History Blog

April 3

Happy Birthday RIP Leslie Howard Steiner(1893–1943) Marlon Brando Jr(1924–2004) Doris Kappelhoff(“Doris Day” 1922–2019) ; Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall–90 Marsha Mason–82 Carson Wayne Newton–82 Michael Orlando Cassavitis(“Tony Orlando”)–80 Alexander “Alec” Baldwin III–66 David Hyde Pierce–65 Edward “Eddie” Murphy–63 Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn–55 Jamie Bamber Griffith–51 ; 1860 – The first successful United States Pony Express run from Saint Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, begins ; 1968 – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis

April 2

Happy Birthday RIP Alec Guinness de Cuffe(1914–2000) Marvin Gay Jr(1939–1984) Christian “Buddy” Ebsen Jr(1908–2003) Robert “Dabbs” Greer (1917–2007) Ronald Paolillo(1949–2012) Rodney King III(1965–2012) Sam Anderson(1945–2020); Linda Hunt–79 Emmylou Harris–77 Christopher Meloni–63 Adam Rodriguez–49 Michael Fassbender–47 Aiden Turner–41 ; 1902 – Tally’s “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles, California at 262 S Main. It’s since been demolished and replaced with office building ; 1956 – As the World Turns and The Edge of Night premiere on CBS-TV. The two soaps become the first daytime dramas to debut in the 30-minute format #SoapOpera

April 1

Happy Birthday RIP Leonidas “Lon” Chaney(1883–1930) Gordon Jump(1932–2003) Mary “Debbie” Reynolds(1932–2016) “Jane Powell”(Suzanne Bruce 1929–2021) ; Elizabeth “Ali” MacGraw–85 Barry Sonnenfeld–71 Susan Boyle–63 Rachel Maddow–51 Samuel Huntington–42 Matthew Lanter–41 ; 1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois ; 1970 – President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law, requiring the Surgeon General’s warnings on tobacco products and banning cigarette advertisements on television and radio in the United States, starting on January 1, 1971

March 31

Happy Birthday RIP Cesar Chavez(1927–1993) Charles Eli Guggenheim(1924–2002) Anne Elizabeth “Liz” Claiborne(1929–2007) ; George Richard Chamberlain–90 Shirley Jones–90 Herbert Alpert–89 Ronald “Christopher” Walken–81 Gabriel Kaplan–79 Albert Gore Jr.–76 Rhea Perlman(DeVito)–76 William McNamara–59 Ewan McGregor–53 Evan Williams–52 ; 1889 – The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public in Paris.

March 30

Happy Birthday RIP Vincent van Gogh(1853–1890) ; “Peter Marshall”(Ralph LaCock)–98 John Astin–94 Henry Warren Beatty–87 Eric Clapton–79 Paul Reiser–68 Ian Ziering–60 Tracy Chapman–60 Céline Dion–56 Mark Consuelos–53 Geetali Norah Jones Shankar–45 Jason Dohring–42 ; 1964 – The game show “Jeopardy!” premiered on NBC television network ; 1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr. and three others are wounded in the same incident.

March 29

Happy Birthday RIP Pearl Bailey(Mae 1918–1990) Evangelos “Vangelis” Papathanassiou (1943–2022); Judith Guest–88 Eric Idle–81 Marina Sirtis–69 “Perry Farrell”(Simon Bernstein)–65 Amy Sedaris–63 “Elle Macpherson”(Eleanor Gow)–60 “Lucy Lawless”(Lucille Ryan)–56 Edward Skrein–41 ; 1882 – The Knights of Columbus are established ; 1971 – A Los Angeles, California jury recommends the death penalty for Charles Manson and three female followers

March 28

Happy Birthday Conchata Ferrell(1943–2020) ; Dianne Wiest–76 Reba McEntire–69 Alexandra Billings–62 Vincent Vaughn–54 Julia Stiles–43 Stefani Germanotta(“Lady Gaga”)–38 ; 1979 – A coolant leak at the Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania leads to the core overheating and a partial melt down.

March 27

Happy Birthday RIP Sir Frederick Henry Royce(1863–1933) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe(1886–1969) Gloria Swanson(Svensson 1899 –1983) ; Michael York–82 Arthur Evans–82 Bart Conner–66 Quentin Tarantino–61 David Koz–61 Kevin Corrigan–55 Mariah Carey–55 Nathan Fillion–53 Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson–49 Blake McIver Ewing–39 Holliday Grainger–36 ; 1794 – President George Washington and Congress authorized creation of the U.S. Navy ; 1976 – The first 4.6 miles of the Washington Metro subway system opens

March 26

Happy Birthday RIP Thomas “Tennessee” Williams III(1911–1983) Leonard Nimoy(1931–2015) James Caan (1940–2022) Alan Arkin(1934–2013) ; Nancy Pelosi–84 Diana Ross–80 Steven Tyler(Tallarico)–76 Vicki Lawrence(Axelrad)–75 Martin Short–74 Leeza Gibbons–67 Jennifer Grey–64 Theodore “T.R.” Knight–51 Lawrence “Larry” Page–51 Keira Knightley–39 ; 1979 – Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C. ; 1999 – A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man

March 25

Happy Birthday RIP Howard Cosell(Cohen 1918–1995) Eileen Ford(1922–2014) Aretha Franklin(1942–2018) ; Eugene Shalit–98 Gloria Steinem–90 Paul Manfred Glaser–81 Sir “Elton John”(Reginald Dwight)–77 Bonnie Bedelia Culkin–76 Mary Gross–71 Haywood Nelson–64 Marcia Cross–62 Sarah Jessica Parker–59 Lee Pace–45 Sean Faris–42 ; 1913 – The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theater located at 1564 Broadway (at West 47th Street) in midtown Manhattan opened ; 1965 – Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. successfully complete their 4-day 50-mile march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery, Alabama