On This Day March 4 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1678 – Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric Antonio Vivaldi (d. 1741) 1938 – Actress Paula Prentiss (“The Black Marble,” “The Stepford Wives,” “The Parallax View”) 1941 – Movie director Adrian Lyne (“Fatal Attraction,” “9½ Weeks,” “Flashdance,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Unfaithful”) 1954 – Actress Catherine O’Hara (“SCTV,” “Beetlejuice,” the “Home Alone” movies, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show”) 1958 – Emmy-winning actress Patricia Heaton, best known for playing Debra Barone in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond” 1961 – Actor Steven Weber (“The Kennedys of Massachusetts,” “Wings,” “The Shining,” “Once and Again,” “NCIS: New Orleans”) History Highlights 1925 – The second inauguration of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge is the first to be nationally broadcast. More than 20 radio stations carry the event to an estimated 23 million listeners, including many children whose school auditoriums were specially equipped with speakers. 1933 – During the height of the Great Depression, an estimated 150,000 spectators gather on the east grounds of the U.S. Capitol as Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president. FDR tells Americans, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” 1933 – Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Frances Perkins Secretary of Labor, making her the first female member of the U.S. cabinet. 1960 – Actress Lucille Ball divorces her husband and collaborator, Desi Arnaz, after 20 tumultuous years of marriage. The breakup of the couple, stars of the hit sitcom “I Love Lucy” and owners of Desilu Studios, becomes one of the highest-profile divorces in American history at that time. 1974 – People magazine makes its debut on American newsstands, featuring actress Mia Farrow on the cover. 1989 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans to merge into the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate. 1994 – Comedic actor John Candy (“Splash,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck,” “Home Alone”) dies of a heart attack at 43 while filming a movie in Mexico. 2005 – Billionaire mogul Martha Stewart is released from a federal prison in West Virginia after serving five months and paying a $30,000 fine for lying and obstructing justice in a 2001 stock sale. Stewart serves five months of home confinement at her Bedford, New York estate and then faces two years probation. Musical Milestones 1963 – The Beach Boys release “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” which climbs as high as No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. The The song features Brian Wilson’s lyrics set to the music of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.” 1966 – During an interview with the British newspaper London Evening Standard, John Lennon says of The Beatles: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” The remark sets off an international furor when reprinted a few months later in an American teen magazine, with some radio stations refusing to play Beatles records and others burning them. 1967 – “Beggin’,” the 33rd hit single for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, lands on the Billboard pop chart, eventually climbing to No. 16. 1967 – “Ruby Tuesday,” by The Rolling Stones, begins a week as the No. 1 single. Brian Jones plays recorder on the track while the double bass is played jointly by bassist Bill Wyman pressing the strings against the fingerboard and Keith Richards bowing the strings. 1978 – Andy Gibb sails to the top of the singles chart with “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water.” The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks. 1989 – Debbie Gibson starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Lost in Your Eyes.” 1995 – Madonna is in the midst of a seven-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album. 2000 – Nashville-based country music band Lonestar claims the top spot on the pop chart with “Amazed.” The single holds at No. 1 for two weeks. 2006 – “Check on It,” by Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug, begins its fifth and final week as a No. 1 single. READ MORE
On This Day November 7 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1918 – Christian evangelist Billy Graham, often called “America’s pastor” (d. 2018) 1938 – Actor Barry Newman (“Vanishing Point,” “Petrocelli”) 1942 – Rock and roll singer-songwriter Johnny Rivers, whose biggest hits were “Secret Agent Man,” “Poor Side of Town”) 1943 – Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who enjoyed a string of hits in the 1970s, including “Chelsea Morning,” “Both Sides, Now” and “Big Yellow Taxi” 1967 – Grammy-winning DJ and record producer David Guetta (“Love Don’t Let Me Go,” “People Come People Go,” “Gettin’ Over You,” “When Love Takes Over”) 1970 – Documentary producer and host Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me,” “Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?” “30 Days,” “Morgan Spurlock Inside Man”) History Highlights 1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) is elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office, but with his physical health in decline during World War II, he dies the following April. FDR is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms. 1962 – Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt dies at the age of 78. 1962 – The morning after the California gubernatorial election, Richard Nixon concedes to incumbent Governor Pat Brown and then accuses the media of biased, campaign coverage. Nixon tells reporters that this is his last press conference, saying, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” 1980 – Moviegoers mourn the death of “The King of Cool,” actor Steve McQueen (“The Great Escape,” “Bullitt,” “The Getaway”). McQueen conquered many tough guys on screen and performed most of his own stunts, but he lost his real-life battle with mesothelioma — a rare form of lung cancer — at the age of 50. 1991 – Basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson stuns the world by announcing his sudden retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Two and a half decades later, the three-time NBA MVP, 12-time All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist continues to promote awareness and education about HIV/AIDS. Musical Milestones 1951 – Legendary crooner Frank Sinatra marries his second wife, actress Ava Gardner. Six years later, they are divorced. 1964 – “Baby Love,” by The Supremes, is in the middle of four weeks as a No. 1 single. It’s a follow-up to the Motown sensation’s “Where Did Our Love Go,” which was their first chart-topper. 1969 – Paul McCartney and his family are the subject of a LIFE Magazine cover story called “The Case of the Missing Beatle: Paul is Still With Us.” Interviewed on his Scottish farm after initially chasing off the reporter, McCartney dispels rumors about his death that had been circulating around the world. 1970 – “I’ll Be There,” by The Jackson 5, is in the midst of a five-week ride atop the singles chart. It is the band’s fourth consecutive No. 1. 1981 – Hall & Oates begin a two-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Private Eyes.” The single becomes the duo’s third of six career chart-toppers. 1987 – Sixteen-year-old Tiffany tops the singles chart with “I Think We’re Alone Now,” originally a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells in 1967, four years before Tiffany was born. 1992 – It’s the end of the road for Boyz II Men’s 13-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-winning single, “End of the Road.” 1998 – “The First Night,” by Monica, marks its last week as a No. 1 single. The track enjoys a total of five weeks as a Billboard chart-topper. 2009 – Owl City is perched at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Fireflies.” READ MORE