On This Day: November 14

On This Day November 14

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1840 – French artist Claude Monet (d. 1926)

1900 – Oscar- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Copland (“Fanfare for the Common Man,” “El Salón México,” “Appalachian Spring”) (d. 1990)

1921 – Actor Brian Keith (“The Parent Trap,” “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” “Family Affair,” “The Wind and the Lion”) (d. 1997)

1948 – King Charles III, formerly known as the Prince of Wales

1951 – Singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop (“On and On”, “It Might Be You”)

1954 – New age music composer-pianist Yanni, born Yiannis Chryssomalis

1954 – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the first African American woman to hold that position

1964 – Rapper Reverend Run, born Joseph Simmons, of the legendary 80s rap group Run-D.M.C.

History Highlights
History Highlights

1851 – Harper & Brothers publishes Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale,” a treasured piece of American literature about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, whose commander, Captain Ahab, goes on an obsessive quest for a white whale.

1941 – The Alfred Hitchcock romantic thriller “Suspicion” opens in U.S. theaters, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The film is nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but loses to “How Green Was My Valley.” However, Fontaine wins a Best Actress Oscar — the only Oscar performance ever in a Hitchcock movie.

1969 – Apollo 12 clears the launch pad at Cape Kennedy in Florida on its way to America’s second manned moon landing.

1970 – A chartered jet carrying most of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team crashes while preparing to land in Huntington, West Virginia, killing 37 players, the coach, doctors, the university athletic director, flight crew and 25 team boosters. The tragedy remains the worst sports-related air disaster in U.S. history. It inspired the 2006 movie, “We Are Marshall,” starring Matthew McConaughey.

1972 – Wall Street hits record territory when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tops the 1,000 mark for the first time.

1982 – Lech Walesa, leader of communist Poland’s outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after 11 months of internment near the Soviet border.

2006 – State officials close the last two of Texas’ beloved Pig Stands, the only remaining pieces of the nation’s first drive-in restaurant empire. The owners had filed for bankruptcy and owed the state more than $200,000 in back-taxes.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1952 – The U.K.’s first Official Singles Chart debuts, published in the New Musical Express (NME). The No. 1 single is “Here In My Heart,” by American singer Al Martino.

1960 – Ray Charles has the No. 1 single with “Georgia on My Mind.” In 1979, the state of Georgia adopts it as the official state song.

1970 – “I’ll Be There,” by The Jackson 5, begins its fifth and final week on top of the pop chart.

1981 – An Aussie invasion of sorts takes place as Australian acts make up four of the day’s Top-10 singles in the U.S., led by Olivia Newton-John with “Physical” (No. 3). Other acts are Little River Band, Air Supply and Rick Springfield.

1987 – The soundtrack from the movie “Dirty Dancing” shimmies its way to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, where it remains for 18 weeks. It goes on to sell 32 million copies worldwide and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

1998 – Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for two weeks. Her only chart-topper, the track goes on to clinch Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

2009 – Jason Derulo owns the top spot on the singles chart with “Whatcha Say,” which holds at No. 1 for a week.

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On this Day: May 26

On this Day May 26

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1886 – Singer-actor Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson in Russia and dubbed “The World’s Greatest Entertainer” (d. 1950)

1907 – Oscar-winning actor John Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison and nicknamed “The Duke,” who starred in many Westerns, including “The Searchers” and “True Grit” (d. 1979)

1920 – Vocalist Peggy Lee (“”Mañana,” “Lover,” “Fever”) (d. 2002)

1926 – Legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (d. 1991)

1948 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac member Stevie Nicks, best recognized for her vocals in the hits “Dreams,” “Rhiannon” and “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”

1951 – First American woman astronaut in space, Sally Ride (d. 2012)

1962 – Comedian-actor Bobcat Goldthwait

1962 – Emmy-winning actress Genie Francis, most remembered for her role as Laura on the ABC soap “General Hospital”

1964 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lenny Kravitz (“Let Love Rule,” “Mama Said,” “American Woman”)

1966 – Actress Helena Bonham Carter (“A Room With a View,” “Howard’s End,” “Fight Club,” “Big Fish,” The King’s Speech,” “Les Misérables”)

1975 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-rapper-producer Lauryn Hill, formerly of The Fugees (“Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Ex-Factor,” “Everything Is Everything”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1897 – The first copies of the classic vampire novel “Dracula,” by Irish writer Bram Stoker, appear in London bookshops.

1927 – It’s the end of the road for Ford’s iconic Model T automobile. The 15 millionth and last Model T Ford rolls off a Detroit assembly line with Ford founder Henry Ford in the front passenger seat and his son, Edsel, behind the wheel. The touring car, with hand-stamped VIN 15000000, marked the symbolic end of the groundbreaking automobile’s 19-year production run.

1953 – The first 3-D sci-fi movie premieres in Los Angeles: “It Came from Outer Space,” based on a Ray Bradbury story.

1959 – Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves before losing, 1-0, in the 13th. It’s the first time a pitcher throws more than nine perfect innings in major league history.

1969 – Apollo 10 returns to Earth after a successful eight-day test of all the components needed for the forthcoming first manned moon landing. During descent from its lunar orbit, the spacecraft sets a record for the fastest speed attained by a manned vehicle.

1972 – Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev and U.S. President Richard Nixon, meeting in Moscow, sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) agreements.

1977 – The so-called “human fly,” George Willig, scales the South Tower of New York City’s World Trade Center by attaching himself to a window washing track and walking straight to the top and into the custody of waiting police officers. It takes Willig three and a half hours to make the climb and costs him $1.10 in fines — one penny per floor.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Clarinetist Acker Bilk becomes the first British artist to top the Billboard pop chart when his instrumental, “Stranger on the Shore,” reaches No. 1.

1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono begin an eight-day “bed-in” for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, during which they record “Give Peace a Chance” in a room filled with reporters, photographers and supporters. The couple held a similar bed-in two months earlier in Amsterdam.

1973 – The hard rock instrumental “Frankenstein,” by The Edgar Winter Group, reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band’s only No. 1 hit. One week later, it is bumped by Paul McCartney’s “My Love.”

1979 – Peaches & Herb begin their fourth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Reunited.”

1984 – “Let’s Hear It For the Boy,” by Deniece Williams, from the soundtrack to the Kevin Bacon movie “Footloose,” is on top of the singles chart.

1990 – Madonna’s “Vogue,” off the “I’m Breathless” album, is in the middle of a three-week domination of the Billboard pop chart.

2001 – “All For You,” by Janet Jackson, begins its seventh and final week as a chart-topper.

2007 – “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’),” by T-Pain featuring Yung Joc, is the No. 1 single.

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