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On This Day September 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – U.S. Olympic track and field legend Jesse Owens, known as “The Buckeye Bullet” (d. 1980)

1931 – Country music singer George Jones (d. 2013)

1940 – Actress Linda Gray, who played Sue Ellen Ewing in the TV series “Dallas”

1943 – Singer-songwriter Maria Muldaur, best known for her 1974 smash “Midnight at the Oasis”

1944 – Grammy-winning soul singer-songwriter and producer Barry White (d. 2003)

1951 – Actor Joe Pantoliano (“Risky Business,” “The Matrix,” “The Sopranos”) 

1973 – Actor Paul Walker, best remembered for his role in “The Fast and the Furious” movie franchise (d. 2013)

1980 – Retired NBA/Houston Rockets star center and Basketball Hall of Famer Yao Ming

1981 – Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning singer-actress Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls,” “Sex and the City,” “The Secret Life of Bees,” “Winnie Mandela”) 

History Highlights

1940 – Four teenagers stumble upon prehistoric cave paintings while following their dog into a cavern near Montignac, France. The site, consisting primarily of animal renderings, is known as the Lascaux grotto. 

1953 – In what is considered the “social event of the season,” Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts marries Washington Times-Herald photographer Jacqueline Bouvier in Newport, Rhode Island. Kennedy is elected the 35th president of the United States seven years later.

1974 – Violence erupts in the streets of Boston on the first day of school over court-ordered busing intended to integrate the public schools. One student describes the experience as resembling “a war zone.”

1977 – Anti-Apartheid leader Steven Biko dies from head trauma suffered during a police beating days earlier. 

1978 – The sitcom “Taxi,” starring Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito, premieres on ABC.

1992 – Best known for his role as the murderous Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s classic “Psycho,” actor Anthony Perkins dies from AIDS-related pneumonia at age 60.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Animals rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “The House of the Rising Sun,” which also makes it to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.

1966 – With a blend of comedy and music, “The Monkees” TV show debuts on NBC and runs for nearly two years. 

1970 – “War,” by Edwin Starr, begins its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1981 – The Diana Ross-Lionel Richie duet “Endless Love” is midway through a nine-week run as the No. 1 single.

1987 – Michael Jackson kicks off his Bad World Tour by playing the first of three sold-out shows in Tokyo, Japan. By the end of the tour, the King of Pop had performed for more than four million fans during 123 concerts in 15 countries.

1998 – Aerosmith’s single, “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” from the movie “Armageddon,” tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week.

2003 – The “Man in Black,” country music legend Johnny Cash, dies in Nashville of complications from diabetes at the age of 71.  Cash was one of country music’s biggest stars throughout the ’50s and ’60s, scoring more than 100 hit singles.

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