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On This Day April 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1743 – Third U.S. president and Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson (d. 1826)

1923 – Emmy-winning actor-comedian Don Adams, best known for his role as secret agent Maxwell Smart in the NBC sitcom “Get Smart” (d. 2005)

1939 – Actor Paul Sorvino (“Goodfellas,” “Law & Order,” “The Firm”) 

1946 – Grammy-winning soul singer-songwriter, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and minister Al Green (“Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still In Love With You”)

1950 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ron Perlman (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Hellboy,” “Sons of Anarchy”)

1963 – Russian chess Grandmaster and former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov 

1970 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ricky Schroder (“The Champ,” “Silver Spoons,” “Lonesome Dove,” “NYPD Blue”) 

History Highlights

1928 – German pilot Hermann Köhl, Irish aviator James Fitzmaurice and Baron Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld complete the first Europe to North America transatlantic flight, taking off from Ireland and landing safely on a small Canadian island.

1964 – Sidney Poitier becomes the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “Lilies of the Field.” 

1970 – The phrase “Houston, we’ve had a problem” is immortalized in a radio transmission from the crew of Apollo 13 after an explosion in an oxygen tank forces cancellation of a planned moon landing. NASA’s priority quickly becomes finding a way to get the astronauts safely home as they begin losing precious oxygen and power.

1972 – The first strike in the history of Major League Baseball ends 13 days after players walk off the field. 

1976 – The Federal Reserve begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes.

1997 – Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament for the first time. At 21, he becomes the youngest man to win the title, and the first African American man to ever win a major. Woods had only turned pro eight months earlier.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” tops what Billboard then called the Best Sellers in Stores chart — later becoming the Hot 100. The single remains at No. 1 for eight weeks.

1958 – A 13-year-old British boy named Laurie London turns an American gospel song into commercial success, as “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” begins four weeks on top of the U.S. singles chart. However, it is to be London’s only hit and charting single. So, it can be said that in the pre-Beatles era, this was the most successful record by a British male singer in the U.S.

1964 – The Beatles shoot chase scenes for “A Hard Day’s Night” with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. That evening, the Fab Four record the movie’s title track at Abbey Road Studios.  

1968 – Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey” begins a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

1974 – “Bennie and the Jets,” from Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album, kicks off a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – The charity single “We Are the World,” featuring dozens of famous pop artists collaborating for African famine relief, begins four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2000 – Metallica files a copyright infringement lawsuit against the online music file sharing company Napster for allowing the illegal swapping of the band’s music. The case is the first in an ongoing love-hate relationship between the music industry and the Internet.

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