On This Day: March 26

On This Day March 26

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Robert Frost (d. 1963)

1911 – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams (“The Glass Menagerie,” “A Streetcar Named Desire”) (d. 1983)

1931 – Actor-director-writer Leonard Nimoy, best known for his portrayal of Mr. Spock in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series (d. 2015)

1934 – Actor Alan Arkin (“Wait Until Dark,” “The In-Laws,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Argo”)

1940 – Actor James Caan (“The Godfather,” “Brian’s Song,” “Rollerball,” “Alien Nation,” “Misery”) 

1944 – Legendary Motown singer-actress Diana Ross, formerly of The Supremes

1948 – Rock singer-songwriter and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler

1950 – Comedian-actor and “SCTV” and “SNL” alum Martin Short

1950 – R&B soul singer Teddy Pendergrass (d. 2010)

1968 – Country music singer-songwriter and producer Kenny Chesney 

1985 – Actress Keira Knightley (“Bend It Like Beckham,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Pride & Prejudice,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Atonement,” “The Imitation Game”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1920 – “The Great Gatsby” author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, publishes his first novel, “This Side of Paradise,” launching a successful literary career.

1945 – The U.S. military declares the west Pacific island of Iwo Jima secured after weeks of combat against Japanese forces. More than 6,000 Marines died fighting for the island, along with almost all the 21,000 Japanese soldiers trying to defend it.

1953 – Dr. Jonas Salk goes on national radio to announce that he has successfully tested a vaccine against polio, a crippling and potentially fatal infectious disease.

1979 – At a White House ceremony, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin sign a peace treaty ending 30 years of war between their two countries.

1982 – Ground is broken in Washington, D.C. for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which was founded by Jan Scruggs, who served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam from 1969-70 as an infantry corporal. Scruggs wanted to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of all who served in Vietnam.

2000 – Comedian Billy Crystal hosts the 72nd annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Best Picture honors go to “American Beauty,” and Best Actor to its star, Kevin Spacey. Hilary Swank wins Best Actress for her role in “Boys Don’t Cry.”

2024 – The container ship Dali collides with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the wee hours of the morning. The resulting bridge collapse kills six people and cripples the Port of Baltimore for almost three months.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1955 – “The Ballad of Davy Crockett,” by Bill Hayes, begins a five-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart. Other versions were recorded by Fess Parker and Tennessee Ernie Ford. The song originated with Walt Disney’s wildly popular “Davy Crockett” dramatization, a three-episode Frontier Land segment starring Parker that aired on the new ABC television series “Disneyland” between December 1954 and February 1955.

1966 – Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler mans his post at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Ballad of the Green Berets.”

1971 – The Rolling Stones introduce their iconic tongue logo, known officially as “Tongue and Lips.” 

1975 – The film version of The Who’s 1969 rock opera “Tommy” opens in London, featuring Elton John as The Champ, singing “Pinball Wizard,” and Tina Turner as the Acid Queen.

1976 – Wings, featuring Paul McCartney, release the “At the Speed of Sound” album, containing classics like “Silly Love Songs” and “Let ‘Em In.” Less than a month later, it reaches the top of the Billboard album chart.

1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” is in the midst of a six-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1994 – “The Sign,” by the Swedish band Ace of Base, Is No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. The track enjoys six non-consecutive weeks in the top spot and goes on to become an international smash. 

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, is in the middle of a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

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On This Day: March 18

On This Day March 18

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1837 – Twenty-second and twenty-fourth U.S. President Grover Cleveland (d. 1908)

1926 – Actor and TV host Peter Graves, best remembered as Jim Phelps in the CBS spy series “Mission: Impossible” and the pilot in “Airplane!” (d. 2010)

1938 – Country music singer-guitarist Charley Pride

1941 – Soul singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wilson Pickett (“In The Midnight Hour,” “Mustang Sally”) (d. 2006)

1962 – Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning actress and singer-songwriter Irene Cara (“Fame,” “Flashdance… What a Feeling”)

1963 – Actress, singer and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams

1970 – Golden Globe and Grammy-winning actress-rapper Queen Latifah, born Dana Elaine Owens

1979 – Grammy-winning Maroon 5 frontman and former judge/coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” Adam Levine

History Highlights
History Highlights

1852 – Henry Wells and William G. Fargo sign papers at the Astor House hotel in New York to establish a new banking and express enterprise serving customers across the nation. Their company, Wells Fargo, is currently one of the world’s largest banks.

1931 – The first electric razor goes on sale in the U.S., developed by the Schick corporation. It revolutionizes personal grooming by minimizing the risk of nicks and cuts.

1937 – With just minutes left to the school day, a thunderous natural gas explosion levels the combined junior-senior high school in the small East Texas town of New London, killing 294 students and teachers. It is considered the worst school disaster in U.S. history.

1965 – In another chapter of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to walk in space when he leaves his spacecraft, Voskhod 2, for 12 minutes and nine seconds. He beats American astronaut Ed White on Gemini 4 by almost three months.

1968 – “The Producers,” starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, opens at movie theaters around the U.S., eventually garnering a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for writer-director Mel Brooks.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – “Penny Lane,” written by Paul McCartney, leads The Beatles to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart.

1972 – “Heart of Gold” becomes Neil Young’s first, and to date, only No. 1 single. The track appears on his “Harvest” album.

1978 – The Bee Gees begin an eight-week ride on top of the singles chart with “Night Fever,” off the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. It is the band’s third No. 1 single of the year.

1982 – Former Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes lead singer Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the neck down after his car crashes into a tree in Philadelphia.

1989 – Debbie Gibson wraps up three weeks at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Lost in Your Eyes.”

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album.”

2000 – “Say My Name,” by Destiny’s Child,” begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2006 – Ne-Yo kicks off two weeks on top of the singles chart with “So Sick.”

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