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On This Day December 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. First Lady and wife of 36th President Lyndon Johnson (d. 2007)

1915 – Actress Barbara Billingsley, who played housewife June Cleaver on TV’s “Leave It to Beaver” (d. 2010)

1917 – Longtime “Match Game” host Gene Rayburn, born Eugene Jelyevich (d. 1999)

1936 – Emmy-winning actor Hector Elizondo (“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” “Pretty Woman,” “Chicago Hope,” “Last Man Standing,” “The Princess Diaries”)

1945 – Emmy-winning TV journalist and former ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer

1949 – Singer-songwriter and Bee Gees band member Robin Gibb (d. 2012)

1949 – Singer-songwriter and Bee Gees band member Maurice Gibb (d. 2003)

1962 – Tony-winning actor Ralph Fiennes, born Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (“Schindler’s List,” “The English Patient,” the “Harry Potter” movie series, “Red Dragon,” “The Constant Gardener,” “In Bruges,” “The Reader,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Menu”)

1989 – Singer-songwriter-actress and youngest “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks (“Tattoo,” “No Air,” “Battlefield”)

1993 – Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor (“All About That Bass,” “Lips Are Moving,” “Dear Future Husband,” “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” “No”)

History Highlights

1900 – The first car manufactured under the Mercedes name (Mercedes 35 hp) is delivered to its buyer — Emil Jellinek, an Austrian car racer and automotive executive.

1952 – General Motors completes a production-ready prototype of the first Corvette (EX-122) to display three weeks later at GM’s Motorama auto show in New York City. It becomes Chevrolet’s flagship sports car and remains a fixture of automotive culture.

1956 – Colo, the first gorilla born in captivity, enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, weighing slightly more than three pounds. Beloved the world over, Colo dies just weeks after her 60th birthday, on January 17, 2017. Colo is credited with helping the Columbus Zoo establish its reputation as a global leader in gorilla breeding, care, habitat and conservation.

1978 – Serial killer John Wayne Gacy confesses to murdering over two dozen boys and young men and burying their bodies under his suburban Chicago home.

1984 – Bernhard Goetz, a 37-year-old white man, shoots four black teenagers on a New York City subway train after they surround him and ask for $5. Goetz is heralded as a hero and dubbed the “Subway Vigilante.”

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Telstar,” by The Tornados, soars to the top of the singles chart, becoming the first major hit on the American chart by a British band.

1979 – Rupert Holmes begins a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”

1979 – Pat Benatar’s breakthrough single, “Heartbreaker,” lands on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbs as high as No. 23. The Grammy-winning rocker produces 16 more hits through the 1980s.

1984 – Madonna kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Like a Virgin.”

1990 – “Because I Love You (The Postman Song),” by Stevie B, is the No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for four weeks.

2001 – Nickelback sets out on a four-week domination of the singles chart with “How You Remind Me.”

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