April 6
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Events on This Day
1830 - The Church of Christ was organized by Joseph C. Smith and Oliver Cowdery at Fayette, New York. Smith and Cowdery ordained each other as elders and, in turn, ordained others. The name of the church was soon changed to Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (aka the Mormon Church).1896 - The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece. James B. Connolly of Boston, MA won the first event by capturing the hop, skip and jump contest.
1909 - Robert Peary became the first man to reach the North Pole -- not counting Santa Claus, of course. Actually, Robert Peary and Matthew H. Henson, Peary’s servant, were the first men to reach the North Pole. Because Henson was a black, hired man, his presence at this historic moment was not recognized until 1945 when he received a medal for outstanding service in the field of science from the U.S. government.
1916 - Charlie Chaplin was 26 years old this day when he signed a movie contract with the Mutual Film Corporation. He made a fair piece of change, too -- $675,000 a year -- and became the highest-paid film star in the world.
1917 - Congress approved a U.S. declaration of war against Germany, thus entering World War I. President Woodrow Wilson had asked a special joint session of Congress for this declaration.
1917 - Over There was introduced by George M. Cohan. Wildly popular as a patriotic WWI wartime anthem, it is the only song to be awarded a Congressional Medal.
1925 - Eddie Cantor recorded the standard, If You Knew Susie, for Columbia Records. There was none classier.
1927 - William P. MacCracken, Jr. earned license number ‘1’ when the Department of Commerce issued the first aviator’s license.
1930 - Hostess Twinkies were invented by bakery executive James Dewar of the Continental Baking Company in Chicago. Twinkies are cream-filled sponge cakes.
1931 - Little Orphan Annie, the comic strip character developed by Harold Gray, came to life on the NBC Blue network. About 5 decades later, the comic strip inspired a Broadway play and a movie, both titled, Annie.
1938 - Du Pont researcher Dr. Roy J. Plunkett accidentally created the chemical compound that was later marketed as Teflon.
1945 - This is Your FBI debuted on ABC radio. Frank Lovejoy served as narrator for the following eight years.
1947 - For the first time, Tony Awards were presented. The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City was the location of the gala ceremonies. No awards were given out for best play or best musical this first time around, and in many categories, more than one prize was awarded: Arthur Miller was voted best author (All My Sons); Jose Ferrer (Cyrano de Bergerac) and Fredric March (Years Ago) won for actors in dramatic roles; in the Dramatic Actress category, the prizes went to Helen Hayes (Happy Birthday) and Ingrid Bergman (Joan of Lorraine); Best Director was Elia Kazan (All My Sons); Agnes deMille (Brigadoon) and Michael Kidd (Finian’s Rainbow) were voted best choreographers; and Kurt Weill got the Tony Award as Best Composer (Finian’s Rainbow).
1954 - Four weeks after being attacked on the air by Edward R. Murrow, U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy (R-WI) delivered a filmed response on CBS’ See It Now in which he charged that Murrow had, in the past, “engaged in propaganda for Communist causes.”
1956 - Capitol Tower, the home of Capitol Records in Hollywood, CA, was dedicated. The building was the first circular office tower designed in America. It is 13 stories tall and 92 feet in diameter. At night, a light at the tip of the tower blinks the letters H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in Morse Code. This single-word message was changed only once, in June of 1992, to celebrate Capitol Records’ 50th anniversary. For that one year, it blinked: C-A-P-I-T-O-L-5-0. In 1993, it returned to sending the original message: H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D.
1957 - Trolley cars in New York City completed their final runs on this day.
1958 - Arnold Palmer won his first major pro golf tournament by capturing the Masters in Augusta, GA (and the coveted green jacket). Palmer defeated defending champion Dough Ford for the honor. Palmer was 28 years old and had been a pro since 1954 after he won the National Amateur title.
1959 - Hal Holbrook opened in the critically acclaimed, off-Broadway presentation of Mark Twain Tonight. Quotes from the famous humorist include: “It is best to read the weather forecast, before we pray for rain.”; “The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become.”; “Modesty died when clothes were born.”; “Be good and you will be lonesome.”; and “Familiarity breeds contempt -- and children.”
1959 - America’s funny men, Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and Mort Sahl, and comedic actor Tony Randall, along with the Great Britain’s outstanding actors, David Niven and Laurence Olivier, entertained the guests of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science at the 31st Annual Academy Awards ceremony. The audience filled the RKO Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles with applause for the Best Picture of 1958: Gigi (Arthur Freed, producer). Gigi also won Oscars for Best Director Vincente Minnelli; for Frederick Loewe’s (music), and Alan Jay Lerner’s (lyrics) for the Song, Gigi; for Best Music/Scoring of a Musical Picture (André Previn); for the Best Writing/Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Alan Jay Lerner); for Best Cinematography/Color (Joseph Ruttenberg); for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration/Black-and-White or Color (William A. Horning, E. Preston Ames, Henry Grace, F. Keogh Gleason); for Best Costume Design/Black-and-White or Color (Cecil Beaton); and for Best Film Editing (Adrienne Fazan). One would think there weren’t any awards leftover for any other movies. But, the Best Actor award went to David Niven for Separate Tables as did the Best Supporting Actress Oscar (Wendy Hiller). Susan Hayward was honored for her Best Actress role in I Want to Live! and Best Supporting Actor was Burl Ives in The Big Country. Other notable movies of 1958 ... some award winners, some not ... Auntie Mame, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Old Man and the Sea, Some Came Running, Teacher’s Pet, South Pacific, The Young Lions, Bell, Book and Candle, Vertigo, Damn Yankees, Marjorie Morningstar, and The Defiant Ones.
1963 - The United States and Britain signed an agreement under which the U.S. would sell Polaris A-3 missiles to England.
1965 - Intelsat 1 (Early Bird) was launched from Cape Canaveral, FL. Global satellite communications had begun.
1968 - The soundrack album from the movie The Graduate hit number one in the U.S. The album made superstars of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. The alubm also showcased the music of jazz pianist Dave Grusin, who wrote and perfomed six of the tracks. The complete list: The Sounds of Silence (Simon), The Singleman Party Foxtrot (Grusin), Mrs. Robinson (Simon), Sunporch Cha-Cha-Cha (Grusin), Scarborough Fair (interlude) (Simon/Garfunkel), On the Strip (Grusin), April Come She Will (Simon), The Folks (Grusin), Scarborough Fair (Simon/Garfunkel), A Great Effect (Grusin), The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (Simon), Whew (Grusin).
1971 - Rolling Stones Records was formed to promote the hits of The Rolling Stones. The famous Stones trademark, the lips logo, became widely used. Brown Sugar was the first hit by the Rolling Stones on the new label, followed by Wild Horses, Tumbling Dice and Bill Gates’ favorite song, Start Me Up.
1973 - The Stylistics received a gold record for their ballad hit, Break Up to Make Up. The Philadelphia soul group placed 10 hits on the pop charts in the 1970s. More of their gold record winners include: You Are Everything, Betcha By Golly Wow, I’m Stone in Love With You and You Make Me Feel Brand New.
1974 - The first concert film featuring a soundtrack in quadraphonic sound opened -- at the Ziegfeld Theatre. Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones turned out to be a ‘stone’ smash.
1977 - The Seattle Mariners lost their home opener -- in the new Kingdome -- to the California Angels 7-0.
1979 - The U.S. cut off aid to Pakistan, because of that country’s covert construction of a uranium enrichment facility.
1980 - Post-it Notes were introduced. And 3M scientist Art Fry said, “It wasn’t an accident. It was a classic thing in research…coming up with a new material… and then I found an application for it. If you had planned a trip, a vacation to go to someplace you haven’t been before and you see something you haven’t seen, it isn’t an accident that you saw it. Because you would’ve done all the preparation to make it happen. This was the case with us. We sailed into unchartered waters and discovered new things.”
1984 - Singer Ral Donner (You Don't Know What You’ve Got [Until You Lose It]) died of cancer at age 41. Donner was the narrator, as well as Elvis Presley’s voice, in the 1981 film This is Elvis.
1985 - The country group, Alabama, went five-for-five as the album 40 Hour Week grabbed the top spot on the Billboard country chart. The group had a number one album for each of the previous five years. The popularity of the quartet (three are cousins from Fort Payne, AL) continues today.
1987 - Boxing great Sugar Ray Leonard won a 2-1 decision in a stunning upset over Marvelous Marvin Hagler in a bout held in Las Vegas, NV.
1991 - Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was suspended for 15 months by Italian League for having tested positive for cocaine use.
1991 - Iraq reluctantly agreed to accept United Nations conditions for ending the Persian Gulf War.
1992 - Microsoft released Windows 3.1. The operating system was an upgrade to Windows 3.0 (released May 22, 1990).
1992 - Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened as Baltimore beat the Cleveland Indians 2-0.
1994 - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun announced his retirement after 24 years. Justice Blackmun wrote the Roe vs. Wade opinion on the constitutionality of abortion.
1996 - Actress Greer Garson died in Dallas. She was 92 years old.
1997 - NASA officials announced they were cutting short the 16-day mission of space shuttle Columbia by 12 days because of a deteriorating and potentially explosive power generator.
1998 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 9,000 points for the first time.
1998 - Teletubbies, the British show for toddlers, debuted on U.S. TV.
2000 - Scientists at Celera Genomics of Rockville, MD said the company had completed a major first step in the race to map the human genetic blueprint. They had roughly sequenced the genome, the thousands of genes found on the 46 chromosomes of a single human being.
2001 - Films debuting in the U.S.: Along Came a Spider, with Morgan Freeman and Monica Potter; Blow, starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz; Just Visiting, with Jean Reno and Christina Applegate; and Pokémon 3: The Movie, with the voices of Veronica Taylor, Rachael Lillis, Eric Stuart, Addie Blaustein and Ikue Ootani.
2001 - Pacific Gas and Electric filed for bankruptcy as a result of the California energy crisis.
2001 - Algerian national Ahmed Ressam was convicted twice on this day. Ressam was convicted in France for belonging to a group supporting Islamic militants. He was then convicted in Los Angeles on terrorism charges, stemming from his arrest for bringing explosives into the U.S. at a Canadian border crossing just days before the millennium celebrations.
2003 - David Bloom (39), NBC-TV news correspondent, died of a pulmonary embolism while traveling with American troops south of Baghdad, Iraq.
2004 - The Barcelona city council passed a resolution condemning bullfighting; it was Spain’s first city to come out against the centuries-old sport.
2005 - Prince Rainier III of Monaco died at age 81, nearly a month after he was hospitalized with a lung infection. His fairy-tale marriage to Hollywood movie star Grace Kelly brought elegance and glamour to one of Europe’s oldest dynasties.
2006 - Three ski patrollers were killed when snow collapsed around a volcanic gas vent at Mammoth Lakes, CA. The men were apparently killed by toxic gasses after they fell into the 21-foot hole.
2006 - Former New York City detectives Louis Eppolito and Steven Caracappa were convicted of moonlighting as hit men for Anthony Casso, a Luchese family underboss from 1986-1990.
2007 - Grindhouse, two creepy stories in one movie, opened in U.S. theatres. Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez each directed a 60-minute horror tale for the flick. Rodriguez’s part: Planet Terror, is a zombie movie, while Tarantino’s section, Death Proof, is a slasher film. Starring in Death Proof: Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Marley Shelton, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michael Bacall, Eli Roth and Omar Doom; and in Planet Terror: Freddy Rodriguez, Rose McGowan, Josh Brolin, Naveen Andrews, Marley Shelton, Michael Biehn, Stacy Ferguson, Jeff Fahey and Michael Parks.
2007 - United Nations climate experts issued a warning about the impact of global warming, ranging from hunger in Africa to a fast thaw in the Himalayas.
2008 - Presidents George Bush (II) and Vladimir Putin ended their last face-to-face meeting as heads of state with warm words for each other -- but no solution to their disagrement over European missile defense.
2009 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited northern Afghanistan to meet with her country’s troops and view rebuilding efforts. She also pressed President Karzai to review a recent Afghan law that critics said legalized marital rape.
2009 - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake knocked down whole blocks of buildings in central Italy. The quake struck as residents slept, killing some 300 people in L’Aquila, capital of the Abruzzo region, which was near the epicenter. It was the country’s deadliest quake in three decades.
2009 - U.S. President Barack Obama visited Turkey; his first visit to a Muslim nation since his election. Obama declared that the United States “is not and will never be at war with Islam.”
2010 - The Canadian dollar rose to parity with the U.S. dollar, hitting its strongest level since July 2008.
2010 - A group of U.S. and Canadian researchers reported that a cyber-espionage group based in southwest China stole documents from the Indian Defense Ministry and e-mails from the Dalai Lama’s office.
2011 - Dish Network announced that it had won the auction to buy Blockbuster Video with a bid valued at $320 million in cash. The movie-rental chain had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2010.
2012 - Movies debuting in the U.S.: American Reunion, with Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott, Jennifer Coolidge, Mena Suvari, John Cho, Katrina Bowden, Shannon Elizabeth and Tara Reid; The Cold Light of Day, starring Bruce Willis, Henry Cavill, Sigourney Weaver, Caroline Goodall, Jim Piddock, Rafi Gavron, Joseph Mawle and Óscar Jaenada; Damsels in Distress, with Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Carrie MacLemore and Hugo Becker; and Detention, with Josh Hutcherson, Dane Cook, Spencer Locke, Aaron Perilo, Parker Bagley, Will Wallace and Brooke Haven.
2012 - China’s Xinhua News Agency reported that five people in central China had been indicted for involvement in illegal organ trading after a teenager sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and an iPad.
2013 - Sweden-based Ikea said it had withdrawn 17,000 portions of moose lasagna from its home furnishings stores in Europe after traces of pork were found in a batch tested in Belgium. The product had only been on sale for a month when it was pulled.
2014 - The Australian navy ship Ocean Shield reported that it had picked up two separate signals in seas far off the west Australian coast. Hope was that the signals could be traced to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370’s black boxes. Unfortunately, the signals could never be confirmed, and that jetliner is still missing...
2015 - Saudi Arabia beheaded Saleh al-Yami for drug trafficking, bringing the number of executions it had carried out for the year to 57.
2015 - Thieves got away with a record haul of diamonds after a brazen heist in Hatton Garden, London netted an estimated £200 million worth (€275 million, $300 million) of gems over the Easter weekend. Police had been alerted to the heist but had failed to respond. An investigation was underway as to how an intruder call to the Met’s central communications unit was passed off as “no police response deemed required.”
2016 - A Paris court convicted Jean-Marie Le Pen (87), founder and former head of France’s far-right National Front party, of denying crimes against humanity for repeating that the Nazi gas chambers are a “detail” of World War II history. It was the third time a French court had fined Le Pen for calling Nazi gas chambers a mere “detail” of history.
2016 - Singing superstar Merle Haggard died of pneumonia at his home in Redding, California on this day, his 79th birthday. Originally a troubled youngster who served time in San Quentin prison, Haggard grew to become a country music legend. Singer, songwriter, guitarist and fiddler, Haggard and his band, the Strangers, altered the course of country music, introducing the “Bakersfield Sound”. He enjoyed unparalleled success with 38 #1 hits. His The Fugitive was the first, in 1967, and he last reigned with Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star in 1988. Haggard’s many honors and awards included the Kennedy Center Honor (2010), the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), the BMI Icon Award (2006), and induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame (1977), Country Music Hall of Fame (1994) and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame (1997).
2017 - Republicans in the U.S. Senate changed their rules to overcome a Democratic filibuster of Judge Neil Gorsuch’s appointment to the Supreme Court. The Senate rule change allowed for confirmation of Gorsuch to proceed on a simple majority vote. The rule change was called ‘the nuclear option,’ because it contained sweeping impact on the Senate and the president -- and all of his successors.
2018 - Movies opening in U.S. theatres included: Blockers, with Kathryn Newton, John Cena and Leslie Mann; Chappaquiddick, starring Kate Mara, Clancy Brown and Olivia Thirlby; The Miracle Season, with Helen Hunt, Tiera Skovbye and Erin Moriarty; A Quiet Place, starring Emily Blunt, John Krasinski and Noah Jupe; the animated Isle of Dogs, featuring the voices of Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Balaban, Scarlett Johansson, Kunichi Nomura and Tilda Swinton; The Endless, with Callie Hernandez, Emily Montague and James Jordan; The Humanity Bureau, starring Nicolas Cage, Sarah Lind and Jakob Davies; Lean on Pete, with Travis Fimmel, Chloë Sevigny and Steve Buscemi; Spinning Man, starring Odeya Rush, Guy Pearce and Pierce Brosnan; Sweet Country, with Bryan Brown, Matt Day and Tremayne Doolan; Trek: The Movie, with Austin R. Grant, Joel Bishop and Stefania Barr; Where Is Kyra?, starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Kiefer Sutherland and Suzanne Shepherd; and You Were Never Really Here, with Joaquin Phoenix, Dante Pereira-Olson and Larry Canady.
2018 - Former Democratic Senator Daniel Akaka died in Honolulu at 93 years of age. Akaka represented Hawaii for 36 years (1976-2012) in Congress.
2018 - Texas and Arizona sent National Guard troops to the southern border with Mexico after POTUS Trump ordered a the deployment to combat illegal immigration.
2019 - China’s Inner Mongolia region reported a case of human infection with the H7N9 bird flu virus. The same bird flu strain had killed 300 people in the country during the winter of 2016-2017.
2019 - A ferry collided with a bridge pillar in Belem, Para state, Brazil. Witnesses said two cars fell into the Moju river. And the accident caused the span’s central roadway to plunge into the river, cutting access to one of Brazil’s busiest ports.
2020 - The U.S. State Department designated a white supremacist Russian Imperial Movement as a foreign terrorist organization. It also named three of the group’s leaders as terrorists.
2020 - COVID-19 news: 1) Navy secretary Thomas B. Modly, in a profanity-laced reprimand, criticized sailors aboard the stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt for cheering their captain, who was removed after he appealed for help as coronavirus spread throughout the warship. Congressional calls for Modly’s resignation prompted him to apologize. 2)New York state had its deadliest day of pandemic, with 731 new deaths in the state to a total of 5,489 fatalities. 3)Allstate, along with several other insurance companies, said it was returning more than $600 million in auto insurance premiums to customers as many Americans stayed home and drove less due to "shelter-in-place". 4)British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was transferred to intensive care as his virus symptoms worsened. Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab was designated as his replacement in case of Johnson’s incapacitation. 5)Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a complete lockdown over the upcoming Passover holiday to control that country’s outbreak.
2021 - Yahoo announced it was shutting down Yahoo Answers, its question-and-answer service, and deleting its archives. Yahoo Answers was one of the longest-running and most storied web Q&A platforms and had been in operation since 2005. Its practicality as a forum had waned during the rise of Reddit, Quora, and other competing internet hangouts.
2021 - Intel introduced its newest flagship microprocessor, using its new in-house manufacturing operation to help it navigate the 2021 computer chip shortage.
2021 - ComicConnect.com online auction and consignment company said Action Comics issue #1 (1938), the comic book that introduced Superman to the world, had sold for $3.25 million.
2021 - Restaurant owners -- and others angry at having their businesses shut for weeks due to pandemic lockdown measures -- clashed with police during a protest outside Parliament in Rome, Italy.
2022 - The United States imposed new sanctions that included banning any American from investing in Russia. This, after Washington and Kyiv accused Moscow of committing war crimes in Ukraine. The sanctions included Russian President Vladimir Putin’s adult daughters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife and daughter, and members of Russia’s security council.
2022 - Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline said its consumer arm stopped sending supplements and vitamins into Russia as the drugmaker sought to minimize ties with Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
2022 - The F.B.I. wrested control of thousands of routers and firewall appliances away from Russian military hackers by hijacking the same infrastructure Moscow’s spies were using to communicate with the devices.
2022 - Scientists reported finding dinosaur remains killed on the actual day a giant asteroid struck earth 66 million years ago beginning their extinction. This, at Tanis fossil site, North Dakota.
2023 - The White House released a report on the decisions made regarding the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 U.S. service members. The National Security Council report blamed former POTUS Trump for the chaos that unfolded as U.S. troops were leaving -- as Americans and Afghans evacuated. “President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the report said.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day April 6
1483 - Raphael Santi
artist: Marriage of the Virgin, School of Athens; died Apr 6, 1520 [on his 37th birthday]1882 - Rose Schneiderman
U.S. women’s rights activist: organized 1913 strike of 25,000 women blouse makers & ILGWU (International Ladies Garment Workers Union); president of WTUL; only woman member of F.D.R.’s Labor Advisory Board; died Aug 11, 19721884 - Walter Huston (Houghston)
Academy Award-winning actor: Treasure of the Sierra Madre [1948]; Duel in the Sun, December 7th: The Movie; died Apr 7, 19501892 - Lowell Thomas
broadcaster, reporter, journalist: New York Daily News; newscaster: NBC radio, CBS radio, NPR radio: Lowell Thomas Remembers; “So long, until tomorrow.”; died Aug 29, 1981
1904 - John Burton
actor: Lloyds of London, Marie Antoinette, Phantom Raiders, The House on Telegraph Hill, The Fan, Black Beauty, Eagle Squadron, Foreign Correspondent, The Sun Never Sets, Kidnapped, Beloved Enemy, Big Timber, Attack of the Mayan Mummy; died Sep 29, 19871916 - ‘Pappy’ Wade Ray
country entertainer/musician: Grand Ol’ Opry; died Nov 11, 19981923 - Herb Thomas
NASCAR auto racer: champ: 48 NASCAR Winston Cup wins during his driving career: Grand National [1951, 1953], first to win three Southern 500’s [1951, 1954, 1955]; seriously injured in Shelby, NC race ending his racing career [Oct 1956]; died Aug 9, 20001924 - Dorothy Donegan
jazz pianist: At the Embers; appeared in film: Sensations of 1945; died May 19, 19981927 - Gerry Mulligan
jazz musician, composer: Disc Jockey Jump, Boplicity, Venus de Milo, Godchild; died Jan 20, 19961928 - James Watson
molecular biologist, geneticist, zoologist: co-discoverer of the structure of DNA in 1953 [w/Francis Crick]; won 1962 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine1929 - Joi Lansing (Joyce Wassmansdoff)
actress: Easter Parade, Singin’ in the Rain, The Merry Widow, Big Foot; died Aug 7, 19721929 - André (Ludwig) Previn
pianist, composer; Oscar-winning film scores: Gigi, Porgy and Bess, Irma La Douce, My Fair Lady; conductor: Pittsburgh Symphony, London & LA Philharmonic Orchestras; died Feb 28, 20191931 -Ivan Dixon
actor: Hogan’s Heroes, Porgy and Bess, Where’s Jack?, Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?; director: McCloud, The Waltons, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, Magnum, P.I., The A-Team, Airwolf; died Mar 16, 20081937 - Merle Haggard
singer; CMA Entertainer and Male Vocalist of the Year: [1970]; songwriter: Okie from Muskogee, If We Make It Through December, Hungry Eyes, Workin’ Man Blues, Mama Tried; died Apr 6, 20161937 - Billy Dee (December) Williams
actor: Brian’s Song, Lady Sings the Blues, The Return of the Jedi, Batman, The Imposter, The Empire Strikes Back, Alien Intruder, Mahogany1938 - Roy Thinnes
actor: From Here to Eternity, The Invaders, Outer Limits, The Hindenburg, Code Name: Diamond Head1940 - Don Myrick
musician: sax; singer: group: Earth Wind and Fire: Shining Star, That’s the Way of the World, September, Can’t Hide Love, Got to Get You Into My Life, Sing a Song; died Jul 30, 19931942 - Barry Levinson
Academy Award-winning director: Rain Man [1988]; Disclosure, Bugsy, Good Morning, Vietnam, The Natural, Diner; director, writer: Toys, Avalon, Tin Men; writer: Best Friends, Inside Moves, And Justice for All, High Anxiety, Silent Movie; Emmy Award-winning writer: The Carol Burnett Show [1974, 1975]; Emmy Award-winning producer: Displaced Person, American Playhouse [1985]; Emmy Award-winning Director: Gone for Goode, Homicide-Life on the Street1943 - Marty (Martin William) Pattin
baseball: pitcher: California Angels, Seattle Pilots, Milwaukee Brewers [all-star: 1971], Boston Red Sox, KC Royals [World Series: 1980]; died Oct 3, 20181944 - John Huarte
football: Notre Dame, Heisman Trophy [1964], Chicago Bears1944 - John Stax
musician: bass: group: The Pretty Things: Rosalyn Don’t Bring Me Down, Honey I Need; LP: The Pretty Things1947 - John Ratzenberger
actor: Cheers; The Empire Strikes Back, Timestalkers, Camp Cucamonga: How I Spent My Summer Vacation, John Ratzenberger’s Made in America; more1948 - Patrika Darbo
actress: Daddy’s Dyin’... Who's Got the Will?, Step by Step, Roseanne and Tom: Behind the Scenes, Days of our Lives, Hatchet, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Madhouse, Ruby Bridges, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Speed 2: Cruise Control1951 - Bert Blyleven
baseball: pitcher: Minnesota Twins [AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year: 1970/all-star: 1973], Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates [World Series: 1979], Cleveland Indians [all-star: 1985], Minnesota Twins [World Series: 1987], California Angels [Comeback Player of Year - 1989]; more1951 - Ralph Cooper
musician: drums: group: Air Supply: Lost in Love, Even the Nights Are Better, One That You Love, Every Woman in the World, Making Love Out of Nothing at All1952 - Marilu Henner (Mary Lucy Denise Pudlowski)
actress: Taxi, Evening Shade, Cannonball Run 21953 - Janet Lynn (Nowicki)
figure skater: Olympic bronze medalist [1972]; Ice Follies; won first U.S. Professional Championship [1973]1955 - Michael Rooker
actor: The Walking Dead, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Mississippi Burning, Sea of Love, Days of Thunder, JFK, Cliffhanger, Tombstone, Mallrats, Rosewood, The 6th Day, Jumper, Stargate SG-1, Crime Story1960 - John Pizzarelli
musician: guitar; songwriter, singer: LPs: Knowing You, Bossa Nova, Let’s Share Christmas, After Hours, Dear Mr. Cole, Kisses in the Rain1969 - Ari Meyers
actress: Author! Author!, Kate & Allie, Think Big, Dark Horse1969 - Paul Rudd
actor: Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My Affection, Role Models, I Love You, Man, Our Idiot Brother, Friends1970 - Oliver Miller
basketball [center]: Univ of Arkansas; Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves1972 - Jason Hervey
actor: The Wonder Years, Wildside, Fast Times, Diff’rent Strokes, Back to School, Back to the Future1973 - Lori Heuring
actress: 8mm 2, The Locket, Early Edition, Animal Room, True Blue, Pretty When You Cry, Mulholland Drive1975 - Zach Braff
actor: Scrubs, Garden State, It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, The High Cost of Living, The Last Kiss, The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy1976 - Candace Cameron-Bure
actress: Full House, The Krew, NightScream, No One Would Tell, Sharon’s Secret, She Cried No1977 - Teddy Sears
actor: Firehouse Dog, Cosa Bella, The Legacy of Walter Frumm, In Between, To End All Wars1978 - Tim Hasselbeck
football [QB]: Boston College; NFL: Washington Redskins, New York Giants; married to talk show host Elisabeth Hasselbeck1981 - Eliza Coupe
actress: Scrubs, Happy Endings, What’s Your Number?, Shanghai Calling, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues1981 - Jeff Faine
football [center]: Notre Dame Univ; NFL: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints1982 - Alana Austin
actress: Motocross Kids, The Santa Trap, No Place Like Home, Castlerock, Road Rage, Route 66, A Mother’s Instinct1982 - Bret Harrison
actor: Lightning Bug, Reaper, The Loop, Grounded for Life, V, Home Security, Everybody’s Doing It, Orange County, A Place Apart1983 - Diora Baird
actress: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Wedding Crashers, Young People Fucking, My Best Friend’s Girl, Shameless1983 - Rick Cosnett
actor: The Vampire Diaries, Skybound, The Flash1983 - Bobbi Starr
actress [2006-2012]: X-rated films: Naughty Nanny, Almost Illegal, Sex Maniax, Expert Guide to Advanced Fellatio, Call of Booty: Modern Whorefare, Bobbi Starr’s Gape Gang1990 - Charlie McDermott
actor: The Middle, The Office, Private Practice, Disappearances, Frozen River1992 - Julie Johnston
footballer [defender]: Chicago Red Stars [2014- ]; U.S. women’s national soccer team: 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup champs1998 - Peyton List
actress: Diary of a Wimpy Kid film series, Jessie, Bunk’d, The Thinning, The Thinning: New World Order, Light as a Feather, Cobra Kai, Remember Me, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Bereavement, Something Borrowed, The Seventh Dwarf, The Outcasts; twin sister of actor Spencer List1998 - Spencer List
actor: Fringe, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Offspring, Bunk’d, A Wife’s Nightmare, Foreclosure, Mockingbird, Hard Sell; twin brother of actress Peyton List
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day April 6
1945My Dreams are Getting Better All the Time (facts) - The Les Brown Orchestra (vocal: Doris Day)
I’m Beginning to See the Light (facts) - The Harry James Orchestra (vocal: Kitty Kallen)
1954
1963
1972
1981
1990
1999
2008
2017
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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