On This Day: March 24

On This Day March 24

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weisz (d. 1926)

1930 – Actor and auto racer Steve McQueen, nicknamed the “King of Cool” (“The Magnificent Seven,” “The Great Escape,” “The Sand Pebbles,” “Bullitt,” “The Getaway,” “The Towering Inferno”) (d. 1980)

1951 – Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger  

1970 – Actress Lara Flynn Boyle (“Twin Peaks,” “The Practice,” “Men In Black II”) 

1973 – Emmy-winning actor Jim Parsons (“Garden State,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Hidden Figures”)

1974 – Actress Alyson Hannigan (“American Pie,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “How I Met Your Mother”) 

1976 – Retired star NFL quarterback and actor Peyton Manning, who set records for most career passing yards and most career passing touchdowns while playing for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos

History Highlights
History Highlights

1965 – NASA’s Ranger 9 spacecraft beams the first video images of the moon down to Earth before making a planned crash-landing on the lunar surface.

1977 – For the first time since severing diplomatic relations in 1961, Cuba and the U.S. enter into direct negotiations when the two nations discuss fishing rights.

1989 – The tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound off Alaska and spills 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of nature’s richest habitats, eventually contaminating 1,300 miles of coastline. This was the largest oil spill in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico caused a 168-million-gallon spill.

1996 – Astronaut Shannon Lucid begins the first full day of a five-month stay aboard the Russian space station Mir. She transfers from the space shuttle Atlantis, becoming the first female American astronaut to live on a space station.

2002 – Halle Berry becomes the first African-American performer to win a Best Actress Oscar (for “Monster’s Ball”) and only the second African-American actress ever to be honored by the Academy (the first was Hattie McDaniel, who won for her supporting role in 1939’s “Gone With the Wind”). 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1958 – Elvis Presley swaps his blue suede shoes for military boots as he reports for duty in U.S. Army as a private at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. The King achieves the rank of sergeant in February 1960, and a month later, is honorably discharged from active duty at the age of 25.

1962 – Bruce Channel wraps up his three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Hey! Baby.”

1973 – “Love Train” by the O’Jays steams its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1979 – The Bee Gees have the No. 1 single on the radio with “Tragedy,” off their “Spirits Having Flown” album.

1986 – Howard Jones releases “No One Is To Blame” in the U.S. It goes on to become his biggest-selling single.

1992 – A class-action lawsuit against Milli Vanilli’s record label is resolved when a judge approves a plan to refund up to $3 to everyone who bought the pop duo’s music before November 27, 1990 — the date they admitted to not actually singing their songs. Fans who bought tickets to a Milli Vanilli concert could claim a rebate of up to $2.50.

2001 – One-hit-wonder Crazy Town has the No. 1 single for a week with “Butterfly,” which features a sample of “Pretty Little Ditty” from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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On This Day: October 16

On This Day October 16

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning actress Angela Lansbury, best known for playing sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the popular CBS mystery series “Murder, She Wrote” (d. 2022)

1946 – Actress Suzanne Somers, best known for her role in the TV sitcom “Three’s Company”

1958 – Oscar-winning actor-director-activist Tim Robbins (“Bull Durham,” “The Player,” “Shortcuts,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Hudsucker proxy,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Mystic River,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)

1962 – Musician Flea, born Michael Balzary, bassist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers

1975 – Actress Kellie Martin (“Life Goes On,” “ER”)

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer (“Your Body Is a Wonderland,” “Daughters”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1934 – Embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin a year-long, 6,000-mile pilgrimage north from their encircled headquarters in southwest China in what comes to be called The Long March.

1964 – A new contender joins the nuclear arms race as the People’s Republic of China successfully tests an atomic bomb.

1967 – With the Vietnam War raging, folk singer Joan Baez is among more than 100 draft protesters arrested in Oakland, California.

1973 – Henry Kissinger, then U.S. Secretary of State, and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. Kissinger accepts, but Tho declines the award.

1987 – Millions of TV viewers around the world watch live news coverage as 18-month-old Jessica McClure (“Baby Jessica”) is rescued from an abandoned well in Midland, Texas, where she was trapped for 58 terrifying hours.

1991 – One of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history begins when George Hennard drives his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and opens fire on the lunch crowd. He kills 23 people and injures more than 20 others before turning the gun on himself.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – “Yesterday” plants The Beatles in the middle of a four-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

1966 – Grace Slick joins the San Francisco-based rock band Jefferson Airplane (which later becomes Jefferson Starship and then Starship), contributing her unique vocal talents to songs like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”

1971 – Rod Stewart is midway through a five-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Maggie May,” off his “Every Picture Tells a Story” album.

1976 – Rick Dees, who would go on to become one of the nation’s most popular DJs, quacks his way to the top of the singles chart with “Disco Duck.”

1982 – “Jack & Diane,” by John Cougar Mellencamp, is in the midst of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1993 – Mariah Carey rules the pop chart with “Dreamlover,” which holds the top spot for eight weeks.

1999 – “Heartbreaker,” by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z, enters its second and final week as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

2004 – Goodies,” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, enters its sixth week at No. 1 on the pop chart.

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