Friday, July 27, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez (New York Yankees third baseman) (37)
• Peggy Fleming (Olympic gold-medal-winningU.S. ice skater) (64)
• Norman Lear (television producer, director and comedy writer, responsible for sitcoms like All In The Family, One Day At A Time, and Maude) (90)
• Betty Thomas (actress/director, Hill Street Blues) (64)
• Jerry Van Dyke (actor/comedian, Coach's Luther Van Dam; brother of Dick Van Dyke) (81)
• Maya Rudolph (actress, Up All Night, Bridesmaids, Away We Go, Saturday Night Live, 50 First Dates, girlfriend of Paul Thomas Anderson) (40)
• Julian McMahon (actor, played Christian Troy on Nip/Tuck, Dr. Doom in the Fantastic Four movies) (44)
• Bobbie Gentry (singer, "Ode To Billie Joe") (68)
• Maureen McGovern (singer, "The Morning After") (63)
• Bill Engvall (comedian and actor, The Bill Engvall Show, the Blue Collar comedy tour and TV show with Jeff Foxworthy, Ron White, and Larry The Cable Guy) (55)
• Tris Imboden (drummer, Chicago) (61)
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers (actor, The Tudors, Match Point, Bend It Like Beckham, Alexander, Mission: Impossible III, From Paris with Love) (35)
• Juliana Hatfield (pop singer) (45)
• Nick Hogan (reality TV star, Hogan Knows Best, Brooke Knows Best, son of Hulk Hogan) (22)
• Pete Yorn (singer/songwriter) (38)
• Abe Cunningham (drummer, Deftones) (39)
• Triple H (WWE champion wrestler) (43)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1789, President George Washington signed into law the creation of the Department Of Foreign Affairs, which later became the Department of State. It was the first federal agency created under the Constitution.
• 1905, Baseball Hall Of Fame player and manager Leo "The Lip" Durocher was born. He died October 7th, 1991 at 86. Durocher's trademark phrase was "Nice guys finish last."
• 1940, Bugs Bunny made his official debut in the Warner Brothers cartoon A Wild Hare. During this short, Bugs first says "What's up, Doc?"
• 1953, the Korean War Armistice was signed between communist North Korea and the United States atPanmunjom, ending three years of fighting in the Korean War.
• 1963 Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller is born. He died this past June of throat cancer.
• 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signs into law a bill that requires cigarette ads and packages to have health warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General about the effects of smoking.
• 1968 "Eleanor Rigby" by Ray Charles, a cover of the Beatles song, peaks at Number 35 on the pop chart.
• 1973 The New York Dolls release their self-titled debut album.
• 1974 "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" by Elton John peaks at Number Two on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1974 "Radar Love" by Golden Earring peaks at Number 13 on the pop chart.
• 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted 27-11 to recommend President Richard Nixon's impeachment on a charge that he had personally engaged in a "course of conduct" designed to obstruct justice in the Watergate case.
• 1976 John Lennon is granted a green card for permanent residence in theU.S.
• 1977 Robert Plant's son Karac dies of a stomach infection.
• 1979 Alice Cooper's Indian art store inArizona is fire bombed, destroying $200,000 worth of merchandise, as well as some of his gold albums.
• 1980 The Shah Of Iran dies at age 60.
• 1981 Bella Donna by Stevie Nicks is released.
• 1984 Actor James Mason (20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, North By Northwest, Lolita, Heaven Can Wait, The Boys From Brazil, Salem's Lot, The Verdict) dies at age 75.
• 1984, Pete Rose hit his 3,053rd single, passing Ty Cobb at the top spot on the career singles list.
• 1985 The Power Station by the Power Station peaks at Number Six on the album chart.
• 1986 During a Cure concert in Los Angeles, a fan named Jon Moreland jumps up onstage and repeatedly stabs himself with a hunting knife. Thinking that it's part of the show, the crowd cheers him on. He later tells police he was upset over losing his girlfriend.
• 1986 Heart singer-guitarist Nancy Wilson marries writer-director Cameron Crowe (Fast Times At Ridgemont High, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous).
• 1986 Queen plays a show in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first western act to do so since Louis Armstrong in 1964.
• 1988 Metallica's third album, Master Of Puppets, is certified platinum.
• 1990, Zsa Zsa Gabor began a three-day jail sentence for slapping a policeman.
• 1991 "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" by Bryan Adams hits Number One on the pop chart, where it stays for seven weeks.
• 1991 Into The Great Wide Open by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers peaks at Number 13 on the album chart.
• 1991, the CBS children's TV show Pee-Wee's Playhouse airs for the last time, having been canceled after actor Paul Rubens, who played Pee-Wee, was caught "pleasuring himself" in a porn theater.
• 1993 The Smashing Pumpkins release their Siamese Dream album.
• 1995, The Korean War Veterans Memorial is dedicated by President Bill Clinton and South Korean President Kim Young-sam in Washington, D.C.
• 1995, a South Carolina jury rejected the death penalty for Susan Smith, sentencing her to life in prison for drowning her two young sons.
• 1996, A pipe bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park during a concert at the Atlanta Olympics, one person died from the blast, while another died after suffering a heart attack, and more than 100 were injured.
• 2000 The Rhyme & Reason Tour, featuring the Beastie Boys and Rage Against the Machine, is postponed after Beastie Boy Mike Diamond injures his hand in a biking accident.
• 2001 Lynyrd Skynyrd bassist Leon Wilkeson dies at age 49.
• 2001 The remake of Planet Of The Apes, directed by Tim Burton and starring Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham-Carter, Tim Roth, and Paul Giamatti, opens in theatres.
• 2003 Actor-comedian Bob Hope dies at age 100.
• 2003 Deftones miss their scheduled performance on a Summer Sanitarium date when singer Chino Moreno is hospitalized for a groin injury.
• 2003 Janis Joplin's two former bands, Big Brother & the Holding Company and Kosmic Blues Band play alongside each other for the first time, at a free concert in Central Park inNew York City.
• 2004 The White Stripes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jet, Hoobastank, Yellowcard and Modest Mouse all land several nominations each for the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.
• 2004, Illinois state senator Barack Obama gave a star-making keynote address at the Democratic National Convention. He was elected to the U.S. Senate just over three months later, and is now running for president.
• 2006 Fall Out Boy officially enters the studio to begin work on its third album.
• 2007 Kiss performs for the first time in its history without singer/guitarist Paul Stanley, at a concert inSan Jacinto,California.Stanley pulls out of the show after feeling his heart speed up during sound check. He ends up going to a local hospital where doctors inform him that he would have put himself at risk if he had played.
• 2010 Avenged Sevenfold releases its fifth studio album, Nightmare, the first new effort completed by the band after the drug-related death of drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan in December 2009.