On This Day December 24 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1922 – Actress Ava Gardner (“The Hucksters,” “Show Boat,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” “The Barefoot Contessa,” “On the Beach,” “Seven Days in May,” “The Night of the Iguana,” “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean,” “Earthquake,” “The Cassandra Crossing” (d. 1990) 1927 – Author Mary Higgins Clark, known as “The Queen of Suspense,” whose first bestseller was “Where Are the Children?” 1956 – Actor Anil Kapoor (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “24”) 1971 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and actor Ricky Martin, best known for his 1999 smash, “Livin’ La Vida Loca” 1973 – “Twilight” series author Stephenie Meyer 1974 – TV and radio host Ryan Seacrest (“American Idol,” “American Top 40,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”) History Highlights 1818 – The now-legendary Christmas carol “Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht”) is composed in Austria by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr. 1923 – President Calvin Coolidge lights the first national Christmas tree on the White House grounds. 1968 – The Apollo 8 astronauts become the first humans to enter orbit around the moon. Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders complete 10 lunar orbits and transmit live TV images that become part of the famous Christmas Eve broadcast, one of the most watched programs in history. The crew members conclude their broadcast by taking turns reading from the Book of Genesis. 1972 – Beloved entertainer Bob Hope performs his last Christmas show for U.S. servicemen stationed in Vietnam. 1979 – The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978. It is the first Soviet military expedition beyond the Eastern bloc since World War II and interrupts a period of improving relations in the Cold War. 1990 – Actor Tom Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman tie the knot after meeting on the set of “Days of Thunder” in 1989. They are considered one of Hollywood’s most glamourous couples until their divorce 11 years later. Musical Milestones 1966 – The New Vaudeville Band’s “Winchester Cathedral” begins its second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1977 – The Bee Gees mark the first of three weeks atop the singles chart with “How Deep is Your Love,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. 1983 – Michael Jackson’s Grammy-winning “Thriller” returns to the top of the Billboard album chart for a third time, and ultimately claims the No. 1 spot for 37 non-consecutive weeks. 1983 – The Paul McCartney-Michael Jackson duet, “Say Say Say,” is in the middle of a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. 1988 – Poison starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” the band’s only chart-topper. The track is the final No. 1 hit of 1988 and first of 1989. 1994 – One-hit-wonder Ini Kamoze’s “Here Comes the Hotstepper” begins a second week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 before stepping off. 2005 – Chris Brown’s “Run It!” sets out on its fifth and final week as a No. 1 single. READ MORE
On this Day August 5 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1906 – Golden Globe-winning director and actor John Huston (“The Maltese Falcon,” “The African Queen,” “Chinatown”) (d. 1987) 1930 – Astronaut Neil Armstrong, who was the first human to set foot on the moon (d. 2012) 1935 – Actor John Saxon, born Carmine Orrico, best known for his work in westerns and horror films, as well as Bruce Lee’s 1973 movie, “Enter the Dragon” (d. 2020) 1945 – Actress Loni Anderson (“WKRP in Cincinnati”) 1956 – Actress Maureen McCormick, best known for playing Marcia Brady in the sitcom “The Brady Bunch” 1962 – Retired basketball Hall of Famer and current Georgetown University head coach Patrick Ewing 1963 – Actor Mark Strong (“Syriana,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “Green Lantern,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Imitation Game,” “Kingsman: The Secret Service”) 1964 – Rapper and Beastie Boys founder Adam Yauch (d. 2012) History Highlights 1858 – The first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean is completed, stretching nearly 2,000 miles at depths of up to two miles. It is put to use on August 16, as U.S. President James Buchanan and Queen Victoria exchange formal introductory and complimentary messages. 1914 – The world’s first electric traffic signal is installed at the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio. 1962 – Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles home at the age of 36. An investigation determines that her death was “caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide.” 1963 – Representatives of the U.S., Soviet Union and Great Britain sign the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits the testing of nuclear weapons in outer space, underwater or in the atmosphere. The treaty is hailed as an important first step toward the control of nuclear weapons. 1981 – President Ronald Reagan begins firing more than 11,000 striking air traffic controllers for defying his order to return to work. The move slowed commercial air travel for months. 1983 – “Risky Business” opens in theaters, propelling actor Tom Cruise to stardom. The movie’s most iconic scene features Cruise dancing at home in his underpants to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll.” 1998 – Seventy-year-old Marie Noe is arrested and charged with the suffocation murders of eight of her 10 children over a 50-year period. 2002 – Divers recover the rusty turret of the ironclad Civil War-era warship U.S.S. Monitor, which sank 140 years earlier in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Musical Milestones 1957 – “American Bandstand” debuts on national television (ABC) with host Dick Clark, and helps make rock ‘n roll more “acceptable” to skeptical parents by bringing music and dancing kids into their homes. It also provides exposure to up-and-coming bands. 1966 – The Beatles release their seventh studio album, “Revolver,” in the U.K. It’s the first album to feature backwards music — a George Harrison guitar solo played in reverse in “I’m Only Sleeping.” 1967 – The Doors are chart-toppers for a second straight week with “Light My Fire.” 1978 – The Rolling Stones climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Miss You,” the group’s eighth No. 1 hit. The track is from the band’s “Some Girls” album, which also delivers the hits “Beast of Burden” and “Shattered.” 1981 – Singer-songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John, who starred with John Travolta in the 1978 movie “Grease,” is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 1989 – Prince’s “Batdance,” from the movie “Batman,” starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, soars to No. 1 on the singles chart. 1995 – “Waterfalls,” by TLC, holds on to the No. 1 slot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth consecutive week. 2000 – NSYNC rules the pop chart for a second and final week with “It’s Gonna Be Me.” READ MORE
On this Day July 3 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1878 – Composer and playwright George M. Cohan (“Over There,” “Give My Regards to Broadway,” “I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy”) (d. 1942) 1883 – Author Franz Kafka (“Amerika,” “The Trial,” “The Castle”) (d. 1924) 1937 – Playwright Tom Stoppard (“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour”) 1947 – Pulitzer Prize-winning author and columnist Dave Barry 1956 – Emmy-winning TV talk show host Montel Williams 1962 – Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Tom Cruise (“Risky Business,” “Top Gun,” “The Color of Money,” “Cocktail,” “Rain Man,” “Days of Thunder,” “A Few Good Men,” “The Firm,” “Jerry Maguire,” the “Mission: Impossible” movie franchise, “Edge of Tomorrow”) 1980 – Actress Olivia Munn (“Beyond the Break,” “Magic Mike,” “The Newsroom,” “Mortdecai,” “X-Men: Apocalypse”) History Highlights 1775 – George Washington rides out in front of the American troops gathered at Cambridge Common in Massachusetts and draws his sword, formally taking command of the 16,000-member Continental Army. 1863 – On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end. 1958 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Rivers and Harbors Flood Control Bill, which allocates funds to improve flood-control and water-storage systems across the United States. 1985 – The sci-fi adventure/comedy “Back to the Future,” starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd and directed by Robert Zemeckis, opens in U.S. theaters. It becomes a cult classic, spawning two sequels, an animated series, a theme park ride, several video games, a series of comic books and a stage musical. 1986 – President Ronald Reagan, with First Lady Nancy Reagan by his side, presides over the relighting of the renovated Statue of Liberty. It re-opens to the public two days later during Liberty Weekend, celebrating the monument’s centennial. 1988 – While sailing through the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Navy cruiser Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger jet that it mistakes for a hostile fighter plane. All 290 people on board are killed. The U.S. government admits to the error a month later, and in 1996, agrees to pay $62 million in damages to the families of the Iranians that perished in the attack. Musical Milestones 1969 – The Newport Jazz Festival features huge musical acts not typically associated with jazz: Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Blood Sweat & Tears and more. 1969 – Shortly after leaving The Rolling Stones, band founder and guitarist Brian Jones is found dead in his swimming pool at the age of 27. 1970 – An audience of more than 300,000 gathers for the second annual Atlanta Pop Festival, featuring the Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Mountain, Procol Harum and Rare Earth. 1971 – The No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 is Carole King’s “It’s Too Late,” off her legendary, Grammy-winning “Tapestry” album. 1971 – The body of 27-year-old Doors frontman Jim Morrison is discovered by his girlfriend in the bathtub of their rented apartment in Paris, France. The cause of death was officially labeled heart failure, thus averting an autopsy under French law. 1974 – The “Tony Orlando & Dawn” variety show premieres on CBS. 1982 – The Human League capture the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t You Want Me,” from their “Dare” album. The track holds at No. 1 for three weeks. 1999 – Jennifer Lopez is in the middle of a five-week domination of the pop chart with “If You Had My Love.” 2004 – “Burn,” by Usher, begins the last of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. READ MORE
On this Day June 30 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1917 – Grammy-winning jazz and pop music singer, dancer and actress Lena Horne (d. 2010) 1956 – Actor-comedian David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”) 1959 – Actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Men In Black,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Judge,” “Run All Night,” “Jurassic World”) 1966 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson 1982 – Actress Lizzy Caplan (“Mean Girls,” “True Blood,” “Cloverfield”) 1985 – U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps History Highlights 1859 – Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, a.k.a. The Great Blondin, or Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Thousands of spectators line the American and Canadian sides of the falls to observe the feat, which he performs along an 1,100-foot-long tightrope suspended 160 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Gorge. 1934 – In what comes to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future. 1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gone with the Wind,” one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for the blockbuster 1939 movie, is published. 1971 – “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” a movie musical-fantasy starring Gene Wilder, opens in theaters. It’s an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” 1971 – Three Soviet cosmonauts who made up the crew of the world’s first space station are killed when their spacecraft, Soyuz 11, depressurizes during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere. 1974 – The July 4th scene from the movie “Jaws” is filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, with 400 screaming, panic-stricken extras in bathing suits running from the water multiple times until director Steven Spielberg gets the right take. 1989 – Writer-director Spike Lee’s celebrated third feature film, “Do the Right Thing” — about racial tensions boiling over in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on the hottest day of the year — opens in U.S. theaters. The movie receives Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello. 1993 – The legal thriller “The Firm,” directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman, opens in theaters. It’s based on the 1991 novel of the same name by John Grisham. 1995 – Director Ron Howard’s high-intensity drama “Apollo 13,” about NASA’s desperate efforts to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely home after an explosion that denies them a moon landing, opens in U.S. theaters. Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise, the movie receives nine Oscar nominations and wins for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Musical Milestones 1962 – Ray Charles enjoys his fifth and final week dominating the pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” 1973 – George Harrison has the hottest single on the radio for a week with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” from his “Living in the Material World” album.” The track is the ex-Beatles’ second solo No. 1. 1975 – Less than a week after her divorce from Sonny Bono is finalized, Cher ties the knot with rock musician Gregg Allman only to divorce him 10 days later. 1984 – “The Reflex,” by Duran Duran, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single. 1990 – New Kids On the Block step to the top of the singles chart for three weeks with “Step By Step.” The song is an international smash, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and becomes one of the biggest selling singles of 1990. 2001 – “Lady Marmalade,” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink, enters its fifth and final week as a chart-topper. The cover is from the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack. 2007 – Rihanna and Jay-Z rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “Umbrella.” READ MORE