On This Day September 4 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1931 – Actress-singer-dancer Mitzi Gaynor (“My Blue Heaven,” “Anything Goes,” “South Pacific”) 1942 – Singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Merald “Bubba” Knight (Gladys Knight & the Pips) 1949 – PGA champion Tom Watson 1960 – Comedian, actor and writer Damon Wayans (“In Living Color,” “The Last Boy Scout,” “Major Payne,” “My Wife and Kids”) 1970 – Actress Ione Skye (“Say Anything,” “Four Rooms,” “Zodiac”) 1981 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Beyoncé Knowles History Highlights 1886 – Apache leader Geronimo surrenders to U.S. federal troops in Arizona. For 30 years, the Native American warrior battled to protect his tribe’s homeland. However, by 1886 the Apaches were exhausted and outnumbered. With his surrender, Geronimo becomes the last Native American warrior to formally give in to U.S. forces, signaling the end of the Indian Wars in the Southwest. 1951 – President Harry Truman takes to the microphone for the first live coast-to-coast TV broadcast. It originates from the Japanese Peace Treaty Conference in San Francisco. 1957 – In what becomes a landmark event in the civil rights movement, nine African American students attempt to enter Little Rock Central High School, but are blocked by National Guard troops ordered in by Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus. The group is known as the Little Rock Nine. 1957 – Ford introduces the Edsel, a car named after company founder Henry Ford’s only son. The vehicle is widely considered to be one of the greatest marketing failures in automotive history. 1967 – The popular 1960s TV sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” sails off into the electronic sunset with its final episode. The show ran for three years but continues sailing across the airwaves and on cable through syndication. Musical Milestones 1962 – The Beatles assemble for their first formal recording session at London’s EMI/Abbey Road Studios, recording “Love Me Do” and “How Do You Do It?” with newest band member Ringo Starr on drums. 1971 – About a year after the Fab Four break-up, one of them enjoys his first No. 1 single. It’s Paul McCartney with “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey,” from the “Ram” album — a collaboration with his wife, Linda. 1976 – The Bee Gees are chart-toppers with “You Should Be Dancing,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. 1976 – More than a year after entering the album chart, Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album reaches No. 1. This breakthrough work contains the hits “Rhiannon,” “Over My Head” and “Say You Love Me,” and has sold more than five million copies. 1982 – “Abracadabra,” by the Steve Miller Band, appears at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1993 – UB40 ends a seven-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart with the cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” 2004 – Terror Squad begins its fourth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lean Back.” 2010 – “Love The Way You Lie,” by Enimen featuring Rihanna, is in the middle of six weeks as a No. 1 single. READ MORE
On this Day August 28 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1943 – Actor-singer David Soul, born David Richard Solberg, best remembered for his role as Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson in the 1970s TV series “Starsky & Hutch” (d. 2024) 1957 – Actor Daniel Stern (“Diner,” “City Slickers,” “Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “The Wonder Years”) 1958 – U.S. Olympic Gold Medal figure skater and TV commentator Scott Hamilton 1962 – Golden Globe-winning director David Fincher (“Alien 3,” “Seven,” “Fight Club,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Social Network,” “Mindhunter”) 1965 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Shania Twain (“You’re Still the One,” “From This Moment On,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”, “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!”, “Forever and for Always”) 1969 – Actor Jason Priestley (“Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Call Me Fitz”) 1969 – Actor-comedian-musician Jack Black (“Shallow Hal,” “High Fidelity,” “School of Rock,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Kung Fu Panda” movies, “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Goosebumps”) 1982 – Grammy-winning country singer LeAnn Rimes, who covered the single “Blue” at the age of 13 and became the youngest country star since Tanya Tucker in 1972 1986 – Singer Florence Welch, lead singer of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine (“Kiss with a Fist,” “Shake It Out”) History Highlights 1955 – While visiting relatives in Mississippi, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago, is abducted, tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman four days earlier. Till’s devastated mother insisted on a public, open-casket funeral for her son to shed light on the violence inflicted on Black people in the South. The killers were acquitted, but Till’s death galvanized civil rights activists nationwide. 1963 – More than a quarter of a million people participate in the March on Washington, a peaceful civil rights rally which culminates with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 1968 – Riots erupt in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention as Vietnam War protesters clash with police. 1981 – Oscar-winning director John Huston, known for such cinematic classics as “The Maltese Falcon,” “Key Largo,” “The African Queen,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Misfits,” dies of pneumonia at age 81. 1981 – The Centers for Disease Control announces a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi’s sarcoma in gay men, soon to be recognized as symptoms of AIDS. 1988 – An air show involving military jets at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany turns tragic when three jets collide in mid-air and fall into the crowd. Seventy spectators are killed and hundreds others are injured. 1996 – Four years after their separation, Prince Charles and Princess Diana formally divorce. Musical Milestones 1961 – The Marvelettes release their first single, “Please Mr. Postman,” which sells over a million copies and becomes the group’s biggest hit. It reaches the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B survey, becoming Motown’s first chart-topper. 1961 – Joe Dowell rockets to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with his cover of “Wooden Heart,” originally performed by Elvis Presley a year earlier in the movie “G.I. Blues.” Presley’s version reached No. 1 in the U.K. 1965 – Bob Dylan kicks off a 40-date North American tour with a performance at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. For the second time that year, he angers folk music purists when he performs the latter half of his show with an electric guitar. 1971 – The Bee Gees enjoy their fourth and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.” 1982 – “Eye of the Tiger,” by Survivor, roars into its sixth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is the theme from the movie “Rocky III,” starring Sylvester Stallone. 1986 – Grammy-winning “Queen of Rock ‘n Roll” Tina Turner is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1993 – Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams” begins three weeks atop the Billboard album chart. The album features cover artwork painted by Joel’s then-wife, Christie Brinkley. 1999 – Christina Aguilera wraps up a five-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Genie in a Bottle.” 2004 – Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe and Remy lays claim to the top spot on the singles chart with “Lean Back.” READ MORE