On this Day: August 21

On this Day August 21

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1904 – Jazz pianist-bandleader Count Basie (d. 1984)

1924 – Sportscaster Jack Buck (d. 2002)

1932 – Actor-filmmaker-writer Melvin Van Peebles

1936 – Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain (d. 1999)

1938 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, Country Music Hall of Famer and actor Kenny Rogers (“Lucille,” “The Gambler,” “Islands in the Stream,” “Lady”) (d. 2020)

1939 – Actor Clarence Williams III, most recognized for his role as Linc in the TV police drama “The Mod Squad” (d. 2021)

1941 – Singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon (“What the World Needs Now Is Love,” “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”)

1956 – Golden Globe-winning actress Kim Cattrall, best known for playing Samantha in the HBO series “Sex and the City”

1958 – Entrepreneur and AOL co-founder Steve Case 

1967 – Actress Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix” trilogy, “Chocolat,” “Memento,” “Disturbia”)

1989 – Actress Hayden Panettiere (“One Life to Live,” “Racing Stripes,” “Heroes,” “Nashville”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1911 – The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre in Paris by Vincenzo Perugia, a former museum employee who smuggled the painting to his native Italy. 

1959 – President Dwight Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting Hawaii into the Union as the 50th state. 

1965 – NASA launches the third manned Gemini flight, Gemini V, carrying astronauts Gordon Cooper and Charles “Pete” Conrad. The nearly eight-day mission breaks a record for space flight duration set by the Soviets’ Vostok 5 spacecraft two years earlier.

1971 – Vietnam War protesters raid federal draft board offices in Buffalo, New York and Camden, New Jersey and destroy draft records. The FBI and local police arrest 25 protestors.

1979 – Soviet ballet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the U.S. 

1987 – “Dirty Dancing,” starring Patrick Swayze as a dance instructor at a summer resort and Jennifer Grey as the young guest that falls in love with him, opens in theaters. The movie’s theme song, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes captures both the Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for best duet.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – Still recuperating from a car crash two months earlier, legendary country crooner Patsy Cline makes her way to a studio on crutches to record the classic Willie Nelson composition “Crazy.”

1971 – The Bee Gees are mid-way through a four-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”

1976 – “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” by Elton John and Kiki Dee, is the No. 1 single.

1982 – New on the singles chart: “Up Where We Belong,” the Joe Cocker-Jennifer Warnes duet from the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman.” The track captures a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Oscar for Best Original Song. Cocker and Warnes also win a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song.

1991 – Bryan Adams is in the midst of a seven-week ride atop the singles chart with “Everything I Do (I Do It For You)” from the movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.” 

1999 – Christina Aguilera owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Genie in a Bottle.”

READ MORE
On this Day: May 7

On this Day May 7

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1901 – Oscar-winning actor Gary Cooper (” Sergeant York,” “High Noon,” “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,” “The Pride of the Yankees,” “City Streets”) (d. 1961)

1922 – Actor Darren McGavin, best known for playing the grumpy father in “A Christmas Story”) (d. 2006)

1923 – Oscar-winning actress Anne Baxter (“The Razor’s Edge,” “All About Eve,” “The Ten Commandments”) (d. 1985)

1946 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Thelma Houston, best known for her 1977 disco smash “Don’t Leave Me This Way”

1950 – Journalist/former NBC “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert (d. 2008)

1954 – Director Amy Heckerling (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “European Vacation,” “Look Who’s Talking,” “Clueless”)

1968 – Actress Traci Lords (“I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell,” “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1915 – Without warning, a German U-boat fires on the British ocean liner RMS Lusitania off the coast of Ireland. The ship, which was sailing from New York to Liverpool, England, sinks within 20 minutes, claiming nearly 1,200 lives — including 128 Americans. While packed with passengers, the vessel was a German target because it was transporting wartime munitions to England and was sailing through an established war zone.

1945 – Germany unconditionally surrenders to the Allies in Reims, France, marking the end of World War II in Europe.

1954 – Vietnam’s victory over France at Dien Bien Phu on this day ends the Indochina War. The battle is considered one of the greatest victories by a former colony over a colonial power.

1960 – Leonid Brezhnev, one of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s most trusted proteges, becomes president of the U.S.S.R.

1994 – Norway’s most famous painting, “The Scream” by Edvard Munch, is recovered almost three months after being stolen from a museum in Oslo.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Keith Richards awakens in his Florida motel room in the early morning hours with a riff in his head, grabs his guitar and flips on a tape recorder. He only lays down 30 seconds of music before falling back asleep, but what he records leads to The Rolling Stones’ signature “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” once Mick Jagger adds lyrics. The song becomes the Stones’ first U.S. No. 1.

1966 – The Mamas and The Papas start a three-week run at No.1 on the singles chart with “Monday Monday,” the first hit by a coed group.

1977 – “Hotel California,” by the Eagles, checks in at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart for a week. The track, off the album of the same title, goes on to capture a Record of the Year Grammy.

1983 – Michael Jackson is in the midst of a three-week ride atop the pop chart with “Beat It,” from the “Thriller” album.

1988 – Terence Trent D’Arby has the hottest single for a week with “Wishing Well.”

1998 – Country-pop musician Eddie Rabbitt, best known for his 1980 hits “Drivin’ My Life Away” and “I Love a Rainy Night,” and who wrote Elvis’ popular single, “Kentucky Rain,” dies of lung cancer at age 56.

2005 – Gwen Stefani kicks off a four-week run on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Hollaback Girl.” The track is from her debut solo studio album, “Love. Angel. Music. Baby.”

READ MORE