On This Day: April 27

On This Day April 27

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1791 – Inventor and painter Samuel Morse, most famous for creating the telegraph  (d. 1872)

1822 – 18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who helped lead the Union forces to victory during the Civil War (d. 1885)

1922 – Actor Jack Klugman (“The Odd Couple,” “Quincy, M.E.”) (d. 2012)

1927 – Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  (d. 2006)

1932 – Radio personality Casey Kasem, co-founder and former host of “American Top 40” and the voice of Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo” (d. 2014)

1951 – Guitarist and Kiss co-founder Ace Frehley 

1959 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheena Easton (“Morning Train,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “Sugar Walls”)  

1986 – Actress Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who,” “Victoria,” “The Cry”)

1988 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson

History Highlights
History Highlights

1865 – After surviving the horrors of the Civil War, some Union soldiers — many former prisoners of war — are crammed aboard the steamboat Sultana, heading home along the Mississippi River, when the ship’s boilers explode. More than 1,800 passengers die as the ship burns and sinks, resulting in the worst maritime disaster in American history — with more lives lost than in the 1912 Titanic sinking. 

1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor (AFL). 

1956 – Rocky Marciano retires from boxing at age 31, ending his career as the only undefeated world heavyweight champion: 49 wins in 49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts. 

1974 – Some 10,000 demonstrators march in Washington, D.C. calling for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. 

1982 – Jury selection begins in the trial of John Hinckley, Jr., charged with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. 

1993 – Authorities in North Carolina determine that film crew negligence is to blame for the death of actor Brandon Lee, who was accidentally shot and killed a month earlier on the set of the action-adventure movie “The Crow.” Brandon was the son of legendary martial arts star Bruce Lee.

2009 – General Motors (GM) announces plans to discontinue production of its 80-year-old Pontiac line of cars in 2010.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1963 – High school freshman Little Peggy March (born Margaret Annemarie Battavio) marches to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “I Will Follow Him.” The song remains at No. 1 for three weeks and makes March, at age 15, the youngest female singer to ever have a chart-topping hit.

1967 – Motown Records releases the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which becomes a Top 20 hit. Diana Ross’ 1970 version rockets to the top of the pop chart, becoming her first No. 1 since leaving The Supremes. 

1974 – “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB and The Three Degrees, is the No. 1 single. 

1981 – Singer-songwriter and legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr weds actress Barbara Bach, best known for her roles in the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Force 10 from Navarone.”

1985 – “We Are The World,” the musical collaboration produced under the baton of Quincy Jones as a fundraiser for African famine relief, is in the middle of a four-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – Amy Grant’s “Baby Baby begins two weeks as the most popular single in the U.S.

1999 – British rockers The Verve, best known for their Grammy-nominated hit “Bitter Sweet Symphony” and the chart-topping singles “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man,” announce their second breakup. The band re-forms in 2007, but by 2009, the musicians truly go their separate ways.

2002 – “Foolish,” off Ashanti’s self-titled debut album, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks. The accompanying music video features actor Terrence Howard.

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On This Day: September 13

On This Day September 13

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1857 – Businessman and philanthropist Milton Hershey, who founded the Hershey Chocolate Company (d. 1945)

1941 – Vocalist David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat & Tears

1944 – Golden Globe-winning actress Jacqueline Bisset (“The Detective,” “Bullitt,” “Murder on the Orient Express,” “The Deep,” “Dancing on the Edge”)

1944 – Singer-songwriter and bassist Peter Cetera, best known as front man for the band Chicago

1964 – Talk show host, political commentator and author Tavis Smiley

1969 – Actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer and author Tyler Perry, born Emmitt Perry, Jr., best known for his TV show “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne”

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Fiona Apple (“Criminal, “Shadowboxer”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1969 – “Scooby Doo Where Are You” premieres, introducing a band of meddling kids to the Saturday morning cartoon lineup.

1971 – A four-day revolt by inmates at Attica Prison in upstate New York comes to an explosive end as state police troopers and National Guardsmen storm the maximum-security facility with teargas and a hail of gunfire. Forty-three people are killed.

1974 – “The Rockford Files,” starring James Garner as a private investigator, debuts on NBC.

1976 – “The Muppet Show” debuts with host Kermit The Frog joined by new Jim Henson creations, including Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear. 

1993 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shakes hands with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House after signing an accord granting limited Palestinian autonomy. 

1994 – President Bill Clinton signs the Federal Assault Weapons Ban into law. The bill bans 18 specific firearms and certain features on guns, but only those manufactured after enactment. The measure expires exactly 10 years later, in 2004, since Congress did not reauthorize it.

2008 – Hurricane Ike makes landfall along the Texas Gulf coast in the early morning hours as a Category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. The third costliest storm in U.S. history after Hurricane Katrina causes flooding and severe wind damage across Galveston and Houston, leaving many without power for weeks.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1960 – The U.S. Congress passes an amendment to the Communications Act outlawing payola — payments of cash or gifts to radio stations in exchange for playing certain records on the air.

1965 – Louis Armstrong captures Best Male Vocalist honors for “Hello, Dolly!” at the 7th Annual Grammy Awards.

1975 – Glen Campbell is riding high on the Billboard Hot 100 as “Rhinestone Cowboy” marks its second week at No. 1. The track also spends three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart.

1980 – “Upside Down,” by Diana Ross, is mid-way through a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 

1986 – Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away,” lands on top of the Billboard singles chart. The song is from the soundtrack to the movie “Top Gun,” starring Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and Kelly McGillis. It goes on to capture an Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

1996 – Hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur dies of injuries sustained six days earlier in a Las Vegas drive-by shooting. He is just 25.

1997 – Mariah Carey kicks off three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Honey.”

2003 – “Shake Ya Tailfeather,” by Nelly, P. Diddy and Murphy Lee, is in the middle of four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2008 – T.I. claims the top spot on the singles chart with “Whatever You Like.”

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