• Today in 1967, House Judiciary Committee Chair, Emanuel Cellar cast doubt on Michigan Governor George Romney’s eligibility for the presidency. Romney was born in a Mormon community in Mexico, Cellar said and did not enter the States until the age of six.
• Today in 1972, Bonanza fans were mourning the death of Dan Blocker. The actor who played the amiable Hoss Cartwright died of a pulmonary embolism over the weekend.
• Today in 1977, National polls revealed that inflation had surpassed joblessness as the nation’s primary concern. The majority of Americans preferred government programs to create jobs over tax cuts.
• Today in 1979, In a proposal heavy with presidential politics, Massachusetts Senator Edward M. Kennedy proposed national health insurance for every American and challenged his likely competitor, former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter to support it.
• Today in 1982, American Motors pleaded with the United Auto Workers for contract concessions after members roundly rejected the financially strapped auto company’s latest offer. AMC said it would have to close plants and cut jobs if a more reasonable deal could not be reached.
• Today in 1987, Art Van furniture was advertising 1/2 off contemporary living room furniture with sofas on sale for $39 dollars.

 

1215 English barons serve ultimatum on King John which eventually leads to the creation and signing of the Magna Carta
1908 Wireless Radio Broadcasting is patented by Nathan B. Stubblefield
1932 Body of kidnapped son of Charles Lindbergh is found in Hopewell, New Jersey
1937 Coronation of King George VI of Great Britain (and his other realms and territories beyond the sea) at Westminster Abbey, London
1960 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra’s 1957 Cy Coleman hit “Witchcraft”, and Frank performs Presley’s 1956 classic “Love Me Tender”
1963 Bob Dylan walks out of “The Ed Sullivan Show” over a dispute about his song choice
1965 Israel & West Germany exchange letters beginning diplomatic relations
1967 1st quadraphonic concert by Pink Floyd at the Games for May concert in London
1979 Chris Evert’s 125-match winning streak on clay comes to an end
1989 “Entertainment Tonight” makes its 2,000th TV performance
1989 Last graffiti covered NYC subway car retired
1990 Comic Relief USA ’90 (4th one) raises $4.7 million
1994 “Pulp Fiction”, directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson premieres at the Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or 1994)
2002 Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.
2020 Russia’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 reach 232,000, 2nd highest in the world, a day after President Vladimir Putin eased the country’s lockdown

Music released today:

1970: Carpenters, “(They Long To Be) Close To You”, Soft Pop, Close To You, “I Kept On Lovin’ You”
1989: Paula Abdul, “Forever Your Girl” [UK], Dance-Pop, Forever Your Girl, “Next To You”

Rock Birthdays: Via DrRock.com

1928: Burt Bacharach, Pianist, arranger, producer and songwriter, wrote 70 Top 40 hits, often in collaboration with lyricist Hal David, including “(They Long To Be) Close To You” for the Carpenters (#1, 1970), “Walk On By” for Dionne Warwick (#6, 1964), won two Oscars for film score to Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969) and for “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” from the soundtrack (B. J. Thomas, #1, 1969).
1935: Steve Knight, Keyboards in pioneering hard rock/heavy metal band Mountain (“Mississippi Queen,” #21, 1970), after the band broke up in 1972 he returned to traditional jazz, songwriting and miscellaneous projects until his death from complications of Parkinson’s disease on 1/19/2013, age 77
1936: Klaus Doldinger, German jazz-rock fusion saxophonist, composer and bandleader (Passport)
1937: George Carlin, Five-time Grammy-winning counterculture stand-up comedian, film and TV actor, sociopolitical commentator and author, his landmark “Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television” routine was central to the 1978 Supreme Court case upholding the FCC’s right to regulate indecent material on public airwaves, appeared in films and on TV, and issued albums of new material until his death from heart failure on 6/22/2008, age 71
1940: Norman Whitfield, Songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Motown Records, collaborated with Barrett Strong on “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”, “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg”, “(I Know) I’m Losing You”, “Cloud Nine”, “War”, “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and “Car Wash,” died from complications of diabetes on 9/16/2008, age 68
1942: Billy Swan / (William Lance Swan), Country-pop singer/songwriter, touring band member for Kris Kristofferson, producer, solo artist, “I Can Help” (#1, 1974), joined ex-Eagles Randy Meisner in country-rock Black Tie
1942: Ian Dury, Cult-favorite singer, songwriter, poet, actor, bandleader (The Blockheads), solo, “Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll” (1977) and “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” (UK #1, 1978), died of colorectal cancer on 3/27/2000, age 57
1943: David Walker, Guitarist with pop-rock Gary Lewis & The Playboys “This Diamond Ring” (#1, 1965) plus 11 other US Top 40 hits between 1965 and 1968
1944: James Purify / (James Lee Purify), With cousin Robert Lee Dickey in R&B/Southern soul duo James & Bobby Purify, their debut single “I’m Your Puppet” (#6, R&B #5, 1966) mixed doo wop and Stax-style horns and sold over a million copies, issued nine other charting singles before Robert retired in 1970, attempted a solo career then restarted the duo in 1974 with Ben Moore and toured on the oldies circuit into the 80s, re-recorded “I’m Your Puppet” (UK #12, 1976), and released an album, Purify Bros. (1977), retired from music in the late 80s and died from complications of the COVID-19 virus on 1/22/2021, age 76.
1945: Jayotis Washington, Vocalist with a cappella The Persuasions, “Chain Gang” (1971), session work for Don McLean, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder and others
1945: Ian McLagan, Keyboardist for Brit raunch/psych-pop-rock The Small Faces, “Itchycoo Park” (#16, 1968), after Steve Marriott departed and Rod Stewart and Rod Wood joined, renamed The Faces, “Stay With Me” (#17, 1971), session work for Joe Cocker, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Lucinda Williams and others, died after a stroke on 12/3/2014, age 69
1945: Keith Olsen / (Keith Alan Olsen), Bass guitarist for one hit wonder garage rock quintet The Music Machine (“Talk Talk,” #15, 1966), turned to production and sound engineering in the 70s, produced the album Buckingham Nicks (#28, 1973) for Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, later introduced them to Mick Fleetwood and produced the eponymous Fleetwood Mac (#1, 1975), followed by more than 100 albums and dozens of awards for records by Jethro Tull, Grateful Dead, Eddie Money, Whitesnake and many others over a 20 year career, in the 90s moved into sound equipment product development and manufacturing and served on industry trade groups, died from cardiac arrest on 3/9/2020, age 74.
1946: Bob MacVittie, Rhythm guitar for one hit wonder pop-rock Sugarloaf, “Green-Eyed Lady” (#3, 1970)
1948: Steve Winwood, Keyboards, vocals and songwriter, teenaged lead singer for Brit pop-rock Spencer Davis Group, “Gimme Some Lovin”” (#7, 1967), then folk-psych-rock Traffic, “Paper Sun” (#94, UK #5, 1967), then super-trio Blind Faith (US #1 album Blind Faith, 1969), solo, “Higher Love” (#1, 1986)
1948: Ivan Král, Guitarist, composer and leader for teenage rock bands in Czechoslovakia before emigrating to New York City with his exiled parents ahead of the 1968 Soviet invasion, joined an early incarnation of glam rock Blondie, played bass and co-wrote songs from 1975 to 1979 for punk rock Patti Smith Group on her first four albums, chronicled the emergent New York punk scene in the mid-70s via Super 8 and 16mm cameras filming then-little known acts at rehearsals and live concert venues such as The Bottom Line and CBGB nightclub, the spliced tapes became the film The Blank Generation (1976) and a source for countless documentaries worldwide since, in the 80s did session work and contributed to songwriting for John Cale, Iggy Pop, John Waite and others, returned to his native Czech Republic in the 90s to mentor a new and thriving rock music scene in Prague, recorded his 12th studio album just prior to dying from cancer on 2/2/2020, age 71.
1950: Billy Squier, 80s hard pop-rock anthem and balladeer guitarist and singer, “The Stroke” (Mainstream Rock #3, 1981)
1950: Jocko Marcellino / (John Marcellino), Vocals for “greaser” revival parody rock-and-doo-wop Sha Na Na (“(Just Like) Romeo And Juliet,” #55, 1975)

Other Notable Birthdays: Via OnThisDay.com

1820 Florence Nightingale, British nurse (revolutionized nursing during the Crimean War), born in Florence, Italy (d. 1910)
1907 Katharine Hepburn, American actress (Adam’s Rib, On Golden Pond), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 2003)
1907 Leslie Charteris, Chinese English American detective writer (Simon Templar character in The Saint), born in Singapore (d. 1993)
1914 Howard K. Smith, American TV newsman and journalist (ABC, Moderated Kennedy-Nixon debate), born in Ferriday, Louisiana (d. 2002)
1915 Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman, founded Mary Kay Cosmetics (d. 2001)
1925 Lorenzo “Yogi” Berra, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher and manager (18X MLB All-Star; 13X World Series champion; NY Yankees, Mets; AL MVP (1951, 54, 55), and Purple Heart recipient, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2015)
1928 Henry Cosby,American songwriter, musician and producer for Motown (“Tears of a Clown”; “For Once In My Life”), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2002)
1936 Tom Snyder, American television and radio interviewer (The Tomorrow Show, 1973-82), and news anchor (NBC Weekend News), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2007)
1939 Ron Ziegler, American White House press secretary for Nixon, born in Covington, Kentucky (d. 2003)
1956 Homer Simpson, fictional character from the long running television show “The Simpsons”, born in Springfield
1957 Lou Whitaker, American MLB 2nd baseman (Detroit Tigers, 1978 AL Rookie of the Year), born in Brooklyn, New York
1962 Emilio Estevez, American actor (Breakfast Club, Young Guns, Mighty Ducks), born in NYC, New York
1963 Vanessa Williams, American actress (Soul Food, Murder One, Melrose Place – “Rhonda Blair”;), born in Brooklyn, New York [not Miss America]
1966 Stephen Baldwin, American actor (The Usual Suspects), born in Massapequa, New York
1968 Tony Hawk, American skateboarder, born in Carlsbad, California
1968 Scott Schwartz, American actor, (Christmas Story) born in Sacramento, California
1978 Jason Biggs, American actor (American Pie), born in Pompton Plains, New Jersey
1981 Rami Malek, American actor (Bohemian Rhapsody), born in Los Angeles, California