On This Day December 12 Click each item below to learn more! 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 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 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.” READ MORE
On this Day August 4 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1821 – Fashion designer Louis Vuitton (d. 1892) 1901 – Legendary jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, also known as “Satchmo” (d. 1971) 1920 – Helen Thomas, known as the “First Lady of the Press” for her more than 60-year career as a White House correspondent (d. 2013) 1944 – Actor, comedian and author Richard Belzer (“Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Law & Order: SVU”) 1955 – Actor-director Billy Bob Thornton (“Monster’s Ball,” “Sling Blade,” “Armageddon,” “Primary Colors,” “Bad Santa,” “The Judge”) 1961 – 44th U.S. President Barack Obama 1962 – Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens (a.k.a. “Rocket”), the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award seven times 1968 – Actor Daniel Dae Kim (“The Jackal,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Lost,” “Hawaii Five-O”) 1971 – Champion NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon History Highlights 1790 – The U.S. Congress authorizes creation of a maritime service to enforce customs laws. We know that service today as the U.S. Coast Guard. 1936 – American track and field star Jesse Owens embarrasses German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler when he captures the gold medal in the long jump at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The win discredits Hitler’s notion of a superior Aryan “master race” in front of an international audience. 1944 – Officers of the Nazi Gestapo (secret police) arrest eight Jews, including 15-year-old schoolgirl Anne Frank and her parents and sister, found hiding inside the secret annex of an Amsterdam warehouse. The Franks had taken shelter there two years earlier to avoid deportation to a concentration camp. 1955 – The romantic thriller “To Catch a Thief,” starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, opens in U.S. theaters. 1964 – The remains of three civil rights workers whose disappearance six weeks earlier garnered national attention are found buried in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Mississippi. 1977 – President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Musical Milestones 1958 – Billboard magazine introduces its Hot 100 chart, a list of the 100 best-selling pop singles in the U.S. The very first No. 1 is Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool,” which holds the top spot for two weeks. 1962 – Bobby Vinton’s “Roses Are Red (My Love)” wraps up four weeks as a Billboard No. 1. 1973 – Maureen McGovern sails to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “The Morning After,” the Academy Award-winning love theme from the cruise ship disaster movie “The Poseidon Adventure.” 1980 – John Lennon begins recording what becomes his final album, “Double Fantasy,” at The Hit Factory in New York. On December 8, 1980, Lennon is shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building. 1990 – “Vision of Love,” by Mariah Carey, kicks off four weeks on top of the pop chart. 2001 – Destiny’s Child rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bootylicious,” off the trio’s “Survivor” album. The song contains a prominent sample from the Stevie Nicks song, “Edge of Seventeen.” 2007 – The Plain White T’s mark their second and final week as chart-toppers with “Hey There Delilah.” 2012 – Carly Rae Jepsen is in the middle of a nine-week reign over the pop chart with “Call Me Maybe,” which earns Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. READ MORE