The Crow,” “Oz”)

1945 – Political commentator and MSNBC host Chris Matthews

1946 – Actor Eugene Levy (“A Mighty Wind, “Best in Show,” “Waiting for Guffman.” “American Pie,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonians,” “Cheaper by the Dozen 2”)

1953 – Actor Bill Pullman (“Spaceballs,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “Independence Day,” “The Sinner”)

1974 – Actor Giovanni Rabisi (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Public Enemies,” “The Boiler Room,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Lost in Translation,” “Avatar,” “Ted”)

1975 – Actress-model Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element,” “Dazed and Confused,” “The Three Musketeers,” the “Resident Evil” series)

1978 – International boxing champion and Philippines lawmaker Manny Pacquiao

History Highlights
History Highlights

1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and revolutionize aviation.

1944 – The U.S. approves ending the internment of Japanese-American “evacuees” from the West coast.

1963 – Congress passes the Clean Air Act, a sweeping set of laws designed to protect the environment from air pollution. During the six decades since its enactment, the measure led to huge reductions in airborne lead, sulfur compounds, chlorofluorocarbons as well as concentrations of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and ozone.

1975 – A federal jury in California sentences Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme to life in prison for her attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford.

1979 – Hollywood stuntman Stan Barrett tears across the dry lakebed at California’s Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket- and missile-powered car, becoming the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound on land. However, he does not set an official record.

1989 – Doh! FOX TV’s Emmy-winning animated comedy series “The Simpsons,” created by Matt Groening, premieres. The first episode is called “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.” In 2018, the show surpasses the classic Western TV series “Gunsmoke’s” record 635 episodes to become America’s longest-running series.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – Two weeks after its first trip to No. 1, “Winchester Cathedral,” by The New Vaudeville Band, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1969 – Singer Tiny Tim (real name Herbert Butros Khaury) marries his sweetheart, “Miss Vickie” (real name Victoria Budinger), on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

1977 – Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” begins its tenth and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart.

1983 – The Paul McCartney-Michael Jackson duet, “Say Say Say,” is in the midst of a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the last No. 1 song of 1983 and first of 1984.

1995 – The Mariah Carey-Boys II Men collaboration, “One Sweet Day,” is into an unprecedented 16-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

2005 – Chris Brown’s debut single, “Run It!”, featuring Juelz Santana, rules the Billboard Hot 100.

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On this Day: August 19

On this Day August 19

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1871 – Aviation pioneer Orville Wright (d. 1948)

1883 –  French fashion designer Coco Chanel (d. 1971)

1921 – “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry (d. 1991) 

1940 – Singer-songwriter Johnny Nash, best known for his 1972 smash “I Can See Clearly Now” (d.2020)

1940 – Actress Jill St. John, born Jill Arlyn Oppenheim (“The Lost World,” “Come Blow Your Horn,” “Diamonds Are Forever,” “Sitting Target”)

1946 – Bill Clinton, 42nd U.S. president

1947 – Actor Gerald McRaney (“Simon & Simon,” “Major Dad,” “Promised Land,” “Jericho,” “House of Cards”)

1955 – Actor Peter Gallagher (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “The Player,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “The O.C.,” “Covert Affairs”)

1963 – Actor John Stamos (“General Hospital,” “Full House,” “Fuller House,” “ER,” “Jake in Progress,” “Necessary Roughness”)

1965 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Kyra Sedgwick (“Singles,” “Heart and Souls,” “Something to Talk About,” “Phenomenon,” “The Closer”)

1965 – Actor Kevin Dillon (“Platoon,” “No Escape,” “Entourage”)

1966 – Grammy-winning country singer-songwriter Lee Ann Womack (“I Hope You Dance,” “Something Worth Leaving Behind,” “I May Hate Myself In the Morning”)

1969 – Actor-producer Matthew Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom “Friends”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1909 – The first race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before a crowd of 12,000. Austrian driver Louis Schwitzer wins the five-lap event behind the wheel of a Stoddard-Dayton traveling at an average speed of 57.4 miles per hour.

1960 – A Soviet military court sentences American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers to 10 years in prison for spying. Powers had pleaded guilty to spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after his plane was shot down at high altiitude above the Soviet Union.

1969 – Some 8,000 volunteers begin a massive cleanup of Max Yasgur’s Bethel, New York dairy farm after nearly half a million people leave the muddy, garbage-strewn site of the iconic Woodstock music festival. Decades later, archaeologists begin digging up remnants of the event.

1977 – Beloved, cigar-chomping comedian Groucho Marx dies at the age of 86. A member of the comedic Marx Brother,  he spent nearly seven decades making people laugh with his snappy one-liners and sharp wit. 

1981 – ABC airs its final episode of “Charlie’s Angels” after a five-year run. The detective series starred Kate Jackson, Jaclyn Smith and Farrah Fawcett. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles have their 14th No. 1 single with “All You Need Is Love.”

1972 – Gilbert O’Sullivan begins his fourth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Alone Again (Naturally).”

1978 – “Three Times a Lady,” by The Commodores featuring Lionel Richie, begins its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The single is the band’s first No. 1 hit and garners two Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus.

1989 – Richard Marx is in the midst of a three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Right Here Waiting” — his third consecutive chart-topper.

1995 – TLC’s “Waterfalls” wraps up a seven-week domination of the singles chart. The music video goes on to win four MTV Video Music Awards.

2000 – “Incomplete,” by American R&B artist Sisqó, tops the Billboard Hot 100 chart. 

2006 – Fergie kicks off three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “London Bridge.”

2017 – “Despacito,” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, is in the midst of a 16-week domination of the U.S. pop chart.

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