Sunday, August 26, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Macaulay Culkin (actor, former child star, Uncle Buck, My Girl, the Home Alone movies, The Good Son, Richie Rich) (32)
• Branford Marsalis (musician/bandleader) (52)
• Valerie Simpson (half of Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson with husband Nickolas Ashford, wrote "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "You're All I Need To Get By," and many more, had a hit with "Solid") (66)
• Jeff Kashiwa (smooth jazz saxophonist) (49)
• Benjamin Bradlee (former Washington Post executive editor, ran the paper during the era of its famous Watergate reporting) (91)
• Shirley Manson (lead singer, Garbage) (46)
• Adrian Young (drummer, No Doubt) (43)
• Keke Palmer (actress, Akeelah and the Bee) (19)
• Tom Ridge (former Homeland Security Director ) (67)
• Maureen "Moe" Tucker (drummer, the Velvet Underground) (68)
• Vic Dana (singer, "Shangri-La," "Red Roses For A Blue Lady") (70, disputed)
• Chris Pine (actor, Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek, Unstoppable, Smokin' Aces, This Means War) (32)
• Melissa McCarthy (actress, Mike & Molly, Bridesmaids) (42)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1498, Italian artist Michelangelo, who was 23 years old, was commissioned by Pope Alexander VI to carve the "Pieta," which shows Mary lamenting over the dead body of Jesus, whom she holds across her lap. The famous marble sculpture is still displayed in St. Peter's Basilica inRome.
• 1920, the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote was formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution.
• 1935 Geraldine Ferraro (first female vice presidential candidate; ran on the Democratic ticket with Walter Mondale in 1984) is born. She dies in March 2011.
• 1939, the first televised major league baseball games were shown on experimental station W2XBS, a doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in New York City.
• 1952 Actor Michael Jeter (The Fisher King, The Green Mile, Jurassic Park 3; played Mister Noodle's brother, Mister Noodle, during the "Elmo's World" segments on Sesame Street) is born. He dies in 2003.
• 1961 Grace Wing and Jerry Slick are married. They later divorce, but she keeps the name Grace Slick.
• 1961, the International Hockey Hall of Fame opened inToronto.
• 1964, incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson, who became the chief executive upon the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate in his own right at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• 1968 "Hey Jude" b/w "Revolution" by the Beatles is released.
• 1968, as the Democratic National Convention began in Chicago, thousands of demonstrators took to the city's streets to protest the Vietnam War and its support by Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Hubert Humphrey. During the convention, the most violent inU.S. history, hundreds of people were beaten by theChicago police in clashes with protesters. The violence spilled over into the convention hall, as guards roughed up delegates and members of the press.
• 1970 Jimi Hendrix officially opens his Electric Ladyland recording studio inNew York City.
• 1970 Recording sessions begin for Eric Clapton's new band, Derek & the Dominos.
• 1972 "Coconut" by Nilsson peaks at Number Eight on the pop chart.
• 1972 "Hold Your Head Up" by Argent peaks at Number Five on the pop chart, where it stays for two weeks.
• 1974 Aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo nonstop across theAtlantic, dies at age 72.
• 1977 Kiss records the first of three concerts at The Forum in Los Angeles for use on the Alive II album.
• 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected pope of the Catholic Church after the death of Pope Paul VI. Luciani, who took the name Pope John Paul I, died just 33 days later, on September 28th.
• 1980 Cartoonist Tex Avery (he created Daffy Duck and coined the Bugs Bunny catchphrase, "What's up, doc?") dies at age 72.
• 1986 Actor Ted Knight (The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Baxter) dies at age 62.
• 1989 "The End Of The Innocence" by Don Henley peaks at Number Eight on the pop chart.
• 1989 The Cure's "Love Song" enters the Top 40.
• 1994 At England's Reading Festival, Hole's Courtney Love tells the crowd that, contrary to press reports, she has not been having an affair with Evan Dando of the Lemonheads.
• 1997 Creed releases its debut album, My Own Prison.
• 1997 The Fleetwood Mac concert video The Dance is released.
• 2000 Bassist Allen Woody (the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule) dies at age 43.
• 2004 At an Ozzfest show at the Tweeter Center At The Waterfront in Camden, New Jersey, Ozzy Osbourne falls ill, so Rob Halford sings with Black Sabbath after Judas Priest does their set.
• 2004 Metallica brushes past Slipknot, Blink-182, The Darkness, H.I.M. and the Red Hot Chili Peppers to nab the prize for "Best Band On The Planet" at the 2004 Kerrang! Awards.
• 2008 Slipknot releases its fourth major label album, All Hope Is Gone. The CD is the band's first new studio offering in more than four years.