On This Day: October 10

On This Day October 10

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1900 – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award-winning actress Helen Hayes, known as the “First Lady of American Theater” (d. 1993)

1917 – Legendary jazz composer and pianist Thelonious Monk, often called “the high priest of bebop” (d. 1982)

1941 – Emmy-winning actor and narrator Peter Coyote (“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,” “Jagged Edge,” “Outrageous Fortune,” “Out of the Blue,” “Hatchet,” ” The Roosevelts”)

1946 – Tony-winning actor, dancer and singer Ben Vereen (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Pippin,” “Wicked,” “Roots”)

1954 – Rock musician and Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth

1958 – Country music superstar Tanya Tucker (“Delta Dawn,” “What’s Your Mama’s Name?”)

1959 – Emmy-winning actor Bradley Whitford (“The West Wing,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “The Mentalist,” “Billy Madison”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1845 – The U.S. Naval Academy opens in Annapolis, Maryland, with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors. Known as the Naval School until 1850, the curriculum included mathematics and navigation, gunnery and steam, chemistry, English, natural philosophy and French.

1886 – Griswold Lorillard of Tuxedo Park, New York fashions the first tuxedo for men by cutting the tails off a tailcoat.

1973 – Vice President Spiro Agnew resigns from office after pleading no contest to a tax evasion charge.

1985 – U.S. Navy fighter jets intercept an Egyptian airliner carrying the Palestinian terrorists who hijacked the Achille Lauro cruise ship days earlier and killed an American passenger.

1985 – Hollywood loses actor-filmmaker Orson Welles (“War of the Worlds,” “Citizen Cane”) to a heart attack at age 70.

1985 – Lung cancer claims the life of 65-year-old actor Yul Brynner (“The King and I,” “The Ten Commandments,” “The Magnificent Seven”), who recorded an impassioned anti-smoking public service announcement shortly before his death.

2004 – Actor Christopher Reeve, beloved for his starring role in four “Superman” movies, dies of heart failure at the age of 52. Left quadriplegic in a 1995 horse-riding accident, Reeve had become an outspoken advocate for spinal cord research until his death, establishing a foundation still in operation today.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” from the movie of the same name, debuts on the pop chart, reaching No. 1 a month later. It is an adaptation of the Civil War-era tune “Aura Lee or The Maid with Golden Hair.”

1960 – The novelty song “Mr. Custer,” by Larry Verne, begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1970 – “Cracklin’ Rosie” gives Neil Diamond his first ride to the top of the singles chart, where it holds for a week.

1979 – “The Rose,” starring Bette Midler as a self-destructive 1960s rock star, premieres in Los Angeles. The movie, based on the life of rock legend Janis Joplin, goes on to receive four Oscar nominations, including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Midler, in her screen debut).

1981 – The Diana Ross-Lionel Richie duet, “Endless Love,” concludes its nine-week reign over the singles chart.

1987 – “Here I Go Again,” by British rockers Whitesnake, spends a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – U2 release “Rattle and Hum,” a companion to the movie of the same name. The album contains live performances from the band’s successful 1987-88 “The Joshua Tree” tour, as well as additional songs recorded at the historic Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee.

1992 – Boyz II Men are in the middle of an epic 13-week domination of the singles chart with their Grammy-winning smash, “End of the Road.”

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas begin the final week of a marathon 14-week hold on the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Gotta Feeling.” The song goes on to capture a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

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