On This Day February 20 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1902 – Pioneering photographer and preservationist Ansel Adams (d. 1984) 1927 – Oscar-winning actor-director Sidney Poitier (“Lilies of the Field,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “To Sir, With Love,” “Sneakers,” “The Jackal”) 1946 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist John Warren Geils, Jr., known professionally as J. Geils, frontman for the 80s rockers The J. Geils Band. (d. 2017) 1963 – Retired basketball star Charles Barkley, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History 1966 – Fashion icon, supermodel and entrepreneur Cindy Crawford 1967 – Legendary grunge music pioneer Kurt Cobain, lead singer-songwriter-guitarist of the band Nirvana (d. 1994) 1988 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty (“Umbrella,” “We Found Love,” “The Monster”) History Highlights 1792 – President George Washington signs the Postal Act, creating the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). 1895 – American journalist, author, orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass dies at the age of 78. Douglass conferred with President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and recruited northern Black officers for the Union Army. After the War, he fought for the rights of women and African Americans alike. 1962 – John Glenn launches into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard NASA’s Mercury capsule, named Friendship 7, on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut. He completes three Earth orbits in just under five hours, ushering in a new era of spaceflight for the United States. 1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission to photograph possible landing sites for the Apollo program. 1986 – The Soviet Union launches the first components of the Mir space station, which orbits Earth more than 86,000 times before falling harmlessly into the South Pacific near Fiji in March 2001. 1998 – American Tara Lipinski is 15 when she wins the Gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, becoming the youngest gold medalist in her sport. 2003 – One hundred people are killed, 230 others are injured when pyrotechnics during a Great White concert at The Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island ignite flammable foam installed as soundproofing. The club burns to the ground in less than three minutes. Musical Milestones 1959 – Legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix is 16 years old when he makes his stage debut during a performance at Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue in Seattle. He is fired before the second set begins. 1965 – “This Diamond Ring,” by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, begins a two-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart. 1970 – The single “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On),” by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, is released in the U.S. Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed the track all in one day, on January 27, 1970, with producer Phil Spector, at the Abbey Road Studios in London. 1982 – The J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” is midway through a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first single from the band’s “Freeze Frame” album. The music video becomes an early staple of MTV programming. 1988 – “Seasons Change,” by one-hit wonder Exposé, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. 1991 – Actor Jack Nicholson presents Bob Dylan with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammys. 1993 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, enters its 13th week as a No. 1 single. Written by Dolly Parton, the song is from the soundtrack to the movie, “The Bodyguard,” starring Houston and Kevin Costner. 1999 – Monica is in the middle of a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Angel of Mine.” 2010 – Kesha dominates the pop chart with “Tik Tok,” which enters its eighth week at No. 1. READ MORE
On this Day June 10 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1895 – Hattie McDaniel, first African American actress to receive an Academy Award, which she won for her supporting role as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” (d. 1952) 1922 – Actress-singer Judy Garland, best known for her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” (d. 1969) 1921 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms 1928 – Children’s author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (“Where the Wild Things Are,” “Little Bear”) (d. 2012) 1962 – Actress Gina Gershon (“Showgirls,” “Face/Off,” “The Insider,” “Killer Joe,” “House of Versace”) 1963 – Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Basic Instinct,” “The Firm,” “Big Love,” “Criminal Minds”) 1965 – Model-actress Elizabeth Hurley (“Passenger 57,” the first two “Austin Powers” movies, “Bedazzled”) 1982 – U.S. Olympic champion figure skater Tara Lipinksi 1983 – Actress Leelee Sobieski (“Joan of Arc,” “The Glass House,” “Deep Impact”) History Highlights 1692 – Bridget Bishop, the first Massachusetts Bay colonist to be tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of the practice of witchcraft. 1752 – Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity along with an understanding of positive and negative charges. His experiment leads to development of the lightning rod, which grounded buildings thereby helping prevent deadly fires. 1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as AA, is founded by two recovering alcoholics — Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Ohio surgeon. Today, the organization continues to fulfill the pair’s original mission to help alcoholics stop drinking and stay sober. 1943 – Hungarian Laszlo Biro patents the ballpoint pen. In many languages, the word for ballpoint pen is “biro.” 1967 – In the Middle East, the Six-Day War ends when Israel and Syria agree to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire. 1980 – A letter written by imprisoned anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela and smuggled out of Robben Island prison, is shared publicly by the African National Congress (ANC). The letter is a call to arms against apartheid. 2007 – An estimated 12 million viewers tune in to “Made in America” — the final episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed, award-winning Mob family drama, “The Sopranos,” starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco and Steven Van Zandt. Musical Milestones 1967 – Aretha Franklin begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Respect.” 1972 – Sammy Davis, Jr. starts a three-week run with a No. 1 single — his only chart-topper. It’s “Candy Man,” from the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” 1976 – The first concert ever performed at the Seattle Kingdome features Paul McCartney and Wings, and draws a crowd of more than 67,000 — beating the record attendance that The Beatles had a decade earlier at New York’s Shea Stadium. 1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John conquer the singles chart with “You’re The One That I Want,” from the movie in which they co-star: “Grease.” 1989 – Bette Midler tops the singles chart with “Wind Beneath My Wings,” from the film “Beaches.” 1995 – Bryan Adams reigns over the pop chart with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The track, from the Johnny Depp movie movie “Don Juan DeMarco,” holds at No. 1 for five weeks. 2000 – The Grammy-winning single “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, begins its tenth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 2004 – Pioneering R&B/soul singer Ray Charles (“I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “What’d I Say,” “Georgia on My Mind”) — a 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — dies of complications from liver disease at the age of 73. READ MORE