On This Day: April 5

On This Day April 5

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1900 – Oscar-winning actor Spencer Tracy (“Boys Town,” “Inherit the Wind,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”) (d. 1967)

1908 – Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis, known as “The First Lady of the American Screen” (“Jezebel,” “All About Eve,” “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”) (d. 1989)

1916 – Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck (“The Keys of the Kingdom,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”) (d. 2003)

1926 – Producer-director Roger Corman, known as “The Pope of Pop Cinema” (“The Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Raven,” “Piranha,” ” Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”) 

1937 – Soldier-turned-statesman Colin Powell, a four-star U.S. general who became the first African American secretary of state in 2001

1941 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Michael Moriarty (“Bang the Drum Slowly,” “Holocaust,” “Law & Order”) 

1973 – Singer-rapper-music producer Pharrell Williams, best known for his 2014 smash “Happy,” from the movie “Despicable Me 2.”

History Highlights
History Highlights

1614 – Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, weds English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensures peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.

1951 – A federal judge sentences Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets.  The couple had been convicted of their crimes a week earlier. They are executed by electric chair in 1953, becoming the only two American civilians to be executed for Cold War espionage.

1965 – Movie musicals sweep the Oscars. At the 37th Academy Awards, “My Fair Lady” wins Best Picture, while its star, Rex Harrison, wins Best Actor. Singer/actress Julie Andrews wins Best Actress for her role in “Mary Poppins.” 

1971 – Canadian Fran Phipps becomes the first woman to reach the North Pole. 

1987 – The sitcom “Married…With Children” debuts on Fox and ultimately lasts 11 seasons, becoming the network’s longest-running live action series.

2000 – Lee Petty, an early star of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the patriarch of a racing dynasty that includes his son, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, dies at the age 86. Lee Petty won more than 50 races during his career.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1969 – Tommy Roe enjoys his fourth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Dizzy.”

1975 – “Lovin’ You,” by Minnie Riperton, tops the Billboard Hot 100. At the end of the track, you can hear her sing, “Maya, Maya” to her daughter, actress-comedian and “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph. Tragically, Riperton dies of breast cancer four years later at the age of 31.

1980 – “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II,” by Pink Floyd, is the No. 1 single. 

1984 – The funeral service for Motown legend Marvin Gaye takes place at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and other Motown talent are on hand to pay their respects.

1985 – At 3:50 p.m. GMT, more than 5,000 radio stations around the world simultaneously broadcast the single “We Are the World,” produced as a charity to benefit Ethiopian famine relief. The single, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, features the voices of some of the biggest musical acts of the day.

1994 – Grunge music icon Kurt Cobain, Nirvana founder and frontman, commits suicide at age 27. His body is discovered at his Seattle home three days later by an electrician who showed up to install a security system.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, is in the middle of a six-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – Another grunge legend, singer-songwriter Layne Staley, co-founder and lead vocalist of alternative rock band Alice in Chains, is found dead in his Seattle home from a drug overdose at the age of 34.

2008 – Leona Lewis has the No. 1 single with “Bleeding Love.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

2014 – Pharrell Williams holds the top spot on the singles chart with “Happy,” which remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks.

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On This Day: December 12

On This Day December 12

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1893 – Actor Edward G. Robinson, known for playing mobsters and other tough guys (“Little Caesar,” “Double Indemnity,” “The Woman in the Window,” “Scarlet Street,” “Key Largo”) (d. 1973)

1915 – Legendary Grammy and Oscar-winning entertainer Frank Sinatra, born Francis Albert Sinatra, and affectionately called “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “The Chairman of the Board” (d. 1998)

1923 – Bob Barker, who hosted the popular TV game show “The Price is Right” from 1972 to 2007 and was an outspoken animal rights activist (d. 2023)

1924 – Former New York City Mayor and “The People’s Court” Judge Ed Koch (d. 2013)

1938 – Pop singer Connie Francis, born Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (Who’s Sorry Now?”, “Stupid Cupid”)

1940 – Grammy-winning singer Dionne Warwick (“Don’t Make Me Over,” “Walk On By,” “Alfie,” “Do You Know the Way to San Jose?”)

1949 – Actor Bill Nighy (“The Men’s Room,” “Love Actually,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “The Girl in the Café,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”)

1952 – Actress and Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby

1970 – Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Connelly (“Requiem for a Dream,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “The House of Sand and Fog,” “Hulk”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1901 – Guglielmo Marconi successfully sends the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean.

1917 – In Omaha, Nebraska, Irish priest, Father Edward J. Flanagan, opens the doors to Boys Town, a home for troubled and neglected children that continues to provide this service today.

1967 – “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” a groundbreaking movie about an interracial romantic relationship, starring Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier, opens in theaters. It is the ninth movie to pair Hepburn with Tracy, who died less than three weeks after filming ended.

1972 – The world turns upside down for cruise ship passengers when the epic disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure” opens, featuring a veritable Hollywood ‘Who’s Who’ of a cast, including Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons, Roddy Mcdowall, Carol Lynley and Jack Albertson.

1980 – American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5.1 million at auction for a notebook containing writings by artist-inventor Leonardo da Vinci. The manuscript, written around 1508, is among over two dozen books da Vinci produced during his lifetime.

1989 – The so-called “Queen of Mean,” hotel operator and real estate developer Leona Helmsley, who once quipped that “only the little people pay taxes,” receives a four-year prison sentence, 750 hours of community service and a $7.1 million fine for tax fraud.

2000 – General Motors (GM) announces that it will begin to phase out its Oldsmobile line of cars, the oldest automotive brand in the United States. The last Olds rolls off an assembly line about four years later.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1964 – Bobby Vinton stands alone on top of the Billboard singles survey with “Mr. Lonely,” his second No. 1 of the year.

1970 – Smokey Robinson & The Miracles kick off two weeks atop the singles chart with “The Tears Of A Clown,” the group’s 26th Top 40 hit and first No. 1.

1987 – “Faith,” by George Michael, begins a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It goes on to become the biggest-selling single of 1988.

1992 – Whitney Houston has the No. 1 single with “I Will Always Love You,” which remains a chart-topper for 14 weeks and becomes one of the best-selling singles of all time. The song was written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1973. This version was part of the soundtrack to “The Bodyguard,” a 1992 movie co-starring Houston and Kevin Costner.

2003 – Prince Charles bestows knighthood status upon Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger at Buckingham Palace. Jagger’s 92-year-old father, Joe, and daughters Elizabeth and Karis are on hand for the prestigious event.

2007 – R&B legend Ike Turner, credited by many music historians with making the first rock ‘n roll record in 1951, dies of a cocaine overdose at the age of 76. Turner was the former husband of superstar Tina Turner. The couple enjoyed a string of late 60s-early 70s hits, including “Proud Mary” and “River Deep Mountain High.”

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