On This Day: October 18

On This Day October 18

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1926 – Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Chuck Berry (“Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode”) (d. 2017)

1927 – Oscar-winning actor George C. Scott (“Anatomy of a Murder,” “Dr. Strangelove,” “Patton,” “The Day of the Dolphin,” “The Hindenburg,” “A Christmas Carol”) (d. 1999)

1935 – Emmy-winning actor Peter Boyle (“The Candidate,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Everybody Loves Raymond) (d. 2006)

1939 – Former NFL player, coach, and commentator Mike Ditka

1956 – Retired tennis champion Martina Navratilova

1960 – Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Bloodsport,” “Kickboxer,” “Universal Soldier,” “Timecop,” “Sudden Death,” “The Expendables 2”

1960 – Actress Erin Moran (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi”)

1984 – Actress Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”)

1987 – Actor-singer Zac Efron (“High School Musical,” “Hairspray,” “The Lorax,” “We Are Your Friends,” “The Greatest Showman”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1867 – The U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre.

1898 – One year after Spain grants Puerto Rico self-rule, American troops raise the U.S. flag over the Caribbean nation, formalizing U.S. authority over the island’s one million inhabitants.

1931 – Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, dies from complications of diabetes in his West Orange, New Jersey home at the age of 84. Edison is most famous for inventing the phonograph, motion picture camera and the incandescent light bulb.

1954 – Music, information and sports become portable as Texas Instruments and the Regency division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates introduce the transistor radio. Marketed as the “world’s first pocket radio,” the Regency Model TR-1 retails for $49.95.

1961 – “West Side Story” opens in theaters, featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The movie musical captures 10 Academy Awards.

1967 – “The Jungle Book” opens at the box office. It’s the last animated feature personally produced by Walt Disney, who died during production.

1968 – The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two African American sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a “Black Power” salute during their medal ceremony at the Mexico City games.

1988 – The sitcom “Roseanne” premieres on ABC, starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are arrested after cannabis is discovered in their London flat. Lennon pleads guilty for fear that Ono would be deported.

1969 – “I Can’t Get Next to You” becomes the second chart-topping single for Motown titans, The Temptations. The track holds the No. 1 spot for two weeks.

1975 – John Denver’s “Windsong” is No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It contains the hits “I’m Sorry” and “Calypso.”

1980 – Queen enters its third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Another One Bites the Dust.”

1986 – Janet Jackson starts the second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “When I Think of You,” from her “Control” album.

1997 – Elton John’s tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales is the No. 1 single. It is a rewritten and rerecorded version of his 1974 song, “Candle in the Wind.”

2003 – “Baby Boy, by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, is in the middle of a nine-week marathon on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from Beyoncé’s debut solo album, “Dangerously in Love.”

2005 – A photo of a naked John Lennon wrapped around a fully clothed Yoko Ono, taken by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, is voted best magazine cover of the past 40 years by a panel of magazine editors. The photo was snapped on December 8, 1980, just hours before Lennon was shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building. It appeared on the cover of the January 22, 1981 edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

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On this Day: June 19

On this Day June 19

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1930 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Gena Rowlands (“Gloria,” “A Woman Under the Influence”)

1947 – Novelist and essayist Salman Rushdie (“Grimus,” “Midnight’s Children,” “Shame,” “The Satanic Verses,” “East, West”)

1948 – Tony-winning actress Phylicia Rashad, best known for playing Clair Huxtable on “The Cosby Show”

1950 – Ann Wilson of the rock duo Heart

1954 – Actress Kathleen Turner (“Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Romancing The Stone,” “The War of the Roses”)

1962 – Grammy and Emmy-winning singer, dancer, choreographer and former “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul

1972 – Actress Robin Tunney (“The Craft,” “Vertical Limit,” “The Mentalist”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1865 – Union soldiers land in Galveston, Texas with news that the Civil War has ended and that enslaved African Americans were now free. The announcement comes two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which took effect on January 1, 1863. Some historians blame the delay on poor communication of that era while others believe Texan slave owners intentionally withheld the information. June 19 is observed around the U.S. as Juneteenth. On June 17, 2021, it became a federal holiday.

1905 – The world’s first nickelodeon opens in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and draws some 450 guests. The storefront theater boasted 96 seats and charged each patron a nickel.

1934 – Congress establishes the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate broadcasting in the United States.

1953 –  Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted of conspiring to pass U.S. atomic secrets to the Soviets, die in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in New York. Both deny wrongdoing and proclaim their innocence right up to the time of their execution. The Rosenbergs were the first American civilians executed for espionage during the Cold War.

1973 – In separate games, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the L.A. Dodgers achieve their 2,000th career hits.

1978 – Cartoonist Jim Davis introduces readers of 41 newspapers around the U.S. to a pleasantly plump, lazy, lasagna-loving cat named Garfield.

1981 – A caped superhero returns to U.S. movie theaters with the release of “Superman II,” starring Christopher Reeve as “The Man of Steel.”

2013 –  Actor James Gandolfini, best known for his role as crime boss Tony Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos,” dies of a heart attack at age 51 while vacationing in Italy. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – Pat Boone tops the pop chart for a week with “Moody River.”

1965 – “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch),” by the Four Tops, is No. 1 on both the singles and R&B charts. Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the song #415 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1971 – Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” begins a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song, from her now-classic “Tapestry” album, captures a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1972.

1976 – Paul McCartney & Wings have a No. 1 single with “Silly Love Songs.”

1982 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a seven-week reign over the singles chart with “Ebony and Ivory.”

1999 – “If You Had My Love,” by Jennifer Lopez, holds the top spot on the pop chart.

2004 – Usher maintains a firm grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Burn.” The single remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.

2010 – “California Gurls,” by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg, kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

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