On This Day: April 21

On This Day April 21

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1816 – Novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë, the eldest of the three sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels, including “Jane Eyre,” became classics of English literature (d. 1855)

1828 – Naturalist-conservationist John Muir (d. 1914)

1915 – Oscar-winning actor Anthony Quinn (“Viva Zapata!,” “Lust for Life,” “Zorba the Greek”)  (d. 2001)

1926 – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history (d.2022)

1935 – Actor-comedian Charles Grodin (“The Heartbreak Kid,” “Beethoven,” “Dave,” “Midnight Run”) 

1947 – Punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg, Jr.

1951 – Professional boxer-turned-actor Tony Danza (“Taxi,” “Who’s The Boss?”) 

1958 – Actress-model Andie MacDowell (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Groundhog Day,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Michael,” “Multiplicity,” “Cedar Cove”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1836 – Republic of Texas forces (the Texians), led by General Sam Houston, defeat Mexican troops under the command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Battle of San Jacinto, waged just south of present-day Houston. It takes only 18 minutes for the Texians to seize control of the Mexican camp.

1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German World War I flying ace known as “The Red Baron,” is taken out in a hail of Allied gunfire over France.

1952 – The first Secretary’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. Decades later, it is renamed Administrative Professionals’ Day. 

1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens, featuring the iconic Space Needle as its centerpiece. The event is the nation’s first World’s Fair since World War II. 

1965 – The New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens with a theme of “Peace Through Understanding.” The fair showcases mid-20th Century American culture and technology in 140 pavilions across nearly 650 acres.

1980 – Twenty-six-year-old Rosie Ruiz is crowned the winner in the women’s division of the 84th Boston Marathon only to be stripped of the honor eight days later when officials determine that she cheated by entering the race a mile from the finish line.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley scores his first No. 1 single with “Heartbreak Hotel.” The song remains on top of Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart for eight weeks.

1962 – Elvis returns to the top of the singles chart with “Good Luck Charm.”

1973 – Tony Orlando and Dawn begin a four-week run on top of the singles chart with “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree,” which becomes the hottest-selling single of the year.  

1984 – Phil Collins has the most popular single on the radio with the title track from the movie “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).” The song spends three weeks at No. 1. 

1990 – Paul McCartney sets a new world record for the largest concert audience for a solo artist. A total of 184,000 people attend the final show of his tour at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1990 – “Nothing Compares 2 U” lands Sinéad O’Connor on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The song was written by Prince.

2008 – Soul singer-songwriter Al Wilson (“The Snake,” “Show and Tell”) dies of kidney failure at the age of 68. 

2016 – Pop megastar Prince dies of an accidental opioid overdose at his Paisley Park compound in suburban Minneapolis. He is just 57 years old, and news of his death sends shockwaves among millions of fans around the world. More than 150 million of the Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winner’s records have sold internationally,  ranking Prince among the best-selling musicians of all time.

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On This Day: September 8

On This Day September 8

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Comedian Sid Caesar, creator of the classic Emmy-winning TV variety program “Your Show of Shows” (d. 2014)

1925 – Comedic actor Peter Sellers (“Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” “Lolita,” “The Pink Panther,” “Being There”) (d. 1980)

1932 – Legendary country singer Patsy Cline, born Virginia Patterson Hensley (d. 1963)

1939 – Blues guitarist-singer-songwriter Guitar Shorty, born  David William Kearney

1957 – Actress Heather Thomas, who co-starred as Jody Banks on the 1980s TV series “The Fall Guy”

1960 – Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, formerly of the 80s band ‘Til Tuesday (“Voices Carry”)

1971 – Actor-director-producer David Arquette (“Scream,” “Eight-Legged Freaks,” “Never Been Kissed”)

1979 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter P!nk, born Alecia Beth Moore (“There You Go,” “Most Girls,” “”There You Go,” “Most Girls,” “Raise Your Glass”)

1981 – Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas, best known for playing Tim Allen’s son, Randy Taylor, in TV’s “Home Improvement“

History Highlights
History Highlights

1900 – A hurricane packing winds in excess of 130 miles per hour and a 15-foot storm surge slams into Galveston, Texas, devastating the island. Between 6,000 and 8,000 people are killed, making the hurricane the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history up to that time. Ten thousand survivors are left homeless.

1921 – Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., is crowned the first Miss America at the end of a two-day pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

1966 – A television sci-fi phenom is born with the premiere of “Star Trek” on NBC. The series, consisting of 79 episodes over three seasons, stars William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, first officer and science officer aboard the starship USS Enterprise. In the decades since the original series ended, “Star Trek” has spawned spin-offs, movies and conventions.

1974 – President Gerald Ford attempts to give closure to the Watergate scandal by granting his predecessor, Richard Nixon, a pardon for any crimes he may have committed or participated in while in office. 

1974 – Daredevil Evel Knievel survives a failed bid to leap the mile-wide chasm of the Snake River Canyon (Idaho) on his rocket-powered motorcycle.

1986 – “The Oprah Winfrey Show” debuts as the first talk show hosted by an African American woman. 

1994 – US Air Flight 427 crashes on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport. All 132 people on board the Boeing 737 are killed. A lengthy investigation concludes that the cause was a faulty rudder.

2022 – Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, dies at age 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. The crown passes to her eldest son, who becomes King Charles III.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1958 – Volare (“Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu”) by Domenico Modugno is the No. 1 single for five non-consecutive weeks. It goes on to become the No. 1 song for all of 1958.

1962 – “Sheila,” by Tommy Roe, begins its second and final week as the most popular song in the U.S.

1973 – Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” starts a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the Motown sensation’s second No. 1 single.

1979 – “My Sharona,” from The Knack’s debut album, “Get The Knack,” is midway through a six-week run as the hottest single in the U.S. The track becomes the No. 1 song of 1979, with the album selling more than six million copies worldwide. 

1984 – Tina Turner is in the midst of a three-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” her first No. 1 single. At 44 years of age. Turner becomes the oldest solo female artist to ever top the pop chart.

1990 – Jon Bon Jovi has a No. 1 single with “Blaze of Glory.”

2001 – “I’m Real,” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, kicks off three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

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