On This Day: December 16

On This Day December 16

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1770 – Composer-pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (d. 1827)

1775 – Author Jane Austen (“Sense and Sensibility,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mansfield Park,” “Emma”) (d. 1817)

1917 – Science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, whose short story, “The Sentinel,” inspired the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” (d. 2008)

1938 – Golden Globe-winning actress-director Liv Ullmann (“The Emigrants,” “Scenes from a Marriage,” “Face to Face”)

1941 – CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl

1943 – Emmy-winning TV producer-writer Steven Bochco (“Hill Street Blues,” “L.A. Law,” “Doogie Howser, M.D.”)

1947 – Actor Ben Cross, best known for playing British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the movie “Chariots of Fire”

1962 – Former Chicago Bears defensive lineman William “The Refrigerator” Perry

1963 – Actor Benjamin Bratt (“Law & Order,” “Demolition Man,” “Traffic,” “Miss Congeniality,” “Private

History Highlights
History Highlights

1773 – Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British ships docked in Boston Harbor and dump 342 chests of tea into the water to protest tea taxes. The raid comes be known as the Boston Tea Party.

1944 – The deadliest conflict of World War II occurs on this day. The Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Mist, also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium.

1951 – “Just the facts, ma’am.” The police detective series “Dragnet,” which launched on NBC Radio in 1949, premieres on NBC Television, starring Jack Webb as detective Joe Friday. Webb was the show’s creator and also served as director/producer. The series runs through 1970.

1960 – This day marks the worst commercial aviation disaster of its time. A United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide over New York City, sending one aircraft hurtling into Staten Island and the other into a Brooklyn neighborhood. The crash kills 134 people, including six on the ground.

1973 – Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson becomes the first player in the National Football League to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a single season.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1957 – After six weeks on top of the Best Sellers in Stores chart in October and November of this year, Elvis Presley’s “Jailhouse Rock” climbs back into the No. 1 spot for a week.

1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Daydream Believer.” The song becomes the band’s final No. 1 hit in the U.S.

1972 – Billy Paul starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Me and Mrs Jones.”

1983 – British rockers The Who announce their breakup. However, it was not to last, as the band gets back together in 1985 for Live Aid (a massive, duel-venue benefit concert for African famine relief) and then launches a full-fledged reunion tour in 1989.

1995 – “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, is in its third week as a No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for a record-breaking total of 16 weeks.

2000 – Destiny’s Child rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part I,” from the movie, “Charlie’s Angels.” This track remains a No. 1 single for 11 weeks.

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On this Day: July 13

On this Day July 13

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Actor Bob Crane (Hogan in TV’s “Hogan’s Heroes”) (d. 1978)

1940 – Actor Patrick Stewart, best known for playing Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Prof. Charles Xavier from the “X-Men” movies

1942 – Actor Harrison Ford  (“American Graffiti,” “Star Wars,” “Witness,” the “Indiana Jones” movie series, “Blade Runner,” “Working Girl,” “Presumed Innocent,” “The Fugitive,” “Air Force One,” “Six Days and Seven Nights”)

1944 – Rubik’s Cube inventor Erno Rubik

1946 – Comedian-actor Cheech Marin of the comedy duo Cheech & Chong 

1957 – Oscar-winning director Cameron Crowe (“Say Anything…,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Almost Famous”)

1962 – Actor Tom Kenny, best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants

1969 – Actor-comedian Ken Jeong (“The Hangover” film trilogy, “Community,” “Dr. Ken”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1923 – The iconic Hollywood sign is officially dedicated on Mount Lee, overlooking Los Angeles, as “Hollywoodland.” The last four letters are removed during a 1949 renovation. Meant to be a temporary advertisement for a new housing tract, it evolves into one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world.

1930 – The first World Cup soccer competition is held in Montevideo, Uruguay, with 13 teams participating. 

1960 – Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy  is nominated for the presidency at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, defeating Senator Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. The next day, Johnson is named Kennedy’s running mate by a unanimous vote of the convention.

1977 – On a sweltering summer’s evening, a massive power outage caused by a lightning strike at an electrical substation, plunges New York City into darkness for 25 hours. During the blackout, looters raid 1,600 stores, 50 vehicles are stolen from a Bronx car dealership, and more than a thousand fires are set across the five boroughs. Police arrest some 3,700 looters — the largest mass arrest in NYPD history.

1990 – The supernatural-romantic-thriller “Ghost,” starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg, opens in theaters. Goldberg goes on to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, becoming only the second African-American actress to do so after Hattie McDaniel in 1939 for her performance in “Gone With The Wind.”

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1959 – Paul Anka has the second No. 1 single of his career when “Lonely Boy,” from the movie “Girls Town,” hits the top of the pop chart.

1968 – “This Guy’s in Love with You,” by Herb Alpert, wraps up four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1974 – The hottest single is George McCrae’s “Rock Your Baby,” one of the earliest disco tracks to get airplay on Top 40 radio. 

1974 – Elton John is on top of the Billboard album chart with “Caribou,” the LP that spawns the hit “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” 

1985 – Duran Duran’s “A View to a Kill,” from the James Bond movie of the same name, kicks off two weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart. Coincidentally, the band performs the song the same day at Live Aid in Philadelphia.

1985 – Live Aid features simultaneous concerts in London and Philadelphia to raise funds for African famine relief. Organized by activist/musician Bob Geldof, the global event draws one of the largest audiences in television history — nearly two billion viewers.

1989 – Milli Vanilli release “Blame It On The Rain,” which climbs to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 that November.

1991 – Paula Abdul begins her fifth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Rush Rush.”

2002 – Nelly commandeers the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hot in Herre.”

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