Tuesday, August 21, 2012

 TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS:

• Kim Cattrall (actress, Sex And The City's Samantha Jones, Mannequin, Porky's) (56)
• Hayden Panettiere (actress, Heroes, Malcolm in the Middle, Ally McBeal) (23)
• Kristen Wiig (actress/comedian, Saturday Night Live, Adventureland, Knocked Up, Whip It!, Bridesmaids) (39)
• Amy Fisher (the former teenage "Long Island Lolita" who shot her adult lover's wife in the head) (38)
• Kenny Rogers (country singer) (74)
• Clarence Williams III (actor, played Linc on TV's The Mod Squad, Purple Rain, The General's Daughter) (73)
• Carrie-Anne Moss (actress, the Matrix movies' Trinity, Memento) (45)
• Serj Tankian (frontman, System Of A Down) (45)
• Jeff Stryker (notorious porn star) (50)
• Liam Howlett (producer-programmer-DJ, Prodigy) (41)
• Glenn Hughes (former singer and bass player, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) (61, some sources say 60)
• Steve Smith (drummer for Journey from 1979 to 1985) (58)
• Sergey Brin (Google co-founder) (39)
• Harry Smith (co-host, CBS's The Early Show; host, A&E's Biography) (61)
• Loretta Devine (actress, Little Nikita, Waiting To Exhale, Boston Public, What Women Want, Grey's Anatomy) (63)
• James Burton (guitarist for Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson) (73)
• Jackie DeShannon (singer-songwriter, "Put A Little Love In Your Heart") (70, disputed)
• Melvin Van Peebles (movie director) (80)
• Alicia Witt (actress, Urban Legend, Two Weeks Notice, The Upside of Anger) (37)
• Brody Jenner (reality star, The Hills, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, son of Bruce Jenner) (29)
• Kelis (R&B singer Kelis) (33)
• Peter Weir (director, Witness, Dead Poets Society, Green Card, The Truman Show, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) (68)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1858, the Lincoln-Douglas debates began in Illinois, with U.S. Senate candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debating the issue of slavery. The two debated in sevenIllinois towns, with their speeches lasting for hours.Lincoln advocated the abolition of slavery, making him a national political figure. However,Douglas won the election.
• 1878, a group of lawyers, judges, and law professors founded the American Bar Association.
• 1931, Babe Ruth became the first major league baseball player to hit 600 career home runs.
• 1947, the first Little League World Series tournament was held inWilliamsport,Pennsylvania.
• 1952, Clash singer-guitarist Joe Strummer is born. He dies in 2002.
• 1959,Hawaii becomes the 50th state.
• 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaimingHawaii the 50th state of the union.
• 1965, Out Of Our Heads by the Rolling Stones hits Number One on the album chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1971, "Sweet Hitch-Hiker" by Creedence Clearwater Revival peaks at Number Six on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1971, B, S & T; 4 by Blood, Sweat & Tears peaks at Number 10 on the album chart.
• 1971, Ram by Paul & Linda McCartney peaks at Number Two on the album chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1972, Jefferson Airplane gets in a fight with police in Akron, Ohio, after the band's equipment manager calls the officers "pigs." Lead singer Grace Slick is maced and bassist Jack Casady is arrested and pulled off the stage.
• 1973, Brothers And Sisters by the Allman Brothers Band is certified gold.
• 1973, Toulouse Street by the Doobie Brothers is certified gold.
• 1982, U2 singer Bono and Alison Stewart marry.
• 1982, "Take It Away" by Paul McCartney peaks at Number 10 on the pop chart, where it stays for five weeks.
• 1982, "Wasted On The Way" by Crosby, Stills & Nash peaks at Number Nine on the pop chart, where it stays for four weeks.
• 1982, Three Sides Live by Genesis peaks at Number 10 on the album chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1991, the coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev collapsed in the face of a popular uprising led by Russian Federation President Boris N. Yeltsin.
• 1992, a standoff between U.S. federal agents and white supremacist Randy Weaver began at Weaver's Ruby Ridge, Idaho, mountaintop home. When it ended 11 days later with Weaver's surrender, three people had been killed -- Weaver's wife, his teenage son, and a deputy marshal.
• 1993, engineers lost contact with the Mars Observer spacecraft as it was about to reach the planet on a $980 million mission. It's believed to have been destroyed due to a malfunction.
• 1995 R.E.M. sues Hershey Foods, claiming the company exploited the band's name when it ran a "Kit Kat - R.E.M. concert" sweepstakes in Hershey candy bars. The suit is eventually dropped.
• 1996 Beck's Odelay album is certified gold.
• 1996, President Clinton signed the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996, which allowed Americans to carry health insurance from one job to the next and limited denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions.
• 1997 British rock band Oasis releases its highly anticipated third album, Be Here Now, which goes on to become the fastest selling album of all time in theU.K.
• 1998 Blade, starring Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson and Stephen Dorff, opens in theatres.
• 1998, Monica Lewinsky goes before a grand jury for a second round of explicit testimony about her White House trysts with President Clinton.
• 2000 Pearl Jam announces that it will give free tickets to anyone who volunteers to help register people to vote for three hours before the band's concerts.
• 2002, David Westerfield was convicted of kidnapping and killing his neighbor, seven-year-old Danielle Van Dam, who was taken from her San Diego bedroom six months earlier.
• 2003 After announcing at least three different titles over a period of several months, Limp Bizkit singer Fred Durst confirms that the band's fourth album will be called Results May Vary.
• 2005, Synthesizer inventor Robert Moog (pronounced to rhyme with "rogue") dies at age 71.
• 2007 Under the name Sixx: A.M., Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx issues an album that serves as a "soundtrack" to his memoir, The Heroin Diaries.
• 2008 No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani and her husband Gavin Rossdale welcome their second child, a boy named Zuma Nesta Rock.