On This Day: November 30

Musical Milestones

1968 – Diana Ross & The Supremes rule the singles chart with “Love Child,” their 11th chart-topper. The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – One-hit wonder Billy Swan has the No. 1 single with “I Can Help.”

1974 – “Elton John’s Greatest Hits” begins a 10-week run atop the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than 24 million copies worldwide.

1985 – “Separate Lives” by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the “White Nights” movie soundtrack, is the No. 1 single.

1991 – P.M. Dawn has its only No. 1 single, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is built around a sampling of Spandau Ballet’s “True.”

1996 – Quirky 1960s pop star Tiny Tim, best known for his falsetto singing and ukulele playing in the 1968 novelty hit “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips With Me,” dies at the age of 64.

1996 – “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, marks its fourth and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

History Highlights

1965 – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a book that singles out the Chevy Corvair while criticizing U.S. auto safety standards. It immediately becomes a best-seller and prompts passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, seat belt laws in 49 states (all but New Hampshire) and other highway safety initiatives.

1967 – Liberal Democratic Senator Eugene McCarthy, an advocate of a negotiated end to the Vietnam War, declares that he intends to enter several Democratic Presidential primaries.

1971 – The tear-jerker “Brian’s Song” premieres on ABC, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo, the Chicago Bears running back who is stricken with terminal cancer.

1977 – After nearly four decades with CBS News, the late anchor Eric Sevareid retires.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Author Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, best known for his classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (d. 1910)

1874 – Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born in Oxfordshire, England. (d. 1965) 

1918 – Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (“77 Sunset Strip,” “The F.B.I.”) (d. 2014)

1927 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his role as the butler in the ABC sitcom “Benson”

1929 – Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark, born Richard Wagstaff Clark, who is credited with such popular shows as “American Bandstand,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes,” among others. (d. 2012)

1937 – Emmy-winning director-producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian”)

1947 – Tony-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet (“The Verdict,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Wag the Dog,” “Ronin”)

1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (“Yentl,” “The Princess Bride,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland,” “Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds”)

1955 – Rock singer-guitarist Billy Idol, born William Albert Michael Broad (“Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rock the Cradle of Love”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actor, director and comedian Ben Stiller (“Reality Bites,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Zoolander,” the “Meet the Parents” trilogy, “DodgeBall,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Madagascar” series, the “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”)

1978 – Singer and “American Idol” alum Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom

Own a Piece of This Day

Shop Here:

The Best Of Diana Ross & The Supremes: The Millennium Collection

Diana Ross & The Supremes

God Bless Tiny Tim

Tiny Tim

Unsafe At Any Speed

Ralph Nader

Brian's Song

Starring James Caan, Billy Dee Williams and Jack Warden, and directed by Buzz Kulik

The Princess Bride

Starring Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin and Chris Sarandon, and directed by Rob Reiner

Night at the Museum

Starring Ben Stiller, Carla Gugino and Dick Van Dyke, and directed by Shawn Levy

READ MORE