Thursday, June 28, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Kellie Pickler (country star, and American Idol contestant) (26)
• Kathy Bates (Oscar-winning actress, Misery, Titanic, Fried Green Tomatoes, About Schmidt, Bee Movie) (64)
• Danielle Brisebois (singer-actress, played little Stephanie on All In The Family, also appeared in Knots Landing) (43)
• Mel Brooks (Comedic movie writer, director and actor, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, History Of The World Part I, The Producers) (86)
• John Cusack (actor, Say Anything, Runaway Jury, Grosse Point Blank, High Fidelity, Must Love Dogs, The Ice Harvest, 1408, 2012, The Raven) (46)
• John Elway (Former NFL star quarterback) (52)
• Mary Stuart Masterson (actress, Weeds, Fried Green Tomatoes, Benny & Joon) (46)
• Alessandro Nivola (actor, Best Laid Plans, Junebug, Jurassic Park III, Face/Off, Goal!, Coco Before Chanel, husband of actress Emily Mortimer) (40)
• Mark Stoermer (bassist, the Killers) (34)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1776, Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration Of Independence is presented to Congress for consideration.
• 1778, The Continental Army, under the command of General George Washington, defeats the British atMonmouth,New Jersey.
• 1838, Britain's Queen Victoria was crowned in Westminster Abbey.
• 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian-Hungarian empire, and his wife, Sofia, were assassinated inSarajevo by a Serb nationalist. The event triggered World War One.
• 1917 The Raggedy Ann doll is invented.
• 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, with its punitive terms againstGermany, was signed inFrance, officially ending World War One.
• 1932 Actor Pat Morita (Arnold on Happy Days, Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies, Honeymoon In Vegas) is born. He dies in 2006 at age 74.
• 1946 Actress-comedian Gilda Radner is born. She dies in 1989.
• 1948, actress Jane Wyman divorced future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
• 1951, a TV version of the radio program Amos 'N' Andy began a two-year run on CBS. Although criticized for racial stereotyping, this network TV series featured an all-black cast. Two years later, a protest by the NAACP forced CBS to drop the show.
• 1969, "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival peaks at Number Two on the pop chart.
• 1971, The Supreme Court rules that the use of public funds for parochial schools is unconstitutional.
• 1971, the Supreme Court, by a vote of 8-0, overturned the draft evasion conviction of Muhammad Ali, four years after he was convicted and stripped of his title.
• 1975, "Fame" by David Bowie is released. Bowie co-wrote the song with John Lennon and guitarist Carlos Alomar.
• 1975, The TV show Kung Fu airs its last new episode.
• 1975, Twilight Zone host Rod Serling dies at age 50.
• 1976, the U.S. Air Force Academy went co-ed, admitting its first woman.
• 1978, The Supreme Court orders the medical school at the University Of California At Davis to admit Allan Bakke, a white man who argued his admission had been rejected due to reverse discrimination.
• 1980 "And The Cradle Will Rock" by Van Halen peaks at Number 55 on the pop chart.
• 1980, "Coming Up" by Paul McCartney hits Number One on the pop chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1986, The Other Side Of Life by the Moody Blues peaks at Number Nine on the album chart, where it stays for four weeks.
• 1990, Jurors in the drug and perjury trial of Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry watch a videotape of Barry smoking crack cocaine during an FBI hotel-room sting operation.
• 1996 Sammy Hagar tells the Los Angeles Times that he was as surprised as anyone about the Van Halen/David Lee Roth reunion, saying, "We bumped heads and next thing I knew, Eddie calls and says Roth is back." Hagar also complains about Van Halen releasing a greatest-hits album, although Hagar has released three solo greatest-hits albums.
• 1996 The movie Striptease, starring Demi Moore, Burt Reynolds, Armand Assante, and Ving Rhames, opens nationwide.
• 1996 The movie The Nutty Professor, starring Eddie Murphy, Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Larry Miller, and Dave Chappelle, opens nationwide.
• 1996 The original members of Kiss play together onstage for the first time in 15 years as their reunion tour kicks off inDetroit.
• 1996, the Citadel voted to admit women, ending a 153-year-old policy at theSouth Carolina military school.
• 1997, In a wild rematch, Evander Holyfield retained the WBA heavyweight boxing championship after his opponent, Mike Tyson, was disqualified for biting Holyfield's ear during the third round of their fight in Las Vegas.
• 2000 Former Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and his then-wife, manager Susan Silver, become the parents of a daughter, Lillian Jean Cornell.
• 2000, seven months after he was rescued at sea, Elian Gonzalez returned to his nativeCuba with his father.
• 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts can ban gays from their organization.
• 2001 Eminem is sentenced to one year's probation on gun and assault charges stemming from an incident that occurred in June of 2000.
• 2003 The eighth edition of Ozzfest kicks off in Selma, Texas with Ozzy Osbourne, Korn, and Marilyn Manson topping the bill.
• 2004 Courtney Love is rebuked by a New York Criminal Court judge after showing up five hours late for a hearing on charges of assault and reckless endangerment.
• 2004 Former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, drummer Scott Phillips, and bassist Brian Marshall return to the airwaves with "Open Your Eyes," the first single from their new band, Alter Bridge.
• 2005 A final design forManhattan'sFreedomTower is formally unveiled.
• 2005Canada becomes the third country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
• 2005 U2 goes to court to try to retrieve possessions allegedly taken by its former stylist, including clothing, jewelry and photos, to prevent her from selling them.
• 2007 A woman who hacked into Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington's cell phone company's website to obtain his phone number, and who used government computers to access his e-mail account, pleads guilty to stalking and unlawful access to stored communications charges.
• 2007 Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn's new opera, Monkey: Journey to the West, premieres at the Manchester International Festival inEngland.