On This Day February 23 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1868 – American civil rights activist, sociologist, educator, historian and writer W.E.B. Du Bois (d.1963) 1940 – Actor Peter Fonda (“Easy Rider,” “Ulee’s Gold,” “The Passion of Ayn Rand,” “Wild Hogs,” “3:10 to Yuma”) (d. 2019) 1955 – 80s synth-pop singer-songwriter Howard Jones (“Things Can Only Get Better,” “Life in One Day,” “No One Is To Blame”) 1965 – Entrepreneuer and Dell Computer founder-CEO Michael Dell 1976 – Actress Kelly Macdonald (“Trainspotting,” “Gosford Park,” “The Girl in the Café,” “Boardwalk Empire”) 1983 – Golden Globe-winning actress Emily Blunt (“The Devil Wears Prada,” “Gideon’s Daughter,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “The Five-Year Engagement,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Sicario,” “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” “The Girl on the Train”, “A Quiet Place”, “Mary Poppins Returns”) 1994 – Actress Dakota Fanning (“I Am Sam,” “Man on Fire,” “War of the Worlds,” “Charlotte’s Web,” “Coraline,” “The Twilight Saga”) History Highlights 1836 – The Battle of the Alamo begins as Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna and his army arrive in San Antonio, Texas. Undaunted, William Travis, Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and a few hundred others prepare to defend the mission together, holding out for 13 days. “Remember the Alamo!” becomes a rallying cry for the Texian Army. 1945 – During the bloody Battle of Iwo Jima, five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman reach the top of Mount Suribachi on the island and are photographed raising the American flag by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. His iconic World War II image — a symbol of American military heroism — wins a Pulitzer Prize and becomes the inspiration for the national U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. 1954 – Elementary school children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania receive the first injections of the new polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk. 1968 – Considered a basketball legend, Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first NBA player to score more than 25,000 points during his professional sports career. 1980 – American speed skater Eric Heiden wins the 10,000-meter race at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, setting a world record with his time and winning an unprecedented fifth Gold medal at the games. 1997 – Scientists in Scotland announce that they have cloned a sheep named Dolly — the first successful cloning of a mammal from an adult cell. This development sparks widespread speculation about the possibility of human cloning. Musical Milestones 1963 – Paul & Paula wrap up their three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hey Paula.” 1974 – Barbra Streisand dominates the pop chart for a third week with the Oscar and Grammy-winning theme from the movie “The Way We Were.” 1978 – For the first time in Grammy Award history, two singles tie for Song of the Year: Barbra Streisand’s “Love Theme from A Star Is Born (Evergreen)” and Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life.” Other winners include Fleetwood Mac (Album of the Year for “Rumours”), Eagles (Record of the Year for “Hotel California”) and The Bee Gees (Best Pop Vocal Performance for “How Deep Is Your Love”). 1980 – “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” from Queen’s “The Game” album, becomes the British rock band’s first No. 1 single in the U.S. It holds the top spot for four weeks. Freddie Mercury claimed to have written the song in about 10 minutes while taking a bath. 1991 – Whitney Houston scores her ninth No. 1 single in five years with “All the Man That I Need.” 2000 – Carlos Santana cleans up at the 42nd Annual Grammys, winning eight awards, including Album of the Year for his chart-topping “Supernatural” album. 2002 – “Always on Time,” by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti, tops the Billboard Hot 100. READ MORE
On This Day December 9 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1916 – Actor Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch (“Spartacus,” “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “The Odyssey,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” “Tough Guys,” “Lust for Life”) (d. 2020) 1922 – Standup comedian-actor Redd Foxx, born John Elroy Sanford, who played a junk dealer the 1970s NBC sitcom “Sanford and Son” (d. 1991) 1928 – Actor Dick Van Patten, best known for his role as the father in the ABC sitcom “Eight Is Enough” (d. 2015) 1930 – Screenwriter, director and actor Buck Henry, born Henry Zuckerman (“The Garduate,” “Heaven Can Wait”) 1934 – Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Chocolat,” “Iris,” “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” “Notes on a Scandal,” “Philomena,” and has played M in several James Bond films) 1941 – Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy-winning actor Beau Bridges (“Without Warning: The James Brady Story,” “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys”) 1953 – Emmy-winning actor, director and producer John Malkovich (“Places in the Heart,” “The Killing Fields,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Empire of the Sun,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “In the Line of Fire,” “Con Air,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Secretariat,” “Burn After Reading,” “RED”) 1957 – Musician, dancer and former teen idol Donny Osmond History Highlights 1835 – The newly created Texan Army captures the city of San Antonio, an important victory for the Republic of Texas in its war for independence from Mexico. 1965 – Based on the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premieres on CBS and remains a holiday season viewing staple all these decades later. 1979 – A scientific panel declares that smallpox has been eradicated from the world. It marks the first time that a disease had been banished from the earth by the planning and action of international public health officials. 1983 – “Scarface,” a crime drama starring Al Pacino, opens in movie theaters. Directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, it is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. 1990 – Lech Walesa becomes the first popularly elected president of Poland. Walesa had fought on behalf of Polish workers against the communist government as head of the Solidarity movement. 1992 – More than 1,800 U.S. Marines arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the war-stricken and famine-plagued African nation. 1992 – British Prime Minister John Major announces the formal separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana. Musical Milestones 1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Daydream Believer.” 1972 – “I Am Woman,” by Helen Reddy, dominates the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, but endures as the unofficial anthem of the women’s rights movement. 1978 – Disco is all the rage as “Le Freak,” by Chic, tops the singles chart for the first of six non-sequential weeks. 1989 – Billy Joel has the top-selling single in the U.S. with “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” off his “Storm Front” album. The song burns brightly on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. 1995 – “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, tops the Billboard Hot 100. It holds that spot for an unprecedented 16 weeks. 2000 – Destiny’s Child is in the middle of an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “Independent Women.” 2006 – “I Wanna Love You,” by Akon featuring Snoop Dog, begins its second and final week on top of the pop chart. READ MORE