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On This Day December 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Emmy, Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning actress Rita Moreno, born Rosita Dolores Alverio (“West Side Story,” “The Electric Company,” “Oz”)

1938 – Legendary jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, best known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet (d. 2020)

1940 – Emmy-winning actress Donna Mills (“Play Misty For Me,” “Knot’s Landing,” “General Hospital”)

1944 – Pop and country singer Brenda Lee (“I’m Sorry,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”)

1947 – Actress Teri Garr (“Young Frankenstein,” “Tootsie,” “Mr. Mom”)

1954 – Singer Jermaine Jackson, formerly of the Jackson 5

1958 – Mötley Crüe founder and bassist Nikki Sixx

1973 – Actor and hip hop artist Mos Def, a.k.a. Yasiin Bey, born Dante Smith (“Monster’s Ball,” “Something the Lord Made,” “Next Day Air,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “16 Blocks,” “Be Kind Rewind,” “The Italian Job,” “Bamboozled,” “Brown Sugar”)

History Highlights

1777 – General George Washington marches 12,000 soldiers of his Continental Army from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for the winter, but the troops are delayed when they encounter British forces. 

1936 – After ruling for less than a year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He announces his decision during a national broadcast. The move follows condemnation by the British government, the public and the Church of England of his decision to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, and causes a constitutional crisis for the British Empire.

1946 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), an organization to help provide relief and support to children living in countries devastated by World War II.

1972 – The crew of Apollo 17 performs the sixth and final manned lunar landing.

2008 – Financier Bernard Madoff is arrested at his New York City apartment and charged with masterminding a long-running Ponzi scheme later estimated to involve around $65 billion, making it one of the biggest investment frauds in Wall Street history.

Musical Milestones

1961 – “Please Mr. Postman,” by The Marvelettes, tops the singles chart.

1961 – Elvis Presley kicks off a 20-week run on top of the Billboard album chart with the soundtrack to the movie “Blue Hawaii.” The King’s seventh No. 1 album is nominated for a Grammy.

1964 – Legendary soul singer Sam Cooke is shot to death by a Los Angeles motel manager in what investigators call a justifiable homicide. The manager claimed Cooke attacked her after trying to rape a young woman he was with. Cooke was 33.

1976 – Rod Stewart owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright).” The single remains at No. 1 for eight weeks, becoming the last chart-topping hit of 1976 and the first of 1977.

1982 – One-hit wonder Toni Basil reaches the top of the singles chart with “Mickey.”

1993 – Janet Jackson begins two weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Again,” off her “Janet” album. It is also used as the closing track to the 1993 movie, “Poetic Justice,” starring Jackson and rapper-actor Tupac Shakur.

2004 – “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell, is the No. 1 single. 

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