On This Day February 11 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1847 – Inventor Thomas Edison (d. 1931) 1926 – Actor-comedian Leslie Nielsen (“Forbidden Planet,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun”) (d. 2010) 1936 – Golden Globe-winning actor Burt Reynolds (“Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Evening Shade,” “Boogie Nights”) (d. 2018) 1941 – Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes 1962 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow (“If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is a Winding Road”) 1969 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jennifer Aniston, who has appeared in many movies, but is best known for playing Rachel in the NBC sitcom “Friends” 1971 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers,” “Life,” “Homeland,” “Billions”) 1979 – Grammy-winning singer-actress Brandy, born Brandy Rayana Norwood (“The Boy is Mine,” “Moesha”) History Highlights 1805 – Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. 1932 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the flathead V8 engine, giving the world affordable, mass-produced V8 power. It becomes the darling of hot-rodders, road racers and stock car racers for more than two decades. 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin wrap up the Yalta Conference following a week of intensive talks over the progress of World War II and the post-war world. 1963 – Chef Julia Child’s show, “The French Chef,” premieres on public television (NET, which later became PBS). 1968 – New York City’s 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden officially opens between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, becoming the fourth version of that arena. The showplace for sports and entertainment opens with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. 1970 – Japan’s first satellite (Ohsumi) is successfully launched into an orbit around Earth, making Japan the world’s fourth space power — after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958, and France in 1965. 1990 – Anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for more than 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later, he is elected South Africa’s president. Musical Milestones 1964 – The Beatles play their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. More than 350 police officers surround the stage to keep some 8,000 screaming fans under control. The set includes “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy”, “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man”,” Please Please Me”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Twist and Shout” and much more. 1967 – The Monkees begin their seventh and final week on top of the pop chart with “I’m a Believer.” 1978 – The Bee Gees stay on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Stayin’ Alive,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. The single remains at No. 1 for a total of four weeks. 1984 – Culture Club is midway through a three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon.” 1989 – Paula Abdul starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Straight Up.” 2012 – Six-time Grammy-winning pop sensation Whitney Houston is found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel at the age of 48. Cause of death is determined to be drowning, with complications from cocaine use and heart disease. READ MORE
On This Day November 28 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1929 – Motown Records founder Berry Gordy, Jr. 1943 – Oscar, Emmy and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and composer Randy Newman, best known for his 1977 hit “Short People” and movie soundtracks including the animated blockbuster “Toy Story” series and “Monsters, Inc.” 1949 – Singer, actor and multi-instrumentalist Paul Shaffer, best known as the bandleader for David Letterman’s late-night TV shows 1950 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ed Harris (“The Right Stuff,” “The Abyss,” “Pollack,” “Apollo 13,” “The Rock,” “The Truman Show,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Man on a Ledge,” “Westworld”) 1959 – Actor-producer Judd Nelson (“The Breakfast Club,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “New Jack City,” “Suddenly Susan”) 1962 – Comedian, director and former “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart History Highlights 1520 – Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan leads a fleet of three ships through treacherous waters below South America to become the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. 1895 – Driving a gas-powered horseless carriage known as the Duryea Motor Wagon at an average speed of 5 miles per hour in the Chicago snow, J. Frank Duryea wins America’s first auto race. Frank and his brother, Charles, designed and manufactured the vehicle. 1942 – The deadliest nightclub fire in U.S. history strikes the Cocoanut Grove in Boston, killing 492 people and injuring hundreds more. Investigators never determined what sparked the inferno. The disaster led to sweeping changes in fire codes 1964 – The U.S. scores one in the Space Race as NASA launches Mariner 4 on a successful fly-by mission to Mars. 1975 – “As The World Turns” and “The Edge of Night” become the last American soaps to switch from live broadcasts to videotape. 1994 – Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is beaten to death in a Wisconsin prison while serving 15 consecutive life terms for the rape, murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys. Musical Milestones 1925 – The Grand Ole Opry, one of the longest-lived and most popular showcases for country music, begins broadcasting live from Nashville, Tennessee. At the time, it is known as the WSM Barn Dance. 1960 – Elvis Presley scores his 15th chart-topping single when “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” reaches No. 1 on the pop chart. It holds the top spot for six weeks. 1970 – Ex-Beatle George Harrison makes his solo Billboard chart debut with “My Sweet Lord,” a song he is later found guilty of having “subconsciously plagiarized” from Ronnie Mack’s “He’s So Fine,” which was a smash for The Chiffons. 1974 – John Lennon joins Elton John on stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden for what becomes Lennon’s last concert appearance. He performs three songs: “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.” 1987 – The Bill Medley-Jennifer Warnes duet, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” from the movie “Dirty Dancing,” is No. 1 on the singles chart. 1998 – “Lately,” by one-hit-wonder Divine, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. 2001 – Aretha Franklin sues the supermarket tabloid “Star” for $50 million dollars claiming that her reputation was damaged by a December 2000 article that alleged she had alcohol problems. 2007 – Kanye West and stuntman Evel Knievel settle a copyright dispute over West’s use of the name “Evel Kanyevel” in a music video. The 69-year-old daredevil claimed his image was harmed by the video’s “vulgar, sexual nature.” The clip for “Touch The Sky” shows the rap star attempting to cross a canyon on a rocket-powered motorcycle. READ MORE