On This Day April 25 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1874 – Nobel Prize-winning radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937) 1908 – Pioneering broadcast journalist and longtime CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow (d. 1965) 1917 – Legendary Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Song” (d. 1996) 1932 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, born Meadow Lemon III (d. 2015) 1940 – Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor Al Pacino (“The Godfather” movie series, “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” ” …And Justice for All,” “Scarface,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “The Insider,” “Oceans Thrteen,” “Danny Collins,” “The Irishman,” “Hunters”) 1946 – Actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” films and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series 1964 – Emmy-winning actor-producer-comedian Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons,” “The Birdcage,” “Mystery Men,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “The Smurfs,” “Brockmire”) 1969 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Renée Zellweger (“Jerry McGuire,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Me Myself and Irene,” “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Cinderella Man”) History Highlights 1901 – New York becomes the first state to require license plates on cars. Owners had to display their initials on the back of the vehicle and the letters had to be at least three inches tall. Since the state did not produce license plates, owners were forced to make their own, and they did so using metal, leather or wood — or they painted their initials directly onto the vehicle. In 1903, Massachusetts became the first state to produce license plates. 1945 – A milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe is achieved when U.S. and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting Nazi Germany in two. 1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs the nation that eight U.S. servicemen were killed in the collision of two military aircraft to be used to rescue 52 Americans held hostage in Iran. Those hostages are finally freed the following January, on the day Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president. 1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov personally invites American fifth-grader Samantha Smith of Maine to visit his country after reading her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. She makes the trip that summer and becomes an honorary ambassador for peace at a time when U.S.-Soviet relations were strained during the Cold War. Sadly, Smith dies in a plane crash two years later. 1990 – The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. Hubble — named after astronomer Edwin Hubble — continues to provide astronomers with an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe. 1995 – Oscar-winning entertainer Ginger Rogers, best known for her films with dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83. Musical Milestones 1956 – Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley signs a seven-year movie contract with Paramount Pictures. 1960 – Elvis Presley gets stuck on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks with “Stuck On You.” It’s his first hit single following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army. 1970 – The Jackson 5 give The Beatles’ “Let It Be” the boot and claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks with “ABC.” 1981 – Daryl Hall and John Oates begin their third and final week as chart-toppers with “Kiss On My List.” 1987 – U2 begin a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “The Joshua Tree,” which packs chart-topping tracks including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It goes on to capture Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. 1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival is auctioned off for a record $330,000. His two-hour set at the 1969 rock festival included a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” 1992 – “Jump,” by hip hop duo Kris Kross, grabs the top spot on the singles chart and remains there for eight weeks. 1998 – Next has the No. 1 single with “Too Close.” The track remains on top of the pop chart for five weeks. 2007 – Leukemia claims the life of 69-year-old Bobby “Boris” Pickett, best known for his hit novelty song “Monster Mash,” which still gets radio airplay every Halloween. READ MORE
On this Day May 2 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1903 – Internationally acclaimed pediatrician-author Dr. Benjamin Spock (“Baby and Child Care”) (d. 1998) 1907 – Actor-comedian Pinky Lee, born Pincus Leff, who hosted the children’s TV program “The Pinky Lee Show” in the early 1950s. (d. 1993) 1924 – Actor Theodore Bikel (“The Defiant Ones,” “The African Queen,” “Fiddler on the Roof”) (d. 2015) 1936 – Pop singer Engelbert Humperdinck (“Release Me,” “After the Lovin’”) 1946 – Pop singer Lesley Gore (“It’s My Party,” “You Don’t Own Me”), born Lesley Sue Goldstein (d. 2014) 1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Christine Baranski (“Cybill,” “The Birdcage,” “Bowfinger,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “The Good Wife,” “Mamma Mia!” “Into the Woods, “Trolls,” “The Good Fight”) 1955 – Fashion designer Donatella Versace 1972 – Pro wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (“The Mummy Returns,” “Walking Tall,” “Tooth Fairy,” “The Fast and the Furious” franchise, “Pain and Gain,” “San Andreas,” “Baywatch”) History Highlights 1918 – General Motors (GM), which goes on to become the world’s largest automotive firm, acquires Chevrolet Motor Company. 1933 – The modern legend of the Loch Ness Monster is born when the Scottish newspaper Inverness Courier reports the account of a local couple that claimed to have seen “an enormous animal rolling and plunging on the surface.” 1939 – Legendary New York Yankee Lou Gehrig ends his record-setting streak of 2,130 consecutive games played by benching himself. 1945 – The curtain comes down on Germany in the waning days of World War II, as Russia’s Red Army announces the capture of Berlin. 1952 – The Jet Age begins as the world’s first commercial jet airliner, the British-built de Havilland Comet, makes its 24-hour maiden flight from London, England to Johannesburg, South Africa. Despite the aircraft’s overall success and longevity, the first Comets suffered from structural problems and experienced a number of accidents through the mid-1950s. 1969 – The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York City. 2011 – The world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden — mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America — is killed by U.S. forces during a raid on his compound hideout in Pakistan. After undergoing extensive training, U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six carried out the mission, codenamed Operation Neptune Spear. Musical Milestones 1960 – Elvis Presley’s “Stuck on You” remains stuck on top of the singles chart for a second consecutive week. It will hold that spot for another two weeks. 1964 – “Can’t Buy Me Love,” by The Beatles, begins its fifth and final week as a No. 1 single. 1970 – The Jackson 5 wrap up two weeks at No. 1 on the pop chart with “ABC.” Two months before it became a chart-topper, the band performed the song on “American Bandstand.” 1981 – Sheena Easton lays claim to the top spot on the singles chart with “Morning Train (Nine to Five).” 1987 – “(I Just) Died in Your Arms,” by Cutting Crew, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1998 – The Minneapolis-based R&B trio, Next, is in the midst of a five-week domination of the Billboard pop chart with “Too Close.” 2003 – The Dixie Chicks appear naked on the cover of Entertainment Weekly, with slogans such “Traitors,” “Hero,” “Boycott,” “Saddam’s Angels” and “Proud Americans” across their bodies. The slogans represent the reactions the trio received following singer Natalie Maines’ anti-George W. Bush comments. 2009 – The Black Eyed Peas dominate the pop chart with “Boom Boom Pow.” The track is the band’s first No. 1, and it remains a chart-topper for 12 weeks. READ MORE