August 15
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Events on This Day
1848 - Milton Waldo Hanchett of Syracuse, NY patented the dental chair. Interestingly, the fully-reclining dental chair was not patented until 1957. Ouch!1877 - Thomas Edison wrote the president of the Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, PA. The letter stated that the word, “hello” would be a more appropriate greeting than “ahoy,” as suggested by Alexander Graham Bell when answering the telephone. And so it is that we pick up the phone anywhere in the world and say: “Allo. Alo. Bueno. Pronto. Hallo. Aloha. Mo simosi. Hello?”
1896 - The Emporia Gazette published the editorial, “What’s the matter with Kansas?” And we thought everything was up-to-date in Kansas ... or at least in Kansas City...
1911 - Procter & Gamble Company of Cincinnati, OH introduced Crisco hydrogenated shortening. Many still use the stuff for pie crusts today.
1914 - The Panama Canal opened. The U.S. steamship Ancon was the first ship through, sailing from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Before the Panama Canal was built, sea trade was forced to travel all the way around South America’s sometimes stormy Cape Horn. Some 14,000 ships use the Canal yearly.
1926 - The famous Three Men on Third play happened in Boston’s Fenway Park. Babe Herman came to bat in the bottom of the seventh inning. One man was out and the bases were loaded. Chick Fewster was on first base, Dazzy Vance on second and Hank DeBerry on third. Herman hit the ball off the right-field wall. DeBerry crossed the plate, Vance stopped at third and Fewster ran past second base on his way to third. Herman ran PAST Fewster on HIS way to third. Herman was declared out and Fewster was tagged out. Herman had hit into a double play. DeBerry’s score, however, was allowed -- and the Brooklyn Dodgers won, 2-1.
1941 - Au Revoir, Pleasant Dreams was recorded by Ben Bernie and his orchestra.
1943 - Because of his special talent to use food scraps in both unusual and appetizing recipes, the War Department awarded Sgt. Edward Dzuba the Legion of Merit.
1945 - South Korea was liberated from Japanese rule this day.
1947 - India declared its independence from the United Kingdom after some 200 years of British rule. Jawaharlal Nehru became India’s first prime minister. The Islamic part of India became Pakistan.
1948 - CBS-TV inaugurated the first nightly news broadcast, with anchorman Douglas Edwards reporting the day’s events.
1950 - An earthquake, measuring 8.6 on the Richter scale, killed over 1,500 in Assam, India.
1954 - Bob Toski captured the richest prize in golf (at the time) -- the Tam O’Shanter world pro golf title. Toski earned a cash prize of $50,000 and a $50,000 exhibition contract.
1957 - A Soviet Aeroflot Illushym 12 airliner crashed into the harbor at Copenhagen, Denmark. The aircraft had struck the chimney of a factory. The crash killed all 23 persons on board.
1960 - Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) declared Independence from France (Congolese National Day).
1965 - The Beatles played to 55,000 screaming fans at Shea Stadium. The box-office take was $304,000 with The Beatles getting $160,000.
1968 - Pirate station Radio Free London began transmitting.
1969 - Three Dog Night (Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron) was awarded a gold record for the album, Three Dog Night. Where’d the name of the group come from? In Australia, the aborigine tribes of several regions slept outside all year. As the temperatures got colder, the tribesmen would sleep with a dog to keep warm. In colder weather, they would huddle with two dogs. It must have been an extremely cold night when the group was formed...
1969 - The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened on this day on a farm owned by Max Yasgur in an area of Sullivan County, New York called Bethel. Two dozen bands came to play on a wooden stage in the middle of a pasture. It was a happening unlike any other before it ... and, probably like none after. 450,000 people formed a love-in for three days and nights. The music played, people danced and sang. And the memories went home with them. Groovy! Far out! Like, wow, man! Power to the people! And, of course... Peace, brother!
1970 - On this day, Patricia Palinkas became the first woman to play in a pro football game. She dropped a pass and was ridiculed by her Orlando (Florida) Panthers teammates -- and by the press.
1971 - Bahrain, a group of islands in the Persian Gulf midway between the tip of the Qatar Peninsula and the Saudi Arabian mainland, gained independence from Great Britain. It became the State of Bahrain.
1975 - The founding president of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was killed by army officers in a coup.
1980 - I Me Mine, an autobiography by former Beatle George Harrison, went on sale.
1981 - Lionel Richie and Diana Ross hit number one on the pop music charts with their beautiful duet, Endless Love. It was a huge success for the two singers. Endless Love was number one for 9, count ’em, nine weeks.
1984 - New York City turned out to honor the Team USA Olympic medalists. An estimated two million people lined the streets during the 10-block-long ticker-tape parade.
1984 - Pete Rose returned to become player and manager of the Cincinnati Reds after being away from his hometown for six years. Rose had been in Philadelphia and Montreal.
1989 - F.W. de Klerk was sworn in as acting president of South Africa, a day after P.W. Botha’s resignation.
1990 - Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev restored Soviet citizenship to author Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The Nobel Prize-winning writer had been expelled in 1974 for his novels attacking Stalinism.
1991 - Paul Simon performed a free concert in Central Park, New York. The show attracted some 750,000 people. The album, Paul Simon’s Concert in the Park is still attracting people.
1994 - Llich Ramirez Sanchez, the terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal was captured in Sudan, taken to Paris and jailed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for three murders and held responsible for numerous terrorist attacks.
1995 - The U.S. Justice Department agreed to pay 3.1 million dollars to white separatist Randy Weaver and his family to settle their claims over the killing of Weaver’s wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho. Weaver received $100,000, while each of Vicki Weaver’s surviving three children received $1 million.
1995 - Pioneering TV newsman and Timex watch pitchman John Cameron Swayze died in Sarasota, FL. He was 89 years old.
1996 - Bob Dole won the Republican presidential nomination. At the party’s convention in San Diego, he offered himself as the “bridge to a time of tranquillity” and described himself as “the most optimistic man in America.”
1997 - The Los Angeles Dodgers retired player, scout, coach, manager, executive Tommy Lasorda’s uniform #2 in a pre-game ceremony at Dodger Stadium.
1997 - Films opening in the U.S.: Cop Land, starring Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert De Niro, Janeane Garofalo, Robert Patrick, Michael Rapaport, Annabella Sciorra and Malik Yoba; Event Horizon, with Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T. Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs and Sean Pertwee; and Steel, starring Shaquille O’Neal, Annabeth Gish, Richard Roundtree, Judd Nelson, Irma P. Hall, Ray J and Charles Napier.
1999 - Tiger Woods won the PGA Championship and was the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros.
2000 - The book Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Book 2) was released in bookstores.
2001 - Astronomers announced the discovery of the first solar system outside of our own.
2002 - Some 600 family members of 9/11 victims filed a trillion-dollar federal lawsuit against Saudi officials, banks and charities. The families charged Saudi Arabia had financed Osama bin Laden’s network and the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington.
2002 - Hairspray opened at the Neil Simon Theatre on this day. The musical, based on John Waters’s 1988 film of the same name, won eight Tony Awards in 2003, including Best Musical. The Broadway cast included Marissa Jaret Winokur and Harvey Fierstein in the lead roles. Hairspray was a huge hit, running for 2,642 performances, closing Jan 4, 2009.
2003 - These films were new in U.S. theatres: American Splendor, starring Paul Giamatti, Hope Davis, Judah Friedlander, James Urbaniak and Harvey Pekar; Open Range, starring Kevin Costner, Annette Bening, Abraham Benrubi, Robert Duvall, Michael Gambon, Diego Luna, Michael Jeter, Dean McDermott and James Russo; and Uptown Girls, with Brittany Murphy, Dakota Fanning, Marley Shelton, Donald Adeosun Faison, Heather Locklear, Michael Urie and Tony Devon.
2004 - International Olympic Committee officials, worried by the TV images of athletes competing in near empty stadiums, told the Athens Games organizers to give tickets away for free if necessary.
2005 - Many countries celebrated the 60th Anniversary of the Victory in the Pacific and the end of World War II, known at the time as Victory over Japan Day or V-J Day. Beijing held an arts performance gala. In Japan, in a large-scale ceremony led by the Emperor Akihito, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologized for the suffering Japan caused during World War II.
2005 - Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship with a four-under-par 276. It was Mickelson’s second major title.
2006 - New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the donation of $125 million of his own fortune to a worldwide anti-smoking campaign. The billionaire and former smoker described his donation as “a social investment” and said the dollars would go to existing organizations to implement anti-smoking measures.
2007 - A magnitude 8.0 earthquake rocked Peru’s coast, toppling buildings and killing hundreds of people. Doctors called off a national strike to handle the emergency. Two prisons collapsed and 600 prisoners escaped (about a third gave themselves up over the following week.) Tremors destroyed 80% of Pisco, where 148 people died when the city cathedral collapsed.
2007 - Former National Basketball Association referee Tim Donaghy pleaded guilty to felony charges in an NBA betting scheme. He faced up to 25 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
2008 - New movies in the U.S.: The animated comedy Fly Me to the Moon, featuring the voices of Trevor Gagnon, Philip Daniel Bolden, David Gore, Christopher Lloyd, Kelly Ripa, Nicollette Sheridan, Ed Begley, Jr., Adrienne Barbeau, Tim Curry, Robert Patrick and Buzz Aldrin; Mirrors, starring Amy Smart, Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Jason Flemyng, Julian Glover, Ezra Buzzington and John Shrapnel; the animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars, featuring the voices of Ian Abercrombie, Dee Bradley Baker, Anthony Daniels, Ashley Eckstein, Nika Futterman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Kane, Matt Lanter, Christopher Lee, Catherine Taber, James Arnold Taylor and Matthew Wood; and the Woody Allen romantic comedy Vicky Cristina Barcelona, starring Javier Bardem, Patricia Clarkson, Penelope Cruz, Kevin Dunn, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Messina.
2008 - Record producer Jerry Wexler died at 91 years of age. From 1953-1975 he worked for Atlantic Records and helped build the firm into a rhythm and blues powerhouse. During his time as an editor, reporter, and writer for Billboard Magazine, Wexler was credited with coining the term, “rhythm and blues.”
2008 - Employees at a Wal-Mart outlet in Canada won an arbitrator-imposed contract, becoming the giant retailer’s only location in North America with a collective bargaining agreement in place.
2009 - A fire at a wedding tent in Kuwait killed 57 women and children in an inferno that lasted just three minutes. The tent had only one exit, causing a stampede that compounded the death toll. The bridegroom’s ex-wife was later found to be the arsonist and was sentenced to death in 2010.
2010 - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon urged the world to speed up aid to 20 million people hit by Pakistan’s humanitarian crisis. This, as he flew in to visit areas ravaged by record floods.
2011 - Google acquired Motorola Mobility telecommunications equipment corporation for $12.5 billion. Approved on Feb 13, 2012, the acquisition included a sizeable portfolio of patents owned by Motorola.
2012 - The Odd Life of Timothy Green opened in U.S. theatres. The fantasy comedy drama stars Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Garner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ron Livingston, David Morse and Dianne Wiest.
2012 - In a response to relaxed deportation rules issued by the Obama administration, Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer issued an order barring illegal immigrants who qualified for the temporary U.S. legal status from receiving any Arizona public benefits, including driver’s licenses.
2012 - Abandoned Mine opened in U.S. theatres. The horror mystery stars Alexa Vega, Reiley McClendon, Saige Thompson, Charan Prabhakar, Adam Hendershott and Valerie C. Walker.
2013 - Paraguay’s President Horacio Cartes made his inaugural speech saying, “I promise to set an example with this government” by strengthening international ties, committing to human rights and fighting poverty. Cartes said he had never voted for president before running for the office himself, and he often faced accusations that his wealth was fed by money laundering, cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking. Paraguayan voters overlooked these allegations, apparently focusing on hopes that the boyish-looking businessman from the dominant Colorado Party could create more jobs.
2014 - Motion pictures opening in U.S. theatres included: The Expendables 3, starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger; The Giver, with Brenton Thwaites, Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep; the documentary, Dinosaur 13, with Stan Adelstein, Lanice Archer and Robert Bakker; Septic Man, starring Jason David Brown, Molly Dunsworth and Robert Maillet; and the comedy, The Trip to Italy, with Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio and Steve Coogan.
2014 - Republican Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted (abuse of official capacity) by a state grand jury in Austin. Perry had threatened to veto $7.5 million in state funding to an anti-corruption unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a democrat.
2015 - Kern County, California sheriff’s deputies shot and killed Benjamin Peter Ashley after he failed to comply with orders to drop his weapon. Ashley was wanted for killing retired dentist David Markiewitz, whose body was found on July 30 in a cabin in Jawbone Canyon. Ashley had wounded two deputies as they searched for him in Kelso Valley.
2016 - Torrential rains eased in flood-ravaged Louisiana, but forecasters warned that the threat was far from over. Louisiana was deluged by a week of rainfall, with at least seven people dead and thousands of homes damaged by floods. Governor John Bel Edwards said officials “won’t know the death toll for sure for several more days.” Edwards was himself an evacuee: Chest-high waters filled the basement of the Governor’s Mansion and cut off electricity, forcing him and his family to seek shelter elsewhere.
2016 - Brazil’s Thiago Braz da Silva won an unexpected gold medal -- and set an Olympic record -- in pole vaulting. Da Silva, the defending Olympic pole vault champion from France, cleared 5.98m (19 feet, 7 ½ inches) to break the Olympic record. Then Da Silva cleared 6.03m (19-9¼) to claim the gold medal and improve the Olympic record. In other Rio Olympic track and field competition: Allyson Felix was trying for her fifth career Olympic gold but was narrowly defeated by a diving Shaunae Miller of Barbados, whose torso crossed the line 0.07 seconds before Felix in the 400-meter final. But that silver medal gave Felix the most track and field medals by an American woman in Olympic history. David Rudisha of Kenya -- one of the top mid-distance runners of all time -- was able to defend his gold medal in the men’s 800-meter final.
2017 - Singer Yvonne Elliman-Alexander and her husband were arrested and charged with illegal drug possession on the island of Guam after dogs sniffed out methamphetamine and marijuana as they arrived on the island for a benefit concert at a school. The 65-year-old singer was allowed to perform for the Mount Carmel School concert on Aug 19 at the Dusit Thani Resort Guam. She and her husband were later sentenced to 14 days of daytime incarceration at their home in Hawaii after pleading guilty to drug possession.
2017 - And speaking of that little Pacific island, North Korean state media said dictator Kim Jong Un had delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waited to see what the United States did next, as South Korea’s president said Seoul would seek to prevent war by all means. North Korea’s military presented Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and “wring the windpipes of the Yankees,” even as both Koreas and the U.S. signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis.
2018 - POTUS Donald Trump announced that he had revoked the security clearance of John Brennan, the former CIA director under President Barack Obama, citing what Trump called Brennan’s “erratic behavior.” But the announcement turned out to be just Trump blather. Brennan’s clearnce was not revoked.
2018 - Constellation Brands, the maker of Robert Mondavi wine and Svedka vodka, announced that it had invested $4 billion in Canopy Growth, a publicly traded Canadian cannabis producer.
2019 - Apocalypse Now: Final Cut opened in U.S. theatres. It was Francis Ford Coppola’s 40th anniversary salute to the psychedelic Vietnam war epic.
2019 - The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said July had been the hottest month measured on Earth since records began in 1880.
2019 - A federal judge ordered Georgia to stop using its outdated voting machines and get hand-marked paper ballots ready if a new system was not in place for the presidential primaries.
2019 - The British overseas territory of Gibraltar released a seized Iranian supertanker -- over last-minute objections from the U.S. The move came after Tehran promised that its cargo worth $140m would no longer be transported to Syria.
2020 - The explosive Loyalton Fire north of Lake Tahoe, California had burned through about 20,000 acres and was just 5 percent contained. It formed into a rare phenomenon known as a firenado, which the National Weather Service called “extremely dangerous fire behavior.”
2020 - Thousands of British tourists beat a hasty retreat from France, packing planes, trains and ferries to return to the U.K. to avoid a new, mandatory 14-day COVID-19 quarantine at home.
2020 - Mitt Romney (R-Utah) offered rare Republican criticism of the Trump administration’s coronavirus response, saying the federal government dismissed the virus’s threat and failed to protect Americans as infections spiraled out of control. “Short term, I think it’s fair to say we really have not distinguished ourselves in a positive way by how we responded to the crisis when it was upon us. And the proof ... is simply that we have 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s deaths due to covid-19. And there’s no way to spin that in a positive light,” Romney said.
2021 - The Texas Supreme Court, made up of all Republican justices, blocked mask mandates ordered by county leaders in Dallas and San Antonio.
2021 - The Hong Kong Civil Human Rights Front said it could no longer operate because China was accusing the group of violating a new national security law.
2022 - Scotland became the first country to make women’s period products free for all. The new law was introduced by Labour MSP Monica Lennon, who had been campaigning to end ‘period poverty’ since 2016. She said, “Local authorities and partner organisations have worked hard to make the legal right to access free period products a reality. As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, the Period Products Act is a beacon of hope which shows what can be achieved when politicians come together for the good of the people we serve.”
2022 - An ‘Extreme Heat Belt,’ stretching from Texas and Louisiana north to the Great Lakes, could expose 100 million residents to heat index temperatures above 125 degrees Fahrenheit at least one day a year by 2053. The projections, part of a peer-reviewed study, show that most of the U.S. will experience highs above 100 degrees in ‘feels like’ temperatures due to climate change over the next three decades.
2023 - A group of young environmental activists won a landmark case (Held v. Montana). The judge ruled the state of Montana had to consider climate change when deciding to approve or renew fossil fuel projects. Julia Olson, the executive director of Our Children’s Trust, released a statement calling the ruling a “huge win for Montana, for youth, for democracy, and for our climate.” “As fires rage in the West, fueled by fossil fuel pollution, today’s ruling in Montana is a game-changer that marks a turning point in this generation’s efforts to save the planet from the devastating effects of human-caused climate chaos,” said Olson. Our Children’s Trust is an Oregon environmental group that had filed similar lawsuits in every state since 2011.
2023 - The Bureau of Reclamation promised to ease water restrictions on the Colorado River in 2024 after a blockbuster winter helped shore up water levels. Lake Mead and the Lower Colorado River would operate in a "Tier 1" water shortage in 2024, easing water restrictions in Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. That would give back billions of gallons of Colorado River water to those states and allow them to pad their water savings accounts instead of relying heavily on other states.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day August 15
1769 - Napolean Bonaparte
emperor of France; died May 5, 18211771 - Sir Walter Scott
writer: Ivanhoe, The Talisman, The Heart of Midlothian, Rob Roy, The Fortunes of Nigel; died Sep 21, 18321859 - Charlie Comiskey
baseball [first base] St. Louis Brown Stockings, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds; manager: St. Louis Browns, Chicago Pirates, Cincinnati Reds; he was instrumental in founding the American League; owner: Chicago White Sox; Comiskey Park [Chicago] built under his guidance and named for him; died Oct 26, 19311879 - Ethel Barrymore (Ethel Mae Blythe)
Academy Award-winning actress: None But the Lonely Heart [1944]; The Farmer’s Daughter, Pinky; died June 18, 19591885 - Edna Ferber
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist: So Big [1925]; Show Boat, Cimarron, Saratoga Trunk, Ice Palace, Giant, Dawn O’Hara; playwright [w/George Kaufman]: The Royal Family, Dinner at Eight, Stage Door, The Land is Bright, Bravo; died Apr 16, 19681901 - Ned Washington
Academy Award-winning lyricist: When You Wish Upon a Star [Pinocchio 1940], High Noon [Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’] [High Noon 1952]; The Nearness of You, Smoke Rings, Love Me, Wild Is the Wind, Green Dolphin Street, When You Wish Upon a Star; died Dec 20, 19761904 - Bil Baird
puppeteer: Bil Baird Puppets: Life with Snarky Parker; died Mar 18, 19871909 - Hugo Winterhalter
orchestra leader: Canadian Sunset, Rhapsody in Blue; died Sep 17, 19731912 - Julia Child (McWilliams)
Culinary Institute of America’s Hall of Famer: chef, author: The French Chef; TV host: Dinner with Julia; died Aug 13, 20041912 - Dame Wendy Hiller
Academy Award-winning actress: Separate Tables [1958]; A Man for All Seasons, Making Love, Murder on the Orient Express, Pygmalion, The Elephant Man, Toys in the Attic, David Copperfield; died May 14, 20031920 - Huntz Hall
actor: East Side Kids/Bowery Boys: Angels with Dirty Faces, Mr. Wise Guy, Smart Alecks, Bowery Champs, Mr. Muggs Rides Again, The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters; died Jan 30, 19991922 - Leonard Baskin
sculptor, book-illustrator, wood-engraver, printmaker, graphic artist, teacher, writer: Ten Times Better, Animals That Ought to Be, Did You Say Ghosts?; died Jun 3, 20001923 - Rose Marie (Mazetta)
comedienne, actress: The Dick Van Dyke Show, Hollywood Squares, The Doris Day Show, My Sister Eileen, Ghetto Blaster, Witchboard, Memory of Us; died Dec 28, 20171924 - Phyllis Schlafly
anti feminist; author; died Sep 5, 20161925 - Mike Connors (Krekor Ohanian)
actor: Mannix, Tightrope, Today’s F.B.I., Sudden Fear; died Jan 26, 20171925 - Oscar Peterson
jazz pianist: jazz trios, solos, played with all jazz greats, composer; biography: Oscar Peterson: The Will to Swing; died Dec 23, 20071925 - Bill Pinkney
musician: bass: group: The Drifters: Money Honey, Such a Night, Lucille, Honey Love, Bip Bam, What’cha Gonna Do, White Christmas; died July 4, 20071931 - Janice Rule
actress: American Flyers, L.A. Bad, Invitation to a Gunfighter, The Life You Save; died Oct 17, 20031932 - Abby Dalton
actress: Falcon Crest, Barney Miller, Hennesey, The Joey Bishop Show; died Nov 23, 20201933 - Bobby Helms
singer: My Special Angel, Jingle Bell Rock, Fraulein; died Jun 19, 19971935 - Jim Dale
actor: Carry On film series, Unidentified Flying Oddball, Scandalous, Carry On Columbus; voice artist: narrated Harry Potter audiobook series, Pushing Daisies1935 - Lucille Soong
actress: Desperate Housewives, Nine Dead, Nora’s Hair Salon, Nancy Drew, My American Vacation, The Joy Luck Club, The Mini-Affair, Passions, All About the Andersons, Huff, Coronation Street, Dharma and Greg, According to Jim1938 - Stephen Breyer
U.S. Supreme Court Justice [1994–2022]1941 - Don Rich
country musician, songwriter: Waiting in Your Welfare Line; one of Buck Owens’ Buckaroos; died Jul 17, 19741942 - Peter York
musician: drums: group: Spencer Davis Group: Gimme Some Lovin’, Keep on Runnin’, Somebody Help Me1944 - Linda Ellerbee
journalist, TV co-host: Our World; Maxwell House commercials1945 - Duffy (Don Robert) Dyer
baseball: NY Mets [World Series: 1969], Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers1945 - Jill Haworth
actress: Exodus, In Harm’s Way, Tower of Evil; died Jan 3, 20111945 - Gene Upshaw
Pro Football Hall of Famer: Oakland Raiders guard: Super Bowl II, XI, XIV; died Aug 20, 20081946 - Jimmy Webb
Grammy Award-winning songwriter: Up, Up and Away [1967]; MacArthur Park, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Wichita Lineman, Galveston1950 - Tommy Aldridge
musician: drums: groups: Ozzy Osbourne, Black Oak Arkansas, Gary Moore, Pat Travers, M.A.R.S., Whitesnake, House of Lords, Vinnie Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Ruby Starr, John Sykes, Warren De Martini, Steve Fister, Thin Lizzy, Elements of Friction, Ted Nugent1950 - Princess Anne (Mountbatten)
British royalty: daughter of Philip Mountbatten [Duke of Edinburgh] and Alexandra Mary Windsor [Queen Elizabeth II], sister of Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward1950 - Billy Griffin
singer: group: The Miracles [1972-1982]: LPs: Be With Me, Respect, Systematic, Technicolour, Like Water1950 - Tess Harper (Washam)
actress: Tender Mercies, Flashpoint1961 - Matt Johnson
musician: guitar, singer: solo as: The The: Controversial Subject, Untitled, Cold Spell Ahead, Uncertain Smile, Perfect, This is the Day, Giant, Heartland1962 - Bubby Brister
football [quarterback]: Louisiana-Monroe; NFL: Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles, NY Jets, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings, KC Chiefs
1963 - Alejandro González Iñárritu
Academy Award-winning film director: Birdman: Or [The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance] [2014]; Amores perros, 21 Grams, Babel, Biutiful1964 - Melinda Gates
wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates1964 - Jeff Huson
baseball: Univ of Wyoming; Montreal Expos, Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Anaheim Angels and Chicago Cubs1966 - Scott Brosius
baseball [outfield, first, second, third base]: Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees1967 - Mike James
baseball [pitcher]: California/Anaheim Angels, SL Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, TB Devil Rays
1967 - MCA (Adam Yauch)
rap artist: group: The Beastie Boys1968 - Debra Messing
actress: Will & Grace, N.Y.P.D. Blue, Ned and Stacey1969 - James Black
hockey: Hartford Whalers, Minnesota North Stars, Dallas Stars, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals1969 - Yancey Thigpen
football [wide receiver]: Winston-Salem State; NFL: SD Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Oilers, Tennessee Titans1970 - Anthony Anderson
actor: Black-ish, Law & Order, All About the Andersons, The Bernie Mac Show, K-Ville, The Shield, Transformers, The Departed, Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, Scream 4, Kangaroo Jack; TV host: To Tell the Truth1971 - Priscilla Taylor
model: Playboy Playmate of the Month March 1996; actress: Lava Lounge, Larceny, View From the Top, Six Days Seven Nights, The Chosen One: Legend of the Raven, Malibu, CA1972 - Ben Affleck
actor: Pearl Harbor, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Glory Daze, Good Will Hunting, Armageddon, Forces of Nature, Reindeer Games1972 - Ken Walter
football [punter]: Kent State Univ' NFL: Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks1973 - Kris Mangum
football [tight end]: Univ of Mississippi; NFL: Carolina Panthers1974 - Natasha Henstridge
actress: Species film series, The Whole Nine Yards, The Whole Ten Yards, It Had To Be You, Ghosts of Mars, She Spies, Eli Stone, Would Be Kings, The Secret Circle1977 - Nicole Paggi
actress: One on One, Campus Confidential, Frozen Impact, Hope and Faith, Pasadena1978 - Kerri Walsh-Jennings
pro beach volleyball: gold medalist [w/teammate Misty May-Treanor] at 2004, 2008, 2012 Summer Olympics1979 - Carl Edwards
NASCAR race car champ: Golden Corral 500 [Atlanta, 2005], Citizens Bank 400 [Michigan, 2007], Busch series [2007], Sprint Cup [2011]1981 - Brendan Hansen
U.S. Olympic swimmer: set world records in 100, 200-meter breaststroke [2004]1985 - Emily Kinney
actress: The Walking Dead, Masters of Sex, The Flash, Arrow, Conviction1989 - Joe Jonas
musician: percussion, keyboards, guitars; singer: group: LPs: It’s About Time, Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, Lines, Vines and Trying Times; solo LP: Fastlife; actor: JONAS, Hannah Montana, Camp Rock, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream, Hot in Cleveland1989 - Carlos PenaVega
singer: group: Big Time Rush; actor: Big Time Rush TV series, Big Time Concert, Webheads, Big Time Movie, Figure It Out1990 - Jennifer Lawrence
actress: Hunger Games, X-Men: First Class, The Bill Engvall Show, The Burning Plain, Winter’s Bone1993 - Danielle Morrow
actress: iCarly, Heroes, Good Luck Charlie, Ashley, What’s Next for Sarah?, Bestie’s Night
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day August 15
1945Dream (facts) - The Pied Pipers
I Wish I Knew (facts) - Dick Haymes
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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