On This Day February 21 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1946 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Tyne Daly (“Cagney & Lacey,” “Judging Amy,” “Gypsy”) 1946 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Alan Rickman (“Die Hard,” “Galaxy Quest,” the “Harry Potter” series, “Something the Lord Made,” “Eye in the Sky”) (d. 2016) 1955 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Kelsey Grammer (“Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Toy Story 2,” “X-Men: Last Stand”) 1963 – Actor William Baldwin (“Flatliners,” “Backdraft,” “Sliver,” “The Squid and the Whale,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) 1979 – Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Party of Five,” “I Know What You Did Last Summer”) 1987 – Actress Ellen Page (“Juno,” “Whip It,” “Inception”, “X-Men” Series) History Highlights 1885 – The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated. The monument, built in the shape of an Egyptian obelisk, underwent two phases of construction: one private (1848-1854) and one public (1876-1884). When completed, it was the tallest structure in the world at 555 feet, 5-1/8 inches. 1925 – The New Yorker magazine publishes its first edition. 1948 – The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is officially incorporated and goes on to become one of America’s most popular spectator sports as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry. 1965 – Malcolm X, an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Black Muslims while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity in New York City. 1972 – Richard Nixon makes the first presidential visit to the People’s Republic of China in an effort to normalize Sino-American relations. 1995 – National Aviation Hall of Famer Steve Fossett lands safely in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, completing the first ever solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. Sadly, Fossett is declared dead in 2008 after a plane he was piloting vanished over the Nevada desert in September 2007. He was 63. Musical Milestones 1970 – Sly & the Family Stone begin the second and final week as chart-toppers with “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin).” 1976 – Paul Simon begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” The track, off his Grammy-winning “Still Crazy After All These Years” album, is the only No. 1 Simon has ever achieved as a solo act. 1976 – The Willie Nelson-Waylon Jennings album “Outlaws” becomes the first country music album to go platinum. 1981 – Dolly Parton rules the singles chart with the title track from the motion picture “9 to 5.” Parton co-stars in the movie with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman. 1987 – “Livin’ on a Prayer,” by Bon Jovi, is in the midst of a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. 1990 – “Let the River Run,” by Carly Simon, wins Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture at the 32nd annual Grammy Awards. The track, which had previously been honored with an Oscar and Golden Globe for Best Original Song, is from the movie “Working Girl,” starring Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver and Harrison Ford. 1998 – Usher wraps up two weeks as a Billboard chart-topper with “Nice & Slow.” 2004 – “Slow Jamz,” by Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, begins a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. READ MORE
On this Day May 24 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1941 – Grammy, Golden Globe and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, born Robert Zimmerman 1943 – Actor Gary Burghoff, most remembered for playing Radar O’Reilly in the movie and CBS sitcom “M*A*S*H” 1944 – Grammy Hall of Fame vocalist Patti LaBelle, most remembered for her 1974 smash, “Lady Marmalade” 1945 – Actress-business magnate Priscilla Presley, who performed in the “Naked Gun” movie series and the prime-time TV series “Dallas” 1955 – Grammy winning singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash (“Seven Year Ache,” “I Don’t Know Why You Don’t Want Me”) 1960 – Actress Kristin Scott Thomas (“Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “The English Patient,” “The Horse Whisperer,” “Gosford Park,” “Nowhere Boy”) 1965 – Actor John C. Reilly (“Boogie Nights,” “Chicago,” “Talladega Nights,” “Step Brothers,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “The Sisters Brothers,” Stan & Ollie”) History Highlights 1775 – Meeting in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress unanimously elects John Hancock of Massachusetts as president. That is why Hancock has the honor of being the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. 1883 – New York’s iconic Brooklyn Bridge opens, concluding a 14-year, $18 million construction project that cost more than two dozen workers their lives. The span links the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan across the East River. 1899 – The first public parking garage in the U.S. opens in Boston as part of the Back Bay Cycle & Motor Company. It is advertised as a “stable for renting, sale, storage and repair of motor vehicles.” 1935 – Major League Baseball’s first night game is played at Crosley Field in Cincinnati, Ohio, with the Reds beating the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1. 1976 – Service aboard the Concorde supersonic (SST) airliner begins between London and Washington, D.C. 1991 – “Thelma & Louise,” starring Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis and directed by Ridley Scott, opens in U.S. movie theaters. The film earns six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director for Scott and Best Actress for both Sarandon and Davis, but wins for Best Original Screenplay. It introduces a young, unknown Brad Pitt and becomes a fixture of American pop culture with the two main characters representing strong women overcoming obstacles in a male-dominated world. 1991 – The firefighting drama “Backdraft,” starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Scott Glenn and Donald Sutherland, and directed by Ron Howard, opens in U.S. theaters. The film goes on to receive three Academy Award nominations. Musical Milestones 1952 – “Blue Tango,” an instrumental composed and conducted by Leroy Anderson, tops the Billboard pop chart. 1969 – “Get Back,” by The Beatles with Billy Preston, begins five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. A different mix of the song is later produced as the final track of the “Let It Be” album, the band’s last album, released just after breaking up. 1974 – Legendary jazz composer, pianist and bandleader Duke Ellington dies of lung cancer and pneumonia at the age of 75. “The Duke’s” career spanned more than half a century, during which he composed thousands of songs for the stage, screen and contemporary songbook. 1975 – Earth Wind & Fire climb to the top of the singles chart with “Shining Star,” the group’s first and only No. 1 in the U.S. The track goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. 1986 – Whitney Houston reigns over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Greatest Love of All.” 1997 – “MMMBop,” by Hanson, kicks off three weeks on top of the pop chart. The band consists of three brothers from Tulsa, Oklahoma. 1997 – The Spice Girls land reach No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with their debut production, “Spice.” They become the third all-female band to ever top the album chart, after The Supremes and The Go-Go’s. 2003 – Sean Paul wraps up three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Get Busy.” READ MORE