On This Day: October 29

On This Day October 29

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1891 – Actress-singer-comedian Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, best known for her work with the Ziegfeld Follies (portrayed by Barbra Streisand in the movie “Funny Girl”) (d. 1951)

1925 – Best-selling author, journalist and TV personality Dominick Dunne, who covered high-profile murder cases, including the O. J. Simpson trial, for Vanity Fair (d. 2009)

1945 – Tony-winning singer and actress Melba Moore (“This Is It,” “Lean on Me,” “Love’s Comin’ At Ya”)

1947 – Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss (“American Graffiti,” “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “The Goodbye Girl,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”)

1948 – Actress Kate Jackson (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”)

1957 – Actor Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson and several other characters in “The Simpsons”

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actress Winona Ryder, born Winona Laura Horowitz (“Beetlejuice,” “Heathers,” “Mermaids,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Reality Bites,” “Girl, Interrupted,” “Mr. Deeds”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1901 – President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, is executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York. Czolgosz had shot McKinley on September 6, 1901. The president succumbed to his wounds eight days later.

1929 – Pandemonium erupts on Wall Street as the New York Stock Exchange crashes. Black Tuesday, as it is known, is considered the worst economic event in world history and triggers the Great Depression.

1966 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) is established as the grassroots arm of the women’s movement.

1969 – The Internet is born as bits of electronic data begin to flow between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.

1998 – Nearly four decades after making history as the first American to orbit the Earth, U.S. Senator John Glenn heads back into space — this time as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. At 77, Glenn becomes the oldest human ever to travel in space.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – The Michigan-based garage rock band Question Mark & the Mysterians dominates the singles chart with “96 Tears.” Some music critics credit the song with starting the punk rock movement.

1971 – Guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dies in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia just three weeks shy of his 25th birthday.

1972 – The novelty song “My Ding-a-Ling” becomes rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry’s first and only No. 1 single, holding the top spot for two weeks. The track was recorded eight months earlier in concert at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England.

1977 – “You Light Up My Life,” by Debby Boone, is in the midst of a 10-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

1983 – The Dolly Parton-Kenny Rogers duet “Islands In The Stream” is the No. 1 single. The song, written by the Bee Gees, holds the top spot for two weeks.

1988 – Phil Collins holds first place on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Groovy Kind of Love,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Buster,” in which Collins stars. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1994 – Boyz II Men continue their 14-week rule over the singles chart with “I’ll Make Love to You.”

2005 – “Gold Digger,” by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, is in the middle of 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2011 – Adele rules the pop chart with “Someone Like You.”

READ MORE
On this Day: May 17

On this Day May 17

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1936 – Actor Dennis Hopper (“Easy Rider,” “Blue Velvet,” “Speed,” “Waterworld”) (d. 2010)

1955 – Actor-director Bill Paxton (“Apollo 13,” “Twister,” “Titanic,” “Big Love,” “Hatfields & McCoys”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Retired Olympic boxing champion and Boxing Hall of Famer Sugar Ray Leonard

1956 – Actor and TV host Bob Saget (“Full House,” “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Fuller House”) (d. 2022)

1960 – “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller

1961 – Grammy-winning Irish vocalist Enya, born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (“Orinoco Flow,” “Caribbean Blue”)

1962 – Peabody-winning comedian and former “Late Late Show” and “Celebrity Name Game” host Craig Ferguson

1965 – Nine Inch Nails founder-turned-Oscar and Golden Globe-winning film composer Trent Reznor, whose soundtrack credits include “Natural Born Killers” and “The Social Network”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1769 – George Washington brings a series of resolutions before the Virginia House of Burgesses protesting the British policy of “taxation without representation.”

1792 – Two dozen merchants and brokers get together to establish what is now the New York Stock Exchange. They begin by meeting under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street and eventually rent a room in a nearby building.

1875 – The first running of the Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Before a crowd of some 10,000 spectators, jockey Oliver Lewis rides Aristides to victory in a time of 2:37.75.

1954 – In a major civil rights victory, the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case that racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional.

1973 – Watergate hearings open in the U.S. Senate and are broadcast on national television.

2004 – Marcia Kadish, 56, and Tanya McCloskey, 52, marry at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts, becoming the first legally married same-sex partners in the United States. Over the course of the day, 77 other same-sex couples tie the knot across the state. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” by The 5th Dimension, marks its sixth and final week as a No. 1 single. The recording goes on to win both Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Group Grammy Awards in 1970.

1975 – “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You),” by Tony Orlando & Dawn, enters its third and final week as the hottest single in the U.S.

1980 – “Call Me,” by Blondie, is in the middle of a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1986 – “The Greatest Love of All,” by Whitney Houston, begins three weeks as the most popular single.

1997 – The Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” wraps up three weeks as a Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper.

2003 – Sean Paul grabs the top spot on the pop chart with his reggae-infused “Get Busy.”

2012 –  Five-time Grammy winner Donna Summer, who rose to fame during the 1970s and early 80s with disco anthems like “Love to Love You Baby,” “I Feel Love,” and “Hot Stuff,” loses her battle with lung cancer at the age of 63.

READ MORE