On This Day November 1 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1942 – Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt (d. 2021) 1949 – Grammy-winning record producer David Foster, who has worked with some of the biggest names in the music industry, including Alice Cooper, Céline Dion, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Rod Stewart and Barbra Streisand 1957 – Grammy-winning Texas singer-songwriter and actor Lyle Lovett, born Lyle Pearce 1972 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Toni Collette (“Muriel’s Wedding,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Hereditary,” “United States of Tara”) 1972 – Playboy model-turned-actress-TV host Jenny McCarthy (“The Jenny McCarthy Show,” “Love in the Wild,” “The View”) History Highlights 1512 – The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, one of Italian artist Michelangelo’s finest works, is exhibited to the public for the first time. 1952 – The U.S. detonates the world’s first thermonuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb, on an island in the Pacific. The test is code-named “Mike.” The blast generates a three-mile-wide fireball, destroys the island and kills wildlife on nearby islands. 1971 – The U.S. Mint produces the first Eisenhower dollar coins. 1979 – First Lady Mamie Eisenhower dies just a couple of weeks shy of her 83rd birthday. 1982 – Honda becomes the first Asian automaker to produce cars in the United States when it opens a factory in Marysville, Ohio. Honda’s flagship vehilce, the Accord, is the first model to roll off the assembly line. 1993 – The European Union (EU) officially takes effect, made up of 12 nations: Great Britain, France, Germany, the Irish Republic, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Austria, Finland and Sweden become EU members in 1995. Musical Milestones 1956 – Elvis Presley buys a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle and takes actress Natalie Wood on a nearly three-hour ride around Memphis on it. 1968 – The first solo recording by a Beatle is released. It’s George Harrison’s “Wonderwall Music” — the first Apple Records production. The album is the soundtrack to Joe Massot’s movie “Wonderwall,” and consists primarily of Indian-influenced instrumentals, featuring Eric Clapton and Ringo Starr. 1969 – Elvis Presley makes a brief comeback with “Suspicious Minds,” the most popular song in the U.S. on this day and The King’s last No. 1 hit. 1975 – Elton John rules the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks with “Island Girl,” off his “Rock of the Westies” album. Coincidentally, the single bumps Neil Sedaka’s “Bad Blood,” a song in which EJ provides backup vocals. 1980 – “The River” becomes Bruce Springsteen’s first No. 1 album. Containing the hit “Hungry Heart,” it remains on top of the Billboard album chart for four weeks. 1986 – Cyndi Lauper begins her second and final week at No. 1 with “True Colors.” 1997 – Elton John’s rewritten and re-recorded version of his 1973 single “Candle in The Wind” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was released on September 13, 1997 as a tribute to Princess Diana, who died two weeks earlier in a Paris car crash. 2003 – “Baby Boy,” by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, is in the middle of nine weeks as a No. 1 single. READ MORE
On this Day May 13 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1914 – Former World Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis (d. 1981) 1922 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Bea Arthur (“Maude,” “The Golden Girls”) (d. 2009) 1939 – Actor Harvey Keitel (“Mean Streets,” “Taxi Driver,” “Bad Lieutenant,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction”) 1950 – Grammy-winning Motown prodigy Stevie Wonder (“Fingertips – Pt. 2,” “Superstition,” “You Are The Sunshine of My Life,” “Sir Duke,” “Isn’t She Lovely?”) 1961 – Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman 1964 – Comedian, political satirist and CBS “The Late Show” host Stephen Colbert 1986 – Actor Robert Pattinson, best known for his role as vampire Edward Cullen in the film adaptations of the “Twilight” novels and as Batman/Bruce Wayne in the 2022 movie, “The Batman” History Highlights 1607 – More than 100 English colonists arrive along the west bank of the James River in Virginia to found Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America. 1846 – The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly votes in favor of President James Polk’s request to declare war on Mexico in a dispute over Texas. 1958 – A new concept for fastening material sticks as a trademark is registered for Velcro, technically referred to as a “hook and loop fastener.” It’s the brainchild of Swiss engineer George de Mestral. 1981 – Shots ring out in Rome as Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca opens fire on Pope John Paul II when he passes through St. Peter’s Square in an open car. The pontiff is seriously injured, but recovers from his wounds and is released from the hospital three weeks later. 1985 – After a lengthy standoff, Philadelphia police drop a bomb on the row house occupied by the radical group MOVE. The bombing sparks a fire that kills 11 people, including five children, and destroys 61 homes. Musical Milestones 1967 – “The Happening, by The Supremes, tops the singles chart, becoming the Motown trio’s 10th No. 1 hit. 1970 – New York City hosts the premiere of The Beatles’ film “Let It Be.” The movie documents the Fab Four rehearsing and recording songs for their 12th and final studio album of the same name. It includes footage from the famous Apple Records rooftop concert in London — the band’s final public performance. 1972 – Roberta Flack maintains her six-week hold on the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” 1978 – Yvonne Elliman has the hottest single with “If I Can’t Have You,” a song featured in the film “Saturday Night Fever.” 1989 – “I’ll Be There for You,” off Bon Jovi’s “New Jersey” album, is ranked No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 1995 – Montell Jordan lays claim to the top spot on the singles chart with “This Is How We Do It.” 2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, is in the midst of a 10-week ride on top of the Billboard singles chart. 2006 – Rihanna kicks off three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “SOS.” 2008 – The U.S. Postal Service issues a 42-cent stamp in honor of legendary entertainer Frank Sinatra. READ MORE
On this Day May 9 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1874 – Archaeologist Howard Carter, who discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun (d. 1939) 1918 – Longtime CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Mike Wallace (d. 2012) 1936 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Albert Finney (“Miller’s Crossing,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Big Fish”) (d. 2019) 1940 – Oscar and Emmy-winning director-producer James L. Brooks (“Terms of Endearment,” “The Simpsons,” “As Good as it Gets”) 1946 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Candice Bergen (“Murphy Brown,” “Boston Legal,” “Miss Congeniality”) 1949 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Billy Joel (“Piano Man,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Movin’ Out,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “She’s Always a Woman”) 1961 – Actor-singer John Corbett (“Northern Exposure,” “Sex and the City,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”), who also provides voiceovers for Applebees and Walgreens History Highlights 1926 – Polar explorer Richard Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett fly over the North Pole in a triple-engine Fokker monoplane, marking the first time an aircraft crosses the top of the world. The flight’s earlier-than-expected return prompted some to challenge the achievement. However, a scientific committee of the National Geographic Society confirms the historic crossing, and Byrd and Bennett are awarded Medals of Honor by President Calvin Coolidge. 1960 – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the first commercially produced birth control pill, which comes to be known as “The Pill,” and paves the way for the sexual revolution of the 1960s. 1970 – A Vietnam War protest draws nearly 100,000 demonstrators to an area near the White House. Speakers include actress Jane Fonda and acclaimed pediatrician-author Dr. Benjamin Spock. President Richard Nixon meets secretly with a group of protesters at the Lincoln Memorial. 1971 – The long-running comedy “The Honeymooners,” starring Jackie Gleason as bus driver Ralph Kramden and Audrey Meadows as his wife Alice, signs off for the last time. 1974 – The House Judiciary Committee opens impeachment hearings against President Richard Nixon. 1978 – The bullet-riddled body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro is found in the back of a car in Rome. Moro had been kidnapped by Red Brigade terrorists two months earlier after a bloody shoot-out near his suburban home. Musical Milestones 1964 – Louis Armstrong’s “Hello Dolly” ends The Beatles’ 14-week hold on the top spot on the singles chart which began with “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and was followed by “She Loves You” and “Can’t Buy Me Love.” At age 62, Satchmo becomes the oldest artist to reach No. 1. 1966 – The Beatles hold the first of three studio sessions to record “For No One,” a track on the band’s “Revolver” album. 1970 – “American Woman,” by The Guess Who, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. 1987 – Cutting Crew begins its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “(I Just) Died in Your Arms.” 1992 – Bruce Springsteen makes his network television debut on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) with host Tom Hanks. 1992 – “Jump,” the debut single by hip hop duo Kris Kross, is midway through an eight-week reign of the Billboard Hot 100. The artists are just 12 and 13 years old when they record the track, which becomes an international smash. 2014 – Michael Jackson’s second posthumous album, “Xscape,” is released. It contains previously unreleased tracks dating back to 1980. READ MORE