On This Day: January 4

On This Day January 4

Musical Milestones

1936 – Billboard magazine publishes its first list of best-selling pop records covering the week that ended December 30, 1935. Big band violinist Joe Venuti  and his Orchestra have the first No. 1 with “Stop Look and Listen.”

1954 – Working as a truck driver, Elvis Presley enters the Memphis Recording Service in Tennessee and records “It Wouldn’t Be The Same Without You” and “I’ll Never Stand In Your Way” as a demo for Sun Records. Impressed with his sound, Sun Records head Sam Phillips calls Presley back to record more, and the rest is rock and roll history.

1964 – Bobby Vinton begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “There! I’ve Said It Again.” 

1975 – Elton John rules the U.S. pop chart with his version of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

1986 – Lionel Richie is mid-way through a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Say You, Say Me,” from his “Dancing on the ceiling” album.

1997 – Toni Braxton has the first No. 1 single of 1997 with “Un-Break My Heart,” which remains a Billboard chart-topper for 11 weeks. The song goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem, maintains its grip on the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from the movie “8 Mile,” in which Eminem stars.

History Highlights

1958 – Sputnik 1, the Soviet satellite responsible for triggering the Space Race between the superpowers, burns up while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after three months in orbit. 

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson uses his State of the Union address to outline ambitious plans for a “Great Society,” which include knocking down racial barriers and freeing Americans from what he calls the “crushing weight of poverty.”

1974 – President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. 

1995 – The 104th Congress becomes the first held entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era some 40 years earlier.

1996 – General Motors (GM) takes the wraps off a prototype of its EV1 electric car, which the automaker only makes available in Arizona and California — and for lease only — as GM considered the development of electric vehicle technology to be ongoing.

1999 – Europe is united with a common currency when the euro is introduced as a financial unit in corporate and investment markets. Eleven European Union (EU) nations adopt the currency in hopes of increasing European integration and economic growth. 

2007 – Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the U.S. House.

Celebrity Birthdays

1643 – Scientist Sir Isaac Newton, credited with developing the principles of modern physics (d. 1727) 

1809 – Scientist Louis Braille, who created a touch-based reading system for the blind (d. 1852)

1930 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Retired Miami Dolphins coach and Don Shula

1937 – Actress Dyan Cannon (“Honeysuckle Rose,” “Deathtrap,” “That Darn Cat,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “The Practice,” “Ally McBeal”)

1957 – Grammy-winning country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member Patty Loveless (“Timber I’m Falling in Love,” “Chains,” “You Can Feel Better”)

1960 -Rock singer-songwriter and former R.E.M. front man Michael Stipe (“Orange Crush,” “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actress Julia Ormond (“Legends of the Fall,” “First Knight,” “Sabrina,” “The Barber of Siberia,” “Temple Grandin,” “My Week With Marilyn”)

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

Elvis 30 #1 Hits

Elvis Presley

The Best of Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

Lyndon Johnson and the Great Society

John Andrew

The Nixon Tapes

Richard M. Nixon

In Time: The Best Of R.E.M. 1988-2003

R.E.M.

Sabrina

Starring Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear, and directed by Sydney Pollack

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On this Day: July 5

On this Day July 5

Musical Milestones

1954 – Working together for the first time in a recording studio with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, Elvis Presley fools around during a break with an up-tempo version of “That’s All Right.” Producer Sam Phillips has them repeat the jam and records it. The track becomes Presley’s first release on Sun Records. 

1969 – “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet,” by Henry Mancini, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single. 

1975 – The Captain & Tennille rule the singles chart with “Love Will Keep Us Together,” which goes on to clinch a Record of the Year Grammy.

1980 – “Glass Houses,” by Billy Joel, is in the midst of a six-week run on top of the Billboard album chart.

1986 – Billy Ocean hits No. 1 on the singles chart with “There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry).” 

1986 – Janet Jackson’s “Control” tops the Billboard album chart, making the 20-year-old the youngest artist since 13-year-old ‘Little’ Stevie Wonder to clinch the No. 1 spot. The album spawns five Top-5 singles, including “What Have You Done for Me Lately” and “Let’s Wait Awhile.”

1997 – “I’ll Be Missing You,” by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112, is on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is an homage to slain rapper, The Notorious B.I.G. 

2008 – Katy Perry kicks off seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Kissed a Girl.”

History Highlights

1946 – French engineer Louis Réard and fashion designer Jacques Heim introduce the bikini — the two-piece bathing suit described as “smaller than the world’s smallest swimsuit” — at a Paris fashion show, and revolutionize swimwear.

1950 – Private Kenneth Shadrick, a 19-year-old infantryman from West Virginia, becomes the first American casualty in the Korean War. Shadrick, a member of a bazooka squad, had just fired his weapon at a Soviet-made tank when he was struck by enemy machine-gun fire.

1971 – President Richard Nixon certifies the 26th Amendment of the Constitution, lowering the U.S. voting age from 21 to 18. 

1975 – Arthur Ashe becomes the first African American man to win a Wimbledon singles title when he defeats Jimmy Connors. 

1996 – Dolly the sheep — the first mammal successfully cloned from an adult cell — is born at the Roslin Institute in Scotland. Her birth is not publicly announced until the following February.

2003 – The World Health Organization (WHO) announces that the global spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has stopped, after the disease killed about 775 people in 26 countries. Despite the announcement, four new cases are diagnosed in early 2004.

Celebrity Birthdays

1810 – Legendary showman P. T. Barnum, who founded the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1891)

1929 – Golden Globe-winning actress Katherine Helmond (“Family Plot,” “Soap,” “Who’s The Boss?” “Brazil,” “Everybody Loves Raymond”) (d. 2019)

1950 – Singer-songwriter Huey Lewis, front man for the 1980s chart-topping band Huey Lewis and The News 

1963 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Edie Falco (“Law & Order,” “Oz,” “The Sopranos,” “Nurse Jackie”) 

1980 – TV personality and disc jockey DJ Pauly D, born Paul DelVecchio (“Jersey Shore”)

1980 – Actress Eva Green (“The Dreamers,” “Kingdom of Heaven,” “Casino Royale,” “Womb”)

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

The Essential Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Control

Janet Jackson

Days Of Grace: A Memoir

Arthur Ashe and Arnold Rampersad

Clone: The Road to Dolly and The Path Ahead

Gina Kolata

Barnum's Own Story: The Autobiography of P. T. Barnum

P. T. Barnum

The Sopranos: The Complete Series

Starring James Gandolfini and Edie Falco

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