Friday, February 8, 2013

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS:

• John Grisham (author of legal thrillers, whose books include The Client, The Firm, and The Pelican Brief) (58)
• Robert Klein (comedian) (71)
• Ted Koppel (newscaster, the former host of ABC News's Nightline) (73)
• Nick Nolte (actor, 48 Hours, Down And Out In Beverly Hills, The Prince Of Tides, Mulholland Falls, Tropic Thunder) (72)
• Mary Steenburgen (actress, Parenthood, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, Philadelphia, Elf; wife of Ted Danson; former wife of Malcolm McDowell) (60, disputed)
• Seth Green (actor, the Austin Powers movies, Greg The Bunny) (39)
• Vince Neil (lead singer, Motley Crue) (52)
• Jack Larson (actor, The Adventures of Superman's Jimmy Olsen, Bo in Superman Returns) (85)
• Creed Bratton (actor, The Office) (70)
• Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (bassist, Linkin Park) (36)
• Vince Neil (lead singer, Motley Crue) (52)
• Will Turpin (bassist, Collective Soul) (42)
• Cameron Muncey (guitarist, Jet) (33)
• Seth Green (actor, the Austin Powers movies, Family Guy, Robot Chicken) (39)
• John Grisham (author, The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Runaway Jury) (58)
• Nick Nolte (actor, Cape Fear, Affliction, Hulk, Hotel Rwanda, Tropic Thunder, Warrior, Gangster Squad) (72)
• Ted Koppel (former host, Nightline) (73)
• Alonzo Mourning (NBA player) (43)

ON THIS DAY:

• 1587, Mary Queen Of Scots was beheaded, after she was implicated in a plot to murder her cousin, England's Queen Elizabeth I. She was 44. Before Mary's execution,Elizabeth had kept her imprisoned for 18 years because she was a threat to her hold on the English throne.
• 1828, Author Jules Verne (Around The World In 80 Days, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Journey To The Center Of The Earth) is born. He dies in 1905.
• 1910, the Boy Scouts Of America was founded.
• 1925, Actor Jack Lemmon (Mister Roberts, Some Like It Hot, The Odd Couple, The China Syndrome, Glengarry Glen Ross, Grumpy Old Men) is born. He dies in 2001.
• 1926, Actress Audrey Meadows (The Honeymooners' Alice Kramden) is born. She dies in 1996.
• 1931, Actor James Dean (East Of Eden, Rebel Without A Cause, Giant) is born. He dies in 1955.
• 1936, the first National Football League draft was held.
• 1968 Actor Gary Coleman (actor, Diff'rent Strokes) is born. He dies in May 2010.
• 1968, "Sunshine Of Your Love" by Cream peaks at Number 36 on the pop chart.
• 1968, The movie Planet Of The Apes, starring Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, and Kim Hunter, opened.
• 1969, the last issue of the Saturday Evening Post was published, ending a tradition that began in 1821.
• 1974, "You're 16" by Ringo Starr is released.
• 1974, the three-man crew of the Skylab space station returned to Earth after spending 84 days in space.
• 1976, The movie Taxi Driver, starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shepherd, opened.
• 1978, The self-titled debut album from Van Halen is released.
• 1980, President Jimmy Carter unveiled plans to reintroduce draft registration.
• 1990, 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney was temporarily suspended by CBS for saying blacks had watered down their genes.
• 1990, Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame singer Del Shannon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, at the age of 55.
• 1992, "Live & Let Die" by Guns N' Roses, a cover of the Paul McCartney & Wings song, peaks at Number 33 on the pop chart.
• 1993, General Motors sued NBC, alleging the Dateline NBC program had rigged two crashes to show that GM pickup trucks from 1973 to 1987 were prone to fires.
• 1994 Stone Temple Pilots' debut album Core is certified triple platinum.
• 1999 Green Day's major label debut Dookie and Van Halen's 1984 both pass the 10-million mark in sales.
• 2000, Internet vandals shut down popular sites Amazon, eBay, and CNN.com by flooding their servers with data.
• 2002 The ill-advised remake of Rollerball opens in theatres nationwide.
• 2002, Singer-bassist John Entwistle plays his last show with the Who, at the Royal Albert Hall inLondon.
• 2004 Foo Fighters' fourth album, One By One, wins Best Rock Album at the 46th annual Grammy Awards, while Evanescence wins Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance and Metallica wins Best Metal Performance.
• 2006 Rockers Linkin Park and rapper Jay-Z perform together at the 48th annual Grammy Awards ceremony.
• 2006 Slipknot wins their first Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance after being nominated five previous times.
• 2008 Blink-182 officially announces at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards that they are reuniting for their first tour and new album in over four years.
• 2008, Electric chair is banned asNebraska's sole method of execution.
• 2011 System Of A Down gets together to rehearse for the first time in five years, in advance of summer touring in theU.S. andEurope.