On This Day: April 26

On This Day April 26

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1933 – Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning comedian-actress Carol Burnett

1936 – Guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Duane Eddy

1958 – Actor Giancarlo Esposito (“Do The Right Thing,” “School Days,” “The Usual Suspects,” “Malcolm X,” “Breaking Bad”) 

1963 – Martial artist-actor Jet Li (“The War Lords,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Romeo Must Die,” “Kiss of the Dragon,” “The Forbidden Kingdom”)

1965 – Actor-comedian Kevin James (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The King of Queens,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” “Grown Ups,” “Zookeeper,” “Pixels”) 

1980 – Actor Channing Tatum (“Coach Carter,” “21 Jump Street,” “22 Jump Street,” “She’s the Man,” “The Dilemma,” “White House Down,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Hail, Caesar!”, “Smallfoot”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1865 – Presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth is killed by Union soldiers that track him to a Virginia farm 12 days after Booth fatally shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.

1954 – More than 1.8 million American children (“Polio Pioneers”) participate in the Salk polio vaccine field trials. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in an effort to wipe out polio — an infectious disease occurring primarily in children that can result in paralysis. A year later, researchers declare that the vaccine is safe and effective, and it becomes a standard part of childhood immunizations across the U.S.

1984 – President Ronald Reagan visits China — the first such mission by a U.S. president since the historic Nixon trip in 1972. 

1986 – An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine sets off fires that release deadly radioactive material into the air, becoming the world’s worst nuclear disaster. 

1986 – Almost a decade after meeting at a celebrity tennis tournament,  TV news reporter Maria Shriver weds movie actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. The marriage lasts 25 years.

1989 – An American entertainment icon, comedian Lucille Ball (“I Love Lucy”) dies at the age of 78.

1994 – South Africa’s 18 million blacks vote in multi-party elections for the first time ever and anti-Apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela is elected president.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – The Edwin Hawkins Singers hit the singles chart with “Oh Happy Day,” which eventually soars to No. 4 and million-selling status. It becomes the first gospel track to cross over to the pop chart. 

1975 – B.J. Thomas owns the hottest single in America with “(Hey Won’t You Play), Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.” 

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” begins its 15th and final week on top of the Billboard album chart. It becomes the best-selling album of 1980.

1986 – “Kiss,” by Prince and The Revolution, holds at No. 1 on the singles chart for a second week. The song clinches Prince a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

1988 – A jury in White Plains, New York finds Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger not guilty of copyright infringement. Reggae singer Patrick Alley had sued Jagger for $7 million over the song “Just Another Night,” claiming the chorus’s lyrics were similar to his version. Jagger provided jurors with a rare glimpse into his work habits by playing homemade and studio tapes demonstrating the development of his song.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, wraps up a six-week run as a Billboard chart-topper.

2008 – Leona Lewis kicks off a week at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Bleeding Love.”

2013 – George Jones, known as “the greatest voice in country music,”  dies in Nashville at the age of 81. 

READ MORE
On This Day: April 5

On This Day April 5

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1900 – Oscar-winning actor Spencer Tracy (“Boys Town,” “Inherit the Wind,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”) (d. 1967)

1908 – Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis, known as “The First Lady of the American Screen” (“Jezebel,” “All About Eve,” “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”) (d. 1989)

1916 – Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck (“The Keys of the Kingdom,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”) (d. 2003)

1926 – Producer-director Roger Corman, known as “The Pope of Pop Cinema” (“The Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Raven,” “Piranha,” ” Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”) 

1937 – Soldier-turned-statesman Colin Powell, a four-star U.S. general who became the first African American secretary of state in 2001

1941 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Michael Moriarty (“Bang the Drum Slowly,” “Holocaust,” “Law & Order”) 

1973 – Singer-rapper-music producer Pharrell Williams, best known for his 2014 smash “Happy,” from the movie “Despicable Me 2.”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1614 – Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, weds English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensures peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.

1951 – A federal judge sentences Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.  The couple had been convicted of their crimes a week earlier. They are executed by electric chair in 1953, becoming the only two American civilians to be executed for Cold War espionage.

1965 – Movie musicals sweep the Oscars. At the 37th Academy Awards, “My Fair Lady” wins Best Picture, while its star, Rex Harrison, wins Best Actor. Singer/actress Julie Andrews wins Best Actress for her role in “Mary Poppins.” 

1971 – Canadian Fran Phipps becomes the first woman to reach the North Pole. 

1987 – The sitcom “Married…With Children” debuts on Fox and ultimately lasts 11 seasons, becoming the network’s longest-running live action series.

2000 – Lee Petty, an early star of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the patriarch of a racing dynasty that includes his son, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, dies at the age 86. Lee Petty won more than 50 races during his career.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – Tommy Roe enjoys his fourth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Dizzy.”

1975 – “Lovin’ You,” by Minnie Riperton, tops the Billboard Hot 100. At the end of the track, you can hear her sing, “Maya, Maya” to her daughter, actress-comedian and “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph. Tragically, Riperton dies of breast cancer four years later at the age of 31.

1980 – “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II,” by Pink Floyd, is the No. 1 single. 

1984 – The funeral service for Motown legend Marvin Gaye takes place at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and other Motown talent are on hand to pay their respects.

1985 – At 3:50 p.m. GMT, more than 5,000 radio stations around the world simultaneously broadcast the single “We Are the World,” produced as a charity to benefit Ethiopian famine relief. The single, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, features the voices of some of the biggest musical acts of the day.

1994 – Grunge music icon Kurt Cobain, Nirvana founder and frontman, commits suicide at age 27. His body is discovered at his Seattle home three days later by an electrician who showed up to install a security system.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, is in the middle of a six-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – Another grunge legend, singer-songwriter Layne Staley, co-founder and lead vocalist of alternative rock band Alice in Chains, is found dead in his Seattle home from a drug overdose at the age of 34.

2008 – Leona Lewis has the No. 1 single with “Bleeding Love.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

2014 – Pharrell Williams holds the top spot on the singles chart with “Happy,” which remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks.

READ MORE