Archives

On This Day September 27

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1920 – Actor William Conrad (“Cannon,” “Jake and the Fatman”) (d. 1994)

1933 – Actor Greg Morris, best known as electronics expert Barney Collier in the TV spy series “Mission: Impossible” (d. 1996)

1934 – Actor Wilford Brimley (“The China Syndrome,” “Cocoon,” “The Firm”)

1943 – Musician Randy Bachman of Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO)

1947 – Grammy-winning rock singer-actor Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, best known for his “Bat Out of Hell” album series.

1958 – Teen idol Shaun Cassidy (“Da Do Ron Ron,” “The Hardy Boys Mysteries”)

1972 – Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow (“Seven,” “Emma,” “Great Expectations,” “Shakespeare in Love,” the “Iron Man” and “The Avengers” movies)

1982 – Grammy-winning rap artist Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr. (“A Milli” and “Lollipop”)

1984 – Pop-punk singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne (“Complicated,” “Sk8er Boi”)

History Highlights

1779 – The Continental Congress appoints John Adams to travel to France to negotiate treaties of peace and commerce with Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.

1938 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt writes to German Chancellor Adolf Hitler about the threat of war in Europe. The German chancellor had been threatening to invade the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia and, in the letter, Roosevelt reiterates the need to find a peaceful resolution.

1954 – The “Tonight” show premieres on NBC with comedian-pianist Steve Allen hosting through 1957 before handing off to Jack Paar and later Johnny Carson, who hosted through 1992. Subsequent hosts have been Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and, currently, Jimmy Fallon.

1964 – The Warren Commission Report on the JFK assassination is released. It concludes there was no conspiracy and that gunman Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the presidential shooting on November 12, 1963.

1973 – Two Soviet cosmonauts blast off aboard Soyuz 12 donning pressurized suits which were developed after the Soyuz 11 crew was asphyxiated while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beach Boys make their TV debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” performing “I Get Around” and “Wendy.”

1975 – “I’m Sorry” lands atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the final No. 1 single of John Denver’s career.

1983 – “A Chorus Line” achieves the status of longest-running Broadway musical to date.

1986 – “Stuck With You,” by Huey Lewis and the News, lands on top of the Hot 100 chart and sticks for three weeks.

1992 – “End of the Road,” by Boyz II Men, is mid-way through a 13-week reign over the Billboard singles chart.

1994 – The soundtrack to the Quentin Tarantino cult classic “Pulp Fiction,” starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman, is released. It consists of rock and roll, pop, surf and soul music along with snippets of dialogue from the movie.

2003 – “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” by Nelly featuring P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, is in its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single. It wins the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2004 Grammy Awards.

2011 – Tony Bennett becomes the oldest artist to top the Billboard album chart when the 85-year-old’s “Duets II” reaches No. 1. Featuring collaborations with Amy Winehouse, Lady Gaga, Aretha Franklin, Queen Latifah, Michael Buble and other star vocalists, the album is also Bennett’s first chart-topper in a six-decade career.

READ MORE