On This Day: March 6

On This Day March 6

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1475 – Michelangelo, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists

1906 – Actor-comedian Lou Costello of the comedic duo, Abbott & Costello (d. 1959)

1923 – TV host Ed McMahon (“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “Star Search”) (d. 2009)

1926 – Economist and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan 

1927 – Astronaut Gordon Cooper, who piloted the sixth and last flight of NASA’s Mercury program and later commanded Gemini 5 (d. 2004)

1946 – Guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour of the rock band Pink Floyd

1947 – Director-producer-actor Rob Reiner, who garnered Emmys playing Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic in the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” and directed box office bonanzas including”Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men”

1959 – Actor-comedian Tom Arnold (“True Lies,” “Nine Months,” “The Stupids,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Best Damn Sports Show Period”)

1972 – Retired NBA star and actor-rapper Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal

History Highlights
History Highlights

1836 – The Battle of the Alamo comes to a bloody end, capping off a pivotal moment in the Texas Revolution. Mexican forces successfully recapture the garrison after a 13-day siege, and nearly all of the roughly 200 Alamo defenders — including legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett — are killed.

1899 – Acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin, is trademarked by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer. Designed to relieve pain and fever, it becomes the most common drug found in household medicine cabinets.

1930 – Industrialist and inventor Clarence Birdseye brings the food industry into the modern era as he introduces consumers to pre-packaged, frozen foods — still available in supermarkets today.

1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national “bank holiday,” closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions in an effort to salvage the faltering banking system during the Great Depression. The banks reopen a week later with depositors standing in lines to return their hoarded cash.

1981 – An estimated 17 million American viewers watch as anchor Walter Cronkite says, “And that’s the way it is” for the final time as he signs off the “CBS Evening News.” Considered “the most trusted man in America,” Cronkite retires after more than 30 years in broadcasting and is succeeded by Dan Rather. 

1986 – Georgia O’Keeffe, the artist who gained worldwide fame for her austere minimalist paintings of the American southwest, dies in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 98.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – The Temptations claim the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Girl,” the first of four chart-toppers the Motown legends produced during their career.

1971 – “One Bad Apple” by The Osmonds is midway through a five-week ride on top of the singles chart.

1976 – “Love Machine (Part 1),” by The Miracles (without Smokey Robinson), is the No. 1 single.

1982 – The J. Geils Band is in the middle of a six-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Centerfold.”

1988 – George Michael wraps up a two-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Father Figure,” from his Grammy-winning debut solo album, “Faith.”

1993 – The Peabo Bryson-Regina Belle duet, “A Whole New World,” tops the singles chart. The song, written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, comes from Disney’s 1992 animated feature, “Aladdin.”

1999 – “Angel of Mine,” by Monica begins its fourth and final week on top of the pop chart.

2004 – “Yeah!”, by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, rules the Billboard Hot 100 and holds the top spot for 12 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single of 2004.

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On This Day: November 10

On This Day November 10

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Golden Globe and Tony-winning actor Richard Burton, born Richard Walter Jenkins (“The Robe,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Becket,” “Equus”) (d. 1984)

1932 – Actor Roy Scheider, best known for playing police chief Martin Brody in the film classic “Jaws,” and four years later, starred in the musical film “All That Jazz” (d. 2008)

1944 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and Grammy-winning lyricist and author Tim Rice (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” “Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Evita,” “Beauty and the Beast, “The Lion King”)

1956 – Stand-up comedian-actor Sinbad, born David Adkins (“Necessary Roughness,” “Houseguest,” “First Kid,” “Jingle All the Way,” “Good Burger”)

1959 – Actress Mackenzie Phillips (“American Graffiti,” “One Day at a Time”)

1968 – Comedian-actor Tracy Morgan (“Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” “Cop Out”)

1977 – Actress Brittany Murphy (“Clueless,” “Girl, Interrupted,” “8 Mile”) (d. 2009)

1983 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert (“Famous in a Small Town,” “Gunpowder & Lead,” “More Like Her,” “Automatic”)

1986 – Actor Josh Peck, best known for Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh” show

History Highlights
History Highlights

1775 – The U.S. Marine Corps is founded with a mission to defend the U.S. Constitution, protect American citizens and stabilize the world in times of crisis.

1903 – The U.S. Patent Office awards Patent No. 743,801 to Mary Anderson for her “window cleaning device” for cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or sleet from the window. Known today as the windshield wiper, Anderson never made a penny on her invention because the patent expired before it was put into widespread use.

1951 – The introduction of area codes means callers no longer require an operator to place domestic long-distance phone calls for them. Rather, they can direct-dial anywhere across the country.

1969 – “Sesame Street” premieres on public television (PBS), introducing a generation of kids to Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Kermit the Frog, Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster and many other beloved characters — some puppets, some animated as well as live actors — breaking new ground by combining fun with education on TV.

1970 – The Great Wall of China opens to world tourism.

1975 – The SS Edmund Fitzgerald, a workhorse freighter that carried massive loads of iron ore from mines in Minnesota to various Great Lakes ports, sinks in Lake Superior after getting caught in a powerful storm. All 29 crewmembers are killed. The tragedy is immortalized in musician Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 hit, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

1989 – Germans continue to tear down whole sections of the Berlin Wall, and souvenir hunters quickly snatch up stone and concrete chunks from the crumbling Cold War icon.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1962 – The Crystals begin their second and final week as chart-toppers with “He’s a Rebel.”

1973 – British singer-songwriter David Essex releases the only song of his career to become a No. 1 hit: “Rock On.”

1973 – Elton John begins eight weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” the LP that gives us “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” and “Candle in the Wind” along with the legendary title track.

1973 – Former Temptations lead singer Eddie Kendricks drives his way to No. 1 on the pop chart with “Keep On Truckin’.” The single remains parked in the top spot for two weeks.

1979 – Eagles’ “Heartache Tonight,” off “The Long Run” album, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It sells more than a million copies and becomes the band’s last chart-topper.

1983 – Billy Idol releases his second studio album, “Rebel Yell,” on Chrysalis Records, featuring hits that include the title track plus “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh For Fantasy.”

1990 – Mariah Carey begins three weeks at No. 1 with “Love Takes Time.”

2001 – Mary J. Blige rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a second straight week with “Family Affair,” which holds the top spot for a total of six weeks.

2007 – “Kiss Kiss,” by Chris Brown featuring T-Pain, begins three weeks as a No. 1 single.

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