On this Day: August 27

On this Day August 27

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), 36th U.S. president (d. 1973)

1916 – Singer and comic actress Martha Raye, born Margie Yvonne Reed (“Rhythm on the Range,” “The Woods Are Full Of Cuckoos,” “The Martha Raye Show”) (d. 1994)

1942 – Daryl Dragon, the keyboard-playing half of the Captain & Tennille (d. 2019)

1943 – Golden Globe-winning actress Tuesday Weld, born Susan Ker Weld (“Play It As It Lays,” “Looking For Mr. Goodbar,” “The Winter of Our Discontent,” “Once Upon a Time in America”)

1947 – Actress-model Barbara Bach, known for her role as Anya in the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me,” and as the wife of musician Ringo Starr

1952 – Actor Paul Reubens, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman (d. 2023)

1963 – Actress, former MTV VJ and current Sirius/XM “90s on 9” host  ‘Downtown’ Julie Brown

1976 – Actress Sarah Chalke (“Roseanne,” “Scrubs, “How I Met Your Mother”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1883 – The most powerful volcanic eruption in recorded history jolts Krakatoa (also known as Krakatau), a small, uninhabited volcanic island located west of Sumatra in Indonesia. The resulting explosions and tsunamis kill an estimated 36,000 people.

1953 – “Roman Holiday,” featuring Audrey Hepburn in her first starring movie role, premieres in New York City.

1955 – The first edition of “The Guinness Book of Records” is published in England as a resource for pub patrons to settle friendly disputes. By that Christmas, it becomes a British best-seller. Today, it is the leading international authority for certifying every conceivable world record, from longest mustache to most tattooed woman, and everything in between.

1962 – NASA launches the Mariner 2 space probe on a mission to fly by Venus and return data on the planet’s atmosphere, magnetic field, charged particle environment and mass.

1964 – Gracie Allen, who kept radio and TV audiences laughing for decades with comedy partner and husband George Burns, dies at age 69.

1966 – Sixty-five-year-old Francis Chichester sets sail from Plymouth, England aboard his yacht, Gipsy Moth IV, on the first solo around-the-world trip by sea. He completes the voyage nine months and one day later with only a single stop in Sydney, Australia, and is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

1984 – President Ronald Reagan announces the Teacher in Space Project to inspire students, honor teachers and spur interest in mathematics, science and space exploration. New Hampshire social studies teacher Christa McAuliffe is eventually selected out of 11,000 applicants to be the first teacher in space. Sadly, she is killed along with all her fellow crew members in the January 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger 73 seconds after liftoff.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1966 – “Summer in the City,” by The Lovin’ Spoonful, enters its third and final week on top of the singles chart.

1967 – Beatles manager Brian Epstein, regarded by many as “the fifth Beatle,” dies of a drug overdose at the age of 32. 

1977 – The Emotions top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Best of My Love.”

1983 – “Every Breath You Take” by The Police, from the band’s “Synchronicity” album, begins its eighth and final week as the No. 1 single. 

1988 – George Michael’s “Monkey” swings its way to the top of the Billboard singles chart and hangs there for two weeks. It is his sixth solo chart-topper.

1990 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, ranked seventh among the 100 greatest gutarists of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, dies in a helicopter crash at the age of 35. 

1991 – Pearl Jam’s debut album, “Ten,” is released, spawning three hit singles: “Alive,” “Even Flow” and “Jeremy.” The album, which eventually climbs to No. 2, is credited, along with Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” with helping bring alternative rock into the mainstream.

1994 – Boyz II Men kick off 14 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’ll Make Love to You,” which goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

2005 –  “We Belong Together,” by Mariah Carey, is the No. 1 single.

2011 – “Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” by Katy Perry, begins two weeks as the No. 1 single.

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On this Day: May 11

On this Day May 11

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1888 – Acclaimed songwriter Irving Berlin (“White Christmas, “Cheek to Cheek,” “God Bless America”), who was a major contributor to the Great American Songbook (d. 1989)

1904 – Surrealist artist Salvador Dali (d. 1989)

1911 – Actor Phil Silvers (“The Phil Silvers Show,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”) (d. 1985)

1927 – Comedian and political satirist Mort Sahl, considered the first modern stand-up comedian

1941 – Rock singer-songwriter Eric Burdon, former lead vocalist for the bands The Animals and War

1952 – Actress Frances Fisher (“Unforgiven,” “Titanic,” “House of Sand and Fog,” “Laws of Attraction,” “The Lincoln Lawyer,” “Resurrection”)

1959 – Former MTV VJ and Sirius XM “80s on 8” DJ Martha Quinn

1963 – Tony-winning actress Natasha Richardson (“A Month in the Country,” “Patty Hearst,” The Parent Trap,” “Maid in Manhattan”) (d. 2009)

1964 – Actor Tim Blake Nelson (“Donnie Brasco,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Minority Report,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”) 

History Highlights
History Highlights

1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is established to promote the movie industry.

1947 – The B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio, announces development of a tubeless tire, a technological innovation that would make automobiles safer and more efficient.

1949 – Israel becomes a member of the United Nations.

1953 – A powerful F5 tornado sweeps across downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114 people. Violent weather also causes death and destruction in Flint, Michigan and Worcester, Massachusetts.

1976 – “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” makes his final house call as the popular ABC medical drama starring Robert Young airs for the last time. The series premiered in 1969.

1987 – Klaus Barbie, the former Nazi Gestapo chief of German-occupied Lyon, France, goes on trial more than four decades after the end of World War II. The so-called “Butcher of Lyon” is charged with 177 crimes against humanity.

1997 – This is a landmark day for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov resigns after 19 moves in a game against Deep Blue, a chess-playing computer developed by scientists at IBM. This was the sixth and final game of their match, which Kasparov lost two games to one, with three draws.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1959 – The instrumental “The Happy Organ,” by organist-pianist Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez, is the No. 1 single for a week and becomes a fixture at roller skating rinks across the U.S. Cortez makes one more trip to the Top-10 during his career with “Rinky Dink” in 1962.

1963 – Little Peggy March wraps up three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Will Follow Him.”

1970 – The three-disk soundtrack to the Woodstock Festival is released and goes gold within two weeks.

1972 – John Lennon makes a guest appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show” and claims the FBI is tapping his phone.

1981 – Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist Bob Marley, who introduced international audiences to reggae music, dies of cancer at the age of 36. Marley is posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 2001, receives a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

1985 – Madonna has the No. 1 single with “Crazy for You,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Vision Quest,” starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino. The track garners Madonna her first Grammy nomination in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

1991 – “Joyride,” by Swedish pop duo Roxette, is the No. 1 single for a week.

1996 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Always Be My Baby.”

2002 – Ashanti maintains her hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Foolish.” The track remains a chart-topper for 10 weeks.

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