• Today in 1967, Detroit Police Commissioner Ray Girardin announced extra academy classes to deal with a shortage of police officers. Girardin said the department was 455 men short of it’s 4,853 staffing goal.
• Today in 1972, Pundants predicted that George Wallace would dominate the Tuesday Michigan Presidential Priamary in the wake of anger about cross-district bussing and a general distate for politicians. “Every dog has it’s day,” Wallace told an Upper Peninsula crowd. “And you’re having yours.”
• Today in 1977, “The Blackboard Flu” closed all Romulus schools in the wake of a breakdown in contract negotioations. Teachers unions were prohibited from striking but sick-outs had become common in Detroit area school districts including Dearborn Heights and Redford Township.
• Today in 1979, Gas shortages spread in Northern California as the fuel crisis deepened. Michigan supplies remained steady.
• Today in 1982, The United Auto Workers announced their intention to attempt to unionize General Motors white colar employes. Much of the impetus for the campaign came from disgruntled GM junior executives, UAW VP Martin Gerber said.
• Today in 1987, The Michigan House approved raising the speed limit on rural interstate highways to 65 miles per hour but ruled out a proposed band on radar detectors. Governor Jim Blanchard has vowed to veto any speed increase that doesn’t contain a ban on “Fuzz Busters.”

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:

1982: Men At Work, “Who Can It Be Now?” [UK], New Wave Synth-Pop, Business As Usual, “Anyone For Tennis” [Instrumental]
1984: Wham!, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” [UK], Dance-Pop, Make It Big, “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” [Instrumental]

Rock Birthdays: Via DrRock.com

1916: Skip Martin / (Lloyd Martin), Jazz and Big Band saxophonist, music arranger and orchestrator, played in the Glenn Miller Orchestra and other big band’s and became a studio musician and arranger for Hollywood films in the 50s, including Judy Garland‘s comeback movie A Star Is Born (1954), died on 2/12/1976, age 59
1932: Bob Johnston, Rockabilly and pop-rock songwriter, co-wrote numerous songs for Elvis Presley in the mid-60s, then produced a string of classic albums in the late 60s and 70s, including Bob Dylan‘s Blonde On Blonde and Johnny Cash‘s At Folsom Prison, fell into relative obscurity in the 80s and 90s but continued to produce independent albums, died from heart failure on 8/14/2015, age 83.
1934: Grady Gaines, Blues, rock ‘n’ roll and jazz tenor saxophonist with a six-decade career as a session musician, bandleader and solo artist, starting with Peacock Records in the early 50 and as frontman for The Upsetters, Little Richard‘s first backing that also played behind Jackie Wilson, James Brown and others in the 60s, did session work and toured with Curtis Mayfield and others through the 70s, quit music in 1980 and became a hotel transportation manager, reformed the Texas Upsetters in 1986, issuing three albums and playing in Houston-area clubs and festivals into the 10s, died in his sleep on 1/29/2021, age 86.
1936: Charlie Gracie / (Charles Graci), Rockabilly and pop-rock guitarist and songwriter, Philadelphia’s first rock ‘n roll star and an American Bandstand regular, “Butterfly” (#1, 1957)
1936: Bobby Darin / (Walden Robert Cassotto), Film actor (Come September, 1961), musician, adult pop vocalist, “Mack The Knife” (#1, 1959) and 20 other Top 40 singles, husband of actress/singer Sandra Dee,, died after open heat surgery to repair damaged valves on 12/20/1973, age 37
1938: Mike Preston / (Jack Davies), Boxer turned pop singer, “Mr. Blue” (UK #12, 1959) turned Aussie and US TV/film actor, The A-Team and The Ghost And Mrs. Muir
1940: Troy Shondell / (Gary Shelton), Transatlantic one hit wonder rock ‘n’ roll/pop singer, “This Time” (#6, 1961), his stage name was the inspiration for Tommy James & The Shondells, later with Acuff-Rose Music in Nashville and ASCAP as a regional music publishing executive
1943: Jack Bruce / (John Symon Asher Bruce), Renowned Scottish bass guitarist, songwriter and vocalist for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann, “Pretty Flamingo” (#29, UK #1, 1966) and Cream, co-wrote “Sunshine Of Your Love” (#5, 1968), “White Room” (#6, 1968) and “I Feel Free”, later with supertrio West Bruce & Laing and 14 solo albums through 2014, died from liver failure on 10/25/2014, age 71
1943: Clive Palmer / (Clive Harold Palmer), Founding member and principal in Scottish psych-folk and early world music duo The Incredible String Band, 1968 album The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter reached #161 in the US, died after a long illness on 11/23/2014, age 71
1945: Gene Cornish, Guitar and vocals for blue-eyed soul-pop The Rascals, “Groovin’”, (#1, 1967), then power pop Fotomaker, “Miles Away” (#63, 1978), solo
1945: Lek Leckenby / (Derek Leckenby), Guitar, banjo and songwriting for British Invasion pop-rock British Invasion pop-rock Herman’s Hermits (“Mrs. Brown You’ve Got A Lovely Daughter,” #1, 1965), continued with various incarnation sof the band until his death lymphoma on 6/4/1994, age 49
1947: Al Ciner, Guitarist for pop-rock one hit wonder American Breed, “Bend Me Shape Me” (Top 10, 1968), Three Dog Night, “Joy To The World” (#1, 1971) and R&B/funk-dance Rufus, “Tell Me Something Good” (#3, 1974)
1950: Arthur James Grant, Drummer for Brit blues then prog-rock Edgar Broughton Band, “Apache Dropout” (UK #33, 1970)
1952: David Byrne, Guitar, vocals, songwriting and de facto frontman for art-pop-rock Talking Heads, “Take Me To The River” (#26, 1978), Grammy-winning solo artist and composer
1953: John Rutsey, Drummer and founding member of Canadian arena rock/power trio Rush, “New World Man” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1982) and 24 other Mainstream Rock Top 20 singles, died from complications of diabetes on 5/11/2008, age 54
1956: H / (Steve Hogarth), Lead vocals for Brit prog-rock revival group Marillion, “Kayleigh” (Mainstream Rock #14, 1985)
1962: C.C. DeVille / (Bruce Johannesson)), Guitarist for hair metal/power ballad Poison, “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” (#1, 1988)
1962: Ian Astbury, Singer and guitarist for punk-rock Southern Death Cult, which evolved into hard rock/metal revival The Cult, “Fire Woman” (Mainstream Rock #4, 1989)
1964: Shelley Preston, Joined Brit mixed-gender euro-pop/disco Bucks Fizz as lead vocalist in 1985, “New Beginning (Mamba Seyra)” (UK #8, 1986), left in 1990 for a modeling and backing vocals career
1966: Fabrice Morvan, Singer and one half of the scandalous, lip-synching dance-pop vocal duo Milli Vanilli, the pair were stripped of their 1989 Grammy award when in 1990 it was revealed that they never actually sang on their albums or in concert, resurrected a solo career in the early 00s
1966: Mike Inez, Bassist for alterna-metal/hard rock Alice In Chains, “No Excuses” (Mainstream Rock #1, 1994)
1966: Raphael Saddiq / (Charles Ray Wiggins), Old school R&B/soul singer, songwriter and bass guitarist, with brother Dwayne and cousin Timothy Christian in R&B/dance Tony! Toni! Toné! (“Feels Good,” #9, R&B #1, 1990), then solo (“Ask Of You,” #19, R&B #2) and the critically-acclaimed album Stone Rollin (#14, 2011)
1969: Danny Wood, Singer, songwriter and choreographer for early 90s teen-pop boy band New Kids On The Block, “Step By Step” (#1, 1990), solo
1969: Steve Hellier, Keyboards and vocals for electro-dance-dream pop Dubstar, “Stars” (UK #15, 1996)
1971: Freaky Tah / (Raymond Rogers), MC, hype man and vocals for 90s rap quartet The Lost Boyz, “Music Makes Me High” (#51, Rap #5, 1996) plus three R&B Top 10 albums, murdered by gun fire in a hotel lobby on 3/28/1999, age 27
1973: Natalie Appleton, Canadian singer in Brit dance-pop-rock all-girl quartet All Saints, “Never Ever” (#4, 1998), then dance-pop sister duo Appleton, “Never Ever” (UK #2, 2003)
1973: Shanice / (Shanice Wilson), Motown R&B/dance-pop singer/songwriter, “I Love Your Smile” (#2, 1991)
1976: Hunter Burgan, Multi-instrumentalist and current bass guitarist for alt-punk-rock AFI (A Fire Inside), “Miss Murder” (#24, Modern Rock #1, 2006)
1976: Martine McCutcheon / (Martine Kimberley Sherrie Ponting), Brit actress who gained stardom after playing Tiffany Mitchell on BBC TV’s EastEnders (1995-1998), then pop singer, “Perfect Moment” (UK #1, 1999)
1979: Dan Auerbach / (Daniel Quine Auerbach), Grammy-winning blues-rock songwriter, producer and songwriter, frontman for 00s neo-blues-rock The Black Keys (“Lonely Boy,” #64, Alt Rock #1, 2010) along with other side projects and collaborations
1984: Olly Murs / (Oliver Stanley Murs), Brit singer, songwriter, TV actor and program host with multiple UK hits, including “Troublemaker” (#25, UK #1, 2016)

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