On This Day: October 29

On This Day October 29

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1891 – Actress-singer-comedian Fanny Brice, born Fannie Borach, best known for her work with the Ziegfeld Follies (portrayed by Barbra Streisand in the movie “Funny Girl”) (d. 1951)

1925 – Best-selling author, journalist and TV personality Dominick Dunne, who covered high-profile murder cases, including the O. J. Simpson trial, for Vanity Fair (d. 2009)

1945 – Tony-winning singer and actress Melba Moore (“This Is It,” “Lean on Me,” “Love’s Comin’ At Ya”)

1947 – Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss (“American Graffiti,” “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “The Goodbye Girl,” “Mr. Holland’s Opus”)

1948 – Actress Kate Jackson (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Scarecrow and Mrs. King”)

1957 – Actor Dan Castellaneta, best known as the voice of Homer Simpson and several other characters in “The Simpsons”

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actress Winona Ryder, born Winona Laura Horowitz (“Beetlejuice,” “Heathers,” “Mermaids,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Age of Innocence,” “Reality Bites,” “Girl, Interrupted,” “Mr. Deeds”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1901 – President William McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, is executed in the electric chair at Auburn Prison in New York. Czolgosz had shot McKinley on September 6, 1901. The president succumbed to his wounds eight days later.

1929 – Pandemonium erupts on Wall Street as the New York Stock Exchange crashes. Black Tuesday, as it is known, is considered the worst economic event in world history and triggers the Great Depression.

1966 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) is established as the grassroots arm of the women’s movement.

1969 – The Internet is born as bits of electronic data begin to flow between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute.

1998 – Nearly four decades after making history as the first American to orbit the Earth, U.S. Senator John Glenn heads back into space — this time as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Discovery. At 77, Glenn becomes the oldest human ever to travel in space.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – The Michigan-based garage rock band Question Mark & the Mysterians dominates the singles chart with “96 Tears.” Some music critics credit the song with starting the punk rock movement.

1971 – Guitarist Duane Allman of The Allman Brothers Band dies in a motorcycle accident in Macon, Georgia just three weeks shy of his 25th birthday.

1972 – The novelty song “My Ding-a-Ling” becomes rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry’s first and only No. 1 single, holding the top spot for two weeks. The track was recorded eight months earlier in concert at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, England.

1977 – “You Light Up My Life,” by Debby Boone, is in the midst of a 10-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

1983 – The Dolly Parton-Kenny Rogers duet “Islands In The Stream” is the No. 1 single. The song, written by the Bee Gees, holds the top spot for two weeks.

1988 – Phil Collins holds first place on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Groovy Kind of Love,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Buster,” in which Collins stars. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1994 – Boyz II Men continue their 14-week rule over the singles chart with “I’ll Make Love to You.”

2005 – “Gold Digger,” by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, is in the middle of 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2011 – Adele rules the pop chart with “Someone Like You.”

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On this Day: August 11

On this Day August 11

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1921 – Author Alex Haley (“Roots,” “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”) (d. 1992)

1925 – TV talk show host Mike Douglas (“The Mike Douglas Show”) (d. 2006)

1949 – Singer-songwriter Eric Carmen (“All By Myself,” “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again,” “She Did It,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Make Me Lose Control,”)

1950 – Apple Computer co-founder Steve “Woz” Wozniak 

1953 – Pro wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan, born Terry Gene Bollea

1954 – Singer-songwriter Joe Jackson (“Is She Really Going Out With Him,” “Steppin’ Out,” “Breaking Us In Two”)

1965 – Tony and Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis (“Doubt,” “The Help,” “How to Get Away With Murder”)

1983 – Actor Chris Hemsworth (“Thor,” “Snow White and the Huntsman,” “Red Dawn,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1934 – The first inmates, classified as “most dangerous,” arrive at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, joining a few dozen prisoners left over from the island’s days as a U.S. military prison.

1956 – Abstract artist Jackson Pollock dies in a drunk-driving car crash at the age of 44. 

1965 – Following the arrest of a young black motorist, the predominately black Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts erupts in riots that last six days and leave more than 30 people dead. 

1965 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the Bronco to compete with the Jeep CJ-5 and International Harvester Scout. The Bronco gets a massive publicity boost in June of 1994 when it was the subject of a low-speed LA police chase involving then-murder suspect O.J. Simpson. More than five decades later, an updated version of the workhorse is still going strong.

1973 – “American Graffiti” opens in theaters. The coming-of-age film set in 1962 California was co-written and directed by George Lucas and stars Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard and Harrison Ford.

1984 – During a sound check before a Saturday radio broadcast, President Ronald Reagan jokingly says, “My fellow Americans. I’m pleased to announce that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.” Reagan was unaware, however, that the feed was live. The Soviets, who find no humor in the remark, put their military on high alert.

2014 – Oscar-winning actor-comedian Robin Williams (“Mork and Mindy,” “The World According to Garp,” “Moscow on the Hudson,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Dead Poets Socity,” “Aladdin,”  “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “The Birdcage,” “Good Will Hunting”) dies by suicide at the age of 63. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – Neil Sedaka has his first No. 1 single with “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” The song holds the top spot for two weeks. 

1964 – The Beatles’ movie “Help!” premieres in New York. Directed by Richard Lester, it is the Fab Four’s second film.

1979 – ‘Disco Queen’ Donna Summer begins her fifth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bad Girls.”

1984 – Who ya gonna call? Ray Parker, Jr. starts a three-week run at No. 1 with the theme from the film “Ghostbusters.”

1999 – KISS arrives on Hollywood Boulevard to unveil their star on The Walk Of Fame. The band had released over 30 albums and sold over 80 million records worldwide.

2001 – Boy band NSYNC’s “Celebrity” album debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

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