Notable:
Today in 1982, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney released their duet single “Ebony and Ivory.” The single reached number one on both the UK and the US charts and was among the top-selling singles of 1982. But some critics say it has not aged well. In 2007, BBC 6 Music listeners voted “Ebony and Ivory” the worst duet in history.
Tomorrow is opening day for Major League Baseball. The Tigers debut on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays at 3:10pm with Eduardo Rodriguez facing odd against Shane McClanahan. Detroit hosts the Red Sox to kick off the home season at Comerica on April 6.
Taking the fam out to the ballgame vista a lot more than it used to. Four adult tickets, parking, drinks and hot dogs averaged $256 dollars last season.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Uranus align in the evening sky this week. The best viewing is right around sunset, with the quintet sinking toward the horizon after about 30 minutes.
Electricity generated from renewable sources surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation in 2022 after first doing so in 2021.
Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton will host the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards. The event will take place on Thursday, May 11th at Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, TX, and stream live exclusively on Prime Video.
Want a Mammoth Burger? A cultured meat company claims to have grown a meatball from the DNA of a very-extinct woolly mammoth. According to The Guardian, the DNA sequence was placed in stem cells from a sheep to grow the meatball. No one has tasted the mammoth meat, Professor Ernst Wolvetang, who worked with Australian company Vow to make the meat said, since “we have no idea how our immune system would react.”
Today in History:
1848 – Because of an ice jam, Niagara Falls stopped flowing for nearly 40 hours.
1932 – Jack Benny made his radio debut on Ed Sullivan’s program, uttering his first on-air spiel: “This is Jack Benny talking. There will be a slight pause while you say, ‘Who cares?'”
1951 – The original Broadway production of the musical “The King and I,” starring Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence, opened at New York’s St. James Theatre for 1246 performances.
1959 – “Some Like it Hot,” starring Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, George Raft, Pat O’Brien, Joe E. Brown, and Nehemiah Persoff, opened in movie theaters.
1962 – Jack Paar made his final appearance as host of the “Tonight Show” on NBC-TV. Various guest hosts were used for the next six months until new host Johnny Carson’s arrival in October.
1962 – Gene Chandler‘s single “Duke of Earl” was certified Gold.
1967 – The first nationwide strike in the 30-year history of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) began. During the 13-day work stoppage, many familiar faces were absent from the TV screen, including that of Walter Cronkite of CBS News whose temporary replacement was Arnold Zenker, formerly a radio announcer in Wilmington, Delaware.
1971 – Jerry Reed‘s single “Amos Moses” was certified Gold.
1973 – Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The group’s recording, “The Cover of Rolling Stone,” reached No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1978 – Tina Turner was divorced from Ike Turner after 16 years of marriage and one child.
1992 – Referring to when he had experimented with marijuana, Democratic presidential front-runner Bill Clinton said ‘I didn’t inhale and I didn’t try it again.’
1999 – At the height of the ‘dot-com bubble,’ the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time.
Today’s Birthdays (with a tip of the hat to DrRock.com):
1867 – Cy Young – American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (Cleveland Spiders, Boston Americans; most wins in MLB history 511), born in Gilmore, Ohio. Died: 1955
1916 – Eugene McCarthy – American politician (Sen-D-Minn) and presidential candidate, born in Watkins, Minnesota. Died 2005.
1918 – Pearl Bailey – Well-known and respected but modest-selling Broadway, TV and Hollywood actress and blues-jazz-pop singer, scored a hit with “Takes Two To Tango” (#7, 1952), issued the Grammy-wining soundtrack album Porgy And Bess (#8, 1959), won a Tony Award for the title role in Hello, Dolly! (1967) and was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988, died from coronary artery disease on 8/17/1990, age 72
1918 – Sam Walton – American businessman (founder and CEO of Walmart and Sam’s Club), born in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. Died 1992.
1937 – Billy Carter, brother of US President Jimmy Carter, born in Plains, Georgia (d. 1988)
1930 – Donny Conn / (Donald Claps) – Vocals and drummer for novelty pop/rock ‘n’ roll The Playmates, “Beep Beep” (#4, 1958) plus 4 other Top 40 hits
1940 – Astrud Gilberto – Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer, won Grammy Award for 1965 Record of the Year “The Girl From Ipanema” (#5, AC #1, 1964), issued over 30 albums and a dozen singles in several languages through the 80s.
1918 – Pearl Bailey – Well-known and respected but modest-selling Broadway, TV and Hollywood actress and blues-jazz-pop singer, scored a hit with “Takes Two To Tango” (#7, 1952), issued the Grammy-wining soundtrack album Porgy And Bess (#8, 1959), won a Tony Award for the title role in Hello, Dolly! (1967) and was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988, died from coronary artery disease on 8/17/1990, age 72
1943 – Chad Allan [Allan Kowbel], Canadian rock singer (The Guess Who, 1962-66), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
1943 – Eric Idle, English comedian, actor (Monty Python), born in South Shields, England.
1944 – Denny McLain – American baseball pitcher (AL Cy Young Award 1968-69; AL MVP 1968; MLB All-Star 66, 68, 69; Detroit Tigers), born in Markham, Illinois
1947 – Bobby Kimball / (Robert Toteaux) – Lead vocals and namesake for arena rock Toto, “Africa” (#1, 1982).
1948 – (Walter) “Bud” Cort, American actor (M*A*S*H(film); Brewster McCloud; Harold and Maude), born in New Rochelle, New York.
1955 – Marina Sirtis – English actress (Troi-Star Trek: The Next Generation), born in London, England.
1968 – Lucy Lawless – New Zealand actress (Xena: Warrior Princess) and singer, born in Auckland, New Zealand
