On This Day October 14 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1927 – Actor Sir Roger Moore, who played Simon Templar in the 1960s spy series “The Saint” and secret agent James Bond in seven movies between 1973 and 1985 (d. 2017) 1939 – Fashion designer Ralph Lauren 1940 – Singer Cliff Richard ( “Devil Woman,” “We Don’t Talk Anymore”) 1946 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist Justin Hayward of the rock band The Moody Blues (“Nights in White Satin,” “Tuesday Afternoon,” “Question”) 1958 – Synth-pop musician-producer Thomas Dolby, best known for his 1980s hits “She Blinded Me With Science” and “Hyperactive!” 1978 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter and actor Usher, born Usher Terry Raymond IV (“Nice & Slow,” “You Make Me Wanna…,” “My Way,” “Yeah!”, “There Goes My Baby,” “Climax”) History Highlights 1947 – U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager ushers in the era of supersonic flight when he breaks the sound barrier in his Bell X-1 experimental plane, which he named “Glamorous Glennis,” in tribute to his wife. 1962 – The Cuban Missile Crisis begins as an American U-2 spy plane snaps aerial photos showing the installation of Soviet-made medium-range missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, just 90 miles off the Florida coast in Cuba. 1964 – Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America. The 35-year-old King donates the entire $54,000 prize money to furthering civil rights causes. 1964 – Nikita Khrushchev is ousted as both premier of the Soviet Union and chief of the Communist Party after 10 years in power. He is succeeded by his former protégé, Leonid Brezhnev. 1987 – While playing in her aunt’s back yard in Midland, Texas, 18-month-old Jessica McClure (“Baby Jessica”) slips and falls into an abandoned well. Millions of people around the world are riveted to news coverage of her rescue over the next 58 hours. 1994 – “Pulp Fiction,” a crime drama starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Quentin Tarantino, opens in theaters and becomes a cult classic. Musical Milestones 1957 – The Everly Brothers have their first No. 1 single with “Wake Up Little Susie.” The song also spends seven weeks on top of the Billboard country chart. 1967 – The Box Tops enter their fourth and final week as chart-toppers with “The Letter.” 1968 – The Jackson 5 make their national television debut when they appear on ABC’s “Hollywood Palace,” performing with Diana Ross and Sammy Davis, Jr. 1972 – Michael Jackson’s first solo single, “Ben,” reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song, used for the closing credits of the horror film, “Ben,” goes on to capture a Best Song Golden Globe Award. 1978 – Exile is in the middle of four weeks atop the singles chart with “Kiss You All Over.” 1989 – The Grammy-nominated “Miss You Much,” by Janet Jackson, tops the Billboard Hot 100. 1990 – Internationally renowned Grammy and Tony-winning composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein (“On The Waterfront,” “Candide,” “West Side Story”) dies in New York at the age of 72. 1995 – Mariah Carey is in the middle of an eight-week domination of the U.S. pop chart with “Fantasy.” The track is the first by a female artist and second overall to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 2000 – “Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You),” by Christina Aguilera, begins four weeks on top of the singles chart. READ MORE
On this Day August 3 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1926 – Legendary Grammy and Emmy-winning pop-big band-jazz singer and painter Tony Bennett, born Anthony Benedetto 1940 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Martin Sheen (“Apocalypse Now,” “Gandhi,” “Wall Street,” “The American President,” “The West Wing,” “Catch Me if You Can,” “The Departed”) 1941 – Home decor queen and media mogul Martha Stewart 1950 – Director John Landis (“National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” “Trading Places”) 1959 – Actor John C. McGinley, best known for playing Dr. Perry Cox in the NBC sitcom “Scrubs” 1979 – Actress Evangeline Lilly (“Lost,” “The Huirt Locker,” Real Steel,” “Ant-Man,” “Avengers: Endgame”) History Highlights 1492 – Italian explorer Christopher Columbus leads three sailing ships from Spain on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. 1923 – Vice President Calvin Coolidge is sworn in as the 30th president of the United States hours after the death of President Warren G. Harding. A man of few words (he was nicknamed “Silent Cal”), Coolidge gains popularity as president, winning more than 54 percent of the popular vote when reelected in 1924. 1949 – The Basketball Association of America (BAA) merges with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). Six NBL teams join the 10 BAA teams, plus an expansion team in Indianapolis, with the new league divided into Eastern, Central and Western Divisions. 1958 – America’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN 571), becomes the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater. 1977 – Roger Moore returns to the big screen as secret agent James Bond in “The Spy Who Loved Me.” The movie features a sleek, powerful Lotus Esprit sports car that doubles as a submarine. 1981 – Some 13,000 unionized air traffic controllers (members of PATCO, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization) walk off the job and days later are fired by President Ronald Reagan. 2008 – The first published photos of former celebrity couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s newborn twins go up on People magazine’s website, and two weeks later, are published in a 19-page photo spread. People won the rights to the photos after a bidding war that, according to some reports, reached as high as $14 million — the most ever paid for celebrity baby pictures. Musical Milestones 1963 – Allan Sherman releases his classic summer camp parody “Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah (A Letter From Camp).” Inspired by actual complaint letters that Sherman received from his son, Robert, while away at summer camp, the song climbs as high as No. 2 on the Billboard singles chart. 1968 – The Doors have the hottest single with “Hello, I Love You (Won’t You Tell Me Your Name).” It’s the band’s second chart-topper. 1971 – Paul McCartney announces the formation of his new band, Wings, featuring wife Linda and ex-Moody Blues member Denny Laine. 1973 – Stevie Wonder releases “Innervisions,” playing virtually all the instruments on six of the album’s nine tracks. 1974 – “Annie’s Song,” by John Denver, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single. 1985 – “Shout,” by Tears for Fears, begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the British duo’s second U.S. No. 1. 1987 – Def Leppard releases “Hysteria,” which sells more than 25 million copies worldwide and becomes the band’s best-selling album to date. It spawns no less than seven hit singles, six of which make it to the Top 20. 1991 – “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You,” from the movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves,” keeps Bryan Adams on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week. The track remains there for a total of seven weeks. 1996 – “Macarena,” by Los Del Rio, shimmies its way to the top of the Billboard pop chart and holds there for 14 weeks. Decades later, the song remains a favorite at wedding receptions, parties and sporting events. 2002 – Nelly burns up the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hot in Herre.” The track maintains a hold on the top spot for seven weeks. READ MORE