Wednesday, July 25, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Matt LeBlanc (actor, Friends' Joey, the Charlie's Angels movies, Friends' spin off Joey, Episodes) (45)
• Iman (model-actress, No Way Out, L.A. Story, Exit To Eden; wife of David Bowie) (57)
• Verdine White (bassist, Earth, Wind & Fire) (61)
• Thurston Moore (guitarist-singer, Sonic Youth) (54)
• Illeana Douglas (actress, Grace Of My Heart, To Die For, Ghost World, Stir of Echoes, Factory Girl) (47)
• Barbara Harris (actress, Nashville, Family Plot, Freaky Friday, Peggy Sue Got Married) (77)
• Louise Brown (world's first test-tube baby) (34)
• Jim McCarty (drummer, the Yardbirds, Box Of Frogs; cofounder of Renaissance) (69)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1923 Actress Estelle Getty (The Golden Girls' Sophia, Stuart Little) is born. She dies on July 22nd, 2008.
• 1946, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis began their partnership as they performed a song and comedy act together for the first time inAtlantic City. Ten years to the day later, in 1956, Martin and Lewis ended their partnership.
• 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing commonwealth of theU.S.
• 1956, The Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria collided with the Swedish ship Stockholm south of Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts coast. The liner sank the next morning, with over 1,600 passengers and crew rescued, while 51 people died in the accident.
• 1964 A Hard Day's Night by the Beatles hits Number One on album chart, where it stays for 14 weeks. Also on that day, the album hits Number One on theU.K. album chart and the title track hits Number One on theU.K. pop chart.
• 1965 Bob Dylan debuts his electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival inRhode Island, to mixed response.
• 1966, Boston Red Sox great Ted Williams was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame.
• 1969 At the Fillmore East in New York City, Neil Young makes his first appearance with Crosby, Stills & Nash, and is asked to join the group.
• 1969, a week after the Chappaquiddick accident that claimed the life of Mary Jo Kopechne, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
• 1970 "25 Or 6 To 4" by Chicago is released.
• 1970 "Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young peaks at Number 16 on the pop chart.
  1970 "Cinnamon Girl" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse peaks at Number 55 on the pop chart.
• 1970 Self Portrait by Bob Dylan peaks at Number Four on the album chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1973 George Harrison is forced to use one million British pounds raised for relief efforts inBangladesh to settle aU.K. tax bill.
• 1977 The Police make the first of their only two appearances as a four-piece band, with Sting on bass and vocals, Andy Summers and Henri Padovani on guitars, and Stewart Copeland on drums.
• 1978 John Lydon, a.k.a. Johnny Rotten, announces the formation of his post-Sex Pistols band Public Image, Ltd.
• 1978, Louise Joy Brown, the first "test tube baby" conceived through in vitro fertilization, was born in Oldham, England.
• 1980 At the Palladium in New York City, Kiss plays their first show with new drummer Eric Carr, who replaces original member Peter Criss.
• 1981 Hard Promises by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers peaks at Number Five on the album chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1981 Long Distance Voyager by the Moody Blues hits Number One on the album chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1982 Actor Brad Renfro (The Client, Apt Pupil, Bully) is born. He dies in January 2008 of a heroin overdose.
• 1983 Metallica releases its debut album, Kill 'Em All. Although only 1,500 copies were initially pressed, the album is reissued by Elektra Records after the band signs to that label in 1984 and goes on to sell more than three million copies.
• 1987 "Something So Strong" by Crowded House peaks at Number Seven on the pop chart.
• 1987 "Twistin' The Night Away," Rod Stewart's second cover of the Sam Cooke song, peaks at Number 80 on the pop chart.
• 1990 Actress-comedienne Roseanne Barr sparks controversy when she sings an off-key rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner"San Diego, after which she scratches herself and spits.
• 1990, actress-comedienne Roseanne Barr sparked controversy when she sang an off-key rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a San Diego Padres double-header at Jack Murphy Stadium, after which she scratched herself and spit.
• 1994, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan's King Hussein signed a declaration at the White House ending their countries' 46-year-old formal state of war.
• 1995, Islamic militants exploded a bomb on aParis subway, killing 8 people and injuring at least 80.
• 1999 After three days of intense heat, long lines for inadequate supplies of water and bathrooms, and high prices for refreshments, the Woodstock '99 music festival inRome,New York, ends in fires, rioting, property damage and accusations of rape.
• 2000, an Air France Concorde en route to New York City crashed in Gonesse, France, shortly after takeoff, killing all 109 people on board and four others on the ground.
• 2000, Texas Governor and presidential candidate George W. Bush selected Dick Cheney to be his vice presidential running mate.  Some believe it's always been the other way around.
• 2001 The Incubus album Make Yourself is certified double platinum.
• 2001, Mariah Carey checked herself into a hospital suffering from an emotional and physical breakdown.
• 2002 House Of 1000 Corpses, Rob Zombie's feature directorial debut, is dropped by MGM Studios, the second distributor to do so. It was originally going to be released by Universal in June 2001, but was deemed too offensive. Lions Gate Films eventually releases it in April of 2003.
• 2002 Queen Elizabeth II meets with Paul McCartney and John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono in Liverpool during a tour of the Beatles' hometown.
• 2003 A 1974 student film about a day in the life of John Lennon sells for $53,775 at an auction held by Christie's inNew York City.
• 2003 Country music legend Johnny Cash receives six MTV Video Music Award nominations for his cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt."
• 2005 Green Day receives eight 2005 MTV Video Music Award nominations, including Video Of The Year, Best Group Video, and Viewer's Choice.
• 2006 Wire & Glass by the Who is released.
• 2007 Linkin Park kicks off its fourth Projekt Revolution tour in Seattle, headlining a line-up that includes My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, H.I.M., Placebo, Saosin and others.