On This Day April 23 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1564 – Poet-playwright William Shakespeare (d. 1616) 1928 – Oscar-winning child star Shirley Temple (d. 2014) 1936 – Rock and roll singer-songwriter Roy Orbison (“Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Crying,” “Dream Baby”) (d. 1988) 1939 – Actor Lee Majors, best remembered for his role as astronaut Steve Austin in the 1970s hit series “The Six Million Dollar Man” 1942 – Golden Globe-winning actress Sandra Dee, nicknamed “Queen of Teens” (“Gidget,” “A Summer Place”) (d. 2005) 1954 – Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (“Roger and Me,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11″”Capitalism: A Love Story”) 1960 – Actress Valerie Bertinelli (“One Day at a Time,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Hot in Cleveland”) 1961 – Actor-comedian George Lopez, best known for his self-produced sitcom “George Lopez” that aired on ABC-TV for six seasons 1977 – Actor and former Obama administration aide Kal Penn, born Kalpen Suresh Modi (the “Harold and Kumar” films, “House,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Designated Survivor”) 1990 – Actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “The Newsroom,” “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Chappie,” “The Man Who Knew Infinity,” “Lion,” “Hotel Mumbai”) History Highlights 1896 – Entertainment is revolutionized as an audience at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall on 34th Street in New York City watches the first movie ever projected onto a screen. 1953 – Paramount Pictures releases “Shane,” starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur and Van Heflin, a film considered by many to be one of the greatest Westerns ever made. 1968 – Columbia University students, opposed to the Vietnam War and the school’s plans to construct a gymnasium in a Harlem neighborhood adjacent to the campus, seize administration buildings, take the dean hostage and shut the university down for a week. 1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to the death penalty following his conviction for the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York. In 1972, Sirhan’s sentence is commuted to life in prison after California abolishes the death penalty. 1985 – Coca-Cola replaces its original formula Coke with a beverage called New Coke. However, consumers overwhelmingly reject the new soft drink. Three months later, the company backtracks and announces the return of the original formula, which is branded Coca-Cola Classic. 2004 – The romantic comedy “13 Going on 30,” starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, opens in U.S. theaters. Garner plays the adult version of a 13-year-old girl whose dream of being “30, flirty, and thriving” comes true with the help of some magic dust. Musical Milestones 1961 – In what’s been called “the greatest night in show business history,” Judy Garland — beloved for her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” — performs at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Garland sings 27 numbers, frequently interrupted by extended standing ovations. The double album of the historic performance becomes a smash, charting for 94 weeks on the Billboard chart, including 13 weeks at No. 1. It also captures five Grammy Awards. 1966 – “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” by The Righteous Brothers, marks its third and final week as the No. 1 single. It is the duo’s first major hit after leaving their longtime producer, Phil Spector. 1977 – Thelma Houston’s disco smash, “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song goes on to capture a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. 1983 – The hottest single belongs to one-hit-wonder Dexys Midnight Runners: “Come On Eileen.” 1988 – “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?,” by Whitney Houston, begins a two-week hold on the No. 1 slot on Billboard Hot 100. 1994 – R. Kelly rules the singles chart with “Bump n’ Grind.” 2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, begins its eighth week on top of the pop chart. It will remain there for one more week. READ MORE
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