On This Day: March 22

On This Day March 22

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Karl Malden (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Streets of San Francisco”), best remembered for his line, “Don’t leave home without them,” in American Express commercials (d. 2009)

1923 – French actor and world renowned mine artist Marcel Marceau, most famous for his stage persona, “Bip the Clown.” (d. 2007)

1930 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “Sweeney Todd”) (d. 2021)

1931 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and author William Shatner, best known as Captain James T. Kirk in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1943 – Grammy-winning jazz guitarist-singer George Benson (“Breezin’,” “This Masquerade,” “On Broadway,” “Give Me The Night”) 

1948 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Cats,” “Evita,” “The Phantom of the Opera”) 

1948 – CNN anchor and host Wolf Blitzer

1952 – Emmy-winning NBC sportscaster and Olympic Games anchor Bob Costas 

1959 – Actor Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Married to the Mob,” “Memphis Belle,” “And The Band Played On,” “The Dark Knight Rises”)

1976 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress-producer Reese Witherspoon (“Pleasantville,” the “Legally Blonde” movies, “Walk the Line,” “Gone Girl,” “Wild”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act to help fund British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents and playing cards. Reactions range from boycotts of British goods to more violent protests, including riots and attacks on tax collectors.

1933 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Beer-Wine Revenue Act into law. The measure legalizes the sale of alcoholic beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol (this level was declared non-intoxicating). Prohibition is officially repealed by the 21st Amendment in December 1933.

1972 – The Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and sends it to the states for ratification. However, it falls short of the required three-fourths approval.

1983 – The Pentagon awards a $1.2 billion contract to AM General Corporation to develop 55,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), nicknamed the Humvee. Designed to transport troops and cargo, these workhorses became widely recognized when used by the U.S. military during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the first Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.

1984 – Teachers at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with satanic ritual-related abuse of their students. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded. 

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases his fifth studio album,” Bringing It All Back Home” — the first of Dylan’s albums to break into the Billboard Top 10. The lead-off track, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” becomes Dylan’s first single to chart, peaking at No. 39.

1969 – “Dizzy,” by Tommy Roe, is in the midst of four weeks as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

1975 – Frankie Valli owns the hottest single for a week with “My Eyes Adored You.”

1975 – Led Zeppelin launches a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Physical Graffiti,” the group’s fourth chart-topping album. Among the most popular tracks on this double-album are “Kashmir,” “In My Time of Dying” and “Trampled Under Foot.”

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” is on top of the singles chart and holds there for four weeks. It’s the only No. 1 single the band has ever had in the U.S.

1986 – “These Dreams,” by Heart, becomes the sister duo’s first Billboard chart-topper. The song, co-written by longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, was originally offered to Stevie Nicks, who turned it down. The track spends a week at No. 1.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, kicks off a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “In da Club,” by 50 Cent, is in the middle of nine-weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

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On this Day: May 18

On this Day May 18

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Pop singer and TV personality Perry Como (“Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes,” “It’s Impossible”) (d. 2001)

1920 – Pope John Paul II, born Karol Józef Wojtyla, the second longest-serving pope in history, who was leader of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death (d. 2005)

1946 – Baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, a.k.a. “Mr. October,” who won five World Series Championship rings with the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees.

1952 – Grammy-winning Country Music Hall of Famer George Strait, known as “The King of Country” (“Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind,” “All My Ex’s Live in Texas,” “Write This Down”)

1970 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, comedian, writer and producer Tina Fey (“Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock,” ” Mean Girls,” “Baby Mama,” “Date Night,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”)

1975 – Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson (“Flake,” “Better Together,” “Banana Pancakes”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1917 – Six weeks after the United States formally enters the World War I, Congress passes and President Woodrow Wilson signs into law the Selective Service Act. It requires all American men between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for service in the U.S. military. On June 5, 1917, some 10 million men report to their local Selective Service Registration Boards to sign up.

1953 – Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran becomes the first woman aviator to break the sound barrier. The so-called “Queen of Speed” was an important contributor to the formation of America’s wartime Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) and Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson announces the launch of Project Head Start, designed as part of his War on Poverty initiative, to provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.

1974 – With its detonation of a nuclear bomb, India officially becomes the world’s sixth nuclear power. International reaction to the test was negative, with Canada cutting off virtually all nuclear assistance. The United States also restricted such collaborations and successfully persuaded India not to carry out further nuclear tests at that time.

1980 – The violent eruption of Washington’s Mount St. Helens kills 57 people, destroys hundreds of homes, levels tens of thousands of acres of forest, triggers mudflows and scatters ash across a dozen states. It becomes one of the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic events in U.S. history.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1959 – Considered one of rock and roll’s early classics, “Kansas City,” by Wilbert Harrison, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for two weeks. The song was written in 1952 by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who had never been to Kansas City. Despite countless covers, including one by Little Richard, only Harrison’s version became a chart-topper.

1963 – Jimmy Soul has the No. 1 single with “If You Wanna Be Happy.” The song holds the top spot for two weeks.

1974 – Ray Stevens races to the top of the pop chart with the novelty song “The Streak,” and stays there for three weeks.

1985 – “Don’t You (Forget About Me),” by Simple Minds, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Written for the John Hughes coming-of-age movie “The Breakfast Club,” it is the band’s only U.S. chart-topper.

1996 – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony begin eight weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-winning single, “Tha Crossroads.” The song is dedicated to the group’s mentor, the late gangsta rap icon Eazy-E.

2002 – Ashanti is in the middle of a 10-week domination of the singles chart with “Foolish.”

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