On This Day: September 9

On This Day September 9

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1923 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Cliff Robertson (“Charly,” “PT-109,” “Spider-Man”) (d. 2011)

1941 – Soul singing sensation Otis Redding, best known for his 1968 smash “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay” (d. 1967)

1952 – Musician-producer Dave Stewart, who made up half of the Eurythmics

1960 – Golden Globe-winning actor Hugh Grant (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Notting Hill,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “About a Boy,” “Love Actually,” “Cloud Atlas,” “Man From U.N.C.L.E.”)

1966 – Comedic actor and musician Adam Sandler (“Saturday Night Live,” “Billy Madison,” “Happy Gilmore,” “The Wedding Singer,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “50 First Dates,” “Click,” “Grown Ups”)

1971 – Actor Henry Thomas (“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “Legends of the Fall,” “All the Pretty Horses,” “Gangs of New York”) 

1975 – Grammy-winning jazz/standards singer Michael Bublé

History Highlights
History Highlights

1893 – President Grover Cleveland’s wife Frances becomes the first first lady to give birth in the White House when the couple’s daughter, Esther, is born. She remains the only presidential child born in the White House.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs a bill establishing the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) — a Cabinet-level agency — to oversee housing programs across the U.S. 

1971 – A riot erupts at Attica Prison in upstate New York as inmates lash out over living conditions. By the time the tear gas clears four days later, 10 hostages and 29 inmates are dead — most of them killed by state troopers retaking the maximum-security facility. Nearly 90 others are injured.

1974 – The sitcom “Rhoda,” starring Valerie Harper, debuts on CBS and runs for five seasons. It’s a spinoff of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

1975 – The TV show that launches John Travolta’s acting career premieres on ABC. It’s “Welcome Back, Kotter,” starring Gabe Kaplan as a Brooklyn high school teacher with his classroom full of troublemaking “Sweathogs.”

1976 – Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong dies in Beijing at the age of 82.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” singing “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” The show garners the largest TV audience ever up to that time, 50 million viewers—one third of the U.S. population. 

1957 – “Diana,” by Paul Anka, tops the pop chart, becoming the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 single.

1978 – A Taste Of Honey starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” The track also dominates the U.S. soul and disco charts.

1989 – The Massachusetts-based boy band New Kids On the Block rules two major U.S. music charts. Their “Hangin’ Tough” album is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 while the title track is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1995 – “Gangsta’s Paradise,” by Coolio featuring L.V., kicks off four weeks as a No. 1 single. The song is part of the soundtrack to the 1995 movie “Dangerous Minds,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer, who also appears in the music video. The track garners Coolio a Best Rap Solo Performance Grammy along with other music industry honors.

2000 – Janet Jackson begins her third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Doesn’t Really Matter.”

2006 – Justin Timberlake kicks off seven weeks on top of the pop chart with “SexyBack.” The track is his first No. 1 hit.

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On this Day: May 8

On this Day May 8

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Celebrity Birthdays
Celebrity Birthdays

1844 – 33rd U.S. President Harry S. Truman (d. 1072)

1926 – Stand-up comedian-actor Don Rickles, known for his insult style of humor and as a frequent guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” and “Late Show (d. 2017)

1932 – Former World Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston (d. 1970)

1940 – Vocalist Toni Tennille of the Grammy-winning 70s duo Captain & Tennille (“Love Will Keep Us Together,” “Do That To Me One More Time,” “Muskrat Love”)

1940 – Actor-singer Ricky Nelson (“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” “Hello Mary Lou,” “Travelin’ Man”) (d. 1985)

1964 – Actress-writer-producer Melissa Gilbert, best known as Laura Ingalls from NBC’s “Little House on the Prairie”

1975 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Enrique Iglesias, known as the “King of Latin Pop” (“Hero,” “Be With You,” “Escape”)

History Highlights
History Highlights

1945 – Millions of people in cities across Great Britain and the U.S. celebrate Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) one day after Germany ‘s unconditional surrender to Allied forces.  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill takes to the radio airwaves at 3 p.m. local time to announce that World War II in Europe had ended.

1963 – The first James Bond 007 movie, “Dr. No,” starring Sean Connery as the British secret agent, opens in U.S. theaters. 

1973 – A 10-week standoff between federal authorities and American Indian Movement members occupying the Pine Ridge Reservation at Wounded Knee, South

1984 – The Soviet Union announces that it will boycott the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1980, the U.S. and more than 60 other countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

2010 – Actress Betty White, known for her former roles on “The Golden Girls” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” becomes the oldest person to host  “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) at age 88. White’s hosting gig came about, in part, after fans rallied for her in a Facebook campaign.

Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1961 – “Runaway,” by Del Shannon, is midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart. Co-written by Shannon and keyboardist Max Crook, the track becomes a major international hit. It ranks 472 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1970 – Almost a month after the band’s breakup, The Beatles release their 12th and final studio album, “Let It Be,” in Britain. It reaches the top of the Billboard album chart five weeks later.

1976 – The theme from the ABC sitcom “Welcome Back, Kotter” (starring Gabe Kaplan and a virtually unknown John Travolta) sits on top of the singles chart. It’s “Welcome Back” by former Lovin’ Spoonful front man John Sebastian.

1982 – Vangelis’ instrumental theme from the motion picture “Chariots of Fire” is the No. 1 single in the U.S. Vangelis later wins an Oscar for Best Original Score.

1993 – Aerosmith lands on top of the Billboard album chart with “Get A Grip,” which spawns two Grammy-winning singles: “Livin’ On the Edge” and “Crazy.”

1999 – Ricky Martin kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Livin’ la Vida Loca.”

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, continues its 12-week reign over the singles chart.

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