History Blog

June 7

Happy Birthday RIP “Dean Martin”(Dino Crocetti 1917–1995) Jessica Tandy(1909–1994) Prince Nelson(1958–2016) ; Thomas Jones(Woodward)–84 “Jenny Jones”(Janina Stronski)–78 William “Liam” Neeson–72 Colleen Camp–71 William Forsythe–69 Karl-Heinz Urban–52 William “Bill” Hader–46 Michael Cera–36 “Iggy Azalea”(Amethyst Kelly)–34 ; 1909 – “Mary Pickford”(Gladys Smith) makes her screen debut at the age of 16 in “The Violin Maker of Cremona” ; 1982 – Priscilla Presley opens Graceland to the public; the bathroom where Elvis Presley died five years earlier is kept off-limits and private.

June 6

Happy Birthday Robert Englund–77 Harvey Fierstein–72 Sandra Bernhard–69 Björn Borg–68 Colin Quinn–65 Jason Isaacs–61 Paul Giamatti–57 Sonya Walger–50 ; 1892 – Chicago ‘EL’ begins operation (Elevated Trains) later called CTA; 1933 – The first drive-in movie theater opened, in Camden County, N.J. and the screening was a British movie called Wives Beware; 1968 – RFK died from gunshot wounds. Kennedy was hit three times by Sirhan. He was taken to Good Samaritan a nearby Hospital at Alvarado and 6th in LA the night before(5th) He is pronounced dead 26 hours later (June 6 approx 2am) after extensive surgical procedures failed. Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools were built and opened in 2006 where the ambassador hotel was located and demolished a few months prior to the construction of the schools. The location is Wilshire Blvd at Alexandria Ave in LA.

June 5

Happy Birthday RIP Robert Lansing(Brown 1928–1994) “Peggy Stewart”(Margaret O’Rourke 1923–2019) ; Susan “Suze” Orman–73 Kenneth Gorelick(“Kenny G”)–68 Richard Butler–68 Ronald Livingston–57 Susan Lynch–53 Mark Wahlberg–53 Chad Allen Lazzari–50 Peter Wentz III–45 ; 1956 – Elvis Presley introduces his new single, “Hound Dog”, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements. ; 1968 – Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot and mortally wounded at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Wilshire corridor, present day Koreatown. Palestinian gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately arrested. The hotel was demolished end of 2005 and high school erected on the grounds September 2010. It’s called Robert F Kennedy community schools

June 4

Happy Birthday RIP Catherine Rosalind Russell(1907–1976) William Dennis Weaver(1924–2006) John Sidney Blythe Barrymore Jr.(1932–2004) ; Bruce Dern–88 Michelle Phillips(Holly Gilliam)–80 Richard Stevenson Parker Jr–72 Keith David Williams–68 Eldra “El” DeBarge–63 Albert Brown III(“Al B Sure”)–56 Scott Wolf–56 Noah Wyle–53 Angelina Jolie Voight–49 Russell Brand–49 Todd “T.J.” Miller–43 ; 1919 – Women’s rights: The U.S. Congress approves the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees suffrage to women, and sends it to the U.S. states for ratification. Women are now allowed to vote.

June 3

Happy Birthday RIP “Josephine Baker”(Freda McDonald 1906–1975) Maurice Evans(1901–1989) Ellen Corby(Hansen 1911–1999) “Tony Curtis”(Bernard Schwartz 1925–2010) Chuck Barris(1929–2017) ; “Deniece Williams”(June Chandler)–74 Susan “Suzie” Plakson–66 Anderson Cooper–57 Jason Jones–57 ; 1889 – The first long-distance electric power transmission line in the United States is completed, running 14 miles (23 km) between a generator at Willamette Falls and downtown Portland, Oregon

June 2

Happy Birthday RIP Marvin Hamlisch(1944–2012) Sally Kellerman (1937–2022) ; Walter Stacy Keach Jr–83 Charles Haid III–81 Lars “Lasse” Hallström–78 Gerald “Jerry” Mathers–76 Joanna Gleason(Hall)–74 Dana Carvey–69 Liam Cunningham–63 Wentworth Miller III–52 Zachary Quinto–47 Justin Long–46 Dominic Cooper–46 ; 1924 – Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians

June 1

Happy Birthday RIP “Frank Morgan”(Francis Wuppermann 1890–1949) “Marilyn Monroe”(Norma Jeane Mortenson 1926–1962) Cleavon Little(1939–1992) Andy Griffith(1926–2012) Rene Auberjonois(1940– 2019); Charles “Pat” Boone–90 Morgan Freeman–87 Brian Cox–78 Jonathan Pryce–77 Lisa Hartman Black–68 Heidi Klum–51 Alanis Morissette–50 Amy Schumer–43 ; 1890 – The United States Census Bureau begins using Herman Hollerith’s tabulating machine to count census returns ; 1967 – Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles is released ; 1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) begins broadcasting

May 31

Happy Birthday RIP Walter “Walt” Whitman(1819–1892) Denholm Elliott(1922–1992) Dominic “Don” Ameche(Amici 1908–1993) ; Clinton Eastwood Jr–94 Sharon Gless–81 Joseph “Joe” Namath–81 Thomas Berenger(Moore)–75 Christopher Elliott–64 Lea Thompson–63 Corey Hart–62 Brooke Shields–59 Colin Farrell–48 Johnathan Tucker–42 ; 1921 – The Tulsa race massacre took place where mobs of White residents, many of them deputized and given weapons by city officials, attacked Black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa. This is also called the massacre of Black Wall Street https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_race_massacre ; 2005 – Vanity Fair reveals that Mark Felt was Deep Throat, the Watergate scandal’s whistleblower

May 30

Happy Birthday RIP Mel Blanc(Melvin Blank 1908–1989) Benjamin “Benny” Goodman(1909–1986) ; Ruta Kilmonis(“Lee”)–89 Stephen Tobolowsky–73 Colm Meaney–71 Theodore “Ted” McGinley–66 Ralph Carter–63 Mark Sheppard–60 “Wynonna Judd”(Christina Ciminella)–60 Idina Menzel–53 Omri Katz–48 ; 1911 – At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ends with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race

May 29

Happy Birthday RIP John Fitzgerald Kennedy(1917–1963) Leslie “Bob” Hope(1903–2003) George Clifton James(1920–2017) ; Anthony Geary–77 Daniel “Danny” Elfman–71 LaToya Jackson–68 Frank “Ted” Levine–67 Annette Bening-Beaty–66 Rupert Everett–65 Adrian Paul Hewett–65 Melissa Etheridge–63 Lisa Whelchel–61 Laverne Cox–52 David Burtka–49 Daniel Tosh–49 ; 1942 – Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”, the best-selling Christmas single in history