On This Day April 25 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1874 – Nobel Prize-winning radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937) 1908 – Pioneering broadcast journalist and longtime CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow (d. 1965) 1917 – Legendary Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Song” (d. 1996) 1932 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, born Meadow Lemon III (d. 2015) 1940 – Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor Al Pacino (“The Godfather” movie series, “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” ” …And Justice for All,” “Scarface,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “The Insider,” “Oceans Thrteen,” “Danny Collins,” “The Irishman,” “Hunters”) 1946 – Actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” films and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series 1964 – Emmy-winning actor-producer-comedian Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons,” “The Birdcage,” “Mystery Men,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “The Smurfs,” “Brockmire”) 1969 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Renée Zellweger (“Jerry McGuire,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Me Myself and Irene,” “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Cinderella Man”) History Highlights 1901 – New York becomes the first state to require license plates on cars. Owners had to display their initials on the back of the vehicle and the letters had to be at least three inches tall. Since the state did not produce license plates, owners were forced to make their own, and they did so using metal, leather or wood — or they painted their initials directly onto the vehicle. In 1903, Massachusetts became the first state to produce license plates. 1945 – A milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe is achieved when U.S. and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting Nazi Germany in two. 1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs the nation that eight U.S. servicemen were killed in the collision of two military aircraft to be used to rescue 52 Americans held hostage in Iran. Those hostages are finally freed the following January, on the day Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president. 1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov personally invites American fifth-grader Samantha Smith of Maine to visit his country after reading her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. She makes the trip that summer and becomes an honorary ambassador for peace at a time when U.S.-Soviet relations were strained during the Cold War. Sadly, Smith dies in a plane crash two years later. 1990 – The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. Hubble — named after astronomer Edwin Hubble — continues to provide astronomers with an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. 1995 – Oscar-winning entertainer Ginger Rogers, best known for her films with dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83. Musical Milestones 1956 – Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley signs a seven-year movie contract with Paramount Pictures. 1960 – Elvis Presley gets stuck on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks with “Stuck On You.” It’s his first hit single following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army. 1970 – The Jackson 5 give The Beatles’ “Let It Be” the boot and claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks with “ABC.” 1981 – Daryl Hall and John Oates begin their third and final week as chart-toppers with “Kiss On My List.” 1987 – U2 begin a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “The Joshua Tree,” which packs chart-topping tracks including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It goes on to capture Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. 1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival is auctioned off for a record $330,000. His two-hour set at the 1969 rock festival included a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” 1992 – “Jump,” by hip hop duo Kris Kross, grabs the top spot on the singles chart and remains there for eight weeks. 1998 – Next has the No. 1 single with “Too Close.” The track remains on top of the pop chart for five weeks. 2007 – Leukemia claims the life of 69-year-old Bobby “Boris” Pickett, best known for his hit novelty song “Monster Mash,” which still gets radio airplay every Halloween. READ MORE
On This Day December 12 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1893 – Actor Edward G. Robinson, known for playing mobsters and other tough guys (“Little Caesar,” “Double Indemnity,” “The Woman in the Window,” “Scarlet Street,” “Key Largo”) (d. 1973) 1915 – Legendary Grammy and Oscar-winning entertainer Frank Sinatra, born Francis Albert Sinatra, and affectionately called “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “The Chairman of the Board” (d. 1998) 1923 – Bob Barker, who hosted the popular TV game show “The Price is Right” from 1972 to 2007 and was an outspoken animal rights activist (d. 2023) 1924 – Former New York City Mayor and “The People’s Court” Judge Ed Koch (d. 2013) 1938 – Pop singer Connie Francis, born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (Who’s Sorry Now?”, “Stupid Cupid”) 1940 – Grammy-winning singer Dionne Warwick (“Don’t Make Me Over,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”) 1949 – Actor Bill Nighy (“The Men’s Room,” “Love Actually,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “The Girl in the Café,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”) 1952 – Actress and Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby 1970 – Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly (“Requiem for a Dream,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “The House of Sand and Fog,” “Hulk”) History Highlights 1901 – Guglielmo Marconi successfully sends the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. 1917 – In Omaha, Nebraska, Irish priest, Father Edward J. Flanagan, opens the doors to Boys Town, a home for troubled and neglected children that continues to provide this service today. 1967 – “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” a groundbreaking movie about an interracial romantic relationship, starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier, opens in theaters. It is the ninth movie to pair Hepburn with Tracy, who died less than three weeks after filming ended. 1972 – The world turns upside down for cruise ship passengers when the epic disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure” opens, featuring a veritable Hollywood ‘Who’s Who’ of a cast, including Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Roddy Mcdowall, Carol Lynley and Jack Albertson. 1980 – American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5.1 million at auction for a notebook containing writings by artist-inventor Leonardo da Vinci. The manuscript, written around 1508, is among over two dozen books da Vinci produced during his lifetime. 1989 – The so-called “Queen of Mean,” hotel operator and real estate developer Leona Helmsley, who once quipped that “only the little people pay taxes,” receives a four-year prison sentence, 750 hours of community service and a $7.1 million fine for tax fraud. 2000 – General Motors (GM) announces that it will begin to phase out its Oldsmobile line of cars, the oldest automotive brand in the United States. The last Olds rolls off an assembly line about four years later. Musical Milestones 1964 – Bobby Vinton stands alone on top of the Billboard singles survey with “Mr. Lonely,” his second No. 1 of the year. 1970 – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles kick off two weeks atop the singles chart with “The Tears Of A Clown,” the group’s 26th Top 40 hit and first No. 1. 1987 – “Faith,” by George Michael, begins a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It goes on to become the biggest-selling single of 1988. 1992 – Whitney Houston has the No. 1 single with “I Will Always Love You,” which remains a chart-topper for 14 weeks and becomes one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song was written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1973. This version was part of the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard,” a 1992 movie co-starring Houston and Kevin Costner. 2003 – Prince Charles bestows knighthood status upon Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger at Buckingham Palace. Jagger’s 92-year-old father, Joe, and daughters Elizabeth and Karis are on hand for the prestigious event. 2007 – R&B legend Ike Turner, credited by many music historians with making the first rock ‘n roll record in 1951, dies of a cocaine overdose at the age of 76. Turner was the former husband of superstar Tina Turner. The couple enjoyed a string of late 60s-early 70s hits, including “Proud Mary” and “River Deep Mountain High.” READ MORE