On This Day April 10 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1921 – Professional baseball and basketball player-turned-actor Chuck Connors (“The Rifleman”) (d. 1992) 1929 – Actor Max von Sydow (“The Seventh Seal,” “The Exorcist,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Pelle The Conqueror,” “Minority Report,” “Game of Thrones”) (d. 2020) 1932 – Golden Globe Award-winning actor Omar Sharif (“Lawrence of Arabia,” “Doctor Zhivago,” “Funny Girl”) (d. 2015) 1936 – Pro Football Hall of Famer, retired NFL coach and sportscaster John Madden 1952 – Actor, producer and martial artist Steven Seagal (“Above the Law,” “Under Siege,” “Executive Decision,” “The Patriot”) 1959 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter and music producer Babyface, born Kenneth Edmonds 1984 – Singer-songwriter and actress Mandy Moore (“Candy,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Tangled,” “This Is Us”) 1988 – Actor Haley Joel Osment (“Forrest Gump,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Pay It Forward,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Entourage”) History Highlights 1790 – President George Washington signs a bill establishing the U.S. Patent system as a means of protecting the rights of inventors for their creations. 1849 – New York mason Walter Hunt is granted U.S. Patent #6,281 for his safety pin invention, which he fashioned from a single piece of wire. 1866 – A major step toward protecting the welfare of animals is taken on this day when philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh establishes the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). 1912 – The luxury liner Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on its fateful voyage to New York. 1953 – The first color 3-D movie opens in New York. It’s “House of Wax,” starring Vincent Price and directed by André De Toth. In addition to sparking the 3-D movie craze of the 1950s, this motion picture also launches Price’s long and successful career as a star of the horror genre. 1963 – All 129 crewmen die when the nuclear submarine USS Thresher sinks some 300 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while conducting drills. 1971 – The U.S. table tennis team begins a week-long visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the invitation of China’s communist government. The well-publicized trip is part of the PRC’s efforts to build closer diplomatic relations with the United States. Musical Milestones 1954 – “Wanted,” by Perry Como, begins an eight-week run on top of the pop chart. 1965 – Freddie and the Dreamers, known for their unique dance gyrations while performing, hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m Telling You Now.” 1970 – Paul McCartney issues a press statement — more of a self-interview — announcing the breakup of The Beatles. McCartney wrote, “I have no future plans to record or appear with The Beatles again, or to write any music with John (Lennon).” 1971 – Motown sensation The Temptations have the No. 1 single with “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).” 1976 – The biggest-selling live album in rock history hits the top of the U.S. album chart and remains there for 10 weeks. It’s “Frampton Comes Alive!” by British singer-songwriter Peter Frampton. An estimated 11 million copies have been sold worldwide. 1993 – One-hit-wonder Snow is in the middle of seven weeks atop the pop chart with “Informer.” 1999 – The female trio TLC kicks off four weeks as chart-toppers with “No Scrubs.” READ MORE
On This Day March 15 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1933 – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to be appointed to the position (d. 2020) 1935 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Judd Hirsch (“Taxi,” “Ordinary People,” “Independence Day,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Numb3rs, “Forever,” “Superior Donuts”) 1941 – Singer-songwriter Mike Love of The Beach Boys 1959 – Male supermodel Fabio, born Fabio Lanzoni 1963 – Poison lead singer and reality TV star Bret Michaels 1975 – Actress and director/producer Eva Longoria (“The Young and the Restless,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Harsh Times,” “The Sentinel,” “Over Her Dead Body,” “Overboard”) 1975 – Grammy-winning rapper and The Black Eyed Peas founder/frontman Will.i.am, born William Adams History Highlights 44 B.C. – Caught in an ambush, Roman dictator Julius Caesar is stabbed to death by a group of his own senators. March 15 of 44 B.C. is known as the “Ides of March” in the Roman calendar. 1820 – As part of the Missouri Compromise between the U.S. North and South, Maine is admitted as the 23rd state in the Union. 1965 – Just days after a deadly police assault on civil rights marchers in Selma, Alabama, President Lyndon B. Johnson addresses a historic joint session of Congress to urge passage of legislation guaranteeing equal voting rights for all Americans. Congress passes the Voting Rights Act that summer, and Johnson signs the measure into law on August 6, 1965. 1970 – Bobby Orr of the Boston Bruins becomes the first defenseman in NHL history to score 100 points in a season, after scoring four goals in one game against the Detroit Red Wings. 1975 – “Funny Lady,” starring Barbra Streisand, James Caan and Omar Sharif, opens in movie theaters. It is the sequel to the 1968 musical film, “Funny Girl,” the story of Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice. 1977 – The sitcom “Three’s Company” debuts on ABC, starring John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers. It runs until 1984. 1988 – “The Wonder Years” premieres on ABC and runs for six seasons. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous late 1960s, the series follows a suburban American family, focusing on the growing pains of youngest son Kevin, played by Fred Savage. Musical Milestones 1964 – “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” The Beatles’ first No. 1 single in the U.S., begins its seventh and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 only to be replaced by The Beatles’ second No. 1 hit: “She Loves You.” 1969 – “Dizzy,” by Tommy Roe, starts a four-week run as the No. 1 single. 1975 – The Doobie Brothers rule the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Black Water,” from their “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits” album. 1980 – Queen wraps up a four-week run on top of the pop chart with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” the band’s first No. 1 U.S. hit. 1986 – “Sara,” by Starship, tops the singles chart for a week. The track is one of two No. 1 hits from the band’s “Knee Deep in the Hoopla” album. The other is “We Built This City.” 1997 – The Spice Girls’ debut single, “Wannabe,” marks its fourth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It becomes the best-selling single ever by a female group. 1999 – Bruce Springsteen is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by U2 frontman Bono. 2003 – 50 Cent scores his first No. 1 single with “In da Club.” The track holds the top spot for nine weeks. READ MORE