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On This Day January 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Comedian-philanthropist Danny Thomas (“Make Room for Daddy”) (d. 1991)

1944 – Actress Bonnie Franklin, best known for her role in the 70s sitcom “One Day at a Time” (d. 2013)

1953 – Malcolm Young, guitarist-vocalist and co-founder of the hard rock band AC/DC (d. 2017)

1955 – Comedian, actor and writer Rowan Atkinson (“Black Adder,” “Mr. Bean,” “Johnny English”) 

1957 – Three-time LPGA champion Nancy Lopez

1967 – Director John Singleton (“Boyz n the Hood,” “Poetic Justice,” “Shaft,” “Four Brothers,” “2 Fast 2 Furious”)

1969 – Actor Norman Reedus (“The Boondock Saints,” “American Gangster,” “The Walking Dead”)

1982 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Eddie Redmayne (“My Week with Marilyn,” “Les Misérables,” “The Theory of Everything,” “The Danish Girl”)

History Highlights

1838 – Samuel Morse publicly demonstrates the telegraph system he invented and which would go on to revolutionize long-distance communication.

1919 – Ten years after the end of his term as the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt dies in his sleep at his Long Island, New York estate at the age of 60. The cause is a coronary embolism. 

1942 – Pan American World Airways completes the first around-the-world commercial flight with the Pacific Clipper, a Boeing 314 “flying boat” piloted by Capt. Robert Ford. The journey ends with a safe water landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport.

1973 – The animated Saturday morning TV series “Schoolhouse Rock!” premieres on ABC, featuring “Multiplication Rock.” Educational topics include grammar, science, economics, history, math and civics.

1974 – In response to the U.S. energy crisis, President Richard Nixon signs emergency legislation imposing daylight saving time for almost 16 months — until April 27, 1975.

2001 – Congress certifies George W. Bush as the winner of the 2000 presidential election over Vice President Al Gore after the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to halt a five-week-long manual recount of ballots in Florida. This marked the fourth election in U.S. history in which the winner failed to get a plurality of the popular vote.

2021 – Supporters of President Donald Trump storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. in an effort to halt the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. After violently clashing with Capitol police, the rioters ransacked the complex, destroyed property and sent members of Congress and their staff into hiding in offices and bunkers. The attack is often referred to as the “January 6 insurrection.”

Musical Milestones

1954 – Working as a truck driver, Elvis Presley enters the Memphis Recording Service in Tennessee and records “It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You” and “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” as a demo for Sun Records. Impressed with his sound, Sun Records head Sam Phillips calls Presley back to record more, and the rest is rock and roll history.

1958 – Danny & the Juniors bop to the top of Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart with “At the Hop,” which holds at No. 1 for five weeks.

1968 – The Beatles commandeer the top spot on the Billboard album chart for eight weeks with “Magical Mystery Tour,” which contains such classics as “Hello, Goodbye,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” “All You Need is Love” and, of course, the title track.

1973 – “You’re So Vain,” by Carly Simon, begins a three-week reign over the Billboard singles chart. Through the years, speculation swirled about the subject of the song, with Simon eventually admitting that it refers to three men, only one of whom she named publicly: actor Warren Beatty.

1979 – The Bee Gees own the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with  “Too Much Heaven.”

1990 – Phil Collins has the first No. 1 album of the 90s as “…But Seriously” claims the top spot on the Billboard 200. The album contains his Grammy-winning smash “Another Day in Paradise.”

1993 – Legendary jazz trumpeter and composer Dizzy Gillespie dies of cancer at the age of 75. Gillespie developed his own signature style called “bebop,” and worked with musical greats like Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Hines, Charlie Parker and Duke Ellington. 

2001 – Destiny’s Child is in the midst of an 11-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part I,” from the “Charlie’s Angels” movie soundtrack and the group’s third album, “Survivor.” 

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