Tuesday, July 31, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Dean Cain (actor, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, The Division, Perfect Husband: the Lacy Peterson Story, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, Las Vegas) (46)
• J. K. Rowling (British writer, author of the Harry Potter book series) (47)
• Wesley Snipes (actor, Major League, New Jack City, White Men Can't Jump, Demolition Man, Murder At 1600, the Blade movies) (50)
• Bill Berry (former drummer, R.E.M.) (54)
• Hugh McDowell (cellist, the Electric Light Orchestra) (59)
• Pat Cooper (actor-comedian, Analyze This, Analyze That, The Aristocrats) (83)
• Leaveil Degree (sometimes DeGruy) (singer of the Whispers) (64)
• Shawn Michael Howard (actor, NYPD Blue, Extreme Dating) (43)
• Gary Lewis (singer-drummer, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, "This Diamond Ring"; son of Jerry Lewis) (66, disputed)
• Geraldine Chaplin (actress, Doctor Zhivago, Nashville, A Wedding, daughter of Charlie Chaplin) (68)
• Will Champion (drummer, Coldplay) (34)
• B.J. Novak (actor, Ryan on The Office, Inglourious Basterds) (33)
• Will Champion (drummer, Coldplay) (34)
• M. Shadows (a.k.a. Matthew Sanders; lead singer, Avenged Sevenfold) (31)
• John 5 (a.k.a. John Lowery; guitarist, Rob Zombie) (41)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1777, the Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the Continental Army after offering help to the rebelling American colonists.
• 1923 Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun is born. He dies in 2006.
• 1930, the radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.
  1954, K2 in theHimalayas, the second tallest mountain in the world, was first climbed, by an Italian expedition.
• 1966 Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker perform at the sixth National Jazz And Blues Festival under their own names. The trio had yet to settle on the name Cream for their band.
• 1966 People in Birmingham, Alabama, burn Beatles products in response to singer-guitarist John Lennon's statement in an interview that the Beatles are more popular than Jesus.
• 1967 A British drug conviction against Rolling Stones singer-guitarist Keith Richards is dismissed on the grounds of inadmissible evidence, while lead singer Mick Jagger sees his own narcotics conviction reduced to a conditional discharge.
• 1968 The Beatles close their Apple Boutique inLondon and give away all the remaining stock for free.
• 1971 "You've Got A Friend" by James Taylor hits Number One on the pop chart.
• 1971, U.S. astronauts David Scott and James Irwin, part of the Apollo 15 crew, went for the first ever drive on the moon on their Lunar Roving Vehicle, the "moon buggy."
• 1972, Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri withdrew from Democratic presidential nominee Senator George McGovern's ticket as the vice presidential candidate, six day after revealing he'd previously been hospitalized for psychiatric care, including electroshock treatment.
• 1974, John Ehrlichman, President Richard Nixon's former domestic advisor, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his role in the break-in at Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office. Ellsberg was the Defense Department consultant who leaked the "Pentagon Papers," a secret government study about the Vietnam War, to the New York Times.
• 1976 "Love Is Alive" by Gary Wright peaks at Number Two on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1976 "You're My Best Friend" by Queen peaks at Number 16 on the pop chart.
• 1981, the 50-day-old baseball strike was settled, ending the game's first-ever midseason work stoppage.
• 1993 Allman Brothers Band singer-guitarist Dickey Betts is arrested in Saratoga Springs, New York, after a shoving match with police, which followed an argument with his wife. Betts misses much of the rest of the Allmans summer tour when he seeks help for alcoholism, and the band recruits substitutes including Zakk Wylde, David Grissom, and Jack Pearson.
• 1996 The Sex Pistols play their first U.S. gig in 18 years in Colorado. Reuters reports that Johnny Rotten was using an oxygen tank between songs. Rotten does an interview with USA Today, criticizing bands like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam for being too depressing and also calling former Sex Pistol bassist Sid Vicious "useless."
• 1997, police in Brooklyn seized five bombs meant to be used in terrorist attacks onNew York City subways.
• 2000 The Republican national convention opens in Philadelphia, with George W. Bush's name put into nomination for president.
• 2001 R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck goes on trial inLondon stemming from an alleged air rage incident. Buck was arrested after an April 21st flight fromSeattle toLondon and charged with drunkenness on an aircraft, disobeying an aircraft commander, two counts of assault on aircrew, threatening behavior, and criminal damage, including breaking airline crockery. He is eventually cleared of all charges.
• 2001 The Judas Priest album Demolition is released.
• 2003 Sun Studios inMemphis is designated as a historical landmark by the U.S. Department Of The Interior.
• 2005 Black Sabbath has to sit out its second OzzFest appearance in a week, in Noblesville, Indiana, after singer Ozzy Osbourne falls ill.
• 2006 The Red Hot Chili Peppers land seven nominations for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Group Video and Best Rock Video. Other nominees include Panic! At The Disco, A.F.I., Gnarls Barkley, Fall Out Boy, Avenged Sevenfold, Angels And Airwaves, 30 Seconds To Mars and Green Day.
• 2007 Korn performs a free show atNew York City's South Street Seaport to celebrate the release of the band's new, untitled album, which comes out that day.
• 2008 "Motley Crue Saints of Los Angeles Day" is declared by a representative ofLos Angeles at a press conference taking place atGuitarCenter inHollywood.