On This Day March 21 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1685 – Classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1750) 1944 – Actor Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond in two films 1949 – Singer-songwriter Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (“Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise”, “Take Me Home Tonight”) (d. 2019) 1958 – Actor Gary Oldman (“Sid and Nancy,” “JFK,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Fifth Element,” “Air Force One,” played Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” series, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Book of Eli,” “Darkest Hour”) 1962 – Emmy-winning comedian-TV host-actress Rosie O’Donnell (“The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The View,” “A League of Their Own,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Now and Then”) 1962 – Tony-winning actor Matthew Broderick (“War Games,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Glory,” “The Freshman,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Producers,” “Tower Heist,” “Rules Don’t Apply”) History Highlights 1947 – With fears about communism swirling across the U.S., President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835. It creates a Loyalty Program to investigate federal employees to determine if they demonstrated “complete and unswerving loyalty” to the United States. 1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads some 3,200 civil rights activists on a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents supervise the procession, which Alabama state police had previously blocked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. 1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. 1980 – In the Season 3 finale of CBS’ hit prime time drama “Dallas,” an unseen assailant shoots bad-boy J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman), who falls to the floor of his office before the scene fades to black. The episode, entitled “A House Divided,” becomes one of the most talked about season finales of all time, sparking the “Who Shot J.R.” craze. Some 160 million fans wait eight months to learn the identity of the shooter in Season 4. 1994 – Eleven-year-old Anna Paquin is stunned when actor Gene Hackman announces that she has won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Piano.” Paquin becomes the second youngest Oscar winner of all time. 1999 – Aviators Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones complete the first non-stop around-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, making aviation history. Musical Milestones 1953 – “(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window” launches Patti Page on an eight-week ride at No. 1 on the singles chart. 1964 – The Beatles rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Loves You” — the second of three consecutive hits that keep the Fab Four on top of the singles chart through early May of that year. 1970 – Simon & Garfunkel remain suspended at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track holds there for a total of six weeks. 1981 – REO Speedwagon clinches the top spot on the singles chart with “Keep On Loving You,” the group’s first Top 40 hit and No. 1. 1992 – Vanessa Williams kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Save the Best for Last.” 1994 – Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Philadelphia” during the 66th Academy Awards, and a short time later, is handed a Best Original Song Oscar for it. It’s from the movie “Philadelphia,” for which Tom Hanks won Best Actor. The track goes on to capture four Grammys. 1998 – Will Smith maintains his hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” READ MORE
On This Day November 8 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1847 – Bram Stoker, author of the legendary horror novel “Dracula” (d. 1912) 1900 – Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gone With the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell (d. 1949) 1927 – 1950s pop sensation Patti Page (“Tennessee Waltz,” “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window,” “Old Cape Cod”) (d. 2013) 1931 – CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Morley Safer (d. 2016) 1949 – Grammy-winning blues-rock singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt (“Something to Talk About,” “Love Sneakin’ Up on You,” “I Can’t Make You Love Me”) 1950 – Mary Hart, born Mary Johanna Harum, who hosted the syndicated TV show “Entertainment Tonight” for nearly 30 years 1952 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Alfre Woodard (“Hill Street Blues,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Passion Fish,” “Crooklyn,” “How to Make an American Quilt,” “Miss Evers’ Boys,” “The Practice,” “12 Years a Slave”) 1961 – 1970s teen heartthrob Leif Garrett (“Runaround Sue” and “The Wanderer,” “I Was Made For Dancin”) 1968 – Actress Parker Posey (“Kicking and Screaming,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “The Daytrippers,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Scream 3,” “Superman Returns,” “Irrational Man,” “Café Society”) History Highlights 1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen discovers the X-ray, a scientific advancement that would revolutionize the fields of physics and medicine. He is awarded the first Nobel Prize in physics in 1901 for his discovery. 1939 – Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler survives an attempted assassination when the bomb intended to kill him during a speech at a Munich beer hall goes off 13 minutes after he leaves the building. 1960 – At age 43, John F. Kennedy becomes the youngest man ever and the first Catholic to be elected president of the United States, as he narrowly defeats Republican Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy’s first term is cut short when an assassin guns him down three years later as his motorcade passes through downtown Dallas, Texas. 1965 – A new soap opera hits American television. It’s “Days of Our Lives” on NBC. Still on the air today, it is one of the longest-running scripted TV programs in the world. 1966 – Actor Ronald Reagan, who goes on to become the 40th U.S. president, is elected governor of California. He defeats Democratic incumbent Pat Brown by nearly a million votes. 1978 – The world mourns the death of artist Norman Rockwell at age 84. Rockwell was best known for the cover illustrations he produced for The Saturday Evening Post magazine for nearly 50 years. Musical Milestones 1969 – “Wedding Bell Blues,” by The 5th Dimension, begins three weeks as a No. 1 single. Written by Laura Nyro, it is the band’s second chart-topping hit. 1975 – Elton John’s “Rock of the Westies” debuts at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart — the same thing that happened with his “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” album six months earlier. 1975 – David Bowie makes his American television debut on the “Cher” variety show on CBS. He performs “Fame” as well as a medley with Cher that includes “Young Americans.” 1980 – Bruce Springsteen’s double LP, “The River,” flows to the top of the Billboard album chart, where it remains for four weeks. Among the work’s 20 tracks is “Hungry Heart,” The Boss’ first No. 1 single. 1986 – Boston has its first and only No. 1 single with “Amanda,” off the rock band’s “Third Stage” album, which was actually recorded in 1980. The power ballad holds the top spot for two weeks. 1997 – Elton John’s tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales — “Candle in the Wind 1997” — continues its 14-week ride at the top of the singles chart. 2008 – AC/DC begin two weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Black Ice,” the band’s 15th studio album. While the album garners a Grammy nomination, it’s the track “War Machine” that actually captures a Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy — AC/DC’s first-ever Grammy Award. READ MORE