On This Day February 11 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1847 – Inventor Thomas Edison (d. 1931) 1926 – Actor-comedian Leslie Nielsen (“Forbidden Planet,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun”) (d. 2010) 1936 – Golden Globe-winning actor Burt Reynolds (“Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Evening Shade,” “Boogie Nights”) (d. 2018) 1941 – Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes 1962 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow (“If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is a Winding Road”) 1969 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jennifer Aniston, who has appeared in many movies, but is best known for playing Rachel in the NBC sitcom “Friends” 1971 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers,” “Life,” “Homeland,” “Billions”) 1979 – Grammy-winning singer-actress Brandy, born Brandy Rayana Norwood (“The Boy is Mine,” “Moesha”) History Highlights 1805 – Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. 1932 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the flathead V8 engine, giving the world affordable, mass-produced V8 power. It becomes the darling of hot-rodders, road racers and stock car racers for more than two decades. 1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin wrap up the Yalta Conference following a week of intensive talks over the progress of World War II and the post-war world. 1963 – Chef Julia Child’s show, “The French Chef,” premieres on public television (NET, which later became PBS). 1968 – New York City’s 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden officially opens between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, becoming the fourth version of that arena. The showplace for sports and entertainment opens with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. 1970 – Japan’s first satellite (Ohsumi) is successfully launched into an orbit around Earth, making Japan the world’s fourth space power — after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958, and France in 1965. 1990 – Anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for more than 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later, he is elected South Africa’s president. Musical Milestones 1964 – The Beatles play their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. More than 350 police officers surround the stage to keep some 8,000 screaming fans under control. The set includes “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy”, “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man”,” Please Please Me”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Twist and Shout” and much more. 1967 – The Monkees begin their seventh and final week on top of the pop chart with “I’m a Believer.” 1978 – The Bee Gees stay on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Stayin’ Alive,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. The single remains at No. 1 for a total of four weeks. 1984 – Culture Club is midway through a three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon.” 1989 – Paula Abdul starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Straight Up.” 2012 – Six-time Grammy-winning pop sensation Whitney Houston is found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel at the age of 48. Cause of death is determined to be drowning, with complications from cocaine use and heart disease. READ MORE
On This Day February 4 Click each item below to learn more! Celebrity Birthdays 1913 – Civil rights crusader Rosa Parks, who helped pave the way for desegregation in the U.S. when she refused to give up her seat aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama (d. 2005) 1936 – Standup comedian David Brenner (d. 2014) 1940 – Horror film director-screenwriter George A. Romero, the master behind the cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” as well as “Dawn of the Dead,” “Land of the Dead” and “Creepshow” (d. 2017) 1948 – Rock And Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Alice Cooper, considered “The Godfather of Shock Rock” (“Schools Out,” “Eighteen”, “Poison”, “No More Mr Nice Guy”) 1962 – Country music singer-songwriter Clint Black (“A Better Man,” “Nothing’s News,” “Walking Away,” “Nobody’s Home,” “Killin’ Time”) 1973 – Retired professional boxer and Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya 1977 – Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw (“I Don’t Want to Be,” “Chariot,” “Follow Through”) History Highlights 1789 – George Washington — commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War — is unanimously elected the first president of the United States, garnering all 69 electoral votes. No other American president since has come into office with a universal mandate to lead. 1922 – The Ford Motor Company acquires the bankrupt Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million, giving Ford a luxury division to compete against Cadillac, Packard and Auburn. 1938 – Disney releases “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first full-length animated feature (83 minutes in length) in color and with sound, and a pioneering classic tale in film history. 1945 – President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet at the Yalta Conference to discuss the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan. 1957 – Smith Corona Manufacturing of New York begins selling portable electric typewriters. The first machine, known as the model 5TE, weighs 19 pounds. 1974 – The radical group Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, from her California apartment. 2004 – Nineteen-year-old Harvard University sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launches “TheFacebook.com,” an online directory designed to connect fellow Harvard students with one another. By the next day, more than a thousand people had registered. The service sparks a social media revolution, with billions now using Facebook each day. Musical Milestones 1967 – The Monkees maintain their grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m a Believer.” In all, the track remains a chart-topper for seven weeks. 1968 – The Beatles record “Across The Universe” at London’s Abbey Road Studios with backup vocals from two teenage fans who were among the groupies (“Apple scruffs”) that routinely gathered outside the facility on recording days. 1975 – Known as “The King of the Jukebox,” American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan dies at the age of 66. 1977 – Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album, “Rumours,” is released, introducing fans to the Top 10 hits “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” and “You Make Loving Fun.” 1978 – The Bee Gees have a No. 1 single with “Stayin’ Alive,” while another single of theirs, “Night Fever,” debuts on the pop chart, later staking its own claim to the top spot for eight weeks. Both songs are from the Grammy-winning “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. 1982 – “Centerfold,” by the J. Geils Band, reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for six weeks. 1983 – Heart failure caused by chronic anorexia nervosa claims the life of 32-year-old singer Karen Carpenter of the acclaimed 1970s brother-sister pop duet, Carpenters. 1984 – Culture Club begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon,” the band’s fifth Top 10 hit. 1995 – “Creep,” by TLC, is midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the trio’s first chart-topper. 2006 – “Check On It,” by Beyoncé, featuring Bun B and Slim Thug, kicks off five weeks on top of the singles chart. READ MORE