Friday, August 31, 2012

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• Richard Gere (actor, An Officer And A Gentleman, Pretty Woman, Dr. T & The Women, Chicago, Unfaithful; husband of Carey Lowell; former husband of Cindy Crawford) (63)
• Itzhak Perlman (famous violinist) (67)
• Frank Robinson (Hall Of Fame baseball player, the first black manager in the major leagues) (77)
• Deborah Gibson ('80s pop star, formerly Debbie Gibson) (42)
• Gina Schock (drummer of the Go-Gos) (55)
• Van Morrison (rock legend) (67)
• Glenn Tilbrook (singer-guitarist, Squeeze) (55)
• Rudolf Schenker (guitarist, the Scorpions) (64)
• Reb Beach (guitarist, Winger, Alice Cooper, Dokken, Whitesnake) (49)
• Chris Tucker (actor-comedian, The Fifth Element, the Rush Hour movies) (41, disputed 40)
• Marcia Clark (prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial) (59)
• Craig Nicholls (lead singer, the Vines) (35)
• Jeff Russo (guitarist, Tonic) (43)

ON THIS DAY:

• 12 AD, The Roman emperor Caligula was born. He ruled from 37 AD to 41 AD, when he was assassinated at the age of 28.
• 1887, Thomas Edison received a patent for his kinetoscope that made moving pictures.
• 1888, Jack the Ripper killed his first victim, prostitute Mary Ann Nichols, inLondon'sEast End. Five more victims of Jack the Ripper were killed over the next three months, but no suspect was ever arrested.
• 1903, Actor and variety show host Arthur Godfrey was born. He died March 16th, 1983, at age 79.
• 1919, John Reed formed the American Communist Labor Party inChicago.
• 1924, Comedian-actor Buddy Hackett (It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, The Love Bug, Paulie) was born. He died on June 30th, 2003, at age 78.
• 1928, Actor James Coburn (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Our Man Flint, In Like Flint, Affliction; won his only Academy Award for Affliction) was born. He died on November 18th, 2002, at age 74.
• 1967, the sitcom F Troop last aired on ABC.
• 1968, "Light My Fire" by Jose Feliciano, a cover of the Doors song, peaks at Number Three on the pop chart, where it stays for three weeks.
• 1968, "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Cream peaks at Number Five on the pop chart.
• 1968, "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by the Vanilla Fudge, a version of the Supremes hit, peaks at Number Six on the pop chart.
• 1969 Heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano, who retires undefeated with 49 wins, dies in a plane crash -- one day before his 46th birthday.
• 1969, Heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano, who retired undefeated with 49 wins, died in a plane crash -- one day before his 46th birthday.
• 1973, "Live & Let Die" by Paul McCartney & Wings is certified gold.
  1973, Goat's Head Soup by the Rolling Stones is released.
• 1973, Actors Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw are married. They later divorce.
• 1974, The Partridge Family ended its TV run, one day after the last Brady Bunch episode aired.
• 1985, "Summer Of '69" by Bryan Adams peaks at Number Five on the pop chart.
• 1985, Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits hits Number One on the album chart, where it stays for nine weeks.
• 1985, Richard Ramirez was captured by residents of a neighborhood inEast Los Angeles. He was later convicted ofCalifornia's "Night Stalker" murders.
• 1989, an arbitrator ruled that baseball owners had to pay players $10.5 million for collusion.
• 1989, Britain's Princess Anne and husband Mark Phillips announced they were separating.
• 1991 Metallica's self-titled fifth album debuts at Number One on the Billboard 200 album chart, where it stays for four weeks. It spends a total of 85 weeks on the chart.
• 1991, "Wind Of Change" by the Scorpions peaks at Number Four on the pop chart.
• 1994 The surviving members of Nirvana change their mind about releasing previously unreleased live recordings on a double album, saying the process of sorting through the tapes is too painful.
• 1994, Soviet control officially ended in the former East Germany when troops of the former Soviet Union left the country during a ceremony presided over by German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Russian President Boris Yeltsin.
• 1994, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) announced a cease fire, ending a 25-year armed campaign to end British control ofNorthern Ireland.
• 1995, Elizabeth Taylor separated from her seventh husband, construction worker Larry Fortensky. They later divorced.
• 1997, Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash with her companion, Egyptian playboy Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul. She was 36, and Fayed was 42. Paul was found to have been intoxicated and speeding at the time of the accident.
• 2001 Jeepers Creepers, starring Jonathan Breck as the "Creeper," opens in theatres nationwide.
• 2004 McFarlane Toys reveals its action figure of Velvet Revolver and former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, which will go on sale the following July.
• 2005 Disturbed drummer Mike Wengren proposes to his girlfriend onstage inMilwaukee, right before the band ends its set.
• 2005 In an interview with U.K. magazine Kerrang!, Sharon Osbourne admits that she orchestrated the sabotaging of Iron Maiden's final OzzFest show the previous August 20th.
• 2005 Korn visits the site of the Auschwitz death camp inPoland while in the midst of some European festival dates.
• 2006 30 Seconds To Mars' second album, A Beautiful Lie, is certified gold for sales of more than 500,000 copies.
• 2006 Gnarls Barkley wins two prizes while the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Panic! At The Disco, A.F.I., Avenged Sevenfold and Fall Out Boy all walk away with one apiece at the MTV Video Music Awards.
• 2006 The Raconteurs perform the ZZ Top classic "Cheap Sunglasses" with ZZ Top singer-guitarist Billy F. Gibbons at the MTV Video Music Awards.