History Blog

March 30

Happy Birthday RIP Vincent van Gogh(1853–1890) ; “Peter Marshall”(Ralph LaCock)–87 John Astin–83 Henry Warren Beaty–76 Eric Clapton–68 Paul Reiser–56 Ian Ziering–49 Tracy Chapman–49 Céline Dion–45 Mark Consuelos–42 Geetali Norah Jones Shankar–34 Jason Dohring–31 ; 1964 – The TV game show “Jeopardy!” premiered on NBC

March 29

Happy Birthday RIP Pearl Bailey(1918–1990) ; Judith Guest–77 Evangelos “Vangelis” Papathanassiou–70 Eric Idle–70 Marina Sirtis–55 “Perry Farrell”(Peretz Bernstein)–54 Amy Sedaris–52 “Elle Macpherson”(Eleanor Gow)–49 Michel Hazanavicius–46 “Lucy Lawless”(Lucille Ryan)–45 ; 1973 – the last United States troops left South Vietnam, ending America’s direct military involvement in the Vietnam War.

March 28

Happy Birthday Dianne Wiest–65 Reba McEntire–58 Bart Conner–55 Vince Vaughn–44 Julia Stiles–32 Stefani Germanotta(“Lady Gaga”)–27 ; 1979 – America’s worst commercial nuclear accident occurred inside the Unit Two reactor at the Three Mile Island plant near Middletown, Penn.

March 27

Happy Birthday RIP Ludwig Mies van der Rohe(1886–1969) Gloria Swanson(Svensson 1899–1983) ; Art Evans–71 Quentin Tarantino–50 Mariah Carey–44 Kevin Corrigan–44 Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson–38 ; 1794 – President George Washington and Congress authorized creation of the U.S. Navy.

March 26

Happy Birthday RIP Thomas “Tennessee” Williams III(1911–1983) ; Leonard Nimoy–82 Alan Arkin–79 James Caan–73 Nancy Pelosi–73 Diana Ross–69 Steven Tyler(Tallarico)–65 Vicki Lawrence(Axelrad)–64 Martin Short–63 Leeza Gibbons–56 Jennifer Grey–53 Theodore “T.R.” Knight–40 Keira Knightley–28 ; 1979 – The Camp David peace treaty was signed by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat at the White House

March 25

Happy Birthday RIP Howard Cosell(Cohen 1918–1995) ; Gloria Steinem–79 Aretha Franklin–71 Paul M Glaser–70 Sir “Elton John”(Reginald Dwight)–66 Bonnie Bedelia Culkin–65 Mary Gross–60 Marcia Cross–50 Sarah Jessica Parker–48 Lee Pace–34 Danica Patrick–31 Sean Faris–31 ; 1913 – The home of vaudeville, the Palace Theatre, opened in New York City. 

March 24

Happy Birthday RIP Harry Houdini(Erich Weiss 1874–1926) Terence Steve McQueen(1930–1980) ; Bob Mackie–74 Tommy Hilfiger–62 Louie Anderson–60 Robert Carradine–59 Donna Pescow–59 Kelly LeBrock–53 Gabriele Kerner(“Nena”)–53 Starlet Jones–51 Lara Flynn Boyle–43 ; 1955 “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” by Tennessee Williams opened on Broadway

March 23

Happy Birthday RIP “Joan Crawford”(Lucille LeSueur 1906–1977) ; Richard Otcasek–64 “Chaka Khan”(Yvette Stevens)–60 Kenneth Cole–59 Amanda Plummer–56 Catherine Keener–54 Marc Cherry–51 Hope Davis–49 Richard Grieco–48 Keri Russell–37 “Perez Hilton”(Mario Lavandeira)–35 ; 2010 – President Barack Obama signed a $938 billion health care overhaul

March 22

Happy Birthday RIP Louis L’Amour(1908–1988) Marcel Marceau(Mangel 1923–2007) Karl Malden(Mladen Sekulovich 1912–2009) ; William Shatner–82 George Benson–70 Andrew Lloyd Webber–65 Robert “Bob” Costas–61 Lena Olin–58 Stephanie Mills–56 Matthew Modine–54 Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon–37 ; 1882 – Congress outlawed polygamy.

March 21

Happy Birthday RIP James Coco (1930–1987) ; Timothy Dalton–69 “Eddie Money”(Edward Mahoney)–64 Leonard Gary Oldman–55 Sabrina Le Beauf–55 Matthew Broderick–51 Roseann “Rosie” O’Donnell–51 ; 1790 – Thomas Jefferson took office as America’s first secretary of state ; 1963 – Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay was emptied of its last inmates.