On This Day: October 7

On This Day October 7

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Anti-apartheid hero, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (d. 2021)

1951 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (“Ain’t Even Done With the Night,” “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Crumblin’ Down,” “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” “Cherry Bomb”)

1955 -Internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma

1959 – TV producer, executive and celebrity judge Simon Cowell (“American Idol, “The X Factor,” “America’s Got Talent”)

1967 – Grammy-winning soul-R&B singer and actress Toni Braxton, best known for her 1996 hit “Un-Break My Heart” and for playing Belle in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1913 – The moving assembly line is introduced at Ford Motor Company’s  Highland Park factory outside Detroit. Henry Ford’s invention allowed workers to build a Model T from scratch in 84 steps, cutting production time from 12.5 hours to six hours, and a year later to just 93 minutes.

1968 – The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopts its film rating system. Movies are rated G for general audiences, M (which later becomes PG), R or X (for adults only).

1982 – “Cats” opens, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history. The musical is based the T.S. Eliot’s 1939 collection of poems, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” and features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1985 – Four Palestinian terrorists hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean Sea. They kill a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and order his body thrown overboard with his wheelchair.

2001 – President George W. Bush announces that a U.S.-led coalition has begun attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. The campaign, in retaliation for terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. three weeks earlier (9/11), is known as Operation Enduring Freedom.

2003 – “Terminator” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, replacing Gray Davis — the first U.S. governor to be recalled by the public since 1921. Affectionately called “The Governator,” he is reelected in 2006.

2023 – Hamas militants launch a surprise attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people — including families in their homes and attendees of an outdoor music festival — and abducting 250 others in the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. Israel’s retaliatory war has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, expanded to Lebanon and prompted a barrage of Iranian missiles aimed at Israel.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – The Mamas & the Papas’ British tour is cancelled when Mama Cass Elliot is arrested and charged with stealing items from a hotel.

1967 – The Box Tops are mid-way through a four-week ride at No. 1 on the pop chart with “The Letter.” 

1977 – Queen releases the single “We Will Rock You,” with “We Are the Champions” on the B-side, and many radio stations eventually play the tracks back to back. The songs continue getting airplay today on classic rock stations and serve as a motivational anthem at sporting events around the world.

1978 – Exile tops the Billboard Hot 100 with “Kiss You All Over.”

1989 – “Miss You Much,” by Janet Jackson, begins a four-week run as a chart-topping single.

1995 – Alanis Morissette rules the Billboard album chart with “Jagged Little Pill,” becoming the first Canadian female artist to reach No. 1 in the U.S. The album sells more than 30 million copies and goes on to capture four Grammy Awards.

2000 – “Music,” by Madonna, enters its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single.

2006 – Justin Timberlake is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “SexyBack.”

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On this Day: July 1

On this Day July 1

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Beautician-business executive Estée Lauder (d. 2004)

1934 – Actor Jamie Farr, who played Klinger in the hit TV sitcom “M*A*S*H”

1939 – Actress Karen Black (“Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” ”Family Plot”) (d. 2013)

1945 – Singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Harry, former lead singer of the new wave band Blondie (“Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “The Tide Is High,” “Rapture”)

1952 – Actor-comedian Dan Aykroyd (“Saturday Night Live,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Trading Places,” “Ghostbusters,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Coneheads,” “Tommy Boy”)

1961 – U.S. Olympic track and field champion Carl Lewis

1961 – Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 1997)

1967 – Actress-model Pamela Anderson (“Baywatch,” “Dancing with the Stars”)

1971 – Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott (“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Sock It 2 Me,” “Get Ur Freak On,” “One Minute Man,” “4 My People,” “Gossip Folks,” “Work It”)

1977 – Actress Liv Tyler (“Armageddon,” “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, “Jersey Girl,” “The Strangers,” “The Incredible Hulk”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1963 – The U.S. Postal Service introduces the five-digit Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code to make mail delivery more efficient. A cartoon character named Mr. ZIP is used to help market it.

1979 – After the boombox, music becomes even more portable as Sony rolls out the Walkman, originally called the “Sound-About.” It retails for $200.

1984 – The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) institutes the PG-13 rating, strongly recommending parental guidance for moviegoers age 13 or younger. Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze, is the first movie to receive that rating.

1991 – “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, premieres. In this sequel to the original “The Terminator,” the Schwarzenegger character is transformed from villain to savior.

1992 – “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell and directed by Penny Marshall, opens in theaters.

1997 – Actor Robert Mitchum, best remembered for his roles in such films as “The Story of G.I. Joe,” “Crossfire,” “Out of the Past,” “The Night of the Hunter” and “Cape Fear,” dies at 79.

1997 – At the stroke of midnight, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

2004 – Legendary actor and Oscar winner Marlon Brando, best remembered for performances in “On the Waterfront,” “The Godfather,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Viva Zapata!,” “Julius Caesar,” ““The Wild One,” “Last Tango in Paris,” and “Apocalypse Now,” dies at the age of 80.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – “Windy,” by The Association, blows its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remains there for four weeks. 

1972 – Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue” is the No. 1 single. The track is nominated for two Grammys in 1973 — Record of the Year and Song of the Year — but those honors ultimately go to Roberta Flack for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli score the first of three No. 1 singles with “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” off the “Girl You Know It’s True” album, which paves the way for a Best New Artist Grammy. However, a lip-syncing scandal forces the duo to surrender the award a year and a half later.

1995 – Legendary disk jockey Wolfman Jack, beloved for his signature raspy voice and on-air howls,  dies of a heart attack at the age of 57.

2000 – “Be With You,” by Enrique Iglesias, is in the middle of three weeks atop the singles chart.

2006 – Taylor Hicks, who won the fifth season of “American Idol,” conquers the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Do I Make You Proud.”

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