On This Day: March 21

On This Day March 21

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1685 – Classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1750)

1944 – Actor Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond in two films

1949 – Singer-songwriter Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (“Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise”, “Take Me Home Tonight”) (d. 2019)

1958 – Actor Gary Oldman (“Sid and Nancy,” “JFK,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Fifth Element,” “Air Force One,” played Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” series, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Book of Eli,” “Darkest Hour”)

1962 – Emmy-winning comedian-TV host-actress Rosie O’Donnell (“The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The View,” “A League of Their Own,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Now and Then”)

1962 – Tony-winning actor Matthew Broderick (“War Games,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Glory,” “The Freshman,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Producers,” “Tower Heist,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1947 – With fears about communism swirling across the U.S., President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835. It creates a Loyalty Program to investigate federal employees to determine if they demonstrated “complete and unswerving loyalty” to the United States.

1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads some 3,200 civil rights activists on a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents supervise the procession, which Alabama state police had previously blocked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1980 – In the Season 3 finale of CBS’ hit prime time drama “Dallas,” an unseen assailant shoots bad-boy J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman), who falls to the floor of his office before the scene fades to black. The episode, entitled “A House Divided,” becomes one of the most talked about season finales of all time, sparking the “Who Shot J.R.” craze. Some 160 million fans wait eight months to learn the identity of the shooter in Season 4.

1994 – Eleven-year-old Anna Paquin is stunned when actor Gene Hackman announces that she has won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Piano.” Paquin becomes the second youngest Oscar winner of all time.

1999 – Aviators Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones complete the first non-stop around-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, making aviation history.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1953 – “(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window” launches Patti Page on an eight-week ride at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – The Beatles rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Loves You” — the second of three consecutive hits that keep the Fab Four on top of the singles chart through early May of that year.

1970 – Simon & Garfunkel remain suspended at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track holds there for a total of six weeks.

1981 – REO Speedwagon clinches the top spot on the singles chart with “Keep On Loving You,” the group’s first Top 40 hit and No. 1.

1992 – Vanessa Williams kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Save the Best for Last.” 

1994 – Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Philadelphia” during the 66th Academy Awards, and a short time later, is handed a Best Original Song Oscar for it. It’s from the movie “Philadelphia,” for which Tom Hanks won Best Actor. The track goes on to capture four Grammys.

1998 – Will Smith maintains his hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” 

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On this Day: July 1

On this Day July 1

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Beautician-business executive Estée Lauder (d. 2004)

1934 – Actor Jamie Farr, who played Klinger in the hit TV sitcom “M*A*S*H”

1939 – Actress Karen Black (“Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” ”Family Plot”) (d. 2013)

1945 – Singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Harry, former lead singer of the new wave band Blondie (“Heart of Glass,” “Call Me,” “The Tide Is High,” “Rapture”)

1952 – Actor-comedian Dan Aykroyd (“Saturday Night Live,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Trading Places,” “Ghostbusters,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Coneheads,” “Tommy Boy”)

1961 – U.S. Olympic track and field champion Carl Lewis

1961 – Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 1997)

1967 – Actress-model Pamela Anderson (“Baywatch,” “Dancing with the Stars”)

1971 – Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott (“The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly),” “Sock It 2 Me,” “Get Ur Freak On,” “One Minute Man,” “4 My People,” “Gossip Folks,” “Work It”)

1977 – Actress Liv Tyler (“Armageddon,” “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy, “Jersey Girl,” “The Strangers,” “The Incredible Hulk”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1963 – The U.S. Postal Service introduces the five-digit Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code to make mail delivery more efficient. A cartoon character named Mr. ZIP is used to help market it.

1979 – After the boombox, music becomes even more portable as Sony rolls out the Walkman, originally called the “Sound-About.” It retails for $200.

1984 – The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) institutes the PG-13 rating, strongly recommending parental guidance for moviegoers age 13 or younger. Red Dawn, starring Patrick Swayze, is the first movie to receive that rating.

1991 – “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, premieres. In this sequel to the original “The Terminator,” the Schwarzenegger character is transformed from villain to savior.

1992 – “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell and directed by Penny Marshall, opens in theaters.

1997 – Actor Robert Mitchum, best remembered for his roles in such films as “The Story of G.I. Joe,” “Crossfire,” “Out of the Past,” “The Night of the Hunter” and “Cape Fear,” dies at 79.

1997 – At the stroke of midnight, Hong Kong reverts back to Chinese rule in a ceremony attended by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Prince Charles of Wales, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

2004 – Legendary actor and Oscar winner Marlon Brando, best remembered for performances in “On the Waterfront,” “The Godfather,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Viva Zapata!,” “Julius Caesar,” ““The Wild One,” “Last Tango in Paris,” and “Apocalypse Now,” dies at the age of 80.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – “Windy,” by The Association, blows its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remains there for four weeks. 

1972 – Neil Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue” is the No. 1 single. The track is nominated for two Grammys in 1973 — Record of the Year and Song of the Year — but those honors ultimately go to Roberta Flack for “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli score the first of three No. 1 singles with “Baby Don’t Forget My Number,” off the “Girl You Know It’s True” album, which paves the way for a Best New Artist Grammy. However, a lip-syncing scandal forces the duo to surrender the award a year and a half later.

1995 – Legendary disk jockey Wolfman Jack, beloved for his signature raspy voice and on-air howls,  dies of a heart attack at the age of 57.

2000 – “Be With You,” by Enrique Iglesias, is in the middle of three weeks atop the singles chart.

2006 – Taylor Hicks, who won the fifth season of “American Idol,” conquers the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Do I Make You Proud.”

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