Paul McCartney and Wings

On this Day July 19

Click each item below to learn more!

On this Day June 28

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1926 – Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony-winning comedic director-writer-producer Mel Brooks (“The Producers,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Silent Movie,” “High Anxiety,” “History of the World, Part I,” “Spaceballs,” “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”)

1932 – Actor Pat Morita (“Happy Days,” “The Karate Kid”) (d. 2005)

1948 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Kathy Bates (“Misery,” “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Delores Claiborne,” “Titanic,” “Primary Colors,” “About Schmidt,” “American Horror Story”)

1966 – Actor John Cusack (“Say Anything,” “The Grifters,” “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “Being John Malkovich,” “High Fidelity,” “2012,” “The Raven”)

1971 – Engineer, inventor and entrepreneur Elon Musk, who established PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX

History Highlights

1836 – Fourth U.S. President James Madison, drafter of the Constitution, recorder of the Constitutional Convention and author of the “Federalist Papers,” dies on his tobacco plantation in Virginia.

1953 – Workers at a Chevrolet plant in Flint, Michigan, begin building the first Corvette, a two-seater sports car that quickly becomes an American automotive icon. It rolls off the assembly line two days later. Only 300 Corvettes were built for the 1953 model year — all Polo white with red upholstery.

1969 – A police raid of the Stonewall Inn — a gay club located on New York City’s Christopher Street — turns violent as patrons and local sympathizers begin rioting against police officers. The clashes become a watershed moment in the struggle for gay rights in the U.S. In 2016, the Stonewall Inn was designated as the first national monument honoring the LGBTQ movement. The monument covers 7.7 acres, including nearby Christopher Park.

1975 – One of television’s most successful writers, “The Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling dies of a heart attack at the age of 50. During his career, Serling racked up more Emmy Awards for dramatic writing than anyone in history. He also won a Golden Globe and Peabody Award for productions other than “The Twilight Zone.”

1997 – Boxing fans are horrified as Mike Tyson bites both of Evander Holyfield’s ears in the third round of their heavyweight rematch. The attack leads to his disqualification from the match and suspension from boxing.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The No. 1 single comes from the big screen. It’s “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet,” by Henry Mancini & His Orchestra.

1975 – Elton John is captain of the Billboard album chart with “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy,” which remains at No. 1 for six weeks. The album contains the hit “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”

1975 – The Captain & Tennille are Billboard chart-toppers with “Love Will Keep Us Together.” The song, from the husband-and-wife team’s debut album of the same name, was written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield.

1980 – “Coming Up (Live at Glasgow)” by Paul McCartney & Wings begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track was recorded on December 17, 1979 during the band’s tour of the UK.

1997 – “I’ll Be Missing You,” a tribute to slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G. by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112, is in the midst of an 11-week domination of the Billboard singles chart.

2003 – Clay Aiken commandeers the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks with “This Is the Night.” Aiken has “American Idol” to thank for his musical career. He was a second-place finalist in Season 2 of the reality singing competition.

On this Day June 25

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1852 – Architect Antoni Gaudi (d. 1926)

1924 – Director-producer Sidney Lumet (“12 Angry Men,” “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Network,” “The Verdict”) (d. 2011)

1925 – Tony-winning actress June Lockhart (“Lassie,” “Lost in Space,” “Petticoat Junction”)

1945 – Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter Carly Simon (“Anticipation,” “You’re So Vain,” “Mockingbird,” “You Belong To Me,” “Coming Around Again,” “Jesse,” “Nobody Does It Better”)

1947 – Actor-comedian Jimmie Walker, best remembered for his catchphrase “Dy-no-mite” from the CBS sitcom “Good Times”

1956 – Emmy-winning TV chef and bestselling author Anthony Bourdain (d. 2018)

1961 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, director and producer Ricky Gervais

1963 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter George Michael, born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, who was half of the 80s pop duo Wham! (d. 2016)

History Highlights

1876 – Native American forces led by Chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull defeat the U.S. Army troops of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer in a bloody battle near southern Montana’s Little Bighorn River. The conflict becomes known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

1942 – General Dwight D. Eisenhower (a.k.a. “Ike”), who would later become 34th U.S. president, assumes command of all U.S. troops in the European theater during World War II. In 1943, Ike is appointed supreme Allied commander of all forces in Europe.

1950 – Armed forces from communist North Korea invade South Korea, setting off the Korean War. The United States, acting under the auspices of the United Nations, quickly springs to the defense of South Korea and fights a bloody and frustrating war for the next three years.

1962 – In the case of Engel v. Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that prayers read aloud in public schools violate the separation of church and state stipulated by the First Amendment.

1968 – Congress passes the Flag Desecration Law, making it a crime to burn or otherwise desecrate the American flag. However, in 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down flag desecration laws in 48 states in its 5-4 Texas v. Johnson ruling, stating that flag desecration is a constitutionally protected form of free speech.

1993 – Kim Campbell is sworn in as Canada’s 19th prime minister, becoming the first woman to hold the country’s highest office.

2009 – Actress Farrah Fawcett — best known for TV and movie roles in “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Cannonball Run” and “The Burning Bed,” and who rocketed to pin-up status when a 1976 poster of her in a red bathing suit sold 12 million copies — dies at 62 following a three-year battle with anal cancer.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Beatles have the No. 1 single with “Paperback Writer.”

1967 – The Beatles record “All You Need Is Love” with friends Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Marianne Faithfull singing backup before an international audience of more than 350 million viewers. It is part of a live, worldwide satellite TV broadcast called “Our World.”

1969 – The Hollies record “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother,” with Elton John playing piano.

1973 – Chicago releases “Chicago VI,” which delivers two of the band’s biggest hits: “Just You ‘n’ Me” and “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day.” It becomes Chicago’s second album to reach the top of the Billboard 200, where it holds for five weeks.

1980 – “Coming Up (Live at Glasgow),” by Paul McCartney & Wings, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1984 – Prince releases the “Purple Rain” soundtrack five weeks before the movie opens.

1988 – Debbie Gibson is just 17 when her single, “Foolish Beat,” lands on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for a week.

1994 – All-4-One is in the middle of an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “I Swear.”

2009 – King of Pop, Michael Jackson, dies of cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home from a lethal combination of drugs administered by his personal doctor. He is just 50 years old and leaves behind a massive musical legacy enjoyed today by millions of fans around the world.

On this Day June 19

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1930 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Gena Rowlands (“Gloria,” “A Woman Under the Influence”)

1947 – Novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (“Grimus,” “Midnight’s Children,” “Shame,” “The Satanic Verses,” “East, West”)

1948 – Tony-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”

1950 – Ann Wilson of the rock duo Heart

1954 – Actress Kathleen Turner (“Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Romancing The Stone,” “The War of the Roses”)

1962 – Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, dancer, choreographer and former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul

1972 – Actress Robin Tunney (“The Craft,” “Vertical Limit,” “The Mentalist”)

History Highlights

1865 – Union soldiers land in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War has ended and that enslaved African Americans were now free. The announcement comes two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863. Some historians blame the delay on poor communication of that era while others believe Texan slave owners intentionally withheld the information. June 19 is observed around the U.S. as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, it became a federal holiday.

1905 – The world’s first nickelodeon opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and draws some 450 guests. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged each patron a nickel.

1934 – Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcasting in the United States.

1953 – Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both deny wrongdoing and proclaim their innocence right up to the time of their execution. The Rosenbergs were the first American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.

1973 – In separate games, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the L.A. Dodgers achieve their 2,000th career hits.

1978 – Cartoonist Jim Davis introduces readers of 41 newspapers around the U.S. to a pleasantly plump, lazy, lasagna-loving cat named Garfield.

1981 – A caped superhero returns to U.S. movie theaters with the release of “Superman II,” starring Christopher Reeve as “The Man of Steel.”

2013 – Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his role as crime boss Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos,” dies of a heart attack at age 51 while vacationing in Italy.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Pat Boone tops the pop chart for a week with “Moody River.”

1965 – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” by the Four Tops, is No. 1 on both the singles and R&B charts. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the song #415 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1971 – Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” begins a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, from her now-classic “Tapestry” album, captures a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972.

1976 – Paul McCartney & Wings have a No. 1 single with “Silly Love Songs.”

1982 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a seven-week reign over the singles chart with “Ebony and Ivory.”

1999 – “If You Had My Love,” by Jennifer Lopez, holds the top spot on the pop chart.

2004 – Usher maintains a firm grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Burn.” The single remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.

2010 – “California Gurls,” by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On this Day June 16

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1907 – Oscar and Tony-winning actor Jack Albertson (“The Subject Was Roses,” “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” “The Poseidon Adventure”) (d. 1981)

1937 – Award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates

1943 – Actress Joan Van Ark (“Dallas,” “Knots Landing”)

1955 – Emmy-winning actress Laurie Metcalf, best known for her role as Jackie on TV’s “Roseanne”

1970 – World Golf Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson

1971 – Iconic hip-hop artist, actor and poet Tupac Shakur (d. 1996)

1972 – Actor John Cho (the “Harold & Kumar” movies, “American Pie,” the 2009 “Star Trek” movie)

History Highlights

1884 – The first roller coaster in America opens along the boardwalk at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York, and is called a “switchback railway.” It was the brainchild of inventor-businessman LaMarcus Adna Thompson, traveled approximately six miles per hour and cost a nickel to ride.

1903 – Entrepreneur Henry Ford incorporates the Ford Motor Company. With a dozen investors and a thousand shares, the company spends almost all of its $28,000 cash investment by the time it sells the first Ford Model A on July 23, 1903. By that October, Ford Motor Company had made a profit of $37,000.

1963 – Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to venture into space, traveling aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 6. She orbits Earth 48 times over three days and is hailed as a national hero upon her return, receiving the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal. While Tereshkova has since traveled the world to promote science, she never flew in space again.

1977 – Leonid Brezhnev, first secretary of the Soviet Communist Party since 1964, is elected president of the Supreme Soviet, becoming both head of party and head of state.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monterey Pop Festival opens in California, featuring the first major appearances by The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.

1973 – “My Love,” by Paul McCartney & Wings, is mid-way through a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

1979 – “Queen of Disco,” Donna Summer, claims the No. 1 spot on the pop chart with “Hot Stuff.”

1980 – “The Blues Brothers,” starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, premieres in Chicago, where most of the movie takes place and was filmed. Directed by John Landis, the cult classic is based on characters from NBC’s “Saturday Night Live (SNL).”

1984 – Cyndi Lauper begins her second and final week on top of the singles chart with “Time After Time.”

1990 – Swedish pop duo Roxette is No. 1 on the singles chart with “It Must Have Been Love.”

2001 – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of “Lady Marmalade.”

On this Day June 10

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1895 – Hattie McDaniel, first African American actress to receive an Academy Award, which she won for her supporting role as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” (d. 1952)

1922 – Actress-singer Judy Garland, best known for her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” (d. 1969)

1921 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms

1928 – Children’s author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (“Where the Wild Things Are,” “Little Bear”) (d. 2012)

1962 – Actress Gina Gershon (“Showgirls,” “Face/Off,” “The Insider,” “Killer Joe,” “House of Versace”)

1963 – Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Basic Instinct,” “The Firm,” “Big Love,” “Criminal Minds”)

1965 – Model-actress Elizabeth Hurley (“Passenger 57,” the first two “Austin Powers” movies, “Bedazzled”)

1982 – U.S. Olympic champion figure skater Tara Lipinksi

1983 – Actress Leelee Sobieski (“Joan of Arc,” “The Glass House,” “Deep Impact”)

History Highlights

1692 – Bridget Bishop, the first Massachusetts Bay colonist to be tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of the practice of witchcraft.

1752 – Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity along with an understanding of positive and negative charges. His experiment leads to development of the lightning rod, which grounded buildings thereby helping prevent deadly fires.

1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as AA, is founded by two recovering alcoholics — Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Ohio surgeon. Today, the organization continues to fulfill the pair’s original mission to help alcoholics stop drinking and stay sober.

1943 – Hungarian Laszlo Biro patents the ballpoint pen. In many languages, the word for ballpoint pen is “biro.”

1967 – In the Middle East, the Six-Day War ends when Israel and Syria agree to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

1980 – A letter written by imprisoned anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela and smuggled out of Robben Island prison, is shared publicly by the African National Congress (ANC). The letter is a call to arms against apartheid.

2007 – An estimated 12 million viewers tune in to “Made in America” — the final episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed, award-winning Mob family drama, “The Sopranos,” starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco and Steven Van Zandt.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Aretha Franklin begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Respect.”

1972 – Sammy Davis, Jr. starts a three-week run with a No. 1 single — his only chart-topper. It’s “Candy Man,” from the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”

1976 – The first concert ever performed at the Seattle Kingdome features Paul McCartney and Wings, and draws a crowd of more than 67,000 — beating the record attendance that The Beatles had a decade earlier at New York’s Shea Stadium.

1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John conquer the singles chart with “You’re The One That I Want,” from the movie in which they co-star: “Grease.”

1989 – Bette Midler tops the singles chart with “Wind Beneath My Wings,” from the film “Beaches.”

1995 – Bryan Adams reigns over the pop chart with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The track, from the Johnny Depp movie movie “Don Juan DeMarco,” holds at No. 1 for five weeks.

2000 – The Grammy-winning single “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, begins its tenth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2004 – Pioneering R&B/soul singer Ray Charles (“I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “What’d I Say,” “Georgia on My Mind”) — a 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — dies of complications from liver disease at the age of 73.

On this Day June 8

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1867 – Architect Frank Lloyd Wright (d. 1959)

1918 – Actor Robert Preston (“The Music Man,” “Victor Victoria,” “The Last Starfighter”) (d. 1987)

1925 – Former First Lady Barbara Bush (d. 2018)

1927 – Comedian-actor Jerry Stiller, best known for his roles in the sitcoms “Seinfeld” and “The King of Queens” and for the Stiller & Meara comedy routines with his late wife, Anne Meara (d. 2020)

1933 – Comedian-TV host Joan Rivers (d. 2014)

1940 – Singer-actress Nancy Sinatra (“These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” “Somethin’ Stupid,” “Sugar Town”)

1944 – Singer-songwriter Boz Skaggs (“Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle”)

1966 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Julianna Margulies (“ER,” “The Sopranos,” “The Good Wife”)

1977 – Grammy-winning rapper-music producer Kanye West

History Highlights

1949 – An FBI report names Hollywood figures, including film stars Frederic March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson as members of the Communist Party.

1966 – The rival National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) announce plans to merge. The first “Super Bowl” between the two leagues is held at the end of the 1966 season, though it takes until the 1970 season for the leagues to unite their operations and integrate their regular season schedules.

1968 – James Earl Ray is arrested in London and questioned by authorities in connection with the murder of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. three months earlier.

1968 – The body of Senator Robert Kennedy is laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery three days after his assassination.

1984 – “Ghostbusters” opens in U.S. movie theaters, starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Directed by Ivan Reitman, the film grosses $242 million in the U.S. and more than $295 million worldwide, is nominated for two Oscars and becomes an 80s cinematic classic.

2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes a second pass over the Houston, Texas area, dumping more than three feet of rain in some neighborhoods, causing deadly flooding and billions of dollars in damage. The storm is blamed for 23 deaths in Texas.

Musical Milestones

1968 – The Rolling Stones release “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” which goes on to top the U.K. singles chart. In the U.S., it climbs as high as No. 3.

1974 – Dolly Parton reaches No. 1 on the country chart with “I Will Always Love You.” In 1982, she re-records it for the soundtrack of “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And, in 1992, Whitney Houston records her own version that spends 14 weeks on top of the pop chart.

1974 – Paul McCartney & Wings scale the summit of the singles chart with “Band on the Run,” off the album of the same title.

1985 – Tears For Fears rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” The band’s first No. 1 hit in the U.S. holds the top spot for two weeks. Two months later, the band scores another chart-topper with “Shout.”

1991 – The rock band Extreme claims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart with “More Than Words.”

1996 – “Tha Crossroads,” by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, is in the midst of an eight-week domination of the pop chart.

On this Day June 2

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1731 – First U.S. First Lady, Martha Washington (d. 1802)

1904 – Olympic Gold-winning swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller, best known for his portrayal of Tarzan in the 1930s and 40s movies (d. 1984)

1937 – Actress Sally Kellerman (“M*A*S*H,” “Brewster McCloud”)

1941 – Actor Stacy Keach (“Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer,” “Titus”)

1941 – Legendary Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts

1944 – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch (d. 2012)

1955 – Emmy-winning comedian-actor Dana Carvey (“Saturday Night Live,” the “Wayne’s World” movie series)

1977 – Actor Zachary Quinto (“Heroes,” “Star Trek,” “American Horror Story”)

1978 – Actor Justin Long (“Galaxy Quest,” “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Live Free or Die Hard”)

History Highlights

1865 – Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signs the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators. Smith’s surrender effectively dissolves the last Confederate army, formally ending the Civil War — the bloodiest four years in U.S. history.

1924 – President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizen Act, granting automatic American citizenship to Native Americans born in the United States.

1935 – Babe Ruth, one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, ends his Major League playing career after 22 seasons, 10 World Series and 714 home runs.

1941 – Another baseball legend, Lou Gehrig, dies of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a rare type of paralysis commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

1953 – Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is crowned in Westminster Abbey during the first televised coronation ceremony.

1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit a communist country when he tours his native Poland.

1989 – Moviegoers discover a darker side of comedian-actor Robin Williams when “Dead Poets Society” opens in U.S. theaters, starring Williams as an unconventional prep school English teacher. The performance garners Williams a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

1997 – Timothy McVeigh, a former U.S. Army soldier, is convicted on 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He is later sentenced to death.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Ray Charles kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” The track also reaches No. 1 on the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.

1973 – Paul McCartney and Wings dominate two separate music charts: “Red Rose Speedway” is the No. 1 album while one of the tracks on it, “My Love,” is the No. 1 single.

1979 – “Hot Stuff,” by Donna Summer, captures the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

1984 – “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” by Deniece Williams, begins its second and final week at No. 1. The song is from the “Footloose” movie soundtrack, which sits at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1990 – Madonna begins her third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Vogue.” The song and accompanying video, directed by David Fincher, celebrate voguing — a style of dance popularized in New York’s mostly gay ballroom club scene of the 1980s that mimics fashion-shoot poses.

2001 – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of Labelle’s 1974 smash, “Lady Marmalade.” This reinterpretation, for the “Moulin Rouge!” movie soundtrack, holds the top spot for five weeks.

2008 – Legendary singer-guitarist Bo Diddley dies of heart failure at the age of 79. Born Ellas Otha Bates, Diddley helped shape the transition of blues to rock and roll, and influenced artists including Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and U2.

On this Day May 27

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1894 – Detective novelist Dashiell Hammett (“The Maltese Falcon,” “The Glass Key,” “The Thin Man”) (d. 1961)

1911 – Actor Vincent Price, who specialized in the horror genre and provided the monologue and evil laugh in Michael Jackson’s hit single/music video “Thriller” (d. 1993)

1922 – Actor Christopher Lee (“Horror of Dracula,” “The Man With the Golden Gun,” “The Lord of the Rings,”) (d. 2015)

1923 – Former U.S. Secretary of State and Nobel laureate Henry Kissinger

1935 – Grammy-winning jazz composer-pianist Ramsey Lewis

1936 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. (“Roots,” “An Officer And a Gentleman,” “Enemy Mine”)

1955 – Actor Richard Schiff (“The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “The West Wing,” “Deep Impact,” “I Am Sam,” “The Good Doctor”)

1970 – Actor Joseph Fiennes (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Elizabeth,” ” Enemy at the Gates,” “American Horror Story”)

History Highlights

1930 – New York City’s iconic Chrysler Building opens to the public and stands as the world’s tallest building until surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931.

1936 – The ocean liner RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York with more than 1,800 passengers aboard. The ship arrives safely five days later.

1937 – The majestic Golden Gate Bridge opens, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California. San Franciscans throw a “fiesta” in honor of the new span. Schools, offices and stores either close or reduce staffing. By 6 that morning, 18,000 people are waiting to cross the span from both the sides.

1939 – A ship carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution is turned away from Havana, Cuba. Only 28 immigrants are admitted into the country. After appeals to the U.S. and Canada for entry are rejected, the rest are forced to return to Europe, where they are divided among several countries, including Great Britain and France.

1941 – The revered German battleship Bismarck is cornered and sunk in the North Atlantic by ships and planes from the British Royal Navy, ending one of the most intensive naval manhunts in history. An estimated 2,100 crewmen are killed in the attack.

1962 – A mine fire that still burns to this day breaks out beneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania.

1994 – Two decades after being expelled from the Soviet Union, Nobel laureate Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn returns to Russia in an emotional homecoming.

Musical Milestones

1957 – The Crickets, featuring Buddy Holly, release their first record, “That’ll Be The Day,” on the Brunswick label — a subsidiary of Decca Records. The single soars to the top of the pop charts in both the U.S. and U.K. and propels the band into rock and roll stardom.

1963 – The second album is the charm for 22-year-old Bob Dylan, who releases “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan,” which proves to be his breakthrough work. Among its original compositions (and first track on the album) is the classic “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

1972 – The Chi-Lites reach No. 1 on the singles chart for their first and only time with “Oh Girl.” The track, off the band’s “A Lonely Man” album, stays on top for a week.

1978 – “With a Little Luck,” by Paul McCartney & Wings, enjoys its second and final week as the hottest single in the U.S.

1989 – Paula Abdul begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard singles survey with “Forever Your Girl.”

1995 – “This Is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan, wraps up seven weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

2000 – Santana, featuring The Product G&B, holds steady at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Maria Maria.”

On this Day June 12

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Former President George H. W. Bush (d. 2018)

1929 – Jewish Holocaust victim Anne Frank, whose diary about her family’s life in hiding from the Nazis has been read by millions around the world (d. 1945)

1930 – Actor and singer Jim Nabors, best known for playing Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” (d. 2017)

1941 – Basketball Hall of Fame sportscaster Marv Albert

1941 – Jazz fusionist Chick Corea

1957 – Emmy-winning actor-director Timothy Busfield (“thirtysomething,” “Field of Dreams,” “The West Wing,” “For Life”)

1974 – Actor Jason Mewes, best known for playing Jay, the vocal half of the duo Jay and Silent Bob, in longtime friend Kevin Smith’s films

History Highlights

1963 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is shot and killed outside his Jackson, Mississippi home by a member of the Ku Klux Klan. His murder comes just hours after President John F. Kennedy had delivered a national address in support of civil rights.

1978 – David Berkowitz, the so-called “Son of Sam,” is sentenced to six consecutive life prison terms for a string of murders and attacks that terrified New Yorkers for a year.

1981 – Moviegoers meet Indiana Jones for the first time as “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark” opens in theaters across the U.S. The movie, starring Harrison Ford, becomes another box office smash for director Steven Spielberg and launches one of the most successful motion picture franchises of all time.

1987 – In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided Germany.

1994 – Former football star O.J. Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman, are stabbed to death in what leads to one of the highest-profile murder trials of the century. As the prime suspect, O.J. Simpson stands trial for the killings, but is ultimately acquitted. He is later found liable in a civil action brought by the victims’ families.

2016 – A gunman forces his way inside Pulse, an Orlando, Florida nightclub, and opens fire on the predominantly gay crowd, killing 49 people and injuring dozens more. Responding police shoot and kill the gunman, who was later determined to have ties to the terrorist group ISIS. The attack becomes the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history until an October 2017 rampage in Las Vegas.

Musical Milestones

1965 – The Supremes set music industry records as “Back in My Arms Again” becomes their fifth consecutive No. 1 single.

1971 – “Want Ads,” by Honey Cone, tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1976 – “Silly Love Songs,” by Paul McCartney and Wings, returns to the top spot on the singles chart after being bumped for two weeks by Diana Ross’ “Love Hangover.”

1982 – More than 450,000 people pack New York’s Central Park for a nuclear disarmament rally and concert featuring Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt and Gary U.S. Bonds.

1982 – The Paul McCartney-Stevie Wonder duet, “Ebony and Ivory,” is in the middle of seven weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

1989 – The Elvis Presley Autoland Museum opens at Graceland. It features more than 30 cars that Presley owned, including his famous Pink Cadillac, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Stutz Blackhawks, a 1975 Dino Ferrari, a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, and the red MG Elvis drove in the movie “Blue Hawaii.”

1999 – The boy band era is in full swing as “Millennium,” by the Backstreet Boys, claims the top spot on the Billboard album chart. The Grammy-nominated album spawns four Top 40 singles: “I Want It That Way”, “Larger than Life,” “Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely” and “The One.”

2004 – Usher reigns over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Burn.”