Wednesday, June 27, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Julia Duffy (actress, Newhart and Designing Women) (61)
• Tobey Maguire (actor, the Spiderman films, Seabiscuit, Cider House Rules, The Ice Storm, Wonder Boys) (37)
• Ross Perot (billionaireTexas businessman, ran as a third-party candidate for president in 1992 and 1996) (82)
• Madylin Sweeten (actress, Everybody Loves Raymond's Ally, American Splendor) (21)
• Bruce Johnston (of the Beach Boys) (70)
• Ted Haggard (disgraced evangelical preacher) (56)
• J.J. Abrams (producer, writer, director, creator, Lost, Alias, Felicity, Mission: Impossible III, Cloverfield, Star Trek, Super 8, Star Trek 2, Fringe) (46)
• Khloe Kardashian Odom (reality TV star) (28)
• Ed Westwick (actor, Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass) (25)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1880, Helen Keller is born.
• 1927, Actor Bob Keeshan (the original Captain Kangaroo, The Howdy Doody Show's Clarabell The Clown) is born. He dies in 2004.
• 1949, Captain Video & His Video Rangers, a science-fiction adventure show, debuted on TV. Captain Video battled bad guys from all over the universe.
• 1950, President Harry Truman ordered the Air Force and Navy into the Korean conflict, following a call from the United Nations Security Council for member nations to help South Korea repel an invasion from North Korea.
• 1964, The Beatles release "Sie Liebt Dich," a German version of "She Loves You."
• 1966, The vampire-themed soap opera Dark Shadows premieres.
• 1969, patrons at the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, clashed with police during a raid. The incident is considered a landmark of the gay rights movement.
• 1971, Who's Next by the Who is released.
• 1973, former White House counsel John W. Dean told the Senate Watergate Committee about the existence of an "enemies list" kept by the White House.
• 1973, The James Bond movie Live And Let Die, starring Roger Moore, in his first outing as 007, Yaphet Kotto, and Jane Seymour, opens.
• 1974, The TV series The Flip Wilson Show airs for the last time.
• 1975, golfers Lee Trevino, Bobby Nicholas, and Jerry Heard were struck by lightning during the Western Open in Chicago. Previously, the three had won a total of 34 tournaments, however for several years after the strike, only one of them won a tournament.
• 1978 The Cure receives rejection letters from Phonogram Records and Island Records.
• 1978, Peter Gabriel releases his second solo album, which, like the first, is self- titled.
• 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation into law that revived draft registration.
• 1984, The PG-13 rating is instituted by the MPAA.
• 1985, the legendary Route 66, which originally ran fromChicago toSanta Monica,California, was decertified by officials.
• 1986 Black Flag gives its final performance inDetroit.
• 1987, "In Too Deep" by Genesis peaks Number Three on the pop chart.
• 1987, Girls, Girls, Girls by Motley Crue peaks at Number Two on the album chart.
• 1991, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black member of the nation's highest court, announced his retirement after 24 years.
• 1993 Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett are wed inMarion,Indiana. The marriage ends in divorce.
• 1994, A New York autograph dealer puts up for sale a furious letter from the late John Lennon to his former Beatle-mate Paul McCartney. In the note, Lennon tells Linda McCartney to "shut up."
• 1994, Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith and billionaire J. Howard Marshall II are married. He dies in August 1995, and Smith battled for the rest of her life for what she claimed was her fair share of his estate.
• 1996 Lollapalooza kicks off. Kirk Hammett of headliners Metallica introduces special guests the Cocteau Twins as "my favorite band," but they still get booed by the audience.
• 1996 Sammy Hagar officially quits/is fired from (depending on which story you believe) Van Halen amidst rumors that the band is once again working with David Lee Roth.
• 1996 Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland leaves thePasadena rehab clinic where he had been ordered to spend four to six months by a court judge. A warrant is put out for his arrest.
• 1999 Jimmy Page is backed by the Black Crowes at the Cafe Du Paris in London, where they welcome special guests Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith.
• 2000 At a show in Seattle, the Screaming Trees announce that they are splitting up.
• 2002, Who bassist John Entwistle dies in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas at age 57.
• 2004 Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry appears on the cooking show Emeril Live!, where he plays with the house band and uses his Rock Your World Boneyard Brew hot sauce to cook.
• 2004 Muse drummer Dominic Howard's father, Bill Howard, dies backstage at the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset, England, shortly after the band finishes a triumphant headlining performance.
• 2006 Dashboard Confessional releases its album Dusk and Summer after a year of writing and recording.
• 2006 Guns N' Roses frontman W. Axl Rose is arrested inStockholm,Sweden after allegedly biting a security guard at his hotel on the leg. Rose is apparently inebriated during the encounter and attacks the guard after he tries to intervene in an argument between Rose and his assistant. Rose is held overnight in jail and released after paying fines of approximately $6,800.
• 2006 Welsh act Lostprophets release their third album, titled Liberation Transmission.
• 2007 Marilyn Manson attends the opening of his latest art exhibition at Gallery Brigitte Schenk inCologne,Germany, featuring 40 watercolors by the shock-rocker.
• 2007 Nickelback, Puddle Of Mudd, Panic! At The Disco and others make a list of the 25 Most Ridiculous Band Names In Rock History, created by Cracked.com. Topping the list is indie band !!! (pronounced "chk-chk-chk"), with acts like Hootie and the Blowfish, Hoobastank and Limp Bizkit all making the Top 10.
• 2007 The White Stripes debut at Number Two on the Billboard album chart with the band's sixth album, Icky Thump, selling 223,000 copies in its first week of release. The sales and chart placement are both the best in the duo's career.
• 2008 Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler admits to the Associated Press that he checked into aCalifornia rehab facility the month before to fight off a dependency on pain and sleep medication.
• 2010 Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil is stopped byLas Vegas police and arrested for driving under the influence.