On This Day: December 2

On This Day December 2

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Five-time Tony Award-winning actress Julie Harris (“The Member of the Wedding,” “I Am a Camera,” “The Lark,” “East of Eden,” “The Haunting”) (d. 2013)

1944 – Actress Cathy Lee Crosby (“The Laughing Policeman,” “Wonder Woman”)

1946 – Fashion designer Gianni Versace (d. 1997)

1968 – Actress Lucy Liu (“Ally McBeal,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Kill Bill,” “Chicago,” “Southland,” the “Kung Fu Panda” series, “Elementary”)

1973 – Retired international tennis champion Monica Seles

1978 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado (“Turn Off the Light,” “I’m Like a Bird”)

1981 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Britney Spears

History Highlights
History Highlights

1823 – President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts—a policy that comes to be known as the Monroe Doctrine.

1954 – The U.S. Senate votes to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.” The move was prompted by McCarthy’s controversial investigation of suspected communists in the federal government, military and civilian society.

1970 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is established to protect the public health and environment.

1982 – Sixty-one-year-old Barney Clark becomes the first human recipient of a permanent artificial heart. Near death at the time of the operation, Clark survives 112 days after the surgery.

1997 – Nominated for a staggering nine Academy Awards, “Good Will Hunting” premieres in Los Angeles and goes on to earn childhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon a Best Original Screenplay Oscar — propelling them to Hollywood fame. The movie, directed by Gus Van Sant, also garners Robin Williams the only Oscar of his career — for Best Supporting Actor.

2001 – Enron Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, exposing one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history. Before its collapse, the Houston-based energy trading giant employed some 20,000 people who now had to pack their belongings and look for new jobs. Investors lost billions.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees rule the Billboard singles chart with “Daydream Believer,” the band’s third and final No. 1 hit. The track holds the top spot for four weeks.

1972 – “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” by The Temptations, is the No. 1 single. The song is the legendary Motown band’s last No. 1 hit and goes on to capture three Grammys.

1978 – The Neil Diamond-Barbra Streisand duet, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” is on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1983 – Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking “Thriller” video, featuring narration by Vincent Price and directed by John Landis, premieres. In 2009, it is inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress — the first music video to ever receive this honor — for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

1989 – Milli Vanilli are chart toppers for a second straight week with “Blame It on the Rain.”

1995 – “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boys II Men, begins an incredible 16-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

2000 – “Independent Women Part I,” by Destiny’s Child, is in the midst of an 11-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from the 2000 movie adaptation of “Charlie’s Angels.”

READ MORE
On this Day: May 30

On this Day May 30

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1908 Actor Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Barney Rubble and many other beloved cartoon characters (d. 1989)

1909 – Jazz-swing bandleader Benny Goodman (d. 1986)

1943 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, also known as “The Kansas Comet”

1951 – Actor Stephen Tobolowsky, best remembered for his role as Ned Ryerson in the movie “Groundhog Day”

1953 – Actor Colm Meaney, best known for playing Miles O’Brien in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

1964 – Country music singer Wynonna Judd (“She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light,” “No One Else on Earth,” “Only Love,” “To Be Loved by You”)

1971 – Tony Award-winning actress-singer Idina Menzel (“Rent,” “Wicked,” If/Then”)

1974 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer CeeLo Green, born Thomas Callaway (“Forget You,” “Crazy”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1431 –  Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy.

1783 – The Pennsylvania Evening Post becomes the first daily newspaper published in the United States.

1911 – The Indianapolis 500 is run for the first time and the winner is Ray Harroun, travelling at an average speed of 74.6 miles per hour in his single-seater Marmon Wasp.

1922 – Supreme Court Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft dedicates the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Memorial was designed to heal national divisions caused by the Civil War. Yet for many, Lincoln’s promise of freedom remained incomplete. Over the next half century, the looming figure of Abraham Lincoln witnessed a number of events and demonstrations that reinforced the memorial’s importance as a symbolic space for civil rights movements.

1927 – The Kentucky River peaks during a massive flood caused by torrential rains. The disaster kills 89 people and leaves thousands homeless.

1971 – The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 9 launches on a mission to gather scientific information from Mars. It circles the Red Planet twice each day for almost a year, photographing the surface and analyzing the atmosphere with infrared and ultraviolet instruments.

1990 – With the Soviet economy on the brink of collapse, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Washington, D.C., for three days of talks with President George H. W. Bush. The summit centers on the issue of Germany and its place in a changing Europe.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1960 – Brenda Lee is just 15 years old when her first No. 1 single, “I’m Sorry,” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100. It spends three weeks on top of the chart that July.

1963 – Seventeen-year-old Lesley Gore of New Jersey appears on “American Bandstand” and belts out a tune that goes on to become a No. 1 hit for her: “It’s My Party.”

1964 – “Love Me Do” by The Beatles reaches the top of the singles chart, becoming the Fab Four’s fourth No. 1 in five months.

1970 – Ray Stevens dominates the singles chart with “Everything Is Beautiful.”

1987 – U2’s “With or Without You,” off their album “The Joshua Tree,” concludes three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – Hip hop duo Kris Kross dominate the Bilboard Hot 100 with “Jump.” The track, off the “Totally Krossed Out” album, holds at No. 1 for eight weeks, becoming the pair’s most successful song and the fastest-selling single in the U.S. in 15 years. 

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas enter their seventh week on top of the pop chart with “Boom Boom Pow.” The track holds at No. 1 for 12 weeks and goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

READ MORE