Thursday, August 16, 2012 

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Madonna (Singer and actress) (54)
• Frank Gifford (former football player and announcer; husband of Kathie Lee Gifford) (82)
• Kathie Lee Gifford (Talk show host) (59)
• James "J.T." Taylor (former Kool & The Gang singer) (59)
• James Cameron (Movie producer/director, The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Titanic, Avatar) (58)
• Angela Bassett (actress, What's Love Got To Do With It, Waiting To Exhale, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Boyz N The Hood, Malcolm X,  Contact, The Score, Masked And Anonymous) (54)
• Eydie Gorme (singer, "Blame It On The Bossa Nova") (84, disputed)
• Timothy Hutton (actor, Leverage, Ordinary People, Taps, The Falcon And The Snowman, The Dark Half, Q & A, The General's Daughter, Secret Window) (52)
• Emily Robison (Dixie Chicks) (40)
• Steve Carell (actor, The Office, Bruce Almighty, Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Miss Sunshine, Date Night, Dinner With Schmucks, Crazy Stupid Love) (50)
• Barry Hay (singer, Golden Earring) (64)
• Tim Farriss (guitarist, INXS) (55)
• Laura Innes (actress, ER, The Event) (55)
• Vincent Curatola (actor, "Johnny Sac" on The Sopranos) (59)
• Lesley Anne Warren (actress, Susan's mom on Desperate Housewives, Mary's mother on In Plain Sight, Victor/Victoria, Clue) (66)
• Julie Newmar (actress, Catwoman on the Batman TV show) (79)
• Vanessa Carlton (singer-songwriter) (32)
• Bob Balaban (actor, Gosford Park, A Mighty Wind, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, No Reservations, Moonrise Kingdom) (67)
• Reginald VelJohnson (actor, Crocodile Dundee, Die Hard I and II, Family Matters) (60)
• Ketty Lester (singer, "Love Letters") (78)
• Rumer Willis (actress, The House Bunny, Now And Then, Hostage, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore) (24)
• Cam Gigandet (actor, Twilight, The O.C., The Unborn, The Roommate, Priest) (30)
• Bob Hardy (bassist, Franz Ferdinand) (32)
• Donovan Leitch (vocalist, Camp Freddy; son of folk singer Donovan) (44)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1938 Blues legend Robert Johnson dies at age 27.
• 1888 Lawrence Of Arabia author T.E. Lawrence is born. He dies in 1935.
• 1898, the loop-de-loop Roller Coaster was patented by Edwin Prescott.
• 1920, Ray Chapman suffered a fracture skull and died the next day as a result of being hit by a fastball from Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. The Indians shortstop was the only on-field player fatality in major league history.
• 1927, on a Tommy Thomas pitch, Babe Ruth became the first player to homer over the roof ofComiskeyPark inChicago.
• 1948, At the age of 53, with his wife Claire and his two adopted daughters at his side, Babe Ruth dies of throat cancer atMemorialHospital inNew York City.
• 1949 Gone With The Wind author Margaret Mitchell died. She was 48.
• 1954 Sports Illustrated magazine publishes its first issue.
• 1956 Horror legend Bela Lugosi (Dracula, Plan 9 From Outer Space) dies at age 73.
• 1961, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. led protests for black voting rights inMiami.
• 1962, Beatles manager Brian Epstein informed drummer Pete Best that he was fired, and that he was being replaced by Richard Starkey, also known as Ringo Starr.
• 1967, The Steve Allen Show last aired on CBS. It was later syndicated.
• 1969 The second day of the Woodstock Music And Arts Fair takes place on Max Yasgur's Farm in Bethel, New York. Performers include Quill, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Keef Hartley, Santana, the Incredible String Band, Canned Heat, the Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Janis Joplin, Sly & the Family Stone, the Who, Mountain, Crosby, Stills & Nash -- with and without Neil Young -- and the Jefferson Airplane, who were listed for day two but actually played after sunrise on day three.
• 1974 Having already debuted at a private party, the Ramones play their first public gig. It takes place at CBGB inNew York City, which would become the band's home base.
• 1975 "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" by Elton John peaks at Number Four on the pop chart.
• 1975 Gorilla by James Taylor peaks at Number Six on the album chart.
• 1975 Peter Gabriel announces that he is leaving Genesis to pursue a solo career, saying "As an artist, I need to absorb a wide variety of experiences. It's difficult to respond to intuition and impulse within the long term planning the band needed."
• 1977 Singer Elvis Presley died inMemphis, at the age of 42.
• 1977 The Farriss Brothers play their first-ever gig, at guitarist Tim Farriss's 20th birthday party in Sydney, Australia. The band moves to Perth about a year later and becomes INXS.
• 1979 "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by Kiss is certified gold.
• 1980 "Let My Love Open The Door" by Pete Townshend peaks at Number Nine on the pop chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1980 "Misunderstanding" by Genesis peaks at Number 14 on the pop chart.
• 1980 Live versions of "Tulsa Time" b/w "Cocaine" by Eric Clapton peaks at Number 30 on the pop chart.
• 1983 Paul Simon married actress Carrie Fisher (the Star Wars movies, The Blues Brothers, Hannah And Her Sisters, When Harry Met Sally...). They separated less than a year later and eventually divorced.
• 1985 Madonna and Sean Penn are married. They later divorce.
• 1985, The Dukes Of Hazzard last aired on CBS.
• 1986 "Rumbleseat" by John Mellencamp peaks at Number 28 on the pop chart.
• 1986 "Suzanne" by Journey peaks at Number 17 on the pop chart.
• 1987, thousands of people prayed and meditated for universal peace around the world, during the much publicized Harmonic Convergence. Ancient prophecies were supposed to come true -- along with predictions of alien visits.
• 1988, Vice President George H.W. Bush tapped Indiana Senator Dan Quayle to be his running mate in the presidential election, calling him "a man of the future."
• 1989 The Red Hot Chili Peppers release Mother's Milk.
• 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein issued a statement in which he repeatedly called President George H.W. Bush a "liar" and said the outbreak of war could result in "thousands of Americans wrapped in sad coffins."
• 1992, on the eve of the Republican National Convention in Houston, President Bush and party officials heatedly denied a report in The New York Times that a confrontation with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was motivated by political concerns.
• 1996 Lead guitarist Bruce Kulick and drummer Eric Singer officially quit Kiss -- nearly two months after the band kicks off their Alive/Worldwide Reunion Tour with Ace Frehley and Peter Criss.
• 1998 The Goo Goo Dolls, Dishwalla, Marcy Playground, and Third Eye Blind are among the acts who perform on the second day of A Day In The Garden, commemorating the 29th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival. The two-day event takes place at what used to be Max Yasgur's farm inBethel,New York.
• 1999, the United States opened a new consulate in what was formerly known as Saigon, nearly 25 years after a dramatic airlift from the old embassy marked the end of the Vietnam War.
• 2005 Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee goes from the concert stage to the college campus as his reality series Tommy Lee Goes To College premieres on NBC.
• 2005 Slipknot performs its first-ever concert inSingapore.
• 2006 A note is posted on the Smashing Pumpkins website that says the band is "currently in the recording studio with legendary producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, The Cars, The Darkness), at work on their first new album since 1999."
• 2006 Former Blink-182 guitarist Tom Delonge and his wife, Jennifer, welcome their second child, a son named Jonas Rocket DeLonge, into the world.
• 2006, Virginia Republican Senator George Allen makes the infamous "Macaca" racial insult to one of his rival's interns at a campaign stop. The controversial comment is picked up by news services, and spreads. Allen, who until then was expected to win his re-election race easily, loses by a thin margin to Democratic challenger Jim Webb -- and contributing to the Democratic party getting control of the U.S. Senate by a one-seat margin.