Today in History - March 24th
Today's Birthdays
1874 Harry Houdini, magician/escape artist, died Oct 31, 1926
1887 Fatty Arbuckle, actor (Fatty Keystone Comedies) died June 29, 1933
1909 Clyde Barrow, criminal (Bonnie & Clyde) shot and killed May 23, 1934
1910 Richard (Nicholas Peter) Conte, actor (The Godfather) died Apr 15, 1975
1911 Joseph Barbera, cartoonist (Hanna-Barbera) died December 18, 2006
1915 Gorgeous George, professional wrestler, died December 26, 1963
1923 Murray Hamilton, actor (Jaws) died September 1, 1986
1924 Norman Fell (Feld), actor, (Three’s Company) died Dec 14, 1998
1928 Vanessa Brown, actress (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) died May 21, 1999
1930 Steve McQueen, actor (The Great Escape, Bullitt) died Nov 7, 1980
1940 Bob Mackie, fashion/costume designer
1942 Jesus Alou, baseball (SF Giants, Houston Astros, Oakland Athletics, NY Mets)
1944 R. Lee Ermey, U.S. Marine/actor (Full Metal Jacket, Boys in Company C)
1946 Lee Oskar (Oskar Hansen), harmonica (War)
1946 Klaus Dinger, drummer/guitarist (Kraftwerk) died March 21 2008
1949 Nick Lowe, guitarist/singer (Rockpile)
1951 Dougie Thomson, bassist (Supertramp)
1951 Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer
1954 Robert Carradine, actor (Revenge of the Nerds series)
1954 Donna Pescow, actress (Policewoman Centerfold)
1960 Kelly LeBrock, actress (Weird Science, The Woman in Red)
1960 Nena, German singer (99 Luftbaloons)
1962 Star Jones, TV personality (The View)
1964 Annabella Sciorra, actress (What Dreams May Come, The Sopranos)
1965 Peter Jacobson, actor (House MD)
1970 Lara Flynn Boyle, actress (Twin Peaks, Las Vegas, Wayne's World)
1970 Sharon Corr, pop musician (The Corrs)
1971 Megyn Price, actress (Rules of Engagement)
1973 Jim Parsons, actor (The Big Bang Theory)
1974 Alyson Hannigan, actress (American Pie series, How I Met Your Mother)
1976 Peyton Manning, NFL quarterback (Indianapolis Colts)
1990 Keisha Castle-Hughes, actress (The Whale Rider)
Today's Deaths in History
1603 Elizabeth I Tudor [Maiden Queen], queen (1558-1603), dies at 69
1882 Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, US poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at 75
1905 Jules Verne, sci-fi author (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 77
1976 Bernard L Montgomery, British General who defeated Rommel, dies at 88
1984 Sam Jaffe, actor (Ben Casey), dies at 93
1990 An Wang, computer manufacturer (Wang), dies at 70
1990 Ray Goulding, comedian (Bob & Ray), dies at 68
1993 John Hersey, Pulitzer Prize author (Hiroshima), dies at 78
1994 Tommy Benford, jazz drummer, dies at 88
1997 Harold Melvin, R&B singer (Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes) dies at 57
2008 Chalmers "Spanky" Alford, guitarist (Mighty Clouds of Joy) dies at 52
2008 Richard Widmark, actor (How the West was Won, The Alamo) dies at 93
Today in History
1765 Britain enacted the Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to provide temporary housing to British soldiers.
1837 Canada gave African men the right to vote.
1868 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company was formed.
1882 German scientist Robert Koch announced in Berlin that he had discovered the bacillus responsible for tuberculosis.
1883 Long-distance telephone service was inaugurated between Chicago and New York City.
1900 New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck broke ground for a new underground Rapid Transit Railroad to link Manhattan and Brooklyn.
1936 The longest game in NHL history was played between Detroit and Montreal; Detroit scored at 16:30 of the sixth overtime and won the game 1-0.
1944 In occupied Rome, the Nazis executed more than 300 civilians in reprisal for an attack by Italian partisans the day before that killed 32 German soldiers.
1944 In an event later dramatized in the movie The Great Escape, 76 prisoners began breaking out of Stalag Luft III.
1955 Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened on Broadway.
1958 Elvis Presley was inducted into the Army in Memphis, Tenn.
1973 The Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon by was released.
1977 Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, was named archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany.
1988 Former national security aides Oliver L. North and John M. Poindexter pleaded innocent to Iran-Contra charges.
1989 The nation's worst oil spill occurred as the supertanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on a reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound and began leaking 11 million gallons of crude.
1995 The House of Representatives passed a welfare reform package calling for the most profound changes in social programs since the New Deal.
1998 A 13-year-old boy and his 11-year-old cousin opened fire outside their school in Jonesboro, Ark., killing four students and a teacher and injuring 10.
1999 NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia, the first time the alliance had attacked a sovereign country.
2002 Halle Berry became the first African-American performer to win a best actress Oscar, for her work in Monster's Ball.
2003 The Arab League voted 21-1 in favor of a resolution demanding the immediate and unconditional removal of U.S. and British soldiers from Iraq.
2005 The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal from the parents of Terri Schiavo to have a feeding tube reinserted into the severely brain-damaged woman.
2008 Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was charged with perjury, misconduct and obstruction of justice.
2008 Bhutan officially became a democracy, with its first ever general election.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Managua, Nicaragua - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Stuart Wade)
Oh, But I Do - Margaret Whiting
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Sincerely - McGuire Sisters
Darling Je Vous Aime Beaucoup - Nat ‘King’ Cole
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
Our Day Will Come - Ruby & the Romantics
The End of the World - Skeeter Davis
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
She’s a Lady - Tom Jones
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
I’d Rather Love You - Charley Pride
1979
Tragedy - Bee Gees
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Heaven Knows - Donna Summer with Brooklyn Dreams
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray
1987
Lean on Me - Club Nouveau
Let’s Wait Awhile - Janet Jackson
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
I’d Still Be Loving You - Restless Heart
Quote of the Day
Few people can see genius in someone who has offended them.
Robertson Davies
Full Version: Today in History
Today in History - March 25th
Today's Birthdays
1867 Arturo Toscanini, conductor, died January 16, 1957
1871 John Gutzon Borglum, sculptor (Mount Rushmore) died March 6, 1941
1881 Béla Bartók, composer/pianist (Concerto for Orchestra) died September 26, 1945
1908 David Lean, film director (Dr Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations) died Apr 16, 1991
1911 Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, died January 3, 1967
1920 Howard Cosell (Cohen), sportscaster, died Apr 23, 1995
1921 Nancy Kelly, actress (Double Exposure, Jesse James) died January 2, 1995
1922 Eileen Ford, modeling agency head (Ford Modeling Agency)
1928 James A. Lovell, Jr., USN/astronaut (Gemini, Apollo programs)
1932 Gene Shalit, movie critic (Today)
1934 Gloria Steinem, feminist/publisher (Ms Magazine)
1934 Johnny Burnette, guitarist (Trains Kept A-Rollin, You're 16) died August 14, 1964
1938 Hoyt Axton, singer/songwriter/actor (Black Stallion, Gremlins) died October 26, 1999
1940 Anita Bryant, Miss Oklahoma-America/singer
1942 Aretha Franklin, singer (Respect, Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think)
1942 Paul Michael Glaser, actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Starsky & Hutch)
1942 Richard O'Brien, actor/writer (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
1944 Frank Oz, muppetteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
1946 Bonnie Bedelia (Culkin), actress (Die Hard, Heart Like a Wheel)
1947 Sir Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight), singer/songwriter (Rocketman, Your Song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bennie & The Jets, Daniel, Philadelphia Freedom)
1948 Michael Stanley, singer/guitarist/songwriter (Michael Stanley Band)
1950 Chuck Greenberg, jazz composer/musician (Shadowfax) died Sept 4, 1995
1951 Bob Pelander, keyboardist/vocalist (Michael Stanley Band)
1951 Maisie Williams, singer (Boney M)
1953 Mary Gross, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Club Paradise, Feds)
1956 Matthew Garber, actor (Mary Poppins) died June 13, 1977
1960 Haywood Nelson, actor (What's Happening)
1960 Steve Norman, saxophonist (Spandau Ballet)
1960 Brenda Strong, actress (Desperate Housewives)
1962 Marcia Cross, actress (Desperate Housewives)
1964 Lisa Gay Hamilton, actress (The Practice)
1965 Sarah Jessica Parker, actress (Square Pegs, LA Story, Sex and the City)
1966 Jeff Healey, blues/rock guitarist/singer (Angel Eyes, Confidence Man) died March 2, 2008
1969 Cathy Dennis, singer/songwriter (C'mon and Get My Love)
1971 Cammi Granato, ice hockey forward (1998 Olympics)
1971 Sheryl Swoopes, WNBA forward (Houston Comets)
1974 Lark Voorhies, actress (Saved by the Bell)
1976 Juvenile, rapper
1982 Danica Patrick, Indy car racer
1984 Katherine McPhee, singer/television personality (American Idol)
1987 Jason Castro, singer/television personality (American Idol)
Today's Deaths in History
1918 Claude A Debussy, French composer (Iberia/La mer), dies at 55
1973 Edward Steichen, pioneer of American photography, dies at 92
1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, shot to death by his nephew at 69
1978 Jack Hulbert, actor (Bulldog Jack), dies at 85
1988 Robert Joffrey, dancer/choreographer, dies of AIDS at 58
1992 Nancy Walker, actress (Rhoda), dies at 69
1999 Cal Ripken, Sr., MLB manager (Baltimore Orioles) dies at 63
2005 Paul Henning, TV producer/writer (Beverly Hillbillies) dies at 93
2006 Buck Owens, country singer/television personality (Hee Haw) dies at 76
Today in History
1306 Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland.
1634 Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by the second Lord Baltimore.
1655 Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was discovered by Christian Huygens.
1807 Britain abolished its slave trade.
1811 Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.
1894 Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of the unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government.
1911 A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City killed 146 workers, most of them young immigrant women; the tragedy galvanized America's labor movement.
1913 The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City.
1957 The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community.
1965 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.
1969 During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness.
1988 Robert E. Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's so-called "preppie murder case."
1992 Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist.
1994 American troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia.
1996 An 81-day standoff by the antigovernment Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Mont.
1996 The redesigned $100 bill went into circulation.
1998 President Bill Clinton acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of 1 million Rwandans four years earlier.
2002 A powerful earthquake rocked Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, killing as many as 1,000 people.
2004 Congress passed a law making it a separate offense to harm a fetus during a violent federal crime.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Beg Your Pardon - Francis Craig
I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms) - Eddy Arnold
1956
Lisbon Antigua - Nelson Riddle
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
A Tear Fell - Teresa Brewer
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
1964
She Loves You - The Beatles
Fun Fun Fun - The Beach Boys
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Him - Rupert Holmes
Why Don’t You Spend the Night - Ronnie Milsap
1988
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
I Get Weak - Belinda Carlisle
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Life Turned Her that Way - Ricky Van Shelton
Quote of the Day
America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up.
Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
Today's Birthdays
1867 Arturo Toscanini, conductor, died January 16, 1957
1871 John Gutzon Borglum, sculptor (Mount Rushmore) died March 6, 1941
1881 Béla Bartók, composer/pianist (Concerto for Orchestra) died September 26, 1945
1908 David Lean, film director (Dr Zhivago, Ryan's Daughter, Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, A Passage to India, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations) died Apr 16, 1991
1911 Jack Ruby, killer of Lee Harvey Oswald, died January 3, 1967
1920 Howard Cosell (Cohen), sportscaster, died Apr 23, 1995
1921 Nancy Kelly, actress (Double Exposure, Jesse James) died January 2, 1995
1922 Eileen Ford, modeling agency head (Ford Modeling Agency)
1928 James A. Lovell, Jr., USN/astronaut (Gemini, Apollo programs)
1932 Gene Shalit, movie critic (Today)
1934 Gloria Steinem, feminist/publisher (Ms Magazine)
1934 Johnny Burnette, guitarist (Trains Kept A-Rollin, You're 16) died August 14, 1964
1938 Hoyt Axton, singer/songwriter/actor (Black Stallion, Gremlins) died October 26, 1999
1940 Anita Bryant, Miss Oklahoma-America/singer
1942 Aretha Franklin, singer (Respect, Natural Woman, Chain of Fools, Think)
1942 Paul Michael Glaser, actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Starsky & Hutch)
1942 Richard O'Brien, actor/writer (The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
1944 Frank Oz, muppetteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
1946 Bonnie Bedelia (Culkin), actress (Die Hard, Heart Like a Wheel)
1947 Sir Elton John (Reginald Kenneth Dwight), singer/songwriter (Rocketman, Your Song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bennie & The Jets, Daniel, Philadelphia Freedom)
1948 Michael Stanley, singer/guitarist/songwriter (Michael Stanley Band)
1950 Chuck Greenberg, jazz composer/musician (Shadowfax) died Sept 4, 1995
1951 Bob Pelander, keyboardist/vocalist (Michael Stanley Band)
1951 Maisie Williams, singer (Boney M)
1953 Mary Gross, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Club Paradise, Feds)
1956 Matthew Garber, actor (Mary Poppins) died June 13, 1977
1960 Haywood Nelson, actor (What's Happening)
1960 Steve Norman, saxophonist (Spandau Ballet)
1960 Brenda Strong, actress (Desperate Housewives)
1962 Marcia Cross, actress (Desperate Housewives)
1964 Lisa Gay Hamilton, actress (The Practice)
1965 Sarah Jessica Parker, actress (Square Pegs, LA Story, Sex and the City)
1966 Jeff Healey, blues/rock guitarist/singer (Angel Eyes, Confidence Man) died March 2, 2008
1969 Cathy Dennis, singer/songwriter (C'mon and Get My Love)
1971 Cammi Granato, ice hockey forward (1998 Olympics)
1971 Sheryl Swoopes, WNBA forward (Houston Comets)
1974 Lark Voorhies, actress (Saved by the Bell)
1976 Juvenile, rapper
1982 Danica Patrick, Indy car racer
1984 Katherine McPhee, singer/television personality (American Idol)
1987 Jason Castro, singer/television personality (American Idol)
Today's Deaths in History
1918 Claude A Debussy, French composer (Iberia/La mer), dies at 55
1973 Edward Steichen, pioneer of American photography, dies at 92
1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, shot to death by his nephew at 69
1978 Jack Hulbert, actor (Bulldog Jack), dies at 85
1988 Robert Joffrey, dancer/choreographer, dies of AIDS at 58
1992 Nancy Walker, actress (Rhoda), dies at 69
1999 Cal Ripken, Sr., MLB manager (Baltimore Orioles) dies at 63
2005 Paul Henning, TV producer/writer (Beverly Hillbillies) dies at 93
2006 Buck Owens, country singer/television personality (Hee Haw) dies at 76
Today in History
1306 Robert the Bruce became King of Scotland.
1634 Maryland was founded by English colonists sent by the second Lord Baltimore.
1655 Saturn's largest moon, Titan, was discovered by Christian Huygens.
1807 Britain abolished its slave trade.
1811 Percy Bysshe Shelley was expelled from the University of Oxford for his publication of the pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism.
1894 Jacob S. Coxey began leading an "army" of the unemployed from Massillon, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., to demand help from the federal government.
1911 A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. factory in New York City killed 146 workers, most of them young immigrant women; the tragedy galvanized America's labor movement.
1913 The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City.
1957 The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community.
1965 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 marchers to the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., to protest the denial of voting rights to blacks.
1969 During their honeymoon, John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first Bed-In for Peace at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel.
1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot to death by a nephew with a history of mental illness.
1988 Robert E. Chambers Jr. pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's so-called "preppie murder case."
1992 Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev returned to Earth from the Mir space station after a 10-month stay, during which his native country, the Soviet Union, ceased to exist.
1994 American troops completed their withdrawal from Somalia.
1996 An 81-day standoff by the antigovernment Freemen began at a ranch near Jordan, Mont.
1996 The redesigned $100 bill went into circulation.
1998 President Bill Clinton acknowledged during his Africa tour that "we did not act quickly enough" to stop the slaughter of 1 million Rwandans four years earlier.
2002 A powerful earthquake rocked Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, killing as many as 1,000 people.
2004 Congress passed a law making it a separate offense to harm a fetus during a violent federal crime.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Beg Your Pardon - Francis Craig
I’ll Hold You in My Heart (Till I Can Hold You in My Arms) - Eddy Arnold
1956
Lisbon Antigua - Nelson Riddle
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
A Tear Fell - Teresa Brewer
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
1964
She Loves You - The Beatles
Fun Fun Fun - The Beach Boys
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Him - Rupert Holmes
Why Don’t You Spend the Night - Ronnie Milsap
1988
Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
I Get Weak - Belinda Carlisle
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Life Turned Her that Way - Ricky Van Shelton
Quote of the Day
America had often been discovered before Columbus, but it had always been hushed up.
Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)
Today in History - March 26th
Today's Birthdays
1871 Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole, Kingdom of Hawai‘i, died January 7, 1922
1874 Robert Frost, poet, died Jan 29, 1963
1875 Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, died July 19, 1965
1880 Duncan Hines, author/traveler/cake-mix mogul, died Mar 15, 1959
1911 Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams, playwright (A Streetcar Named Desire) died Feb 24, 1983
1914 William Westmoreland, U.S. Army General (Vietnam) died July 18, 2005
1916 Sterling Hayden, actor (The Asphalt Jungle) died May 23, 1986
1919 Strother Martin Jr., actor (Cool Hand Luke, Slap Shot) died Aug 1, 1980
1930 Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court Justice
1931 Leonard Nimoy, actor (Star Trek)
1934 Alan Arkin, actor (Little Miss Sunshine)
1940 James Caan, actor (Rollerball, The Godfather, Mickey Blue Eyes)
1940 Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman (D-CA) Speaker of the House
1942 Erica Jong, author (Fear of Flying)
1943 Bob Woodward, journalist (Watergate scandal)
1944 Diana Ross, singer (Supremes)
1948 Steven Tyler, singer (Aerosmith)
1948 Richard Tandy, bassist/keyboardist (Electric Light Orchestra)
1949 Vicki Lawrence, singer/actress (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia)
1949 Fran Sheehan, bassist (Boston)
1950 Teddy Pendergrass, R&B singer
1950 Martin Short, actor/comedian (Inner Space, Jiminy Glick)
1954 Curtis Sliwa, founder (Guardian Angels)
1957 Leeza Gibbons, TV personality (Entertainment Tonight, PM Magazine)
1959 Chris Hansen, reporter (To Ctach a Predator)
1960 Jennifer Grey, actress (Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
1962 Richard Coles, multi-instrumentalist (Communards)
1964 Baz Warne, duitarist (The Stranglers)
1964 Ulf Samuelsson, NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1966 Michael Imperioli, actor (The Sopranos, Life on Mars)
1968 Kenny Chesney, country singer
1968 James Iha, keyboardist (Smashing Pumpkins)
1973 T.R. Knight, actor (Grey's Anatomy)
1973 Marshall Faulk, former NFL running back (St Louis Rams)
1976 Amy Smart, actress (Starsky & Hutch, Varsity Blues)
1982 Devery Henderson, NFL wide receiver (New Orleans Saints)
1985 Keira Knightley, actress (Pirates of the Caribbean series, King Arthur)
Today's Deaths in History
1649 John Winthrop, Puritan & first Governor of Massachusetts, dies at 62
1827 Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, dies at 56
1892 Walt Whitman, poet (Leaves of Grass) dies at 72
1959 Raymond T Chandler, detective writer (Long Goodbye) dies at 71
1973 Noel Coward, English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
1990 Roy "Halston" Frowick, fashion designer, dies of AIDs at 68
1995 Eazy-E, rapper (Eric Wright), dies at 31
1996 Edmund S Muskie, Vice Presidential candidate, dies at 81
1997 Marshall Applewhite, cult leader (Heaven's Gate) dies at 65
2003 Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., dies at 76
2004 Jan Berry, singer (Jan and Dean) dies at 62
2005 Paul Hester, drummer (Crowded House) commits suicide at 46
2006 Paul Dana, IRL driver, dies in a crash at 30
Today in History
1830 The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York.
1885 The Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. of Rochester, N.Y., manufactured the first commercial motion picture film.
1917 The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.
1942 Auschwitz received its first female prisoners.
1945 U.S. forces declared Iwo Jima secure.
1953 Jonas Salk announced his polio vaccine.
1964 The musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway.
1971 East Pakistan proclaimed its independence, taking the name Bangladesh.
1979 The Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.
1982 Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1992 A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.
1997 The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who had committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
1999 Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on 60 Minutes.
1999 The Melissa worm infected Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
2000 Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia.
2002 Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Powder Your Face with Sunshine - Evelyn Knight
Tennessee Saturday Night - Red Foley
1957
Young Love - Tab Hunter
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
There You Go - Johnny Cash
1965
Eight Days a Week - The Beatles
Stop! In the Name of Love - The Supremes
The Birds and the Bees - Jewel Akens
I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail - Buck Owens
1973
Love Train - O’Jays
Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) - Deodato
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Teddy Bear Song - Barbara Fairchild
1981
Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
Woman - John Lennon
The Best of Times - Styx
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground - Willie Nelson
1989
The Living Years - Mike & the Mechanics
Eternal Flame - Bangles
Girl You Know It’s True - Milli Vanilli
New Fool at an Old Game - Reba McEntire
Quote of the Day
When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.
Hermann Hesse, author (1877 - 1962)
Today's Birthdays
1871 Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole, Kingdom of Hawai‘i, died January 7, 1922
1874 Robert Frost, poet, died Jan 29, 1963
1875 Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, died July 19, 1965
1880 Duncan Hines, author/traveler/cake-mix mogul, died Mar 15, 1959
1911 Tennessee (Thomas Lanier) Williams, playwright (A Streetcar Named Desire) died Feb 24, 1983
1914 William Westmoreland, U.S. Army General (Vietnam) died July 18, 2005
1916 Sterling Hayden, actor (The Asphalt Jungle) died May 23, 1986
1919 Strother Martin Jr., actor (Cool Hand Luke, Slap Shot) died Aug 1, 1980
1930 Sandra Day O'Connor, former Supreme Court Justice
1931 Leonard Nimoy, actor (Star Trek)
1934 Alan Arkin, actor (Little Miss Sunshine)
1940 James Caan, actor (Rollerball, The Godfather, Mickey Blue Eyes)
1940 Nancy Pelosi, Congresswoman (D-CA) Speaker of the House
1942 Erica Jong, author (Fear of Flying)
1943 Bob Woodward, journalist (Watergate scandal)
1944 Diana Ross, singer (Supremes)
1948 Steven Tyler, singer (Aerosmith)
1948 Richard Tandy, bassist/keyboardist (Electric Light Orchestra)
1949 Vicki Lawrence, singer/actress (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia)
1949 Fran Sheehan, bassist (Boston)
1950 Teddy Pendergrass, R&B singer
1950 Martin Short, actor/comedian (Inner Space, Jiminy Glick)
1954 Curtis Sliwa, founder (Guardian Angels)
1957 Leeza Gibbons, TV personality (Entertainment Tonight, PM Magazine)
1959 Chris Hansen, reporter (To Ctach a Predator)
1960 Jennifer Grey, actress (Dirty Dancing, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
1962 Richard Coles, multi-instrumentalist (Communards)
1964 Baz Warne, duitarist (The Stranglers)
1964 Ulf Samuelsson, NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1966 Michael Imperioli, actor (The Sopranos, Life on Mars)
1968 Kenny Chesney, country singer
1968 James Iha, keyboardist (Smashing Pumpkins)
1973 T.R. Knight, actor (Grey's Anatomy)
1973 Marshall Faulk, former NFL running back (St Louis Rams)
1976 Amy Smart, actress (Starsky & Hutch, Varsity Blues)
1982 Devery Henderson, NFL wide receiver (New Orleans Saints)
1985 Keira Knightley, actress (Pirates of the Caribbean series, King Arthur)
Today's Deaths in History
1649 John Winthrop, Puritan & first Governor of Massachusetts, dies at 62
1827 Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, dies at 56
1892 Walt Whitman, poet (Leaves of Grass) dies at 72
1959 Raymond T Chandler, detective writer (Long Goodbye) dies at 71
1973 Noel Coward, English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
1990 Roy "Halston" Frowick, fashion designer, dies of AIDs at 68
1995 Eazy-E, rapper (Eric Wright), dies at 31
1996 Edmund S Muskie, Vice Presidential candidate, dies at 81
1997 Marshall Applewhite, cult leader (Heaven's Gate) dies at 65
2003 Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., dies at 76
2004 Jan Berry, singer (Jan and Dean) dies at 62
2005 Paul Hester, drummer (Crowded House) commits suicide at 46
2006 Paul Dana, IRL driver, dies in a crash at 30
Today in History
1830 The Book of Mormon was published in Palmyra, New York.
1885 The Eastman Dry Plate and Film Co. of Rochester, N.Y., manufactured the first commercial motion picture film.
1917 The Seattle Metropolitans became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup as they defeated the Montreal Canadiens.
1942 Auschwitz received its first female prisoners.
1945 U.S. forces declared Iwo Jima secure.
1953 Jonas Salk announced his polio vaccine.
1964 The musical Funny Girl, starring Barbra Streisand, opened on Broadway.
1971 East Pakistan proclaimed its independence, taking the name Bangladesh.
1979 The Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House.
1982 Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in Washington, D.C., for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
1992 A judge in Indianapolis sentenced former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson to six years in prison for raping a Miss Black America contestant.
1997 The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven's Gate techno-religious cult who had committed suicide were found inside a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
1999 Dr. Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for giving a lethal injection to an ailing man whose death was shown on 60 Minutes.
1999 The Melissa worm infected Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
2000 Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia.
2002 Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Powder Your Face with Sunshine - Evelyn Knight
Tennessee Saturday Night - Red Foley
1957
Young Love - Tab Hunter
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
There You Go - Johnny Cash
1965
Eight Days a Week - The Beatles
Stop! In the Name of Love - The Supremes
The Birds and the Bees - Jewel Akens
I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail - Buck Owens
1973
Love Train - O’Jays
Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) - Deodato
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Teddy Bear Song - Barbara Fairchild
1981
Keep on Loving You - REO Speedwagon
Woman - John Lennon
The Best of Times - Styx
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground - Willie Nelson
1989
The Living Years - Mike & the Mechanics
Eternal Flame - Bangles
Girl You Know It’s True - Milli Vanilli
New Fool at an Old Game - Reba McEntire
Quote of the Day
When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.
Hermann Hesse, author (1877 - 1962)
Today in History – March 27th
Today's Birthdays
1813 Nathaniel Currier, lithographer (Currier & Ives) died Nov 20, 1888
1845 Wilhelm Roentgen (Röntgen), scientist (discovered x-rays) died Feb 10, 1923
1863 Sir Henry Royce, automobile founder (Rolls-Royce) died April 22, 1933
1868 Patty Smith Hill, songwriter (Happy Birthday to You) died May 25, 1946
1899 Gloria Swanson, actress (Sunset Boulevard) died Apr 4, 1983
1914 Richard Denning (Denninger), actor (Hawaii Five-O) died Oct 11, 1998
1914 Snooky Lanson, singer (By the Light of the Silvery Moon) died July 2, 1990
1924 Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer (Broken-Hearted Melody) died Apr 3, 1990
1931 David Janssen (David Harold Meyer), actor (The Fugitive) died Feb 13, 1980
1939 Cale Yarborough, NASCAR driver
1940 Austin Pendleton, actor (My Cousin Vinny)
1941 Bunny Sigler, R&B singer (Staple Singers)
1942 Michael York (York-Johnson), actor (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)
1947 Tom Sullivan, Boston MA, blind actor (If You Could See What I Hear)
1950 Tony Banks, keyboards (Genesis)
1952 Maria Schneider, actress (Last Tango in Paris)
1957 Billy MacKenzie, singer (The Associates) died January 22, 1997
1958 Bart Connor, Olympic Gold Medal gymnast
1958 Shaun Cassidy, singer/actor (Hardy Boys)
1959 Andrew Farriss, keyboardist (INXS)
1963 Dave Koz, jazz saxophonist
1963 Randall Cunningham, former NFL quarterback (Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings)
1963 Quentin Tarantino, screenwriter/actor (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs)
1967 Talisa Soto [Miriam], actress (License to Kill)
1970 Brent Fitz, drummer (Theory of a Deadman)
1970 Mariah Carey, singer (Emotion)
1970 Elizabeth Mitchell, actress (Lost, The Santa Clause series)
1971 Nathan Fillion, actor (Desperate Housewives, Firefly, Serenity)
1975 Stacy Ferguson, singer (Black-Eyed Peas)
1984 Emily Ann Lloyd, actress (Apollo 13)
Today's Deaths in History
1926 Georges Vézina, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender (Montreal Canadiens) dies at 39
1968 Yuri Gagarin, first man to orbit Earth, dies in plane crash at 34
1972 M.C. Escher, graphic artist, dies at 73
1977 Diana Hyland, actress (Peyton Place) dies at 41
1991 Aldo Ray, western actor (Battle Cry) dies of cancer at 64
1992 James E Webb, former head of NASA, dies at 84
2000 Ian Dury, punk singer (Ian Dury & the Blockheads), dies at 57
2002 Billy Wilder, film writer/director (Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard) dies at 95
2002 Milton Berle, entertainer, dies at 93
2002 Dudley Moore, actor (Arthur) dies at 66
2006 Dan Curtis, producer/director (The Night Stalker, Dark Shadows) dies at 78
Today in History
1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.
1625 Charles I ascended the English throne upon the death of James I.
1794 President George Washington and Congress authorized creation of the U.S. Navy.
1836 The first Mormon temple was dedicated, in Kirtland, Ohio.
1939 Oregon won the first NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 46-33 victory over Ohio State in Evanston, Ill.
1945 During World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.
1958 Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union.
1964 Alaska was rocked by a powerful earthquake that killed 114 people.
1977 A KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife, killing 582 people.
1993 Jiang Zemin was appointed President of the People's Republic of China.
1996 An Israeli court convicted Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's confessed assassin of murder, then sentenced former law student Yigal Amir to life in prison.
1997 Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., met with James Earl Ray, the man in prison for the assassination of the civil rights leader; Ray denied having anything to do with the shooting, to which King replied, "I believe you."
1998 The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Viagra, made by Pfizer, to fight male impotence.
2001 California regulators approved electricity rate hikes of up to 46 percent.
2002 A suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis during a Passover Seder in Netanya, Israel.
2006 Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified at his federal trial that he was supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.
2007 NFL owners voted 30-2 to make the video replay system a permanent officiating tool.
Chart Toppers
1950
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
There’s No Tomorrow - Tony Martin
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Chatanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - Red Foley
1958
Don’t/I Beg of You - Elvis Presley
Tequila - The Champs
Breathless - Jerry Lee Lewis
Ballad of a Teenage Queen - Johnny Cash
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
19th Nervous Breakdown - The Rolling Stones
Nowhere Man - The Beatles
Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line - Buck Owens
1974
Dark Lady - Cher
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Mockingbird - Carly Simon & James Taylor
There’s a Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In) - Conway Twitty
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Open Arms - Journey
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
She Left Love All Over Me - Razzy Bailey
1990
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
In the end, everything is a gag.
Charlie Chaplin, actor, director, & screenwriter (1889 - 1977)
Today's Birthdays
1813 Nathaniel Currier, lithographer (Currier & Ives) died Nov 20, 1888
1845 Wilhelm Roentgen (Röntgen), scientist (discovered x-rays) died Feb 10, 1923
1863 Sir Henry Royce, automobile founder (Rolls-Royce) died April 22, 1933
1868 Patty Smith Hill, songwriter (Happy Birthday to You) died May 25, 1946
1899 Gloria Swanson, actress (Sunset Boulevard) died Apr 4, 1983
1914 Richard Denning (Denninger), actor (Hawaii Five-O) died Oct 11, 1998
1914 Snooky Lanson, singer (By the Light of the Silvery Moon) died July 2, 1990
1924 Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer (Broken-Hearted Melody) died Apr 3, 1990
1931 David Janssen (David Harold Meyer), actor (The Fugitive) died Feb 13, 1980
1939 Cale Yarborough, NASCAR driver
1940 Austin Pendleton, actor (My Cousin Vinny)
1941 Bunny Sigler, R&B singer (Staple Singers)
1942 Michael York (York-Johnson), actor (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery)
1947 Tom Sullivan, Boston MA, blind actor (If You Could See What I Hear)
1950 Tony Banks, keyboards (Genesis)
1952 Maria Schneider, actress (Last Tango in Paris)
1957 Billy MacKenzie, singer (The Associates) died January 22, 1997
1958 Bart Connor, Olympic Gold Medal gymnast
1958 Shaun Cassidy, singer/actor (Hardy Boys)
1959 Andrew Farriss, keyboardist (INXS)
1963 Dave Koz, jazz saxophonist
1963 Randall Cunningham, former NFL quarterback (Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings)
1963 Quentin Tarantino, screenwriter/actor (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs)
1967 Talisa Soto [Miriam], actress (License to Kill)
1970 Brent Fitz, drummer (Theory of a Deadman)
1970 Mariah Carey, singer (Emotion)
1970 Elizabeth Mitchell, actress (Lost, The Santa Clause series)
1971 Nathan Fillion, actor (Desperate Housewives, Firefly, Serenity)
1975 Stacy Ferguson, singer (Black-Eyed Peas)
1984 Emily Ann Lloyd, actress (Apollo 13)
Today's Deaths in History
1926 Georges Vézina, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender (Montreal Canadiens) dies at 39
1968 Yuri Gagarin, first man to orbit Earth, dies in plane crash at 34
1972 M.C. Escher, graphic artist, dies at 73
1977 Diana Hyland, actress (Peyton Place) dies at 41
1991 Aldo Ray, western actor (Battle Cry) dies of cancer at 64
1992 James E Webb, former head of NASA, dies at 84
2000 Ian Dury, punk singer (Ian Dury & the Blockheads), dies at 57
2002 Billy Wilder, film writer/director (Some Like It Hot, Sunset Boulevard) dies at 95
2002 Milton Berle, entertainer, dies at 93
2002 Dudley Moore, actor (Arthur) dies at 66
2006 Dan Curtis, producer/director (The Night Stalker, Dark Shadows) dies at 78
Today in History
1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida.
1625 Charles I ascended the English throne upon the death of James I.
1794 President George Washington and Congress authorized creation of the U.S. Navy.
1836 The first Mormon temple was dedicated, in Kirtland, Ohio.
1939 Oregon won the first NCAA men's basketball tournament with a 46-33 victory over Ohio State in Evanston, Ill.
1945 During World War II, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower told reporters in Paris that German defenses on the Western Front had been broken.
1958 Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union.
1964 Alaska was rocked by a powerful earthquake that killed 114 people.
1977 A KLM Boeing 747, attempting to take off, crashed into a Pan Am 747 on the Canary Island of Tenerife, killing 582 people.
1993 Jiang Zemin was appointed President of the People's Republic of China.
1996 An Israeli court convicted Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's confessed assassin of murder, then sentenced former law student Yigal Amir to life in prison.
1997 Dexter King, son of Martin Luther King Jr., met with James Earl Ray, the man in prison for the assassination of the civil rights leader; Ray denied having anything to do with the shooting, to which King replied, "I believe you."
1998 The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Viagra, made by Pfizer, to fight male impotence.
2001 California regulators approved electricity rate hikes of up to 46 percent.
2002 A suicide bomber killed 29 Israelis during a Passover Seder in Netanya, Israel.
2006 Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui testified at his federal trial that he was supposed to hijack a fifth airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, and fly it into the White House.
2007 NFL owners voted 30-2 to make the video replay system a permanent officiating tool.
Chart Toppers
1950
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
There’s No Tomorrow - Tony Martin
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Chatanoogie Shoe Shine Boy - Red Foley
1958
Don’t/I Beg of You - Elvis Presley
Tequila - The Champs
Breathless - Jerry Lee Lewis
Ballad of a Teenage Queen - Johnny Cash
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
19th Nervous Breakdown - The Rolling Stones
Nowhere Man - The Beatles
Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line - Buck Owens
1974
Dark Lady - Cher
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Mockingbird - Carly Simon & James Taylor
There’s a Honky Tonk Angel (Who’ll Take Me Back In) - Conway Twitty
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Open Arms - Journey
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
She Left Love All Over Me - Razzy Bailey
1990
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
In the end, everything is a gag.
Charlie Chaplin, actor, director, & screenwriter (1889 - 1977)
Today in History - March 28th
Today's Birthdays
1868 Maxim Gorki (Aleksei Peshikov), Russian writer (Mother) died June 18, 1936
1899 August A. Busch Jr., beer magnate/St. Louis Cardinals owner; died Sep 29, 1989
1905 Marlin Perkins, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) died June 14, 1986
1907 Irving (Paul) ‘Swifty’ Lazar, Hollywood talent agent to the stars; died Dec 30, 1993
1912 Arthur Bertram Chandler, sci-fi author (Empress of Outer Space) died June 6, 1984
1914 Edmund S. (Sixtus) Muskie, Maine governor/senator; died Mar 26, 1996
1921 Dirk Bogarde, actor (A Bridge Too Far); died May 8, 1999
1924 Freddie Bartholomew (Frederick Llewellyn March), actor (Captains Courageous); died Jan 23, 1992
1928 Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor under President Carter
1941 Alf Clausen, orchestra conductor (The Simpsons)
1943 Conchata Ferrell, actress (Two and a Half Men)
1944 Ken Howard, actor (The White Shadow)
1945 Chuck Portz, bassist (The Turtles)
1948 Dianne Wiest, actress (Hannah and Her Sisters, The Lost Boys)
1948 John Evans (Evan), drummer (Jethro Tull)
1949 Milan Williams, keyboards/drums/guitar (Commodores) died July 9, 2006
1955 Reba (Nell) McEntire, country singer/actress
1964 Salt (Cheryl James), rapper/singer (Salt-N-Pepa)
1965 Jeff Beukeboom, former NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1967 Tracey Needham, actress (Veronica Mars)
1968 Iris Chang, author (The Rape of Nanking) committed suicide Nov. 9, 2004
1969 Brett Ratner, producer/director (Rush Hour series)
1969 Vince Vaughn, actor (Swingers, Wedding Crashers)
1975 Richard Kelly, film director (Donnie Darko)
1976 David Keuning, guitarist (The Killers)
1977 Annie Wersching, actress (24)
1981 Julia Styles, actress (Bourne series)
Today's Deaths in History
0193 Publius Helvius Pertinax, Roman Emperor (192-93), is assassinated at 66
1881 Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, composer, dies at 42
1941 Virginia (Adeline) Woolf-Stephen, author, commits suicide at 59
1943 Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, Russian composer/pianist, dies at 69
1953 James Francis Thorpe, decathlete (1912 Olympic Gold Medalist), dies at 64
1958 William Christopher Handy, US conductor/composer (St Louis Blues), dies at 84
1969 Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th President/General (WWII), dies in at 78
1974 Dorothy Fields, singer (The Way You Look Tonight), dies at 68
1979 Emmett Kelly, circus clown (Weary Willy), dies at 80
1980 Jesse Owens, track star (1936 Olympic Gold Medalist), dies at 66
1985 Marc Chagall, French painter, dies at 97
1987 Maria Augusta Trapp, singer (Trapp Family Singers), dies at 82
1987 Patrick Troughton, actor (Dr Who), dies at 56
1994 Albert Goldman, US biographer (Lives of John Lennon), dies at 66
1995 Hugh Edward R. O'Connor, actor/son of Carroll O'Connor, ODs at 32
2004 Peter Ustinov, actor (Quo Vadis) dies at 82
2006 Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense, dies at 88
Today in History
1797 Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented a washing machine.
1834 The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.
1854 Britain and France declared war on Russia during the Crimean War.
1898 The Supreme Court ruled that a child born in the United States to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen, and therefore could not be deported under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1910 Henri Fabre became the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
1930 The names of the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora were changed to Istanbul and Ankara, respectively.
1939 The Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to the forces of Francisco Franco.
1940 Construction began of the exhibition center to host the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.
1946 The United States State Department released the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
1978 The US Supreme Court handed down a 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
1979 America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa.
1990 President George H. W. Bush posthumously awarded Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
2000 In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court sharply curtailed police power to rely on tips to stop and search people.
2002 The Arab League agreed on a peace plan that offered Israel normal relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from war-won lands and a Palestinian state.
2003 In a "friendly fire" incident, two A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from the United States Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron attacked British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.
2006 More than 1 million people poured into streets across France and strikers disrupted air, rail and bus travel in the largest nationwide protest over a youth labor law.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Be My Love - Mario Lanza
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Venus - Frankie Avalon
Tragedy - Thomas Wayne
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas & the Papas
There’s a Kind of Hush - Herman’s Hermits
I Won’t Come in While He’s There - Jim Reeves
1975
My Eyes Adored You - Frankie Valli
Lady Marmalade - LaBelle
Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
Swingin’ - John Anderson
1991
One More Try - Timmy T
Coming Out of the Dark - Gloria Estafan
This House - Tracie Spencer
Loving Blind - Clint Black
Quote of the Day
Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G. M. Trevelyan, British historian (1876 - 1962)
Today's Birthdays
1868 Maxim Gorki (Aleksei Peshikov), Russian writer (Mother) died June 18, 1936
1899 August A. Busch Jr., beer magnate/St. Louis Cardinals owner; died Sep 29, 1989
1905 Marlin Perkins, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom) died June 14, 1986
1907 Irving (Paul) ‘Swifty’ Lazar, Hollywood talent agent to the stars; died Dec 30, 1993
1912 Arthur Bertram Chandler, sci-fi author (Empress of Outer Space) died June 6, 1984
1914 Edmund S. (Sixtus) Muskie, Maine governor/senator; died Mar 26, 1996
1921 Dirk Bogarde, actor (A Bridge Too Far); died May 8, 1999
1924 Freddie Bartholomew (Frederick Llewellyn March), actor (Captains Courageous); died Jan 23, 1992
1928 Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor under President Carter
1941 Alf Clausen, orchestra conductor (The Simpsons)
1943 Conchata Ferrell, actress (Two and a Half Men)
1944 Ken Howard, actor (The White Shadow)
1945 Chuck Portz, bassist (The Turtles)
1948 Dianne Wiest, actress (Hannah and Her Sisters, The Lost Boys)
1948 John Evans (Evan), drummer (Jethro Tull)
1949 Milan Williams, keyboards/drums/guitar (Commodores) died July 9, 2006
1955 Reba (Nell) McEntire, country singer/actress
1964 Salt (Cheryl James), rapper/singer (Salt-N-Pepa)
1965 Jeff Beukeboom, former NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1967 Tracey Needham, actress (Veronica Mars)
1968 Iris Chang, author (The Rape of Nanking) committed suicide Nov. 9, 2004
1969 Brett Ratner, producer/director (Rush Hour series)
1969 Vince Vaughn, actor (Swingers, Wedding Crashers)
1975 Richard Kelly, film director (Donnie Darko)
1976 David Keuning, guitarist (The Killers)
1977 Annie Wersching, actress (24)
1981 Julia Styles, actress (Bourne series)
Today's Deaths in History
0193 Publius Helvius Pertinax, Roman Emperor (192-93), is assassinated at 66
1881 Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, composer, dies at 42
1941 Virginia (Adeline) Woolf-Stephen, author, commits suicide at 59
1943 Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff, Russian composer/pianist, dies at 69
1953 James Francis Thorpe, decathlete (1912 Olympic Gold Medalist), dies at 64
1958 William Christopher Handy, US conductor/composer (St Louis Blues), dies at 84
1969 Dwight D Eisenhower, 34th President/General (WWII), dies in at 78
1974 Dorothy Fields, singer (The Way You Look Tonight), dies at 68
1979 Emmett Kelly, circus clown (Weary Willy), dies at 80
1980 Jesse Owens, track star (1936 Olympic Gold Medalist), dies at 66
1985 Marc Chagall, French painter, dies at 97
1987 Maria Augusta Trapp, singer (Trapp Family Singers), dies at 82
1987 Patrick Troughton, actor (Dr Who), dies at 56
1994 Albert Goldman, US biographer (Lives of John Lennon), dies at 66
1995 Hugh Edward R. O'Connor, actor/son of Carroll O'Connor, ODs at 32
2004 Peter Ustinov, actor (Quo Vadis) dies at 82
2006 Caspar Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense, dies at 88
Today in History
1797 Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patented a washing machine.
1834 The U.S. Senate voted to censure President Andrew Jackson for the removal of federal deposits from the Bank of the United States.
1854 Britain and France declared war on Russia during the Crimean War.
1898 The Supreme Court ruled that a child born in the United States to Chinese immigrants was a U.S. citizen, and therefore could not be deported under the Chinese Exclusion Act.
1910 Henri Fabre became the first person to fly a seaplane, the Fabre Hydravion, after taking off from a water runway near Martigues, France.
1930 The names of the Turkish cities of Constantinople and Angora were changed to Istanbul and Ankara, respectively.
1939 The Spanish Civil War ended as Madrid fell to the forces of Francisco Franco.
1940 Construction began of the exhibition center to host the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair.
1946 The United States State Department released the Acheson-Lilienthal Report, outlining a plan for the international control of nuclear power.
1978 The US Supreme Court handed down a 5-3 decision in Stump v. Sparkman, a controversial case involving involuntary sterilization and judicial immunity.
1979 America's worst commercial nuclear accident occurred at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Pa.
1990 President George H. W. Bush posthumously awarded Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal.
2000 In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court sharply curtailed police power to rely on tips to stop and search people.
2002 The Arab League agreed on a peace plan that offered Israel normal relations in exchange for a full withdrawal from war-won lands and a Palestinian state.
2003 In a "friendly fire" incident, two A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft from the United States Idaho Air National Guard's 190th Fighter Squadron attacked British tanks participating in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, killing British soldier Matty Hull.
2006 More than 1 million people poured into streets across France and strikers disrupted air, rail and bus travel in the largest nationwide protest over a youth labor law.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Be My Love - Mario Lanza
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Venus - Frankie Avalon
Tragedy - Thomas Wayne
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
Don’t Take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas & the Papas
There’s a Kind of Hush - Herman’s Hermits
I Won’t Come in While He’s There - Jim Reeves
1975
My Eyes Adored You - Frankie Valli
Lady Marmalade - LaBelle
Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
Swingin’ - John Anderson
1991
One More Try - Timmy T
Coming Out of the Dark - Gloria Estafan
This House - Tracie Spencer
Loving Blind - Clint Black
Quote of the Day
Education... has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G. M. Trevelyan, British historian (1876 - 1962)
Today in History- March 29th
Today's Birthdays
1790 John Tyler, 10th President of the United States, died Jan 18, 1862
1867 Cy Young, Baseball Hall of Famer, died Nov 4, 1955
1875 Lou Hoover (Henry), First Lady, died Jan 7, 1944
1914 Phil Foster (Feldman), stand-up comedian/actor (Laverne & Shirley) died July 8, 1985
1916 Eugene J McCarthy, Senator (D-MN, 1968 Presidential Candidate) died December 10, 2005
1918 Pearl (Mae) Bailey, jazz singer/actress, died Aug 17, 1990
1918 Sam Walton, businessman (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) died April 5, 1992
1927 John McLaughlin, TV host (The McLaughlin Group)
1937 Billy Carter, brother of President Jimmy Carter. died September 25, 1988
1938 Duane Rupp, NHL defenseman (NY Rangers)
1940 Raymond Davis, singer (Funkadelic) July 5, 2005
1943 Eric Idle, comedian/actor (Monty Python)
1943 John Major, former British prime minister
1943 Vangelis, composer (Chariots of Fire)
1944 Terry Jacks, songwriter/singer (Seasons in the Sun)
1945 Walt Frazier, Basketball Hall of Famer
1946 Billy Thorpe, guitarist/singer (Children of the Sun) died Feb. 28, 2007
1947 Bobby Kimball, singer (Toto)
1948 Bud Cort, actor (Harold and Maude)
1949 Michael Brecker, jazz musician (The Brecker Brothers) January 13, 2007
1954 Karen Anne Quinlan, comatose patient (right to die case) died June 11, 1985
1955 Christopher Lawford, actor (Terminator 3)
1956 Kurt Thomas, gymnast
1956 Patty Donahue, singer (The Waitresses) died December 9, 1996
1957 Christopher Lambert, actor (Highlander)
1959 Perry Farrell, rock singer (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros)
1959 Marina Sirtis, actress (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
1960 Annabella Sciorra, actress (Sopranos)
1961 Amy Sedaris, comedian/actress (Strangers with Candy)
1963 Elle Macpherson, supermodel
1963 M.C. Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell), singer/rapper (U Can’t Touch This)
1964 Jill Goodacre Connick, model (Victoria's Secret)
1967 John Popper, harmonica player/singer (Blues Traveler)
1968 Lucy Lawless, actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
1969 James Atkin, singer/guitarist (EMF)
1976 Jennifer Capriati, tennis champion
Today's Deaths in History
1848 John Jacob Astor, businessman (fur trading, real estate) dies at 84
1980 (Annunzio Paolo) Mantovani, orchestra leader, dies at 74
1986 Harry Ritz, actor (3 Musketeers), dies at 79
1991 Lee Atwater, political strategist (Republican), dies at 40
1992 Earl Spencer, father of Lady Diana, dies at 68
1992 Paul (G J von) Henreid, actor (Casablanca), dies at 84
1995 Baltimora, pop singer (Tarzan Boy) dies at 37 of AIDS
1995 Antony Hamilton, actor (Mission Impossible) dies at 42
1996 Bill Goldsworthy, NHL forward (NY Rangers) dies of AIDS at 51
2005 Johnnie Cochran, OJ Defense Attorney, dies at 67
2005 Mitch Hedberg, actor/writer (non sequiturs) dies at 37 of an overdose
Today in History
1638 Swedish colonists established the first settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
1806 Construction was authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, which became the first United States federal highway.
1865 The Battle of Appomattox Court House began; Lee would surrender to Grant 11 days later.
1867 The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.
1871 The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria.
1882 The Knights of Columbus was chartered in Connecticut.
1886 Dr. John Pemberton brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
1943 Rationing of meat, butter and cheese began during World War II.
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
1961 The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.
1962 Jack Paar hosted NBC's Tonight Show for the final time.
1971 Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre; he spent three years under house arrest.
1971 A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders; the sentences were later commuted.
1973 The last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.
1974 Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University; the guardsmen were later acquitted.
1992 Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton acknowledged experimenting with marijuana "a time or two" while attending Oxford University, adding, "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again."
1999 Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored the last of his National Hockey League record 894 goals in a home game against the New York Islanders.
1999 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time, at 10,006.78.
2002 Israel declared Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat an enemy and sent tanks and armored personnel carriers to fully isolate him in his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
2004 The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
2006 Hamas formally took over the Palestinian government.
Chart Toppers
1944
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
Mairzy Doats - The Merry Macs
Poinciana - Bing Crosby
So Long Pal - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Please, Mr. Sun - Johnnie Ray
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Wild One - Bobby Rydell
Puppy Love - Paul Anka
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Love is Blue - Paul Mauriat
La - La - Means I Love You - The Delfonics
A World of Our Own - Sonny James
1976
December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) - The Four Seasons
Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
Lonely Night (Angel Face) - Captain & Tennille
Til the Rivers All Run Dry - Don Williams
1984
Jump - Van Halen
Somebody’s Watching Me - Rockwell
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler) - Alabama
Quote of the Day
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President (1743 - 1826)
Today's Birthdays
1790 John Tyler, 10th President of the United States, died Jan 18, 1862
1867 Cy Young, Baseball Hall of Famer, died Nov 4, 1955
1875 Lou Hoover (Henry), First Lady, died Jan 7, 1944
1914 Phil Foster (Feldman), stand-up comedian/actor (Laverne & Shirley) died July 8, 1985
1916 Eugene J McCarthy, Senator (D-MN, 1968 Presidential Candidate) died December 10, 2005
1918 Pearl (Mae) Bailey, jazz singer/actress, died Aug 17, 1990
1918 Sam Walton, businessman (Wal-Mart, Sam's Club) died April 5, 1992
1927 John McLaughlin, TV host (The McLaughlin Group)
1937 Billy Carter, brother of President Jimmy Carter. died September 25, 1988
1938 Duane Rupp, NHL defenseman (NY Rangers)
1940 Raymond Davis, singer (Funkadelic) July 5, 2005
1943 Eric Idle, comedian/actor (Monty Python)
1943 John Major, former British prime minister
1943 Vangelis, composer (Chariots of Fire)
1944 Terry Jacks, songwriter/singer (Seasons in the Sun)
1945 Walt Frazier, Basketball Hall of Famer
1946 Billy Thorpe, guitarist/singer (Children of the Sun) died Feb. 28, 2007
1947 Bobby Kimball, singer (Toto)
1948 Bud Cort, actor (Harold and Maude)
1949 Michael Brecker, jazz musician (The Brecker Brothers) January 13, 2007
1954 Karen Anne Quinlan, comatose patient (right to die case) died June 11, 1985
1955 Christopher Lawford, actor (Terminator 3)
1956 Kurt Thomas, gymnast
1956 Patty Donahue, singer (The Waitresses) died December 9, 1996
1957 Christopher Lambert, actor (Highlander)
1959 Perry Farrell, rock singer (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros)
1959 Marina Sirtis, actress (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
1960 Annabella Sciorra, actress (Sopranos)
1961 Amy Sedaris, comedian/actress (Strangers with Candy)
1963 Elle Macpherson, supermodel
1963 M.C. Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell), singer/rapper (U Can’t Touch This)
1964 Jill Goodacre Connick, model (Victoria's Secret)
1967 John Popper, harmonica player/singer (Blues Traveler)
1968 Lucy Lawless, actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
1969 James Atkin, singer/guitarist (EMF)
1976 Jennifer Capriati, tennis champion
Today's Deaths in History
1848 John Jacob Astor, businessman (fur trading, real estate) dies at 84
1980 (Annunzio Paolo) Mantovani, orchestra leader, dies at 74
1986 Harry Ritz, actor (3 Musketeers), dies at 79
1991 Lee Atwater, political strategist (Republican), dies at 40
1992 Earl Spencer, father of Lady Diana, dies at 68
1992 Paul (G J von) Henreid, actor (Casablanca), dies at 84
1995 Baltimora, pop singer (Tarzan Boy) dies at 37 of AIDS
1995 Antony Hamilton, actor (Mission Impossible) dies at 42
1996 Bill Goldsworthy, NHL forward (NY Rangers) dies of AIDS at 51
2005 Johnnie Cochran, OJ Defense Attorney, dies at 67
2005 Mitch Hedberg, actor/writer (non sequiturs) dies at 37 of an overdose
Today in History
1638 Swedish colonists established the first settlement in Delaware, naming it New Sweden.
1806 Construction was authorized of the Great National Pike, better known as the Cumberland Road, which became the first United States federal highway.
1865 The Battle of Appomattox Court House began; Lee would surrender to Grant 11 days later.
1867 The British Parliament passed the North America Act to create the Dominion of Canada.
1871 The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria.
1882 The Knights of Columbus was chartered in Connecticut.
1886 Dr. John Pemberton brewed the first batch of Coca-Cola in a backyard in Atlanta, Georgia.
1943 Rationing of meat, butter and cheese began during World War II.
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage for passing nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union.
1961 The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to vote in presidential elections.
1962 Jack Paar hosted NBC's Tonight Show for the final time.
1971 Army Lt. William L. Calley Jr. was convicted of murdering at least 22 Vietnamese civilians in the My Lai massacre; he spent three years under house arrest.
1971 A jury in Los Angeles recommended the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers for the 1969 Tate-La Bianca murders; the sentences were later commuted.
1973 The last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending America's direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.
1974 Eight Ohio National Guardsmen were indicted on charges stemming from the shooting deaths of four students at Kent State University; the guardsmen were later acquitted.
1992 Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton acknowledged experimenting with marijuana "a time or two" while attending Oxford University, adding, "I didn't inhale and I didn't try it again."
1999 Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers scored the last of his National Hockey League record 894 goals in a home game against the New York Islanders.
1999 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 10,000 for the first time, at 10,006.78.
2002 Israel declared Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat an enemy and sent tanks and armored personnel carriers to fully isolate him in his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
2004 The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all work places, including bars and restaurants.
2006 Hamas formally took over the Palestinian government.
Chart Toppers
1944
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
Mairzy Doats - The Merry Macs
Poinciana - Bing Crosby
So Long Pal - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Please, Mr. Sun - Johnnie Ray
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Wild One - Bobby Rydell
Puppy Love - Paul Anka
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Love is Blue - Paul Mauriat
La - La - Means I Love You - The Delfonics
A World of Our Own - Sonny James
1976
December 1963 (Oh, What a Night) - The Four Seasons
Dream Weaver - Gary Wright
Lonely Night (Angel Face) - Captain & Tennille
Til the Rivers All Run Dry - Don Williams
1984
Jump - Van Halen
Somebody’s Watching Me - Rockwell
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Roll On (Eighteen Wheeler) - Alabama
Quote of the Day
I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.
Thomas Jefferson, Third U.S. President (1743 - 1826)
Today in History - March 30th
Today's Birthdays
1674 Jethro Tull, agricultural writer (Basildon) died Feb 21, 1741
1853 Vincent van Gogh, post-impressionist artist (Sunflowers) died July 29, 1890
1880 Sean O'Casey, playwright (Playboy of the Western World) died Sept 18, 1964
1894 Sergei Ilyushin, Russian airplane builder (Ilyushin) died February 9, 1977
1913 Frankie Laine (Frank Paul LoVecchio), singer (That’s My Desire) died Feb 6, 2007
1914 Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee), blues musician (Down & Out Blues) died June 1, 1948
1927 Peter Marshall, game show host (Hollywood Squares)
1929 Richard Dysart, actor (L.A. Law)
1930 John Astin, actor (Addams Family)
1937 Warren Beatty, actor (Bulworth, Heaven Can Wait)
1941 Graeme Edge, rock musician (The Moody Blues)
1945 Eric Clapton, guitarist (Slowhand)
1948 Jim Dandy Mangrum, singer (Black Oak Arkansas)
1950 Dave Ball, guitarist (Procul Harum)
1950 Robbie Coltrane, actor (Nuns on the Run)
1950 Rupert Greenall, keyboardist (The Fixx)
1950 Grady Little, MLB manager (LA Dodgers)
1955 Randy Van Warmer, singer (Just When I Needed You Most) died January 12, 2004
1957 Paul Reiser, actor/comedian (Mad About You)
1961 Doug Wickenheiser, NHL center (NY Rangers) died January 12, 1999
1962 MC Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell), rapper
1964 Ian Ziering, actor (Beverly Hills 90210)
1964 Tracy Chapman, folk/rock singer (Fast Car)
1966 Joey Castillo, drummer (Queens of the Stone Age)
1968 Celine Dion, singer
1970 Secretariat, race horse (1973 Triple Crown)
1971 Mark Consuelos, soap opera actor/Mr. Kelly Ripa
1979 Norah Jones, pop/rock singer/musician (Don't Know Why)
1984 Santonio Holmes, NFL wide receiver (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Today's Deaths in History
1840 Beau Brummell, English celebrity and dandy, dies at 61
1955 Harl McDonald, composer (Santa Fé Trail), dies at 55
1966 Maxfield Parrish, painter, dies at 95
1968 Bobby Driscoll, actor (Treasure Island, Peter Pan) dies at 31
1981 Dewitt Wallace, publisher (Reader's Digest), dies at 91
1985 Harold Peary, actor (Blondie), dies of heart attack at 76
1986 James Cagney, actor (White Heat) dies at 86
2002 Elizabeth, Queen Mother of England, dies at age 101
2003 Michael Jeter, actor (The Green Mile) dies at 50 of AIDS
2004 Alistair Cooke, journalist/TV personality, dies at 95
2005 Derrick Plourde, drummer (The Ataris) dies at 33
2006 Red Hickey, NFL coach (San Francisco 49ers) dies at 89
2008 Dith Pran, photographer (The Killing Fields) dies at 65
Today in History
1822 Florida became a U.S. territory.
1858 Hymen Lipman patented a pencil with an attached eraser.
1867 Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as "Seward's Folly."
1870 The 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect.
1870 Texas was readmitted to the Union.
1909 The Queensboro Bridge, linking the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.
1910 The Mississippi Legislature founded The University of Southern Mississippi.
1945 The Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.
1951 Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
1964 The TV game show Jeopardy! premiered on NBC.
1965 A car bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
1981 President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr.; also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer.
1995 Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical condemning abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimize.
1999 A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.
2006 American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was released after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Pied Pipers
A Little on the Lonely Side - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Paul Allen)
Accentuate the Positive - Johnny Mercer
Shame on You - Spade Cooley
1953
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes - Perry Como
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Kaw-Liga - Hank Williams
1961
Surrender - Elvis Presley
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Shirelles
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Traces - Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost
Time of the Season - The Zombies
Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass - Buck Owens
1977
Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
1985
One More Night - Phil Collins
Lovergirl - Teena Marie
We are the World - USA for Africa
Seven Spanish Angels - Ray Charles with Willie Nelson
Quote of the Day
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
Robert Frost, poet (1874 - 1963)
Today's Birthdays
1674 Jethro Tull, agricultural writer (Basildon) died Feb 21, 1741
1853 Vincent van Gogh, post-impressionist artist (Sunflowers) died July 29, 1890
1880 Sean O'Casey, playwright (Playboy of the Western World) died Sept 18, 1964
1894 Sergei Ilyushin, Russian airplane builder (Ilyushin) died February 9, 1977
1913 Frankie Laine (Frank Paul LoVecchio), singer (That’s My Desire) died Feb 6, 2007
1914 Sonny Boy Williamson (John Lee), blues musician (Down & Out Blues) died June 1, 1948
1927 Peter Marshall, game show host (Hollywood Squares)
1929 Richard Dysart, actor (L.A. Law)
1930 John Astin, actor (Addams Family)
1937 Warren Beatty, actor (Bulworth, Heaven Can Wait)
1941 Graeme Edge, rock musician (The Moody Blues)
1945 Eric Clapton, guitarist (Slowhand)
1948 Jim Dandy Mangrum, singer (Black Oak Arkansas)
1950 Dave Ball, guitarist (Procul Harum)
1950 Robbie Coltrane, actor (Nuns on the Run)
1950 Rupert Greenall, keyboardist (The Fixx)
1950 Grady Little, MLB manager (LA Dodgers)
1955 Randy Van Warmer, singer (Just When I Needed You Most) died January 12, 2004
1957 Paul Reiser, actor/comedian (Mad About You)
1961 Doug Wickenheiser, NHL center (NY Rangers) died January 12, 1999
1962 MC Hammer (Stanley Kirk Burrell), rapper
1964 Ian Ziering, actor (Beverly Hills 90210)
1964 Tracy Chapman, folk/rock singer (Fast Car)
1966 Joey Castillo, drummer (Queens of the Stone Age)
1968 Celine Dion, singer
1970 Secretariat, race horse (1973 Triple Crown)
1971 Mark Consuelos, soap opera actor/Mr. Kelly Ripa
1979 Norah Jones, pop/rock singer/musician (Don't Know Why)
1984 Santonio Holmes, NFL wide receiver (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Today's Deaths in History
1840 Beau Brummell, English celebrity and dandy, dies at 61
1955 Harl McDonald, composer (Santa Fé Trail), dies at 55
1966 Maxfield Parrish, painter, dies at 95
1968 Bobby Driscoll, actor (Treasure Island, Peter Pan) dies at 31
1981 Dewitt Wallace, publisher (Reader's Digest), dies at 91
1985 Harold Peary, actor (Blondie), dies of heart attack at 76
1986 James Cagney, actor (White Heat) dies at 86
2002 Elizabeth, Queen Mother of England, dies at age 101
2003 Michael Jeter, actor (The Green Mile) dies at 50 of AIDS
2004 Alistair Cooke, journalist/TV personality, dies at 95
2005 Derrick Plourde, drummer (The Ataris) dies at 33
2006 Red Hickey, NFL coach (San Francisco 49ers) dies at 89
2008 Dith Pran, photographer (The Killing Fields) dies at 65
Today in History
1822 Florida became a U.S. territory.
1858 Hymen Lipman patented a pencil with an attached eraser.
1867 Secretary of State William H. Seward reached agreement with Russia to purchase the territory of Alaska for $7.2 million, a deal roundly ridiculed as "Seward's Folly."
1870 The 15th amendment to the Constitution, giving black men the right to vote, was declared in effect.
1870 Texas was readmitted to the Union.
1909 The Queensboro Bridge, linking the New York boroughs of Manhattan and Queens, opened.
1910 The Mississippi Legislature founded The University of Southern Mississippi.
1945 The Soviet Union invaded Austria during World War II.
1951 Remington Rand delivered the first UNIVAC I computer to the United States Census Bureau.
1964 The TV game show Jeopardy! premiered on NBC.
1965 A car bomb exploded in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
1981 President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously injured outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John W. Hinckley Jr.; also wounded were White House press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent and a District of Columbia police officer.
1995 Pope John Paul II issued an encyclical condemning abortion and euthanasia as crimes that no human laws could legitimize.
1999 A jury in Portland, Ore., ordered Philip Morris to pay $81 million to the family of a man who died of lung cancer after smoking Marlboros for four decades.
2006 American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelancer for The Christian Science Monitor, was released after 82 days as a hostage in Iraq.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Pied Pipers
A Little on the Lonely Side - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Paul Allen)
Accentuate the Positive - Johnny Mercer
Shame on You - Spade Cooley
1953
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
Don’t Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes - Perry Como
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Kaw-Liga - Hank Williams
1961
Surrender - Elvis Presley
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Shirelles
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Traces - Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost
Time of the Season - The Zombies
Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass - Buck Owens
1977
Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
1985
One More Night - Phil Collins
Lovergirl - Teena Marie
We are the World - USA for Africa
Seven Spanish Angels - Ray Charles with Willie Nelson
Quote of the Day
Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.
Robert Frost, poet (1874 - 1963)
Today in History - March 31st
Today's Birthdays
1596 Rene Descartes, philosopher (I think, therefore I am) died Feb 11, 1650
1732 Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (Father of the Symphony) died May 31, 1809
1878 Jack Johnson, boxing champion, died June 10, 1946
1922 Richard (Paul) Kiley, actor (The Thorn Birds) died Mar 5, 1999
1927 William Daniels actor (St Elsewhere)
1927 Cesar Chavez, labor leader (National Farm Workers Association) died Apr 23, 1993
1928 Gordie Howe, Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (Detroit Red Wings)
1929 Liz Claiborne, fashion designer, died June 26, 2007
1934 Richard Chamberlain, actor (The Thorn Birds)
1934 Shirley Jones, actress/singer (The Partridge Family)
1935 Herb Alpert, musician (The Tijuana Brass)
1938 Bill Hicke, NHL right wing (NY Rangers) died July 18, 2005
1940 Patrick Leahy U.S. Senator, (D-Vt.)
1943 Christopher Walken, actor (The Dead Zone, Balls of Fury, Pulp Fiction)
1944 Rod Allen (Rodney Bainbridge), bassist/singer (The Fortunes)
1944 Mick Ralphs, guitarist (Mott the Hoople, Bad Company)
1945 Gabe Kaplan, actor/comedian (Welcome Back Kotter)
1948 Rhea Perlman, actress (Cheers)
1948 Al Gore, former Vice President
1950 Ed Marinaro, running back/actor (Minnesota Vikings, Hill Street Blues)
1953 Sean Hopper, keyboardist/singer (Huey Lewis and the News)
1955 Angus Young, guitarist (AC/DC)
1957 Marc McClure, actor (Back to the Future series)
1958 Tony Cox, actor (Bad Santa, Me Myself & Irene)
1959 Ali McMordie, bassist (Stiff Little Fingers)
1960 Mark Tuinei, tackle (Dallas Cowboys) died May 6, 1999
1963 Paul Mercurio, Australian actor/dancer (Strictly Ballroom, Exit to Eden)
1965 William McNamara, actor (Copycat)
1971 Ewan McGregor, actor (Star Wars series)
1971 Pavel Bure, NHL right wing (NY Rangers)
Today's Deaths in History
1631 John Donne, English poet (metaphysical poet) dies at 59
1727 Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician/physicist, dies at 84
1855 Charlotte Bronte, author (Jane Eyre) dies at 38
1931 Knute Rockne, athlete (Win One for the Gipper) dies at 43
1945 Anne Frank, German-born diarist, dies at 15
1969 Conrad Hilton, Jr., heir to hotel fortune, dies at 42
1980 Jesse Owens, Olympic Gold Medalist (track), dies at 66
1981 Enid Bagnold, writer (National Velvet) dies at 91
1986 O'Kelly Isley, Jr., singer (The Isley Brothers) dies at 48
1993 Brandon Lee, actor/son of Bruce Lee, dies at 28 from an accidental gunshot wound while filming The Crow
1995 Selena, tejana singer, is shot to death at 23
1996 Jeffrey Lee Pierce, singer/songwriter/guitarist (The Gun Club) dies at 37
1998 Bella Abzug, activist/Congresswoman, dies at 77
1998 Tim Flock, NASCAR driver, dies at 73
2004 Buddy Arnold, screenwriter (Jackie Gleason Show) dies at 88
2005 Frank Perdue, chicken magnate, dies at 84
2005 Terri Schiavo, right to die case subject, dies at 41
2006 Angela Devi, model, commits suicide at 30
Today in History
1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling those Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity.
1854 Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
1889 French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower to mark its completion.
1917 The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1918 Daylight saving time went into effect throughout the United States for the first time.
1930 The Motion Pictures Production Code was instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film for the next 38 years.
1943 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! opened on Broadway.
1945 Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway.
1949 Newfoundland entered the confederation as Canada's 10th province.
1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson made a surprise announcement that he would not run for another term in office.
1968 Tony Jacklin became the first Englishman to win a modern-day U.S. golf tournament when he won the Greater Jacksonville Open.
1970 A bankruptcy referee granted the owner of the Seattle Pilots permission to sell the major-league baseball franchise to investors in Milwaukee, WI.
1972 Swimmer Mark Spitz was presented the Amateur Athletic Union’s coveted Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete of 1971.
1976 The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985).
1992 The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.
1992 The USS Missouri (BB-63), the last active United States Navy Battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
1995 Singer Selena, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club.
1995 Baseball players agreed to end a 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.
1998 Netscape released the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement; the project was given the code name Mozilla and would eventually be spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
1999 Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets (the officers were acquited in 2000).
2004 Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
2004 Air America, intended as a liberal voice in network talk radio, made its debut on five stations.
2005 Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a right-to-die dispute that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House.
2008 Aloha Airlines, based in Honolulu, permanently ended passenger service.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
Personality - Johnny Mercer
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Make Love to Me! - Jo Stafford
Wanted - Perry Como
Answer Me, My Love - Nat ‘King’ Cole
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You - Connie Francis
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Dream Baby - Roy Orbison
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Be - The Beatles
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) - John Ono Lennon
The Fightin’ Side of Me - Merle Haggard
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys - Waylon & Willie
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Cougar Mellencamp
Kiss - Prince & the Revolution
Don’t Underestimate My Love for You - Lee Greenwood
Quote of the Day
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.
Stephen Jay Gould, author/naturalist/paleontologist/popularizer of science (1941 - 2002)
Today's Birthdays
1596 Rene Descartes, philosopher (I think, therefore I am) died Feb 11, 1650
1732 Joseph Haydn, Austrian composer (Father of the Symphony) died May 31, 1809
1878 Jack Johnson, boxing champion, died June 10, 1946
1922 Richard (Paul) Kiley, actor (The Thorn Birds) died Mar 5, 1999
1927 William Daniels actor (St Elsewhere)
1927 Cesar Chavez, labor leader (National Farm Workers Association) died Apr 23, 1993
1928 Gordie Howe, Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (Detroit Red Wings)
1929 Liz Claiborne, fashion designer, died June 26, 2007
1934 Richard Chamberlain, actor (The Thorn Birds)
1934 Shirley Jones, actress/singer (The Partridge Family)
1935 Herb Alpert, musician (The Tijuana Brass)
1938 Bill Hicke, NHL right wing (NY Rangers) died July 18, 2005
1940 Patrick Leahy U.S. Senator, (D-Vt.)
1943 Christopher Walken, actor (The Dead Zone, Balls of Fury, Pulp Fiction)
1944 Rod Allen (Rodney Bainbridge), bassist/singer (The Fortunes)
1944 Mick Ralphs, guitarist (Mott the Hoople, Bad Company)
1945 Gabe Kaplan, actor/comedian (Welcome Back Kotter)
1948 Rhea Perlman, actress (Cheers)
1948 Al Gore, former Vice President
1950 Ed Marinaro, running back/actor (Minnesota Vikings, Hill Street Blues)
1953 Sean Hopper, keyboardist/singer (Huey Lewis and the News)
1955 Angus Young, guitarist (AC/DC)
1957 Marc McClure, actor (Back to the Future series)
1958 Tony Cox, actor (Bad Santa, Me Myself & Irene)
1959 Ali McMordie, bassist (Stiff Little Fingers)
1960 Mark Tuinei, tackle (Dallas Cowboys) died May 6, 1999
1963 Paul Mercurio, Australian actor/dancer (Strictly Ballroom, Exit to Eden)
1965 William McNamara, actor (Copycat)
1971 Ewan McGregor, actor (Star Wars series)
1971 Pavel Bure, NHL right wing (NY Rangers)
Today's Deaths in History
1631 John Donne, English poet (metaphysical poet) dies at 59
1727 Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician/physicist, dies at 84
1855 Charlotte Bronte, author (Jane Eyre) dies at 38
1931 Knute Rockne, athlete (Win One for the Gipper) dies at 43
1945 Anne Frank, German-born diarist, dies at 15
1969 Conrad Hilton, Jr., heir to hotel fortune, dies at 42
1980 Jesse Owens, Olympic Gold Medalist (track), dies at 66
1981 Enid Bagnold, writer (National Velvet) dies at 91
1986 O'Kelly Isley, Jr., singer (The Isley Brothers) dies at 48
1993 Brandon Lee, actor/son of Bruce Lee, dies at 28 from an accidental gunshot wound while filming The Crow
1995 Selena, tejana singer, is shot to death at 23
1996 Jeffrey Lee Pierce, singer/songwriter/guitarist (The Gun Club) dies at 37
1998 Bella Abzug, activist/Congresswoman, dies at 77
1998 Tim Flock, NASCAR driver, dies at 73
2004 Buddy Arnold, screenwriter (Jackie Gleason Show) dies at 88
2005 Frank Perdue, chicken magnate, dies at 84
2005 Terri Schiavo, right to die case subject, dies at 41
2006 Angela Devi, model, commits suicide at 30
Today in History
1492 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain issued an edict expelling those Jews unwilling to convert to Christianity.
1854 Commodore Matthew Perry signed the Treaty of Kanagawa with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade.
1889 French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel unfurled the French tricolor from atop the Eiffel Tower to mark its completion.
1917 The United States took possession of the Virgin Islands from Denmark.
1918 Daylight saving time went into effect throughout the United States for the first time.
1930 The Motion Pictures Production Code was instituted, imposing strict guidelines on the treatment of sex, crime, religion and violence in film for the next 38 years.
1943 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! opened on Broadway.
1945 Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie opened on Broadway.
1949 Newfoundland entered the confederation as Canada's 10th province.
1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson made a surprise announcement that he would not run for another term in office.
1968 Tony Jacklin became the first Englishman to win a modern-day U.S. golf tournament when he won the Greater Jacksonville Open.
1970 A bankruptcy referee granted the owner of the Seattle Pilots permission to sell the major-league baseball franchise to investors in Milwaukee, WI.
1972 Swimmer Mark Spitz was presented the Amateur Athletic Union’s coveted Sullivan Award as the outstanding amateur athlete of 1971.
1976 The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that coma patient Karen Anne Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator (Quinlan remained comatose and died in 1985).
1992 The U.N. Security Council voted to ban flights and arms sales to Libya, branding it a terrorist state for shielding six men accused of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 and a French airliner.
1992 The USS Missouri (BB-63), the last active United States Navy Battleship, was decommissioned in Long Beach, California.
1995 Singer Selena, 23, was shot to death in Corpus Christi, Texas, by the founder of her fan club.
1995 Baseball players agreed to end a 232-day strike after a judge granted a preliminary injunction against club owners.
1998 Netscape released the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement; the project was given the code name Mozilla and would eventually be spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
1999 Four New York City police officers were charged with murder for killing Amadou Diallo, an unarmed African immigrant, in a hail of bullets (the officers were acquited in 2000).
2004 Four American civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah, Iraq; frenzied crowds dragged their burned, mutilated bodies and strung two of them from a bridge.
2004 Air America, intended as a liberal voice in network talk radio, made its debut on five stations.
2005 Terri Schiavo died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., 13 days after her feeding tube was removed in a right-to-die dispute that engulfed the courts, Congress and the White House.
2008 Aloha Airlines, based in Honolulu, permanently ended passenger service.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
Personality - Johnny Mercer
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Make Love to Me! - Jo Stafford
Wanted - Perry Como
Answer Me, My Love - Nat ‘King’ Cole
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Don’t Break the Heart that Loves You - Connie Francis
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Dream Baby - Roy Orbison
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Be - The Beatles
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) - John Ono Lennon
The Fightin’ Side of Me - Merle Haggard
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys - Waylon & Willie
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Cougar Mellencamp
Kiss - Prince & the Revolution
Don’t Underestimate My Love for You - Lee Greenwood
Quote of the Day
The most erroneous stories are those we think we know best - and therefore never scrutinize or question.
Stephen Jay Gould, author/naturalist/paleontologist/popularizer of science (1941 - 2002)
Today in History - April 1st
Today's Birthdays
1815 Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor; died July 30, 1898
1873 Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer; died March 28, 1943
1883 Lon Chaney, actor (The Hunchback of Notre Dame); died Aug 26, 1930
1885 Wallace (Fitzgerald) Beery, actor (The Champ); died Apr 15, 1949
1920 Toshiro Mifune, actor (Samurai series); died Dec 24, 1997
1929 Jane Powell, actress (Royal Wedding)
1932 Debbie Reynolds, actress (Singin' in the Rain)
1932 Gordon Jump, actor (WKRP in Cincinnati); died Sep 22, 2003
1938 Ali MacGraw, actress (Love Story)
1939 Rudolph Isley, R&B singer (The Isley Brothers)
1942 Phil Margo, singer (The Tokens)
1945 Johny Barbata, drummer (The Turtles)
1946 Ronnie Lane, guitarist (Small Faces) died June 4, 1997
1948 Jimmy Cliff, reggae singer
1949 Gil Scott-Heron, jazz keyboardist
1950 Billy Currie, keyboardist (Ultravox)
1950 Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice
1951 John Abizaid, U.S. Army General (US Central Command)
1952 Annette O'Toole, actress (Smallville, One on One, Stephen King's It)
1953 Barry Sonnenfeld, film director (Men in Black series)
1954 Jeff Porcaro, percussionist (Toto) died Aug 5, 1992
1961 Mark White, guitarist (ABC)
1962 Patricia Morrison, guitarist/vocalist (Sisters of Mercy)
1966 Traci Lind, actress (The Road to Wellville)
1970 Sung Hi Lee, model/actress (Lost, The Girl Next Door)
1971 Method Man, rapper
1976 Renee Chen, actress; died July 23, 1982 during filming of Twlight Zone: The Movie.
1980 Bijou Phillips, singer/actress (Almost Famous)
1983 Sean Taylor, NFL safety (Washington Redskins) shot and killed November 27, 2007
Today's Deaths in History
1917 Scott Joplin, ragtime composer, dies at 48
1945 William Fairbanks, actor, dies at 50
1946 Noah Beery, actor, dies at 64
1976 Max Ernst, German artist (Dadaism, Surrealism) dies at 84
1984 Marvin Gaye, R&B singer, is shot to death at 45
1991 Martha Graham, choreographer, dies at 96
1993 Alan Kulwicki, NASCAR driver, is killed in a plane crash at 38
1996 John McSherry, MLB umpire, dies at 51
2003 Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor, commits suicide at 46
2005 Jack Keller, songwriter (Bewitched theme) dies at 68
2007 Herb Carneal, sports broadcaster (Minnesota Twins) dies at 83
Today in History
1760 The first reference to April Fool's Day appeared in Poor Robin's Almanack: “The first of April, some do say, is set apart for All Fools’ Day, but why the people call it so, nor I nor they themselves do know.”
1789 The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City.
1826 Samuel Morey of Oxford, New Hampshire patented the internal combustion engine.
1853 Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.
1891 The Wrigley Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois
1918 The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.
1930 Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs broke the altitude record for a catch by catching a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, CA.
1931 Pitcher Jackie Mitchell was signed by the Chattanooga Baseball Club, making her the first woman in organized baseball.
1933 Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
1939 The United States recognized the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish Civil War.
1945 American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II.
1946 Tidal waves struck the Hawaiian Islands, killing more than 170 people.
1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
1956 Chet Huntley began his successful news career with NBC.
1957 All of Great Britain was fooled by England’s famous newscaster, Richard Dimbleby; as he was wrapping up the day’s news on Panorama, the BBC’s current affairs program, he reported about the “spring spaghetti crop in southern Switzerland,” with the filmed report showed some ten pounds of spaghetti being picked from a tree.
1960 The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
1963 The daily TV serial, General Hospital, began its long and popular run on ABC-TV.
1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and TV.
1976 Apple Computer was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
1979 Nickelodeon went on the air.
1985 George Plimpton played an April Fool’s joke on readers of Sports Illustrated, introducing the entire nation to Sidd Finch, a 28-year-old aspiring monk, who could throw a 168 mph fastball.
1985 Unranked Villanova defeated top-rated Georgetown 66-64 to win the NCAA basketball championship.
1987 In his first major speech on the epidemic, President Ronald Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."
1987 Steve Newman became the first man to walk solo around the world.
1996 Baseball umpire John McSherry died after collapsing during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
1999 A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus, which infected more than 1 million computers worldwide and caused more than $80 million in damage (David Smith served just 20 months in federal prison in exchange for helping the FBI track down the authors of other computer viruses).
2001 A United States Navy EP-3E plane collided with a Chinese People's Liberation Army fighter jet; the crew made an emergency landing in Hainan, People's Republic of China, and was detained.
2001 Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with police at his Belgrade villa.
2003 American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.
2004 Google introduced its Gmail product to the public.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
Managua, Nicaragua - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Don Rodney)
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
South Street - The Orlons
Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
After the Fire is Gone - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1979
Tragedy - Bee Gees
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray
1987
Lean on Me - Club Nouveau
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Small Town Girl - Steve Wariner
Quote of the Day
Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.
Jules Feiffer, cartoonist & satirist (1929 - )
Today's Birthdays
1815 Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor; died July 30, 1898
1873 Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer; died March 28, 1943
1883 Lon Chaney, actor (The Hunchback of Notre Dame); died Aug 26, 1930
1885 Wallace (Fitzgerald) Beery, actor (The Champ); died Apr 15, 1949
1920 Toshiro Mifune, actor (Samurai series); died Dec 24, 1997
1929 Jane Powell, actress (Royal Wedding)
1932 Debbie Reynolds, actress (Singin' in the Rain)
1932 Gordon Jump, actor (WKRP in Cincinnati); died Sep 22, 2003
1938 Ali MacGraw, actress (Love Story)
1939 Rudolph Isley, R&B singer (The Isley Brothers)
1942 Phil Margo, singer (The Tokens)
1945 Johny Barbata, drummer (The Turtles)
1946 Ronnie Lane, guitarist (Small Faces) died June 4, 1997
1948 Jimmy Cliff, reggae singer
1949 Gil Scott-Heron, jazz keyboardist
1950 Billy Currie, keyboardist (Ultravox)
1950 Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice
1951 John Abizaid, U.S. Army General (US Central Command)
1952 Annette O'Toole, actress (Smallville, One on One, Stephen King's It)
1953 Barry Sonnenfeld, film director (Men in Black series)
1954 Jeff Porcaro, percussionist (Toto) died Aug 5, 1992
1961 Mark White, guitarist (ABC)
1962 Patricia Morrison, guitarist/vocalist (Sisters of Mercy)
1966 Traci Lind, actress (The Road to Wellville)
1970 Sung Hi Lee, model/actress (Lost, The Girl Next Door)
1971 Method Man, rapper
1976 Renee Chen, actress; died July 23, 1982 during filming of Twlight Zone: The Movie.
1980 Bijou Phillips, singer/actress (Almost Famous)
1983 Sean Taylor, NFL safety (Washington Redskins) shot and killed November 27, 2007
Today's Deaths in History
1917 Scott Joplin, ragtime composer, dies at 48
1945 William Fairbanks, actor, dies at 50
1946 Noah Beery, actor, dies at 64
1976 Max Ernst, German artist (Dadaism, Surrealism) dies at 84
1984 Marvin Gaye, R&B singer, is shot to death at 45
1991 Martha Graham, choreographer, dies at 96
1993 Alan Kulwicki, NASCAR driver, is killed in a plane crash at 38
1996 John McSherry, MLB umpire, dies at 51
2003 Leslie Cheung, Hong Kong actor, commits suicide at 46
2005 Jack Keller, songwriter (Bewitched theme) dies at 68
2007 Herb Carneal, sports broadcaster (Minnesota Twins) dies at 83
Today in History
1760 The first reference to April Fool's Day appeared in Poor Robin's Almanack: “The first of April, some do say, is set apart for All Fools’ Day, but why the people call it so, nor I nor they themselves do know.”
1789 The U.S. House of Representatives held its first full meeting in New York City.
1826 Samuel Morey of Oxford, New Hampshire patented the internal combustion engine.
1853 Cincinnati, Ohio, became the first U.S. city to pay its firefighters a regular salary.
1891 The Wrigley Company was founded in Chicago, Illinois
1918 The Royal Air Force was established in Britain.
1930 Leo Hartnett of the Chicago Cubs broke the altitude record for a catch by catching a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, CA.
1931 Pitcher Jackie Mitchell was signed by the Chattanooga Baseball Club, making her the first woman in organized baseball.
1933 Nazi Germany began persecuting Jews with a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses.
1939 The United States recognized the Franco government in Spain following the end of the Spanish Civil War.
1945 American forces invaded Okinawa during World War II.
1946 Tidal waves struck the Hawaiian Islands, killing more than 170 people.
1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.
1956 Chet Huntley began his successful news career with NBC.
1957 All of Great Britain was fooled by England’s famous newscaster, Richard Dimbleby; as he was wrapping up the day’s news on Panorama, the BBC’s current affairs program, he reported about the “spring spaghetti crop in southern Switzerland,” with the filmed report showed some ten pounds of spaghetti being picked from a tree.
1960 The first weather satellite, TIROS-1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.
1963 The daily TV serial, General Hospital, began its long and popular run on ABC-TV.
1970 President Richard Nixon signed a measure banning cigarette advertising on radio and TV.
1976 Apple Computer was formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
1979 Nickelodeon went on the air.
1985 George Plimpton played an April Fool’s joke on readers of Sports Illustrated, introducing the entire nation to Sidd Finch, a 28-year-old aspiring monk, who could throw a 168 mph fastball.
1985 Unranked Villanova defeated top-rated Georgetown 66-64 to win the NCAA basketball championship.
1987 In his first major speech on the epidemic, President Ronald Reagan told doctors in Philadelphia, "We've declared AIDS public health enemy No. 1."
1987 Steve Newman became the first man to walk solo around the world.
1996 Baseball umpire John McSherry died after collapsing during a game between the Cincinnati Reds and Montreal Expos.
1999 A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with originating the "Melissa" e-mail virus, which infected more than 1 million computers worldwide and caused more than $80 million in damage (David Smith served just 20 months in federal prison in exchange for helping the FBI track down the authors of other computer viruses).
2001 A United States Navy EP-3E plane collided with a Chinese People's Liberation Army fighter jet; the crew made an emergency landing in Hainan, People's Republic of China, and was detained.
2001 Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on corruption charges after a 26-hour armed standoff with police at his Belgrade villa.
2003 American troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, where she had been held prisoner since her unit was ambushed nine days earlier.
2004 Google introduced its Gmail product to the public.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
Managua, Nicaragua - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Don Rodney)
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
South Street - The Orlons
Rhythm of the Rain - The Cascades
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Me and Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
After the Fire is Gone - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1979
Tragedy - Bee Gees
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray
1987
Lean on Me - Club Nouveau
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Small Town Girl - Steve Wariner
Quote of the Day
Maturity is only a short break in adolescence.
Jules Feiffer, cartoonist & satirist (1929 - )
Today in History - April 2nd
Today's Birthdays
0742 Charlemagne, first Holy Roman emperor (800-14) died Jan 28, 0814
1725 Giovanni Casanova, philanderer/writer (History of My Life) died June 4, 1798
1805 Hans Christian Andersen, author (The Little Mermaid) died Aug 4, 1875
1840 Emile Zola, novelist (J’accuse) died Sep 29, 1902
1875 Walter Chrysler, auto manufacturer (Chrysler Corporation) died Aug 18, 1940
1908 Buddy Ebsen, actor (The Beverly Hillbillies) died July 6, 2003
1914 Sir Alec Guinness, actor (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Star Wars) died Aug 5, 2000
1920 Jack (John Randolph) Webb, director/actor (Dragnet, The DI) died Dec 23, 1982
1939 Marvin (Pentz) Gaye, Jr., singer (Let's Get It On) died April 1, 1984
1946 Kurt Winter, guitarist (The Guess Who) died December 14, 1997
1947 Emmylou Harris, country/rock singer
1949 Pamela Reed, actress (Kindergarten Cop)
1952 David Robinson, drummer (The Cars)
1952 Leon Wilkerson, bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) died July 27, 2001
1953 Debralee Scott, actress (Police Academy) died Apr 5, 2005
1954 Gregory Abbott, R&B singer (Shake You Down)
1959 Victoria Jackson, comedian/actress (UHF, Saturday Night Live)
1961 Chris Meloni, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1961 Keren Woodward, singer (Bananarama)
1961 Chris Meloni, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1963 Sia and Shane Barbi, models (The Barbi Twins)
1964 Jana Marie Hupp, actress (Ed)
1965 Rodney King, bad driver/police beating victim
1966 Bill Romanowski, linebacker/actor (Oakland Raiders, The Longest Yard)
1967 Greg Camp, guitarist (Smash Mouth)
1967 Renée Estevez, actress/daughter of Martin Sheen
1969 Tony Fredianelli, guitarist (Third Eye Blind)
1973 Roselyn Sanchez, actress (Without a Trace)
1975 Adam Rodriguez, actor (CSI: Miami)
1979 Jesse Carmichael, pop/rock musician (Maroon 5)
1980 Ricky Hendrick, NASCAR driver/owner, died in a plane crash October 24, 2004
1981 Bethany Joy Galeotti, actress (One Tree Hill)
1988 Jesse Plemons, actor (Friday Night Lights)
Today's Deaths in History
1872 Samuel F.B. Morse, developer of the electric telegraph, dies at 80
1966 C. S. Forester, English author (The African Queen) dies at 66
1972 Gil Hodges, manager (New York Mets), dies of heart attack at 57
1974 Georges Pompidou, French President, dies at 62
1976 Ray Teal, actor (Bonanza), dies at 74
1987 Buddy Rich, drummer/orchestra leader (Away We Go), dies at 69
1997 Tomoyuki Tanaka, producer (Godzilla), dies of a stroke at 86
1998 Rob Pilatus, lip-syncher (Milli Vanilli) commits suicide at 32
2003 Edwin Starr, singer (War) dies at 61
2004 Richard Fiske, US Marine Pearl Harbor survivor, dies in Honolulu at 82
2005 Pope John Paul II dies at 84
2007 Paul Reed, actor (Car 54, Where Are You?) dies at 97
Today in History
1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.
1792 Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
1860 The first Italian Parliament met at Turin.
1863 Food shortages incited hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand that the Confederate government release emergency supplies.
1865 Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
1902 Electric Theatre, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opened in Los Angeles, California.
1917 President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy."
1917 Jeannette Rankin, the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, took her seat as a representative from Montana.
1932 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, through an intermediary, paid $50,000 ransom in a New York cemetery to a man who promised to return his kidnapped son; the child was found dead the following month and the ransom money was eventually traced to Bruno Hauptmann, who was executed for the crime.
1968 The science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
1972 Actor Charlie Chaplin returned to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
1974 French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris.
1982 Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands from Britain.
1992 Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering.
2002 Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.
2007 In its first case on climate change, the Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Beg Your Pardon - Francis Craig
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
She Loves You - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Call Me - Blondie
I’d Love to Lay You Down - Conway Twitty
1988
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
I Want Her - Keith Sweat
Love Will Find Its Way to You - Reba McEntire
Quote of the Day
The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
Sophocles, Greek tragic dramatist (496 BC - 406 BC)
Today's Birthdays
0742 Charlemagne, first Holy Roman emperor (800-14) died Jan 28, 0814
1725 Giovanni Casanova, philanderer/writer (History of My Life) died June 4, 1798
1805 Hans Christian Andersen, author (The Little Mermaid) died Aug 4, 1875
1840 Emile Zola, novelist (J’accuse) died Sep 29, 1902
1875 Walter Chrysler, auto manufacturer (Chrysler Corporation) died Aug 18, 1940
1908 Buddy Ebsen, actor (The Beverly Hillbillies) died July 6, 2003
1914 Sir Alec Guinness, actor (The Bridge on the River Kwai, Star Wars) died Aug 5, 2000
1920 Jack (John Randolph) Webb, director/actor (Dragnet, The DI) died Dec 23, 1982
1939 Marvin (Pentz) Gaye, Jr., singer (Let's Get It On) died April 1, 1984
1946 Kurt Winter, guitarist (The Guess Who) died December 14, 1997
1947 Emmylou Harris, country/rock singer
1949 Pamela Reed, actress (Kindergarten Cop)
1952 David Robinson, drummer (The Cars)
1952 Leon Wilkerson, bassist (Lynyrd Skynyrd) died July 27, 2001
1953 Debralee Scott, actress (Police Academy) died Apr 5, 2005
1954 Gregory Abbott, R&B singer (Shake You Down)
1959 Victoria Jackson, comedian/actress (UHF, Saturday Night Live)
1961 Chris Meloni, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1961 Keren Woodward, singer (Bananarama)
1961 Chris Meloni, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1963 Sia and Shane Barbi, models (The Barbi Twins)
1964 Jana Marie Hupp, actress (Ed)
1965 Rodney King, bad driver/police beating victim
1966 Bill Romanowski, linebacker/actor (Oakland Raiders, The Longest Yard)
1967 Greg Camp, guitarist (Smash Mouth)
1967 Renée Estevez, actress/daughter of Martin Sheen
1969 Tony Fredianelli, guitarist (Third Eye Blind)
1973 Roselyn Sanchez, actress (Without a Trace)
1975 Adam Rodriguez, actor (CSI: Miami)
1979 Jesse Carmichael, pop/rock musician (Maroon 5)
1980 Ricky Hendrick, NASCAR driver/owner, died in a plane crash October 24, 2004
1981 Bethany Joy Galeotti, actress (One Tree Hill)
1988 Jesse Plemons, actor (Friday Night Lights)
Today's Deaths in History
1872 Samuel F.B. Morse, developer of the electric telegraph, dies at 80
1966 C. S. Forester, English author (The African Queen) dies at 66
1972 Gil Hodges, manager (New York Mets), dies of heart attack at 57
1974 Georges Pompidou, French President, dies at 62
1976 Ray Teal, actor (Bonanza), dies at 74
1987 Buddy Rich, drummer/orchestra leader (Away We Go), dies at 69
1997 Tomoyuki Tanaka, producer (Godzilla), dies of a stroke at 86
1998 Rob Pilatus, lip-syncher (Milli Vanilli) commits suicide at 32
2003 Edwin Starr, singer (War) dies at 61
2004 Richard Fiske, US Marine Pearl Harbor survivor, dies in Honolulu at 82
2005 Pope John Paul II dies at 84
2007 Paul Reed, actor (Car 54, Where Are You?) dies at 97
Today in History
1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon landed in Florida.
1792 Congress passed the Coinage Act, which authorized establishment of the U.S. Mint.
1860 The first Italian Parliament met at Turin.
1863 Food shortages incited hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand that the Confederate government release emergency supplies.
1865 Confederate President Jefferson Davis and most of his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
1902 Electric Theatre, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opened in Los Angeles, California.
1917 President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany, saying, "The world must be made safe for democracy."
1917 Jeannette Rankin, the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, took her seat as a representative from Montana.
1932 Aviator Charles Lindbergh, through an intermediary, paid $50,000 ransom in a New York cemetery to a man who promised to return his kidnapped son; the child was found dead the following month and the ransom money was eventually traced to Bruno Hauptmann, who was executed for the crime.
1968 The science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey had its world premiere in Washington, D.C.
1972 Actor Charlie Chaplin returned to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
1974 French President Georges Pompidou died in Paris.
1982 Argentina seized the disputed Falkland Islands from Britain.
1992 Mob boss John Gotti was convicted in New York of murder and racketeering.
2002 Israel seized control of Bethlehem; Palestinian gunmen forced their way into the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, beginning a 39-day standoff.
2007 In its first case on climate change, the Supreme Court declared in a 5-4 ruling that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Beg Your Pardon - Francis Craig
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
Rock Island Line - Lonnie Donegan
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
She Loves You - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
Mother and Child Reunion - Paul Simon
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Call Me - Blondie
I’d Love to Lay You Down - Conway Twitty
1988
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
I Want Her - Keith Sweat
Love Will Find Its Way to You - Reba McEntire
Quote of the Day
The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.
Sophocles, Greek tragic dramatist (496 BC - 406 BC)
Today in History - April 3rd
Today's Birthdays
1783 Washington Irving, author (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) died Nov 28, 1859
1822 Edward Everett Hale, clergyman/author (Man without a Country) died June 10, 1909
1823 William M. ‘Boss’ Tweed, political boss (New York City) died in prison Apr 12, 1878
1893 Leslie Howard (Stainer), actor (Gone with the Wind) died June 1, 1943
1894 Dooley Wilson, actor (Casablanca) died May 30, 1953
1898 George Jessel, comedian/actor (Valley of the Dolls) died May 24, 1981
1898 Henry R. Luce, publisher (Time, Fortune, Life) died Feb 28, 1967
1904 Iron Eyes Cody, actor (The Crying Indian) died Jan 4, 1999
1924 Marlon Brando, actor (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) died July 1, 2004
1924 Doris Day (Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff), singer (Que Sera Sera)
1926 Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Lieutenant Colonel USAF/astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3) died Jan 27, 1967 in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire
1929 Miyoshi Umeki, actress (The Courtship of Eddie’s Father) died August 28, 2007
1930 Helmut Kohl, Chancellor (Federal Republic of Germany 1982-1998)
1934 Jane Goodall, anthropologist (studied chimpanzees)
1938 Philippe Wynne, US soul singer (Spinners, Parliament) died July 14, 1984
1941 Jan Berry, songwriter/singer (Jan and Dean) died Mar 26, 2004
1942 Marsha Mason, actress (The Goodbye Girl)
1942 (Carson) Wayne Newton, singer (Danke Shoen)
1942 Billy Joe Royal, singer (Down in the Boondocks)
1943 Jonathan Lynn, actor/director (My Cousin Vinny)
1944 Tony Orlando, singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
1944 Barry Pritchard, guitarist/singer (The Fortunes) died Jan 11, 1999
1945 Richard Manuel, pianist/singer (The Band) died Mar 4, 1986
1949 Lyle Alzado, NFL defensive end (Los Angeles Raiders) died May 14, 1992
1955 Mick Mars, guitarist (Motley Crue)
1958 Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III), actor (The Hunt for Red October)
1959 David Hyde Pierce, actor (Fraiser, Monty Python's Spamalot)
1961 Eddie Murphy, comedian/actor (Beverly Hills Cop series)
1962 Mike Ness, guitarist (Social Distortion)
1963 Criss Oliva, guitarist (Savatage) died October 17, 1993
1968 Sebastian Bach (Bierk), singer (Skid Row)
1968 Charlotte Coleman, actress (4 Weddings and a Funeral) died Nov 14, 2001
1970 James MacDonough, bassist (Megadeth)
1971 Picabo Street, skiing champion (1984 Olympic Gold)
1972 Jennie Garth, actress (Beverly Hills 90210)
1982 Jared Allen, NFL defensive end (Minnesota Vikings)
1982 Cobie Smulders, actress (How I Met Your Mother)
1985 Leona Lewis, singer (Bleeding Love)
1986 Amanda Bynes, actress (What a Girl Wants)
Today's Deaths in History
1882 Jesse James, outlaw, shot dead at 34 in St Joseph, MO, by Robert Ford
1936 Bruno Hauptmann, convicted Lindbergh baby kidnapper/killer, executed at 36
1943 Conrad Veidt, German/US actor (Casablanca) dies at 50
1950 Carter G. Woodson, "father of black history," dies in Washington, D.C. at 74
1950 Kurt Julian Weill, German composer (Mack the Knife), dies at 50
1962 Benny "The Kid" Paret, boxer, dies at 25 from injuries sustained in a match
1977 Leslie Stuart, actor (The Profiteers) dies at 117
1982 Warren Oates, actor (Stripes), dies at 53
1988 Milton A Caniff, US cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates), dies at 81
1990 Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer, dies of lung cancer at 66
1990 Katharine Balfour, actress (Love Story), dies of ALS at 69
1991 Graham Greene, novelist (The Quiet American) dies at 86
1994 Frank Wells, entertainment businessman (Warner Brother, Disney) dies at 62
1996 Ronald Harmon Brown, Secretary of Commerce, dies at 54
1999 Lionel Bart, English composer (Oliver!) dies at 68
2002 Roy Huggins, screenwriter (The Fugitive) dies at 87
2003 Michael Kelly, journalist (Washington Post) dies at 56 covering the Iraq War
2007 Eddie Robinson, football coach (Grambling) dies at 88
Today in History
1860 The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.
1865 Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
1882 Outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of his gang.
1885 Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design.
1895 Oscar Wilde's case alledging libel began, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
1917 Vladimir Lenin arrived in Russia from exile, marking the beginning of Bolshevik leadership in the Russian Revolution.
1922 Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1936 Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh baby.
1946 Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines.
1948 President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid to help 16 European countries recover from World War II.
1955 The American Civil Liberties Union announced it would defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
1968 Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., less than 24 hours before he was assassinated.
1968 North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
1973 The first portable cell phone call was made in New York City.
1975 Bobby Fischer refused to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
1996 An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
1996 Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.
1998 The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time.
2000 A federal judge in Washington ruled that Microsoft Corp. had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.
2004 Surrounded by police, five suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up in a building outside the Spanish capital, also killing a special forces agent.
2006 Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty before an international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, denying he'd helped destabilize West Africa through killings, sexual slavery and sending children into combat.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skyliners)
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Gone - Ferlin Husky
There You Go - Johnny Cash
1965
Stop! In the Name of Love - The Supremes
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & the Dreamers
Shotgun - Jr. Walker & The All Stars
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack
Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) - Deodato
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Keep Me in Mind - Lynn Anderson
1981
Rapture - Blondie
Woman - John Lennon
The Best of Times - Styx
Texas Women - Hank Williams, Jr.
1989
Eternal Flame - Bangles
Girl You Know It’s True - Milli Vanilli
The Look - Roxette
Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye - George Strait
Quote of the Day
The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.
Charles Bukowski, author & poet (1920 - 1994)
Today's Birthdays
1783 Washington Irving, author (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow) died Nov 28, 1859
1822 Edward Everett Hale, clergyman/author (Man without a Country) died June 10, 1909
1823 William M. ‘Boss’ Tweed, political boss (New York City) died in prison Apr 12, 1878
1893 Leslie Howard (Stainer), actor (Gone with the Wind) died June 1, 1943
1894 Dooley Wilson, actor (Casablanca) died May 30, 1953
1898 George Jessel, comedian/actor (Valley of the Dolls) died May 24, 1981
1898 Henry R. Luce, publisher (Time, Fortune, Life) died Feb 28, 1967
1904 Iron Eyes Cody, actor (The Crying Indian) died Jan 4, 1999
1924 Marlon Brando, actor (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now) died July 1, 2004
1924 Doris Day (Doris Mary Ann Von Kappelhoff), singer (Que Sera Sera)
1926 Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Lieutenant Colonel USAF/astronaut (Mercury 4, Gemini 3) died Jan 27, 1967 in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire
1929 Miyoshi Umeki, actress (The Courtship of Eddie’s Father) died August 28, 2007
1930 Helmut Kohl, Chancellor (Federal Republic of Germany 1982-1998)
1934 Jane Goodall, anthropologist (studied chimpanzees)
1938 Philippe Wynne, US soul singer (Spinners, Parliament) died July 14, 1984
1941 Jan Berry, songwriter/singer (Jan and Dean) died Mar 26, 2004
1942 Marsha Mason, actress (The Goodbye Girl)
1942 (Carson) Wayne Newton, singer (Danke Shoen)
1942 Billy Joe Royal, singer (Down in the Boondocks)
1943 Jonathan Lynn, actor/director (My Cousin Vinny)
1944 Tony Orlando, singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
1944 Barry Pritchard, guitarist/singer (The Fortunes) died Jan 11, 1999
1945 Richard Manuel, pianist/singer (The Band) died Mar 4, 1986
1949 Lyle Alzado, NFL defensive end (Los Angeles Raiders) died May 14, 1992
1955 Mick Mars, guitarist (Motley Crue)
1958 Alec Baldwin (Alexander Rae Baldwin III), actor (The Hunt for Red October)
1959 David Hyde Pierce, actor (Fraiser, Monty Python's Spamalot)
1961 Eddie Murphy, comedian/actor (Beverly Hills Cop series)
1962 Mike Ness, guitarist (Social Distortion)
1963 Criss Oliva, guitarist (Savatage) died October 17, 1993
1968 Sebastian Bach (Bierk), singer (Skid Row)
1968 Charlotte Coleman, actress (4 Weddings and a Funeral) died Nov 14, 2001
1970 James MacDonough, bassist (Megadeth)
1971 Picabo Street, skiing champion (1984 Olympic Gold)
1972 Jennie Garth, actress (Beverly Hills 90210)
1982 Jared Allen, NFL defensive end (Minnesota Vikings)
1982 Cobie Smulders, actress (How I Met Your Mother)
1985 Leona Lewis, singer (Bleeding Love)
1986 Amanda Bynes, actress (What a Girl Wants)
Today's Deaths in History
1882 Jesse James, outlaw, shot dead at 34 in St Joseph, MO, by Robert Ford
1936 Bruno Hauptmann, convicted Lindbergh baby kidnapper/killer, executed at 36
1943 Conrad Veidt, German/US actor (Casablanca) dies at 50
1950 Carter G. Woodson, "father of black history," dies in Washington, D.C. at 74
1950 Kurt Julian Weill, German composer (Mack the Knife), dies at 50
1962 Benny "The Kid" Paret, boxer, dies at 25 from injuries sustained in a match
1977 Leslie Stuart, actor (The Profiteers) dies at 117
1982 Warren Oates, actor (Stripes), dies at 53
1988 Milton A Caniff, US cartoonist (Terry & the Pirates), dies at 81
1990 Sarah Vaughan, jazz singer, dies of lung cancer at 66
1990 Katharine Balfour, actress (Love Story), dies of ALS at 69
1991 Graham Greene, novelist (The Quiet American) dies at 86
1994 Frank Wells, entertainment businessman (Warner Brother, Disney) dies at 62
1996 Ronald Harmon Brown, Secretary of Commerce, dies at 54
1999 Lionel Bart, English composer (Oliver!) dies at 68
2002 Roy Huggins, screenwriter (The Fugitive) dies at 87
2003 Michael Kelly, journalist (Washington Post) dies at 56 covering the Iraq War
2007 Eddie Robinson, football coach (Grambling) dies at 88
Today in History
1860 The Pony Express began service between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento, Calif.
1865 Union forces occupied the Confederate capital of Richmond, Va.
1882 Outlaw Jesse James was shot to death in St. Joseph, Mo., by Robert Ford, a member of his gang.
1885 Gottlieb Daimler was granted a German patent for his engine design.
1895 Oscar Wilde's case alledging libel began, eventually resulting in his imprisonment on charges of homosexuality.
1917 Vladimir Lenin arrived in Russia from exile, marking the beginning of Bolshevik leadership in the Russian Revolution.
1922 Joseph Stalin became the first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
1936 Bruno Hauptmann was electrocuted in Trenton, N.J., for the kidnap-murder of the Lindbergh baby.
1946 Lt. General Masaharu Homma, the Japanese commander responsible for the Bataan Death March, was executed in the Philippines.
1948 President Harry S. Truman signed the Marshall Plan, which allocated more than $5 billion in aid to help 16 European countries recover from World War II.
1955 The American Civil Liberties Union announced it would defend Allen Ginsberg's book Howl against obscenity charges.
1968 Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "mountaintop" speech to a rally of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., less than 24 hours before he was assassinated.
1968 North Vietnam agreed to meet with U.S. representatives to set up preliminary peace talks.
1973 The first portable cell phone call was made in New York City.
1975 Bobby Fischer refused to play in a chess match against Anatoly Karpov, giving Karpov the title of World Champion by default.
1996 An Air Force jetliner carrying Commerce Secretary Ron Brown crashed in Croatia, killing all 35 people aboard.
1996 Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was arrested.
1998 The Dow Jones industrial average climbed above 9,000 for the first time.
2000 A federal judge in Washington ruled that Microsoft Corp. had violated U.S. antitrust laws by keeping "an oppressive thumb" on competitors during the race to link Americans to the Internet.
2004 Surrounded by police, five suspects in the Madrid railway bombings blew themselves up in a building outside the Spanish capital, also killing a special forces agent.
2006 Former Liberian President Charles Taylor pleaded not guilty before an international war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, denying he'd helped destabilize West Africa through killings, sexual slavery and sending children into combat.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skyliners)
Far Away Places - Margaret Whiting
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Gone - Ferlin Husky
There You Go - Johnny Cash
1965
Stop! In the Name of Love - The Supremes
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & the Dreamers
Shotgun - Jr. Walker & The All Stars
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
Killing Me Softly with His Song - Roberta Flack
Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001) - Deodato
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Keep Me in Mind - Lynn Anderson
1981
Rapture - Blondie
Woman - John Lennon
The Best of Times - Styx
Texas Women - Hank Williams, Jr.
1989
Eternal Flame - Bangles
Girl You Know It’s True - Milli Vanilli
The Look - Roxette
Baby’s Gotten Good at Goodbye - George Strait
Quote of the Day
The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting.
Charles Bukowski, author & poet (1920 - 1994)
Today in History - April 4th
Today's Birthdays
1821 Linus Yale, inventor (Yale locks) died Dec 25, 1868
1884 Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral (Pearl Harbor) died April 18, 1943
1895 Arthur Murray, dancer (Arthur Murray Dance Studios) died Mar 3, 1991
1906 John Cameron Swayze, newsman/ spokesman (NBC; Timex) died Aug 15, 1995
1906 Bea Benaderet, actress (Petticoat Junction) died Oct 13, 1968
1908 Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, author (Cheaper By the Dozen) died Nov 4, 2006
1914 Marguerite Duras, French writer (The Lover) died March 3, 1996
1915 Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), blues singer/guitarist; died Apr 30, 1983
1922 Elmer Bernstein, composer (film scores) died Aug 18, 2004
1924 Gil (Gilbert Raymond) Hodges, baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Mets) died Apr 2, 1972
1928 Maya Angelou, poet
1932 Anthony Perkins, actor (Psycho series) died Sep 12, 1992
1932 Clive Davis, record industry mogul
1938 Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, Baseball Commissioner; died Sept 1, 1989
1942 Kitty Kelley, biographer (Nancy Reagan, Jackie O, His Way)
1944 Craig T. Nelson, actor (Poltergeist, Blades of Glory)
1948 Berry Oakley, bassist (The Allman Brothers Band) died Nov 11, 1972
1950 Christine Lahti, actress (…And Justice for All, Chicago Hope)
1952 Dave Hill, guitarist (Slade)
1952 Gary Moore, guitarist (Thin Lizzy)
1956 David E. Kelley, writer/producer (Ally McBeal)
1960 Hugo Weaving, actor (Matrix series, Lord of the Rings series, Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
1962 Craig Adams, bassist (The Cult, The Sisters of Mercy)
1963 Jack Del Rio, NFL coach (Jaguars)
1964 David Cross, actor/comedian (Mr. Show)
1964 Anthony Clark, comedian/actor (Yes Dear, Boston Common, The Rock)
1965 Robert Downey Jr., actor (Less Than Zero, Iron Man)
1966 Nancy McKeon, actress (Facts of Life)
1966 Mike Starr, bassist (Alice in Chains)
1968 Jennifer Lynch, director (Boxing Helena)
1970 Barry Pepper, actor (*61, Saving Private Ryan)
1971 Josh Todd, singer (Buckcherry)
1972 Magnus Sveningsson, bassist (The Cardigans)
1972 Jill Scott, soul singer
1973 David Blaine, magician/illusionist
1976 James Roday, actor (Psych)
1977 Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist (Killswitch Engage)
1979 Heath Ledger, actor (A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain) died January 22, 2008
1979 Natasha Lyonne, actress (Slums of Beverly Hills, American Pie series)
1983 Amanda Righetti, actress (The Mentalist)
1991 Jamie Lynn Spears, actress/Britney's sister
Today's Deaths in History
1841 William Henry Harrison, US President, dies in office at 68
1929 Karl Benz, German engine designer/inventor/automobile engineer, dies at 84
1931 Andre Michelin, CEO (Michelin Tires), dies at 78
1967 Al Lewis, songwriter (You Gotta Be A Football Hero) dies at 65
1968 Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, assassinated at 39
1972 Adam Clayton Powell Jr, (Congressman, D-NY), dies at 63
1979 Edgar Buchanan, actor (Petticoat Junction), dies at 77
1980 Red Sovine, country singer (Teddy Bear) dies at 62
1981 Brad Johnson, actor (Death Valley Days) dies at 56
1983 Gloria Swanson, actress (Sunset Boulevard) dies at 86
1999 Early Wynn, Washington Senators pitcher, dies at 79
2001 Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, custom car designer, dies at 69
2004 Casey Sheehan, soldier/son of Cindy Sheehan, dies at 24
2007 Bob Clark, film director (Porky's series) dies at 67
Today in History
1812 U.S. President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
1818 Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.
1841 President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. president to die in office.
1850 The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.
1865 A day after Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited the Confederate capital.
1887 Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community - Argonia, Kan.
1902 British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships at Oxford University in England.
1945 U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.
1949 Twelve nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty.
1964 The Beatles occupied the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
1968 Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death as he stood on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; the killing sparked a wave of riots across the country.
1969 Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the first temporary artificial heart.
1973 The World Trade Center in New York was officially dedicated.
1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves tied Babe Ruth's career home run record by hitting his 714th round-tripper in Cincinnati.
1975 A U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon, killing more than 130 people, most of them children.
1975 Microsoft was founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
1981 Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city: San Antonio, Texas.
1984 President Ronald Reagan called for an international ban on chemical weapons.
1988 The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office.
1991 Sen. John Heinz, R-Penn., and six other people were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz's plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pa.
1999 The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 in baseball's first season opener held in Mexico.
2003 U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.
2003 Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the 18th major league baseball player to hit 500 career homers, connecting for a solo shot in a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati.
2006 The Iraq tribunal charged Saddam Hussein and six others, accusing them of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from a 1980s crackdown against Kurds.
2007 15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran were released by the Iranian President.
2007 Radio host Don Imus made offensive on-air remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team; despite a subsequent apology, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and cable network MSNBC.
2008 The raid on the FLDS owned ranch called the YFZ Ranch in Texas, 401 children and 133 women were taken into custody.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Dearie - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Kenny Gardner Trio)
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Lollipop - Chordettes
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line - Buck Owens
1974
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
Bennie & The Jets - Elton John
Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone) - Tanya Tucker
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Make a Move on Me - Olivia Newton-John
Bobbie Sue - The Oak Ridge Boys
1990
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.
Richard Feynman, educator & physicist (1918 - 1988)
Today's Birthdays
1821 Linus Yale, inventor (Yale locks) died Dec 25, 1868
1884 Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral (Pearl Harbor) died April 18, 1943
1895 Arthur Murray, dancer (Arthur Murray Dance Studios) died Mar 3, 1991
1906 John Cameron Swayze, newsman/ spokesman (NBC; Timex) died Aug 15, 1995
1906 Bea Benaderet, actress (Petticoat Junction) died Oct 13, 1968
1908 Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, author (Cheaper By the Dozen) died Nov 4, 2006
1914 Marguerite Duras, French writer (The Lover) died March 3, 1996
1915 Muddy Waters (McKinley Morganfield), blues singer/guitarist; died Apr 30, 1983
1922 Elmer Bernstein, composer (film scores) died Aug 18, 2004
1924 Gil (Gilbert Raymond) Hodges, baseball (Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Mets) died Apr 2, 1972
1928 Maya Angelou, poet
1932 Anthony Perkins, actor (Psycho series) died Sep 12, 1992
1932 Clive Davis, record industry mogul
1938 Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, Baseball Commissioner; died Sept 1, 1989
1942 Kitty Kelley, biographer (Nancy Reagan, Jackie O, His Way)
1944 Craig T. Nelson, actor (Poltergeist, Blades of Glory)
1948 Berry Oakley, bassist (The Allman Brothers Band) died Nov 11, 1972
1950 Christine Lahti, actress (…And Justice for All, Chicago Hope)
1952 Dave Hill, guitarist (Slade)
1952 Gary Moore, guitarist (Thin Lizzy)
1956 David E. Kelley, writer/producer (Ally McBeal)
1960 Hugo Weaving, actor (Matrix series, Lord of the Rings series, Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
1962 Craig Adams, bassist (The Cult, The Sisters of Mercy)
1963 Jack Del Rio, NFL coach (Jaguars)
1964 David Cross, actor/comedian (Mr. Show)
1964 Anthony Clark, comedian/actor (Yes Dear, Boston Common, The Rock)
1965 Robert Downey Jr., actor (Less Than Zero, Iron Man)
1966 Nancy McKeon, actress (Facts of Life)
1966 Mike Starr, bassist (Alice in Chains)
1968 Jennifer Lynch, director (Boxing Helena)
1970 Barry Pepper, actor (*61, Saving Private Ryan)
1971 Josh Todd, singer (Buckcherry)
1972 Magnus Sveningsson, bassist (The Cardigans)
1972 Jill Scott, soul singer
1973 David Blaine, magician/illusionist
1976 James Roday, actor (Psych)
1977 Adam Dutkiewicz, guitarist (Killswitch Engage)
1979 Heath Ledger, actor (A Knight's Tale, Brokeback Mountain) died January 22, 2008
1979 Natasha Lyonne, actress (Slums of Beverly Hills, American Pie series)
1983 Amanda Righetti, actress (The Mentalist)
1991 Jamie Lynn Spears, actress/Britney's sister
Today's Deaths in History
1841 William Henry Harrison, US President, dies in office at 68
1929 Karl Benz, German engine designer/inventor/automobile engineer, dies at 84
1931 Andre Michelin, CEO (Michelin Tires), dies at 78
1967 Al Lewis, songwriter (You Gotta Be A Football Hero) dies at 65
1968 Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader, assassinated at 39
1972 Adam Clayton Powell Jr, (Congressman, D-NY), dies at 63
1979 Edgar Buchanan, actor (Petticoat Junction), dies at 77
1980 Red Sovine, country singer (Teddy Bear) dies at 62
1981 Brad Johnson, actor (Death Valley Days) dies at 56
1983 Gloria Swanson, actress (Sunset Boulevard) dies at 86
1999 Early Wynn, Washington Senators pitcher, dies at 79
2001 Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, custom car designer, dies at 69
2004 Casey Sheehan, soldier/son of Cindy Sheehan, dies at 24
2007 Bob Clark, film director (Porky's series) dies at 67
Today in History
1812 U.S. President James Madison enacted a ninety-day embargo on trade with the United Kingdom.
1818 Congress decided the U.S. flag would consist of 13 red and white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state.
1841 President William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia one month after his inauguration, becoming the first U.S. president to die in office.
1850 The city of Los Angeles was incorporated.
1865 A day after Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln visited the Confederate capital.
1887 Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community - Argonia, Kan.
1902 British financier Cecil Rhodes left $10 million in his will to provide scholarships at Oxford University in England.
1945 U.S. forces liberated the Nazi death camp Ohrdruf in Germany.
1949 Twelve nations, including the United States, signed the North Atlantic Treaty.
1964 The Beatles occupied the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
1968 Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death as he stood on a balcony at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn.; the killing sparked a wave of riots across the country.
1969 Dr. Denton Cooley implanted the first temporary artificial heart.
1973 The World Trade Center in New York was officially dedicated.
1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves tied Babe Ruth's career home run record by hitting his 714th round-tripper in Cincinnati.
1975 A U.S. Air Force transport plane evacuating Vietnamese orphans crashed shortly after takeoff from Saigon, killing more than 130 people, most of them children.
1975 Microsoft was founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and Paul Allen.
1981 Henry Cisneros became the first Mexican-American elected mayor of a major U.S. city: San Antonio, Texas.
1984 President Ronald Reagan called for an international ban on chemical weapons.
1988 The Arizona Senate convicted Gov. Evan Mecham of two charges of official misconduct, and removed him from office.
1991 Sen. John Heinz, R-Penn., and six other people were killed when a helicopter collided with Heinz's plane over a schoolyard in Merion, Pa.
1999 The Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 8-2 in baseball's first season opener held in Mexico.
2003 U.S. forces seized Saddam International Airport outside Baghdad.
2003 Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs became the 18th major league baseball player to hit 500 career homers, connecting for a solo shot in a 10-9 loss to Cincinnati.
2006 The Iraq tribunal charged Saddam Hussein and six others, accusing them of genocide and crimes against humanity stemming from a 1980s crackdown against Kurds.
2007 15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran were released by the Iranian President.
2007 Radio host Don Imus made offensive on-air remarks about the Rutgers University women's basketball team; despite a subsequent apology, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and cable network MSNBC.
2008 The raid on the FLDS owned ranch called the YFZ Ranch in Texas, 401 children and 133 women were taken into custody.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Dearie - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Kenny Gardner Trio)
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Lollipop - Chordettes
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
Waitin’ in Your Welfare Line - Buck Owens
1974
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
Bennie & The Jets - Elton John
Would You Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone) - Tanya Tucker
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Make a Move on Me - Olivia Newton-John
Bobbie Sue - The Oak Ridge Boys
1990
Black Velvet - Alannah Myles
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I Wish It Would Rain Down - Phil Collins
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.
Richard Feynman, educator & physicist (1918 - 1988)
Today in History - April 5th
Today's Birthdays
1588 Thomas Hobbes, England, philosopher (Leviathan) died Dec 4, 1679
1827 Joseph Lister, British surgeon/inventor (Listerine mouthwash) died Feb 10, 1912
1856 Booker T. Washington, educator/black leader/author (Up from Slavery) died Nov 14, 1915
1871 Glenn "Pop" Warner, football coach; died Sept 7, 1954
1900 Spencer Tracy, actor (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) died June 10, 1967
1901 Melvyn Douglas, actor (Ghost Story) died Aug 4, 1981
1908 Bette Davis (All About Eve) died Oct 6, 1989
1909 Alberto Romero "Cubby" Broccoli, film producer (James Bond) died June 27, 1996
1916 Gregory Peck, actor (To Kill a Mockingbird) died June 12, 2003
1920 Arthur Hailey, author (Airport) died November 24, 2004
1926 Roger Corman, director (Little Shop of Horrors)
1928 Tony Williams, singer (The Platters) died Aug 14, 1992
1933 Frank Gorshin, impressionist/actor (Batman) died May 17, 2005
1934 Stanley Turrentine, jazz tenor sax, died September 12, 2000
1937 Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State/U.S. Army General (Gulf War)
1939 Ronnie White, singer (Smokey Robinson & Miracles) died August 26, 1995
1941 Michael Moriarty, actor (Courage Under Fire, Law & Order)
1942 Allan Clarke, singer (Hollies)
1943 Max Gail, actor (Barney Miller)
1948 Dave Holland, guitarist (Judas Priest)
1948 Les Binks, drummer (Judas Priest)
1949 Dr. Judith A. Resnik, electrical engineer/astronaut (Challenger) died Jan 28, 1986
1950 Agnetha Faltskog, singer (Abba)
1952 Mitch Pileggi, actor (The X-Files)
1954 Stan Ridgway, rock singer (Wall of Voodoo)
1962 Lana Clarkson, actress (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) killed February 3, 2003
1964 Christopher "Kid" Reid, rapper/actor (Kid 'n Play)
1966 Mike McCready, guitarist (Pearl Jam)
1968 Paula Cole, singer (Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?)
1971 Krista Allen, actress (Smallville)
1973 Pharrell Williams, music producer
1974 Sahaj Ticotin, singer/guitarist/producer (Ra)
1981 Michael A. Monsoor, Navy SEAL/Medal of Honor recipeint (Operation Iraqi Freedom) died September 29, 2006
Today's Deaths in History
1946 Vincent Millie Youmans, composer (Tea for Two) dies from tuberculosis at 47
1964 Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army General (Pacific-WWII), dies at 84
1975 Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist Chinese leader, dies at 87
1976 Howard Hughes, millionaire filmmaker/industrialist, dies at 71
1981 Bob "Bear" Hite, singer (Canned Heat), dies at 36
1982 Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, dies at 71
1983 Danny Rapp, singer (Danny & the Juniors) dies at 41
1991 John Tower (Senator R-TX), dies in a plane crash at 65
1992 Sam Walton, founder (Wal-Mart) dies at 74
1994 Kurt Cobain, rock singer (Nirvana) commits suicide at 27
1997 Allen Ginsberg, beat poet, dies at 80
1998 Cozy Powell, drummer (Whitesnake) dies at 50 in a car crash
2000 Lee Petty, patriarch of the NASCAR racing family, dies at 86
2002 Layne Staley, singer (Alice in Chains) dies at 34
2003 Pompeo Posar, Playboy photographer, dies at 83
2005 Debralee Scott, actress (Police Academy series) dies at 52
2005 Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize-winning author, dies at 89
2006 Gene Pitney, singer (Only Love Can Break a Heart) dies at 66
2007 Mark St. John, guitarist (Kiss) dies at 51
2007 Darryl Stingley, NFL wide receiver (New England Patriots) dies at 55
2008 Charlton Heston, actor (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green) dies at 84
Today in History
1614 Pocahontas, daughter of the leader of the Powhatan tribe, married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.
1621 The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
1792 George Washington cast the first presidential veto, rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the states.
1887 In Tuscumbia, Ala., teacher Anne Sullivan taught her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.
1887 British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
1895 Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who had accused the writer of homosexual practices.
1923 Firestone Tire and Rubber Company began production of balloon-tires.
1930 In an act of civil disobedience, Mohandas Gandhi broke British law after marching to the sea and making salt.
1944 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura were executed by the Germans.
1945 Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signed an agreement with the USSR to allow "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.
1955 Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
1956 Fidel Castro declared himself at war with the President of Cuba.
1969 Massive antiwar demonstrations occurred in many U.S. cities.
1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the highest-scoring player in NBA history with 31,421 career points;he still holds the career record with with 38,387 points.
1986 Three people were killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
1987 Fox Broadcasting Co. made its prime-time TV debut.
1992 Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators marched in Washington, D.C.
1992 Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, dissolved the Peruvian congress by military force.
1999 Libya surrendered two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland to a U.N. representative.
2009 North Korea launched its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket; the satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of six-party talks.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Aba Daba Honeymoon - Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Venus - Frankie Avalon
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
It’s Just a Matter of Time - Brook Benton
When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below) - Johnny Horton
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas & the Papas
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
Walk Through This World with Me - George Jones
1975
Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
No No Song/Snookeroo - Ringo Starr
I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind - Johnny Rodriguez
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
When I’m Away from You - The Bellamy Brothers
1991
Coming Out of the Dark - Gloria Estafan
This House - Tracie Spencer
Hold You Tight - Tara Kemp
Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House - Garth Brooks
Quote of the Day
Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better.
Anonymous
Today's Birthdays
1588 Thomas Hobbes, England, philosopher (Leviathan) died Dec 4, 1679
1827 Joseph Lister, British surgeon/inventor (Listerine mouthwash) died Feb 10, 1912
1856 Booker T. Washington, educator/black leader/author (Up from Slavery) died Nov 14, 1915
1871 Glenn "Pop" Warner, football coach; died Sept 7, 1954
1900 Spencer Tracy, actor (Guess Who's Coming to Dinner) died June 10, 1967
1901 Melvyn Douglas, actor (Ghost Story) died Aug 4, 1981
1908 Bette Davis (All About Eve) died Oct 6, 1989
1909 Alberto Romero "Cubby" Broccoli, film producer (James Bond) died June 27, 1996
1916 Gregory Peck, actor (To Kill a Mockingbird) died June 12, 2003
1920 Arthur Hailey, author (Airport) died November 24, 2004
1926 Roger Corman, director (Little Shop of Horrors)
1928 Tony Williams, singer (The Platters) died Aug 14, 1992
1933 Frank Gorshin, impressionist/actor (Batman) died May 17, 2005
1934 Stanley Turrentine, jazz tenor sax, died September 12, 2000
1937 Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State/U.S. Army General (Gulf War)
1939 Ronnie White, singer (Smokey Robinson & Miracles) died August 26, 1995
1941 Michael Moriarty, actor (Courage Under Fire, Law & Order)
1942 Allan Clarke, singer (Hollies)
1943 Max Gail, actor (Barney Miller)
1948 Dave Holland, guitarist (Judas Priest)
1948 Les Binks, drummer (Judas Priest)
1949 Dr. Judith A. Resnik, electrical engineer/astronaut (Challenger) died Jan 28, 1986
1950 Agnetha Faltskog, singer (Abba)
1952 Mitch Pileggi, actor (The X-Files)
1954 Stan Ridgway, rock singer (Wall of Voodoo)
1962 Lana Clarkson, actress (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) killed February 3, 2003
1964 Christopher "Kid" Reid, rapper/actor (Kid 'n Play)
1966 Mike McCready, guitarist (Pearl Jam)
1968 Paula Cole, singer (Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?)
1971 Krista Allen, actress (Smallville)
1973 Pharrell Williams, music producer
1974 Sahaj Ticotin, singer/guitarist/producer (Ra)
1981 Michael A. Monsoor, Navy SEAL/Medal of Honor recipeint (Operation Iraqi Freedom) died September 29, 2006
Today's Deaths in History
1946 Vincent Millie Youmans, composer (Tea for Two) dies from tuberculosis at 47
1964 Douglas MacArthur, U.S. Army General (Pacific-WWII), dies at 84
1975 Chiang Kai-shek, Nationalist Chinese leader, dies at 87
1976 Howard Hughes, millionaire filmmaker/industrialist, dies at 71
1981 Bob "Bear" Hite, singer (Canned Heat), dies at 36
1982 Abe Fortas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, dies at 71
1983 Danny Rapp, singer (Danny & the Juniors) dies at 41
1991 John Tower (Senator R-TX), dies in a plane crash at 65
1992 Sam Walton, founder (Wal-Mart) dies at 74
1994 Kurt Cobain, rock singer (Nirvana) commits suicide at 27
1997 Allen Ginsberg, beat poet, dies at 80
1998 Cozy Powell, drummer (Whitesnake) dies at 50 in a car crash
2000 Lee Petty, patriarch of the NASCAR racing family, dies at 86
2002 Layne Staley, singer (Alice in Chains) dies at 34
2003 Pompeo Posar, Playboy photographer, dies at 83
2005 Debralee Scott, actress (Police Academy series) dies at 52
2005 Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize-winning author, dies at 89
2006 Gene Pitney, singer (Only Love Can Break a Heart) dies at 66
2007 Mark St. John, guitarist (Kiss) dies at 51
2007 Darryl Stingley, NFL wide receiver (New England Patriots) dies at 55
2008 Charlton Heston, actor (Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green) dies at 84
Today in History
1614 Pocahontas, daughter of the leader of the Powhatan tribe, married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.
1621 The Mayflower set sail from Plymouth, Massachusetts on a return trip to Great Britain.
1792 George Washington cast the first presidential veto, rejecting a congressional measure for apportioning representatives among the states.
1887 In Tuscumbia, Ala., teacher Anne Sullivan taught her blind and deaf pupil, Helen Keller, the meaning of the word "water" as spelled out in the manual alphabet.
1887 British historian Lord Acton wrote in a letter, "All power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
1895 Playwright Oscar Wilde lost his criminal libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry, who had accused the writer of homosexual practices.
1923 Firestone Tire and Rubber Company began production of balloon-tires.
1930 In an act of civil disobedience, Mohandas Gandhi broke British law after marching to the sea and making salt.
1944 270 inhabitants of the Greek town of Kleisoura were executed by the Germans.
1945 Yugoslav leader Josip "Tito" Broz signed an agreement with the USSR to allow "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory."
1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were sentenced to death for conspiring to commit espionage for the Soviet Union.
1955 Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom amid indications of failing health.
1956 Fidel Castro declared himself at war with the President of Cuba.
1969 Massive antiwar demonstrations occurred in many U.S. cities.
1984 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar became the highest-scoring player in NBA history with 31,421 career points;he still holds the career record with with 38,387 points.
1986 Three people were killed in the bombing of the La Belle Discotheque in West Berlin, Germany.
1987 Fox Broadcasting Co. made its prime-time TV debut.
1992 Several hundred-thousand abortion rights demonstrators marched in Washington, D.C.
1992 Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, dissolved the Peruvian congress by military force.
1999 Libya surrendered two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland to a U.N. representative.
2009 North Korea launched its controversial Kwangmyŏngsŏng-2 rocket; the satellite passed over mainland Japan, which prompted an immediate reaction from the United Nations Security Council, as well as participating states of six-party talks.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Aba Daba Honeymoon - Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Venus - Frankie Avalon
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
It’s Just a Matter of Time - Brook Benton
When It’s Springtime in Alaska (It’s Forty Below) - Johnny Horton
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Mamas & the Papas
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
Walk Through This World with Me - George Jones
1975
Lovin’ You - Minnie Riperton
Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
No No Song/Snookeroo - Ringo Starr
I Just Can’t Get Her Out of My Mind - Johnny Rodriguez
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
When I’m Away from You - The Bellamy Brothers
1991
Coming Out of the Dark - Gloria Estafan
This House - Tracie Spencer
Hold You Tight - Tara Kemp
Two of a Kind, Workin’ on a Full House - Garth Brooks
Quote of the Day
Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better.
Anonymous
Today in History – April 6th
Today's Birthdays
1483 Raphael Santi, artist (Marriage of the Virgin) died Apr 6, 1520
1884 Walter Huston (Houghston), actor (Treasure of the Sierra Madre) died Apr 7, 1950
1890 Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker, aircraft pioneer; died Dec 23, 1939
1892 Donald Wills Douglas, aircraft pioneer (McDonnell Douglas) died Feb 1, 1981
1892 Lowell Thomas, pioneer broadcast journalist; died Aug 29, 1981
1928 Joi Lansing (Joyce Wassmansdoff), actress (Singin’ in the Rain) died Aug 7, 1972
1931 Ivan Dixon, actor (Hogan's Heroes) died March 16, 2008
1937 Merle Haggard, country singer/songwriter (Okie from Muskogee)
1937 Billy Dee (December) Williams, actor (Brian’s Song, Star Wars series)
1941 Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, American drag racer
1942 Barry Levinson, director/screenwriter (Rain Man, The Natural)
1944 Michelle Phillips (Holly Michelle Gilliam), singer (The Mamas and the Papas)
1944 John Stax, bassist (The Pretty Things)
1946 Danny Kortchmar, session guitarist/producer, songwriter
1947 John Ratzenberger, actor (Cheers)
1952 Marilu Henner (Mary Lucy Denise Pudlowski), actress (Taxi)
1955 Michael Rooker, actor (Days of Thunder)
1962 Stan Cullimore, songwriter/guitar (The Housemartins)
1964 Johnny Dee, drummer (Britny Fox)
1965 Frank Black, singer/musician (The Pixies)
1969 Paul Rudd, actor (The 40-Year Old Virgin, I Love You Man)
1970 Olaf Kolzig, NHL goaltender (Washington Capitals)
1972 Jason Hervey, actor (The Wonder Years)
1973 Markku Lappalainen, bassist (Hoobastank)
1975 Zach Braff, actor/screenwriter/director (Scrubs, Garden State)
1976 Candace Cameron Bure, actress (Full House)
1978 Martin Mendez, bassist (Opeth)
1983 Diora Baird, actress (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
Today's Deaths in History
1199 Richard I the Lionheart, King of England, dies at 41
1520 Raphael Santi, artist, dies on his 37th birthday
1970 Samuel Sheppard, physician (subject of The Fugitive) dies at 46
1971 Igor Stravinsky, composer, dies at 88
1992 Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer (I, Robot) dies at 72
1996 Greer Garson, actress (The Singing Nun) dies at 91
1995 Tammy Wynette, the First Lady of Country Music (Stand By Your Man), dies at 55
1997 Jack Kent Cooke, NFL owner (Washington redskins) dies at 84
1998 Wendy O. Williams, punk singer (The Plasmatics) commits suicide at 48
2003 David Bloom, NBC journalist, killed at 39 while covering the invasion of Iraq
2004 Niki Sullivan, guitarist (The Crickets) dies at 66
2005 Prince Rainier of Monaco dies at 81
2006 Maggie Dixon, college basketball coach (Army) dies at 28
Today in History
1808 John Jacob Astor incorporated the American Fur Company.
1830 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith in Fayette, N.Y.
1895 Oscar Wilde was arrested in the Cadogan Hotel, London after losing a libel case against the John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.
1896 The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece.
1909 Explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson purportedly became the first men to reach the North Pole; their claim has since come into question.
1917 Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany.
1947 The first Tony Awards were presented for theatrical achievements.
1957 Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis bought the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founded Olympic Airlines.
1973 The American League began using the Designated Hitter.
1982 A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumped 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several Major League Baseball games.
1983 Interior Secretary James Watt banned the Beach Boys from the 4th of July celebration on the Washington Mall, saying rock 'n' roll bands attract the "wrong element."
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis said on ABC's Nightline that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to hold managerial jobs in major league baseball; Campanis resigned two days later.
1998 Travelers Group announced an agreement to undertake the $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, forming Citibank.
1998 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 points for the first time.
1998 Pakistan successfully tested a medium-range missile capable of striking neighboring India.
2001 Algerian national Ahmed Ressam, accused of bringing explosives into the United States days before the millennium celebrations, was convicted on terror charges.
2004 Jordan's military court convicted eight Muslim militants and sentenced them to death for the 2002 killing of U.S. aid official Laurence Foley in a terror conspiracy linked to al-Qaida.
2004 The University of Connecticut became the first school to win the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball titles in the same season as the women's team beat Tennessee 70-61 for their third consecutive championship.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Please, Mr. Sun - Johnnie Ray
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Puppy Love - Paul Anka
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Young Girl - The Union Gap
La - La - Means I Love You - The Delfonics
How Long Will My Baby Be Gone - Buck Owens
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Sweet Thing - Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
You’ll Lose a Good Thing - Freddy Fender
1984
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Let’s Stop Talkin’ About It - Janie Fricke
Quote of the Day
Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.
Laurence J. Peter, educator & writer (1919 - 1988)
Today's Birthdays
1483 Raphael Santi, artist (Marriage of the Virgin) died Apr 6, 1520
1884 Walter Huston (Houghston), actor (Treasure of the Sierra Madre) died Apr 7, 1950
1890 Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker, aircraft pioneer; died Dec 23, 1939
1892 Donald Wills Douglas, aircraft pioneer (McDonnell Douglas) died Feb 1, 1981
1892 Lowell Thomas, pioneer broadcast journalist; died Aug 29, 1981
1928 Joi Lansing (Joyce Wassmansdoff), actress (Singin’ in the Rain) died Aug 7, 1972
1931 Ivan Dixon, actor (Hogan's Heroes) died March 16, 2008
1937 Merle Haggard, country singer/songwriter (Okie from Muskogee)
1937 Billy Dee (December) Williams, actor (Brian’s Song, Star Wars series)
1941 Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, American drag racer
1942 Barry Levinson, director/screenwriter (Rain Man, The Natural)
1944 Michelle Phillips (Holly Michelle Gilliam), singer (The Mamas and the Papas)
1944 John Stax, bassist (The Pretty Things)
1946 Danny Kortchmar, session guitarist/producer, songwriter
1947 John Ratzenberger, actor (Cheers)
1952 Marilu Henner (Mary Lucy Denise Pudlowski), actress (Taxi)
1955 Michael Rooker, actor (Days of Thunder)
1962 Stan Cullimore, songwriter/guitar (The Housemartins)
1964 Johnny Dee, drummer (Britny Fox)
1965 Frank Black, singer/musician (The Pixies)
1969 Paul Rudd, actor (The 40-Year Old Virgin, I Love You Man)
1970 Olaf Kolzig, NHL goaltender (Washington Capitals)
1972 Jason Hervey, actor (The Wonder Years)
1973 Markku Lappalainen, bassist (Hoobastank)
1975 Zach Braff, actor/screenwriter/director (Scrubs, Garden State)
1976 Candace Cameron Bure, actress (Full House)
1978 Martin Mendez, bassist (Opeth)
1983 Diora Baird, actress (Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning)
Today's Deaths in History
1199 Richard I the Lionheart, King of England, dies at 41
1520 Raphael Santi, artist, dies on his 37th birthday
1970 Samuel Sheppard, physician (subject of The Fugitive) dies at 46
1971 Igor Stravinsky, composer, dies at 88
1992 Isaac Asimov, science fiction writer (I, Robot) dies at 72
1996 Greer Garson, actress (The Singing Nun) dies at 91
1995 Tammy Wynette, the First Lady of Country Music (Stand By Your Man), dies at 55
1997 Jack Kent Cooke, NFL owner (Washington redskins) dies at 84
1998 Wendy O. Williams, punk singer (The Plasmatics) commits suicide at 48
2003 David Bloom, NBC journalist, killed at 39 while covering the invasion of Iraq
2004 Niki Sullivan, guitarist (The Crickets) dies at 66
2005 Prince Rainier of Monaco dies at 81
2006 Maggie Dixon, college basketball coach (Army) dies at 28
Today in History
1808 John Jacob Astor incorporated the American Fur Company.
1830 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was organized by Joseph Smith in Fayette, N.Y.
1895 Oscar Wilde was arrested in the Cadogan Hotel, London after losing a libel case against the John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry.
1896 The first modern Olympic Games opened in Athens, Greece.
1909 Explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson purportedly became the first men to reach the North Pole; their claim has since come into question.
1917 Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany.
1947 The first Tony Awards were presented for theatrical achievements.
1957 Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis bought the Hellenic National Airlines (TAE) and founded Olympic Airlines.
1973 The American League began using the Designated Hitter.
1982 A blizzard unprecedented in size for April dumped 1-2 feet of snow on the northeastern U.S., closing schools and businesses, snarling traffic, and canceling several Major League Baseball games.
1983 Interior Secretary James Watt banned the Beach Boys from the 4th of July celebration on the Washington Mall, saying rock 'n' roll bands attract the "wrong element."
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis said on ABC's Nightline that blacks "may not have some of the necessities" to hold managerial jobs in major league baseball; Campanis resigned two days later.
1998 Travelers Group announced an agreement to undertake the $76 billion merger between Travelers and Citicorp, forming Citibank.
1998 The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 9,000 points for the first time.
1998 Pakistan successfully tested a medium-range missile capable of striking neighboring India.
2001 Algerian national Ahmed Ressam, accused of bringing explosives into the United States days before the millennium celebrations, was convicted on terror charges.
2004 Jordan's military court convicted eight Muslim militants and sentenced them to death for the 2002 killing of U.S. aid official Laurence Foley in a terror conspiracy linked to al-Qaida.
2004 The University of Connecticut became the first school to win the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball titles in the same season as the women's team beat Tennessee 70-61 for their third consecutive championship.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Please, Mr. Sun - Johnnie Ray
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Puppy Love - Paul Anka
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Young Girl - The Union Gap
La - La - Means I Love You - The Delfonics
How Long Will My Baby Be Gone - Buck Owens
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Sweet Thing - Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
You’ll Lose a Good Thing - Freddy Fender
1984
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Let’s Stop Talkin’ About It - Janie Fricke
Quote of the Day
Democracy is a process by which the people are free to choose the man who will get the blame.
Laurence J. Peter, educator & writer (1919 - 1988)
Today in History - April 7
Today's Birthdays
1770 William Wordsworth, poet, died Apr 23, 1850
1786 William King, 13th U.S. Vice President, died Apr 18, 1853
1874 Edward Knoblock, playwright (Kismet) died July 19, 1945
1897 Walter Winchell, performer/journalist/radio commentator, died Feb 20, 1972
1908 Percy Faith, orchestra leader/composer, died Feb 9, 1976
1915 Billie Holiday, jazz singer (God Bless the Child) died July 17, 1959
1920 Ravi Shankar, musician (father of Norah Jones)
1928 James Garner, actor (Maverick, Rockford Files)
1933 Wayne Rogers, actor (M*A*S*H)
1937 Charlie Thomas, R&B singer (The Drifters)
1938 Spencer Dryden, drummer (Jefferson Airplane/Starship) died Jan 11, 2005
1938 Freddie Hubbard, Jazz trumpeter, died Dec 29, 2008
1939 Francis Ford Coppola, film director (The Godfather series)
1943 Mick Abrahams, guitarist (Jethro Tull)
1947 Patricia Bennett, R&B singer (The Chiffons)
1947 Florian Schneider, keyboardist/singer (Kraftwerk)
1949 John Oates, singer (Hall and Oates)
1951 Janis Ian, singer (At 17)
1952 Bruce Gary, drummer (The Knack)
1954 Jackie Chan, martial artist/actor (Rush Hour series)
1960 Simon Climie, singer (Climie Fisher)
1962 Hugh O'Connor, son of actor Carroll O'Connor, committed suicide March 28, 1995
1964 Russell Crowe, actor (Cinderella Man, Gladiator)
1965 Bill Bellamy, actor (Fastlane)
1969 Ricky Watters, retired NFL running back (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks)
1975 Tiki Barber, retired NFL running back/sportscaster (NY Giants)
1975 Heather Burns, actress (Miss Congeniality series)
Today's Deaths in History
1891 P.T. Barnum, circus magnate, dies at 80
1947 Henry Ford, auto pioneer, dies at 83
1950 Walter Huston, actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) dies at 66
1987 Maxine Sullivan, jazz vocalist (Blue Skies), dies at 75
2001 David Graf, actor (Police Academy series) dies at 50
2007 Johnny Hart, cartoonist (The Wizard of Id, B.C.) dies at 76
Today in History
1862 Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
1906 Mount Vesuvius erupted and devastated Naples.
1927 An audience in New York saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.
1933 Prohibition was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the XXI amendment.
1939 Italy invaded Albania.
1940 Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
1948 The World Health Organization was founded.
1949 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway.
1953 The U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden to be secretary-general.
1957 New York City's last electric trolley completed its final run from Queens to Manhattan.
1968 Jim Clark, two-time F1 World Champion and winner of the Indianapolis 500, died in a racing accident during a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim, Germany.
1969 The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.
1971 U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his decision to increase the rate of American troop withdrawals from Vietnam.
1976 China's leadership deposed Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping.
1985 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared a moratorium on the deployment of middle-range missiles in Europe.
1990 Former national security adviser John M. Poindexter was convicted of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial; a federal appeals court later reversed the convictions.
1990 A display of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs opened at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center; the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges.
1994 Civil war erupted in Rwanda, a day after a plane crash claimed the lives of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi.
2001 NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft took off on a six-month, 286-million-mile journey to the red planet.
2001 An unarmed black man wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking three days of riots.
2003 U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.
2003 The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold a 50-year-old Virginia law making it a crime to burn a cross as an act of intimidation.
2007 A Russian rocket carrying American billionaire Charles Simonyi roared into the night skies over Kazakhstan, sending its three occupants on a trip to the international space station.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
A Little on the Lonely Side - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Jimmy Brown)
Shame on You - Spade Cooley
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
On the Rebound - Floyd Cramer
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass - Buck Owens
1977
Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Lucille - Kenny Rogers
1985
One More Night - Phil Collins
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Country Girls - John Schneider
Quote of the Day
There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.
Cicero, Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)
Today's Birthdays
1770 William Wordsworth, poet, died Apr 23, 1850
1786 William King, 13th U.S. Vice President, died Apr 18, 1853
1874 Edward Knoblock, playwright (Kismet) died July 19, 1945
1897 Walter Winchell, performer/journalist/radio commentator, died Feb 20, 1972
1908 Percy Faith, orchestra leader/composer, died Feb 9, 1976
1915 Billie Holiday, jazz singer (God Bless the Child) died July 17, 1959
1920 Ravi Shankar, musician (father of Norah Jones)
1928 James Garner, actor (Maverick, Rockford Files)
1933 Wayne Rogers, actor (M*A*S*H)
1937 Charlie Thomas, R&B singer (The Drifters)
1938 Spencer Dryden, drummer (Jefferson Airplane/Starship) died Jan 11, 2005
1938 Freddie Hubbard, Jazz trumpeter, died Dec 29, 2008
1939 Francis Ford Coppola, film director (The Godfather series)
1943 Mick Abrahams, guitarist (Jethro Tull)
1947 Patricia Bennett, R&B singer (The Chiffons)
1947 Florian Schneider, keyboardist/singer (Kraftwerk)
1949 John Oates, singer (Hall and Oates)
1951 Janis Ian, singer (At 17)
1952 Bruce Gary, drummer (The Knack)
1954 Jackie Chan, martial artist/actor (Rush Hour series)
1960 Simon Climie, singer (Climie Fisher)
1962 Hugh O'Connor, son of actor Carroll O'Connor, committed suicide March 28, 1995
1964 Russell Crowe, actor (Cinderella Man, Gladiator)
1965 Bill Bellamy, actor (Fastlane)
1969 Ricky Watters, retired NFL running back (Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks)
1975 Tiki Barber, retired NFL running back/sportscaster (NY Giants)
1975 Heather Burns, actress (Miss Congeniality series)
Today's Deaths in History
1891 P.T. Barnum, circus magnate, dies at 80
1947 Henry Ford, auto pioneer, dies at 83
1950 Walter Huston, actor (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre) dies at 66
1987 Maxine Sullivan, jazz vocalist (Blue Skies), dies at 75
2001 David Graf, actor (Police Academy series) dies at 50
2007 Johnny Hart, cartoonist (The Wizard of Id, B.C.) dies at 76
Today in History
1862 Union forces led by Gen. Ulysses S. Grant defeated the Confederates at the battle of Shiloh in Tennessee.
1906 Mount Vesuvius erupted and devastated Naples.
1927 An audience in New York saw an image of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover in the first successful long-distance demonstration of television.
1933 Prohibition was repealed for beer of no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight, eight months before the ratification of the XXI amendment.
1939 Italy invaded Albania.
1940 Booker T. Washington became the first African American to be depicted on a United States postage stamp.
1948 The World Health Organization was founded.
1949 The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific opened on Broadway.
1953 The U.N. General Assembly elected Dag Hammarskjold of Sweden to be secretary-general.
1957 New York City's last electric trolley completed its final run from Queens to Manhattan.
1968 Jim Clark, two-time F1 World Champion and winner of the Indianapolis 500, died in a racing accident during a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim, Germany.
1969 The Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material.
1971 U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his decision to increase the rate of American troop withdrawals from Vietnam.
1976 China's leadership deposed Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping.
1985 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared a moratorium on the deployment of middle-range missiles in Europe.
1990 Former national security adviser John M. Poindexter was convicted of five counts at his Iran-Contra trial; a federal appeals court later reversed the convictions.
1990 A display of Robert Mapplethorpe photographs opened at Cincinnati's Contemporary Arts Center; the center and its director were indicted on obscenity charges.
1994 Civil war erupted in Rwanda, a day after a plane crash claimed the lives of the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi.
2001 NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft took off on a six-month, 286-million-mile journey to the red planet.
2001 An unarmed black man wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking three days of riots.
2003 U.S. troops in more than 100 U.S. armored vehicles rumbled through downtown Baghdad and seized one of Saddam Hussein's opulent palaces.
2003 The Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold a 50-year-old Virginia law making it a crime to burn a cross as an act of intimidation.
2007 A Russian rocket carrying American billionaire Charles Simonyi roared into the night skies over Kazakhstan, sending its three occupants on a trip to the international space station.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
A Little on the Lonely Side - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Jimmy Brown)
Shame on You - Spade Cooley
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
On the Rebound - Floyd Cramer
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Dizzy - Tommy Roe
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Who’s Gonna Mow Your Grass - Buck Owens
1977
Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Lucille - Kenny Rogers
1985
One More Night - Phil Collins
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Country Girls - John Schneider
Quote of the Day
There is nothing so absurd but some philosopher has said it.
Cicero, Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC - 43 BC)
2001 An unarmed black man wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants was fatally shot by a white police officer in Cincinnati, sparking three days of riots.
Man, I remember that. It was nothing but chaos in the streets across the river. That's all they were showing on the news that week. Crazy stuff.
Man, I remember that. It was nothing but chaos in the streets across the river. That's all they were showing on the news that week. Crazy stuff.
Today in History - April 8th
Today's Birthdays
1892 Mary Pickford (Gladys Louise Smith), actress (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm) died May 29, 1979
1912 Sonja Henie, Olympic Gold Medalist ice skater, died Oct 12, 1969
1918 Betty Ford, Former first lady
1920 Carmen McRae, jazz singer (The Next Time It Happens) died Nov 10, 1994
1931 John Gavin (Anthony Golenour), actor (Psycho, Spartacus)
1938 Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
1940 John Havlicek, Basketball Hall of Famer
1941 J.J. Jackson, R&B singer (But It's Alright) died March 17, 2004
1941 Vivienne Westwood, fashion/costume designer
1942 Leon Huff, singer/songwriter (The O'Jays)
1946 Stuart Pankin, actor (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
1946 Jim (James Augustus) ‘Catfish’ Hunter, pitcher (NY Yankees) died Aug 9, 1999 of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
1947 Steve Howe, guitarist (Yes, Asia, GTR)
1949 John Madden, film director (Shakespeare in Love)
1949 Brenda Russell, singer/songwriter (Piano in the Dark, Get Here)
1951 Mel Schacher, bassist (Grand Funk Railroad)
1954 John Schneider, actor/singer (The Dukes of Hazzard)
1962 Izzy Stradlin, guitarist (Guns n' Roses)
1963 Julian Lennon, singer/guitarist
1963 Donita Sparks, singer/songwqriter/guitarist (L7)
1964 Lisa Guerrero, sportscaster (The Best Damn Sports Show Period)
1964 Biz Markie, rapper
1966 Robin Wright Penn, actress/wife of Sean Penn (Forrest Gump)
1968 Patricia Arquette, actress (Medium, Bringing Out the Dead)
1971 Darren Jessee, drummer (Ben Folds Five)
1972 Paul Gray, bassist (Slipknot)
1973 Emma Caulfield, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1978 Rachel Roberts, actress (Simone)
1980 Katee Sackhoff, actress (Battlestar Galactica)
1981 Taylor Kitsch, actor (Friday Night Lights)
1984 Taran Noah Smith, actor (Home Improvement)
1984 Ezra Koenig, singer (Vampire Weekend)
1984 Kirsten Storms, actress (Kim Possible)
Today's Deaths in History
1861 Elisha Otis, elevator builder, dies at 49
1941 Earle Graser, radio announcer (The Lone Ranger) dies in an auto accident at 32
1973 Pablo Picasso, artist, dies at 91
1978 Ford Frick, baseball commissioner, dies at 83
1981 Omar N. Bradley, World War II general/first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dies at 88
1990 Ryan White, AIDS patient/activist, dies at 18
1996 Ben Johnson, actor (Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch) dies at 77
1997 Laura Nyro, singer/songwriter (And When I Die), dies at 49
2000 Claire Trevor, actress, 'The Queen of Film Noir,' (Key Largo) dies at 90
2008 Stanley Kamel, actor (Monk) dies at 65
Today in History
1513 Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.
1820 The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1893 The first recorded college basketball game occured in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
1904 Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan was renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
1908 Harvard University voted to establish the Harvard Business School.
1913 The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, became law.
1935 The Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress.
1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, froze wages and prices, prohibited workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and barred rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
1952 President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.
1970 The Senate rejected President Richard Nixon's nomination of G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court.
1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record.
1975 Frank Robinson managed the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball's first African American manager.
1977 The Clash's self-titled debut album was released in Britain.
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned after saying on ABC's Nightline that blacks may lack some of the "necessities" for becoming baseball managers.
1990 Ryan White, the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died at age 18.
1992 Tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had AIDS.
1994 Rock singer-musician Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was found dead in Seattle of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27.
2000 Nineteen Marines were killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona.
2002 Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play Topdog/Underdog.
2005 World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Personality - Johnny Mercer
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Cross Over the Bridge - Patti Page
A Girl, A Girl - Eddie Fisher
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Slow Twistin’ - Chubby Checker
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Be - The Beatles
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) - John Lennon
Tennessee Bird Walk - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Ready for the Times to Get Better - Crystal Gayle
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Cougar Mellencamp
Kiss - Prince & the Revolution
100% Chance of Rain - Gary Morris
Quote of the Day
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
Frank Zappa, musician, singer, & songwriter (1940 - 1993)
Today's Birthdays
1892 Mary Pickford (Gladys Louise Smith), actress (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm) died May 29, 1979
1912 Sonja Henie, Olympic Gold Medalist ice skater, died Oct 12, 1969
1918 Betty Ford, Former first lady
1920 Carmen McRae, jazz singer (The Next Time It Happens) died Nov 10, 1994
1931 John Gavin (Anthony Golenour), actor (Psycho, Spartacus)
1938 Kofi Annan, former United Nations Secretary-General
1940 John Havlicek, Basketball Hall of Famer
1941 J.J. Jackson, R&B singer (But It's Alright) died March 17, 2004
1941 Vivienne Westwood, fashion/costume designer
1942 Leon Huff, singer/songwriter (The O'Jays)
1946 Stuart Pankin, actor (Curb Your Enthusiasm)
1946 Jim (James Augustus) ‘Catfish’ Hunter, pitcher (NY Yankees) died Aug 9, 1999 of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease)
1947 Steve Howe, guitarist (Yes, Asia, GTR)
1949 John Madden, film director (Shakespeare in Love)
1949 Brenda Russell, singer/songwriter (Piano in the Dark, Get Here)
1951 Mel Schacher, bassist (Grand Funk Railroad)
1954 John Schneider, actor/singer (The Dukes of Hazzard)
1962 Izzy Stradlin, guitarist (Guns n' Roses)
1963 Julian Lennon, singer/guitarist
1963 Donita Sparks, singer/songwqriter/guitarist (L7)
1964 Lisa Guerrero, sportscaster (The Best Damn Sports Show Period)
1964 Biz Markie, rapper
1966 Robin Wright Penn, actress/wife of Sean Penn (Forrest Gump)
1968 Patricia Arquette, actress (Medium, Bringing Out the Dead)
1971 Darren Jessee, drummer (Ben Folds Five)
1972 Paul Gray, bassist (Slipknot)
1973 Emma Caulfield, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1978 Rachel Roberts, actress (Simone)
1980 Katee Sackhoff, actress (Battlestar Galactica)
1981 Taylor Kitsch, actor (Friday Night Lights)
1984 Taran Noah Smith, actor (Home Improvement)
1984 Ezra Koenig, singer (Vampire Weekend)
1984 Kirsten Storms, actress (Kim Possible)
Today's Deaths in History
1861 Elisha Otis, elevator builder, dies at 49
1941 Earle Graser, radio announcer (The Lone Ranger) dies in an auto accident at 32
1973 Pablo Picasso, artist, dies at 91
1978 Ford Frick, baseball commissioner, dies at 83
1981 Omar N. Bradley, World War II general/first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dies at 88
1990 Ryan White, AIDS patient/activist, dies at 18
1996 Ben Johnson, actor (Major Dundee, The Wild Bunch) dies at 77
1997 Laura Nyro, singer/songwriter (And When I Die), dies at 49
2000 Claire Trevor, actress, 'The Queen of Film Noir,' (Key Largo) dies at 90
2008 Stanley Kamel, actor (Monk) dies at 65
Today in History
1513 Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain.
1820 The Venus de Milo was discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1893 The first recorded college basketball game occured in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.
1904 Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan was renamed Times Square after The New York Times.
1908 Harvard University voted to establish the Harvard Business School.
1913 The 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution, requiring direct election of Senators, became law.
1935 The Works Progress Administration was approved by Congress.
1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, froze wages and prices, prohibited workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and barred rate increases by common carriers and public utilities.
1952 President Harry S. Truman seized the steel industry to avert a nationwide strike.
1970 The Senate rejected President Richard Nixon's nomination of G. Harrold Carswell to the Supreme Court.
1974 Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves hit his 715th career home run, breaking Babe Ruth's record.
1975 Frank Robinson managed the Cleveland Indians in his first game as major league baseball's first African American manager.
1977 The Clash's self-titled debut album was released in Britain.
1987 Los Angeles Dodgers executive Al Campanis resigned after saying on ABC's Nightline that blacks may lack some of the "necessities" for becoming baseball managers.
1990 Ryan White, the teen-age AIDS patient whose battle for acceptance gained national attention, died at age 18.
1992 Tennis player Arthur Ashe announced that he had AIDS.
1994 Rock singer-musician Kurt Cobain of Nirvana was found dead in Seattle of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; he was 27.
2000 Nineteen Marines were killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona.
2002 Suzan-Lori Parks became the first African-American woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play Topdog/Underdog.
2005 World leaders joined pilgrims and prelates in St. Peter's Square for the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Personality - Johnny Mercer
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Cross Over the Bridge - Patti Page
A Girl, A Girl - Eddie Fisher
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Slow Twistin’ - Chubby Checker
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
Let It Be - The Beatles
Instant Karma (We All Shine On) - John Lennon
Tennessee Bird Walk - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Ready for the Times to Get Better - Crystal Gayle
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. - John Cougar Mellencamp
Kiss - Prince & the Revolution
100% Chance of Rain - Gary Morris
Quote of the Day
Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.
Frank Zappa, musician, singer, & songwriter (1940 - 1993)
Today in History - April 9th
Today's Birthdays
1898 Curly Lambeau, football coach/executive (Green Bay Packers) died June 1, 1965
1898 Paul Robeson, singer/actor (Ol’ Man River) died Jan 23, 1976
1905 J. William Fulbright, Congressman/benefactor (Fulbright Scholarship Program) died Feb 9, 1995
1926 Hugh Hefner, Playboy magazine founder /publisher
1932 Carl Perkins (Carl Lee Perkings), singer (Blue Suede Shoes) died Jan 19, 1998
1935 Avery Schreiber, comedian (Burns & Schreiber) died Jan 7, 2002
1939 Michael Learned, actress (The Waltons)
1942 (Andre) Brandon de Wilde, actor (Shane) killed in car crash July 6, 1972
1943 Terry Knight, singer (Grand Funk Railroad) died November 1, 2004
1945 Steve Gadd, jazz session drummer
1954 Dennis Quaid, actor (Innerspace, DOA, Great Balls of Fire!)
1957 Severiano (Seve) Ballesteros, golf Champion
1961 Mark Kelly, keyboards (Marillion)
1965 Mark Pellegrino, actor (Dexter)
1965 Paulina Porizkova, actress/supermodel
1966 Cynthia Nixon, actress (Sex & the City)
1968 Jay Chandrasekhar, actor/director (Super Troopers)
1969 Kevin Martin, singer (Candlebox)
1971 Jacques Villeneuve, Formula 1 racer
1974 Jenna Jameson, adult film actress
1977 Gerard Way, singer (My Chemical Romance)
1979 Keshia Knight Pulliam, actress (The Cosby Show)
1980 Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist (The Strokes)
1980 Ryan Northcott, actor (Mystery Alaska)
1981 Eric Harris, mass murderer (Columbine High School) died April 20, 1999
1986 Leighton Meester, actress (Gossip Girl)
1990 Kristen Stewart, actress (Panic Room, Twilight)
1998 Elle Fanning, actress (Because of Winn-Dixie)
Today's Deaths in History
1626 Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher/statesman/essayist, dies at 65
1959 Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, dies at 91
1976 Phil Ochs, protest singer, commits suicide at 35
1988 Brook Benton, singer (Rainy Night in Georgia) dies at 56
1988 Dave Prater, rocker (Sam & Dave), dies in a car crash at 50
2001 Willie Stargell, baseball great (Pittsburgh Pirates) dies at 61
2004 Nick and Mary Yankovic, parents of "Wierd Al" Yankovic, die at 86 and 81 of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning
2005 Andrea Dworkin, anti-pornography activist, dies at 58
Today in History
1682 French explorer Robert La Salle reached the Mississippi River.
1833 The nation's first tax-supported public library was founded in Peterborough, N.H.
1865 Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the village of Appomattox Court House, Va.
1939 Black singer Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race.
1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway during World War II.
1942 American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces during World War II.
1959 NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.
1969 The "Chicago Eight" pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
1969 The Bob Dylan album Nashville Skyline was released.
1992 Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and racketeering charges.
1996 Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., the once-powerful House Ways and Means chairman, pleaded guilty to two mail fraud charges; he served 15 months in prison.
1996 President Bill Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law.
2001 American Airlines' parent company acquired bankrupt Trans World Airlines.
2003 Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad.
2005 Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
Managua, Nicaragua - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Don Rodney)
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
South Street - The Orlons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
For All We Know - Carpenters
What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye
After the Fire is Gone - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1979
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray
1987
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Come Go with Me - Expose
Ocean Front Property - George Strait
Quote of the Day
Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
Malcolm Forbes, art collector, author, & publisher (1919 - 1990)
Today's Birthdays
1898 Curly Lambeau, football coach/executive (Green Bay Packers) died June 1, 1965
1898 Paul Robeson, singer/actor (Ol’ Man River) died Jan 23, 1976
1905 J. William Fulbright, Congressman/benefactor (Fulbright Scholarship Program) died Feb 9, 1995
1926 Hugh Hefner, Playboy magazine founder /publisher
1932 Carl Perkins (Carl Lee Perkings), singer (Blue Suede Shoes) died Jan 19, 1998
1935 Avery Schreiber, comedian (Burns & Schreiber) died Jan 7, 2002
1939 Michael Learned, actress (The Waltons)
1942 (Andre) Brandon de Wilde, actor (Shane) killed in car crash July 6, 1972
1943 Terry Knight, singer (Grand Funk Railroad) died November 1, 2004
1945 Steve Gadd, jazz session drummer
1954 Dennis Quaid, actor (Innerspace, DOA, Great Balls of Fire!)
1957 Severiano (Seve) Ballesteros, golf Champion
1961 Mark Kelly, keyboards (Marillion)
1965 Mark Pellegrino, actor (Dexter)
1965 Paulina Porizkova, actress/supermodel
1966 Cynthia Nixon, actress (Sex & the City)
1968 Jay Chandrasekhar, actor/director (Super Troopers)
1969 Kevin Martin, singer (Candlebox)
1971 Jacques Villeneuve, Formula 1 racer
1974 Jenna Jameson, adult film actress
1977 Gerard Way, singer (My Chemical Romance)
1979 Keshia Knight Pulliam, actress (The Cosby Show)
1980 Albert Hammond Jr., guitarist (The Strokes)
1980 Ryan Northcott, actor (Mystery Alaska)
1981 Eric Harris, mass murderer (Columbine High School) died April 20, 1999
1986 Leighton Meester, actress (Gossip Girl)
1990 Kristen Stewart, actress (Panic Room, Twilight)
1998 Elle Fanning, actress (Because of Winn-Dixie)
Today's Deaths in History
1626 Sir Francis Bacon, English philosopher/statesman/essayist, dies at 65
1959 Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, dies at 91
1976 Phil Ochs, protest singer, commits suicide at 35
1988 Brook Benton, singer (Rainy Night in Georgia) dies at 56
1988 Dave Prater, rocker (Sam & Dave), dies in a car crash at 50
2001 Willie Stargell, baseball great (Pittsburgh Pirates) dies at 61
2004 Nick and Mary Yankovic, parents of "Wierd Al" Yankovic, die at 86 and 81 of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning
2005 Andrea Dworkin, anti-pornography activist, dies at 58
Today in History
1682 French explorer Robert La Salle reached the Mississippi River.
1833 The nation's first tax-supported public library was founded in Peterborough, N.H.
1865 Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the village of Appomattox Court House, Va.
1939 Black singer Marian Anderson performed at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after she was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because of her race.
1940 Germany invaded Denmark and Norway during World War II.
1942 American and Philippine defenders on Bataan capitulated to Japanese forces during World War II.
1959 NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Donald Slayton.
1969 The "Chicago Eight" pleaded not guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to incite a riot at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
1969 The Bob Dylan album Nashville Skyline was released.
1992 Former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega was convicted in Miami of eight drug and racketeering charges.
1996 Former Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, D-Ill., the once-powerful House Ways and Means chairman, pleaded guilty to two mail fraud charges; he served 15 months in prison.
1996 President Bill Clinton signed a line-item veto bill into law.
2001 American Airlines' parent company acquired bankrupt Trans World Airlines.
2003 Jubilant Iraqis celebrated the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime, beheading a toppled statue of their longtime ruler in downtown Baghdad.
2005 Britain's Prince Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, who took the title Duchess of Cornwall.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
Managua, Nicaragua - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Don Rodney)
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
South Street - The Orlons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) - The Temptations
For All We Know - Carpenters
What’s Going On - Marvin Gaye
After the Fire is Gone - Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
1979
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
I Just Fall in Love Again - Anne Murray
1987
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight - Genesis
Come Go with Me - Expose
Ocean Front Property - George Strait
Quote of the Day
Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.
Malcolm Forbes, art collector, author, & publisher (1919 - 1990)
Today in History - April 10th
Today's Birthdays
1847 Joseph Pulitzer, newspaperman/benefactor (Pulitzer Prize) died Oct 29, 1911
1882 Frances Perkins (Mrs. Paul Caldwell Wilson), first woman cabinet member (Secretary of Labor 1933-1945) died May 14, 1965
1911 Martin Denny, composer/arranger/pianist (Exotica music) died Mar 2, 2005
1915 Harry Morgan, actor (Dragnet, M*A*S*H)
1921 Chuck Connors, actor (The Rifleman, Cowboy in Africa) died Nov 10, 1992
1921 Sheb Wooley, singer/songwriter (The Purple People Eater) died Sep 16, 2003
1926 Alvin "Junior" Samples, country entertainer (Hee Haw) died Nov 13, 1983
1929 Max von Sydow, actor (Flash Gordon, Victory)
1932 Omar Sharif, actor (Dr. Zhivago)
1933 Ponciano "Poncie" Ponce, Hawaiian actor (Hawaiian Eye)
1936 John Madden, sportscaster (NFL)
1936 Bobbie Smith, R&B singer (The Spinners)
1938 Don Meredith, sportscaster
1947 Bunny Wailer, reggae singer
1950 Eddie Hazel, guitarist (P-Funk, The Temptations) died December 23, 1992
1951 Steven Seagal, actor (Under Seige series)
1954 Peter MacNicol, actor (24, Ally McBeal, Sophie's Choice)
1954 Deborah Rush, actress (American Wedding)
1957 Steven Gustafson, bassist (10,000 Maniacs)
1958 Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B singer/producer
1959 Brian Setzer, guitarist/orchestra leader (Stray Cats)
1960 Afrika Bambaataa, rapper/R&B musician (Planet Rock)
1960 Katrina Leskanich, singer (Katrina and the Waves)
1960 Olivia Brown, actress (Miami Vice)
1963 Warren "Torch" DeMartini, guitarist (Ratt)
1965 Tim "Herb" Alexander, drummer (Primus)
1967 Kay Whitmore, NHL goalie (NY Rangers)
1968 Orlando Jones, comedian/actor (Evolution, Drumline)
1970 Mike Mushok, guitarist (Staind)
1975 Chris Carrabba, singer (Dashboard Confessional)
1980 Sean Avery, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1980 Kasey Kahne, NASCAR driver
1980 Bryce Soderberg, bassist (Lifehouse)
1982 Chyler Leigh, actress (The Practice, Grey's Anatomy)
1983 Ryan Merriman, actor (Final Destination 3)
1984 Mandy Moore, singer/actress (A Walk to Remember)
1988 Haley Joel Osment, actor (The Sixth Sense, Pay It Forward)
Today's Deaths in History
1919 Emiliano Zapata, activist/revolutionary, is assassinated at 39
1931 Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet/painter, dies at 48
1954 Auguste Lumière, filmmaking pioneer, dies at 91
1958 Chuck Willis, musician (CC Rider), dies at 30
1962 Stuart Sutcliffe, bassist (The Beatles) dies at 21
1975 Marjorie Main, actress (Ma & Pa Kettle movies) dies at 89
1975 Walker Evans, photographer (documented the Depression), dies at 71
1980 Kay Medford, actress (To Rome with Love) dies at 65
1991 Kevin Peter Hall, actor (Predator) dies at 35 of AIDS
1991 Natalie Shafer, actress (Gilligan's Island) dies at 90
1992 Sam Kinison, comedian, dies at 38
2000 Larry Linville, actor (M*A*S*H) dies at 60
2003 Little Eva, singer (Loco-Motion) dies at 59
2005 Scott Gottlieb, drummer (Bleed the Dream) dies at 34
Today in History
1710 The first law regulating copyright was issued in Great Britain.
1866 The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
1912 The luxury liner Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
1919 Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
1925 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.
1932 Adolf Hitler came in second in voting for German president to the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg.
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals, paving the way for Robinson to become the first black player in the major leagues.
1953 Warner Brothers premiered the first 3-D film, House of Wax.
1959 Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a commoner, Michiko Shoda.
1963 The nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher and its crew of 129 was lost off Cape Cod, Mass.
1970 Paul McCartney announced the break up of The Beatles.
1972 Some 70 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed an agreement banning biological warfare.
1981 Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.
1992 Financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed; the convictions were later overturned.
1996 President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique that opponents call partial-birth abortion.
1998 Negotiators in Northern Ireland reached a landmark settlement that called for Protestants and Catholics to share power.
2001 The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.
2002 Eight Israelis were killed by a suicide bomber aboard a bus in Haifa.
2007 A woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits in Muqdadiyah, killing 16.
Chart Toppers
1948
Manana - Peggy Lee
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
(You’ve Got) The Magic Touch - The Platters
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Call Me - Blondie
Sugar Daddy - Bellamy Brothers
1988
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
Out of the Blue - Debbie Gibson
Devil Inside - INXS
Famous Last Words of a Fool - George Strait
Quote of the Day
Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Today's Birthdays
1847 Joseph Pulitzer, newspaperman/benefactor (Pulitzer Prize) died Oct 29, 1911
1882 Frances Perkins (Mrs. Paul Caldwell Wilson), first woman cabinet member (Secretary of Labor 1933-1945) died May 14, 1965
1911 Martin Denny, composer/arranger/pianist (Exotica music) died Mar 2, 2005
1915 Harry Morgan, actor (Dragnet, M*A*S*H)
1921 Chuck Connors, actor (The Rifleman, Cowboy in Africa) died Nov 10, 1992
1921 Sheb Wooley, singer/songwriter (The Purple People Eater) died Sep 16, 2003
1926 Alvin "Junior" Samples, country entertainer (Hee Haw) died Nov 13, 1983
1929 Max von Sydow, actor (Flash Gordon, Victory)
1932 Omar Sharif, actor (Dr. Zhivago)
1933 Ponciano "Poncie" Ponce, Hawaiian actor (Hawaiian Eye)
1936 John Madden, sportscaster (NFL)
1936 Bobbie Smith, R&B singer (The Spinners)
1938 Don Meredith, sportscaster
1947 Bunny Wailer, reggae singer
1950 Eddie Hazel, guitarist (P-Funk, The Temptations) died December 23, 1992
1951 Steven Seagal, actor (Under Seige series)
1954 Peter MacNicol, actor (24, Ally McBeal, Sophie's Choice)
1954 Deborah Rush, actress (American Wedding)
1957 Steven Gustafson, bassist (10,000 Maniacs)
1958 Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, R&B singer/producer
1959 Brian Setzer, guitarist/orchestra leader (Stray Cats)
1960 Afrika Bambaataa, rapper/R&B musician (Planet Rock)
1960 Katrina Leskanich, singer (Katrina and the Waves)
1960 Olivia Brown, actress (Miami Vice)
1963 Warren "Torch" DeMartini, guitarist (Ratt)
1965 Tim "Herb" Alexander, drummer (Primus)
1967 Kay Whitmore, NHL goalie (NY Rangers)
1968 Orlando Jones, comedian/actor (Evolution, Drumline)
1970 Mike Mushok, guitarist (Staind)
1975 Chris Carrabba, singer (Dashboard Confessional)
1980 Sean Avery, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1980 Kasey Kahne, NASCAR driver
1980 Bryce Soderberg, bassist (Lifehouse)
1982 Chyler Leigh, actress (The Practice, Grey's Anatomy)
1983 Ryan Merriman, actor (Final Destination 3)
1984 Mandy Moore, singer/actress (A Walk to Remember)
1988 Haley Joel Osment, actor (The Sixth Sense, Pay It Forward)
Today's Deaths in History
1919 Emiliano Zapata, activist/revolutionary, is assassinated at 39
1931 Khalil Gibran, Lebanese poet/painter, dies at 48
1954 Auguste Lumière, filmmaking pioneer, dies at 91
1958 Chuck Willis, musician (CC Rider), dies at 30
1962 Stuart Sutcliffe, bassist (The Beatles) dies at 21
1975 Marjorie Main, actress (Ma & Pa Kettle movies) dies at 89
1975 Walker Evans, photographer (documented the Depression), dies at 71
1980 Kay Medford, actress (To Rome with Love) dies at 65
1991 Kevin Peter Hall, actor (Predator) dies at 35 of AIDS
1991 Natalie Shafer, actress (Gilligan's Island) dies at 90
1992 Sam Kinison, comedian, dies at 38
2000 Larry Linville, actor (M*A*S*H) dies at 60
2003 Little Eva, singer (Loco-Motion) dies at 59
2005 Scott Gottlieb, drummer (Bleed the Dream) dies at 34
Today in History
1710 The first law regulating copyright was issued in Great Britain.
1866 The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was incorporated.
1912 The luxury liner Titanic set sail from Southampton, England, on its ill-fated maiden voyage.
1919 Mexican Revolution leader Emiliano Zapata was ambushed and shot dead by government forces in Morelos.
1925 The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published.
1932 Adolf Hitler came in second in voting for German president to the incumbent, Paul von Hindenburg.
1947 Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey announced he had purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals, paving the way for Robinson to become the first black player in the major leagues.
1953 Warner Brothers premiered the first 3-D film, House of Wax.
1959 Japan's Crown Prince Akihito married a commoner, Michiko Shoda.
1963 The nuclear-powered submarine USS Thresher and its crew of 129 was lost off Cape Cod, Mass.
1970 Paul McCartney announced the break up of The Beatles.
1972 Some 70 nations, including the United States and the Soviet Union, signed an agreement banning biological warfare.
1981 Imprisoned IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands won election to the British Parliament.
1992 Financier Charles Keating Jr. was sentenced in Los Angeles to nine years in prison for swindling investors when his Lincoln Savings and Loan collapsed; the convictions were later overturned.
1996 President Bill Clinton vetoed a bill that would have outlawed a technique that opponents call partial-birth abortion.
1998 Negotiators in Northern Ireland reached a landmark settlement that called for Protestants and Catholics to share power.
2001 The Netherlands legalized mercy killings and assisted suicide for patients with unbearable, terminal illness.
2002 Eight Israelis were killed by a suicide bomber aboard a bus in Haifa.
2007 A woman wearing an explosives vest strapped underneath her black robe blew herself up in the midst of 200 Iraqi police recruits in Muqdadiyah, killing 16.
Chart Toppers
1948
Manana - Peggy Lee
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
(You’ve Got) The Magic Touch - The Platters
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
A Horse with No Name - America
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl - Spinners
Call Me - Blondie
Sugar Daddy - Bellamy Brothers
1988
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
Out of the Blue - Debbie Gibson
Devil Inside - INXS
Famous Last Words of a Fool - George Strait
Quote of the Day
Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Today in History - April 11th
Today's Birthdays
1862 Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of Supreme Court, died Aug 27, 1948
1902 Quentin Reynolds, New York NY, newscaster (It’s News to Me) died Mar 17, 1965
1908 Jane Bolin, attorney (first black woman graduate of Yale School of Law; first black, female judge) died Jan 8, 2007
1913 Oleg Cassini, fashion designer, died March 17, 2006
1916 Howard W. Koch, film producer (President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) died Feb 16, 2001
1928 Ethel Kennedy (Skakel), widow of slain U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy
1931 Johnny Sheffield, actor (Tarzan series)
1932 Joel Grey (Katz), Tony & Academy award-winning actor (Cabaret)
1939 Louise Lasser, actress (Mary Hartman Mary Hartman)
1947 Peter Riegert, actor (Local Hero, National Lampoon’s Animal House)
1947 Meshach Taylor, actor (Mannequin, Designing Women)
1951 Paul Fox, guitarist (The Ruts) died Oct 21, 2007
1958 Stuart (William) Adamson, guitarist/singer (Big Country) committed suicide in Honolulu Dec 16, 2001
1958 Brynn Hartman, actress/wife of Phil Hartman, committed suicide May 28, 1998 after shooting her husband in his sleep
1963 Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, professional poker champion
1966 Lisa Stansfield, singer/songwriter (All Around the World)
1970 Delroy Pearson, R&B singer (Five Star)
1970 Dylan Keefe, bassist (Marcy Playground)
1971 Vicellous Shannon, actor (Annapolis)
1973 Jennifer Esposito, actress (Spin City)
1974 Tricia Helfer, actress (Battlestar Galactica)
1978 Josh Hancock, relief pitcher (St Louis Cardinals) died in a car crash April 29, 2007
1979 Chris Gaylor, drummer (The All-American Rejects)
1981 Allesandra Ambrosio, actress (Casino Royale)
1987 Joss Stone, pop singer
Today's Deaths in History
1906 James A Bailey, circus pioneer (Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus) dies at 58
1970 John H O'Hara, US author (Pal Joey) dies at 65
1983 Dolores Del Rio, Mexican actress, dies at 78
1987 Erskine Caldwell, writer (God's Little Acre) dies at 83
1992 James Brown, actor (The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin) dies at 72
1994 John O/Brien, author (Leaving Las Vegas) dies at 33
1996 Jessica Dubrow, dies at 7 in a plane crash while attempting to become the youngest pilot to fly across the United States
2006 Proof, rapper/actor, is shot and killed at 32
2006 June Pointer, singer (Pointer Sisters) dies at 52
2007 Roscoe Lee Browne, actor (The Cowboys) dies at 81
2007 Kurt Vonnegut, author (Slaughterhouse Five) dies at 84
Today in History
1689 William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.
1865 President Abraham Lincoln made his last public speech.
1898 President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.
1899 The treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.
1905 Albert Einstein revealed his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).
1919 The International Labour Organization was founded.
1921 Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.
1945 American soldiers liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
1951 President Harry S. Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command in the Far East.
1961 The trial of Adolf Eichmann began in Jerusalem.
1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1970 Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon that was cut short when an explosion crippled the spacecraft.
1979 Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.
1980 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.
1981 President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt.
2001 Ending an 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane that had collided with a Chinese fighter plane, killing its pilot.
2002 U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, was convicted of taking bribes and kickbacks from businessmen and his own staff; he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
2003 American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight.
2006 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had succeeded in enriching uranium on a small scale for the first time.
2006 Israel's Cabinet declared Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated.
2007 North Carolina's top prosecutor dropped all charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Sunflower - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skylarks)
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & The Dreamers
The Birds and the Bees - Jewel Akens
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got) - Four Tops
Super Kind of Woman - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma - David Frizzell & Shelly West
1989
The Look - Roxette
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
Like a Prayer - Madonna
I’m No Stranger to the Rain - Keith Whitley
Quote of the Day
If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.
G. K. Chesterton, English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)
Today's Birthdays
1862 Charles Evans Hughes, 11th Chief Justice of Supreme Court, died Aug 27, 1948
1902 Quentin Reynolds, New York NY, newscaster (It’s News to Me) died Mar 17, 1965
1908 Jane Bolin, attorney (first black woman graduate of Yale School of Law; first black, female judge) died Jan 8, 2007
1913 Oleg Cassini, fashion designer, died March 17, 2006
1916 Howard W. Koch, film producer (President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) died Feb 16, 2001
1928 Ethel Kennedy (Skakel), widow of slain U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy
1931 Johnny Sheffield, actor (Tarzan series)
1932 Joel Grey (Katz), Tony & Academy award-winning actor (Cabaret)
1939 Louise Lasser, actress (Mary Hartman Mary Hartman)
1947 Peter Riegert, actor (Local Hero, National Lampoon’s Animal House)
1947 Meshach Taylor, actor (Mannequin, Designing Women)
1951 Paul Fox, guitarist (The Ruts) died Oct 21, 2007
1958 Stuart (William) Adamson, guitarist/singer (Big Country) committed suicide in Honolulu Dec 16, 2001
1958 Brynn Hartman, actress/wife of Phil Hartman, committed suicide May 28, 1998 after shooting her husband in his sleep
1963 Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, professional poker champion
1966 Lisa Stansfield, singer/songwriter (All Around the World)
1970 Delroy Pearson, R&B singer (Five Star)
1970 Dylan Keefe, bassist (Marcy Playground)
1971 Vicellous Shannon, actor (Annapolis)
1973 Jennifer Esposito, actress (Spin City)
1974 Tricia Helfer, actress (Battlestar Galactica)
1978 Josh Hancock, relief pitcher (St Louis Cardinals) died in a car crash April 29, 2007
1979 Chris Gaylor, drummer (The All-American Rejects)
1981 Allesandra Ambrosio, actress (Casino Royale)
1987 Joss Stone, pop singer
Today's Deaths in History
1906 James A Bailey, circus pioneer (Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus) dies at 58
1970 John H O'Hara, US author (Pal Joey) dies at 65
1983 Dolores Del Rio, Mexican actress, dies at 78
1987 Erskine Caldwell, writer (God's Little Acre) dies at 83
1992 James Brown, actor (The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin) dies at 72
1994 John O/Brien, author (Leaving Las Vegas) dies at 33
1996 Jessica Dubrow, dies at 7 in a plane crash while attempting to become the youngest pilot to fly across the United States
2006 Proof, rapper/actor, is shot and killed at 32
2006 June Pointer, singer (Pointer Sisters) dies at 52
2007 Roscoe Lee Browne, actor (The Cowboys) dies at 81
2007 Kurt Vonnegut, author (Slaughterhouse Five) dies at 84
Today in History
1689 William III and Mary II were crowned as joint sovereigns of Britain.
1814 Napoleon Bonaparte abdicated as emperor of France and was banished to the island of Elba.
1865 President Abraham Lincoln made his last public speech.
1898 President William McKinley asked Congress for a declaration of war against Spain.
1899 The treaty ending the Spanish-American War was declared in effect.
1905 Albert Einstein revealed his Theory of Relativity (special relativity).
1919 The International Labour Organization was founded.
1921 Iowa became the first state to impose a cigarette tax.
1945 American soldiers liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
1951 President Harry S. Truman relieved Gen. Douglas MacArthur of his command in the Far East.
1961 The trial of Adolf Eichmann began in Jerusalem.
1968 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.
1970 Apollo 13 blasted off on a mission to the moon that was cut short when an explosion crippled the spacecraft.
1979 Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as rebels and exiles backed by Tanzanian forces seized control.
1980 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued regulations prohibiting sexual harassment of workers by supervisors.
1981 President Ronald Reagan returned to the White House from the hospital, 12 days after he was wounded in an assassination attempt.
2001 Ending an 11-day standoff, China agreed to free the 24 crew members of an American spy plane that had collided with a Chinese fighter plane, killing its pilot.
2002 U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, was convicted of taking bribes and kickbacks from businessmen and his own staff; he was sentenced to eight years in prison.
2003 American troops took the northern Iraqi city of Mosul without a fight.
2006 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country had succeeded in enriching uranium on a small scale for the first time.
2006 Israel's Cabinet declared Prime Minister Ariel Sharon permanently incapacitated.
2007 North Carolina's top prosecutor dropped all charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of sexually assaulting a stripper at a party.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Sunflower - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skylarks)
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & The Dreamers
The Birds and the Bees - Jewel Akens
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye) – Gladys Knight & the Pips
Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got) - Four Tops
Super Kind of Woman - Freddie Hart & The Heartbeats
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
You’re the Reason God Made Oklahoma - David Frizzell & Shelly West
1989
The Look - Roxette
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
Like a Prayer - Madonna
I’m No Stranger to the Rain - Keith Whitley
Quote of the Day
If there were no God, there would be no Atheists.
G. K. Chesterton, English author & mystery novelist (1874 - 1936)
Today in History - April 12th
Today's Birthdays
1777 Henry Clay, 'The Great Compromiser,' died June 29, 1852
1907 Felix de Weldon, Austrian-born sculptor (Marine Corps Memorial) died June 3, 2003
1916 Beverly Cleary, author (Ramona)
1923 Ann Miller (Lucille Ann Collier), actress/dancer (On the Town) died Jan 22, 2004
1926 Jane Withers, actress/TV spokesperson (Josephine the plumber)
1932 Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury), ukulele/falsetto singer (Tiptoe Through the Tulips) died Nov 30, 1996
1936 Charles Napier, actor (Rambo II)
1940 Herbie Hancock, Oscar-winning jazz/fusion musician/composer (Rockit)
1944 John Kay (Joachim Krauledat), guitarist/vocalist (Steppenwolf)
1946 Ed O’Neill, actor (Married...with Children)
1947 Dan Lauria, actor (The Wonder Years)
1947 David Letterman, TV host/comedian (Late Night with David Letterman)
1947 Tom Clancy, writer (Hunt for Red October)
1949 Scott Turow, author (Presumed Innocent)
1950 David Cassidy, singer/actor (The Partridge Family)
1951 Jackson "Thunderfoot" Spires, drummer (Blackfoot)
1951 Alex Briley, singer (The Village People)
1954 Pat Travers, guitarist (Boom Boom Out Go the Lights)
1956 Andy Garcia, actor (The Untouchables, Black Rain)
1957 Vince Gill, country singer (When Love Finds You)
1958 Will Sergeant, guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
1961 Lisa Gerrard, singer (Dead Can Dance)
1961 Ray Abruzzo, actor (The Sopranos)
1962 Art Alexakis, singer (Everclear)
1964 Amy Ray, singer (Indigo Girls)
1968 Adam Graves, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1968 Alicia Coppola, actress (Jericho)
1970 Nicholas Hexum, singer (311)
1971 Nicholas Brendon, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1971 Shannen Doherty, actress (Beverly Hills 90210)
1972 NiCole Robinson, actress (The West Wing)
1977 Sarah Jane Morris, actor (Felicity, Brothers & Sisters)
1979 Claire Danes, actress (Romeo+Juliet, Shopgirl)
1979 Jennifer Morrison, actress (House)
1987 Brendon Urie, singer (Panic! at the Disco)
Today's Deaths in History
1748 William Kent, architect (Kensington Palace) dies at 63
1817 Charles Messier, astronomer (catalogued objects in space) dies at 86
1878 William M "Boss" Tweed, New York City politician (convicted of corruption), dies at 55
1912 Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, dies at 90
1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the U.S. dies at 63
1975 Josephine Baker, US/French revue artist (Folies-Bergère), dies at 68
1977 Philip K Wrigley, baseball owner (Chicago Cubs) dies at 82
1981 Joe Louis, "The Brown Bomber," boxing champion, dies at 66
1989 Abbie Hoffman, counter-culture/hippie, dies at 52
1989 Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr) boxing champion, dies at 67
1999 Boxcar Willie, country singer, dies at 67
2003 Cecil H. Green, founder (Texas Instruments) dies at 102
Today in History
1606 England adopted the Union Jack as its flag.
1633 The formal inquest of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition began.
1861 The Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1877 The catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate, believed to be the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.
1937 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tested the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt died while in office; vice-president Harry Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President.
1955 The Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.
1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing.
1980 Samuel Doe took control of Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending more than 130 years of national democratic presidential succession.
1980 Terry Fox began his "Marathon of Hope" at St. John's, Newfoundland.
1981 The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.
1983 Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor.
1985 Sen. Jake Garn of Utah became the first senator to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1992 Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France.
1994 Canter & Siegel posted the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
1999 U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2001 Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken declared a state of emergency amid an outbreak of racial violence.
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military; he was returned to office two days later.
2004 Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list.
2007 A suicide bomber breached security in Iraq's parliament and blew himself up in the dining hall; a Sunni parliament member was killed.
2009 Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and the surrounding areas, due to a heightened escalation of tension between the government and anti-government protesters.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Peter Cottontail - Gene Autry
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Book of Love - The Monotones
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
Bennie & The Jets - Elton John
A Very Special Love Song - Charlie Rich
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Make a Move on Me - Olivia Newton-John
Big City - Merle Haggard
1990
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I’ll Be Your Everything - Tommy Page
All Around the World - Lisa Stansfield
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
My Karma ran over your dogma.
Unknown
Today's Birthdays
1777 Henry Clay, 'The Great Compromiser,' died June 29, 1852
1907 Felix de Weldon, Austrian-born sculptor (Marine Corps Memorial) died June 3, 2003
1916 Beverly Cleary, author (Ramona)
1923 Ann Miller (Lucille Ann Collier), actress/dancer (On the Town) died Jan 22, 2004
1926 Jane Withers, actress/TV spokesperson (Josephine the plumber)
1932 Tiny Tim (Herbert Khaury), ukulele/falsetto singer (Tiptoe Through the Tulips) died Nov 30, 1996
1936 Charles Napier, actor (Rambo II)
1940 Herbie Hancock, Oscar-winning jazz/fusion musician/composer (Rockit)
1944 John Kay (Joachim Krauledat), guitarist/vocalist (Steppenwolf)
1946 Ed O’Neill, actor (Married...with Children)
1947 Dan Lauria, actor (The Wonder Years)
1947 David Letterman, TV host/comedian (Late Night with David Letterman)
1947 Tom Clancy, writer (Hunt for Red October)
1949 Scott Turow, author (Presumed Innocent)
1950 David Cassidy, singer/actor (The Partridge Family)
1951 Jackson "Thunderfoot" Spires, drummer (Blackfoot)
1951 Alex Briley, singer (The Village People)
1954 Pat Travers, guitarist (Boom Boom Out Go the Lights)
1956 Andy Garcia, actor (The Untouchables, Black Rain)
1957 Vince Gill, country singer (When Love Finds You)
1958 Will Sergeant, guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
1961 Lisa Gerrard, singer (Dead Can Dance)
1961 Ray Abruzzo, actor (The Sopranos)
1962 Art Alexakis, singer (Everclear)
1964 Amy Ray, singer (Indigo Girls)
1968 Adam Graves, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1968 Alicia Coppola, actress (Jericho)
1970 Nicholas Hexum, singer (311)
1971 Nicholas Brendon, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1971 Shannen Doherty, actress (Beverly Hills 90210)
1972 NiCole Robinson, actress (The West Wing)
1977 Sarah Jane Morris, actor (Felicity, Brothers & Sisters)
1979 Claire Danes, actress (Romeo+Juliet, Shopgirl)
1979 Jennifer Morrison, actress (House)
1987 Brendon Urie, singer (Panic! at the Disco)
Today's Deaths in History
1748 William Kent, architect (Kensington Palace) dies at 63
1817 Charles Messier, astronomer (catalogued objects in space) dies at 86
1878 William M "Boss" Tweed, New York City politician (convicted of corruption), dies at 55
1912 Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, dies at 90
1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the U.S. dies at 63
1975 Josephine Baker, US/French revue artist (Folies-Bergère), dies at 68
1977 Philip K Wrigley, baseball owner (Chicago Cubs) dies at 82
1981 Joe Louis, "The Brown Bomber," boxing champion, dies at 66
1989 Abbie Hoffman, counter-culture/hippie, dies at 52
1989 Sugar Ray Robinson (Walker Smith Jr) boxing champion, dies at 67
1999 Boxcar Willie, country singer, dies at 67
2003 Cecil H. Green, founder (Texas Instruments) dies at 102
Today in History
1606 England adopted the Union Jack as its flag.
1633 The formal inquest of Galileo Galilei by the Inquisition began.
1861 The Civil War began as Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1877 The catcher for Harvard's baseball team, James Tyng, wore a modified fencing mask behind the plate, believed to be the first time a catcher's mask was used during a game.
1937 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tested the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft at Rugby, England.
1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt died while in office; vice-president Harry Truman was sworn in as the 33rd President.
1955 The Salk vaccine against polio was declared safe and effective.
1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly in space, orbiting the Earth once before making a safe landing.
1980 Samuel Doe took control of Liberia in a coup d'etat, ending more than 130 years of national democratic presidential succession.
1980 Terry Fox began his "Marathon of Hope" at St. John's, Newfoundland.
1981 The space shuttle Columbia blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on its first test flight.
1983 Harold Washington was elected Chicago's first African-American mayor.
1985 Sen. Jake Garn of Utah became the first senator to fly in space as the shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1992 Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opened in Marne-La-Vallee, France.
1994 Canter & Siegel posted the first commercial mass Usenet spam.
1999 U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright found President Bill Clinton in contempt of court for giving "intentionally false" testimony in a lawsuit filed by Paula Jones about his relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
2001 Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken declared a state of emergency amid an outbreak of racial violence.
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez resigned under pressure from the country's divided military; he was returned to office two days later.
2004 Barry Bonds hit his 660th home run to tie Willie Mays for third on baseball's career list.
2007 A suicide bomber breached security in Iraq's parliament and blew himself up in the dining hall; a Sunni parliament member was killed.
2009 Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Bangkok and the surrounding areas, due to a heightened escalation of tension between the government and anti-government protesters.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Peter Cottontail - Gene Autry
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Book of Love - The Monotones
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
Sunshine on My Shoulders - John Denver
Hooked on a Feeling - Blue Swede
Bennie & The Jets - Elton John
A Very Special Love Song - Charlie Rich
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Make a Move on Me - Olivia Newton-John
Big City - Merle Haggard
1990
Love Will Lead You Back - Taylor Dayne
I’ll Be Your Everything - Tommy Page
All Around the World - Lisa Stansfield
Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart - Randy Travis
Quote of the Day
My Karma ran over your dogma.
Unknown
Today in History - April 13th
Today's Birthdays
1743 Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President (1801-1809) died July 4, 1826
1852 F. W. (Frank Winfield) Woolworth, merchant (created the five and ten cent store) died Apr 8, 1919
1866 Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker), outlaw, died circa Nov 6, 1908
1899 Alfred Butts, architect/game inventor (Scrabble) died Apr 4, 1993
1902 Philippe de Rothschild, French race car driver/wine grower, died Jan 20, 1988
1902 Marguerite Henry, author (Misty) died Nov 26, 1997
1906 Samuel Beckett, author/critic/playwright (Waiting for Godot) died Dec 22, 1989
1909 Eudora Welty, poet (Delta Wedding) died July 23, 2001
1919 Howard Keel (Harry Clifford Leek), actor (Dallas) died Nov 7, 2004
1919 Madalyn Murray O’Hair, author/atheist, body was found near Camp Wood, TX Jan 28, 2001
1923 Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy), actor (Get Smart) died Sep 25, 2005
1931 Jon Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street, died March 13, 1997
1937 Edward Fox, actor (Force 10 from Navarone)
1939 Paul Sorvino, actor (Law and Order, Goodfellas)
1942 Bill Conti, Academy Award-winning composer (movie scores)
1944 Jack Casady, bassist (Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane)
1944 Brian Pendleton, guitarist (The Pretty Things) died May 25, 2001
1945 Tony Dow, actor (Leave it to Beaver)
1945 Lowell George, rock singer (Little Feat) died June 29, 1979
1946 Al Green, singer/songwriter (Let’s Stay Together)
1950 Ron Perlman, actor (Hellboy)
1950 William Sadler, actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
1951 Max Weinberg, drummer (E Street Band)
1951 Peabo Bryson, singer (If Ever You're In My Arms Again)
1954 Jimmy Destri, organ (Blondie)
1957 Gary Kroeger, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1958 Randy Piper, guitarist (WASP)
1961 Joey Mazzola, songwriter/guitarist (Sponge)
1962 Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) died June 25, 1988
1963 Garry Kasparov, World Chess Champion
1964 Caroline Rhea, comic/actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1964 Page Hannah, actress (Fame)
1965 Lisa Umbarger, bassist (Toadies)
1966 Marc Ford, guitarist (Black Crowes)
1970 Rick Schroder, actor (Silver Spoons, NYPD Blue)
1972 Aaron Lewis, singer (Staind)
1973 Bokeem Woodbine, actor (The Rock, The Big Hit)
1975 Lou Bega, singer (Mambo #5)
1976 Jonathan Brandis, actor (Who's the Boss? SeaQuest DSV) died November 12, 2003
1981 Courtney Peldon, actress (Boston Public)
1987 Brandon Hardesty, internet entertainer (YouTube Geico commercial)
Today's Deaths in History
1605 Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia, dies at 54
1936 Milton Brown, swing bandleader, dies at 32
1975 Larry Parks, blacklisted actor (The Jolson Story) dies at 60
1984 Richard Hurndall, British actor (The Avengers, Dr. Who) dies at 73
1984 Christopher Wilder, serial killer (The Beauty Queen Killer) shoots himself when cornered by the police at 39
1986 Stephen Stucker, actor (Airplane) dies at 36
2001 Robert Moon, Postal Inspector (Father of the ZIP Code) dies at 83
2005 Johnnie Johnson, songwriter (Roll Over Beethoven) dies at 80
Today in History
1598 King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots.
1742 George Frideric Handel's Messiah was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
1796The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrived from India.
1870 The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
1902 James C. Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1943 James Boarman, Fred Hunter, Harold Brest and Floyd G. Hamilton took part in an attempt to escape from Alcatraz.
1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
1954 Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.
1964 Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for Lilies of the Field.
1970 Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst.
1974 Western Union, in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft, launched the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.
1983 Harold Washington was elected as the first African-American mayor in Chicago's history.
1986 Pope John Paul II visited a Rome synagogue in the first recorded papal visit of its kind.
1990 The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.
1997 Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.
1998 NationsBank and BankAmerica announced a $62.5 billion merger.
1999 Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich., to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of a man whose assisted suicide in 1998 was videotaped and shown on 60 Minutes.
2002 Venezuela's interim president, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office in the face of protests by thousands of supporters of the ousted president, Hugo Chavez.
2004 Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball's career list; Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.
2005 Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Be My Love - Mario Lanza
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
Pink Shoe Laces - Dodie Stevens
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
Bernadette - Four Tops
Walk Through This World with Me - George Jones
1975
Philadelphia Freedom - The Elton John Band
Poetry Man - Phoebe Snow
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
Always Wanting You - Merle Haggard
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
We’ve Got Tonight - Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton
1991
I’ve Been Thinking About You - Londonbeat
You’re in Love - Wilson Phillips
Hold You Tight - Tara Kemp
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action.
Frank Herbert, science fiction novelist (1920 - 1986)
Today's Birthdays
1743 Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President (1801-1809) died July 4, 1826
1852 F. W. (Frank Winfield) Woolworth, merchant (created the five and ten cent store) died Apr 8, 1919
1866 Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker), outlaw, died circa Nov 6, 1908
1899 Alfred Butts, architect/game inventor (Scrabble) died Apr 4, 1993
1902 Philippe de Rothschild, French race car driver/wine grower, died Jan 20, 1988
1902 Marguerite Henry, author (Misty) died Nov 26, 1997
1906 Samuel Beckett, author/critic/playwright (Waiting for Godot) died Dec 22, 1989
1909 Eudora Welty, poet (Delta Wedding) died July 23, 2001
1919 Howard Keel (Harry Clifford Leek), actor (Dallas) died Nov 7, 2004
1919 Madalyn Murray O’Hair, author/atheist, body was found near Camp Wood, TX Jan 28, 2001
1923 Don Adams (Donald James Yarmy), actor (Get Smart) died Sep 25, 2005
1931 Jon Stone, co-creator of Sesame Street, died March 13, 1997
1937 Edward Fox, actor (Force 10 from Navarone)
1939 Paul Sorvino, actor (Law and Order, Goodfellas)
1942 Bill Conti, Academy Award-winning composer (movie scores)
1944 Jack Casady, bassist (Hot Tuna, Jefferson Airplane)
1944 Brian Pendleton, guitarist (The Pretty Things) died May 25, 2001
1945 Tony Dow, actor (Leave it to Beaver)
1945 Lowell George, rock singer (Little Feat) died June 29, 1979
1946 Al Green, singer/songwriter (Let’s Stay Together)
1950 Ron Perlman, actor (Hellboy)
1950 William Sadler, actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
1951 Max Weinberg, drummer (E Street Band)
1951 Peabo Bryson, singer (If Ever You're In My Arms Again)
1954 Jimmy Destri, organ (Blondie)
1957 Gary Kroeger, comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1958 Randy Piper, guitarist (WASP)
1961 Joey Mazzola, songwriter/guitarist (Sponge)
1962 Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) died June 25, 1988
1963 Garry Kasparov, World Chess Champion
1964 Caroline Rhea, comic/actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1964 Page Hannah, actress (Fame)
1965 Lisa Umbarger, bassist (Toadies)
1966 Marc Ford, guitarist (Black Crowes)
1970 Rick Schroder, actor (Silver Spoons, NYPD Blue)
1972 Aaron Lewis, singer (Staind)
1973 Bokeem Woodbine, actor (The Rock, The Big Hit)
1975 Lou Bega, singer (Mambo #5)
1976 Jonathan Brandis, actor (Who's the Boss? SeaQuest DSV) died November 12, 2003
1981 Courtney Peldon, actress (Boston Public)
1987 Brandon Hardesty, internet entertainer (YouTube Geico commercial)
Today's Deaths in History
1605 Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia, dies at 54
1936 Milton Brown, swing bandleader, dies at 32
1975 Larry Parks, blacklisted actor (The Jolson Story) dies at 60
1984 Richard Hurndall, British actor (The Avengers, Dr. Who) dies at 73
1984 Christopher Wilder, serial killer (The Beauty Queen Killer) shoots himself when cornered by the police at 39
1986 Stephen Stucker, actor (Airplane) dies at 36
2001 Robert Moon, Postal Inspector (Father of the ZIP Code) dies at 83
2005 Johnnie Johnson, songwriter (Roll Over Beethoven) dies at 80
Today in History
1598 King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, granting rights to the Protestant Huguenots.
1742 George Frideric Handel's Messiah was first performed publicly, in Dublin, Ireland.
1796The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrived from India.
1870 The Metropolitan Museum of Art was founded in New York City.
1902 James C. Penney opened his first store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.
1943 James Boarman, Fred Hunter, Harold Brest and Floyd G. Hamilton took part in an attempt to escape from Alcatraz.
1943 President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated the Jefferson Memorial.
1954 Baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron made his major league debut with the Milwaukee Braves.
1964 Sidney Poitier became the first black performer in a leading role to win an Academy Award, for Lilies of the Field.
1970 Apollo 13, four-fifths of the way to the moon, was crippled when a tank containing liquid oxygen burst.
1974 Western Union, in cooperation with NASA and Hughes Aircraft, launched the United States' first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite, Westar 1.
1983 Harold Washington was elected as the first African-American mayor in Chicago's history.
1986 Pope John Paul II visited a Rome synagogue in the first recorded papal visit of its kind.
1990 The Soviet Union accepted responsibility for the World War II murders of thousands of imprisoned Polish officers in the Katyn Forest, a massacre the Soviets had previously blamed on the Nazis.
1997 Tiger Woods, 21, became the youngest person to win the Masters Tournament and the first person of African heritage to claim a major golf title.
1998 NationsBank and BankAmerica announced a $62.5 billion merger.
1999 Jack Kervorkian was sentenced in Pontiac, Mich., to 10 to 25 years in prison for the second-degree murder of a man whose assisted suicide in 1998 was videotaped and shown on 60 Minutes.
2002 Venezuela's interim president, Pedro Carmona, resigned a day after taking office in the face of protests by thousands of supporters of the ousted president, Hugo Chavez.
2004 Barry Bonds hit his 661st homer, passing Willie Mays to take sole possession of third place on baseball's career list; Bonds is now the career leader in home runs.
2005 Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the deadly bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other attacks.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Be My Love - Mario Lanza
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
Pink Shoe Laces - Dodie Stevens
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Happy Together - The Turtles
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
Bernadette - Four Tops
Walk Through This World with Me - George Jones
1975
Philadelphia Freedom - The Elton John Band
Poetry Man - Phoebe Snow
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
Always Wanting You - Merle Haggard
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Do You Really Want to Hurt Me - Culture Club
Hungry like the Wolf - Duran Duran
We’ve Got Tonight - Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton
1991
I’ve Been Thinking About You - Londonbeat
You’re in Love - Wilson Phillips
Hold You Tight - Tara Kemp
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action.
Frank Herbert, science fiction novelist (1920 - 1986)
Today in History - April 14th
Today's Birthdays
1866 Anne Mansfield Sullivan, educated Helen Keller; died Oct 20, 1936
1904 Sir John Gielgud, London England, actor (Chariots of Fire) died May 21, 2000
1906 Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz, King of Saudi-Arabia; died March 25, 1975
1907 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, dictator of Haiti; died April 21, 1971
1925 Rod Steiger, actor (On the Waterfront, Dr. Zhivago) died July 9, 2002
1930 Bradford Dillman, actor (Murder She Wrote)
1935 Loretta Lynn, country singer (Coal Miner's Daughter)
1936 Kenneth Mars, comic actor (Young Frankenstein)
1936 Frank Serpico, policeman
1941 Julie Christie, actress (Dr Zhivago)
1941 Pete Rose, "Charlie Hustle," baseball player/manager (Cincinnati Reds)
1945 Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist (Rainbow, Deep Purple)
1948 Larry Ferguson, keyboardist (Hot Chocolate)
1949 Dennis Bryon, drummer (Bee Gees)
1950 Randolph Powell, actor (Dallas, Logan's Run)
1952 Kenny Aaronson, bassist (Stories, Hall & Oates)
1957 Richard Jeni, comic; committed suicide Mar 10, 2007
1960 Brian Forster, drummer (Partridge Family)
1960 Brad Garrett, actor (Everybody Loves Raymond)
1961 Robert Carlyle, actor (The Full Monty, Trainspotting)
1967 Barret Martin, guitarist (Screaming Trees)
1968 Anthony Michael Hall, actor (16 Candles, Breakfast Club)
1973 Adrien Brody, actor (The Pianist)
1973 David Miller, tenor (Il Divo)
1974 Da Brat, female rapper
1977 Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1980 Win Butler, singer/songwriter (Arcade Fire)
1984 Tyler Thigpen, NFL quarterback (Kansas City Chiefs)
1996 Abigail Breslin, actress (Little Miss Sunshine)
Today's Deaths in History
1759 Georg Frideric Händel, organist/composer (Watermusic), dies at 74
1965 Perry E Smith, murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged at 36
1965 Robert E Hickok, murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged at 33
1975 Fredric March, actor, (Inherit the Wind, The Best Years of our Lives), dies at 77
1983 Pete Farndon, bassist (Pretenders), dies at 30
1986 Simone de Beauvoir, French author (Deuxième Sexe), dies at 86
1995 Burl Ives, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies at 85
1996 Gaylord Birch, drummer (Pointer Sisters, Herbie Hancock), dies at 50
1999 Ellen Corby, actress (The Waltons) dies at 87
2000 Phil Katz, computer programmer (PKZIP) dies at 37
2007 Don Ho, Hawaiian singer (Tiny Bubbles) dies at 76
2008 Ollie Johnston, animator (the last of Disney's "Nine Old Men") dies at 95
Today in History
1775 The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1828 The first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language was published.
1846 The Donner Party of pioneers departed Springfield, Illinois, for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship, cannibalism, and survival.
1860 The first Pony Express rider reached Sacramento, California.
1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
1894 Thomas Edison demonstrated the kinetoscope, a device for peep-show viewing using photographs that flip in sequence, a precursor to movies.
1912 The British liner Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began to sink.
1927 The first Volvo car premiered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1931 King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile and the Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
1939 John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published.
1956 Ampex Corp. demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder.
1969 There was a tie for the Academy Award for Best Actress at the Academy Awards between Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand.
1981 America's first operational space shuttle, Columbia, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after its first test flight.
1988 In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signed an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
1994 In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1997 Whitewater figure James McDougal drew a three-year prison sentence for 18 felony fraud and conspiracy counts.
1999 NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people were killed.
2000 Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against P2P sharing phenomenon Napster.
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country's military.
2002 Tiger Woods became only the third golfer in history to win back-to-back Masters titles.
2003 Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell to U.S.-led forces with unexpectedly light resistance.
2003 The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 The Oregon Supreme Court nullified marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2008 Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., announced they were combining.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Tell Me Why - The Four Aces
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Greenfields - The Brothers Four
Mama - Connie Francis
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Young Girl - The Union Gap
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
You are My Treasure - Jack Greene
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
’Til I Can Make It on My Own - Tammy Wynette
1984
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Thank God for the Radio - The Kendalls
Quote of the Day
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970)
Today's Birthdays
1866 Anne Mansfield Sullivan, educated Helen Keller; died Oct 20, 1936
1904 Sir John Gielgud, London England, actor (Chariots of Fire) died May 21, 2000
1906 Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz, King of Saudi-Arabia; died March 25, 1975
1907 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, dictator of Haiti; died April 21, 1971
1925 Rod Steiger, actor (On the Waterfront, Dr. Zhivago) died July 9, 2002
1930 Bradford Dillman, actor (Murder She Wrote)
1935 Loretta Lynn, country singer (Coal Miner's Daughter)
1936 Kenneth Mars, comic actor (Young Frankenstein)
1936 Frank Serpico, policeman
1941 Julie Christie, actress (Dr Zhivago)
1941 Pete Rose, "Charlie Hustle," baseball player/manager (Cincinnati Reds)
1945 Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist (Rainbow, Deep Purple)
1948 Larry Ferguson, keyboardist (Hot Chocolate)
1949 Dennis Bryon, drummer (Bee Gees)
1950 Randolph Powell, actor (Dallas, Logan's Run)
1952 Kenny Aaronson, bassist (Stories, Hall & Oates)
1957 Richard Jeni, comic; committed suicide Mar 10, 2007
1960 Brian Forster, drummer (Partridge Family)
1960 Brad Garrett, actor (Everybody Loves Raymond)
1961 Robert Carlyle, actor (The Full Monty, Trainspotting)
1967 Barret Martin, guitarist (Screaming Trees)
1968 Anthony Michael Hall, actor (16 Candles, Breakfast Club)
1973 Adrien Brody, actor (The Pianist)
1973 David Miller, tenor (Il Divo)
1974 Da Brat, female rapper
1977 Sarah Michelle Gellar, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
1980 Win Butler, singer/songwriter (Arcade Fire)
1984 Tyler Thigpen, NFL quarterback (Kansas City Chiefs)
1996 Abigail Breslin, actress (Little Miss Sunshine)
Today's Deaths in History
1759 Georg Frideric Händel, organist/composer (Watermusic), dies at 74
1965 Perry E Smith, murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged at 36
1965 Robert E Hickok, murderer (In Cold Blood), hanged at 33
1975 Fredric March, actor, (Inherit the Wind, The Best Years of our Lives), dies at 77
1983 Pete Farndon, bassist (Pretenders), dies at 30
1986 Simone de Beauvoir, French author (Deuxième Sexe), dies at 86
1995 Burl Ives, folk singer/actor (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies at 85
1996 Gaylord Birch, drummer (Pointer Sisters, Herbie Hancock), dies at 50
1999 Ellen Corby, actress (The Waltons) dies at 87
2000 Phil Katz, computer programmer (PKZIP) dies at 37
2007 Don Ho, Hawaiian singer (Tiny Bubbles) dies at 76
2008 Ollie Johnston, animator (the last of Disney's "Nine Old Men") dies at 95
Today in History
1775 The first American society for the abolition of slavery was organized by Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush.
1828 The first edition of Noah Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language was published.
1846 The Donner Party of pioneers departed Springfield, Illinois, for California, on what will become a year-long journey of hardship, cannibalism, and survival.
1860 The first Pony Express rider reached Sacramento, California.
1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot and mortally wounded by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.
1894 Thomas Edison demonstrated the kinetoscope, a device for peep-show viewing using photographs that flip in sequence, a precursor to movies.
1912 The British liner Titanic collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic and began to sink.
1927 The first Volvo car premiered in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1931 King Alfonso XIII of Spain went into exile and the Spanish Republic was proclaimed.
1939 John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published.
1956 Ampex Corp. demonstrated its first commercial videotape recorder.
1969 There was a tie for the Academy Award for Best Actress at the Academy Awards between Katharine Hepburn and Barbra Streisand.
1981 America's first operational space shuttle, Columbia, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California after its first test flight.
1988 In a United Nations ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, the Soviet Union signed an agreement pledging to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.
1994 In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shot down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people.
1997 Whitewater figure James McDougal drew a three-year prison sentence for 18 felony fraud and conspiracy counts.
1999 NATO mistakenly bombed a convoy of ethnic Albanian refugees; Yugoslav officials said 75 people were killed.
2000 Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against P2P sharing phenomenon Napster.
2002 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned to office two days after being ousted and arrested by his country's military.
2002 Tiger Woods became only the third golfer in history to win back-to-back Masters titles.
2003 Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit fell to U.S.-led forces with unexpectedly light resistance.
2003 The Human Genome Project was completed with 99% of the human genome sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99%.
2003 U.S. commandos in Baghdad captured Abul Abbas, leader of the Palestinian group that killed an American on the hijacked cruise liner Achille Lauro in 1985.
2005 The Oregon Supreme Court nullified marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Multnomah County.
2008 Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp., announced they were combining.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen)
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Tell Me Why - The Four Aces
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Greenfields - The Brothers Four
Mama - Connie Francis
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Young Girl - The Union Gap
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
You are My Treasure - Jack Greene
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
’Til I Can Make It on My Own - Tammy Wynette
1984
Footloose - Kenny Loggins
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Thank God for the Radio - The Kendalls
Quote of the Day
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.
Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970)
Today in History - April 15th
Today's Birthdays
1452 Leonardo da Vinci, scientist/mathematician/engineer/inventor/anatomist/painter/ sculptor/architect/musician/writer (Mona Lisa) died May 2, 1519
1741 Charles Willson Peale, painter/soldier/naturalist (portrait of George Washington) died Feb 22, 1827
1843 Henry James, author (The Portrait of a Lady) died Feb 28, 1916
1884 Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues," blues singer, died Sept 21, 1937
1912 Kim Il-sung, dictator of North Korea; died July 8, 1994
1917 Hans Conried, actor/voice actor (Dudley Do-Right) died Jan 5, 1982
1924 Sir Neville Marriner, conductor (Amadeus soundtrack)
1929 Sir George Adrian Hayhurst Cadbury, chocolatier
1933 Roy Clark, country musician/entertainer (Hee Haw)
1933 Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (Bewitched) died May 18, 1995
1940 Robert Walker, Jr., actor (Ensign Pulver)
1944 Dave Edmunds, guitarist/singer (Rockpile)
1947 Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, TV producer/writer (Designing Women)
1950 Amy Wright, actress (The Deer Hunter, Breaking Away, The Amityville Horror)
1955 Dodi Al-Fayed, department store heir; died Aug 31, 1997 in a car crash
1959 Emma Thompson, actress (Sense & Sensibility, Stranger Than Fiction)
1959 Thomas F. Wilson, actor (Back to the Future series)
1959 Kevin Lowe, NHL defenseman (NY Rangers)
1965 Linda Perry, singer/songwriter (4 Non Blondes)
1966 Samantha Fox, singer (Naughty Girls Need Love Too)
1967 Frankie Poullain, bassist (The Darkness)
1968 Ed O'Brien, guitarist (Radiohead)
1968 Stacey Williams, model (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue)
1972 Lou Romano, voice actor (Cars)
1974 Danny Pino, actor (Cold Case)
1974 Josh Todd, singer (Buckcherry)
1975 Paul Dana, IRL driver; died Mar 26, 2006 in a crash during race practice
1976 Susan Ward, actress (Shallow Hal)
1982 Seth Rogen, actor/writer (40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad)
1990 Emma Watson, actress (Harry Potter series)
Today's Deaths in History
1621 John Carver, first governor of the Plymouth colony, dies at 45
1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, dies of a gunshot wound to the head at 56
1889 Father Damien de Veuster, missionary to the leper colony on Molokai, dies at 49 of leprosy
1912 Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic, dies at 62
1949 Wallace Beery, actor (Treasure Island) dies at 64
1971 Dan Reeves, NFL owner (Cleveland/LA Rams) dies at 58
1975 Richard Conte, actor (The Godfather) dies at 65
1980 Raymond Bailey, actor (Beverly Hillbillies) dies at 75
1980 Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist (Being and Nothingness) dies at 74
1990 Greta Garbo, actress (Anna Karenina) dies at 84
1998 Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator, dies at 72
2000 Edward Gorey, illustrator (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats) dies at 75
2001 Joey Ramone, punk music icon, dies at 49 of lymphoma
2002 Byron "Whizzer" White, running back/Supreme Court Justice, dies at 84
2005 John Fred, pop singer (Judy in Disguise) dies at 63
2007 Brant Parker, cartoonist (Wizard of Id) dies at 86
Today in History
1755 Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London.
1850 The city of San Francisco was incorporated.
1861 President Abraham Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1865 Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth; Andrew Johnson was then sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.
1892 The General Electric Company was formed.
1923 Insulin became generally available for use by people with diabetes.
1924 Rand McNally published its first road atlas.
1945 British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
1947 Jackie Robinson became baseball's first black major league player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1952 The B-52 Stratofortress made its maiden flight.
1955 Ray Kroc opened his first franchise of McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1981 Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke relinquished the Pulitzer Prize she had received two days earlier for a feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict after admitting she had fabricated the story.
1986 The United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
1989 Students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests upon the death of former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang.
1997 Jackie Robinson's uniform No. 42 was retired.
2000 Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles became the 24th major league player to reach 3,000 hits.
2002 An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129, crashed into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 128.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Doggie in the Window - Patti Page
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Shirelles
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Galveston - Glen Campbell
Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone) - Loretta Lynn
1977
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Don’t Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
Lucille - Kenny Rogers
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Nightshift - Commodores
Honor Bound - Earl Thomas Conley
Quote of the Day
The best defense against the atom bomb is not to be there when it goes off.
Anonymous
Today's Birthdays
1452 Leonardo da Vinci, scientist/mathematician/engineer/inventor/anatomist/painter/ sculptor/architect/musician/writer (Mona Lisa) died May 2, 1519
1741 Charles Willson Peale, painter/soldier/naturalist (portrait of George Washington) died Feb 22, 1827
1843 Henry James, author (The Portrait of a Lady) died Feb 28, 1916
1884 Bessie Smith, "Empress of the Blues," blues singer, died Sept 21, 1937
1912 Kim Il-sung, dictator of North Korea; died July 8, 1994
1917 Hans Conried, actor/voice actor (Dudley Do-Right) died Jan 5, 1982
1924 Sir Neville Marriner, conductor (Amadeus soundtrack)
1929 Sir George Adrian Hayhurst Cadbury, chocolatier
1933 Roy Clark, country musician/entertainer (Hee Haw)
1933 Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (Bewitched) died May 18, 1995
1940 Robert Walker, Jr., actor (Ensign Pulver)
1944 Dave Edmunds, guitarist/singer (Rockpile)
1947 Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, TV producer/writer (Designing Women)
1950 Amy Wright, actress (The Deer Hunter, Breaking Away, The Amityville Horror)
1955 Dodi Al-Fayed, department store heir; died Aug 31, 1997 in a car crash
1959 Emma Thompson, actress (Sense & Sensibility, Stranger Than Fiction)
1959 Thomas F. Wilson, actor (Back to the Future series)
1959 Kevin Lowe, NHL defenseman (NY Rangers)
1965 Linda Perry, singer/songwriter (4 Non Blondes)
1966 Samantha Fox, singer (Naughty Girls Need Love Too)
1967 Frankie Poullain, bassist (The Darkness)
1968 Ed O'Brien, guitarist (Radiohead)
1968 Stacey Williams, model (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue)
1972 Lou Romano, voice actor (Cars)
1974 Danny Pino, actor (Cold Case)
1974 Josh Todd, singer (Buckcherry)
1975 Paul Dana, IRL driver; died Mar 26, 2006 in a crash during race practice
1976 Susan Ward, actress (Shallow Hal)
1982 Seth Rogen, actor/writer (40-Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad)
1990 Emma Watson, actress (Harry Potter series)
Today's Deaths in History
1621 John Carver, first governor of the Plymouth colony, dies at 45
1865 Abraham Lincoln, 16th President, dies of a gunshot wound to the head at 56
1889 Father Damien de Veuster, missionary to the leper colony on Molokai, dies at 49 of leprosy
1912 Edward Smith, captain of the RMS Titanic, dies at 62
1949 Wallace Beery, actor (Treasure Island) dies at 64
1971 Dan Reeves, NFL owner (Cleveland/LA Rams) dies at 58
1975 Richard Conte, actor (The Godfather) dies at 65
1980 Raymond Bailey, actor (Beverly Hillbillies) dies at 75
1980 Jean-Paul Sartre, existentialist (Being and Nothingness) dies at 74
1990 Greta Garbo, actress (Anna Karenina) dies at 84
1998 Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator, dies at 72
2000 Edward Gorey, illustrator (Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats) dies at 75
2001 Joey Ramone, punk music icon, dies at 49 of lymphoma
2002 Byron "Whizzer" White, running back/Supreme Court Justice, dies at 84
2005 John Fred, pop singer (Judy in Disguise) dies at 63
2007 Brant Parker, cartoonist (Wizard of Id) dies at 86
Today in History
1755 Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language was published in London.
1850 The city of San Francisco was incorporated.
1861 President Abraham Lincoln declared a state of insurrection and called out Union troops three days after the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.
1865 Abraham Lincoln died after being shot the previous evening by John Wilkes Booth; Andrew Johnson was then sworn in as the 17th President of the United States.
1892 The General Electric Company was formed.
1923 Insulin became generally available for use by people with diabetes.
1924 Rand McNally published its first road atlas.
1945 British and Canadian troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp Bergen-Belsen.
1947 Jackie Robinson became baseball's first black major league player when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
1952 The B-52 Stratofortress made its maiden flight.
1955 Ray Kroc opened his first franchise of McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois.
1981 Washington Post reporter Janet Cooke relinquished the Pulitzer Prize she had received two days earlier for a feature about an 8-year-old heroin addict after admitting she had fabricated the story.
1986 The United States launched an air raid against Libya in response to the bombing of a discotheque in Berlin on April 5; Libya said 37 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
1989 Students in Beijing launched a series of pro-democracy protests upon the death of former Communist Party leader Hu Yaobang.
1997 Jackie Robinson's uniform No. 42 was retired.
2000 Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles became the 24th major league player to reach 3,000 hits.
2002 An Air China Boeing 767-200, flight CA129, crashed into a hillside during heavy rain and fog near Busan, South Korea, killing 128.
Chart Toppers
1945
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Doggie in the Window - Patti Page
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Apache - Jorgen Ingmann
Dedicated to the One I Love - The Shirelles
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
Galveston - Glen Campbell
Woman of the World (Leave My World Alone) - Loretta Lynn
1977
Dancing Queen - Abba
Don’t Give Up on Us - David Soul
Don’t Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
Lucille - Kenny Rogers
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Nightshift - Commodores
Honor Bound - Earl Thomas Conley
Quote of the Day
The best defense against the atom bomb is not to be there when it goes off.
Anonymous
Today in History - April 16th
Today's Birthdays
1867 Wilbur Wright, aeronaut (Wright Brothers) died Jan 30, 1948
1889 Charlie Chaplin (The Little Tramp), comedian/actor/director (City Lights) died Dec 25, 1977
1921 Peter Ustinov, actor (Death on Nile) died Mar 28, 2004
1924 Henry Mancini, composer/conductor (Pink Panther) died June 14, 1994
1927 Pope Benedict XVI (Josef Ratzinger)
1930 Herbie Mann, jazz flute/sax (Just Wailin') died July 1, 2003
1934 Robert Stigwood, producer (Saturday Night Fever, Grease)
1935 Bobby Vinton, singer (Roses are Red)
1939 Dusty Springfield, singer (Son of a Preacher Man) died Mar 2, 1999
1943 "Lonesome Dave" Peverett, guitarist/singer (Foghat, Savoy Brown) died Feb 7, 2000
1947 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), NBA center (Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers)
1947 Gerry Rafferty, guitarist/singer (Stealer's Wheel)
1950 David Graf, actor (Police Academy series) died Apr 7, 2001
1952 Bill Belichick, NFL head coach (New England Patriots)
1952 Billy West, voice actor (Ren & Stimpy, Futurama)
1953 Peter Garrett, singer (Midnight Oil)
1954 Ellen Barkin, actress (Sea of Love, Ocean’s 13)
1962 Ian MacKaye, singer (Fugazi)
1963 Jimmy Osmond, singer (The Osmonds)
1964 Dave Pirner, singer (Soul Asylum)
1965 Jon Cryer, actor (Hiding Out, Pretty in Pink, 2-1/2 Men)
1965 Martin Lawrence, comedian (Big Mama's House series)
1970 Bonnie Bernstein, NFL sideline reporter
1971 Peter Billingsley, actor (A Christmas Story)
1971 Selena (Quintanilla Perez), Tejano singer, murdered Mar 31, 1995
1975 Sean Maher, actor (Firefly)
1976 Lukas Haas, actor (Mars Attacks, Witness)
Today's Deaths in History
1828 Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter, dies at 82
1850 Marie (Gresholtz) Tussaud, maker of wax figures, dies at 88
1879 Bernadette, saint (saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies at 35
1914 George W. Hill, US astronomer (moon orbit), dies at 76
1968 Edna Ferber, author (American Beauty), dies at 78
1985 Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], actor (Gremlins), dies at 60
1991 David Lean, director (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 83
1992 Andy Russell, drummer/vocalist (Your Hit Parade), dies of stroke at 72
1992 Neville Brand, actor (Stalag 17), dies of emphysema at 71
1994 Ralph Waldo Ellison, US writer (Invisible Man), dies at 80
1995 Cheyenne Brando, daughter of Marlon, commits suicide at 25
1999 Skip Spence, guitarist/singer/songwriter (Jefferson Airplane) dies at 52
2002 Robert Urich, actor (SWAT, Spenser for Hire) dies at 55
2005 Kay Walsh, dancer/actress (Oliver Twist) dies at 93
2005 Marla Ruzicka, humanist (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) is killed by a car bomb in Baghdad at 28
Today in History
1789 President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.
1862 A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.
1912 Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1917 Revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.
1941 Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1943 Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD.
1945 In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1947 Financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse, "Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war."
1962 Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of The CBS Evening News.
1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1964 The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers), the band's debut album, was released.
1972 Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.
1992 The House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.
1996 Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.
2003 The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
2003 Michael Jordan played his last NBA game as his Washington Wizards ended their season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
2007 Seung-Hui Cho, a student, killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., before taking his own life in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief - Betty Hutton
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Cross Over the Bridge - Patti Page
Here - Tony Martin
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Slow Twistin’ - Chubby Checker
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Let It Be - The Beatles
ABC - The Jackson 5
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Tennessee Bird Walk - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Someone Loves You Honey - Charley Pride
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Manic Monday - Bangles
She and I - Alabama
Quote of the Day
Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.
Helen Keller, blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)
Today's Birthdays
1867 Wilbur Wright, aeronaut (Wright Brothers) died Jan 30, 1948
1889 Charlie Chaplin (The Little Tramp), comedian/actor/director (City Lights) died Dec 25, 1977
1921 Peter Ustinov, actor (Death on Nile) died Mar 28, 2004
1924 Henry Mancini, composer/conductor (Pink Panther) died June 14, 1994
1927 Pope Benedict XVI (Josef Ratzinger)
1930 Herbie Mann, jazz flute/sax (Just Wailin') died July 1, 2003
1934 Robert Stigwood, producer (Saturday Night Fever, Grease)
1935 Bobby Vinton, singer (Roses are Red)
1939 Dusty Springfield, singer (Son of a Preacher Man) died Mar 2, 1999
1943 "Lonesome Dave" Peverett, guitarist/singer (Foghat, Savoy Brown) died Feb 7, 2000
1947 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Lew Alcindor), NBA center (Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers)
1947 Gerry Rafferty, guitarist/singer (Stealer's Wheel)
1950 David Graf, actor (Police Academy series) died Apr 7, 2001
1952 Bill Belichick, NFL head coach (New England Patriots)
1952 Billy West, voice actor (Ren & Stimpy, Futurama)
1953 Peter Garrett, singer (Midnight Oil)
1954 Ellen Barkin, actress (Sea of Love, Ocean’s 13)
1962 Ian MacKaye, singer (Fugazi)
1963 Jimmy Osmond, singer (The Osmonds)
1964 Dave Pirner, singer (Soul Asylum)
1965 Jon Cryer, actor (Hiding Out, Pretty in Pink, 2-1/2 Men)
1965 Martin Lawrence, comedian (Big Mama's House series)
1970 Bonnie Bernstein, NFL sideline reporter
1971 Peter Billingsley, actor (A Christmas Story)
1971 Selena (Quintanilla Perez), Tejano singer, murdered Mar 31, 1995
1975 Sean Maher, actor (Firefly)
1976 Lukas Haas, actor (Mars Attacks, Witness)
Today's Deaths in History
1828 Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter, dies at 82
1850 Marie (Gresholtz) Tussaud, maker of wax figures, dies at 88
1879 Bernadette, saint (saw Virgin Mary at Lourdes), dies at 35
1914 George W. Hill, US astronomer (moon orbit), dies at 76
1968 Edna Ferber, author (American Beauty), dies at 78
1985 Scott Brady [Gerald Tierney], actor (Gremlins), dies at 60
1991 David Lean, director (Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia), dies at 83
1992 Andy Russell, drummer/vocalist (Your Hit Parade), dies of stroke at 72
1992 Neville Brand, actor (Stalag 17), dies of emphysema at 71
1994 Ralph Waldo Ellison, US writer (Invisible Man), dies at 80
1995 Cheyenne Brando, daughter of Marlon, commits suicide at 25
1999 Skip Spence, guitarist/singer/songwriter (Jefferson Airplane) dies at 52
2002 Robert Urich, actor (SWAT, Spenser for Hire) dies at 55
2005 Kay Walsh, dancer/actress (Oliver Twist) dies at 93
2005 Marla Ruzicka, humanist (Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict) is killed by a car bomb in Baghdad at 28
Today in History
1789 President-elect George Washington left Mount Vernon, Va., for his inauguration in New York.
1862 A bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia became law.
1912 Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1917 Revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin returned to Russia after years of exile.
1941 Bob Feller of the Cleveland Indians threw the only Opening Day no-hitter in the history of Major League Baseball, beating the Chicago White Sox 1-0.
1943 Dr. Albert Hofmann discovered the psychedelic effects of LSD.
1945 In his first speech to Congress, President Harry S. Truman pledged to carry out the war and peace policies of his late predecessor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1947 Financier and presidential confidant Bernard M. Baruch said in a speech at the South Carolina statehouse, "Let us not be deceived. We are today in the midst of a cold war."
1962 Walter Cronkite succeeded Douglas Edwards as anchorman of The CBS Evening News.
1963 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation.
1964 The Rolling Stones (England's Newest Hitmakers), the band's debut album, was released.
1972 Apollo 16 blasted off on a voyage to the moon.
1992 The House ethics committee listed 303 current and former lawmakers who had overdrawn their House bank accounts.
1996 Britain's Prince Andrew and his wife, Sarah, the Duchess of York, announced they were getting a divorce.
2003 The Treaty of Accession was signed in Athens admitting 10 new member states to the European Union.
2003 Michael Jordan played his last NBA game as his Washington Wizards ended their season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
2007 Seung-Hui Cho, a student, killed 32 people on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., before taking his own life in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief - Betty Hutton
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Cross Over the Bridge - Patti Page
Here - Tony Martin
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Johnny Angel - Shelley Fabares
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Slow Twistin’ - Chubby Checker
She’s Got You - Patsy Cline
1970
Let It Be - The Beatles
ABC - The Jackson 5
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Tennessee Bird Walk - Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive - Bee Gees
Lay Down Sally - Eric Clapton
Someone Loves You Honey - Charley Pride
1986
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Manic Monday - Bangles
She and I - Alabama
Quote of the Day
Science may have found a cure for most evils; but it has found no remedy for the worst of them all - the apathy of human beings.
Helen Keller, blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)
Today in History - April 17th
Today's Birthdays
1837 J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan, financier; died Mar 31, 1913
1894 Nikita Khrushchev, U.S.S.R. premier (1958-1964) died Sep 11, 1971
1896 Senor Wences, Spanish comedian/ventriloquist; died April 20, 1999
1897 Thornton Wilder, novelist/playwright (Our Town) died Dec 7, 1975
1918 William Holden, actor (Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard) died Nov 16, 1981
1923 Harry Reasoner, newsman (Sixty Minutes, ABC News) died Aug 6, 1991
1934 Don Kirshner, music publisher/creator (The Monkees)
1942 David Bradley, actor (Harry Potter series)
1943 Dennis Hextall, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1944 L. Scott Caldwell, actress (Lost)
1948 Jan Hammer, composer/musician (Miami Vice theme)
1951 Olivia Hussey, actress (Stephen King’s It)
1954 Michael Sembello, musician/songwriter (Maniac)
1955 Pete Shelley (McNeish), singer (The Buzzcocks)
1957 Teri Austin, actress (Knots Landing)
1957 Afrika Bambaataa (Kevin Donovan), DJ/musician (Planet Rock)
1959 Sean Bean, actor (Patriot Games, The Lord of the Rings series)
1959 Stephen Singleton, saxophone (ABC)
1963 Joel Murray, actor/brother of Bill Murray (Dharma and Greg)
1964 Maynard James Keenan, singer/musician (A Perfect Circle, Tool)
1964 Lela Rochon, actress (Boomerang)
1965 William Mapother, actor (Lost)
1967 Henry Ian Cusick, actor (Lost)
1967 Kimberly Elise, actress (John Q)
1969 Liz Phair, singer/songwriter (Whipsmart)
1972 Jennifer Garner, actress (Elektra)
1974 Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, singer
1974 Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist/singer (Opeth)
Today's Deaths in History
0485 Proclus, Greek philosopher ("Wherever there is number, there is beauty") dies at 73
1680 Kateri Tekakwitha, "The Lily of the Mohawks," first native American to receive beatification, dies at 24
1790 Benjamin Franklin, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat, dies at 84
1960 Eddie Cochran, singer (Summertime Blues) dies at 21 in a traffic accident
1990 Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist, dies at 64
1998 Linda McCartney, wife of Paul, dies at 56 of breast cancer
2002 Al Hendrix, father of Jimi, dies at 82
2003 Robert Atkins, dietician (Atkins Diet) dies at 72
2003 Earl King, singer/songwriter (New Orleans R&B) dies at 69
2007 Kitty Carlisle, actress/television personality (To Tell the Truth) dies at 96
2008 Danny Federici, organist (E-Street Band) dies at 58
Today in History
1397 Geoffrey Chaucer told the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.
1492 Christopher Columbus received a commission from Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
1521 Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings.
1524 Giovanni da Verrazano reached present-day New York harbor.
1861 The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.
1907 The Ellis Island immigration center processed 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1924 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios was formed by the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
1951 Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
1961 About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the southwestern coast of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.
1964 The Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang.
1964 Shea Stadium opened.
1969 A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.
1970 The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.
1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year civil war.
1993 A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.
1996 Lyle and Erik Menendez were spared the death penalty by a Los Angeles jury, which recommended they serve life in prison without parole for killing their wealthy parents.
2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 500th career home run, becoming the 17th major leaguer to reach the mark.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Fess Parker
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
South Street - The Orlons
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why - Paul McCartney
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right - Barbara Mandrell
1987
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
(You’ve Got) the Touch - Alabama
Quote of the Day
The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
Stephen King, horror novelist & screenwriter (1947 - )
Today's Birthdays
1837 J.P. (John Pierpoint) Morgan, financier; died Mar 31, 1913
1894 Nikita Khrushchev, U.S.S.R. premier (1958-1964) died Sep 11, 1971
1896 Senor Wences, Spanish comedian/ventriloquist; died April 20, 1999
1897 Thornton Wilder, novelist/playwright (Our Town) died Dec 7, 1975
1918 William Holden, actor (Stalag 17, Sunset Boulevard) died Nov 16, 1981
1923 Harry Reasoner, newsman (Sixty Minutes, ABC News) died Aug 6, 1991
1934 Don Kirshner, music publisher/creator (The Monkees)
1942 David Bradley, actor (Harry Potter series)
1943 Dennis Hextall, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1944 L. Scott Caldwell, actress (Lost)
1948 Jan Hammer, composer/musician (Miami Vice theme)
1951 Olivia Hussey, actress (Stephen King’s It)
1954 Michael Sembello, musician/songwriter (Maniac)
1955 Pete Shelley (McNeish), singer (The Buzzcocks)
1957 Teri Austin, actress (Knots Landing)
1957 Afrika Bambaataa (Kevin Donovan), DJ/musician (Planet Rock)
1959 Sean Bean, actor (Patriot Games, The Lord of the Rings series)
1959 Stephen Singleton, saxophone (ABC)
1963 Joel Murray, actor/brother of Bill Murray (Dharma and Greg)
1964 Maynard James Keenan, singer/musician (A Perfect Circle, Tool)
1964 Lela Rochon, actress (Boomerang)
1965 William Mapother, actor (Lost)
1967 Henry Ian Cusick, actor (Lost)
1967 Kimberly Elise, actress (John Q)
1969 Liz Phair, singer/songwriter (Whipsmart)
1972 Jennifer Garner, actress (Elektra)
1974 Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, singer
1974 Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist/singer (Opeth)
Today's Deaths in History
0485 Proclus, Greek philosopher ("Wherever there is number, there is beauty") dies at 73
1680 Kateri Tekakwitha, "The Lily of the Mohawks," first native American to receive beatification, dies at 24
1790 Benjamin Franklin, author, political theorist, politician, printer, scientist, inventor, civic activist, and diplomat, dies at 84
1960 Eddie Cochran, singer (Summertime Blues) dies at 21 in a traffic accident
1990 Ralph Abernathy, civil rights activist, dies at 64
1998 Linda McCartney, wife of Paul, dies at 56 of breast cancer
2002 Al Hendrix, father of Jimi, dies at 82
2003 Robert Atkins, dietician (Atkins Diet) dies at 72
2003 Earl King, singer/songwriter (New Orleans R&B) dies at 69
2007 Kitty Carlisle, actress/television personality (To Tell the Truth) dies at 96
2008 Danny Federici, organist (E-Street Band) dies at 58
Today in History
1397 Geoffrey Chaucer told the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II.
1492 Christopher Columbus received a commission from Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to seek a westward ocean passage to Asia.
1521 Martin Luther went before the Diet of Worms to face charges stemming from his religious writings.
1524 Giovanni da Verrazano reached present-day New York harbor.
1861 The Virginia State Convention voted to secede from the Union.
1907 The Ellis Island immigration center processed 11,747 people, more than on any other day.
1924 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios was formed by the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company.
1951 Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
1961 About 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched an invasion at the Bay of Pigs on the southwestern coast of Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro.
1964 The Ford Motor Co. unveiled the Mustang.
1964 Shea Stadium opened.
1969 A jury in Los Angeles convicted Sirhan Sirhan of assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
1969 Czechoslovak Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek was deposed.
1970 The astronauts of Apollo 13 splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean, four days after a ruptured oxygen tank crippled their spacecraft.
1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's five-year civil war.
1993 A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two former police officers of violating the civil rights of beaten motorist Rodney King; two other officers were acquitted.
1996 Lyle and Erik Menendez were spared the death penalty by a Los Angeles jury, which recommended they serve life in prison without parole for killing their wealthy parents.
2001 Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit his 500th career home run, becoming the 17th major leaguer to reach the mark.
Chart Toppers
1947
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
How are Things in Glocca Morra - Buddy Clark
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Fess Parker
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
South Street - The Orlons
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why - Paul McCartney
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
What a Fool Believes - The Doobie Brothers
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
(If Loving You is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right - Barbara Mandrell
1987
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now - Starship
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
(You’ve Got) the Touch - Alabama
Quote of the Day
The road to hell is paved with adverbs.
Stephen King, horror novelist & screenwriter (1947 - )
Today in History - April 18th
Today's Birthdays
1857 Clarence Darrow, attorney (Scopes Monkey Trial) died Mar 13, 1938
1904 Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, comic/actor/singer/dancer; died Dec 13, 1981
1915 Joy Gresham Lewis, writer/wife of C. S. Lewis, died July 13, 1960
1918 Tommy Mottola, guitarist (Frank Sinatra, Perry Como) died Aug 9, 2004
1922 Barbara Hale, actress (Perry Mason)
1924 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, blues musician; died Sept 10, 2005
1940 Mike Vickers, guitarist/reeds (Manfred Mann)
1942 Pete Gogolak, first soccer-style kicker in pro football (Buffalo Bills, NY Giants)
1946 Hayley Mills, actress (The Parent Trap)
1946 Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence, drummer (Jefferson Airplane) died Apr 16, 1999
1947 James Woods, actor (Diggstown, Shark)
1953 Rick Moranis, actor (Honey I Shrunk the Kids series, Ghostbusters series)
1956 Eric Roberts, actor (Doctor Who)
1958 Les Pattinson, bassist (Echo and the Bunnymen)
1961 Jane Leeves, actress (Frasier)
1963 Conan O’Brien, TV talk show host
1963 Eric McCormack, actor (Will & Grace)
1966 Valeri Kamensky, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1967 Maria Bello, actress (Payback, The Cooler)
1970 Greg Eklund, drummer (Everclear)
1972 Eli Roth, film director (Cabin Fever, Hostel)
1974 Mark Tremonti, guitarist (Alter Bridge)
1976 Melissa Joan Hart, actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1976 Sean Maguire, actor (The Class)
1977 Dan Lacouture, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1984 America Ferrera, actress (Ugly Betty)
1989 Alia Shawkat, actress (Arrested Development)
Today's Deaths in History
1943 Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral (led Pearl Harbor attack) dies at 59
1945 Ernie Pyle, journalist, is shot and killed by a sniper on Ie Shima at 44
1955 Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist (Theory of Relativity), dies at 76
1992 Benny Hill, British comedian, dies at 68
1996 Bernard Edwards, R&B musician (Chic) dies at 43
1996 Fred G. Sullivan, filmmaker (The Beer Drinker's Guide to Fitness & Filmmaking) dies at 50
1998 Terry Garvin, wrestler, dies at 61
2001 Billy Mitchell, saxophonist (Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie) dies at 74
2002 Thor Heyerdahl, explorer (Kon Tiki) dies at 87
2002 Wahoo McDaniel, wrestler, dies at 63
2005 Sam Mills, NFL linebacker (Carolina Panthers) dies at 45
Today in History
1506 The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica was laid.
1775 Paul Revere began his ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
1906 A major earthquake struck San Francisco and set off raging fires; more than 3,000 people died.
1909 Joan of Arc was beatified in Rome.
1923 The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in New York City, with the Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1924 Simon & Schuster published the first Crossword puzzle book.
1942 An air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1943 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was killed when his aircraft was shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
1945 American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese gunfire on an island off Okinawa.
1946 The League of Nations went out of business.
1949 The Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1956 Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1978 The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control in 1999.
1983 A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1989 Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
1999 Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2002 Police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley; Blake was later acquitted of murder but found liable in a civil case.
2004 Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
2006 Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes had a baby girl, Suri.
2007 The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents calls partial-birth abortion.
2007 Four large bombs exploded in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad, killing at least 183 people.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
But Beautiful - Frank Sinatra
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Rockin’ Robin - Michael Jackson
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
Honky Tonk Blues - Charley Pride
1988
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
Devil Inside - INXS
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
I Wanna Dance with You - Eddie Rabbitt
Quote of the Day
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker (1909 - 2005)
Today's Birthdays
1857 Clarence Darrow, attorney (Scopes Monkey Trial) died Mar 13, 1938
1904 Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, comic/actor/singer/dancer; died Dec 13, 1981
1915 Joy Gresham Lewis, writer/wife of C. S. Lewis, died July 13, 1960
1918 Tommy Mottola, guitarist (Frank Sinatra, Perry Como) died Aug 9, 2004
1922 Barbara Hale, actress (Perry Mason)
1924 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, blues musician; died Sept 10, 2005
1940 Mike Vickers, guitarist/reeds (Manfred Mann)
1942 Pete Gogolak, first soccer-style kicker in pro football (Buffalo Bills, NY Giants)
1946 Hayley Mills, actress (The Parent Trap)
1946 Alexander ‘Skip’ Spence, drummer (Jefferson Airplane) died Apr 16, 1999
1947 James Woods, actor (Diggstown, Shark)
1953 Rick Moranis, actor (Honey I Shrunk the Kids series, Ghostbusters series)
1956 Eric Roberts, actor (Doctor Who)
1958 Les Pattinson, bassist (Echo and the Bunnymen)
1961 Jane Leeves, actress (Frasier)
1963 Conan O’Brien, TV talk show host
1963 Eric McCormack, actor (Will & Grace)
1966 Valeri Kamensky, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1967 Maria Bello, actress (Payback, The Cooler)
1970 Greg Eklund, drummer (Everclear)
1972 Eli Roth, film director (Cabin Fever, Hostel)
1974 Mark Tremonti, guitarist (Alter Bridge)
1976 Melissa Joan Hart, actress (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1976 Sean Maguire, actor (The Class)
1977 Dan Lacouture, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1984 America Ferrera, actress (Ugly Betty)
1989 Alia Shawkat, actress (Arrested Development)
Today's Deaths in History
1943 Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Admiral (led Pearl Harbor attack) dies at 59
1945 Ernie Pyle, journalist, is shot and killed by a sniper on Ie Shima at 44
1955 Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist (Theory of Relativity), dies at 76
1992 Benny Hill, British comedian, dies at 68
1996 Bernard Edwards, R&B musician (Chic) dies at 43
1996 Fred G. Sullivan, filmmaker (The Beer Drinker's Guide to Fitness & Filmmaking) dies at 50
1998 Terry Garvin, wrestler, dies at 61
2001 Billy Mitchell, saxophonist (Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie) dies at 74
2002 Thor Heyerdahl, explorer (Kon Tiki) dies at 87
2002 Wahoo McDaniel, wrestler, dies at 63
2005 Sam Mills, NFL linebacker (Carolina Panthers) dies at 45
Today in History
1506 The cornerstone of the current St. Peter's Basilica was laid.
1775 Paul Revere began his ride from Charlestown to Lexington, Mass., warning American colonists that the British were coming.
1906 A major earthquake struck San Francisco and set off raging fires; more than 3,000 people died.
1909 Joan of Arc was beatified in Rome.
1923 The first baseball game was played at Yankee Stadium in New York City, with the Yankees beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1.
1924 Simon & Schuster published the first Crossword puzzle book.
1942 An air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle raided Tokyo and other Japanese cities.
1943 Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was killed when his aircraft was shot down by U.S. fighters over Bougainville Island.
1945 American war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by Japanese gunfire on an island off Okinawa.
1946 The League of Nations went out of business.
1949 The Irish Republic was proclaimed.
1956 Actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
1978 The U.S. Senate voted 68-32 to turn the Panama Canal over to Panamanian control in 1999.
1983 A suicide bomber killed 63 people, including 17 Americans, at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
1989 Thousands of Chinese students demanding democracy tried to storm Communist Party headquarters in Beijing.
1999 Wayne Gretzky, the National Hockey League's all-time leading scorer, played his last professional game, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
2002 Police arrested actor Robert Blake in the shooting death of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley; Blake was later acquitted of murder but found liable in a civil case.
2004 Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero ordered a withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq.
2006 Actor Tom Cruise and actress Katie Holmes had a baby girl, Suri.
2007 The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling, upheld a federal ban on a medical procedure that opponents calls partial-birth abortion.
2007 Four large bombs exploded in mainly Shiite locations of Baghdad, killing at least 183 people.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover - The Art Moonie Orchestra
But Beautiful - Frank Sinatra
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Long Tall Sally - Little Richard
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Suspicion - Terry Stafford
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Rockin’ Robin - Michael Jackson
My Hang-Up is You - Freddie Hart
1980
Another Brick in the Wall - Pink Floyd
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
Honky Tonk Blues - Charley Pride
1988
Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car - Billy Ocean
Devil Inside - INXS
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
I Wanna Dance with You - Eddie Rabbitt
Quote of the Day
There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker (1909 - 2005)
Today in History - April 19th
Today's Birthdays
1877 Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor (outboard motor) died July 12, 1934
1903 Eliot Ness, lawman (took down Al Capone) died May 16, 1957
1925 Hugh O’Brian (Krampke), actor (In Harm’s Way)
1930 Dick Sargent (Richard Cox), actor (Bewitched) died July 8, 1994
1933 Jayne Mansfield (Vera Jane Palmer), actress (It Takes a Thief) killed in car crash June 29, 1967
1934 Dickie Goodman, entertainer (Buchanan and Goodman) died Nov 6, 1989
1935 Dudley Moore, actor (Arthur films, 10) died March 22, 2002
1941 Alan Price, keyboards/singer (The Animals)
1942 Larry (Hilario) Ramos Jr., guitar/singer (The Association)
1943 Eve Graham (Evelyn May Beatsom), singer (The New Seekers)
1944 Bernie Worrell, keyboardist (P Funk)
1946 Tim Curry, actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Hunt for Red October)
1947 Mark Volman, saxophone/singer (The Turtles)
1952 Tony Plana, actor (Ugly Betty, Resurrection Boulevard)
1953 Rod Morgenstein, drummer (Winger)
1954 Bob Rock, guitarist/producer (The Payolas)
1962 Al Unser, Jr. Indy car driver
1965 Marion "Suge" Knight, rap producer
1968 Ashley Judd, actress (Double Jeopardy)
1969 Jesse James, custom motorcycle builder/Mr. Sandra Bullock
1978 James Franco, actor (Spiderman series)
1979 Kate Hudson, actress (Almost Famous)
1981 Hayden Christensen, actor (Star Wars series)
1981 Catalina Sandino Moreno, actress (Maria Full of Grace)
1987 Maria Sharapova, tennis champion
Today's Deaths in History
1824 George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, English poet (Don Juan), dies at 36
1881 Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dies at 76
1882 Charles Darwin, biologist, dies at 73
1906 Pierre Curie, French physicist, dies at 45
1989 Daphne du Maurier, novelist (The Birds, Rebecca) dies at 81
1993 David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, dies at 33
2004 Norris McWhirter, co-founder (Guinness Book of Records) dies at 78
2005 Ruth Hussey, actress (The Great Gatsby) dies at 93
2006 Scott Crossfield, pilot (first man to fly at Mach 2) dies at 84
Today in History
1770 Captain James Cook sighted Australia.
1775 The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.
1782 John Adams secured the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government.
1897 The first Boston Marathon was run.
1919 Leslie Irvin made the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a self-contained parachute.
1927 Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
1933 The United States went off the gold standard.
1934 Shirley Temple debuted in Stand Up and Cheer!
1943 Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces.
1951 Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."
1955 German automaker Volkswagen, after six years of selling cars in the United States, founded Volkswagen of America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize its dealer and service network.
1956 Actress Grace Kelly married Rainier III of Monaco.
1960 Students in South Korea held a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
1971 Charles Manson was sentenced to death for the Sharon Tate murders.
1984 "Advance Australia Fair" was proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
1987 The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show.
1989 A white female jogger in New York's Central Park was brutally beaten and raped; five black and Hispanic teenagers were imprisoned, but the covictions were overturned in 2003 when a serial rapist confessed and DNA evidence tied him to the crime.
1989 A gun turret exploded on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
1993 A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.
1994 A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.
1995 A truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500; Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.
1997 Flooding from the Red River forced more than 50,000 residents to abandon Grand Forks, N.D.
1999 The German parliament inaugurated its new home in the restored Reichstag in Berlin, its prewar capital.
2001 The Mel Brooks musical The Producers opened on Broadway.
2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope; he took the name Benedict XVI.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skyliners)
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
Come Go with Me - The Dell-Vikings
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & The Dreamers
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
Sing - Carpenters
A Shoulder to Cry On - Charley Pride
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Old Flame - Alabama
1989
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young cannibals
Like a Prayer - Madonna
Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc
I’m No Stranger to the Rain - Keith Whitley
Quote of the Day
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale, clergyman (1898 - 1993)
Today's Birthdays
1877 Ole Evinrude, Norwegian-American inventor (outboard motor) died July 12, 1934
1903 Eliot Ness, lawman (took down Al Capone) died May 16, 1957
1925 Hugh O’Brian (Krampke), actor (In Harm’s Way)
1930 Dick Sargent (Richard Cox), actor (Bewitched) died July 8, 1994
1933 Jayne Mansfield (Vera Jane Palmer), actress (It Takes a Thief) killed in car crash June 29, 1967
1934 Dickie Goodman, entertainer (Buchanan and Goodman) died Nov 6, 1989
1935 Dudley Moore, actor (Arthur films, 10) died March 22, 2002
1941 Alan Price, keyboards/singer (The Animals)
1942 Larry (Hilario) Ramos Jr., guitar/singer (The Association)
1943 Eve Graham (Evelyn May Beatsom), singer (The New Seekers)
1944 Bernie Worrell, keyboardist (P Funk)
1946 Tim Curry, actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Hunt for Red October)
1947 Mark Volman, saxophone/singer (The Turtles)
1952 Tony Plana, actor (Ugly Betty, Resurrection Boulevard)
1953 Rod Morgenstein, drummer (Winger)
1954 Bob Rock, guitarist/producer (The Payolas)
1962 Al Unser, Jr. Indy car driver
1965 Marion "Suge" Knight, rap producer
1968 Ashley Judd, actress (Double Jeopardy)
1969 Jesse James, custom motorcycle builder/Mr. Sandra Bullock
1978 James Franco, actor (Spiderman series)
1979 Kate Hudson, actress (Almost Famous)
1981 Hayden Christensen, actor (Star Wars series)
1981 Catalina Sandino Moreno, actress (Maria Full of Grace)
1987 Maria Sharapova, tennis champion
Today's Deaths in History
1824 George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, English poet (Don Juan), dies at 36
1881 Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dies at 76
1882 Charles Darwin, biologist, dies at 73
1906 Pierre Curie, French physicist, dies at 45
1989 Daphne du Maurier, novelist (The Birds, Rebecca) dies at 81
1993 David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, dies at 33
2004 Norris McWhirter, co-founder (Guinness Book of Records) dies at 78
2005 Ruth Hussey, actress (The Great Gatsby) dies at 93
2006 Scott Crossfield, pilot (first man to fly at Mach 2) dies at 84
Today in History
1770 Captain James Cook sighted Australia.
1775 The American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.
1782 John Adams secured the Dutch Republic's recognition of the United States as an independent government.
1897 The first Boston Marathon was run.
1919 Leslie Irvin made the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute jump using a self-contained parachute.
1927 Mae West was sentenced to 10 days in jail for obscenity for her play Sex.
1933 The United States went off the gold standard.
1934 Shirley Temple debuted in Stand Up and Cheer!
1943 Tens of thousands of Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising against Nazi forces.
1951 Gen. Douglas MacArthur, relieved of his command by President Harry S. Truman, bid farewell to Congress, quoting a line from a ballad: "Old soldiers never die; they just fade away."
1955 German automaker Volkswagen, after six years of selling cars in the United States, founded Volkswagen of America in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to standardize its dealer and service network.
1956 Actress Grace Kelly married Rainier III of Monaco.
1960 Students in South Korea held a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.
1971 Charles Manson was sentenced to death for the Sharon Tate murders.
1984 "Advance Australia Fair" was proclaimed as Australia's national anthem, and green and gold as the national colours.
1987 The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on The Tracey Ullman Show.
1989 A white female jogger in New York's Central Park was brutally beaten and raped; five black and Hispanic teenagers were imprisoned, but the covictions were overturned in 2003 when a serial rapist confessed and DNA evidence tied him to the crime.
1989 A gun turret exploded on the USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors.
1993 A 51-day siege at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, ended when fire destroyed the structure after federal agents smashed their way in; dozens of people, including sect leader David Koresh, were killed.
1994 A Los Angeles jury awarded $3.8 million to beaten motorist Rodney King.
1995 A truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500; Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.
1997 Flooding from the Red River forced more than 50,000 residents to abandon Grand Forks, N.D.
1999 The German parliament inaugurated its new home in the restored Reichstag in Berlin, its prewar capital.
2001 The Mel Brooks musical The Producers opened on Broadway.
2005 Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected pope; he took the name Benedict XVI.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Russ Morgan Orchestra (vocal: The Skyliners)
Red Roses for a Blue Lady - Vaughn Monroe
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
Party Doll - Buddy Knox
Come Go with Me - The Dell-Vikings
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
I’m Telling You Now - Freddie & The Dreamers
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
King of the Road - Roger Miller
1973
The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia - Vicki Lawrence
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
Sing - Carpenters
A Shoulder to Cry On - Charley Pride
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Old Flame - Alabama
1989
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young cannibals
Like a Prayer - Madonna
Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc
I’m No Stranger to the Rain - Keith Whitley
Quote of the Day
Change your thoughts and you change your world.
Norman Vincent Peale, clergyman (1898 - 1993)
Today in History - April 20th
Today's Birthdays
1850 Daniel Chester French, sculptor (Lincoln Memorial) died Oct 7, 1931
1889 Adolf Hitler, dictator/racist/murderer; committed suicide Apr 30, 1945
1908 Lionel Hampton, singer/songwriter/jazz musician; died Aug 31, 2002
1920 John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S.
1924 Nina Foch (Nina Consuelo Maud Fock), actress (The Ten Commandments)
1925 Tito (Ernest) Puente, jazz musician/bandleader; died June 1, 2000
1926 Elena Verdugo, actress (House of Frankenstein)
1937 George Takei, actor (Star Trek, The Green Berets)
1941 Ryan O’Neal, actor (Love Story, Paper Moon)
1943 Edie Sedgwick, actress/socialite; died Nov 15, 1971
1945 Jimmy Winston (Langwith), organ (Small Faces)
1947 David Leland, actor (Time Bandits)
1947 Björn Skifs, singer (Blue Swede)
1948 Craig Frost, keyboards (Grand Funk Railroad)
1949 Jessica (Phyllis) Lange, actress (Tootsie, King Kong)
1949 Veronica Cartwright, actress (The Birds)
1951 Luther Vandross, singer/songwriter; died July 1, 2005
1959 Clint Howard, actor (Backdraft, Cocoon)
1964 Crispin Glover, actor (Back to the Future series, Charlie’s Angels series)
1964 Andy Serkis, actor (Lords of the Rings series)
1967 Mike Portnoy, drummer (Dream Theater)
1972 Carmen Electra, model/actress (Baywatch)
1976 Joey Lawrence, actor (Gimme a Break)
Today's Deaths in History
1534 Elizabeth Barton, English nun, is executed for predicting that if Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn against the wishes of the Pope, he would die in six months
1765 Abigail Williams, accuser in the Salem Witch Trials, dies at 91
1769 Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa tribe, dies at 49
1812 George Clinton, Vice President and former New York governor, dies at 73
1912 Bram Stoker, writer (Dracula) dies at 64
1982 Archibald McLeish, poet/Librarian of Congress, dies at 79
1993 Cantinflas, Mexican comic/actor, dies at 81
1996 Christopher Robin Milne, son of A. A. Milne, dies at 75
1999 “Ravishing” Rick Rude, wrestler, dies at 40
1999 Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist/comedian, dies at 103
2002 Alan Dale, singer (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White) dies at 75
2007 Andrew Hill, jazz composer/pianist, dies at 75
Today in History
1792 France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1836 The Territory of Wisconsin was established by Congress.
1862 Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first pasteurization tests.
1902 Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.
1912 Opening day was held for Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
1916 The Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.
1918 Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, shot down his 79th and 80th victims, marking his final victories before his death the following day.
1926 Western Electric and Warner Bros. announced Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
1939 Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.
1940 RCA publicly demonstrated its new electron microscope.
1945 Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart during World War II.
1968 Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.
1971 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1972 The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.
1980 The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.
1986 Michael Jordan set the all-time record for points in an NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.
1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher before taking their own lives.
2005 President George W. Bush signed a bill making it harder for debt-ridden people to wipe clean their financial slates by declaring bankruptcy.
2008 Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history, capturing the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th career start.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Peter Cottontail - Gene Autry
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Book of Love - The Monotones
Don’t You Just Know It - Huey (Piano) Smith & the Clowns
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me - Gladys Knight & the Pips
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
A Very Special Love Song - Charlie Rich
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
The Clown - Conway Twitty
1990
I’ll Be Your Everything - Tommy Page
Don’t Wanna Fall in Love - Jane Child
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
Five Minutes - Lorrie Morgan
Quote of the Day
It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.
Aristotle, Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)
Today's Birthdays
1850 Daniel Chester French, sculptor (Lincoln Memorial) died Oct 7, 1931
1889 Adolf Hitler, dictator/racist/murderer; committed suicide Apr 30, 1945
1908 Lionel Hampton, singer/songwriter/jazz musician; died Aug 31, 2002
1920 John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S.
1924 Nina Foch (Nina Consuelo Maud Fock), actress (The Ten Commandments)
1925 Tito (Ernest) Puente, jazz musician/bandleader; died June 1, 2000
1926 Elena Verdugo, actress (House of Frankenstein)
1937 George Takei, actor (Star Trek, The Green Berets)
1941 Ryan O’Neal, actor (Love Story, Paper Moon)
1943 Edie Sedgwick, actress/socialite; died Nov 15, 1971
1945 Jimmy Winston (Langwith), organ (Small Faces)
1947 David Leland, actor (Time Bandits)
1947 Björn Skifs, singer (Blue Swede)
1948 Craig Frost, keyboards (Grand Funk Railroad)
1949 Jessica (Phyllis) Lange, actress (Tootsie, King Kong)
1949 Veronica Cartwright, actress (The Birds)
1951 Luther Vandross, singer/songwriter; died July 1, 2005
1959 Clint Howard, actor (Backdraft, Cocoon)
1964 Crispin Glover, actor (Back to the Future series, Charlie’s Angels series)
1964 Andy Serkis, actor (Lords of the Rings series)
1967 Mike Portnoy, drummer (Dream Theater)
1972 Carmen Electra, model/actress (Baywatch)
1976 Joey Lawrence, actor (Gimme a Break)
Today's Deaths in History
1534 Elizabeth Barton, English nun, is executed for predicting that if Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn against the wishes of the Pope, he would die in six months
1765 Abigail Williams, accuser in the Salem Witch Trials, dies at 91
1769 Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawa tribe, dies at 49
1812 George Clinton, Vice President and former New York governor, dies at 73
1912 Bram Stoker, writer (Dracula) dies at 64
1982 Archibald McLeish, poet/Librarian of Congress, dies at 79
1993 Cantinflas, Mexican comic/actor, dies at 81
1996 Christopher Robin Milne, son of A. A. Milne, dies at 75
1999 “Ravishing” Rick Rude, wrestler, dies at 40
1999 Señor Wences, Spanish ventriloquist/comedian, dies at 103
2002 Alan Dale, singer (Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White) dies at 75
2007 Andrew Hill, jazz composer/pianist, dies at 75
Today in History
1792 France declared war on Austria, marking the start of the French Revolutionary wars.
1836 The Territory of Wisconsin was established by Congress.
1862 Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard completed the first pasteurization tests.
1902 Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie isolated the radioactive element radium.
1912 Opening day was held for Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Michigan, and Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.
1916 The Chicago Cubs played their first game at Weeghman Park (currently Wrigley Field), defeating the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings.
1918 Manfred von Richthofen, The Red Baron, shot down his 79th and 80th victims, marking his final victories before his death the following day.
1926 Western Electric and Warner Bros. announced Vitaphone, a process to add sound to film.
1939 Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox.
1940 RCA publicly demonstrated its new electron microscope.
1945 Allied forces took control of the German cities of Nuremberg and Stuttgart during World War II.
1968 Pierre Elliott Trudeau was sworn in as prime minister of Canada.
1971 The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of busing to achieve racial desegregation in schools.
1972 The manned lunar module from Apollo 16 landed on the moon.
1980 The first Cubans sailing to the United States as part of the massive Mariel boatlift reached Florida.
1986 Michael Jordan set the all-time record for points in an NBA playoff game with 63 against the Boston Celtics.
1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 students and one teacher before taking their own lives.
2005 President George W. Bush signed a bill making it harder for debt-ridden people to wipe clean their financial slates by declaring bankruptcy.
2008 Danica Patrick became the first female winner in IndyCar history, capturing the Indy Japan 300 in her 50th career start.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
Music, Music, Music - Teresa Brewer
Peter Cottontail - Gene Autry
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
He’s Got the Whole World (In His Hands) - Laurie London
Book of Love - The Monotones
Don’t You Just Know It - Huey (Piano) Smith & the Clowns
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
The Ballad of the Green Berets - SSgt Barry Sadler
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Daydream - The Lovin’ Spoonful
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me - Gladys Knight & the Pips
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
A Very Special Love Song - Charlie Rich
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
The Clown - Conway Twitty
1990
I’ll Be Your Everything - Tommy Page
Don’t Wanna Fall in Love - Jane Child
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
Five Minutes - Lorrie Morgan
Quote of the Day
It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.
Aristotle, Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)
Today in History - April 21st
Today's Birthdays
1816 Charlotte Bronte, author (Jane Eyre) died Mar 31, 1855
1838 John Muir, conservationist (U.S. National Parks system) died Dec 24, 1914
1915 Anthony Quinn, actor (Zorba the Greek) died June 3, 2001
1926 Queen Elizabeth II (Elisabeth Mary), Queen of the United Kingdom
1935 Charles Grodin, actor (Midnight Run, Dave)
1936 Reg Fleming, NHL forward (NY Rangers)
1939 Sister Helen Prejean, author/activist (Dead Man Walking)
1939 Ernie Maresca, songwriter (Runaround Sue, The Wanderer)
1947 Iggy Pop (James Newell Osterburg), singer/songwriter (The Stooges)
1947 John Weider, bassist (Eric Burdon and the Animals)
1948 Paul Davis, singer/songwriter (I Go Crazy) died April 22, 2008
1949 Patti LuPone, actress (Evita)
1951 Paul Carrack, pianist/singer/songwriter (Mike and the Mechanics, Ace)
1951 Tony Danza, actor (Who’s the Boss, Taxi)
1951 Steve Vickers, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1958 Andie (Rosalie Anderson) MacDowell, actress (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
1959 Robert Smith, guitarist/singer/songwriter (The Cure)
1959 Jerry Only, bassist (The Misfits)
1959 Michael Timmons, guitarist/songwriter (Cowboy Junkies)
1963 John Cameron Mitchell, actor/writer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
1969 Robin Meade, reporter (CNN)
1970 Nicole Sullivan, actress (Scrubs)
1970 Rob Riggle, U.S. Marine/comedian (Daily Show)
1971 Eric Mabius, actor (Ugly Betty)
1971 Michael Turner, comic book artist (Witchblade)
1977 Jamie Salé, pairs figure skating champion
1978 Brandon Steineckert, drummer (Rancid)
1979 James McAvoy, actor (Last King of Scotland, Atonement)
1980 Tony Romo, NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1982 Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, running back (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Today's Deaths in History
1509 King Henry VII of England dies at 52
1910 Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), author (Tom Sawyer) dies at 74
1918 Manfred von Richthofen, German ace pilot, shot down over France at 25
1946 John Maynard Keynes, English economist, dies at 62
1971 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Haitian dictator, dies at 64
1977 Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian, dies at 83
1978 Sandy Denny, singer (Fairport Convention) dies at 31
1996 Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, bookmaker/sportscaster, dies at 76
2001 Jack Haley, Jr., producer (Biography series)
2003 Nina Simone, singer, dies at 70
2005 Gerry Marshall, race driver (Formula One) dies at 63
2008 Al Wilson, soul singer (Show and Tell) dies at 68
Today in History
0753 (BC) Romulus and Remus founded Rome.
1509 Henry VIII ascended the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
1649 The Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland Assembly.
1789 John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.
1836 Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas' independence.
1918 Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.
1952 Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) was first celebrated.
1960 Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.
1962 The Seattle World's Fair opened, the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.
1965 The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opened for its second and final season.
1975 South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.
1977 The musical Annie opened on Broadway.
1980 Rosie Ruiz, the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, was disqualified when officials discovered she had jumped into the race about a mile from the finish.
1982 Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
1986 A vault in Chicago's Lexington Hotel that was linked to Al Capone was opened during a live TV special hosted by Geraldo Rivera; except for a few bottles and a sign, the vault was empty.
1987 The Tamil Tigers were blamed for a car bomb that exploded in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
1989 In Beijing, nearly 100,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1992 Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years as he was put to death in the gas chamber for the 1978 murder of two teenage boys.
2004 Five suicide attackers detonated car bombs against police buildings in Basra, Iraq, killing at least 74 people.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill - Les Paul & Mary Ford
Would I Love You - Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
I Need Your Love Tonight - Elvis Presley
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
This is My Song - Petula Clark
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You - The Monkees
Lonely Again - Eddy Arnold
1975
Philadelphia Freedom - The Elton John Band
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Always Wanting You - Merle Haggard
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Mr. Roboto - Styx
Dixieland Delight - Alabama
1991
You’re in Love - Wilson Phillips
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
Robert Heinlein, science fiction author (1907 - 1988)
Today's Birthdays
1816 Charlotte Bronte, author (Jane Eyre) died Mar 31, 1855
1838 John Muir, conservationist (U.S. National Parks system) died Dec 24, 1914
1915 Anthony Quinn, actor (Zorba the Greek) died June 3, 2001
1926 Queen Elizabeth II (Elisabeth Mary), Queen of the United Kingdom
1935 Charles Grodin, actor (Midnight Run, Dave)
1936 Reg Fleming, NHL forward (NY Rangers)
1939 Sister Helen Prejean, author/activist (Dead Man Walking)
1939 Ernie Maresca, songwriter (Runaround Sue, The Wanderer)
1947 Iggy Pop (James Newell Osterburg), singer/songwriter (The Stooges)
1947 John Weider, bassist (Eric Burdon and the Animals)
1948 Paul Davis, singer/songwriter (I Go Crazy) died April 22, 2008
1949 Patti LuPone, actress (Evita)
1951 Paul Carrack, pianist/singer/songwriter (Mike and the Mechanics, Ace)
1951 Tony Danza, actor (Who’s the Boss, Taxi)
1951 Steve Vickers, NHL left wing (NY Rangers)
1958 Andie (Rosalie Anderson) MacDowell, actress (Four Weddings and a Funeral)
1959 Robert Smith, guitarist/singer/songwriter (The Cure)
1959 Jerry Only, bassist (The Misfits)
1959 Michael Timmons, guitarist/songwriter (Cowboy Junkies)
1963 John Cameron Mitchell, actor/writer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch)
1969 Robin Meade, reporter (CNN)
1970 Nicole Sullivan, actress (Scrubs)
1970 Rob Riggle, U.S. Marine/comedian (Daily Show)
1971 Eric Mabius, actor (Ugly Betty)
1971 Michael Turner, comic book artist (Witchblade)
1977 Jamie Salé, pairs figure skating champion
1978 Brandon Steineckert, drummer (Rancid)
1979 James McAvoy, actor (Last King of Scotland, Atonement)
1980 Tony Romo, NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1982 Carnell "Cadillac" Williams, running back (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Today's Deaths in History
1509 King Henry VII of England dies at 52
1910 Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain), author (Tom Sawyer) dies at 74
1918 Manfred von Richthofen, German ace pilot, shot down over France at 25
1946 John Maynard Keynes, English economist, dies at 62
1971 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, Haitian dictator, dies at 64
1977 Gummo Marx, American actor and comedian, dies at 83
1978 Sandy Denny, singer (Fairport Convention) dies at 31
1996 Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder, bookmaker/sportscaster, dies at 76
2001 Jack Haley, Jr., producer (Biography series)
2003 Nina Simone, singer, dies at 70
2005 Gerry Marshall, race driver (Formula One) dies at 63
2008 Al Wilson, soul singer (Show and Tell) dies at 68
Today in History
0753 (BC) Romulus and Remus founded Rome.
1509 Henry VIII ascended the throne of England on the death of his father, Henry VII.
1649 The Maryland Toleration Act, which provided for freedom of worship for all Christians, was passed by the Maryland Assembly.
1789 John Adams was sworn in as the first vice president of the United States.
1836 Texans led by Sam Houston defeated the Mexicans at San Jacinto, assuring Texas' independence.
1918 Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the German ace known as the "Red Baron," was killed in action during World War I.
1952 Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) was first celebrated.
1960 Brazil inaugurated its new capital, Brasilia, transferring the seat of national government from Rio de Janeiro.
1962 The Seattle World's Fair opened, the first World's Fair in the United States since World War II.
1965 The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opened for its second and final season.
1975 South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned after 10 years in office.
1977 The musical Annie opened on Broadway.
1980 Rosie Ruiz, the first woman to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon, was disqualified when officials discovered she had jumped into the race about a mile from the finish.
1982 Rollie Fingers of the Milwaukee Brewers became the first pitcher to record 300 saves.
1986 A vault in Chicago's Lexington Hotel that was linked to Al Capone was opened during a live TV special hosted by Geraldo Rivera; except for a few bottles and a sign, the vault was empty.
1987 The Tamil Tigers were blamed for a car bomb that exploded in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo, killing 106 people.
1989 In Beijing, nearly 100,000 students gathered in Tiananmen Square to commemorate Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1992 Robert Alton Harris became the first person executed by the state of California in 25 years as he was put to death in the gas chamber for the 1978 murder of two teenage boys.
2004 Five suicide attackers detonated car bombs against police buildings in Basra, Iraq, killing at least 74 people.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill - Les Paul & Mary Ford
Would I Love You - Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
I Need Your Love Tonight - Elvis Presley
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
This is My Song - Petula Clark
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You - The Monkees
Lonely Again - Eddy Arnold
1975
Philadelphia Freedom - The Elton John Band
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Always Wanting You - Merle Haggard
1983
Billy Jean - Michael Jackson
Come on Eileen – Dexy’s Midnight Runners
Mr. Roboto - Styx
Dixieland Delight - Alabama
1991
You’re in Love - Wilson Phillips
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
Robert Heinlein, science fiction author (1907 - 1988)
Today in History - April 22nd
Today's Birthdays
1724 Immanuel Kant, philosopher; died Feb 12, 1804
1870 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Vladimir Lenin), Communist revolutionary; died Jan 21, 1924
1899 Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (Lolita) died July 2, 1977
1904 J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer, physicist (first atomic bomb) died Feb 18, 1967
1906 Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger), actor (Green Acres) died May 26, 2005
1920 Hal March (Mendelson), TV emcee (The $64,000 Question) died Jan 19, 1970
1922 Charles Mingus, bassist/piano/singer/bandleader/composer, died Jan 5, 1979
1923 Aaron Spelling, executive producer (Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island) died June 23, 2006
1923 Bettie Page, American model/pinup girl, died December 11, 2008
1926 Charlotte Rae, actress (Facts of Life)
1936 Glen Campbell, country singer (Rhinestone Cowboy)
1937 Jack Nicholson, actor (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Prizzi’s Honor)
1946 John Waters, director (Hairspray)
1950 Peter Frampton, guitarist/singer (Show Me the Way)
1951 Paul Carrack, singer (Ace, Squeeze, Mike + the Mechanics)
1952 Marilyn Chambers, adult film actress (Behind the Green Door) died April 12, 2009
1954 Joseph Bottoms, actor (The Net)
1959 Ryan Stiles, comic actor (The Drew Carey Show)
1959 Catherine Mary Stewart, actress (Weekend at Bernie's)
1961 Byron Allen, TV host/comedian (Real People)
1964 Chris Makepeace, actor (My Bodyguard)
1966 Fletcher Dragge, guitarist (Pennywise)
1966 Jeffrey Dean Morgan, actor (Grey's Anatomy, The Watchmen)
1967 Sheryl Lee, actress (One Tree Hill)
1967 Sherri Shepherd, actress (The Wedding Bells)
1971 Eric Mabius, actor (Ugly Betty)
1974 Shavo Odadjian, rock musician (System of a Down)
1976 Dan Cloutier, NHL goaltender (New York Rangers)
1977 Aaron Fink, guitarist (Breaking Benjamin)
1978 Jason Stollsteimer, singer/guitarist (The Von Bondies)
1979 Daniel Johns, singer/guitarist (Silverchair)
1984 Michelle Ryan, actress (The Bionic Woman)
1984 Amelle Berrabah, singer (Sugababes)
1986 Amber Heard, actress (Pineapple Express)
Today's Deaths in History
1778 James Hargreaves, inventor (The Spinning Jenny) dies at 58
1933 Henry Royce, British automobile manufacturer (Rolls-Royce) dies at 70
1946 Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, dies at 73
1978 Will Geer, actor (The Waltons) dies at 76
1983 Earl "Fatha" Hines, jazz pianist, dies at 79
1984 Ansel Adams, American photographer, dies at 82
1994 Richard M. Nixon, 37th president of the United States, dies at 81
1996 Erma Bombeck, humorist/author (The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank) dies at 69
2002 Linda Lovelace, adult film actress (Deep Throat) dies at 53
2003 Andrea King, actress (Dragnet) dies at 84
2004 Pat Tillman, Arizona Cardinals/Army Ranger, is killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan at 27
2004 Jason L. Dunham, U.S. Marine Corporal/Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 22 when he covered a grenade with his body, saving the lives of the Marines around him
Today in History
1864 Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.
1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.
1898 The first shot of the Spanish-American War rang out as the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Fla.
1912 Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, began publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 The use of poison gas in World War I escalated when chlorine gas was released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1945 After learning that Soviet forces had taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admitted defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide was his only recourse.
1952 An atomic test conducted in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network TV.
1954 The televised Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.
1969 British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completed the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1970 Earth Day was observed for the first time.
1983 The West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler; they turned out to be a hoax.
1990 Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.
1993 The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1997 Government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, ending a 126-day hostage crisis; all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed, and 71 hostages were rescued.
2000 In a pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; the 6-year-old boy was reunited with his father.
2004 Pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire; he was 27.
2005 Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers to kill Americans; he was later sentenced to life in prison.
2006 The Iraqi parliament elected Jalal Talabani to another term as president.
2008 The United States Air Force retired the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Poinciana - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Be My Life’s Companion - The Mills Brothers
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Greenfields - The Brothers Four
Sweet Nothin’s - Brenda Lee
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
Lady Madonna - The Beatles
Fist City - Loretta Lynn
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Drinkin’ My Baby (Off My Mind) - Eddie Rabbitt
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
The Yellow Rose - Johnny Lee with Lane Brody
Quote of the Day
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.
George Burns, actor & comedian (1896 - 1996)
Today's Birthdays
1724 Immanuel Kant, philosopher; died Feb 12, 1804
1870 Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Vladimir Lenin), Communist revolutionary; died Jan 21, 1924
1899 Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer (Lolita) died July 2, 1977
1904 J. (Julius) Robert Oppenheimer, physicist (first atomic bomb) died Feb 18, 1967
1906 Eddie Albert (Edward Albert Heimberger), actor (Green Acres) died May 26, 2005
1920 Hal March (Mendelson), TV emcee (The $64,000 Question) died Jan 19, 1970
1922 Charles Mingus, bassist/piano/singer/bandleader/composer, died Jan 5, 1979
1923 Aaron Spelling, executive producer (Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island) died June 23, 2006
1923 Bettie Page, American model/pinup girl, died December 11, 2008
1926 Charlotte Rae, actress (Facts of Life)
1936 Glen Campbell, country singer (Rhinestone Cowboy)
1937 Jack Nicholson, actor (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Prizzi’s Honor)
1946 John Waters, director (Hairspray)
1950 Peter Frampton, guitarist/singer (Show Me the Way)
1951 Paul Carrack, singer (Ace, Squeeze, Mike + the Mechanics)
1952 Marilyn Chambers, adult film actress (Behind the Green Door) died April 12, 2009
1954 Joseph Bottoms, actor (The Net)
1959 Ryan Stiles, comic actor (The Drew Carey Show)
1959 Catherine Mary Stewart, actress (Weekend at Bernie's)
1961 Byron Allen, TV host/comedian (Real People)
1964 Chris Makepeace, actor (My Bodyguard)
1966 Fletcher Dragge, guitarist (Pennywise)
1966 Jeffrey Dean Morgan, actor (Grey's Anatomy, The Watchmen)
1967 Sheryl Lee, actress (One Tree Hill)
1967 Sherri Shepherd, actress (The Wedding Bells)
1971 Eric Mabius, actor (Ugly Betty)
1974 Shavo Odadjian, rock musician (System of a Down)
1976 Dan Cloutier, NHL goaltender (New York Rangers)
1977 Aaron Fink, guitarist (Breaking Benjamin)
1978 Jason Stollsteimer, singer/guitarist (The Von Bondies)
1979 Daniel Johns, singer/guitarist (Silverchair)
1984 Michelle Ryan, actress (The Bionic Woman)
1984 Amelle Berrabah, singer (Sugababes)
1986 Amber Heard, actress (Pineapple Express)
Today's Deaths in History
1778 James Hargreaves, inventor (The Spinning Jenny) dies at 58
1933 Henry Royce, British automobile manufacturer (Rolls-Royce) dies at 70
1946 Harlan F. Stone, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, dies at 73
1978 Will Geer, actor (The Waltons) dies at 76
1983 Earl "Fatha" Hines, jazz pianist, dies at 79
1984 Ansel Adams, American photographer, dies at 82
1994 Richard M. Nixon, 37th president of the United States, dies at 81
1996 Erma Bombeck, humorist/author (The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank) dies at 69
2002 Linda Lovelace, adult film actress (Deep Throat) dies at 53
2003 Andrea King, actress (Dragnet) dies at 84
2004 Pat Tillman, Arizona Cardinals/Army Ranger, is killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan at 27
2004 Jason L. Dunham, U.S. Marine Corporal/Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 22 when he covered a grenade with his body, saving the lives of the Marines around him
Today in History
1864 Congress authorized the use of the phrase "In God We Trust" on U.S. coins.
1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush began at noon as thousands of homesteaders staked claims.
1898 The first shot of the Spanish-American War rang out as the USS Nashville captured a Spanish merchant ship off Key West, Fla.
1912 Pravda, the "voice" of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, began publication in Saint Petersburg.
1915 The use of poison gas in World War I escalated when chlorine gas was released as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres.
1945 After learning that Soviet forces had taken Eberswalde without a fight, Adolf Hitler admitted defeat in his underground bunker and states that suicide was his only recourse.
1952 An atomic test conducted in Nevada became the first nuclear explosion shown on live network TV.
1954 The televised Senate Army-McCarthy hearings began.
1969 British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completed the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.
1970 Earth Day was observed for the first time.
1983 The West German news magazine Stern announced the discovery of 60 volumes of personal diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler; they turned out to be a hoax.
1990 Pro-Iranian kidnappers in Lebanon freed American hostage Robert Polhill after nearly 39 months of captivity.
1993 The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum was dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1997 Government commandos stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, ending a 126-day hostage crisis; all 14 Tupac Amaru rebels were killed, and 71 hostages were rescued.
2000 In a pre-dawn raid, armed immigration agents seized Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; the 6-year-old boy was reunited with his father.
2004 Pro football player Pat Tillman, who'd traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan, was killed by friendly fire; he was 27.
2005 Zacarias Moussaoui pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring with the Sept. 11 hijackers to kill Americans; he was later sentenced to life in prison.
2006 The Iraqi parliament elected Jalal Talabani to another term as president.
2008 The United States Air Force retired the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
Chart Toppers
1944
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
I Love You - Bing Crosby
Poinciana - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Be My Life’s Companion - The Mills Brothers
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Greenfields - The Brothers Four
Sweet Nothin’s - Brenda Lee
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
Lady Madonna - The Beatles
Fist City - Loretta Lynn
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Drinkin’ My Baby (Off My Mind) - Eddie Rabbitt
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
The Yellow Rose - Johnny Lee with Lane Brody
Quote of the Day
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.
George Burns, actor & comedian (1896 - 1996)
Today in History - April 23rd
Today's Birthdays
1564 William Shakespeare, playwright (Romeo & Juliet) died April 23, 1616
1791 James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, died June 1, 1868
1813 Stephen Douglas, Illinois politician/Presidential Candidate, died June 3, 1861
1858 Max Planck, German physicist (Nobel Prize laureate; quantum theory) died Oct 4, 1947
1891 Sergei Prokofiev, pianist/composer (Peter and the Wolf) died Mar 5, 1953
1921 Janet Blair, actress (South Pacific) died February 19, 2007
1928 Shirley Temple Black, Diplomat/former child actress
1932 (Roy) Halston (Frowick), fashion designer, died March 26, 1990
1932 Jim Fixx, runner/writer (The Complete Book of Running) died July 20, 1984
1936 Roy Orbison, singer (Only the Lonely, Oh Pretty Woman, Crying) died Dec 6, 1988
1939 Lee Majors, actor (The Six Millon Dollar Man)
1939 Ray Peterson, singer (Tell Laura I Love Her) died Jan 25, 2005
1942 Sandra Dee (Alexandra Zuck), actress (A Summer Place, Gidget) died Feb 20, 2005
1943 Tony (Anthony James) Esposito, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender (Chicago Blackhawks)
1943 Hervé Villechaize, actor (Fantasy Island) died Sep 4, 1993
1947 Glenn Cornick, bassist (Jethro Tull)
1948 Blair Brown, actress (Altered States)
1949 Joyce DeWitt, actress (Three's Company)
1949 David Cross, violinist (King Crimson)
1952 Narada Michael Walden, drummer/composer (Weather Report)
1953 James Russo, actor (Donnie Brasco)
1954 Michael Moore, film director (Roger & Me)
1955 Judy Davis, actress (The Ref)
1957 Jan Hooks, actress/comedienne (Saturday Night Live)
1960 Valerie Bertinelli, actress (One Day at a Time)
1960 Steve Clark, guitarist (Def Leppard) died Jan 8, 1991
1960 Craig Sheffer, actor (Some Kind of Wonderful)
1961 George Lopez, comic/actor (George Lopez Show)
1962 John Hannah, Scottish actor (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors, Mummy series)
1964 Tara Morice, actress (Strictly Ballroom)
1967 Melina Kanakaredes, actress (CSI:NY, Providence)
1968 Stan Frazier, drummer (Sugar Ray)
1968 Timothy McVeigh, terrorist (Oklahoma City bombing) executed June 11, 2001
1970 Scott Bairstow, actor (Party of Five)
1977 Kal Penn, actor (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, House MD)
1977 John Cena, wrestler/actor (The Marine)
1979 Jaime King, actress (Pearl Harbor)
1981 Joanna Krupa, model/actress (Scary Movie 4)
1990 Dev Patel, actor (Slumdog Millionaire)
Today's Deaths in History
1616 William Shakespeare, playwright (Romeo & Juliet) dies on his 52nd birthday
1616 Cervantes, Spanish poet, dies at 68
1850 William Wordsworth, English poet (Lyrical Ballads) dies at 80
1951 Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States, dies at 85
1983 Buster Crabbe, swimmer/actor, dies at 75
1986 Otto Preminger, film director (Anatomy of a Murder) dies at 79
1990 Paulette Goddard, actress (The Great Dictator) dies at 79
1991 Johnny Thunders, guitarist/singer/songwriter (New York Dolls) dies at 38
1993 Cesar Chavez, labor leader, dies at 66
1995 Howard Cosell, sportscaster, "The Mouth That Roared," dies at age 77
1998 James Earl Ray, assassin (Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) dies at age 70
2007 Boris Yeltsin, First President of the Russian Federation, dies at 76
2007 David Halberstam, journalist/author, dies in a car crash at 73
Today in History
1597 Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor was first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance.
1635 The Boston Latin School, the first public school in the United States, was founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
1789 President-elect George Washington and his wife moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House in New York City.
1867 William Lincoln patented the zoetrope, a machine which showed animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.
1896 The Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York City.
1908 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.
1940 About 200 people died in a dance-hall fire in Natchez, Miss.
1954 Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
1968 Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City took over administration buildings and shut down the university in protets of the Vietnam War.
1968 The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.
1969 Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (the sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment).
1971 The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers was released.
1985 The Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing its secret formula for Coke; negative public reaction later forced the company to resume selling the original version.
1987 Twenty-six construction workers were killed when an apartment complex being built in Bridgeport, Conn., suddenly collapsed.
1988 Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon dropped off the charts for the first time after spending a record 741 consecutive weeks (more than 14 years) on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
1992 McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.
1993 Eritreans voted overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
2003 Beijing closed all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus.
2004 President George W. Bush eased Reagan-era sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's giving up weapons of mass destruction.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Doggie in the Window - Patti Page
Pretend - Nat King Cole
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
It’s Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
Galveston - Glen Campbell
1977
Don’t Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
Hotel California - Eagles
She’s Got You - Loretta Lynn
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Nightshift - Commodores
I Need More of You - Bellamy Brothers
Quote of the Day
All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Sean O'Casey, Irish dramatist (1880 - 1964)
Today's Birthdays
1564 William Shakespeare, playwright (Romeo & Juliet) died April 23, 1616
1791 James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States, died June 1, 1868
1813 Stephen Douglas, Illinois politician/Presidential Candidate, died June 3, 1861
1858 Max Planck, German physicist (Nobel Prize laureate; quantum theory) died Oct 4, 1947
1891 Sergei Prokofiev, pianist/composer (Peter and the Wolf) died Mar 5, 1953
1921 Janet Blair, actress (South Pacific) died February 19, 2007
1928 Shirley Temple Black, Diplomat/former child actress
1932 (Roy) Halston (Frowick), fashion designer, died March 26, 1990
1932 Jim Fixx, runner/writer (The Complete Book of Running) died July 20, 1984
1936 Roy Orbison, singer (Only the Lonely, Oh Pretty Woman, Crying) died Dec 6, 1988
1939 Lee Majors, actor (The Six Millon Dollar Man)
1939 Ray Peterson, singer (Tell Laura I Love Her) died Jan 25, 2005
1942 Sandra Dee (Alexandra Zuck), actress (A Summer Place, Gidget) died Feb 20, 2005
1943 Tony (Anthony James) Esposito, Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender (Chicago Blackhawks)
1943 Hervé Villechaize, actor (Fantasy Island) died Sep 4, 1993
1947 Glenn Cornick, bassist (Jethro Tull)
1948 Blair Brown, actress (Altered States)
1949 Joyce DeWitt, actress (Three's Company)
1949 David Cross, violinist (King Crimson)
1952 Narada Michael Walden, drummer/composer (Weather Report)
1953 James Russo, actor (Donnie Brasco)
1954 Michael Moore, film director (Roger & Me)
1955 Judy Davis, actress (The Ref)
1957 Jan Hooks, actress/comedienne (Saturday Night Live)
1960 Valerie Bertinelli, actress (One Day at a Time)
1960 Steve Clark, guitarist (Def Leppard) died Jan 8, 1991
1960 Craig Sheffer, actor (Some Kind of Wonderful)
1961 George Lopez, comic/actor (George Lopez Show)
1962 John Hannah, Scottish actor (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Sliding Doors, Mummy series)
1964 Tara Morice, actress (Strictly Ballroom)
1967 Melina Kanakaredes, actress (CSI:NY, Providence)
1968 Stan Frazier, drummer (Sugar Ray)
1968 Timothy McVeigh, terrorist (Oklahoma City bombing) executed June 11, 2001
1970 Scott Bairstow, actor (Party of Five)
1977 Kal Penn, actor (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, House MD)
1977 John Cena, wrestler/actor (The Marine)
1979 Jaime King, actress (Pearl Harbor)
1981 Joanna Krupa, model/actress (Scary Movie 4)
1990 Dev Patel, actor (Slumdog Millionaire)
Today's Deaths in History
1616 William Shakespeare, playwright (Romeo & Juliet) dies on his 52nd birthday
1616 Cervantes, Spanish poet, dies at 68
1850 William Wordsworth, English poet (Lyrical Ballads) dies at 80
1951 Charles G. Dawes, Vice President of the United States, dies at 85
1983 Buster Crabbe, swimmer/actor, dies at 75
1986 Otto Preminger, film director (Anatomy of a Murder) dies at 79
1990 Paulette Goddard, actress (The Great Dictator) dies at 79
1991 Johnny Thunders, guitarist/singer/songwriter (New York Dolls) dies at 38
1993 Cesar Chavez, labor leader, dies at 66
1995 Howard Cosell, sportscaster, "The Mouth That Roared," dies at age 77
1998 James Earl Ray, assassin (Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.) dies at age 70
2007 Boris Yeltsin, First President of the Russian Federation, dies at 76
2007 David Halberstam, journalist/author, dies in a car crash at 73
Today in History
1597 Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor was first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance.
1635 The Boston Latin School, the first public school in the United States, was founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
1789 President-elect George Washington and his wife moved into the first executive mansion, the Franklin House in New York City.
1867 William Lincoln patented the zoetrope, a machine which showed animated pictures by mounting a strip of drawings in a wheel.
1896 The Vitascope system for projecting movies onto a screen was demonstrated in New York City.
1908 President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the U.S. Army Reserve.
1940 About 200 people died in a dance-hall fire in Natchez, Miss.
1954 Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves hit the first of his 755 major-league home runs in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
1968 Student protesters at Columbia University in New York City took over administration buildings and shut down the university in protets of the Vietnam War.
1968 The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to form the United Methodist Church.
1969 Sirhan Sirhan was sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (the sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment).
1971 The Rolling Stones album Sticky Fingers was released.
1985 The Coca-Cola Co. announced it was changing its secret formula for Coke; negative public reaction later forced the company to resume selling the original version.
1987 Twenty-six construction workers were killed when an apartment complex being built in Bridgeport, Conn., suddenly collapsed.
1988 Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon dropped off the charts for the first time after spending a record 741 consecutive weeks (more than 14 years) on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart.
1992 McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Beijing.
1993 Eritreans voted overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia in a United Nations-monitored referendum.
2003 Beijing closed all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus.
2004 President George W. Bush eased Reagan-era sanctions against Libya in return for Moammar Gadhafi's giving up weapons of mass destruction.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Doggie in the Window - Patti Page
Pretend - Nat King Cole
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Your Cheatin’ Heart - Hank Williams
1961
Blue Moon - The Marcels
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
It’s Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
Galveston - Glen Campbell
1977
Don’t Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
Hotel California - Eagles
She’s Got You - Loretta Lynn
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Nightshift - Commodores
I Need More of You - Bellamy Brothers
Quote of the Day
All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
Sean O'Casey, Irish dramatist (1880 - 1964)
Today in History - April 24th
Today's Birthdays
1904 Willem de Kooning, painter (expressionist) died Mar 19, 1997
1906 William Joyce, Irish/Nazi propagandist (Lord Haw-Haw) in World War II, executed Jan 3, 1946
1914 William Castle, film producer (House on Haunted Hill) died May 31, 1977
1922 Aaron Bell, jazz bassist (Duke Ellington) died July 28, 2003
1922 J.D. Cannon, actor (Cool Hand Luke) died May 20, 2005
1928 Johnny Griffin, jazz tenor sax (Chicago Riffin’) died July 25, 2008
1930 Richard Donner, film director/producer (Lethal Weapon series)
1934 Shirley MacLaine (Shirley MacLean Beatty), actress (Terms of Endearment)
1936 Jill Ireland, actress/wife of Charles Bronson, died May 18, 1990
1937 Joe Henderson, composer/tenor sax, died June 30, 2001
1940 Sue Grafton, crime novelist
1942 Richard Daley, Chicago mayor
1942 Barbra (Joan) Streisand, singer/actress (The Way We Were)
1943 Richard Sterban, bassist/singer (The Oak Ridge Boys)
1945 Doug Clifford, drummer (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
1952 Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
1953 Eric Bogosian, playwright/actor (Talk Radio)
1954 Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), bassist/singer (Happy Talk)
1955 Michael O’Keefe, actor (The Great Santini, Caddyshack)
1957 Boris Williams, drummer (The Cure)
1957 David J, bassist (Bauhaus)
1959 Paula Yates, ex-wife of Bob Geldof, died Sept 17, 2000
1963 Billy Gould, bassist (Faith No More)
1964 Cedric the Entertainer, comedian/actor (Barbershop series)
1964 Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor (ER, Beauty Shop, Gladiator)
1964 Paul Ryder, bassist (Happy Mondays)
1967 Shannon Larkin, drummer (Godsmack)
1967 Patty Schemel, drummer (Hole)
1968 Aaron Comess, drummer (Spin Doctors)
1969 Melinda Clarke, actress (The O.C., CSI)
1973 Damon Lindelof, executive producer (Lost)
1974 Joseph Bruce, rapper (Insane Clown Posse)
1974 Derek Luke, actor (Antwone Fisher)
1974 Brian Marshall, bassist (Creed, Alter Bridge)
1977 Eric Balfour, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, What Women Want)
1979 Rebecca Mader, actress (Lost)
1982 Kelly Clarkson, singer/TV personality (American Idol)
1984 Tyson Ritter, singer/bassist (All-American Rejects)
1985 Courtney Draper, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Today's Deaths in History
1731 Daniel Defoe, writer (Robinson Cruse) dies at 70
1947 Willa Cather, American writer (My Antonia) dies at 73
1967 Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut, dies at 40 when his space capsule's parachute failed to open
1974 Bud Abbott, actor/comedian (Abbott & Costello) dies at 78
1986 Wallis Simpson, American wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor, dies at 89
1997 Pat Paulsen, comedian/politician (Laugh-In) dies at 69
2001 Al Hibbler, singer (Unchained Melody) dies at 85
2004 Estée Lauder, cosmetics entrepreneur, dies at 97
Today in History
1184 (BC) The Greeks entered Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
1704 The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, was published in Boston, Massachusetts.
1792 The French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," was composed by Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1800 Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.
1877 Federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.
1898 Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1913 The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City was opened.
1915 The Ottoman Empire rounded up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople at the start of what many scholars regard as the first genocide of the 20th century, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died.
1916 The Easter uprising began when some 1,600 Irish nationalists seized several key sites in Dublin.
1953 British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1962 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal.
1968 Leftist students at Columbia University in New York City began a weeklong occupation of several campus buildings.
1970 The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, was launched.
1980 The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran; eight U.S. servicemen died.
1990 The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
1996 The main assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to revoke clauses in its charter that called for an armed struggle to destroy Israel.
2004 The United States lifted economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
2005 Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in cermonies at the Vatican.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Here - Tony Martin
The Man with the Banjo - The Ames Brothers
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp
Young World - Rick Nelson
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
Let It Be - The Beatles
ABC - The Jackson 5
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone - Charley Pride
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
Can’t Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
Every Time Two Fools Collide - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1986
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Manic Monday - Bangles
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Cajun Moon - Ricky Skaggs
Quote of the Day
It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.
John Burroughs, essayist & naturalist (1837 - 1921)
Today's Birthdays
1904 Willem de Kooning, painter (expressionist) died Mar 19, 1997
1906 William Joyce, Irish/Nazi propagandist (Lord Haw-Haw) in World War II, executed Jan 3, 1946
1914 William Castle, film producer (House on Haunted Hill) died May 31, 1977
1922 Aaron Bell, jazz bassist (Duke Ellington) died July 28, 2003
1922 J.D. Cannon, actor (Cool Hand Luke) died May 20, 2005
1928 Johnny Griffin, jazz tenor sax (Chicago Riffin’) died July 25, 2008
1930 Richard Donner, film director/producer (Lethal Weapon series)
1934 Shirley MacLaine (Shirley MacLean Beatty), actress (Terms of Endearment)
1936 Jill Ireland, actress/wife of Charles Bronson, died May 18, 1990
1937 Joe Henderson, composer/tenor sax, died June 30, 2001
1940 Sue Grafton, crime novelist
1942 Richard Daley, Chicago mayor
1942 Barbra (Joan) Streisand, singer/actress (The Way We Were)
1943 Richard Sterban, bassist/singer (The Oak Ridge Boys)
1945 Doug Clifford, drummer (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
1952 Jean-Paul Gaultier, French fashion designer
1953 Eric Bogosian, playwright/actor (Talk Radio)
1954 Captain Sensible (Raymond Burns), bassist/singer (Happy Talk)
1955 Michael O’Keefe, actor (The Great Santini, Caddyshack)
1957 Boris Williams, drummer (The Cure)
1957 David J, bassist (Bauhaus)
1959 Paula Yates, ex-wife of Bob Geldof, died Sept 17, 2000
1963 Billy Gould, bassist (Faith No More)
1964 Cedric the Entertainer, comedian/actor (Barbershop series)
1964 Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor (ER, Beauty Shop, Gladiator)
1964 Paul Ryder, bassist (Happy Mondays)
1967 Shannon Larkin, drummer (Godsmack)
1967 Patty Schemel, drummer (Hole)
1968 Aaron Comess, drummer (Spin Doctors)
1969 Melinda Clarke, actress (The O.C., CSI)
1973 Damon Lindelof, executive producer (Lost)
1974 Joseph Bruce, rapper (Insane Clown Posse)
1974 Derek Luke, actor (Antwone Fisher)
1974 Brian Marshall, bassist (Creed, Alter Bridge)
1977 Eric Balfour, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, What Women Want)
1979 Rebecca Mader, actress (Lost)
1982 Kelly Clarkson, singer/TV personality (American Idol)
1984 Tyson Ritter, singer/bassist (All-American Rejects)
1985 Courtney Draper, actress (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Today's Deaths in History
1731 Daniel Defoe, writer (Robinson Cruse) dies at 70
1947 Willa Cather, American writer (My Antonia) dies at 73
1967 Vladimir Komarov, cosmonaut, dies at 40 when his space capsule's parachute failed to open
1974 Bud Abbott, actor/comedian (Abbott & Costello) dies at 78
1986 Wallis Simpson, American wife of Edward, Duke of Windsor, dies at 89
1997 Pat Paulsen, comedian/politician (Laugh-In) dies at 69
2001 Al Hibbler, singer (Unchained Melody) dies at 85
2004 Estée Lauder, cosmetics entrepreneur, dies at 97
Today in History
1184 (BC) The Greeks entered Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date).
1704 The first regular newspaper in the United States, the News-Letter, was published in Boston, Massachusetts.
1792 The French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," was composed by Capt. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1800 Congress approved a bill establishing the Library of Congress.
1877 Federal troops were ordered out of New Orleans, ending the North's post-Civil War rule in the South.
1898 Spain declared war on the United States after rejecting America's ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba.
1913 The Woolworth Building skyscraper in New York City was opened.
1915 The Ottoman Empire rounded up Armenian political and cultural leaders in Constantinople at the start of what many scholars regard as the first genocide of the 20th century, in which an estimated 1.5 million Armenians died.
1916 The Easter uprising began when some 1,600 Irish nationalists seized several key sites in Dublin.
1953 British statesman Winston Churchill was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.
1962 The Massachusetts Institute of Technology achieved the first satellite relay of a television signal.
1968 Leftist students at Columbia University in New York City began a weeklong occupation of several campus buildings.
1970 The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, was launched.
1980 The United States launched an abortive attempt to free the American hostages in Iran; eight U.S. servicemen died.
1990 The space shuttle Discovery blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., carrying the $1.5 billion Hubble Space Telescope.
1996 The main assembly of the Palestine Liberation Organization voted to revoke clauses in its charter that called for an armed struggle to destroy Israel.
2004 The United States lifted economic sanctions imposed on Libya 18 years previously as a reward for its cooperation in eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
2005 Pope Benedict XVI was installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church in cermonies at the Vatican.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
You Won’t Be Satisfied - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Here - Tony Martin
The Man with the Banjo - The Ames Brothers
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp
Young World - Rick Nelson
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
Let It Be - The Beatles
ABC - The Jackson 5
Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
Is Anybody Goin’ to San Antone - Charley Pride
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
Can’t Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
Every Time Two Fools Collide - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1986
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Manic Monday - Bangles
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Cajun Moon - Ricky Skaggs
Quote of the Day
It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative.
John Burroughs, essayist & naturalist (1837 - 1921)
Sorry this post is a little delayed today, folks -- I was attending the ANZAC Commemoration at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Today in History - April 25th
ANZAC Day
Today's Birthdays
1599 Oliver Cromwell, English statesman, died Sept 3, 1658
1874 Guglielmo Marconi, inventor (‘Father of Radio’) died July 19, 1937
1906 William J. Brennan Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice, died July 24, 1997
1908 Edward R. (Roscoe) Murrow, newsman (You Are There) died Apr 27, 1965
1912 Gladys Presley, Elvis' Mom, died Aug 14, 1958
1917 Ella Fitzgerald, singer (Mack the Knife, A-Tisket A-Tasket) died June 15, 1996
1923 Albert King (Nelson), blues singer/guitarist, died Dec 21, 1992
1930 Paul Mazursky, director (Harry and Tonto)
1932 Meadowlark (George) Lemon, basketball (Harlem Globetrotters)
1933 Jerry Leiber, record producer (with Mike Stoller)
1940 Al (Alfredo James) Pacino, actor (Scarface, Serpico, The Godfather series)
1945 Stu Cook, bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
1945 Bjorn Ulvaeus, guitarist/singer (Abba)
1946 Talia Shire (Coppola), actress (Godfather series, Rocky series, GEICO commercials)
1947 Jeffrey DeMunn, actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
1949 Michael Brown (Lookofsky), keyboards (The Left Banke)
1950 Steve Ferrone, drummer (The Heartbreakers)
1952 Vladislav Tretiak, Soviet goaltender
1954 Randy Cross, sportscaster (NFL)
1958 Fish, Scottish singer/lyricist (Marillion)
1964 Andy Bell, singer (Erasure)
1964 Hank Azaria, actor (Mystery Alaska, The Simpsons)
1965 Eric Avery, bassist (Jane's Addiction)
1969 Joe Buck, sports broadcaster (NFL)
1969 Gina Torres, actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
1969 Renée Zellweger, actress (Bridget Jones series, Jerry Maguire)
1970 Jason Lee, actor (My Name is Earl, Dogma)
1970 Tionne Watkins, singer (TLC)
1977 Marguerite Moreau, actress (Mighty Ducks series)
1988 Sara Paxton, actress (Sleepover)
1996 Allisyn Ashley Arm, actress (Man of the House)
Today's Deaths in History
1744 Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (Celcius scale) dies at 42
1800 William Cowper, English poet/hymnist, dies at 68
1878 Anna Sewell, English author (Black Beauty) dies at 58
1915 Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State, dies at 84
1972 George Sanders, actor (The Picture of Dorian Gray) dies at 65
1984 Richard Benedict, actor (Hawaii Five-O) dies at 64
1990 Dexter Gordon, saxophonist, dies at 67
1995 Art Fleming, game show host (Jeopardy) dies at 70
1995 Ginger Rogers, actress/dancer (w/Fred Astaire) dies at 83
1999 Roger Troutman, pop/R&B musician, is shot and killed at 47 by his brother Larry
2000 David Merrick, theatrical producer (42nd Street) dies at 88
2002 Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, rapper (TLC) dies at 30 in an automobile crash
2007 Bobby "Boris" Pickett, singer/songwriter (Monster Mash) dies at 69
2009 Bea Arthur, U.S. Marine/actress (Maude, Golden Girls) dies at 86
Today in History
1507 "America" was first used as the name of a continent on a map when German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller used the name in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
1792 Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by guillotine.
1859 Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.
1898 The United States declared war on Spain.
1901 New York became the first state to require automobile license plates.
1915 The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian and New Zealand troops began with landings at ANZAC Cove.
1916 ANZAC Day was commemorated for the first time, on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
1939 DC Comics published its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; he was Batman, one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time.
1944 The United Negro College Fund was incorporated.
1945 U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.
1945 Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
1959 The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.
1961 Robert Noyce was granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1981 More than 100 workers were exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.
1990 The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.
1992 Islamic forces took control of most of the Afghan capital Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.
1998 Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
2003 Georgia lawmakers voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag.
2007 The Dow Jones industrial average topped 13,000 for the first time, ending the day at 13,089.89.
2008 Three New York police detectives were acquitted in the 50-shot killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed groom-to-be, on his wedding day.
Chart Toppers
1947
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
Unchained Melody - Al Hibler
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
All I Ever Need is You - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1987
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
Sign ’o’ the Times - Prince
Rose in Paradise - Waylon Jennings
Quote of the Day
To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Today in History - April 25th
ANZAC Day
Today's Birthdays
1599 Oliver Cromwell, English statesman, died Sept 3, 1658
1874 Guglielmo Marconi, inventor (‘Father of Radio’) died July 19, 1937
1906 William J. Brennan Jr., U.S. Supreme Court Justice, died July 24, 1997
1908 Edward R. (Roscoe) Murrow, newsman (You Are There) died Apr 27, 1965
1912 Gladys Presley, Elvis' Mom, died Aug 14, 1958
1917 Ella Fitzgerald, singer (Mack the Knife, A-Tisket A-Tasket) died June 15, 1996
1923 Albert King (Nelson), blues singer/guitarist, died Dec 21, 1992
1930 Paul Mazursky, director (Harry and Tonto)
1932 Meadowlark (George) Lemon, basketball (Harlem Globetrotters)
1933 Jerry Leiber, record producer (with Mike Stoller)
1940 Al (Alfredo James) Pacino, actor (Scarface, Serpico, The Godfather series)
1945 Stu Cook, bassist (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
1945 Bjorn Ulvaeus, guitarist/singer (Abba)
1946 Talia Shire (Coppola), actress (Godfather series, Rocky series, GEICO commercials)
1947 Jeffrey DeMunn, actor (The Shawshank Redemption)
1949 Michael Brown (Lookofsky), keyboards (The Left Banke)
1950 Steve Ferrone, drummer (The Heartbreakers)
1952 Vladislav Tretiak, Soviet goaltender
1954 Randy Cross, sportscaster (NFL)
1958 Fish, Scottish singer/lyricist (Marillion)
1964 Andy Bell, singer (Erasure)
1964 Hank Azaria, actor (Mystery Alaska, The Simpsons)
1965 Eric Avery, bassist (Jane's Addiction)
1969 Joe Buck, sports broadcaster (NFL)
1969 Gina Torres, actress (Xena: Warrior Princess)
1969 Renée Zellweger, actress (Bridget Jones series, Jerry Maguire)
1970 Jason Lee, actor (My Name is Earl, Dogma)
1970 Tionne Watkins, singer (TLC)
1977 Marguerite Moreau, actress (Mighty Ducks series)
1988 Sara Paxton, actress (Sleepover)
1996 Allisyn Ashley Arm, actress (Man of the House)
Today's Deaths in History
1744 Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer (Celcius scale) dies at 42
1800 William Cowper, English poet/hymnist, dies at 68
1878 Anna Sewell, English author (Black Beauty) dies at 58
1915 Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State, dies at 84
1972 George Sanders, actor (The Picture of Dorian Gray) dies at 65
1984 Richard Benedict, actor (Hawaii Five-O) dies at 64
1990 Dexter Gordon, saxophonist, dies at 67
1995 Art Fleming, game show host (Jeopardy) dies at 70
1995 Ginger Rogers, actress/dancer (w/Fred Astaire) dies at 83
1999 Roger Troutman, pop/R&B musician, is shot and killed at 47 by his brother Larry
2000 David Merrick, theatrical producer (42nd Street) dies at 88
2002 Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, rapper (TLC) dies at 30 in an automobile crash
2007 Bobby "Boris" Pickett, singer/songwriter (Monster Mash) dies at 69
2009 Bea Arthur, U.S. Marine/actress (Maude, Golden Girls) dies at 86
Today in History
1507 "America" was first used as the name of a continent on a map when German cartographer Martin Waldseemueller used the name in honor of Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci.
1792 Highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier became the first person under French law to be executed by guillotine.
1859 Ground was broken for the Suez Canal.
1898 The United States declared war on Spain.
1901 New York became the first state to require automobile license plates.
1915 The invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian and New Zealand troops began with landings at ANZAC Cove.
1916 ANZAC Day was commemorated for the first time, on the first anniversary of the landing at ANZAC Cove.
1939 DC Comics published its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; he was Batman, one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time.
1944 The United Negro College Fund was incorporated.
1945 U.S. and Soviet forces linked up on the Elbe River, in central Europe, a meeting that dramatized the collapse of Nazi Germany.
1945 Delegates from some 50 countries met in San Francisco to organize the United Nations.
1959 The St. Lawrence Seaway opened to shipping.
1961 Robert Noyce was granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1981 More than 100 workers were exposed to radiation during repairs of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
1990 Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was inaugurated as president of Nicaragua, ending 11 years of leftist Sandinista rule.
1990 The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery.
1992 Islamic forces took control of most of the Afghan capital Kabul following the collapse of the Communist government.
1998 Whitewater prosecutors questioned first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.
2003 Georgia lawmakers voted to scrap the Dixie cross from the state's flag.
2007 The Dow Jones industrial average topped 13,000 for the first time, ending the day at 13,089.89.
2008 Three New York police detectives were acquitted in the 50-shot killing of Sean Bell, an unarmed groom-to-be, on his wedding day.
Chart Toppers
1947
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Bill Hayes
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
Unchained Melody - Al Hibler
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
He’s So Fine - The Chiffons
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Still - Bill Anderson
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
Knock on Wood - Amii Stewart
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
All I Ever Need is You - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1987
I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
Don’t Dream It’s Over - Crowded House
Sign ’o’ the Times - Prince
Rose in Paradise - Waylon Jennings
Quote of the Day
To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!
H. L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
Today in History - April 26th
Today's Birthdays
0121 Antonius Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome (161-180) died Mar 17, 0180
1785 John James Audubon, bird watcher/artist, died Jan 27, 1851
1822 Frederick Law Olmsted, architect/writer (designed Central Park) died Aug 28, 1903
1884 Harry Sothern, actor (Buck Rogers) died Feb 22, 1957
1886 Ma Rainey (Gertrude Pridgett), "Mother of the Blues," died Dec 22, 1939
1893 Anita Loos, author (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) died Aug 18, 1981
1895 Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Deputy Führer, died Aug 17, 1987
1900 Charles Richter, earthquake seismologist (Richter scale) died Apr 30, 1985
1917 Ieoh Ming Pei, architect (1961 Brunner Prize)
1918 Stafford Repp, actor (Batman) died Nov 5, 1974
1933 Carol Burnett, comedian/actress (Carol Burnett Show)
1938 Duane Eddy, guitarist (Peter Gunn, Cannonball)
1938 Maurice Williams, singer (The Zodiacs)
1940 Giorgio Moroder, composer/producer/singer (Top Gun)
1941 Bruce MacGregor, NHL forward (NY Rangers)
1942 Bobby Rydell, singer (Bye Bye Birdie)
1943 Gary Wright, singer/keyboardist (Dream Weaver)
1956 Koo Stark, photographer/actress (Emily)
1958 Giancarlo Esposito, actor (Bob Roberts)
1960 Roger Taylor, drummer (Duran Duran)
1961 Anthony Cumia, radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)
1961 Joan Chen (Chen Chong), actress (Heaven & Earth, The Home Song Stories)
1961 Chris Mars, drummer (The Replacements)
1963 Jet Li, actor (Romeo Must Die)
1964 Jimmy Stafford, guitarist (Train)
1965 Kevin James, comic/actor (King of Queens)
1967 Marianne Jean-Baptiste, actress (Without a Trace)
1970 Melania Trump, wife of "The Donald"
1970 Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, singer (TLC)
1975 Nathan "Joey" Jordison, drummer (Slipknot)
1976 Jose Pasillas, drummer (Incubus)
1977 Tom Welling, actor (Smallville)
1980 Jordana Brewster, actress (The Fast and the Furious)
1983 Jessica Lynch, US soldier, POW in Operation Iraqi Freedom
1984 Ryan O'Donohue, actress (Byrds of Paradise)
Today's Deaths in History
1865 John Wilkes Booth, assassin, is shot dead near Bowling Green, VA at 27
1956 Edward Arnold, actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), dies at 66
1970 Gypsy Rose Lee (Rose Louise Hovick), stripper/actress, dies at 56
1973 Irene Ryan, actress (Beverly Hillbillies), dies at 69
1981 Jim Davis, actor (Dallas), dies at 65
1984 William "Count" Basie, jazz piano great, dies at 79
1986 (William) Broderick Crawford, actor (Highway Patrol), dies at 74
1989 Lucille Ball, comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy), dies at 78
1991 Carmine Coppola, composer/father of Francis Ford Coppola, dies
2003 Peter Stone, screen writer (Father Goose, Charade) dies at 73
2007 Jack Valenti, film industry lobbyist/White House aide, dies at 85
Today in History
1607 An expedition of English colonists went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere; they later settled at Jamestown.
1805 United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
1865 John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded and killed by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va.
1933 The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, was established.
1937 Planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
1945 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.
1964 The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.
1965 A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario was shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
1986 An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine killed at least 31 people and sent radioactivity into the atmosphere.
1994 Physicists announced the first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle.
1998 Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera, a leading human rights activist in Guatemala, was bludgeoned to death two days after a report he'd compiled on atrocities during Guatemala's 36-year civil war was made public.
2000 Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
2002 An expelled student went on a shooting rampage at a school in Erfurt, Germany, killing 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before taking his own life.
2004 The government unveiled the new colorized $50 bill.
2005 Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended as Syrian soldiers completed a withdrawal brought about by international pressure and Lebanese street protests.
2008 Police in Austria arrested Josef Fritzl, freeing his daughter Elisabeth and her six children, whom he had fathered while holding her captive in a cellar for 24 years.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
Manana - Peggy Lee
The Dickey Bird Song - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Glenn Hughes)
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Ivory Tower - Cathy Carr
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Do You Want to Know a Secret - The Beatles
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
Rockin’ Robin - Michael Jackson
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Chantilly Lace - Jerry Lee Lewis
1980
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
With You I’m Born Again - Billy Preston & Syreeta
A Lesson in Leavin’ - Dottie West
1988
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
Devil Inside - INXS
Wishing Well - Terence Trent D’Arby
I’ll Always Come Back - K.T. Oslin
Quote of the Day
Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President (1911 - 2004)
Today's Birthdays
0121 Antonius Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome (161-180) died Mar 17, 0180
1785 John James Audubon, bird watcher/artist, died Jan 27, 1851
1822 Frederick Law Olmsted, architect/writer (designed Central Park) died Aug 28, 1903
1884 Harry Sothern, actor (Buck Rogers) died Feb 22, 1957
1886 Ma Rainey (Gertrude Pridgett), "Mother of the Blues," died Dec 22, 1939
1893 Anita Loos, author (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) died Aug 18, 1981
1895 Rudolf Hess, Hitler's Deputy Führer, died Aug 17, 1987
1900 Charles Richter, earthquake seismologist (Richter scale) died Apr 30, 1985
1917 Ieoh Ming Pei, architect (1961 Brunner Prize)
1918 Stafford Repp, actor (Batman) died Nov 5, 1974
1933 Carol Burnett, comedian/actress (Carol Burnett Show)
1938 Duane Eddy, guitarist (Peter Gunn, Cannonball)
1938 Maurice Williams, singer (The Zodiacs)
1940 Giorgio Moroder, composer/producer/singer (Top Gun)
1941 Bruce MacGregor, NHL forward (NY Rangers)
1942 Bobby Rydell, singer (Bye Bye Birdie)
1943 Gary Wright, singer/keyboardist (Dream Weaver)
1956 Koo Stark, photographer/actress (Emily)
1958 Giancarlo Esposito, actor (Bob Roberts)
1960 Roger Taylor, drummer (Duran Duran)
1961 Anthony Cumia, radio personality (The Opie and Anthony Show)
1961 Joan Chen (Chen Chong), actress (Heaven & Earth, The Home Song Stories)
1961 Chris Mars, drummer (The Replacements)
1963 Jet Li, actor (Romeo Must Die)
1964 Jimmy Stafford, guitarist (Train)
1965 Kevin James, comic/actor (King of Queens)
1967 Marianne Jean-Baptiste, actress (Without a Trace)
1970 Melania Trump, wife of "The Donald"
1970 Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, singer (TLC)
1975 Nathan "Joey" Jordison, drummer (Slipknot)
1976 Jose Pasillas, drummer (Incubus)
1977 Tom Welling, actor (Smallville)
1980 Jordana Brewster, actress (The Fast and the Furious)
1983 Jessica Lynch, US soldier, POW in Operation Iraqi Freedom
1984 Ryan O'Donohue, actress (Byrds of Paradise)
Today's Deaths in History
1865 John Wilkes Booth, assassin, is shot dead near Bowling Green, VA at 27
1956 Edward Arnold, actor (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington), dies at 66
1970 Gypsy Rose Lee (Rose Louise Hovick), stripper/actress, dies at 56
1973 Irene Ryan, actress (Beverly Hillbillies), dies at 69
1981 Jim Davis, actor (Dallas), dies at 65
1984 William "Count" Basie, jazz piano great, dies at 79
1986 (William) Broderick Crawford, actor (Highway Patrol), dies at 74
1989 Lucille Ball, comedienne/actress (I Love Lucy), dies at 78
1991 Carmine Coppola, composer/father of Francis Ford Coppola, dies
2003 Peter Stone, screen writer (Father Goose, Charade) dies at 73
2007 Jack Valenti, film industry lobbyist/White House aide, dies at 85
Today in History
1607 An expedition of English colonists went ashore at Cape Henry, Va., to establish the first permanent English settlement in the Western Hemisphere; they later settled at Jamestown.
1805 United States Marines captured Derne, Tripoli under the command of First Lieutenant Presley O'Bannon.
1865 John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, was surrounded and killed by federal troops near Bowling Green, Va.
1933 The Gestapo, the official secret police force of Nazi Germany, was established.
1937 Planes from Nazi Germany raided the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.
1945 Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the head of France's Vichy government during World War II, was arrested.
1964 The African nations of Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form Tanzania.
1965 A Rolling Stones concert in London, Ontario was shut down by police after 15 minutes due to rioting.
1986 An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine killed at least 31 people and sent radioactivity into the atmosphere.
1994 Physicists announced the first evidence of the top quark subatomic particle.
1998 Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera, a leading human rights activist in Guatemala, was bludgeoned to death two days after a report he'd compiled on atrocities during Guatemala's 36-year civil war was made public.
2000 Vermont Gov. Howard Dean signed the nation's first bill allowing same-sex couples to form civil unions.
2002 An expelled student went on a shooting rampage at a school in Erfurt, Germany, killing 13 teachers, two students and a police officer before taking his own life.
2004 The government unveiled the new colorized $50 bill.
2005 Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon ended as Syrian soldiers completed a withdrawal brought about by international pressure and Lebanese street protests.
2008 Police in Austria arrested Josef Fritzl, freeing his daughter Elisabeth and her six children, whom he had fathered while holding her captive in a cellar for 24 years.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
Manana - Peggy Lee
The Dickey Bird Song - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Glenn Hughes)
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
The Poor People of Paris - Les Baxter
Ivory Tower - Cathy Carr
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Twist and Shout - The Beatles
Do You Want to Know a Secret - The Beatles
Understand Your Man - Johnny Cash
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
Rockin’ Robin - Michael Jackson
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Chantilly Lace - Jerry Lee Lewis
1980
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
With You I’m Born Again - Billy Preston & Syreeta
A Lesson in Leavin’ - Dottie West
1988
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
Devil Inside - INXS
Wishing Well - Terence Trent D’Arby
I’ll Always Come Back - K.T. Oslin
Quote of the Day
Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.
Ronald Reagan, 40th U.S. President (1911 - 2004)
Today in History - April 27th
Today's Birthdays
1737 Edward Gibbon, historian/author (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) died Jan 16, 1794
1791 Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor (electromagnetic telegraph) died Apr 2, 1872
1822 Ulysses S. Grant, Union General/18th U.S. President, died July 23, 1885
1891 Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (Peter and the Wolf) died March 5, 1953
1894 George Petty, WWII Pin-Up Artist (Memphis Belle) died July 21, 1975
1896 Rogers Hornsby, Baseball Hall of Fame 2nd baseman (St. Louis Cardinals) died Jan 5, 1963
1900 Walter Lantz, animator (Woody Woodpecker) died Mar 22, 1994
1916 Enos Slaughter, Baseball Hall of Famer (St Louis Cardinals, NY Yankees) died Aug 12, 2002
1922 Jack Klugman, actor (The Odd Couple)
1926 Tim LaHaye, reverend/author (Left Behind series)
1927 Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader/wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, died Jan 31, 2006
1932 Anouk Aimee (Françoise Sorya Dreyfus), actress (La Dolce Vita)
1932 Casey Kasem (Kemal Amin Kasem), radio DJ/announcer/host (American Top 40)
1937 Sandy Dennis, actress (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff) died Mar 2, 1992
1938 Earl Anthony, bowling champion; died Aug 14, 2001
1939 Judy Carne (Joyce Betterill), comedienne/actress (Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In)
1939 Jerry Mercer, drummer (April Wine)
1942 Jim Keltner, drummer (George Harrison, Ringo's All-Starr Band)
1944 Cuba Gooding, Sr., singer (The Main Ingredient)
1947 Pete Ham, guitarist/pianist/singer (Badfinger) died April 24, 1975
1948 Kate Pierson, organist/singer (The B-52’s)
1948 Frank Abagnale, Jr., forger (subject of Catch Me if You Can)
1949 Herbie Murrell, R&B singer (The Stylistics)
1951 Paul Daniel ‘Ace’ Frehley, guitarist (Kiss)
1954 Herm Edwards, NFL head coach (Kansas City Chiefs)
1956 Kevin McNally, actor (Pirates of the Caribbean series)
1959 Sheena Easton, singer (Morning Train)
1959 Marco Pirroni, guitarist/songwriter (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
1962 James LeGros, actor (Sleeper Cell)
1979 William James Boyd, bassist (Evanescence)
1979 Travis Meeks, singer (Days of the New)
1984 Patrick Stump, guitarist/singer (Fall Out Boy)
Today's Deaths in History
1521 Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer, is killed by Filipino natives at 41
1813 Zebulon Pike, American frontiersman and explorer (Pike's Peak) dies at 34
1882 Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist/poet, dies at 78
1932 Hart Crane, writer/lyricist (White Buildings) commits suicide at 32
1965 Edward R. Murrow, journalist, dies at 57
1977 Stanley Adams, actor (Star Trek-The Trouble with Tribbles) dies at 62
1994 Lynne Frederick, actress/former Mrs. Peter Sellers, dies at 39 of alcoholism
1996 William Colby, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency, dies at 76
1999 Al Hirt, trumpeter, dies at 76
2000 Vicki Sue Robinson, singer (Turn the Beat Around) dies at 45
2002 Ruth Handler, toy manufacturer (Barbie Doll) dies at 85
2005 Red Horner, NHL Hall of Fame defenseman (Toronto Maple Leafs) dies at 95
Today in History
1509 Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.
1521 Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Philippines.
1667 The blind and impoverished John Milton sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1810 Beethoven composed his famous piano piece, Für Elise.
1861 President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
1865 The steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.
1936 The United Auto Workers (UAW) gained autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
1945 Benito Mussolini was arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
1947 "Babe Ruth Day" was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the ailing baseball star.
1972 Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon.
1978 Former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman was released from prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
1981 Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse.
1982 John W. Hinckley Jr. went on trial in Washington, D.C., in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan; he was acquitted by reason of insanity.
1987 The Justice Department barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States, saying he had aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
1992 Betty Boothroyd became the first woman in its 700-year history to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons.
1992 The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.
1992 Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
1993 All members of the Zambia national football team lost their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon in route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel.
2006 Construction began on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
"A" You’re Adorable - Perry Como
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Mama Look at Bubu - Harry Belafonte
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman’s Hermits
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
This is It - Jim Reeves
1973
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
Sing - Carpenters
The Cisco Kid - War
Superman - Donna Fargo
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Being with You - Smokey Robinson
A Headache Tomorrow (Or a Heartache Tonight) - Mickey Gilley
1989
Like a Prayer - Madonna
Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc
I’ll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
The Church on Cumberland Road - Shenandoah
Quote of the Day
Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
Edgard Varese, composer (1883 - 1965)
Today's Birthdays
1737 Edward Gibbon, historian/author (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) died Jan 16, 1794
1791 Samuel F.B. Morse, inventor (electromagnetic telegraph) died Apr 2, 1872
1822 Ulysses S. Grant, Union General/18th U.S. President, died July 23, 1885
1891 Sergei Prokofiev, Russian composer (Peter and the Wolf) died March 5, 1953
1894 George Petty, WWII Pin-Up Artist (Memphis Belle) died July 21, 1975
1896 Rogers Hornsby, Baseball Hall of Fame 2nd baseman (St. Louis Cardinals) died Jan 5, 1963
1900 Walter Lantz, animator (Woody Woodpecker) died Mar 22, 1994
1916 Enos Slaughter, Baseball Hall of Famer (St Louis Cardinals, NY Yankees) died Aug 12, 2002
1922 Jack Klugman, actor (The Odd Couple)
1926 Tim LaHaye, reverend/author (Left Behind series)
1927 Coretta Scott King, civil rights leader/wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, died Jan 31, 2006
1932 Anouk Aimee (Françoise Sorya Dreyfus), actress (La Dolce Vita)
1932 Casey Kasem (Kemal Amin Kasem), radio DJ/announcer/host (American Top 40)
1937 Sandy Dennis, actress (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolff) died Mar 2, 1992
1938 Earl Anthony, bowling champion; died Aug 14, 2001
1939 Judy Carne (Joyce Betterill), comedienne/actress (Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In)
1939 Jerry Mercer, drummer (April Wine)
1942 Jim Keltner, drummer (George Harrison, Ringo's All-Starr Band)
1944 Cuba Gooding, Sr., singer (The Main Ingredient)
1947 Pete Ham, guitarist/pianist/singer (Badfinger) died April 24, 1975
1948 Kate Pierson, organist/singer (The B-52’s)
1948 Frank Abagnale, Jr., forger (subject of Catch Me if You Can)
1949 Herbie Murrell, R&B singer (The Stylistics)
1951 Paul Daniel ‘Ace’ Frehley, guitarist (Kiss)
1954 Herm Edwards, NFL head coach (Kansas City Chiefs)
1956 Kevin McNally, actor (Pirates of the Caribbean series)
1959 Sheena Easton, singer (Morning Train)
1959 Marco Pirroni, guitarist/songwriter (Siouxsie & the Banshees)
1962 James LeGros, actor (Sleeper Cell)
1979 William James Boyd, bassist (Evanescence)
1979 Travis Meeks, singer (Days of the New)
1984 Patrick Stump, guitarist/singer (Fall Out Boy)
Today's Deaths in History
1521 Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese explorer, is killed by Filipino natives at 41
1813 Zebulon Pike, American frontiersman and explorer (Pike's Peak) dies at 34
1882 Ralph Waldo Emerson, essayist/poet, dies at 78
1932 Hart Crane, writer/lyricist (White Buildings) commits suicide at 32
1965 Edward R. Murrow, journalist, dies at 57
1977 Stanley Adams, actor (Star Trek-The Trouble with Tribbles) dies at 62
1994 Lynne Frederick, actress/former Mrs. Peter Sellers, dies at 39 of alcoholism
1996 William Colby, American director of the Central Intelligence Agency, dies at 76
1999 Al Hirt, trumpeter, dies at 76
2000 Vicki Sue Robinson, singer (Turn the Beat Around) dies at 45
2002 Ruth Handler, toy manufacturer (Barbie Doll) dies at 85
2005 Red Horner, NHL Hall of Fame defenseman (Toronto Maple Leafs) dies at 95
Today in History
1509 Pope Julius II excommunicated the Italian state of Venice.
1521 Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was killed in the Philippines.
1667 The blind and impoverished John Milton sold the copyright of Paradise Lost for £10.
1773 The Parliament of Great Britain passed the Tea Act, designed to save the British East India Company by granting it a monopoly on the North American tea trade.
1810 Beethoven composed his famous piano piece, Für Elise.
1861 President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus.
1865 The steamer Sultana exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tenn., killing more than 1,400 Union prisoners of war.
1936 The United Auto Workers (UAW) gained autonomy from the American Federation of Labor.
1945 Benito Mussolini was arrested by Italian partisans in Dongo, while attempting escape disguised as a German soldier.
1947 "Babe Ruth Day" was held at Yankee Stadium to honor the ailing baseball star.
1972 Apollo 16 returned to Earth after a manned voyage to the moon.
1978 Former Nixon aide John D. Ehrlichman was released from prison after serving 18 months for Watergate-related crimes.
1981 Xerox PARC introduced the computer mouse.
1982 John W. Hinckley Jr. went on trial in Washington, D.C., in the shooting of President Ronald Reagan; he was acquitted by reason of insanity.
1987 The Justice Department barred Austrian President Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States, saying he had aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II.
1992 Betty Boothroyd became the first woman in its 700-year history to be elected Speaker of the British House of Commons.
1992 The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was proclaimed in Belgrade by the Republic of Serbia and its lone ally, Montenegro.
1992 Russia and 12 other former Soviet republics won entry into the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
1993 All members of the Zambia national football team lost their lives in a plane crash off Libreville, Gabon in route to Dakar, Senegal to play a 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Senegal.
2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin became the first Kremlin leader to visit Israel.
2006 Construction began on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
"A" You’re Adorable - Perry Como
Candy Kisses - George Morgan
1957
Little Darlin’ - The Diamonds
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
Mama Look at Bubu - Harry Belafonte
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
Game of Love - Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders
Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman’s Hermits
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
This is It - Jim Reeves
1973
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
Sing - Carpenters
The Cisco Kid - War
Superman - Donna Fargo
1981
Kiss on My List - Daryl Hall & John Oates
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Being with You - Smokey Robinson
A Headache Tomorrow (Or a Heartache Tonight) - Mickey Gilley
1989
Like a Prayer - Madonna
Funky Cold Medina - Tone Loc
I’ll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
The Church on Cumberland Road - Shenandoah
Quote of the Day
Everyone is born with genius, but most people only keep it a few minutes.
Edgard Varese, composer (1883 - 1965)
Today in History - April 28
Today's Birthdays
1758 James Monroe, 5th President of the United States, died July 4, 1831
1878 Lionel Barrymore, actor (It’s a Wonderful Life, Key Largo) died Nov 15, 1954
1911 Lee Falk, comic strip artist (The Phantom) died Mar 13, 1999
1916 Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer, died February 20, 1993
1922 Alistair Stuart MacLean, author (The Guns of Navarone) died Feb 2, 1987
1926 Harper Lee, author (To Kill a Mockingbird)
1929 Carolyn Jones, actress (The Addams Family) died Aug 3, 1983
1937 Saddam Hussein, Iraqi dictator, hung Dec 30, 2006
1938 Madge Sinclair, actress (Coming to America) died Dec 20, 1995
1941 Ann-Margret, singer/actress (Tommy, Viva Las Vegas)
1948 Marcia Strassman, actress (Welcome Back Kotter)
1949 Paul Guilfoyle, actor (CSI)
1949 Bruno Kirby, actor (City Slickers, Good Morning Vietnam) died Aug 14, 2006
1950 Jay Leno, comic/talk show host (The Tonight Show)
1952 Chuck Leavell, keyboardist (Allman Brother Band)
1953 Kim Gordon, bassist (Sonic Youth)
1953 Mary McDonnell, actress (Dances with Wolves, Battlestar Galactica)
1967 Kari Wührer, actress (Eight Legged Freaks)
1967 Peter Stoyanovich, kicker (Miami Dolphins)
1968 Daisy Berkowitz, guitarist (Marilyn Manson)
1971 Simbi Khali, actress (3rd Rock from the Sun)
1971 Chris Young, actor (Max Headroom)
1971 Bridget Moynahan, actress (Coyote Ugly, I Robot)
1973 Elisabeth Rohm, actress (Law and Order)
1973 Jorge Garcia, actor (Lost)
1974 Penelope Cruz, actress (Woman on Top)
1978 Nate Richert, actor (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1981 Jessica Alba, actress (Fantastic Four)
1991 Aleisha Allen, actress (Are We There Yet?)
Today's Deaths in History
1926 Zip the Pinhead, freak show performer, dies at 83
1945 Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator, is exected at 61
1970 Ed Begley, actor (Sweet Bird of Youth) dies at 69
1975 Tom Donahue, FM radio DJ (pioneer, freeform radio) dies at 46
1981 Steve Currie, musician (T Rex) dies in a car crash at 33
1988 B.W. Stevenson, country singer/songwriter (My Maria) dies at 38
1993 Jim Valvano, college basketball coach (North Carolina State ) dies at 47
1999 Rory Calhoun, actor (Pure Country) dies at 76
2005 Percy Heath, jazz bassist (Modern Jazz Quartet) dies at 71
2007 Dabbs Greer, actor (The Green Mile, Picket Fences) dies at 90
Today in History
1788 Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1789 The crew of the British ship Bounty mutineed, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.
1862 Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans, Louisiana.
1930 The first night game in organized baseball history took place in Independence, Kansas.
1932 A vaccine for yellow fever for use on humans was announced.
1945 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed.
1947 A six-man expedition sailed from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia.
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Commander of NATO.
1967 Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army.
1969 Charles de Gaulle resigned as President of France.
1970 President Richard M. Nixon formally authorized American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
1980 President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran.
1986 The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal.
1988 The roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 peeled back during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu, killing flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing and injuring 61 people.
1990 The musical A Chorus Line closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.
1994 Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had betrayed U.S.secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
1996 President Bill Clinton gave 4-1/2 hours of videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners.
1999 The House rejected on a tie vote a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia and voted to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia.
2001 A Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito.
2004 The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' 60 Minutes II.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
My Foolish Heart - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Eileen Wilson)
The Third Man Theme - Alton Karas
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
All I Have to Do is Dream - The Everly Brothers
The Witch Doctor - David Seville
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Cher
Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me - Gladys Knight & the Pips
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
Hello Love - Hank Snow
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
Crying My Heart Out Over You - Ricky Skaggs
1990
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
How Can We Be Lovers - Michael Bolton
Love on Arrival - Dan Seals
Quote of the Day
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809 - 1865)
Today's Birthdays
1758 James Monroe, 5th President of the United States, died July 4, 1831
1878 Lionel Barrymore, actor (It’s a Wonderful Life, Key Largo) died Nov 15, 1954
1911 Lee Falk, comic strip artist (The Phantom) died Mar 13, 1999
1916 Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer, died February 20, 1993
1922 Alistair Stuart MacLean, author (The Guns of Navarone) died Feb 2, 1987
1926 Harper Lee, author (To Kill a Mockingbird)
1929 Carolyn Jones, actress (The Addams Family) died Aug 3, 1983
1937 Saddam Hussein, Iraqi dictator, hung Dec 30, 2006
1938 Madge Sinclair, actress (Coming to America) died Dec 20, 1995
1941 Ann-Margret, singer/actress (Tommy, Viva Las Vegas)
1948 Marcia Strassman, actress (Welcome Back Kotter)
1949 Paul Guilfoyle, actor (CSI)
1949 Bruno Kirby, actor (City Slickers, Good Morning Vietnam) died Aug 14, 2006
1950 Jay Leno, comic/talk show host (The Tonight Show)
1952 Chuck Leavell, keyboardist (Allman Brother Band)
1953 Kim Gordon, bassist (Sonic Youth)
1953 Mary McDonnell, actress (Dances with Wolves, Battlestar Galactica)
1967 Kari Wührer, actress (Eight Legged Freaks)
1967 Peter Stoyanovich, kicker (Miami Dolphins)
1968 Daisy Berkowitz, guitarist (Marilyn Manson)
1971 Simbi Khali, actress (3rd Rock from the Sun)
1971 Chris Young, actor (Max Headroom)
1971 Bridget Moynahan, actress (Coyote Ugly, I Robot)
1973 Elisabeth Rohm, actress (Law and Order)
1973 Jorge Garcia, actor (Lost)
1974 Penelope Cruz, actress (Woman on Top)
1978 Nate Richert, actor (Sabrina the Teenage Witch)
1981 Jessica Alba, actress (Fantastic Four)
1991 Aleisha Allen, actress (Are We There Yet?)
Today's Deaths in History
1926 Zip the Pinhead, freak show performer, dies at 83
1945 Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator, is exected at 61
1970 Ed Begley, actor (Sweet Bird of Youth) dies at 69
1975 Tom Donahue, FM radio DJ (pioneer, freeform radio) dies at 46
1981 Steve Currie, musician (T Rex) dies in a car crash at 33
1988 B.W. Stevenson, country singer/songwriter (My Maria) dies at 38
1993 Jim Valvano, college basketball coach (North Carolina State ) dies at 47
1999 Rory Calhoun, actor (Pure Country) dies at 76
2005 Percy Heath, jazz bassist (Modern Jazz Quartet) dies at 71
2007 Dabbs Greer, actor (The Green Mile, Picket Fences) dies at 90
Today in History
1788 Maryland became the seventh state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1789 The crew of the British ship Bounty mutineed, setting Captain William Bligh and 18 sailors adrift in a launch in the South Pacific.
1862 Admiral David Farragut captured New Orleans, Louisiana.
1930 The first night game in organized baseball history took place in Independence, Kansas.
1932 A vaccine for yellow fever for use on humans was announced.
1945 Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, were executed.
1947 A six-man expedition sailed from Peru aboard a balsa wood raft named the Kon-Tiki on a 101-day journey across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia.
1952 Dwight D. Eisenhower resigned as Supreme Commander of NATO.
1967 Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the Army.
1969 Charles de Gaulle resigned as President of France.
1970 President Richard M. Nixon formally authorized American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
1980 President Jimmy Carter accepted the resignation of Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who had opposed the failed rescue mission aimed at freeing American hostages in Iran.
1986 The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise became the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal.
1988 The roof of an Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 peeled back during a flight from Hilo to Honolulu, killing flight attendant Clarabelle "C.B." Lansing and injuring 61 people.
1990 The musical A Chorus Line closed after 6,137 performances on Broadway.
1994 Former CIA official Aldrich Ames, who had betrayed U.S.secrets to the Soviet Union and then Russia, pleaded guilty to espionage and tax evasion and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
1996 President Bill Clinton gave 4-1/2 hours of videotaped testimony as a defense witness in the criminal trial of his former Whitewater business partners.
1999 The House rejected on a tie vote a measure expressing support for NATO's five-week-old air campaign against Yugoslavia and voted to limit the president's authority to use ground forces in Yugoslavia.
2001 A Russian rocket lifted off from Central Asia bearing the first space tourist, California businessman Dennis Tito.
2004 The first photos of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal were shown on CBS' 60 Minutes II.
Chart Toppers
1950
If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake - Eileen Barton
My Foolish Heart - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Eileen Wilson)
The Third Man Theme - Alton Karas
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
All I Have to Do is Dream - The Everly Brothers
The Witch Doctor - David Seville
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) - Cher
Secret Agent Man - Johnny Rivers
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) - MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me - Gladys Knight & the Pips
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
Hello Love - Hank Snow
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
We Got the Beat - Go-Go’s
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
Crying My Heart Out Over You - Ricky Skaggs
1990
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
How Can We Be Lovers - Michael Bolton
Love on Arrival - Dan Seals
Quote of the Day
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. President (1809 - 1865)
Today in History - April 29th
Today's Birthdays
1745 Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, died Nov 26, 1807
1863 William Randolph Hearst, publisher, died Aug 14, 1951
1899 Duke Ellington, Jazz musician/composer; died May 24, 1974
1901 Hirohito, Japan’s longest-reigning emperor; died Jan 7, 1989
1907 Fred Zinnemann, director (High Noon, From Here to Eternity) died Mar 14, 1997
1909 Tom Ewell, actor (The Seven Year Itch) died Sep 12, 1994
1917 Celeste Holm, actress (Gentlemen’s Agreement, All About Eve)
1925 Iwao Takamoto, animator/producer/film director (Hanna-Barbera Productions) died January 8, 2007
1928 Carl Gardner, R&B singer (The Coasters)
1931 (Anthony James) Lonnie Donegan, folk singer/guitarist/banjo (Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight) died Nov 3, 2002
1933 Rod McKuen, poet
1934 Otis Rush, blues musician
1936 April Stevens (Carol Lo Tempio), singer (Deep Purple)
1945 Tammi Terrell, singer (w/Marvin Gaye) died March 16, 1970
1946 John Waters, film director/writer (Polyester, Hairspray)
1947 Tommy James, singer (The Shondells)
1947 Jim Ryun, runner/member U.S. House of Representative (Kansas)
1949 Francis Rossi, guitarist/singer (Status Quo)
1951 Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR champion; killed in crash in Daytona 500, Feb 18, 2001
1952 Nora Dunn, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1954 Jerry Seinfeld, actor/comedian
1954 Debora Iyall, singer (Romeo Void)
1955 Kate Mulgrew, actress (Star Trek: Voyager)
1957 Daniel Day-Lewis, actor (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood)
1958 Michelle Pfeiffer, actress (Fabulous Baker Boys, Dangerous Liaisons)
1958 Eve Plumb, actress (The Brady Bunch)
1960 Phil King, bassist (Lush)
1960 Audrey Wells, writer (Under the Tuscan Sun)
1967 Curtis "CuJo" Joseph, NHL goaltender (Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings)
1968 Carnie Wilson, singer (Wilson Phillips)
1970 Andre Agassi, professional tennis champion
1970 Uma Thurman, actress (Kill Bill series, Pulp Fiction, Be Cool)
1973 Mike Hogan, bassist (The Cranberries)
1973 Johan Hegg, Swedish heavy metal vocalist (Amon Amarth)
1978 Tyler Labine, actor (Reaper)
Today's Deaths in History
1937 William Gillette, actor (Sherlock Holmes) dies at 83
1967 Anthony Mann, actor/director (Man from Laramie) dies at 60
1980 Alfred Hitchcock, film director (Psycho, The Birds) dies at 80
1993 Mick Ronson, guitarist/composer (Ziggy Stardust's Spiders from Mars) dies at 46
1993 Michael Gordon, film director (Cyrano de Bergerac) dies at 83
1997 Mike Royko, newspaper columnist (Chicago Tribune) dies at 64
1998 Hal Laycoe, hockey defenseman/coach (NY Rangers) dies at 75
2005 William J. Bell, television writer/producer (soap operas) dies at 78
2006 John Kenneth Galbraith, economist, dies at 97
2007 Josh Hancock, relief pitcher (St. Louis Cardinals) dies at 29 in an auto accident
2008 Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (first to synthesize LSD) dies at 102
Today in History
1429 Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.
1770 Capt. James Cook arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia.
1861 Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.
1862 New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.
1916 The Easter uprising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.
1945 Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler married his longtime mistress Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker.
1945 American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.
1946 Twenty-eight former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.
1953 The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.
1967 After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before, citing religious reasons, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing title.
1968 The musical Hair opened on Broadway.
1974 President Richard Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of secretly made White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal.
1975 The U.S. began to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover.
1981 Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England over five years.
1983 Harold Washington was sworn in as the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
1986 Roger Clemens, then of the Boston Red Sox, set a major league baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.
1992 Rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King; fifty-four people were killed.
1996 Former CIA Director William Colby was missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident in Maryland.
1996 The musical Rent opened on Broadway.
1997 A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.
1997 Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev went on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.
2003 The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister.
2004 President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the Sept. 11 commission.
2004 A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in Washington D.C.
2004 Oldsmobile built its final car, ending 107 years of production.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Would I Love You - Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
Guitar Boogie Shuffle - The Virtues
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You - The Monkees
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Need You - Sonny James
1975
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Supernatural Thing - Ben E. King
Blanket on the Ground - Billie Jo Spears
1983
Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Der Kommissar - After the Fire
American Made - The Oak Ridge Boys
1991
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) - Hi-Five
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B.
Fats Domino singer/songwriter (1928 - )
Today's Birthdays
1745 Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, died Nov 26, 1807
1863 William Randolph Hearst, publisher, died Aug 14, 1951
1899 Duke Ellington, Jazz musician/composer; died May 24, 1974
1901 Hirohito, Japan’s longest-reigning emperor; died Jan 7, 1989
1907 Fred Zinnemann, director (High Noon, From Here to Eternity) died Mar 14, 1997
1909 Tom Ewell, actor (The Seven Year Itch) died Sep 12, 1994
1917 Celeste Holm, actress (Gentlemen’s Agreement, All About Eve)
1925 Iwao Takamoto, animator/producer/film director (Hanna-Barbera Productions) died January 8, 2007
1928 Carl Gardner, R&B singer (The Coasters)
1931 (Anthony James) Lonnie Donegan, folk singer/guitarist/banjo (Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On the Bedpost Overnight) died Nov 3, 2002
1933 Rod McKuen, poet
1934 Otis Rush, blues musician
1936 April Stevens (Carol Lo Tempio), singer (Deep Purple)
1945 Tammi Terrell, singer (w/Marvin Gaye) died March 16, 1970
1946 John Waters, film director/writer (Polyester, Hairspray)
1947 Tommy James, singer (The Shondells)
1947 Jim Ryun, runner/member U.S. House of Representative (Kansas)
1949 Francis Rossi, guitarist/singer (Status Quo)
1951 Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR champion; killed in crash in Daytona 500, Feb 18, 2001
1952 Nora Dunn, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1954 Jerry Seinfeld, actor/comedian
1954 Debora Iyall, singer (Romeo Void)
1955 Kate Mulgrew, actress (Star Trek: Voyager)
1957 Daniel Day-Lewis, actor (My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood)
1958 Michelle Pfeiffer, actress (Fabulous Baker Boys, Dangerous Liaisons)
1958 Eve Plumb, actress (The Brady Bunch)
1960 Phil King, bassist (Lush)
1960 Audrey Wells, writer (Under the Tuscan Sun)
1967 Curtis "CuJo" Joseph, NHL goaltender (Toronto Maple Leafs, Detroit Red Wings)
1968 Carnie Wilson, singer (Wilson Phillips)
1970 Andre Agassi, professional tennis champion
1970 Uma Thurman, actress (Kill Bill series, Pulp Fiction, Be Cool)
1973 Mike Hogan, bassist (The Cranberries)
1973 Johan Hegg, Swedish heavy metal vocalist (Amon Amarth)
1978 Tyler Labine, actor (Reaper)
Today's Deaths in History
1937 William Gillette, actor (Sherlock Holmes) dies at 83
1967 Anthony Mann, actor/director (Man from Laramie) dies at 60
1980 Alfred Hitchcock, film director (Psycho, The Birds) dies at 80
1993 Mick Ronson, guitarist/composer (Ziggy Stardust's Spiders from Mars) dies at 46
1993 Michael Gordon, film director (Cyrano de Bergerac) dies at 83
1997 Mike Royko, newspaper columnist (Chicago Tribune) dies at 64
1998 Hal Laycoe, hockey defenseman/coach (NY Rangers) dies at 75
2005 William J. Bell, television writer/producer (soap operas) dies at 78
2006 John Kenneth Galbraith, economist, dies at 97
2007 Josh Hancock, relief pitcher (St. Louis Cardinals) dies at 29 in an auto accident
2008 Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemist (first to synthesize LSD) dies at 102
Today in History
1429 Joan of Arc entered the besieged city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English.
1770 Capt. James Cook arrived at and named Botany Bay, Australia.
1861 Maryland's House of Delegates voted against seceding from the Union.
1862 New Orleans fell to Union forces during the Civil War.
1916 The Easter uprising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.
1945 Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler married his longtime mistress Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker.
1945 American soldiers liberated the Dachau concentration camp in Germany.
1946 Twenty-eight former Japanese leaders were indicted as war criminals.
1953 The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV.
1967 After refusing induction into the United States Army the day before, citing religious reasons, Muhammad Ali was stripped of his boxing title.
1968 The musical Hair opened on Broadway.
1974 President Richard Nixon announced he was releasing edited transcripts of secretly made White House tape recordings related to the Watergate scandal.
1975 The U.S. began to evacuate U.S. citizens from Saigon prior to an expected North Vietnamese takeover.
1981 Truck driver Peter Sutcliffe admitted in a London court to being the "Yorkshire Ripper," the killer of 13 women in northern England over five years.
1983 Harold Washington was sworn in as the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
1986 Roger Clemens, then of the Boston Red Sox, set a major league baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.
1992 Rioting erupted in Los Angeles after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers of almost all charges in the videotaped beating of Rodney King; fifty-four people were killed.
1996 Former CIA Director William Colby was missing and presumed drowned after an apparent boating accident in Maryland.
1996 The musical Rent opened on Broadway.
1997 A worldwide treaty to ban chemical weapons went into effect.
1997 Astronaut Jerry Linenger and cosmonaut Vasily Tsibliyev went on the first U.S.-Russian space walk.
2003 The Palestinian parliament approved Mahmoud Abbas as prime minister.
2004 President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney met behind closed doors with the Sept. 11 commission.
2004 A national monument to the 16 million U.S. men and women who served during World War II opened to the public in Washington D.C.
2004 Oldsmobile built its final car, ending 107 years of production.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Would I Love You - Patti Page
The Rhumba Boogie - Hank Snow
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such as I - Elvis Presley
Guitar Boogie Shuffle - The Virtues
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You - The Monkees
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Need You - Sonny James
1975
(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song - B.J. Thomas
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Supernatural Thing - Ben E. King
Blanket on the Ground - Billie Jo Spears
1983
Come on Eileen - Dexys Midnight Runners
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Der Kommissar - After the Fire
American Made - The Oak Ridge Boys
1991
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) - Hi-Five
Down Home - Alabama
Quote of the Day
A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B.
Fats Domino singer/songwriter (1928 - )
Today in History - April 30th
Today's Birthdays
1662 Queen Mary II of England (Mary, Queen of Scots), died Dec 28, 1694
1877 Alice B. Toklas, companion of Gertrude Stein, died March 7, 1967
1908 Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens), actress (Our Miss Brooks, Grease) died Nov 12, 1990
1910 Al Lewis, actor (The Munsters, Car 54 Where are You?) died Feb 3, 2006
1925 Johnny Horton, singer (Battle of New Orleans) died Nov 5, 1960
1926 Cloris Leachman, actress (Young Frankenstein)
1933 Willie Nelson, country singer/songwriter
1940 Burt Young, actor (Rocky series)
1943 Bobby Vee (Robert Velline), singer (Devil or Angel)
1944 Jill Clayburgh, actress (Nip/Tuck)
1953 Merrill Osmond, singer (The Osmonds)
1954 Jane Campion, film director (The Piano)
1963 Michael Waltrip, NASCAR race driver
1965 Adrian Pasdar, actor (Heroes)
1966 Wendy L. Walsh, actress (The Day After Tomorrow)
1969 Clark Vogeler, guitarist (The Toadies)
1969 Paulo Jr., bassist (Sepultura)
1971 Chris Henderson, guitarist (3 Doors Down)
1972 J.R. Richards, singer (Dishwalla)
1972 Lisa Dean Ryan, actress (CSI)
1973 Akon, R&B singer
1975 Johnny Galecki, actor (Roseanne, The Big Bang Theory)
1976 Amanda Palmer, singer (The Dresden Dolls)
1978 Tyler Labine, actor (Boston Legal)
1982 Kirsten Dunst, actress (Interview with the Vampire, Spiderman series)
1985 Ashley Alexandra Dupré, singer/call girl (Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal)
1987 Nikki Webster, actress (Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
Today's Deaths in History
1883 Édouard Manet, French painter, dies at 51
1900 John Luther "Casey" Jones, train engineer, dies in railroad crash at 37
1945 Adolph Hitler, Nazi dictator, commits suicide at 56
1945 Eva Braun, bride of Adolph Hitler, commits suicide at 33
1970 Inger Stevens, actress (A Guide for the Married Man) commits suicide at 35
1972 Gia Scala, actress (The Guns of Navarone) dies at 38
1974 Agnes Moorehead, actress (Bewitched) dies at 73
1982 Lester Bangs, music journalist/author/musician (Creem, Rolling Stone) dies at 33
1983 George Balanchine, Russian-born dancer/choreographer, dies at 79
1983 Muddy Waters, blues guitarist, dies at 68
1989 Guy Williams, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space) dies at 65
1989 Sergio Leone, film director (Once Upon a Time in America) dies at 60
1994 Richard Scarry, author (Little Golden Books) dies at 74
2007 Kevin Mitchell, NFL linebacker (Washington Redskins) dies at 36
2007 Tom Poston, actor (Newhart) dies at 85
2007 Zola Taylor, singer (The Platters) dies at 69
Today in History
1492 Spain gave Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
1789 George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.
1803 The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France.
1859 The novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, was first published in serial form in a literary magazine.
1812 Louisiana became the 18th state.
1900 Hawaii became a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1900 Train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers; the event was immortalized in song.
1907 Honolulu, Hawaii became an independent city.
1925 Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc was sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million plus $50 million for charity.
1927 Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1938 The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuted in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit.
1939 NBC inaugurated its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
1945 Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker.
1970 President Richard Nixon announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia.
1973 President Richard Nixon announced that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others had resigned.
1975 The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.
1993 Top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a man who ran onto the court during a match in Hamburg, Germany.
1995 President Bill Clinton became the first President to visit Northern Ireland.
1997 ABC aired the "coming out" episode of the sitcom Ellen, in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, admitted she is a lesbian.
2001 Chandra Levy, a federal government intern, went missing; her remains were found more than a year later in a Washington, D.C., park.
2001 The Mitchell Report on the Arab-Israeli conflict was published.
2003 Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian prime minister. International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a "road map" to peace.
2003 The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.
2004 Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him; he was later acquited.
2004 Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting.
2004 The media released graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
2005 Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., originally claiming to have been abducted but then admitting she was a "runaway bride."
2007 A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets with bombs.
2008 Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.
Chart Toppers
1944
I Love You - Bing Crosby
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
San Fernando Valley - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
Stuck on You - Elvis Presley
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
Sixteen Reasons - Connie Stevens
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
Young Girl - The Union Gap
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - Merle Haggard
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Together Again - Emmylou Harris
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
Right or Wrong - George Strait
Quote of the Day
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
René Descartes, French mathematician & philosopher (1596 - 1650)
Today's Birthdays
1662 Queen Mary II of England (Mary, Queen of Scots), died Dec 28, 1694
1877 Alice B. Toklas, companion of Gertrude Stein, died March 7, 1967
1908 Eve Arden (Eunice Quedens), actress (Our Miss Brooks, Grease) died Nov 12, 1990
1910 Al Lewis, actor (The Munsters, Car 54 Where are You?) died Feb 3, 2006
1925 Johnny Horton, singer (Battle of New Orleans) died Nov 5, 1960
1926 Cloris Leachman, actress (Young Frankenstein)
1933 Willie Nelson, country singer/songwriter
1940 Burt Young, actor (Rocky series)
1943 Bobby Vee (Robert Velline), singer (Devil or Angel)
1944 Jill Clayburgh, actress (Nip/Tuck)
1953 Merrill Osmond, singer (The Osmonds)
1954 Jane Campion, film director (The Piano)
1963 Michael Waltrip, NASCAR race driver
1965 Adrian Pasdar, actor (Heroes)
1966 Wendy L. Walsh, actress (The Day After Tomorrow)
1969 Clark Vogeler, guitarist (The Toadies)
1969 Paulo Jr., bassist (Sepultura)
1971 Chris Henderson, guitarist (3 Doors Down)
1972 J.R. Richards, singer (Dishwalla)
1972 Lisa Dean Ryan, actress (CSI)
1973 Akon, R&B singer
1975 Johnny Galecki, actor (Roseanne, The Big Bang Theory)
1976 Amanda Palmer, singer (The Dresden Dolls)
1978 Tyler Labine, actor (Boston Legal)
1982 Kirsten Dunst, actress (Interview with the Vampire, Spiderman series)
1985 Ashley Alexandra Dupré, singer/call girl (Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal)
1987 Nikki Webster, actress (Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
Today's Deaths in History
1883 Édouard Manet, French painter, dies at 51
1900 John Luther "Casey" Jones, train engineer, dies in railroad crash at 37
1945 Adolph Hitler, Nazi dictator, commits suicide at 56
1945 Eva Braun, bride of Adolph Hitler, commits suicide at 33
1970 Inger Stevens, actress (A Guide for the Married Man) commits suicide at 35
1972 Gia Scala, actress (The Guns of Navarone) dies at 38
1974 Agnes Moorehead, actress (Bewitched) dies at 73
1982 Lester Bangs, music journalist/author/musician (Creem, Rolling Stone) dies at 33
1983 George Balanchine, Russian-born dancer/choreographer, dies at 79
1983 Muddy Waters, blues guitarist, dies at 68
1989 Guy Williams, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space) dies at 65
1989 Sergio Leone, film director (Once Upon a Time in America) dies at 60
1994 Richard Scarry, author (Little Golden Books) dies at 74
2007 Kevin Mitchell, NFL linebacker (Washington Redskins) dies at 36
2007 Tom Poston, actor (Newhart) dies at 85
2007 Zola Taylor, singer (The Platters) dies at 69
Today in History
1492 Spain gave Christopher Columbus his commission of exploration.
1789 George Washington took office in New York as the first president of the United States.
1803 The United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France.
1859 The novel A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, was first published in serial form in a literary magazine.
1812 Louisiana became the 18th state.
1900 Hawaii became a territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as governor.
1900 Train engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones of the Illinois Central Railroad died in a wreck near Vaughan, Miss., after staying at the controls in an effort to save the passengers; the event was immortalized in song.
1907 Honolulu, Hawaii became an independent city.
1925 Automaker Dodge Brothers, Inc was sold to Dillon, Read & Company for $146 million plus $50 million for charity.
1927 Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford became the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
1938 The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuted in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit.
1939 NBC inaugurated its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
1945 Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide along with his wife of one day, Eva Braun, as Russian troops approached his Berlin bunker.
1970 President Richard Nixon announced the United States was sending troops into Cambodia.
1973 President Richard Nixon announced that top White House aids H.R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman and others had resigned.
1975 The South Vietnamese capital of Saigon fell to Communist forces.
1993 Top-ranked women's tennis player Monica Seles was stabbed in the back by a man who ran onto the court during a match in Hamburg, Germany.
1995 President Bill Clinton became the first President to visit Northern Ireland.
1997 ABC aired the "coming out" episode of the sitcom Ellen, in which the title character, played by Ellen DeGeneres, admitted she is a lesbian.
2001 Chandra Levy, a federal government intern, went missing; her remains were found more than a year later in a Washington, D.C., park.
2001 The Mitchell Report on the Arab-Israeli conflict was published.
2003 Mahmoud Abbas took office as the first Palestinian prime minister. International mediators presented Israeli and Palestinian leaders with a "road map" to peace.
2003 The U.S. Navy withdrew from its disputed Vieques bombing range in Puerto Rico.
2004 Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty in Santa Maria, Calif., to a grand jury indictment that expanded the child molestation case against him; he was later acquited.
2004 Former NBA star Jayson Williams was acquitted of aggravated manslaughter in the shotgun slaying of a limousine driver at his New Jersey mansion, but found guilty of trying to cover up the shooting.
2004 The media released graphic photos of American soldiers abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.
2005 Missing Georgia woman Jennifer Wilbanks turned up in Albuquerque, N.M., originally claiming to have been abducted but then admitting she was a "runaway bride."
2007 A British judge sentenced five al-Qaida-linked men, all British citizens, to life in prison for plotting to attack London targets with bombs.
2008 Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia were confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters.
Chart Toppers
1944
I Love You - Bing Crosby
It’s Love, Love, Love - The Guy Lombardo Orchestra (vocal: Skip Nelson)
San Fernando Valley - Bing Crosby
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
(When You Feel like You’re in Love) Don’t Just Stand There - Carl Smith
1960
Stuck on You - Elvis Presley
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
Sixteen Reasons - Connie Stevens
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Cry like a Baby - The Box Tops
Young Girl - The Union Gap
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - Merle Haggard
1976
Disco Lady - Johnnie Taylor
Let Your Love Flow - Bellamy Brothers
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Together Again - Emmylou Harris
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
Right or Wrong - George Strait
Quote of the Day
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
René Descartes, French mathematician & philosopher (1596 - 1650)
Today in History - May 1st
Today's Birthdays
1852 Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer, died Aug 1, 1903
1907 Kate Smith, singer (God Bless America) died June 17, 1986
1913 Louis Nye, comedian/actor (Beverly Hillbillies) died Oct 9, 2005
1916 Glenn Ford, actor (Blackboard Jungle, Midway) died Aug 30, 2006
1918 Jack Paar, TV host (The Tonight Show) died Jan 27, 2004
1919 Dan O’Herlihy, actor (Halloween 3, RoboCop) died Feb 17, 2005
1923 Joseph Heller, writer (Sex and the Single Girl, Catch-22) died Dec 10, 1999
1924 Art Fleming, game show host (Jeopardy) died April 25, 1995
1925 Scott Carpenter, former astronaut (Project Mercury)
1929 Sonny James (James Loden), singer (Young Love)
1934 Shirley Horn, jazz singer/pianist; died Oct 20, 2005
1939 Judy Collins, singer (Both Sides Now)
1939 Max Robinson, journalist (ABC News World News Tonight) died Dec 20, 1988
1942 Stephen Macht, actor (Sliders)
1945 Rita Coolidge, singer (One Fine Day)
1946 Joanna Lumley, actress (Absolutely Fabulous)
1946 John Woo, director (Face/Off)
1946 Nick Fortune (Fortuna), bassist (The Buckinghams)
1951 Dann Florek, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1954 Ray Parker Jr., R&B singer (Raydio)
1957 Steve Farris, guitarist (Mr. Mister)
1959 Phil Smith, saxophonist (Haircut 100)
1961 Marilyn Milian, judge (The People's Court)
1962 Maia Morgenstern, actress (Passion of the Christ)
1966 Johnny Colt, bassist (Black Crowes)
1966 Charlie Schlatter, actor (18 Again)
1967 Tim McGraw, country singer
1968 D'Arcy Wretzky, bassist (Smashing Pumpkins)
1969 Wes Anderson, director (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
1972 Julie Benz, actress (Dexter)
1976 Darius McCrary, actor (15 Minutes)
1985 Drew Sidora, actress (That's So Raven)
1997 Ariel Gade, actress (Dark Water)
Today's Deaths in History
1873 David Livingstone, Scottish missionary, dies at 60
1904 Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer, dies at 62
1945 Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda, commits suicide at 47
1965 Spike Jones, band leader/musician/comedian, dies at 53
1986 Hugo Peretti, songwriter/record producer (The Loin Sleeps Tonight) dies at 69
1989 Sally Kirkland, fashion editor (LIFE) dies at 76
1998 Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader, dies at 62
2000 Steve Reeves, actor (Hercules) dies at 74
2001 Harold 'Happy' Hairston, actor (Airport '79) dies at 58
2003 Elizabeth Hulette, WCW "First Lady of Wrestling," dies at 42
2006 Johnny Paris, saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) dies at 65
2008 Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Washington, D.C. madam, commits suicide at 52
2009 Danny Gans, Las Vegas entertainer (singer/comedian) dies at 52
Today in History
1707 The Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.
1751 The first cricket match was played in America.
1759 Josiah Wedgwood founded the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
1785 Kamehameha, the king of Hawai'i, defeated Kalanikupule and established the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
1786 Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro premiered in Vienna.
1840 The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued in the United Kingdom.
1869 The Folies Bergère opened in Paris.
1886 The Haymarket riots in Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois became the start of the general strike which eventually led to the eight-hour workday in the United States.
1898 The United States Navy destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War.
1915 The RMS Lusitania departed from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic.
1927 The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight were introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
1930 The dwarf planet Pluto was officially named.
1931 The 102-story Empire State Building in New York City was dedicated.
1941 The Orson Welles film Citizen Kane premiered in New York.
1948 The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.
1956 The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was made available to the public.
1960 The Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane near Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
1967 Anastasio Somoza Debayle became president of Nicaragua.
1967 Singer Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas.
1971 Amtrak went into service, combining and streamlining the operations of 18 intercity passenger railroads.
1989 Disney-MGM Studios opened at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
1992 On the third day of the Los Angeles riots, Rodney King appeared in public to appeal for calm, asking "Can we all get along?"
1997 Tasmania became the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
1999 The Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell 7 that Gus Grissom flew in 1961 was found in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.
2001 Thomas E. Blanton Jr. became the second ex-Ku Klux Klansman to be convicted in the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala., that claimed the lives of four black girls; he was later sentenced to life in prison.
2003 President George W. Bush landed in a jet on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast and, in a speech to the nation, declared major combat in Iraq over.
2008 Deborah Jeane Palfrey, convicted of being the "D.C. Madam," hanged herself in Tarpon Springs, Fla.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves
1961
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
I’ve Told Every Little Star - Linda Scott
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
It’s Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
Hair - The Cowsills
Galveston - Glen Campbell
1977
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
Hotel California - Eagles
When I Need You - Leo Sayer
She’s Pulling Me Back Again - Mickey Gilley
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Rhythm of the Night - DeBarge
Girls Night Out - The Judds
Quote of the Day
No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
Thomas Mann, German writer (1875 - 1955)
Today's Birthdays
1852 Calamity Jane, American Wild West performer, died Aug 1, 1903
1907 Kate Smith, singer (God Bless America) died June 17, 1986
1913 Louis Nye, comedian/actor (Beverly Hillbillies) died Oct 9, 2005
1916 Glenn Ford, actor (Blackboard Jungle, Midway) died Aug 30, 2006
1918 Jack Paar, TV host (The Tonight Show) died Jan 27, 2004
1919 Dan O’Herlihy, actor (Halloween 3, RoboCop) died Feb 17, 2005
1923 Joseph Heller, writer (Sex and the Single Girl, Catch-22) died Dec 10, 1999
1924 Art Fleming, game show host (Jeopardy) died April 25, 1995
1925 Scott Carpenter, former astronaut (Project Mercury)
1929 Sonny James (James Loden), singer (Young Love)
1934 Shirley Horn, jazz singer/pianist; died Oct 20, 2005
1939 Judy Collins, singer (Both Sides Now)
1939 Max Robinson, journalist (ABC News World News Tonight) died Dec 20, 1988
1942 Stephen Macht, actor (Sliders)
1945 Rita Coolidge, singer (One Fine Day)
1946 Joanna Lumley, actress (Absolutely Fabulous)
1946 John Woo, director (Face/Off)
1946 Nick Fortune (Fortuna), bassist (The Buckinghams)
1951 Dann Florek, actor (Law and Order: Special Victims Unit)
1954 Ray Parker Jr., R&B singer (Raydio)
1957 Steve Farris, guitarist (Mr. Mister)
1959 Phil Smith, saxophonist (Haircut 100)
1961 Marilyn Milian, judge (The People's Court)
1962 Maia Morgenstern, actress (Passion of the Christ)
1966 Johnny Colt, bassist (Black Crowes)
1966 Charlie Schlatter, actor (18 Again)
1967 Tim McGraw, country singer
1968 D'Arcy Wretzky, bassist (Smashing Pumpkins)
1969 Wes Anderson, director (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)
1972 Julie Benz, actress (Dexter)
1976 Darius McCrary, actor (15 Minutes)
1985 Drew Sidora, actress (That's So Raven)
1997 Ariel Gade, actress (Dark Water)
Today's Deaths in History
1873 David Livingstone, Scottish missionary, dies at 60
1904 Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer, dies at 62
1945 Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Minister of Propaganda, commits suicide at 47
1965 Spike Jones, band leader/musician/comedian, dies at 53
1986 Hugo Peretti, songwriter/record producer (The Loin Sleeps Tonight) dies at 69
1989 Sally Kirkland, fashion editor (LIFE) dies at 76
1998 Eldridge Cleaver, Black Panther leader, dies at 62
2000 Steve Reeves, actor (Hercules) dies at 74
2001 Harold 'Happy' Hairston, actor (Airport '79) dies at 58
2003 Elizabeth Hulette, WCW "First Lady of Wrestling," dies at 42
2006 Johnny Paris, saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) dies at 65
2008 Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Washington, D.C. madam, commits suicide at 52
2009 Danny Gans, Las Vegas entertainer (singer/comedian) dies at 52
Today in History
1707 The Kingdom of Great Britain was created as a treaty merging England and Scotland took effect.
1751 The first cricket match was played in America.
1759 Josiah Wedgwood founded the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
1785 Kamehameha, the king of Hawai'i, defeated Kalanikupule and established the Kingdom of Hawai'i.
1786 Mozart's opera The Marriage of Figaro premiered in Vienna.
1840 The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, was issued in the United Kingdom.
1869 The Folies Bergère opened in Paris.
1886 The Haymarket riots in Haymarket Square in Chicago, Illinois became the start of the general strike which eventually led to the eight-hour workday in the United States.
1898 The United States Navy destroyed the Spanish Pacific fleet in the first battle of the Spanish-American War.
1915 The RMS Lusitania departed from New York City on her two hundred and second, and final, crossing of the North Atlantic.
1927 The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight were introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.
1930 The dwarf planet Pluto was officially named.
1931 The 102-story Empire State Building in New York City was dedicated.
1941 The Orson Welles film Citizen Kane premiered in New York.
1948 The People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) was proclaimed.
1956 The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was made available to the public.
1960 The Soviet Union shot down an American U-2 reconnaissance plane near Sverdlovsk and captured its pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
1967 Anastasio Somoza Debayle became president of Nicaragua.
1967 Singer Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas.
1971 Amtrak went into service, combining and streamlining the operations of 18 intercity passenger railroads.
1989 Disney-MGM Studios opened at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.
1992 On the third day of the Los Angeles riots, Rodney King appeared in public to appeal for calm, asking "Can we all get along?"
1997 Tasmania became the last state in Australia to decriminalize homosexuality.
1999 The Mercury space capsule Liberty Bell 7 that Gus Grissom flew in 1961 was found in the Atlantic Ocean 300 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla.
2001 Thomas E. Blanton Jr. became the second ex-Ku Klux Klansman to be convicted in the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Ala., that claimed the lives of four black girls; he was later sentenced to life in prison.
2003 President George W. Bush landed in a jet on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast and, in a speech to the nation, declared major combat in Iraq over.
2008 Deborah Jeane Palfrey, convicted of being the "D.C. Madam," hanged herself in Tarpon Springs, Fla.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Till I Waltz Again with You - Teresa Brewer
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves
1961
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
I’ve Told Every Little Star - Linda Scott
Don’t Worry - Marty Robbins
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
It’s Your Thing - The Isley Brothers
Hair - The Cowsills
Galveston - Glen Campbell
1977
Southern Nights - Glen Campbell
Hotel California - Eagles
When I Need You - Leo Sayer
She’s Pulling Me Back Again - Mickey Gilley
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Rhythm of the Night - DeBarge
Girls Night Out - The Judds
Quote of the Day
No man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
Thomas Mann, German writer (1875 - 1955)
Today in History - May 2nd
Today's Birthdays
1843 Elijah McCoy, Canadian-born inventor (automatic lubricators) died Oct 10, 1929
1885 Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist, died Feb 1, 1966
1892 Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron," German World War I pilot, died Apr 21, 1918
1895 Lorenz Hart, Broadway lyricist (Blue Moon, My Funny Valentine) died Nov 22, 1943
1903 Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician/author, died March 15, 1998
1925 Roscoe Lee Browne, actor (The Cowboys) died Apr 11, 2007
1929 Link Wray, guitarist (Link Wray & His Ray Men) died Nov 5, 2005
1936 Engelbert Humperdinck, singer
1937 Lorenzo Music, actor (Rhoda) died Aug 4, 2001
1945 Bianca Jagger, human rights activist/ex-Mrs Mick Jagger
1946 Lesley Gore, singer (It's My Party)
1947 Jo Ann Pflug, actress (Love American Style)
1950 Lou Gramm, rock singer (Foreigner)
1952 Christine Baranski, actress (Cybil, The Birdcage)
1954 Angela Bofill, R&B singer
1955 Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
1956 David Rhodes, guitarist (Peter Gabriel)
1962 Elizabeth Berridge, actress (Amadeus)
1969 Todd Sucherman, drummer (Styx)
1972 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, wrestler/actor (Be Cool)
1975 David Beckham, futbol star/Mr. Posh Spice
1977 Jenna Von Oy, actress (Blossom)
1978 Steve Bays, singer/keyboards (Hot Hot Heat)
1979 Roman Lyashenko, NHL (New York Rangers) commited suicide July 5, 2003
1983 Gaius Charles, actor (Friday Night Lights)
1985 Sarah Hughes, champion figure skater
1985 Lily Allen, English singer/songwriter (Smile)
1985 Kyle Busch, NASCAR race driver
1986 James Kirk, actor (She's the Man)
Today's Deaths in History
1519 Leonardo da Vinci, artist/inventor, dies at 67
1945 Martin Bormann, Nazi official/Hitler's secretary, dies at 44
1957 Joseph R. McCarthy, U.S. Senator (R-Wis.) dies at 48
1972 J. Edgar Hoover, FBI head, dies at 77
1980 George Pal, film director (The Time Machine) dies at 72
1983 Norm Van Brocklin, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (LA Rams) dies at 57
1984 Jack Barry, TV game show producer/host (Joker's Wild), dies at 66
1990 David Rappaport, actor (Time Bandits) dies at 38
1992 Wilbur Mills, U.S. Congressman, dies at 82
1999 Oliver Reed, English actor (Oliver, Gladiator) dies at 61
2001 Gina Mastrogiacomo, actress (Goodfellas) dies at 39
2002 Judy Toll, comedian (The Groundlings) dies at 44
2008 Beverlee McKinsey, actress (Love is a Many Splendored Thing) dies at 72
Today in History
1536 Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was arrested and imprisoned on false charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
1670 The Hudson Bay Co. was chartered by England's King Charles II.
1863 Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va.; he died eight days later.
1885 Good Housekeeping magazine went on sale for the first time.
1890 The Oklahoma Territory was organized.
1918 General Motors acquired the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1920 The first game of the Negro National League baseball was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1932 Jack Benny's first radio show debuted on the NBC Blue Network.
1939 New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played came to an end when the ailing slugger removed himself from the lineup.
1945 The Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
1955 Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
1969 The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departed on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1974 Former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
1994 Nelson Mandela claimed victory in South Africa's first democratic elections.
1997 Tony Blair became, at age 44, Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years.
2000 President Bill Clinton announced that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2008 Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar killing more than 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
All Through the Day - Perry Como
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Soldier Boy - The Shirelles
Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
ABC - The Jackson 5
American Woman/No Sugar Tonight - The Guess Who
Love or Let Me Be Lonely - The Friends of Distinction
My Woman My Woman, My Wife - Marty Robbins
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
Can’t Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
Every Time Two Fools Collide - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1986
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Now and Forever (You and Me) - Anne Murray
Quote of the Day
Rogues are preferable to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
Alexandre Dumas, French dramatist & novelist (1802 - 1870)
Today's Birthdays
1843 Elijah McCoy, Canadian-born inventor (automatic lubricators) died Oct 10, 1929
1885 Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist, died Feb 1, 1966
1892 Manfred von Richthofen, "The Red Baron," German World War I pilot, died Apr 21, 1918
1895 Lorenz Hart, Broadway lyricist (Blue Moon, My Funny Valentine) died Nov 22, 1943
1903 Dr. Benjamin Spock, pediatrician/author, died March 15, 1998
1925 Roscoe Lee Browne, actor (The Cowboys) died Apr 11, 2007
1929 Link Wray, guitarist (Link Wray & His Ray Men) died Nov 5, 2005
1936 Engelbert Humperdinck, singer
1937 Lorenzo Music, actor (Rhoda) died Aug 4, 2001
1945 Bianca Jagger, human rights activist/ex-Mrs Mick Jagger
1946 Lesley Gore, singer (It's My Party)
1947 Jo Ann Pflug, actress (Love American Style)
1950 Lou Gramm, rock singer (Foreigner)
1952 Christine Baranski, actress (Cybil, The Birdcage)
1954 Angela Bofill, R&B singer
1955 Donatella Versace, Italian fashion designer
1956 David Rhodes, guitarist (Peter Gabriel)
1962 Elizabeth Berridge, actress (Amadeus)
1969 Todd Sucherman, drummer (Styx)
1972 Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, wrestler/actor (Be Cool)
1975 David Beckham, futbol star/Mr. Posh Spice
1977 Jenna Von Oy, actress (Blossom)
1978 Steve Bays, singer/keyboards (Hot Hot Heat)
1979 Roman Lyashenko, NHL (New York Rangers) commited suicide July 5, 2003
1983 Gaius Charles, actor (Friday Night Lights)
1985 Sarah Hughes, champion figure skater
1985 Lily Allen, English singer/songwriter (Smile)
1985 Kyle Busch, NASCAR race driver
1986 James Kirk, actor (She's the Man)
Today's Deaths in History
1519 Leonardo da Vinci, artist/inventor, dies at 67
1945 Martin Bormann, Nazi official/Hitler's secretary, dies at 44
1957 Joseph R. McCarthy, U.S. Senator (R-Wis.) dies at 48
1972 J. Edgar Hoover, FBI head, dies at 77
1980 George Pal, film director (The Time Machine) dies at 72
1983 Norm Van Brocklin, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (LA Rams) dies at 57
1984 Jack Barry, TV game show producer/host (Joker's Wild), dies at 66
1990 David Rappaport, actor (Time Bandits) dies at 38
1992 Wilbur Mills, U.S. Congressman, dies at 82
1999 Oliver Reed, English actor (Oliver, Gladiator) dies at 61
2001 Gina Mastrogiacomo, actress (Goodfellas) dies at 39
2002 Judy Toll, comedian (The Groundlings) dies at 44
2008 Beverlee McKinsey, actress (Love is a Many Splendored Thing) dies at 72
Today in History
1536 Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, was arrested and imprisoned on false charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft.
1670 The Hudson Bay Co. was chartered by England's King Charles II.
1863 Confederate Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson was accidentally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va.; he died eight days later.
1885 Good Housekeeping magazine went on sale for the first time.
1890 The Oklahoma Territory was organized.
1918 General Motors acquired the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1920 The first game of the Negro National League baseball was played in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1932 Jack Benny's first radio show debuted on the NBC Blue Network.
1939 New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played came to an end when the ailing slugger removed himself from the lineup.
1945 The Soviet Union announced the fall of Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria.
1955 Tennessee Williams won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
1969 The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departed on her maiden voyage to New York City.
1974 Former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew was disbarred by the Maryland Court of Appeals.
1994 Nelson Mandela claimed victory in South Africa's first democratic elections.
1997 Tony Blair became, at age 44, Britain's youngest prime minister in 185 years.
2000 President Bill Clinton announced that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2008 Cyclone Nargis made landfall in Myanmar killing more than 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Day by Day - Frank Sinatra
All Through the Day - Perry Como
Guitar Polka - Al Dexter
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
Make Love to Me - Jo Stafford
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Good Luck Charm - Elvis Presley
Soldier Boy - The Shirelles
Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
ABC - The Jackson 5
American Woman/No Sugar Tonight - The Guess Who
Love or Let Me Be Lonely - The Friends of Distinction
My Woman My Woman, My Wife - Marty Robbins
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
Can’t Smile Without You - Barry Manilow
Every Time Two Fools Collide - Kenny Rogers & Dottie West
1986
Kiss - Prince & The Revolution
Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Now and Forever (You and Me) - Anne Murray
Quote of the Day
Rogues are preferable to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
Alexandre Dumas, French dramatist & novelist (1802 - 1870)
Today in History - May 3rd
Today's Birthdays
1469 Niccolo Machiavelli, philosopher/writer (The Prince) died June 22, 1527
1874 François Coty, French perfume manufacturer, died July 25, 1934
1888 Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life) died Jan 11, 1981
1898 Golda Meir, Israeli founder and prime minister, died Dec 8, 1978
1903 Bing Crosby, singer/actor, died October 14, 1977
1906 Mary Astor, actress (Maltese Falcon) died Sep 25, 1987
1913 William Inge, playwright (Come Back Little Sheba) died June 10, 1973
1919 Pete Seeger, folk singer
1919 Betty Comden (Cohen), screenwriter (Singin’ in the Rain) died Nov 23, 2006
1921 Sugar Ray Robinson, International Boxing Hall of Famer, died Apr 12, 1989
1926 Ann B. Davis, actress (The Brady Bunch)
1932 Robert Osborne, film historian/TV Host (American Movie Classics)
1933 James Brown, The Godfather of Soul (Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag) died Dec 25, 2006
1934 Frankie Valli, singer (The Four Seasons)
1935 Ron Popeil, inventor (Veg-O-Matic, Popeil Pocket Fisherman)
1944 Pete Staples, bassist (The Troggs)
1946 Greg Gumbel, sportscaster (NFL on CBS)
1947 Doug Henning, magician/illusionist (The World of Magic) died Feb 8, 2000
1950 Mary Hopkin, singer (Those Were the Days)
1950 Howard Ashman, lyricist (Little Shop of Horrors) died of AIDS March 14, 1991
1951 Christopher Cross, singer (Sailing, Arthur's Theme)
1953 Bruce Hall, bassist (REO Speedwagon)
1959 David Ball, keyboardist (Soft Cell)
1960 Amy Steel, actress (Friday the 13th Part 2)
1971 Bobby Cannavale, actor (Will and Grace)
1971 Josey Scott, singer (Saliva)
1973 Jennifer Tung, actress (Kung Pow: Enter the Fist)
1975 Dule' Hill, actor (The West Wing, Psych)
1981 Farrah Franklin, singer (Destiny's Child)
1983 Joseph Addai, NFL running back (Indianapolis Colts)
1984 Cheryl Burke, dancer (Dancing with the Stars)
1990 Jillian Berard, actress (Happy Texas)
Today's Deaths in History
1758 Pope Benedict XIV dies at 83
1972 Bruce Cabot, actor (King Kong) dies at 68
1988 Milton Caniff, cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) dies at 81
1989 Christine Jorgensen, transsexual, dies at 62
1996 Jack Weston, actor (The Cincinnati Kid) dies at 71
2000 Cardinal John O'Connor, archbishop of New York, died at 80
2001 Billy Higgins, jazz drummer, dies at 64
2003 Suzy Parker, actress (Kiss Them for Me) dies at 70
2004 Michelle Skalnik, actress (Poltergeist: The Legacy) dies at 27
2006 Earl Woods, father of golfer Tiger Woods, dies at 74
2007 Wally Schirra, NASA astronaut (Mercury 7) dies at 84
Today in History
1802 Washington, D.C., was incorporated.
1915 The poem In Flanders Fields was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.
1916 Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter uprising.
1921 West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.
1933 Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman to head the United States Mint.
1936 Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
1937 Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gone with the Wind.
1946 The International Military Tribunal for the Far East began in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
1948 The Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.
1951 The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees began their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
1957 Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agreed to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.
1960 The musical The Fantasticks opened off-Broadway, beginning a record run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 performances.
1971 Anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., aimed at shutting down the nation's capital.
1973 The Sears Tower in Chicago was topped out as the world's tallest building to date.
1978 The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1979 Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.
1987 A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line led NASCAR to develop restrictor plate racing the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
1988 The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule President Ronald Reagan's activities.
2001 The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
2005 Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in.
2006 A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Chart Toppers
1947
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Mam’selle - Art Lund
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary
Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Stumblin’ In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
Where Do I Put Her Memory - Charley Pride
1987
(I Just) Died in Your Arms - Cutting Crew
Looking for a New Love - Jody Watley
La Isla Bonita - Madonna
Don’t Go to Strangers - T. Graham Brown
Quote of the Day
This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
Will Rogers, humorist & showman (1879 - 1935)
Today's Birthdays
1469 Niccolo Machiavelli, philosopher/writer (The Prince) died June 22, 1527
1874 François Coty, French perfume manufacturer, died July 25, 1934
1888 Beulah Bondi, actress (It's a Wonderful Life) died Jan 11, 1981
1898 Golda Meir, Israeli founder and prime minister, died Dec 8, 1978
1903 Bing Crosby, singer/actor, died October 14, 1977
1906 Mary Astor, actress (Maltese Falcon) died Sep 25, 1987
1913 William Inge, playwright (Come Back Little Sheba) died June 10, 1973
1919 Pete Seeger, folk singer
1919 Betty Comden (Cohen), screenwriter (Singin’ in the Rain) died Nov 23, 2006
1921 Sugar Ray Robinson, International Boxing Hall of Famer, died Apr 12, 1989
1926 Ann B. Davis, actress (The Brady Bunch)
1932 Robert Osborne, film historian/TV Host (American Movie Classics)
1933 James Brown, The Godfather of Soul (Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag) died Dec 25, 2006
1934 Frankie Valli, singer (The Four Seasons)
1935 Ron Popeil, inventor (Veg-O-Matic, Popeil Pocket Fisherman)
1944 Pete Staples, bassist (The Troggs)
1946 Greg Gumbel, sportscaster (NFL on CBS)
1947 Doug Henning, magician/illusionist (The World of Magic) died Feb 8, 2000
1950 Mary Hopkin, singer (Those Were the Days)
1950 Howard Ashman, lyricist (Little Shop of Horrors) died of AIDS March 14, 1991
1951 Christopher Cross, singer (Sailing, Arthur's Theme)
1953 Bruce Hall, bassist (REO Speedwagon)
1959 David Ball, keyboardist (Soft Cell)
1960 Amy Steel, actress (Friday the 13th Part 2)
1971 Bobby Cannavale, actor (Will and Grace)
1971 Josey Scott, singer (Saliva)
1973 Jennifer Tung, actress (Kung Pow: Enter the Fist)
1975 Dule' Hill, actor (The West Wing, Psych)
1981 Farrah Franklin, singer (Destiny's Child)
1983 Joseph Addai, NFL running back (Indianapolis Colts)
1984 Cheryl Burke, dancer (Dancing with the Stars)
1990 Jillian Berard, actress (Happy Texas)
Today's Deaths in History
1758 Pope Benedict XIV dies at 83
1972 Bruce Cabot, actor (King Kong) dies at 68
1988 Milton Caniff, cartoonist (Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon) dies at 81
1989 Christine Jorgensen, transsexual, dies at 62
1996 Jack Weston, actor (The Cincinnati Kid) dies at 71
2000 Cardinal John O'Connor, archbishop of New York, died at 80
2001 Billy Higgins, jazz drummer, dies at 64
2003 Suzy Parker, actress (Kiss Them for Me) dies at 70
2004 Michelle Skalnik, actress (Poltergeist: The Legacy) dies at 27
2006 Earl Woods, father of golfer Tiger Woods, dies at 74
2007 Wally Schirra, NASA astronaut (Mercury 7) dies at 84
Today in History
1802 Washington, D.C., was incorporated.
1915 The poem In Flanders Fields was written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae.
1916 Irish nationalist Padraic Pearse and two others were executed by the British for their roles in the Easter uprising.
1921 West Virginia imposed the first state sales tax.
1933 Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman to head the United States Mint.
1936 Baseball Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio made his major league debut with the New York Yankees.
1937 Margaret Mitchell won a Pulitzer Prize for her novel Gone with the Wind.
1946 The International Military Tribunal for the Far East began in Tokyo with twenty-eight Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
1948 The Supreme Court ruled that covenants prohibiting the sale of real estate to blacks and other minorities were legally unenforceable.
1951 The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees began their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry Truman.
1957 Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agreed to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.
1960 The musical The Fantasticks opened off-Broadway, beginning a record run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 performances.
1971 Anti-war protesters began four days of demonstrations in Washington, D.C., aimed at shutting down the nation's capital.
1973 The Sears Tower in Chicago was topped out as the world's tallest building to date.
1978 The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as "spam") was sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.
1979 Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher became Britain's first female prime minister as the Tories ousted the incumbent Labor government in parliamentary elections.
1987 A crash by Bobby Allison at the Talladega Superspeedway, Alabama fencing at the start-finish line led NASCAR to develop restrictor plate racing the following season both at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega.
1988 The White House acknowledged that first lady Nancy Reagan had used astrological advice to help schedule President Ronald Reagan's activities.
2001 The United States lost its seat on the U.N. Human Rights Commission for the first time since the commission was formed in 1947.
2005 Iraq's first democratically elected government was sworn in.
2006 A federal jury in Alexandria, Va., rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, deciding he should spend life in prison for his role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Chart Toppers
1947
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
Mam’selle - Art Lund
So Round, So Firm, So Fully Packed - Merle Travis
1955
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
The Ballad of Davy Crockett - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Dance with Me Henry (Wallflower) - Georgia Gibbs
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Can’t Get Used to Losing You - Andy Williams
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary
Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Put Your Hand in the Hand - Ocean
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
Empty Arms - Sonny James
1979
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Stumblin’ In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
Where Do I Put Her Memory - Charley Pride
1987
(I Just) Died in Your Arms - Cutting Crew
Looking for a New Love - Jody Watley
La Isla Bonita - Madonna
Don’t Go to Strangers - T. Graham Brown
Quote of the Day
This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
Will Rogers, humorist & showman (1879 - 1935)
Today in History - May 4th
Today's Birthdays
1655 Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian inventor (piano) died Jan 27, 1731
1796 Horace Mann, the father of public education in the U.S., died Aug 2, 1859
1820 Julia Tyler (Gardiner), First Lady, died July 10, 1889
1852 Alice Pleasance Liddell, model for Alice in Wonderland, died Nov 15, 1934
1909 Howard Da Silva (Silverblatt), actor (The Great Gatsby) died Feb 16, 1986
1923 Ed ‘Cass’ Cassidy, drummer (Taj Mahal, Spirit)
1928 Maynard Ferguson, jazz trumpeter/trombone/horns, died August 23, 2006
1928 Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President
1929 Audrey (Edda Kathleen) Hepburn (van Heemstra), actress (Breakfast at Tiffany's) died Jan 20, 1993
1937 Dick Dale, surf music guitarist
1939 Paul Gleason, actor (The Breakfast Club, Die Hard) died May 27, 2006
1939 Léon Rochefort, NHL center (NY Rangers)
1940 Robin Cook, author (Coma, Mortal Fear)
1941 George F. Will, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
1942 Nickolas Ashford, producer/songwriter/singer (Ashford & Simpson)
1943 Ronnie Bond (Ronald Bulls), drummer (The Troggs)
1947 Richard Jenkins,actor (Six Feet Under, The Visitor)
1949 Stella Parton, actress/singer (Dukes of Hazzard TV series)
1950 Darryl Hunt, bassist (The Pogues)
1951 Jackie (Sigmund) Jackson, singer (The Jackson Five)
1951 Mick Mars, rock guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
1952 Anthony Hamilton, actor (Mission: Impossible TV series) died March 29, 1995 1954 Pia Zadora, actress (Hairspray)
1955 Lynne Spears, Britney's mom
1959 Randy Travis (Randy Bruce Traywick), country singer (Forever and Ever Amen)
1961 Mary McDonough, actress (The Waltons)
1962 Oleta Adams, singer (Get Here)
1967 Ana Gasteyer, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1970 Gregg Alexander, singer/songwriter (New Radicals)
1972 Mike Dirnt, rock bassist (Green Day)
1975 Laci Peterson, housewife/murder victim, died Dec 25, 2002
1977 Emily Perkins, actress (Stephen King's It)
1979 Lance Bass, singer (’N Sync)
1994 Alexander Gould, actor (Finding Nemo, Weeds)
Today's Deaths in History
1961 Anita Stewart, actress (A Tale of Two Cities) dies at 66
1975 Moe Howard, actor/comedian (Three Stooges) dies at 77
1980 Josip Broz Tito, President (Yugoslavia) dies at 87
1983 Todd Starke, actor (Adam-12) dies in a motorcycle accident at 21
1984 Bob Clampett, cartoonist (Looney Tunes) dies at 70
1985 Clarence Wiseman, 10th General of the Salvation Army, dies at 77
1987 Paul Butterfield, blues harmonica player, dies at 44
2001 Bonnie Lee Bakley, wife of Robert Blake, is shot and killed at 44
2005 David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer/military journalist, dies at 74
2006 Michael 'Bear' Taliferro, actor (Half Past Dead) dies at 45
Today in History
1626 Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on what is now Manhattan.
1776 Rhode Island declared its freedom from England, two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
1886 A labor demonstration for an eight-hour workday at Haymarket Square in Chicago turned into a riot when a bomb exploded.
1904 The United States began construction of the Panama Canal.
1912 Italy occupied the Greek island of Rhodes.
1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.
1932 Mobster Al Capone began serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1946 A two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ended after five people were killed.
1953 Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1961 A group of Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C., for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.
1970 Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine.
1972 The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changed its name to "Greenpeace Foundation."
1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1989 Fired White House aide Oliver North was convicted of shredding documents and two other charges stemming from the Iran-Contra affair; the convictions were overturned on appeal.
1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.
2000 Londoners elected their mayor for the first time.
2006 A federal judge sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
2007 A judge in Los Angeles sentenced hotel heiress Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case; Hilton served three weeks.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
The Dickey Bird Song - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Glenn Hughes)
Manana - Peggy Lee
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
Moonglow and Theme from ’Picnic’ - Morris Stoloff
Standing on the Corner - The Four Lads
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Hello Dolly! - Louis Armstrong
Bits and Pieces - The Dave Clark Five
My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Betcha By Golly, Wow - The Stylistics
Chantilly Lace - Jerry Lee Lewis
1980
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
Lost in Love - Air Supply
Are You on the Road to Lovin’ Me Again - Debby Boone
1988
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
Wishing Well - Terence Trent D’Arby
Angel - Aerosmith
It’s Such a Small World - Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash
Quote of the Day
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr., diplomat & Democratic politician (1900 - 1965)
Today's Birthdays
1655 Bartolomeo Cristofori, Italian inventor (piano) died Jan 27, 1731
1796 Horace Mann, the father of public education in the U.S., died Aug 2, 1859
1820 Julia Tyler (Gardiner), First Lady, died July 10, 1889
1852 Alice Pleasance Liddell, model for Alice in Wonderland, died Nov 15, 1934
1909 Howard Da Silva (Silverblatt), actor (The Great Gatsby) died Feb 16, 1986
1923 Ed ‘Cass’ Cassidy, drummer (Taj Mahal, Spirit)
1928 Maynard Ferguson, jazz trumpeter/trombone/horns, died August 23, 2006
1928 Hosni Mubarak, Egyptian President
1929 Audrey (Edda Kathleen) Hepburn (van Heemstra), actress (Breakfast at Tiffany's) died Jan 20, 1993
1937 Dick Dale, surf music guitarist
1939 Paul Gleason, actor (The Breakfast Club, Die Hard) died May 27, 2006
1939 Léon Rochefort, NHL center (NY Rangers)
1940 Robin Cook, author (Coma, Mortal Fear)
1941 George F. Will, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
1942 Nickolas Ashford, producer/songwriter/singer (Ashford & Simpson)
1943 Ronnie Bond (Ronald Bulls), drummer (The Troggs)
1947 Richard Jenkins,actor (Six Feet Under, The Visitor)
1949 Stella Parton, actress/singer (Dukes of Hazzard TV series)
1950 Darryl Hunt, bassist (The Pogues)
1951 Jackie (Sigmund) Jackson, singer (The Jackson Five)
1951 Mick Mars, rock guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
1952 Anthony Hamilton, actor (Mission: Impossible TV series) died March 29, 1995 1954 Pia Zadora, actress (Hairspray)
1955 Lynne Spears, Britney's mom
1959 Randy Travis (Randy Bruce Traywick), country singer (Forever and Ever Amen)
1961 Mary McDonough, actress (The Waltons)
1962 Oleta Adams, singer (Get Here)
1967 Ana Gasteyer, actress/comedian (Saturday Night Live)
1970 Gregg Alexander, singer/songwriter (New Radicals)
1972 Mike Dirnt, rock bassist (Green Day)
1975 Laci Peterson, housewife/murder victim, died Dec 25, 2002
1977 Emily Perkins, actress (Stephen King's It)
1979 Lance Bass, singer (’N Sync)
1994 Alexander Gould, actor (Finding Nemo, Weeds)
Today's Deaths in History
1961 Anita Stewart, actress (A Tale of Two Cities) dies at 66
1975 Moe Howard, actor/comedian (Three Stooges) dies at 77
1980 Josip Broz Tito, President (Yugoslavia) dies at 87
1983 Todd Starke, actor (Adam-12) dies in a motorcycle accident at 21
1984 Bob Clampett, cartoonist (Looney Tunes) dies at 70
1985 Clarence Wiseman, 10th General of the Salvation Army, dies at 77
1987 Paul Butterfield, blues harmonica player, dies at 44
2001 Bonnie Lee Bakley, wife of Robert Blake, is shot and killed at 44
2005 David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer/military journalist, dies at 74
2006 Michael 'Bear' Taliferro, actor (Half Past Dead) dies at 45
Today in History
1626 Dutch explorer Peter Minuit landed on what is now Manhattan.
1776 Rhode Island declared its freedom from England, two months before the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
1886 A labor demonstration for an eight-hour workday at Haymarket Square in Chicago turned into a riot when a bomb exploded.
1904 The United States began construction of the Panama Canal.
1912 Italy occupied the Greek island of Rhodes.
1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.
1932 Mobster Al Capone began serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion.
1946 A two-day riot at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay ended after five people were killed.
1953 Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea.
1961 A group of Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C., for New Orleans to challenge racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals.
1970 Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine.
1972 The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changed its name to "Greenpeace Foundation."
1979 Margaret Thatcher became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
1989 Fired White House aide Oliver North was convicted of shredding documents and two other charges stemming from the Iran-Contra affair; the convictions were overturned on appeal.
1994 Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat signed an accord on Palestinian autonomy that granted self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho.
1998 Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski was given four life sentences plus 30 years by a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., under a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.
2000 Londoners elected their mayor for the first time.
2006 A federal judge sentenced Zacarias Moussaoui to life in prison for his role in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
2007 A judge in Los Angeles sentenced hotel heiress Paris Hilton to 45 days in jail for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case; Hilton served three weeks.
Chart Toppers
1948
Now is the Hour - Bing Crosby
The Dickey Bird Song - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Glenn Hughes)
Manana - Peggy Lee
Anytime - Eddy Arnold
1956
Heartbreak Hotel/I Was the One - Elvis Presley
Moonglow and Theme from ’Picnic’ - Morris Stoloff
Standing on the Corner - The Four Lads
Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins
1964
Can’t Buy Me Love - The Beatles
Hello Dolly! - Louis Armstrong
Bits and Pieces - The Dave Clark Five
My Heart Skips a Beat - Buck Owens
1972
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - Roberta Flack
I Gotcha - Joe Tex
Betcha By Golly, Wow - The Stylistics
Chantilly Lace - Jerry Lee Lewis
1980
Call Me - Blondie
Ride like the Wind - Christopher Cross
Lost in Love - Air Supply
Are You on the Road to Lovin’ Me Again - Debby Boone
1988
Where Do Broken Hearts Go - Whitney Houston
Wishing Well - Terence Trent D’Arby
Angel - Aerosmith
It’s Such a Small World - Rodney Crowell & Rosanne Cash
Quote of the Day
My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.
Adlai E. Stevenson Jr., diplomat & Democratic politician (1900 - 1965)
Today in History - May 5th
Today's Birthdays
1813 Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, died Nov 11, 1855
1818 Karl Marx, socialist/communist (The Communist Manifesto) died Mar 14, 1883
1867 Nelly Bly, journalist/women’s rights advocate, died Jan 27, 1922
1903 James Beard, chef/cookbook writer, died Jan 21, 1985
1914 Tyrone Power, actor (Witness for the Prosecution) died Nov 15, 1958
1915 Alice Faye (Alice Jeanne Leppert), actress (State Fair) died May 9, 1998
1934 ‘Ace’ Cannon (John Henry Cannon Jr.), saxophonist (Tuff)
1937 Johnnie Taylor, singer (Who's Making Love) died May 31, 2000
1940 Lance Henriksen, actor (Aliens, The Terminator, The Right Stuff)
1942 Tammy Wynette, country singer (Stand By Your Man) died Apr 6, 1998
1943 Michael Palin, comedian/actor (Monty Python)
1944 Roger Rees, actor (Robin Hood: Men in Tights)
1944 John Rhys-Davies, actor (Sliders, Lord of the Rings series)
1948 Bill Ward, drummer (Black Sabbath)
1952 Alan Clark, musician (Dire Straits)
1957 Richard E. Grant, actor (Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
1957 Lisa Eilbacher, actress (Beverly Hills Cop, An Officer and a Gentleman)
1959 Ian McCulloch, singer/guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
1959 Brian Williams, news anchor (NBC Nightly News)
1962 Gary Daly, singer (China Crisis)
1962 Kevin Mooney, bassist (Adam & the Ants)
1965 Shelley Bruce, Broadway actress (Annie)
1966 Shawn Drover, drummer (Megadeth)
1970 Will Arnett, actor/comedian (Arrested Development)
1973 Tina Yothers, actress (Family Ties)
1979 Vincent Kartheiser, actor (Angel, Mad Men)
1983 Henry Cavill, actor (The Tudors)
1984 Eve Torres, dancer/model (WWE)
1987 Ian Michael Smith, actor (Simon Birch)
1988 Jessica Dubroff, aviator, died Apr 11, 1996
1988 Brooke Hogan, singer/reality TV star (daughter of Hulk Hogan)
1989 Chris Brown, R&B singer
Today's Deaths in History
1821 Napoléon Bonaparte, French general & politician, dies at 51
1981 Ronald McQueen, reggae bassist (Steel Pulse), dies at 31
1981 Bobby Sands, Irish activist, dies at 27 during his hunger strike
1996 Jordan Carlton, actor (Mr. Holland's Opus) dies at 15
2001 Cliff Hillegass, writer/publisher (Cliff Notes), dies at 83
2001 Terry Ryan, screenwriter (The Phil Silvers Show) dies at 78
2002 George Sidney, film director (Our Gang comedies) dies at 85
2007 Theodore Harold Maiman, inventor (first working laser) dies at 79
2008 Irv Robbins, entrepreneur (Baskin-Robbins ice cream) dies at 90
Today in History
1260 Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire.
1494 Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it for Spain.
1809 Mary Kies became the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
1862 Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
1865 The first train robbery in the United States took place in North Bend, Ohio.
1891 Carnegie Hall (then named Music Hall) opened in New York City.
1892 Congress extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years.
1893 Panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year's end, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.
1904 Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitched the first perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
1921 Coco Chanel introduced Chanel No. 5.
1925 John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
1945 In the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.
1945 Admiral Karl Dönitz, President of Germany after Hitler's death, ordered all German U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
1955 West Germany became a sovereign state.
1955 The baseball musical Damn Yankees opened on Broadway.
1961 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1981 Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died in prison in Northern Ireland on his 66th day without food.
1985 President Ronald Reagan attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany; the visit drew worldwide condemnation because 49 members of the Waffen SS were buried there.
1991 A riot broke out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
2000 Reformers swept Iran's run-off elections, winning control of the legislature from conservatives for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
2002 French President Jacques Chirac was re-elected in a landslide victory over extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
Again - Doris Day
Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams
1957
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
School Day - Chuck Berry
A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) - Marty Robbins
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman’s Hermits
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
I’ll Never Find Another You - The Seekers
This is It - Jim Reeves
1973
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
The Cisco Kid - War
Little Willy - The Sweet
Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich
1981
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Being with You - Smokey Robinson
Rest Your Love on Me - Conway Twitty
1989
Like a Prayer - Madonna
I’ll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
Young Love - The Judds
Quote of the Day
Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind.
Evan Esar, Humorist (1899 - 1995)
Today's Birthdays
1813 Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, died Nov 11, 1855
1818 Karl Marx, socialist/communist (The Communist Manifesto) died Mar 14, 1883
1867 Nelly Bly, journalist/women’s rights advocate, died Jan 27, 1922
1903 James Beard, chef/cookbook writer, died Jan 21, 1985
1914 Tyrone Power, actor (Witness for the Prosecution) died Nov 15, 1958
1915 Alice Faye (Alice Jeanne Leppert), actress (State Fair) died May 9, 1998
1934 ‘Ace’ Cannon (John Henry Cannon Jr.), saxophonist (Tuff)
1937 Johnnie Taylor, singer (Who's Making Love) died May 31, 2000
1940 Lance Henriksen, actor (Aliens, The Terminator, The Right Stuff)
1942 Tammy Wynette, country singer (Stand By Your Man) died Apr 6, 1998
1943 Michael Palin, comedian/actor (Monty Python)
1944 Roger Rees, actor (Robin Hood: Men in Tights)
1944 John Rhys-Davies, actor (Sliders, Lord of the Rings series)
1948 Bill Ward, drummer (Black Sabbath)
1952 Alan Clark, musician (Dire Straits)
1957 Richard E. Grant, actor (Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
1957 Lisa Eilbacher, actress (Beverly Hills Cop, An Officer and a Gentleman)
1959 Ian McCulloch, singer/guitarist (Echo & the Bunnymen)
1959 Brian Williams, news anchor (NBC Nightly News)
1962 Gary Daly, singer (China Crisis)
1962 Kevin Mooney, bassist (Adam & the Ants)
1965 Shelley Bruce, Broadway actress (Annie)
1966 Shawn Drover, drummer (Megadeth)
1970 Will Arnett, actor/comedian (Arrested Development)
1973 Tina Yothers, actress (Family Ties)
1979 Vincent Kartheiser, actor (Angel, Mad Men)
1983 Henry Cavill, actor (The Tudors)
1984 Eve Torres, dancer/model (WWE)
1987 Ian Michael Smith, actor (Simon Birch)
1988 Jessica Dubroff, aviator, died Apr 11, 1996
1988 Brooke Hogan, singer/reality TV star (daughter of Hulk Hogan)
1989 Chris Brown, R&B singer
Today's Deaths in History
1821 Napoléon Bonaparte, French general & politician, dies at 51
1981 Ronald McQueen, reggae bassist (Steel Pulse), dies at 31
1981 Bobby Sands, Irish activist, dies at 27 during his hunger strike
1996 Jordan Carlton, actor (Mr. Holland's Opus) dies at 15
2001 Cliff Hillegass, writer/publisher (Cliff Notes), dies at 83
2001 Terry Ryan, screenwriter (The Phil Silvers Show) dies at 78
2002 George Sidney, film director (Our Gang comedies) dies at 85
2007 Theodore Harold Maiman, inventor (first working laser) dies at 79
2008 Irv Robbins, entrepreneur (Baskin-Robbins ice cream) dies at 90
Today in History
1260 Kublai Khan became ruler of the Mongol Empire.
1494 Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Jamaica and claimed it for Spain.
1809 Mary Kies became the first woman awarded a U.S. patent, for a technique of weaving straw with silk and thread.
1862 Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla.
1865 The first train robbery in the United States took place in North Bend, Ohio.
1891 Carnegie Hall (then named Music Hall) opened in New York City.
1892 Congress extended the Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years.
1893 Panic hit the New York Stock Exchange; by year's end, the country was in the throes of a severe depression.
1904 Cy Young of the Boston Americans pitched the first perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a 3-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
1921 Coco Chanel introduced Chanel No. 5.
1925 John T. Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
1945 In the only fatal attack of its kind during World War II, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded on Gearhart Mountain in Oregon, killing the pregnant wife of a minister and five children.
1945 Admiral Karl Dönitz, President of Germany after Hitler's death, ordered all German U-boats to cease offensive operations and return to their bases.
1955 West Germany became a sovereign state.
1955 The baseball musical Damn Yankees opened on Broadway.
1961 Astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became America's first space traveler as he made a 15-minute suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
1981 Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died in prison in Northern Ireland on his 66th day without food.
1985 President Ronald Reagan attended a wreath-laying ceremony at a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany; the visit drew worldwide condemnation because 49 members of the Waffen SS were buried there.
1991 A riot broke out in the Mt. Pleasant section of Washington, D.C. after police shoot a Salvadoran man.
2000 Reformers swept Iran's run-off elections, winning control of the legislature from conservatives for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
2002 French President Jacques Chirac was re-elected in a landslide victory over extreme-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Chart Toppers
1949
Cruising Down the River - The Blue Barron Orchestra (vocal: ensemble)
Forever and Ever - Perry Como
Again - Doris Day
Lovesick Blues - Hank Williams
1957
All Shook Up - Elvis Presley
School Day - Chuck Berry
A White Sport Coat (And a Pink Carnation) - Marty Robbins
Gone - Ferlin Husky
1965
Mrs. Brown You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman’s Hermits
I Know a Place - Petula Clark
I’ll Never Find Another You - The Seekers
This is It - Jim Reeves
1973
Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree - Dawn featuring Tony Orlando
The Cisco Kid - War
Little Willy - The Sweet
Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich
1981
Morning Train (Nine to Five) - Sheena Easton
Just the Two of Us - Grover Washington, Jr./Bill Withers
Being with You - Smokey Robinson
Rest Your Love on Me - Conway Twitty
1989
Like a Prayer - Madonna
I’ll Be There for You - Bon Jovi
She Drives Me Crazy - Fine Young Cannibals
Young Love - The Judds
Quote of the Day
Anger is the feeling that makes your mouth work faster than your mind.
Evan Esar, Humorist (1899 - 1995)
Today in History - May 6th
Today's Birthdays
1758 Maximilian Robespierre, French revolutionary, executed by guillotine July 28, 1794
1856 Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis, died Sept 23, 1939
1856 Robert E. Peary, explorer (North Pole, Greenland) died Jan 20, 1920
1895 Rudolph Valentino, actor (The Sheik) died Aug 23, 1926
1903 (Bernard) Toots Shor, restaurateur/barkeep, died Jan 23, 1977
1907 Weeb Ewbank, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach (Baltimore Colts, NY Jets) died Nov 17, 1998
1913 Stewart Granger, actor (The Hound of the Baskervilles) died Aug 16, 1993
1915 (George) Orson Welles, actor (War of the Worlds, Citizen Kane) died Oct 10, 1985
1931 Willie Mays, Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (New York/San Francisco Giants)
1945 Bob Seger, guitarist/singer (Night Moves)
1947 Alan Dale, actor (Ugly Betty, Lost)
1948 Mary MacGregor, singer (Torn Between Two Lovers)
1951 Davey Johnstone, guitarist (Elton John)
1952 Gregg Henry, actor (Payback)
1953 Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister
1955 Tom Bergeron, TV host (Dancing with the Stars)
1959 Heather Ripley, actress (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
1960 John Flansburgh, singer (They Might Be Giants)
1960 Roma Downey, actress (Touched by an Angel)
1960 Anne Parillaud, actress (Man in the Iron Mask)
1960 John Flansburgh, guitarist/singer (They Might Be Giants)
1961 George Clooney, actor (Ocean's Eleven series, Leatherheads)
1964 Tony Scalzo, bassist/songwriter (Fastball)
1964 Dana Hill, voice actress (Rugrats) died July 15, 1996
1965 Leslie Hope, actress (24)
1966 Thurman Thomas, NFL Hall of Fame running back (Buffalo Bills)
1967 Mark Bryan, guitarist (Hootie and the Blowfish)
1971 Chris Shiflett, guitarist (Foo Fighters)
1972 Martin Brodeur, NHL goaltender (New Jersey Devils)
1981 Mark O'Connell, drummer (Taking Back Sunday)
1983 Adrianne Palicki, actress (Friday Night Lights)
Today's Deaths in History
1862 Henry David Thoreau, author/philosopher, dies at 44
1902 Bret Harte, author/poet, dies at 64
1910 King Edward VII of Britian dies at 68
1919 L. Frank Baum, writer (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) dies at 62
1983 Kai Winding, jazz trombonist/composer, dies at 60
1987 William Casey, Central Intelligence Agency director, dies at 74
1992 Marlene Dietrich, actress (The Blue Angel) dies at 90
1996 William Colby, CIA director, found dead after possible drowning at 76
1999 Mark Tuinei, NFL tackle (Dallas Cowboys) dies of a drug overdose at 39
2002 Otis Blackwell, pianist/singer/songwriter, dies at 70
2004 Barney Kessel, jazz guitarist, dies at 80
2006 Lillian Asplund, last American RMS Titanic survivor, dies at 99
Today in History
1536 King Henry VIII ordered English language Bibles be placed in every church.
1835 James Gordon Bennett, Sr. published the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 The Penny Black postage stamp became valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1840 A tornado that touched down in eastern Louisiana and crossed the Mississippi River into Natchez, Miss., killed 317 people, most of them on boats in the river.
1861 Richmond, Virginia was declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.
1861 Arkansas seceded from the Union.
1877 Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrendered to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from the United States for 10 years.
1889 The Paris Exposition opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower.
1915 Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox hit the first of his 714 major league home runs in a 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.
1937 The hydrogen-filled German dirigible Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.
1940 John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1942 Some 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
1945 Axis Sally delivered her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1954 Roger Bannister became the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds during a track meet in Oxford, England.
1960 Britain's Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey.
1981 A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selected Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
1983 The Hitler diaries were revealed as a hoax after examination by experts.
1994 Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he'd sexually harassed her in 1991.
1996 The body of former CIA director William E. Colby was found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he'd disappeared.
1997 Hemophiliacs who contracted AIDS between 1978 and 1985 from tainted blood products accepted a $600 million settlement from four health-care companies.
1998 Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens.
2001 Pope John Paul II, during a trip to Syria, became the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 Right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed in Hilversum, Netherlands.
2004 The final first-run episode of Friends aired on NBC.
2007 Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France.
Chart Toppers
1950
My Foolish Heart - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Eileen Wilson)
Bewitched - The Bill Snyder Orchestra
The Third Man Theme - Alton Karas
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
The Witch Doctor - David Seville
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - Elvis Presley
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
Good Lovin’ - The Young Rascals
Monday Monday - The Mamas & the Papas
Sloop John B - The Beach Boys
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
Dancing Machine - The Jackson 5
The Streak - Ray Stevens
Things Aren’t Funny Anymore - Merle Haggard
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder
Mountain Music - Alabama
1990
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
How Can We Be Lovers - Michael Bolton
Love on Arrival - Dan Seals
Quote of the Day
I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
Charles De Gaulle, French general & politician (1890 - 1970)
Today's Birthdays
1758 Maximilian Robespierre, French revolutionary, executed by guillotine July 28, 1794
1856 Sigmund Freud, father of psychoanalysis, died Sept 23, 1939
1856 Robert E. Peary, explorer (North Pole, Greenland) died Jan 20, 1920
1895 Rudolph Valentino, actor (The Sheik) died Aug 23, 1926
1903 (Bernard) Toots Shor, restaurateur/barkeep, died Jan 23, 1977
1907 Weeb Ewbank, Pro Football Hall of Fame coach (Baltimore Colts, NY Jets) died Nov 17, 1998
1913 Stewart Granger, actor (The Hound of the Baskervilles) died Aug 16, 1993
1915 (George) Orson Welles, actor (War of the Worlds, Citizen Kane) died Oct 10, 1985
1931 Willie Mays, Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (New York/San Francisco Giants)
1945 Bob Seger, guitarist/singer (Night Moves)
1947 Alan Dale, actor (Ugly Betty, Lost)
1948 Mary MacGregor, singer (Torn Between Two Lovers)
1951 Davey Johnstone, guitarist (Elton John)
1952 Gregg Henry, actor (Payback)
1953 Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister
1955 Tom Bergeron, TV host (Dancing with the Stars)
1959 Heather Ripley, actress (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
1960 John Flansburgh, singer (They Might Be Giants)
1960 Roma Downey, actress (Touched by an Angel)
1960 Anne Parillaud, actress (Man in the Iron Mask)
1960 John Flansburgh, guitarist/singer (They Might Be Giants)
1961 George Clooney, actor (Ocean's Eleven series, Leatherheads)
1964 Tony Scalzo, bassist/songwriter (Fastball)
1964 Dana Hill, voice actress (Rugrats) died July 15, 1996
1965 Leslie Hope, actress (24)
1966 Thurman Thomas, NFL Hall of Fame running back (Buffalo Bills)
1967 Mark Bryan, guitarist (Hootie and the Blowfish)
1971 Chris Shiflett, guitarist (Foo Fighters)
1972 Martin Brodeur, NHL goaltender (New Jersey Devils)
1981 Mark O'Connell, drummer (Taking Back Sunday)
1983 Adrianne Palicki, actress (Friday Night Lights)
Today's Deaths in History
1862 Henry David Thoreau, author/philosopher, dies at 44
1902 Bret Harte, author/poet, dies at 64
1910 King Edward VII of Britian dies at 68
1919 L. Frank Baum, writer (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) dies at 62
1983 Kai Winding, jazz trombonist/composer, dies at 60
1987 William Casey, Central Intelligence Agency director, dies at 74
1992 Marlene Dietrich, actress (The Blue Angel) dies at 90
1996 William Colby, CIA director, found dead after possible drowning at 76
1999 Mark Tuinei, NFL tackle (Dallas Cowboys) dies of a drug overdose at 39
2002 Otis Blackwell, pianist/singer/songwriter, dies at 70
2004 Barney Kessel, jazz guitarist, dies at 80
2006 Lillian Asplund, last American RMS Titanic survivor, dies at 99
Today in History
1536 King Henry VIII ordered English language Bibles be placed in every church.
1835 James Gordon Bennett, Sr. published the first issue of the New York Herald.
1840 The Penny Black postage stamp became valid for use in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
1840 A tornado that touched down in eastern Louisiana and crossed the Mississippi River into Natchez, Miss., killed 317 people, most of them on boats in the river.
1861 Richmond, Virginia was declared the new capital of the Confederate States of America.
1861 Arkansas seceded from the Union.
1877 Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrendered to United States troops in Nebraska.
1882 Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese immigrants from the United States for 10 years.
1889 The Paris Exposition opened, featuring the just-completed Eiffel Tower.
1915 Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox hit the first of his 714 major league home runs in a 4-3 loss to the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.
1937 The hydrogen-filled German dirigible Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, N.J., killing 36 of the 97 people on board and a Navy crewman on the ground.
1940 John Steinbeck was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
1942 Some 15,000 Americans and Filipinos on Corregidor surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
1945 Axis Sally delivered her last propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1954 Roger Bannister became the first athlete to run a mile in less than four minutes, finishing in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds during a track meet in Oxford, England.
1960 Britain's Princess Margaret married Anthony Armstrong Jones, a commoner, at Westminster Abbey.
1981 A jury of architects and sculptors unanimously selected Maya Ying Lin's design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from 1,421 other entries.
1983 The Hitler diaries were revealed as a hoax after examination by experts.
1994 Former Arkansas state worker Paula Jones filed suit against President Bill Clinton, alleging he'd sexually harassed her in 1991.
1996 The body of former CIA director William E. Colby was found washed up on a riverbank in southern Maryland, eight days after he'd disappeared.
1997 Hemophiliacs who contracted AIDS between 1978 and 1985 from tainted blood products accepted a $600 million settlement from four health-care companies.
1998 Kerry Wood struck out 20 Houston Astros to tie the major league record held by Roger Clemens.
2001 Pope John Paul II, during a trip to Syria, became the first pope to enter a mosque.
2002 Right-wing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was shot and killed in Hilversum, Netherlands.
2004 The final first-run episode of Friends aired on NBC.
2007 Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president of France.
Chart Toppers
1950
My Foolish Heart - The Gordon Jenkins Orchestra (vocal: Eileen Wilson)
Bewitched - The Bill Snyder Orchestra
The Third Man Theme - Alton Karas
Long Gone Lonesome Blues - Hank Williams
1958
Tequila - The Champs
The Witch Doctor - David Seville
Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - Elvis Presley
Oh Lonesome Me - Don Gibson
1966
Good Lovin’ - The Young Rascals
Monday Monday - The Mamas & the Papas
Sloop John B - The Beach Boys
I Want to Go with You - Eddy Arnold
1974
The Loco-Motion - Grand Funk
Dancing Machine - The Jackson 5
The Streak - Ray Stevens
Things Aren’t Funny Anymore - Merle Haggard
1982
I Love Rock ’N Roll - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Chariots of Fire - Titles - Vangelis
Ebony and Ivory - Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder
Mountain Music - Alabama
1990
Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
I Wanna Be Rich - Calloway
How Can We Be Lovers - Michael Bolton
Love on Arrival - Dan Seals
Quote of the Day
I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians.
Charles De Gaulle, French general & politician (1890 - 1970)
Today in History - May 7th
Today's Birthdays
1812 Robert Browning, poet, died Dec 12, 1889
1833 Johannes Brahms, composer (Lullaby) died April 3, 1897
1840 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer (1812 Overture) died Nov 6, 1893
1885 Gabby Hayes, actor/vaudevillian (silent movie villain) died Feb 9, 1969
1892 Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet/Librarian of Congress, died Apr 20, 1982
1892 Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, died May 4, 1980
1901 Gary (Frank James) Cooper, actor (Sergeant York, High Noon) died May 13, 1961
1909 Edwin H. Land, inventor (polaroid instant photography) died March 1, 1991
1919 Eva (Evita) Peron, wife of Argentina’s President, died July 26, 1952
1922 Darren McGavin, actor (The Night Stalker, A Christmas Story) died Feb 25, 2006
1923 Anne Baxter, actress (The Ten Commandments, All About Eve) died Dec 12, 1985
1930 Totie Fields (Sophie Feldman), entertainer/comedienne, died August 2, 1978
1933 Johnny Unitas, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Baltimore Colts) died Sep 11, 2002
1939 Jimmy Ruffin, R&B singer (What becomes of the Broken Hearted)
1946 Thelma Houston, R&B singer (Don't Leave Me This Way)
1946 Bill Kreutzmann, drummer (Grateful Dead)
1950 Tim Russert, broadcast journalist (Meet the Press) died June 13, 2008
1950 Randall 'Tex' Cobb, boxer/actor (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)
1951 Robert Hegyes, actor (Welcome Back, Kotter)
1951 Janis Ian (Janis Eddy Fink), songwriter/singer (At Seventeen)
1954 Amy Heckerling, writer/director (Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
1959 Michael E. Knight, actor (All My Children)
1961 Phil Campbell, singer/guitarist (Motorhead)
1962 Robbie Knievel, daredevil/son of Evel Knievel
1963 Johnny Lee Middleton, bassist (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
1965 Chris O'Connor, singer/guitarist (Primitive Radio Gods)
1965 Owen Hart, wrestler, died from injuries sustained in a fall May 23, 1999
1969 Traci Lords, actress (Cry Baby)
1972 Eagle-Eye Cherry, singer (Save Tonight)
1974 Breckin Meyer, actor (Clueless, Road Trip, Kate & Leopold)
1984 Alex Smith, NFL quarterback (San Francisco '49ers)
1986 Matt Helders, drummer (Arctic Monkeys)
Today's Deaths in History
1825 Antonio Salieri, Italian composer, dies at 74
1989 Guy Williams, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space) dies at 65
1991 Dennis Crosby, actor/son of Bing Crosby, commits suicide at 56
1995 Ray McKinley, jazz drummer/singer/bandleader, dies at 84
1998 Eddie Rabbitt, country singer (I Love a Rainy Night) dies at 56
2000 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., actor (Little Caesar) dies at 90
2002 Seattle Slew, Triple Crown-winning race horse, dies at 28
2002 James 'Buster' Brown, dancer/choreographer (Cotton Club) dies at 88
Today in History
1429 Joan of Arc ended the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge.
1789 The first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington and his wife, Martha.
1824 Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony had its premiere in Vienna, Austria.
1847 The American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.
1915 A German torpedo sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing nearly 1,200 people.
1939 Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
1945 Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, bringing an end to World War II in Europe.
1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, was first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.
1954 The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended after 55 days with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
1960 Leonid Brezhnev replaced Marshal Kliment Voroshilov as president of the Supreme Soviet.
1977 Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, on his way to horse racing's Triple Crown.
1984 A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans.
1992 A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.
1992 Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, were brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery.
1998 The parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.
1999 NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Bill Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake."
1999 A jury found The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros. liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode.
2000 President Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in Russia's first democratic transfer of power.
2001 Ronnie Biggs, the "Great Train Robber" who had eluded capture for decades following his prison escape in 1965, returned to Britain, where he was arrested and jailed to complete the 28 remaining years of his sentence.
2007 The tomb of Herod the Great was discovered.
2008 Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's president.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Sparrow in the Treetop - Bing Crosby
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
The Happy Organ - Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez
Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) - The Impalas
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
The Happening - The Supremes
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Need You - Sonny James
1975
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender
Chevy Van - Sammy Johns
Roll on Big Mama - Joe Stampley
1983
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band
Let’s Dance - David Bowie
Jose Cuervo - Shelly West
1991
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) - Hi-Five
Rockin’ Years - Dolly Parton with Ricky Van Shelton
Quote of the Day
Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both.
John Andrew Holmes
Today's Birthdays
1812 Robert Browning, poet, died Dec 12, 1889
1833 Johannes Brahms, composer (Lullaby) died April 3, 1897
1840 Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composer (1812 Overture) died Nov 6, 1893
1885 Gabby Hayes, actor/vaudevillian (silent movie villain) died Feb 9, 1969
1892 Archibald MacLeish, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet/Librarian of Congress, died Apr 20, 1982
1892 Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, died May 4, 1980
1901 Gary (Frank James) Cooper, actor (Sergeant York, High Noon) died May 13, 1961
1909 Edwin H. Land, inventor (polaroid instant photography) died March 1, 1991
1919 Eva (Evita) Peron, wife of Argentina’s President, died July 26, 1952
1922 Darren McGavin, actor (The Night Stalker, A Christmas Story) died Feb 25, 2006
1923 Anne Baxter, actress (The Ten Commandments, All About Eve) died Dec 12, 1985
1930 Totie Fields (Sophie Feldman), entertainer/comedienne, died August 2, 1978
1933 Johnny Unitas, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Baltimore Colts) died Sep 11, 2002
1939 Jimmy Ruffin, R&B singer (What becomes of the Broken Hearted)
1946 Thelma Houston, R&B singer (Don't Leave Me This Way)
1946 Bill Kreutzmann, drummer (Grateful Dead)
1950 Tim Russert, broadcast journalist (Meet the Press) died June 13, 2008
1950 Randall 'Tex' Cobb, boxer/actor (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)
1951 Robert Hegyes, actor (Welcome Back, Kotter)
1951 Janis Ian (Janis Eddy Fink), songwriter/singer (At Seventeen)
1954 Amy Heckerling, writer/director (Clueless, Fast Times at Ridgemont High)
1959 Michael E. Knight, actor (All My Children)
1961 Phil Campbell, singer/guitarist (Motorhead)
1962 Robbie Knievel, daredevil/son of Evel Knievel
1963 Johnny Lee Middleton, bassist (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)
1965 Chris O'Connor, singer/guitarist (Primitive Radio Gods)
1965 Owen Hart, wrestler, died from injuries sustained in a fall May 23, 1999
1969 Traci Lords, actress (Cry Baby)
1972 Eagle-Eye Cherry, singer (Save Tonight)
1974 Breckin Meyer, actor (Clueless, Road Trip, Kate & Leopold)
1984 Alex Smith, NFL quarterback (San Francisco '49ers)
1986 Matt Helders, drummer (Arctic Monkeys)
Today's Deaths in History
1825 Antonio Salieri, Italian composer, dies at 74
1989 Guy Williams, actor (Zorro, Lost in Space) dies at 65
1991 Dennis Crosby, actor/son of Bing Crosby, commits suicide at 56
1995 Ray McKinley, jazz drummer/singer/bandleader, dies at 84
1998 Eddie Rabbitt, country singer (I Love a Rainy Night) dies at 56
2000 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., actor (Little Caesar) dies at 90
2002 Seattle Slew, Triple Crown-winning race horse, dies at 28
2002 James 'Buster' Brown, dancer/choreographer (Cotton Club) dies at 88
Today in History
1429 Joan of Arc ended the Siege of Orléans, pulling an arrow from her own shoulder and returning, wounded, to lead the final charge.
1789 The first inaugural ball was held in New York in honor of President George Washington and his wife, Martha.
1824 Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony had its premiere in Vienna, Austria.
1847 The American Medical Association was founded in Philadelphia.
1915 A German torpedo sank the British liner Lusitania off the Irish coast, killing nearly 1,200 people.
1939 Germany and Italy announced a military and political alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis.
1945 Germany signed an unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, bringing an end to World War II in Europe.
1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, was first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer.
1954 The Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam ended after 55 days with Vietnamese insurgents overrunning French forces.
1960 Leonid Brezhnev replaced Marshal Kliment Voroshilov as president of the Supreme Soviet.
1977 Seattle Slew won the Kentucky Derby, on his way to horse racing's Triple Crown.
1984 A $180 million out-of-court settlement was announced in the Agent Orange class-action suit brought by Vietnam veterans.
1992 A 203-year-old proposed constitutional amendment barring Congress from giving itself a midterm pay raise was ratified when Michigan became the 38th state to approve it.
1992 Three employees at a McDonald's Restaurant in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada, were brutally murdered and a fourth permanently disabled after a botched robbery.
1998 The parent company of Mercedes-Benz agreed to buy Chrysler Corp. for more than $37 billion.
1999 NATO jets struck the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, killing three people and injuring 20; President Bill Clinton called the attack a "tragic mistake."
1999 A jury found The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Bros. liable in the shooting death of Scott Amedure, after the show purposely deceived Jonathan Schmitz to appear on a secret same-sex crush episode.
2000 President Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in Russia's first democratic transfer of power.
2001 Ronnie Biggs, the "Great Train Robber" who had eluded capture for decades following his prison escape in 1965, returned to Britain, where he was arrested and jailed to complete the 28 remaining years of his sentence.
2007 The tomb of Herod the Great was discovered.
2008 Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russia's president.
Chart Toppers
1951
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
Sparrow in the Treetop - Bing Crosby
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
1959
Come Softly to Me - The Fleetwoods
The Happy Organ - Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez
Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) - The Impalas
White Lightning - George Jones
1967
Somethin’ Stupid - Nancy Sinatra & Frank Sinatra
The Happening - The Supremes
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Need You - Sonny James
1975
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender
Chevy Van - Sammy Johns
Roll on Big Mama - Joe Stampley
1983
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Jeopardy - Greg Kihn Band
Let’s Dance - David Bowie
Jose Cuervo - Shelly West
1991
Baby Baby - Amy Grant
Joyride - Roxette
I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) - Hi-Five
Rockin’ Years - Dolly Parton with Ricky Van Shelton
Quote of the Day
Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both.
John Andrew Holmes
Today in History - May 8th
Today's Birthdays
1828 Jean Henri Dunant, author/philanthropist (Red Cross Society) died Oct 30, 1910
1848 Oscar Hammerstein I, playwright/producer; died Aug 1, 1919
1884 Harry S Truman, 33rd U.S. President, died Dec 26, 1972
1906 Roberto Rossellini, director (Seven Deadly Sins, The Messiah) died June 3, 1977
1911 Robert Johnson, Blues Hall of Fame singer/songwriter/guitarist,died Aug 16, 1938
1913 Bob Clampett, animator (Looney Tunes) died May 4, 1984
1919 Lex Barker, actor (La Dolce Vita) died May 11, 1973
1926 Don Rickles, comedian/actor (CPO Sharkey, Kelly’s Heroes)
1932 (Charles) Sonny Liston, International Boxing Hall of Famer, died Dec 30, 1970
1940 Peter Benchley, author (Jaws, The Deep) died Feb 11, 2006
1940 Ricky Nelson, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer, died in plane crash Dec 31, 1985
1940 Toni Tennille, singer (The Captain and Tenille)
1941 John Fred, singer (Judy in Disguise) died April 14, 2005
1943 Paul Samwell-Smith, bassist (The Yardbirds)
1944 Gary Glitter (Paul Gadd), singer (Rock And Roll Parts I & II)
1944 Captain Dale Dye, U.S. Marine/Hollywood consultant/actor (Saving Private Ryan)
1945 Keith Jarrett, pianist/composer
1951 Philip Bailey, singer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1951 Chris Frantz, drummer (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club)
1953 Alex Van Halen, drummer (Van Halen)
1953 Billy Burnette, singer/guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
1954 David Keith, actor (The Great Santini, An Officer and a Gentleman)
1954 Stephen Furst, actor (Animal House)
1957 Bill Cowher, former NFL coach/sportscaster
1958 Lovie Smith, NFL coach (Chicago Bears)
1960 Eric Brittingham, bassist (Cinderella)
1964 Melissa Gilbert, actress (Little House on the Prairie)
1964 Dave Rowntree, drummer (Blur)
1969 Chad Rowan, first foreign sumo Yokozuna (Akebono)
1972 Darren Hayes, singer (Savage Garden)
1974 Korey Stringer, NFL lineman (Vikings) died of a heat stroke Aug 1, 2001
1975 Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer (Rhythm Divine)
1978 Josie Maran, model (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue)
1980 Kimberlee Peterson, actress (NCIS)
1985 Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian women's hockey player (Olympic Gold medalist)
Today's Deaths in History
1819 Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii, dies at 61
1880 Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (Madame Bovary) dies at 58
1903 Paul Gauguin, French painter, dies at 54
1952 William Fox, film producer (Fox Films) dies at 73
1967 LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) dies at 55
1982 Neil Bogart, American record executive (Casablanca Records) dies at 39
1982 Gilles Villeneuve, Formula One race driver, dies in a crash during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at 32
1985 Dolph Sweet, actor (Dark Shadows) dies at 64
1988 Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer (Starship Troopers) dies at 80
1994 George Peppard, U.S. Marine/actor (The A-Team) dies at 65
1998 Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, banker/Watergate figure, dies at 85
1999 Dirk Bogarde, actor (The Servant) dies at 78
1999 Dana Plato, actress (Diff'rent Strokes) commits suicide at 34
2006 Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road photographer, dies at 67
2008 Eddy Arnold, country music star, dies at
2009 Dom DiMaggio, MLB center fielder (Boston Red Sox) dies at 92
Today in History
1541 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.
1794 Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror.
1846 The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas, resulting in victory for Gen. Zachary Taylor's forces.
1877 The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opened Gilmore's Gardens in New York City
1886 Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.
1914 Paramount Pictures was founded.
1933 Mohandas Gandhi began a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
1942 The Battle of the Coral Sea came to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
1944 The first eye bank was established, in New York City.
1945 President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe.
1958 Vice President Richard Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by anti-American protesters in Lima, Peru.
1968 Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins in Oakland; he also drove in three of the Athletics' four runs.
1970 Construction workers broke up an anti-war protest on New York City's Wall Street.
1970 The Beatles' album Let It Be was released.
1973 Militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.
1978 David Berkowitz pleaded guilty in Brooklyn to the Son of Sam killings.
1980 The eradication of smallpox was endorsed by the World Health Organization.
1987 Gary Hart, dogged by questions about his personal life, withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
1999 The Citadel, South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet.
2005 The new Canadian War Museum opened, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.
Chart Toppers
1944
I Love You - Bing Crosby
I’ll Get By - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Dick Haymes)
Long Ago and Far Away - Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Blue Tango - The Leroy Anderson Orchestra
Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Easy on the Eyes - Eddy Arnold
1960
Stuck on You - Elvis Presley
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
Sixteen Reasons - Connie Stevens
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Tighten Up - Archie Bell & the Drells
Young Girl - The Union Gap
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - Merle Haggard
1976
Welcome Back - John Sebastian
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Boogie Fever - Sylvers
My Eyes Can Only See as Far as You - Charley Pride
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes - The Oak Ridge Boys
Quote of the Day
Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.
William Feather (1908 - 1976)
Today's Birthdays
1828 Jean Henri Dunant, author/philanthropist (Red Cross Society) died Oct 30, 1910
1848 Oscar Hammerstein I, playwright/producer; died Aug 1, 1919
1884 Harry S Truman, 33rd U.S. President, died Dec 26, 1972
1906 Roberto Rossellini, director (Seven Deadly Sins, The Messiah) died June 3, 1977
1911 Robert Johnson, Blues Hall of Fame singer/songwriter/guitarist,died Aug 16, 1938
1913 Bob Clampett, animator (Looney Tunes) died May 4, 1984
1919 Lex Barker, actor (La Dolce Vita) died May 11, 1973
1926 Don Rickles, comedian/actor (CPO Sharkey, Kelly’s Heroes)
1932 (Charles) Sonny Liston, International Boxing Hall of Famer, died Dec 30, 1970
1940 Peter Benchley, author (Jaws, The Deep) died Feb 11, 2006
1940 Ricky Nelson, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer, died in plane crash Dec 31, 1985
1940 Toni Tennille, singer (The Captain and Tenille)
1941 John Fred, singer (Judy in Disguise) died April 14, 2005
1943 Paul Samwell-Smith, bassist (The Yardbirds)
1944 Gary Glitter (Paul Gadd), singer (Rock And Roll Parts I & II)
1944 Captain Dale Dye, U.S. Marine/Hollywood consultant/actor (Saving Private Ryan)
1945 Keith Jarrett, pianist/composer
1951 Philip Bailey, singer (Earth, Wind & Fire)
1951 Chris Frantz, drummer (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club)
1953 Alex Van Halen, drummer (Van Halen)
1953 Billy Burnette, singer/guitarist (Fleetwood Mac)
1954 David Keith, actor (The Great Santini, An Officer and a Gentleman)
1954 Stephen Furst, actor (Animal House)
1957 Bill Cowher, former NFL coach/sportscaster
1958 Lovie Smith, NFL coach (Chicago Bears)
1960 Eric Brittingham, bassist (Cinderella)
1964 Melissa Gilbert, actress (Little House on the Prairie)
1964 Dave Rowntree, drummer (Blur)
1969 Chad Rowan, first foreign sumo Yokozuna (Akebono)
1972 Darren Hayes, singer (Savage Garden)
1974 Korey Stringer, NFL lineman (Vikings) died of a heat stroke Aug 1, 2001
1975 Enrique Iglesias, Spanish singer (Rhythm Divine)
1978 Josie Maran, model (Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue)
1980 Kimberlee Peterson, actress (NCIS)
1985 Sarah Vaillancourt, Canadian women's hockey player (Olympic Gold medalist)
Today's Deaths in History
1819 Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii, dies at 61
1880 Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (Madame Bovary) dies at 58
1903 Paul Gauguin, French painter, dies at 54
1952 William Fox, film producer (Fox Films) dies at 73
1967 LaVerne Andrews, American singer (The Andrews Sisters) dies at 55
1982 Neil Bogart, American record executive (Casablanca Records) dies at 39
1982 Gilles Villeneuve, Formula One race driver, dies in a crash during practice for the Belgian Grand Prix at 32
1985 Dolph Sweet, actor (Dark Shadows) dies at 64
1988 Robert A. Heinlein, science fiction writer (Starship Troopers) dies at 80
1994 George Peppard, U.S. Marine/actor (The A-Team) dies at 65
1998 Charles "Bebe" Rebozo, banker/Watergate figure, dies at 85
1999 Dirk Bogarde, actor (The Servant) dies at 78
1999 Dana Plato, actress (Diff'rent Strokes) commits suicide at 34
2006 Iain MacMillan, Abbey Road photographer, dies at 67
2008 Eddy Arnold, country music star, dies at
2009 Dom DiMaggio, MLB center fielder (Boston Red Sox) dies at 92
Today in History
1541 Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River.
1794 Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, was executed on the guillotine during France's Reign of Terror.
1846 The first major battle of the Mexican War was fought at Palo Alto, Texas, resulting in victory for Gen. Zachary Taylor's forces.
1877 The first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opened Gilmore's Gardens in New York City
1886 Atlanta pharmacist John Styth Pemberton invented the flavor syrup for Coca-Cola.
1914 Paramount Pictures was founded.
1933 Mohandas Gandhi began a 21-day fast in protest against British oppression in India.
1942 The Battle of the Coral Sea came to an end with Japanese Imperial Navy aircraft carrier aircraft attacking and sinking the Navy aircraft carrier USS Lexington.
1944 The first eye bank was established, in New York City.
1945 President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that World War II had ended in Europe.
1958 Vice President Richard Nixon was shoved, stoned, booed and spat upon by anti-American protesters in Lima, Peru.
1968 Jim "Catfish" Hunter of the Oakland Athletics pitched a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins in Oakland; he also drove in three of the Athletics' four runs.
1970 Construction workers broke up an anti-war protest on New York City's Wall Street.
1970 The Beatles' album Let It Be was released.
1973 Militant American Indians who had held the South Dakota hamlet of Wounded Knee for 10 weeks surrendered.
1978 David Berkowitz pleaded guilty in Brooklyn to the Son of Sam killings.
1980 The eradication of smallpox was endorsed by the World Health Organization.
1987 Gary Hart, dogged by questions about his personal life, withdrew from the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
1999 The Citadel, South Carolina's formerly all-male military school, graduated its first female cadet.
2005 The new Canadian War Museum opened, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day.
Chart Toppers
1944
I Love You - Bing Crosby
I’ll Get By - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Dick Haymes)
Long Ago and Far Away - Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes
Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry - Al Dexter
1952
Blue Tango - The Leroy Anderson Orchestra
Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Easy on the Eyes - Eddy Arnold
1960
Stuck on You - Elvis Presley
Sink the Bismarck - Johnny Horton
Sixteen Reasons - Connie Stevens
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves
1968
Honey - Bobby Goldsboro
Tighten Up - Archie Bell & the Drells
Young Girl - The Union Gap
The Legend of Bonnie and Clyde - Merle Haggard
1976
Welcome Back - John Sebastian
Right Back Where We Started From - Maxine Nightingale
Boogie Fever - Sylvers
My Eyes Can Only See as Far as You - Charley Pride
1984
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
Hello - Lionel Richie
Hold Me Now - The Thompson Twins
I Guess It Never Hurts to Hurt Sometimes - The Oak Ridge Boys
Quote of the Day
Setting a good example for children takes all the fun out of middle age.
William Feather (1908 - 1976)
Today in History - May 9th
Today’s Birthdays
1800 John Brown, American abolitionist, tried for treason and hanged Dec 2, 1859
1860 J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (Peter Pan) died June 19, 1937
1882 Henry J. Kaiser, builder (Hoover Dam, Kaiser Shipyards) died Aug 24, 1967
1914 Hank Snow, country singer/songwriter (Hello Love) died Dec 20, 1999
1918 Mike Wallace, broadcast journalist (60 Minutes)
1920 Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down)
1928 Colin Chapman, English engineer/automobile manufacturer (Lotus)
1928 (Richard) Pancho Gonzales, U.S. Open Tennis Champion, died July 3, 1995
1935 Nokie Edwards, guitarist (The Ventures)
1936 Albert Finney, actor (Murder on the Orient Express)
1936 Glenda Jackson, actress (A Touch of Class)
1937 Sonny Curtis, guitarist (Buddy Holly & the Crickets)
1937 David Prater, singer (Sam & Dave) died April 9, 1988
1940 James L. Brooks, film producer/writer (Terms of Endearment)
1941 Pete Birrell, bassist (Freddie & the Dreamers)
1942 John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
1942 Tommy Roe, singer/songwriter (Dizzy)
1944 Richie Furay, singer/songwriter/guitarist (Poco, Buffalo Springfield)
1945 Steve Katz, producer/guitarist/harmonica/singer (Blood, Sweat and Tears)
1946 Candice Bergen, actress (Murphy Brown)
1946 Clint Holmes, singer/songwriter (Playground in My Mind)
1949 Billy Joel, singer/songwriter/pianist (Piano Man)
1950 Tom Petersson, bassist/singer (Cheap Trick)
1955 Kevin Peter Hall, actor (Predator, Harry & the Hendersons) died April 10, 1991
1956 Wendy Crewson, actress (The Santa Clause series)
1961 John Corbett, actor (Northern Exposure, The United States of Tara)
1962 David Gahan, singer (Depeche Mode)
1962 Paul Heaton, guitarist/singer (The Housemartins)
1970 Ghostface Killah, rapper (Wu-Tang Clan)
1971 Paul McGuigan, bassist (Oasis)
1977 Dan Regan, saxophonist (Reel Big Fish)
1979 Rosario Dawson, actress (Clerks II)
1982 Rachel Boston, actress (Grey's Anatomy, American Dreams)
1985 Audrina Patridge, TV personality (The Hills)
Today’s Deaths in History
1657 William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, dies at 67
1914 C.W. Post, food manufacturer (Post cereals) dies at 59
1957 Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (South Pacific) dies at 64
1977 James Jones, writer (From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line) dies at 55
1978 Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy, dies at 61
1985 Edmond O'Brien, actor (DOA) dies at 69
1986 Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (Edmund Hillary & Mount Everest) dies at 72
1989 Keith Whitley, country music singer, dies at 33
1998 Alice Faye, actress (Fallen Angel) dies at 83
2001 James E. Myers, songwriter/producer (Rock Around the Clock) dies at 81
2002 Dan Devine, former NCAA head coach (Notre Dame) dies at 77
2004 Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president assassinated at 52
2004 Alan King, comedian, dies at 76
2009 Chuck Daly, basketball coach (Detroit Pistons) dies at 78
Today in History
1502 Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1868 The city of Reno, Nevada, was founded.
1887 Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opened in London.
1901 Australia opened its first parliament in Melbourne.
1913 The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified.
1926 Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made what they claimed was the first airplane flight over the North Pole; evidence suggests they may have missed their target by 150 miles.
1936 Italy annexed Ethiopia.
1941 The German submarine U-110 was captured by the Royal Navy; on board was the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later used to break coded German messages.
1942 The SS murdered 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv.
1945 Hermann Göring was captured by the United States Army.
1950 L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is released.
1955 Sam and Friends debuted on a local United States television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets.
1960 The Food and Drug Administration approved use of a birth control pill.
1961 Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
1961 Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned TV programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
1974 The House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
1974 Bruce Springsteen performed a concert in Cambridge, Mass., that prompted rock critic Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll future and it's name is Bruce Springsteen."
1978 The bullet-riddled body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, who'd been abducted by the Red Brigades, was found in an automobile in the center of Rome.
1980 In Norco, California, five masked gunman held up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history; two of the gunmen and one police officer were killed and 33 police and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the chase.
1994 South Africa's newly-elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
1994 Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.
2000 Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards was convicted of extortion schemes to manipulate the licensing of riverboat casinos.
2002 Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening suspended executions in his state while a study was done on whether the death penalty was being meted out in a racially discriminatory way; Glendening's successor, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, lifted the moratorium seven months later.
2002 The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem came to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.
2004 Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed in a bombing in the capital Grozny.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
He’s Home for a Little While - Dinah Shore
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Song from Moulin Rouge - The Percy Faith Orchestra
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves
1961
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
A Hundred Pounds of Clay - Gene McDaniels
Hello Walls - Faron Young
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
Hair - The Cowsills
Hawaii Five-O - The Ventures
Hungry Eyes - Merle Haggard
1977
Hotel California - Eagles
When I Need You - Leo Sayer
Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
Play, Guitar Play - Conway Twitty
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
There’s No Way - Alabama
Quote of the Day
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.
Wilson Mizner (1876 - 1933)
Today’s Birthdays
1800 John Brown, American abolitionist, tried for treason and hanged Dec 2, 1859
1860 J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (Peter Pan) died June 19, 1937
1882 Henry J. Kaiser, builder (Hoover Dam, Kaiser Shipyards) died Aug 24, 1967
1914 Hank Snow, country singer/songwriter (Hello Love) died Dec 20, 1999
1918 Mike Wallace, broadcast journalist (60 Minutes)
1920 Richard Adams, English author (Watership Down)
1928 Colin Chapman, English engineer/automobile manufacturer (Lotus)
1928 (Richard) Pancho Gonzales, U.S. Open Tennis Champion, died July 3, 1995
1935 Nokie Edwards, guitarist (The Ventures)
1936 Albert Finney, actor (Murder on the Orient Express)
1936 Glenda Jackson, actress (A Touch of Class)
1937 Sonny Curtis, guitarist (Buddy Holly & the Crickets)
1937 David Prater, singer (Sam & Dave) died April 9, 1988
1940 James L. Brooks, film producer/writer (Terms of Endearment)
1941 Pete Birrell, bassist (Freddie & the Dreamers)
1942 John Ashcroft, United States Attorney General
1942 Tommy Roe, singer/songwriter (Dizzy)
1944 Richie Furay, singer/songwriter/guitarist (Poco, Buffalo Springfield)
1945 Steve Katz, producer/guitarist/harmonica/singer (Blood, Sweat and Tears)
1946 Candice Bergen, actress (Murphy Brown)
1946 Clint Holmes, singer/songwriter (Playground in My Mind)
1949 Billy Joel, singer/songwriter/pianist (Piano Man)
1950 Tom Petersson, bassist/singer (Cheap Trick)
1955 Kevin Peter Hall, actor (Predator, Harry & the Hendersons) died April 10, 1991
1956 Wendy Crewson, actress (The Santa Clause series)
1961 John Corbett, actor (Northern Exposure, The United States of Tara)
1962 David Gahan, singer (Depeche Mode)
1962 Paul Heaton, guitarist/singer (The Housemartins)
1970 Ghostface Killah, rapper (Wu-Tang Clan)
1971 Paul McGuigan, bassist (Oasis)
1977 Dan Regan, saxophonist (Reel Big Fish)
1979 Rosario Dawson, actress (Clerks II)
1982 Rachel Boston, actress (Grey's Anatomy, American Dreams)
1985 Audrina Patridge, TV personality (The Hills)
Today’s Deaths in History
1657 William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth Colony, dies at 67
1914 C.W. Post, food manufacturer (Post cereals) dies at 59
1957 Ezio Pinza, Italian bass (South Pacific) dies at 64
1977 James Jones, writer (From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line) dies at 55
1978 Aldo Moro, Prime Minister of Italy, dies at 61
1985 Edmond O'Brien, actor (DOA) dies at 69
1986 Tenzing Norgay, Nepalese sherpa (Edmund Hillary & Mount Everest) dies at 72
1989 Keith Whitley, country music singer, dies at 33
1998 Alice Faye, actress (Fallen Angel) dies at 83
2001 James E. Myers, songwriter/producer (Rock Around the Clock) dies at 81
2002 Dan Devine, former NCAA head coach (Notre Dame) dies at 77
2004 Akhmad Kadyrov, Chechen president assassinated at 52
2004 Alan King, comedian, dies at 76
2009 Chuck Daly, basketball coach (Detroit Pistons) dies at 78
Today in History
1502 Christopher Columbus left Cadiz, Spain, on his fourth and final trip to the Western Hemisphere.
1868 The city of Reno, Nevada, was founded.
1887 Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opened in London.
1901 Australia opened its first parliament in Melbourne.
1913 The 17th amendment to the Constitution, providing for the popular election of U.S. senators, was ratified.
1926 Americans Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett made what they claimed was the first airplane flight over the North Pole; evidence suggests they may have missed their target by 150 miles.
1936 Italy annexed Ethiopia.
1941 The German submarine U-110 was captured by the Royal Navy; on board was the latest Enigma cryptography machine which Allied cryptographers later used to break coded German messages.
1942 The SS murdered 588 Jewish residents of the Podolian town of Zinkiv.
1945 Hermann Göring was captured by the United States Army.
1950 L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health is released.
1955 Sam and Friends debuted on a local United States television channel, marking the first television appearance of both Jim Henson and what would become Kermit the Frog and the Muppets.
1960 The Food and Drug Administration approved use of a birth control pill.
1961 Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles became the first player in baseball history to hit grand slams in consecutive innings.
1961 Federal Communications Commission chairman Newton N. Minow condemned TV programming as a "vast wasteland" in a speech to the National Association of Broadcasters.
1974 The House Judiciary Committee opened hearings on whether to recommend the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.
1974 Bruce Springsteen performed a concert in Cambridge, Mass., that prompted rock critic Jon Landau to write, "I saw rock and roll future and it's name is Bruce Springsteen."
1978 The bullet-riddled body of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro, who'd been abducted by the Red Brigades, was found in an automobile in the center of Rome.
1980 In Norco, California, five masked gunman held up a Security Pacific bank, leading to a violent shoot-out and one of the largest pursuits in California history; two of the gunmen and one police officer were killed and 33 police and civilian vehicles were destroyed in the chase.
1994 South Africa's newly-elected parliament chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black president.
1994 Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, was placed under quarantine after an outbreak of Ebola virus.
2000 Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards was convicted of extortion schemes to manipulate the licensing of riverboat casinos.
2002 Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening suspended executions in his state while a study was done on whether the death penalty was being meted out in a racially discriminatory way; Glendening's successor, Gov. Robert Ehrlich, lifted the moratorium seven months later.
2002 The 38-day stand-off in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem came to an end when the Palestinians inside agreed to have 13 suspected militants among them deported to several different countries.
2004 Chechen president Akhmad Kadyrov and 23 other people were killed in a bombing in the capital Grozny.
Chart Toppers
1945
Candy - Johnny Mercer & Jo Stafford
I’m Beginning to See the Light - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
He’s Home for a Little While - Dinah Shore
Smoke on the Water - Bob Wills
1953
Pretend - Nat King Cole
Song from Moulin Rouge - The Percy Faith Orchestra
I Believe - Frankie Laine
Mexican Joe - Jim Reeves
1961
Runaway - Del Shannon
Mother-In-Law - Ernie K-Doe
A Hundred Pounds of Clay - Gene McDaniels
Hello Walls - Faron Young
1969
Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In - The 5th Dimension
Hair - The Cowsills
Hawaii Five-O - The Ventures
Hungry Eyes - Merle Haggard
1977
Hotel California - Eagles
When I Need You - Leo Sayer
Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
Play, Guitar Play - Conway Twitty
1985
We are the World - USA for Africa
Crazy for You - Madonna
Don’t You Forget About Me - Simple Minds
There’s No Way - Alabama
Quote of the Day
A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.
Wilson Mizner (1876 - 1933)
Today in History - May 10th
Today’s Birthdays
1760 Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, composer (La Marseillaise) died June 26, 1836
1838 John Wilkes Booth, actor/assassin (Abraham Lincoln) died April 26, 1865
1850 Thomas Lipton, founder (Lipton Tea Co.) died Oct 2, 1931
1899 Fred Astaire, dancer/actor (Daddy Long legs) died June 22, 1987
1902 David O. Selznick, film producer (Gone With the Wind) died June 22, 1965
1909 Maybelle Carter, country singer (mother of June Carter Cash) died Oct 23, 1978
1915 Denis Thatcher, British businessman/husband of Margaret Thatcher, died June 26, 2003
1922 Nancy Walker, actress (McMillan and Wife) died Mar 25, 1992
1930 Pat Summerall, sports broadcaster (CBS, Fox, ESPN)
1930 Scott Muni, Disc Jockey (Beatles) died Sept 28, 2004
1936 Gary Owens, actor/announcer (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
1938 Henry Fambrough, singer (Spinners)
1941 Danny Rapp, singer (Danny & the Juniors)
1942 Jim Calhoun, basketball coach (Connecticut)
1944 Jim Abrahams, film director (Naked Gun series)
1946 Donovan, Scottish singer (Hurdy Gurdy Man, Mellow Yellow)
1946 Dave Mason, guitarist/singer (Traffic)
1946 Graham Gouldman, guitarist/bassist/songwriter (10cc)
1947 Jay (John) Ferguson, singer (Spirit)
1951 Ron Banks, R&B singer (The Dramatics)
1955 Chris Berman, sportscaster (ESPN)
1955 Mark David Chapman, assassin (John Lennon)
1957 Sid Vicious, punk bassist (The Sex Pistols) died February 2, 1979
1960 Bono, Irish rock singer (U2)
1960 Victoria Rowell, actress (Diagnosis: Murder)
1961 Danny Carey, drummer (Tool)
1965 Linda Evangelista, supermodel
1965 Krist Novoselic, guitarist (Nirvana)
1967 Young MC, rapper (Bust a Move)
1968 Eric Palladino, actor (ER, U-571)
1970 Gina Phillips, actress (Hawaii)
1973 Dario Franchitti, IRL race driver/Mr. Ashley Judd
1975 Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian IRL driver/TV personality (Dancing with the Stars)
1975 Andrea Anders, actress (The Class)
1976 Rhona Bennett, singer (En Vogue)
1978 Kenan Thompson, actor/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Snakes on a Plane)
Today’s Deaths in History
1566 Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (co-founder of botany) dies at 65
1774 King Louis XV of France dies at 64
1818 Paul Revere, American patriot, dies at 83
1863 Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general, dies at 39 after being accidentally being shot by his own men
1968 Scotty Beckett, child actor (Our Gang) dies at 38
1977 Joan Crawford, actress (Mildred Pierce, Caged) dies at 73
1989 Woody Shaw, jazz trumpeter/composer, dies at 44
1990 Susan Oliver, actress (Star Trek) dies at 58
1994 John Wayne Gacy, serial killer, is executed at 52 for the rape and murder of 33 boys
1999 Shel Silverstein, poet/composer (Where the Sidewalk Ends) dies at 68
2000 Bart the Bear, animal actor (The Edge, Legends of the Fall) dies at 23
2001 Deborah Walley, actress (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) dies at 57
2005 David Wayne, rock singer (Metal Church) dies at 47 after a car crash
2006 A.M. Rosenthal, newspaper editor (New York Daily News) dies at 84
Today in History
1503 Christopher Columbus visited the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
1774 Louis XVI ascended the throne of France.
1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, N.Y.
1863 Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died eight days after he was accidentally shot by his own troops.
1865 Union forces captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga.
1869 A golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
1872 Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
1893 The Supreme Court ruled in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
1908 The first Mother's Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia.
1924 J. Edgar Hoover became director of the FBI, a job he held until his death in 1972.
1933 The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.
1940 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government.
1941 Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission.
1954 Bill Haley & His Comets released "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
1960 The nuclear submarine USS Triton completed the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
1968 Preliminary Vietnam peace talks began in Paris.
1994 The state of Illinois executed convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murders of 33 young men and boys.
1994 Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.
1997 An earthquake in northeastern Iran killed at least 2,400 people.
2002 A 39-day standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ended with 13 suspected militants flown into European exile and 26 released into the Gaza Strip.
2002 F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2003 The New York Times announced that one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, had "committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud."
2005 Germany dedicated a national Holocaust memorial.
2005 A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutinian landed about 65 feet from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctioned and did not detonate.
2008 Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush, married Henry Hager at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Shoo Fly Pie - The Stan Kenton Orchestra (vocal: June Christy)
One-zy, Two-zy - Phil Harris
New Spanish Two Step - Bob Wills
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
Little Things Mean a Lot - Kitty Kallen
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Soldier Boy - The Shirelles
Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp
Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
American Woman/No Sugar Tonight - The Guess Who
Vehicle - The Ides of March
Love or Let Me Be Lonely - The Friends of Distinction
The Pool Shark - Dave Dudley
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
The Closer I Get to You - Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right - Dolly Parton
1986
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
Why Can’t This Be Love - Van Halen
Grandpa (Tell Me ’bout the Good Old Days) - The Judds
Quote of the Day
Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
Today’s Birthdays
1760 Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, composer (La Marseillaise) died June 26, 1836
1838 John Wilkes Booth, actor/assassin (Abraham Lincoln) died April 26, 1865
1850 Thomas Lipton, founder (Lipton Tea Co.) died Oct 2, 1931
1899 Fred Astaire, dancer/actor (Daddy Long legs) died June 22, 1987
1902 David O. Selznick, film producer (Gone With the Wind) died June 22, 1965
1909 Maybelle Carter, country singer (mother of June Carter Cash) died Oct 23, 1978
1915 Denis Thatcher, British businessman/husband of Margaret Thatcher, died June 26, 2003
1922 Nancy Walker, actress (McMillan and Wife) died Mar 25, 1992
1930 Pat Summerall, sports broadcaster (CBS, Fox, ESPN)
1930 Scott Muni, Disc Jockey (Beatles) died Sept 28, 2004
1936 Gary Owens, actor/announcer (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
1938 Henry Fambrough, singer (Spinners)
1941 Danny Rapp, singer (Danny & the Juniors)
1942 Jim Calhoun, basketball coach (Connecticut)
1944 Jim Abrahams, film director (Naked Gun series)
1946 Donovan, Scottish singer (Hurdy Gurdy Man, Mellow Yellow)
1946 Dave Mason, guitarist/singer (Traffic)
1946 Graham Gouldman, guitarist/bassist/songwriter (10cc)
1947 Jay (John) Ferguson, singer (Spirit)
1951 Ron Banks, R&B singer (The Dramatics)
1955 Chris Berman, sportscaster (ESPN)
1955 Mark David Chapman, assassin (John Lennon)
1957 Sid Vicious, punk bassist (The Sex Pistols) died February 2, 1979
1960 Bono, Irish rock singer (U2)
1960 Victoria Rowell, actress (Diagnosis: Murder)
1961 Danny Carey, drummer (Tool)
1965 Linda Evangelista, supermodel
1965 Krist Novoselic, guitarist (Nirvana)
1967 Young MC, rapper (Bust a Move)
1968 Eric Palladino, actor (ER, U-571)
1970 Gina Phillips, actress (Hawaii)
1973 Dario Franchitti, IRL race driver/Mr. Ashley Judd
1975 Hélio Castroneves, Brazilian IRL driver/TV personality (Dancing with the Stars)
1975 Andrea Anders, actress (The Class)
1976 Rhona Bennett, singer (En Vogue)
1978 Kenan Thompson, actor/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Snakes on a Plane)
Today’s Deaths in History
1566 Leonhart Fuchs, German botanist (co-founder of botany) dies at 65
1774 King Louis XV of France dies at 64
1818 Paul Revere, American patriot, dies at 83
1863 Stonewall Jackson, Confederate general, dies at 39 after being accidentally being shot by his own men
1968 Scotty Beckett, child actor (Our Gang) dies at 38
1977 Joan Crawford, actress (Mildred Pierce, Caged) dies at 73
1989 Woody Shaw, jazz trumpeter/composer, dies at 44
1990 Susan Oliver, actress (Star Trek) dies at 58
1994 John Wayne Gacy, serial killer, is executed at 52 for the rape and murder of 33 boys
1999 Shel Silverstein, poet/composer (Where the Sidewalk Ends) dies at 68
2000 Bart the Bear, animal actor (The Edge, Legends of the Fall) dies at 23
2001 Deborah Walley, actress (Gidget Goes Hawaiian) dies at 57
2005 David Wayne, rock singer (Metal Church) dies at 47 after a car crash
2006 A.M. Rosenthal, newspaper editor (New York Daily News) dies at 84
Today in History
1503 Christopher Columbus visited the Cayman Islands and named them Las Tortugas after the numerous turtles there.
1774 Louis XVI ascended the throne of France.
1775 Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured the British-held fortress at Ticonderoga, N.Y.
1863 Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died eight days after he was accidentally shot by his own troops.
1865 Union forces captured Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Irwinville, Ga.
1869 A golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
1872 Victoria Woodhull became the first woman nominated for President of the United States.
1893 The Supreme Court ruled in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato was a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883.
1908 The first Mother's Day observance took place during church services in Grafton, W.Va., and Philadelphia.
1924 J. Edgar Hoover became director of the FBI, a job he held until his death in 1972.
1933 The Nazis staged massive public book burnings in Germany.
1940 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned, and Winston Churchill formed a new government.
1941 Adolf Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess, parachuted into Scotland on what he claimed was a peace mission.
1954 Bill Haley & His Comets released "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts.
1960 The nuclear submarine USS Triton completed the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.
1968 Preliminary Vietnam peace talks began in Paris.
1994 The state of Illinois executed convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy for the murders of 33 young men and boys.
1994 Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as South Africa's first black president.
1997 An earthquake in northeastern Iran killed at least 2,400 people.
2002 A 39-day standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem ended with 13 suspected militants flown into European exile and 26 released into the Gaza Strip.
2002 F.B.I. agent Robert Hanssen was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling United States secrets to Moscow for $1.4 million in cash and diamonds.
2003 The New York Times announced that one of its reporters, Jayson Blair, had "committed frequent acts of journalistic fraud."
2005 Germany dedicated a national Holocaust memorial.
2005 A hand grenade thrown by Vladimir Arutinian landed about 65 feet from U.S. President George W. Bush while he was giving a speech to a crowd in Tbilisi, Georgia, but it malfunctioned and did not detonate.
2008 Jenna Bush, daughter of President George W. Bush, married Henry Hager at the Bush family ranch in Crawford, Texas.
Chart Toppers
1946
Oh, What It Seemed to Be - The Frankie Carle Orchestra (vocal: Marjorie Hughes)
Shoo Fly Pie - The Stan Kenton Orchestra (vocal: June Christy)
One-zy, Two-zy - Phil Harris
New Spanish Two Step - Bob Wills
1954
Wanted - Perry Como
Young at Heart - Frank Sinatra
Little Things Mean a Lot - Kitty Kallen
Slowly - Webb Pierce
1962
Soldier Boy - The Shirelles
Mashed Potato Time - Dee Dee Sharp
Stranger on the Shore - Mr. Acker Bilk
Charlie’s Shoes - Billy Walker
1970
American Woman/No Sugar Tonight - The Guess Who
Vehicle - The Ides of March
Love or Let Me Be Lonely - The Friends of Distinction
The Pool Shark - Dave Dudley
1978
Night Fever - Bee Gees
If I Can’t Have You - Yvonne Elliman
The Closer I Get to You - Roberta Flack with Donny Hathaway
It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right - Dolly Parton
1986
West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys
Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston
Why Can’t This Be Love - Van Halen
Grandpa (Tell Me ’bout the Good Old Days) - The Judds
Quote of the Day
Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
Robert Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
Today in History - May 11th
Today’s Birthdays
1811 Chang and Eng Bunker, famous conjoined twins, died Jan 17, 1874
1875 Harriet Quimby, aviator (first woman to receive pilot's license) died July 1, 1912
1888 Irving Berlin, composer (God Bless America, White Christmas) died Sept 22, 1989
1894 Martha Graham, modern dancer/choreographer, died Apr 1, 1991
1904 Salvadore (Felipe Jacinto) Dalí (y Domenech), surrealist artist, died Jan 23, 1989
1911 Phil Silvers (Philip Silversmith), comedian/actor (Sgt. Bilko) died Nov 1, 1985
1912 Foster Brooks, comedian/actor (Mork & Mindy) died Dec 20, 2001
1918 Richard Feynman, physicist/Nobel Prize laureate (atomic bomb) died Feb 15, 1988
1920 Denver Pyle, actor (The Dukes of Hazzard) died Dec 25, 1997
1927 Mort Sahl, comedian/actor (Don’t Make Waves)
1932 Valentino (Garavani), fashion designer
1933 Louis Farrakhan, Black Muslim leader
1935 Doug McClure, actor (Shenandoah) died Feb 5, 1995
1941 Eric Burdon, singer (War, The Animals)
1943 Les (John) Chadwick, bassist (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
1946 Robert Jarvik, physician/inventor (Jarvik 7 artificial heart)
1947 Butch Trucks, drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)
1952 Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress (House of Sand and Fog)
1958 Christian Brando, actor/eldest child of Marlon Brando, died January 26, 2008
1959 Martha Quinn, television personality (MTV VJ)
1963 Natasha Richardson, actress (Widow’s Peak, Nell) died March 18, 2009
1965 Greg Dulli, singer (The Afghan Whigs)
1966 Christoph Schneider, drummer (Rammstein)
1966 Nancy Hower, actress (Star Trek: Voyager)
1968 Jeffrey Donovan, actor (Burn Notice)
1970 Nicky Katt, actor (Dazed & Confused, Grindhouse)
1975 Coby Bell, actor (Third Watch)
1978 Laetitia Casta, supermodel/actress
1982 Jonathan Jackson, actor (Tuck Everlasting)
1983 Holly Valance, actress/singer (DOA: Dead or Alive)
1983 Matt Leinart, NFL quarterback (Arizona Cardinals)
Today’s Deaths in History
1960 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., philanthropist, dies at 86
1970 Johnny Hodges, Jazz saxophonist (Duke Ellington) dies at 62
1973 Lex Barker, actor (Tarzan) dies at 54
1979 Barbara Hutton, former Mrs. Cary Grant, dies at 66
1979 Lester Flatt, bluegrass musician (Flatt & Scruggs) dies at 64
1981 Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer/musician, dies at 36
1985 Chester Gould, cartoonist (Dick Tracy) dies at 1984
1988 Kim Philby, British intelligence officer/KGB spy, dies at 76
2001 Douglas Adams, author (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series) dies at 49
2003 Noel Redding, bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), dies at 57
2004 John Whitehead, R&B singer (McFadden & Whitehead) dies at 54
2006 Floyd Patterson, champion boxer (youngest to win the heavyweight title) dies at 71
2006 Frankie Thomas, actor (Tom Corbett: Space Cadet) dies at 85
2008 John Rutsey, drummer (founding member of Rush) dies at 55
Today in History
1310 In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake as heretics.
1647 Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor.
1858 Minnesota became the 32nd state.
1862 The ironclad CSS Virginia was scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
1894 Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Co. in Illinois went on strike; the job action spread and crippled railroad service nationwide before the federal government intervened to end the strike in July.
1910 Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
1924 Mercedes-Benz was formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.
1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.
1944 Allied forces launched a major offensive in central Italy.
1946 The first CARE packages for Europe arrived at Le Havre, France.
1947 The B.F. Goodrich Co. of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.
1949 Israel was admitted to the United Nations.
1949 Siam changed its named to Thailand.
1953 An F5 tornado hit downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
1960 The first contraceptive pill was made available on the market.
1973 Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by a judge who cited government misconduct.
1987 Klaus Barbie went on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
1996 An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board
1997 The Deep Blue IBM computer defeated Garry Kasparov to win a six-game chess match between man and machine in New York.
1998 India set off three underground atomic blasts, its first nuclear tests in 24 years.
1998 A French mint produced the first coins of Europe's single currency, the euro.
2004 A video on an al-Qaida-linked Web site showed the beheading of American hostage Nicholas Berg, who had been kidnapped in Iraq.
Chart Toppers
1947
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
New Jolie Blonde (New Pretty Blonde) - Red Foley
1955
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
Honey-Babe - Art Mooney
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary
If You Wanna Be Happy - Jimmy Soul
Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
I Am...I Said - Neil Diamond
How Much More Can She Stand - Conway Twitty
1979
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
Stumblin’ In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
Backside of Thirty - John Conlee
1987
(I Just) Died in Your Arms - Cutting Crew
Looking for a New Love - Jody Watley
With or Without You - U2
The Moon is Still Over Her Shoulder - Michael Johnson
Quote of the Day
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?
Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000)
Today’s Birthdays
1811 Chang and Eng Bunker, famous conjoined twins, died Jan 17, 1874
1875 Harriet Quimby, aviator (first woman to receive pilot's license) died July 1, 1912
1888 Irving Berlin, composer (God Bless America, White Christmas) died Sept 22, 1989
1894 Martha Graham, modern dancer/choreographer, died Apr 1, 1991
1904 Salvadore (Felipe Jacinto) Dalí (y Domenech), surrealist artist, died Jan 23, 1989
1911 Phil Silvers (Philip Silversmith), comedian/actor (Sgt. Bilko) died Nov 1, 1985
1912 Foster Brooks, comedian/actor (Mork & Mindy) died Dec 20, 2001
1918 Richard Feynman, physicist/Nobel Prize laureate (atomic bomb) died Feb 15, 1988
1920 Denver Pyle, actor (The Dukes of Hazzard) died Dec 25, 1997
1927 Mort Sahl, comedian/actor (Don’t Make Waves)
1932 Valentino (Garavani), fashion designer
1933 Louis Farrakhan, Black Muslim leader
1935 Doug McClure, actor (Shenandoah) died Feb 5, 1995
1941 Eric Burdon, singer (War, The Animals)
1943 Les (John) Chadwick, bassist (Gerry & the Pacemakers)
1946 Robert Jarvik, physician/inventor (Jarvik 7 artificial heart)
1947 Butch Trucks, drummer (The Allman Brothers Band)
1952 Shohreh Aghdashloo, actress (House of Sand and Fog)
1958 Christian Brando, actor/eldest child of Marlon Brando, died January 26, 2008
1959 Martha Quinn, television personality (MTV VJ)
1963 Natasha Richardson, actress (Widow’s Peak, Nell) died March 18, 2009
1965 Greg Dulli, singer (The Afghan Whigs)
1966 Christoph Schneider, drummer (Rammstein)
1966 Nancy Hower, actress (Star Trek: Voyager)
1968 Jeffrey Donovan, actor (Burn Notice)
1970 Nicky Katt, actor (Dazed & Confused, Grindhouse)
1975 Coby Bell, actor (Third Watch)
1978 Laetitia Casta, supermodel/actress
1982 Jonathan Jackson, actor (Tuck Everlasting)
1983 Holly Valance, actress/singer (DOA: Dead or Alive)
1983 Matt Leinart, NFL quarterback (Arizona Cardinals)
Today’s Deaths in History
1960 John D. Rockefeller, Jr., philanthropist, dies at 86
1970 Johnny Hodges, Jazz saxophonist (Duke Ellington) dies at 62
1973 Lex Barker, actor (Tarzan) dies at 54
1979 Barbara Hutton, former Mrs. Cary Grant, dies at 66
1979 Lester Flatt, bluegrass musician (Flatt & Scruggs) dies at 64
1981 Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer/musician, dies at 36
1985 Chester Gould, cartoonist (Dick Tracy) dies at 1984
1988 Kim Philby, British intelligence officer/KGB spy, dies at 76
2001 Douglas Adams, author (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series) dies at 49
2003 Noel Redding, bassist (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), dies at 57
2004 John Whitehead, R&B singer (McFadden & Whitehead) dies at 54
2006 Floyd Patterson, champion boxer (youngest to win the heavyweight title) dies at 71
2006 Frankie Thomas, actor (Tom Corbett: Space Cadet) dies at 85
2008 John Rutsey, drummer (founding member of Rush) dies at 55
Today in History
1310 In France, fifty-four members of the Knights Templar were burned at the stake as heretics.
1647 Peter Stuyvesant arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor.
1858 Minnesota became the 32nd state.
1862 The ironclad CSS Virginia was scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.
1894 Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Co. in Illinois went on strike; the job action spread and crippled railroad service nationwide before the federal government intervened to end the strike in July.
1910 Glacier National Park in Montana was established.
1924 Mercedes-Benz was formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies.
1927 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was founded.
1944 Allied forces launched a major offensive in central Italy.
1946 The first CARE packages for Europe arrived at Le Havre, France.
1947 The B.F. Goodrich Co. of Akron, Ohio, announced the development of a tubeless tire.
1949 Israel was admitted to the United Nations.
1949 Siam changed its named to Thailand.
1953 An F5 tornado hit downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114.
1960 The first contraceptive pill was made available on the market.
1973 Charges against Daniel Ellsberg for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were dismissed by a judge who cited government misconduct.
1987 Klaus Barbie went on trial in Lyon for war crimes committed during World War II.
1996 An Atlanta-bound ValuJet DC-9 caught fire shortly after takeoff from Miami and crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board
1997 The Deep Blue IBM computer defeated Garry Kasparov to win a six-game chess match between man and machine in New York.
1998 India set off three underground atomic blasts, its first nuclear tests in 24 years.
1998 A French mint produced the first coins of Europe's single currency, the euro.
2004 A video on an al-Qaida-linked Web site showed the beheading of American hostage Nicholas Berg, who had been kidnapped in Iraq.
Chart Toppers
1947
Linda - Buddy Clark with the Ray Noble Orchestra
Heartaches - The Ted Weems Orchestra (whistler: Elmo Tanner)
The Anniversary Song - Dinah Shore
New Jolie Blonde (New Pretty Blonde) - Red Foley
1955
Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White - Perez Prado
Unchained Melody - Les Baxter
Honey-Babe - Art Mooney
In the Jailhouse Now - Webb Pierce
1963
I Will Follow Him - Little Peggy March
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul & Mary
If You Wanna Be Happy - Jimmy Soul
Lonesome 7-7203 - Hawkshaw Hawkins
1971
Joy to the World - Three Dog Night
Never Can Say Goodbye - The Jackson 5
I Am...I Said - Neil Diamond
How Much More Can She Stand - Conway Twitty
1979
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
Stumblin’ In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
Backside of Thirty - John Conlee
1987
(I Just) Died in Your Arms - Cutting Crew
Looking for a New Love - Jody Watley
With or Without You - U2
The Moon is Still Over Her Shoulder - Michael Johnson
Quote of the Day
My life has no purpose, no direction, no aim, no meaning, and yet I'm happy. I can't figure it out. What am I doing right?
Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000)
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