440 International Those Were the Days
August 26
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Events on This Day   

1498 - The master artist, Michelangelo, was commissioned to make the Pieta. Originally intended as a monument for his tomb, Michelangelo’s Florentine Pieta has interested historians for centuries because the four-figure sculpture does not feature the perfect proportions that are the hallmark of Michelangelo’s work.

1873 - The first public school kindergarten in the U.S. was authorized by the school board of St. Louis, MO. The school was opened by Susan Elizabeth Blow.

1883 - The first of a series of increasingly violent explosions occurred on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa. On the morning of the next day, the world’s largest explosion was heard some three thousand miles away. The volcanic island exploded, spewing five cubic miles of earth into the air -- fifty miles high. It created tidal waves up to 120 feet high, killed 36,000 people and caused oceanic and atmospheric changes over a period of many years.

1918 - Frank Bacon starred as Lightnin’ lit up the Gaiety Theatre in New York City. The play became the first to run for more than 1,000 performances.

1920 - The 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was certified by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex -- in the voting booth. In other words, it gave women in the United States the right to vote. In 1973, Congresswoman Bella Abzug presented a bill to Congress designating this day as Women’s Equality Day. The President issued a proclamation and in 1974 it became Public Law #93-382.

1939 - The radio program Arch Oboler’s Plays presented the NBC Symphony, for the first time, as the musical backdrop for the drama, This Lonely Heart.

1939 - Red Barber announced the first televised baseball games -- on New York’s WXBS. The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds played a doubleheader for the occasion. The Reds won first game, 5-2; the Dodgers won the second, 6-1.

1944 - Bulgaria, an ally of Germany, announced that it had withdrawn from World War II and that any German troops in the country were to be disarmed.

1947 - Don Bankhead became the first black pitcher in major-league baseball this day. The Brooklyn Dodger hurler helped his own cause by slamming a home run in his first appearance at the plate.

1950 - Bobby Riggs signed ‘Gorgeous Gussie’ (Gertrude) Moran to his pro tennis troupe for a mininum salary of $75,000 a year.

1957 - The Ford Motor Company rolled out the first Edsel automobile. Just 110,847 of the cars were built before Ford pulled the plug due to lack of sales. The car was named Edsel for the company founder’s son, Edsel Bryant Ford.

1957 - The Soviet Union announced that it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The United States had suffered two failures in tests of its first ICBM known as the Atlas.

1961 - The NHL Hockey Hall of Fame opened in Toronto, Canada.

1964 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson was nominated for a term in office in his own right at the Democratic national convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Vice President Johnson had become president after John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963.)

1968 - As the Democratic National Convention got underway at Chicago’s International Amphitheater, protester Jerry Rubin held a rival convention in a nearby city park. Thousands of antiwar demonstrators took to the streets protesting the Vietnam War.

1970 - Jimi Hendrix opened his recording studio in New York City. Because of its state-of-the-art 36-track recording capability, it attracted many top rock groups.

1973 - David Eisenhower, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s grandson (after whom Camp David is named), wrote his final sports column for the Philadelphia Bulletin (it was a summer gig). The article was about the Philadelphia Phillies.

1974 - Charles Lindbergh, the first man to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean, died at his home in Hawaii. He was 72 years old.

1977 - The province of Québec, under the leadership of premier René Lévesque, passed a law extending the requirements for the use of French as the province’s official language.

1978 - Film star Charles Boyer committed suicide in Phoenix, AZ two days after Pat, his wife of many years, died of cancer. He was 78 years old.

1978 - Cardinal Albino Luciani of Venice was elected the 263rd Pope of the Roman Catholic Church following the death of Paul VI. The new pontiff took the name John Paul I. He served only 33 days before dying of a heart attack on Sep 28, 1978.

1981 - Steve Ovett recaptured the mile-run record which had been taken from him just a week earlier by Sebastian Coe. Ovett’s new world record time was 3:48.40.

1982 - Canada’s Anik D-1 Comsat was launched on the top of a U.S. Delta rocket.

1982 - Rickey Henderson tied Lou Brock’s 1974 record of 118 stolen bases in a season as the Milwaukee Brewers downed the Kansas City Royals, 10-3.

1984 - John Henry, a nine-year-old gelding, came from behind to win the $600,000 Arlington Million race in suburban Chicago, IL. The lifetime earnings of the famous horse reached $5,482,797.

1984 - A new face joined the group of journalists on CBS-TV’s 60 Minutes. Diane Sawyer became the fifth reporter on the top-rated TV newsmagazine. Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Harry Reasoner and Ed Bradley welcomed Sawyer to the show.

1986 - Ted Knight, the actor who played the funny TV newsman, Ted Baxter, on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died of cancer. He was 62 years old.

1987 - Entertainer and restaurant/racquet club owner Sonny Bono announced his decision to run for mayor of Palm Springs, CA. Bono was elected mayor in 1988 and served until 1992, when he ran unsuccessfully in the California Republican primary for a seat in the U.S. Senate that was eventually won by Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat. But he bounced back in 1994, winning his congressional seat in the Republican tide that wrested control of the House from the Democrats for the first time in 40 years. Bono almost took pride in his lack of qualifications for Congress. “What is qualified?” he told The Los Angeles Times in 1992. “What have I been qualified for in my life? I haven’t been qualified to be a mayor. I’m not qualified to be a songwriter. I’m not qualified to be a TV producer. I’m not qualified to be a successful businessman. And so, I don’t know what qualified means.” (Sonny Bono was killed in a skiing accident January 5, 1998.)

1989 - The team from Trumbull, CT became the first U.S. team since 1983 to win the Little League World Series -- in Williamsport, PA.

1990 - The bodies of two college students were found in their off-campus apartment in Gainesville, FL. Three more bodies were discovered in the following days, setting off a wave of panic. Danny Rolling was eventually unmasked as the ‘Gainesville Ripper,’ and was executed by lethal injection in Florida on October 25, 2006.

1992 - A no-fly zone was imposed on southern Iraq. Operation Southern Watch was orchestrated by the United States, France and Britain. The campaign supported U.N. Security Council resolutions containing Iraq, protecting Kuwait, and keeping pressure on Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime.

1995 - Seal (Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Samuel) hit #1 with the single, Kiss from a Rose. It was at the tippy top of U.S. tune tabulations for just one week.

1996 - Former South Korean President Chun Du-hwan was sentenced to death for treason, mutiny and corruption. Hwan’s successor, Roh Tae-woo, was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison. Both men were also found guilty of taking bribes during their 13 years in power. Chun was fined over $270 million and Roh over $350 million, sums equal to the amounts they were convicted of illegally amassing for political gain. Nine leading businessman were also convicted. Talk about corruption...

1997 - Former South African President F.W. de Klerk announced his retirement from politics. and his leading role in the National Party which had created the practice of apartheid. de Klerk shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize (with Nelson Mandela) for helping to end apartheid.

1998 - William Ritter resigned as a U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq. He said the failure to be more aggressive in the inspections constituted a surrender to the Iraqi leadership.

1998 - Hurricane Bonnie moved ashore in North Carolina and began a two-day treck up the U.S. East Coast, packing heavy rains and high winds.

1999 - American Home Products, the parent company of Wyeth-Ayerst agreed to pay over $50 million to over 36,000 women to settle claims against the Norplant implantable contraceptive.

2000 - The Houston Comets won their fourth straight WNBA (Women’s National Basketball Association) championship by defeating the New York Liberty, 79-73.

2000 - Maracaibo, Venezuela won the Little League World Series title, defeating Bellaire, Texas, 3-2.

2001 - The Tokyo, Japan Kitasuna beat the team from Apopka, FL, 2-1, to win the Little League championship in South Williamsport, PA.

2002 - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Tennessee, announced that there was “no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction” and was going to use them against the U.S. and its allies.

2003 - Investigators concluded that NASA’s overconfident management and inattention to safety had doomed the space shuttle Columbia just as much as damage (from flying foam) to the craft did.

2004 - MIT named Yale neuroscientist Susan Hockfield to be its new president. She was the first woman to hold that position.

2005 - New movies in the U.S.: The Brothers Grimm, starring Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Jonathan Pryce, Monica Bellucci, Lena Headey, Peter Stormare, Mackenzie Cook and Richard Ridings; The Cave, with Cole Hauser, Morris Chestnut, Eddie Cibrian, Daniel Dae Kim, Rick Ravanello, Marcel Lures, Lena Headey and Piper Perabo; and Undiscovered, starring Pell James, Steven Strait, Kip Pardue, Shannyn Sossamon, Fisher Stevens, Carrie Fisher, Peter Weller, Stephen Moyer and Ashlee Simpson.

2006 - Chad ordered U.S. energy giant Chevron and Malaysia’s Petronas out of the country because “they have refused to pay their taxes.” And Chad’s president Idriss Deby suspended the oil minister and two other Cabinet members who had negotiated deals with the two foreign oil firms. (The dispute was resolved a few weeks later when the two companies agreed to pay up.)

2007 - The $95-million Hawaii Superferry made its maiden run from Honolulu to Maui as environmentalists protested. The 349-foot giant catamaran, named Alakai, carried over 500 passengers and 150 cars for the 3-hour trip. The special one-way $5 fares soon rose to over $125 for one passenger and a car. (The Superferry went out of business in July 2009.)

2007 - Forest fires consumed large areas of southern Greece for a third day and raced toward Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics. The inferno engulfed villages and forests and reached one of the most revered sites of antiquity.

2008 - Christians in India clashed with Hindu mobs who had attacked churches. Eight people died in the violence in Kandhamal district of Orissa state, a region known for deadly religious fighting.

2008 - At the Democratic Convention in Denver, U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the U.S. presidential nomination.

2008 - California Governor Schwarzenegger signed a measure for a statewide bullet train system to be placed on the November ballot. (Voters approved the measure on Nov 8.)

2009 - Australia’s highest court ruled that the country’s military justice system was unconstitutional because its judges were not independent of the military command. The ruling threw into doubt 171 cases judged in the past two years.

2009 - Russia, concerned about North Korean missile and nuclear tests, said it had deployed sophisticated air defenses in its Far East region to protect against any potential test mishap.

2009 - Songwriter Ellie Greenwich died at 68 years of age. Her string of hits in the 1960s included Da Doo Ron Ron (1963), Chapel of Love (1964) and Be My Baby (1963). Many of her songs were done in collaboration with producer Phil Spector and her husband Jeff Barry.

2010 - 16 people were injured, some seriously, after a grenade exploded in a crowded bar in the popular beach resort of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The governor of Jalisco, Emilio Gonzalez Marquez, later said the grenade went off by accident after some young people had brought grenades into the Pink Cheladas bar just off the tourist strip.

2010 - A Malaysian man was arrested after his bag containing 95 live boa constrictors broke open on a luggage conveyer belt at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Keng Liang ‘Anson’Wong, who had been previously convicted of wildlife trafficking in the United States, later pleaded guilty to wildlife smuggling.

2011 - New movies in the U.S.: Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, with Bruce Gleeson, Edwina Ritchard, Garry McDonald, Bailee Madison, Carolyn Shakespeare-Allen and Katie Holmes; Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana, Amandla Stenberg, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis and Callum Blue; The Caller, with Stephen Moyer, Rachelle Lefevre, Luis Guzmán, Ed Quinn and Lorna Raver; Circumstance, starring Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy, Reza Sixo Safai, Soheil Parsa, Nasrin Pakkho and Sina Amedson; Higher Ground, with Vera Farmiga, Donna Murphy, John Hawkes, Dagmara Dominczyk, Nina Arianda and Taissa Farmiga; and Our Idiot Brother, with Paul Rudd, Nick Sullivan, Bob Stephenson, Elizabeth Banks, Peter Hermann and Adam Scott.

2012 - In defiance of western-led efforts to isolate Tehran over its nuclear ambitions, Iran opened a 120-nation gathering of so-called nonaligned nations. For Iran’s leaders, hosting the summit apparently represented an opportunity for an image makeover. And in the face of the west’s ongoing embargo of Iranian oil, it was also an effort to find new customers.

2013 - Zurich, Switzerland, launched publicly funded, drive-in, open wooden garages -- called ‘sex boxes’ -- to make prostitution less of a public nuisance and safer for women.

2014 - Burger King announced its purchase of Tim Hortons, Canada’s coffee and donut chain. The deal was worth $11 billion and created the world’s third-largest fast food company -- headquartered in Canada.

2015 - Movies opening in the U.S. on this day included, No Escape, starring Lake Bell, Pierce Brosnan, Owen Wilson, Sterling Jerins, Karen Gemma Dodgson, Spencer Garrett, Claire Geare, Byron Gibson, Mia Sun and Jim Lau; and Queen of Earth, with Elisabeth Moss, Katherine Waterston, Patrick Fugit, Kate Lyn Sheil, Kentucker Audley and Keith Poulson.

2015 - James Holmes (28), convicted of killing 12 people on July 20, 2012 at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, was ordered to serve 12 consecutive life sentences -- plus 3,318 years in prison -- without parole.

2015 - Walmart confirmed that it would no longer carry assault rifles in its U.S. stores. Was the move the result of pressure in the wake of shootings where assault rifles were used? Nope. According to Walmart spokesman Kory Lundberg, “There wasn’t a whole lot of demand for those products so we replaced them with products we have seen customers coming in to purchase.”

2016 - Motion pictures debuting in the U.S. included, Don’t Breathe, with Jane Levy, Stephen Lang and Dylan Minnette; Hands of Stone, starring Robert De Niro, Ana de Armas and Ellen Barkin; Mechanic: Resurrection, starring Jason Statham, Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones; Ace the Case, with Ripley Sobo, Lev and, Susan Sarandon; Complete Unknown, starring Rachel Weisz, Michael Shannon and Kathy Bates; Daylight’s End, with Johnny Strong, Lance Henriksen and Louis Mandylor; the documentary, Floyd Norman: An Animated Life; The Hollars, with Sharlto Copley, Charlie Day and Richard Jenkins; In Order of Disappearance, with Kåre Conradi, Huyen Huynh and Anders Baasmo Christiansen; The Intervention, starring Melanie Lynskey, Jason Ritter and Skylar Bernon; Remember the Goal, with Allee Sutton Hethcoat, Quinn Alexis and Sydney Marks; and Southside with You, starring Tika Sumpter, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Parker Sawyers.

2016 - China’s corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, charged Wang Baoan, who headed the National Bureau of Statistics from 2015 to 2016, with a variety of crimes, including moral decay and superstitious activities.

2016 - Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton ordered broad restrictions on the use of agricultural pesticides. The sprays had been blamed for hurting bees, but the new restrictions fueled concerns that Minnesota farmers would not be able to protect crops from insects.

2016 - San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat while the national anthem played at a pre-season game against the Green Bay Packers -- a protest of police shootings of African Americans which quickly raised controversy. “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick said of his decision. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.” The quarterback’s team released a statement supporting his right to free expression, while the NFL said, “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.”

2017 - Floyd Mayweather Jr secured his place in boxing history and headed into retirement with a record 50th straight victory. Mayweather was awarded a TKO over Conor McGregor when referee Robert Byrd stopped the Las Vegas bout in the 10th round.

2017 - A second person was killed as hurricane Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit Texas in more than 50 years, roared inland, knocking out power to more than 230,000 people and bringing on catastrophic flooding.

2018 - American playwright Neil Simon died in New York City. He was 91 years old. Neil Simon is the only playwright to have had four plays running on Broadway simultaneously: Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity and The Star-Spangle Girl all played in the 1966-67 season.

2018 - While visiting Ireland Pope Francis asked for forgiveness for the “scandal and betrayal” felt by victims of sexual exploitation by Catholic clergy. This, as he toured the country where years of abuse scandals had shattered the Church’s former dominant role in society.

2019 - POTUS Trump skipped a meeting about climate change and biodiversity attended by other world leaders in Biarritz, France at the G7 summit. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world faces “a dramatic climate emergency.” Guterres said that Greenland’s ice cap was melting dramatically and that 2015 through 2019 were the five hottest years on record.

2019 - French and U.S. negotiators reached a compromise agreement on France’s digital tax on big internet companies. The levy had prompted U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten a separate tax on French wine imports.

2020 - Republicans fired themselves up during the third night of their convention and continued to warn of violence and lawlessness, trying to capitalize on unrest in Wisconsin, but did not mention Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot in the back by police in Kenosha. The shooting had sparked widespread protests over racial injustice.

2020 - The F.D.A. authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that did not need any special computer equipment to get results. The 15-minute test from Abbot Laboratories sold for $5.

2021 - A suicide bomber truck outside Kabul, Afghanistan airport, killing as many as 170 people including children and U.S. troops. Many Taliban guards were wounded. Two British nationals and the child of a third British national were among the dead. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of its Afghan affiliate, Islamic State Khorasan.

2021 - India’s air safety regulator said it had cleared Boeing Company’s 737 MAX aircraft to fly, ending the country’s two-and-a-half-year ban.

2021 - Movies set to open in the U.S. included: The Invitation, starring Nathalie Emmanuel, Thomas Doherty and Stephanie Corneliussen; and Three Thousand Years of Longing, with Tilda Swinton, Idris Elba and Pia Thunderbolt.

2022 - The Justice Department released a redacted version of the affidavit and memo related to the FBI raid on former POTUS Donald Trump’s Florida mansion. The DOJ even redacted portions of the documents in which it explained the rationale behind the redactions.

2022 - Britney Spears released her first new music in six years: Hold Me Closer, a dance track with Elton John that was a remix of John’s hit Tiny Dancer.

2023 - A gunman wearing a tactical vest and carrying an AR-style rifle and a handgun decorated with swastikas opened fire at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville, Florida, killing opened fire at a Dollar General store in Jacksonvillethree people. The victims -- two men and a woman -- were Black. Sheriff T.K. Waters said the (white) gunman shot and killed himself at the store. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas released a statement offering support to local law enforcement and the community. “Too many Americans -- in Jacksonville and across our country -- have lost a loved one because of racially-motivated violence,” Mayorkas said.

2023 - And, from our TWtD batch of bonus items box: The longest alligator ever recorded in Mississippi -- 14ft, 3in (4.3m) -- was captured in Sunflower River, weighing 802.5 pounds (364 kilograms).

and more...
HistoryOrb, On-This-Day, TODAYINSCI,
The day’s front pages

Jump to Top Birthdays on This Day    August 26

1873 - Lee DeForest
inventor: held patents for hundreds items including the triode tube: a three element vacuum tube which later became the audion tube: a significant invention that made radio possible; autobiography: ‘Father of Radio’ [1950]; died June 30, 1961 Features Spotlight

1894 - Sparky (Earl John) Adams
baseball: Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, SL Cardinals [World Series: 1930, 1931], Cincinnati Reds; died Feb 24, 1989

1904 - Christopher Isherwood
author: Goodbye to Berlin; died Jan 4, 1986

1906 - Albert Sabin
polio researcher: the Sabin oral polio vaccine; died Mar 03, 1993

1909 - Jim Davis
actor: Dallas, Inferno in Paradise, Don’t Look Back: The Story of Leroy ‘Satchel’ Page, Little Big Horn, The Outcast; died Apr 26, 1981

1910 - Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu)
Nobel Peace Prize-winner [1979]: missionary, humanitarian; died Sep 5, 1997

1917 - Jan Clayton
actress: Lassie, Pantomime Quiz; died Aug 28, 1983

1918 - Katherine Johnson
mathematician: her calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. manned spaceflights; subject of the highly acclaimed December 2016 film Hidden Figures, based on the non-fiction book of the same title by Margot Lee Shetterly that follows Johnson and other female African-American mathematicians Mary Jackson and Dorothy Vaughan who worked at NASA; died Feb 24, 2020

1919 - Ronny Graham (Ronald Montcrief Stringer)
singer, actor: Chico and the Man, The New Bill Cosby Show, The Hudson Brothers Show, The Bob Crane Show; died July 4, 1999

1921 - Ben (Benjamin C.) Bradlee
executive editor: The Washington Post; vice-president-at-large: The Washington Post Company; died Oct 21, 2014

1922 - Irving R. Levine
broadcast journalist; author: Main Street U.S.S.R., Travel Guide to Russia, The New Worker in Soviet Russia, Main Street Italy; died Mar 27, 2009

1924 - Alex (Alexander Raymond) Kellner
baseball: pitcher: Philadelphia Athletics [all-star: 1949], KC Athletics, Cincinnati Redlegs, St. Louis Cardinals; died May 03, 1996

1934 - Tommy Heinsohn
Basketball Hall of Famer: Boston Celtics: Rookie of the Year [1956-57], NBA Coach of the Year [1973]; died Nov 9, 2020

1934 - James Hylton
auto racer: NASCAR Rookie of the Year: 1966; died Apr 28, 2018

1935 - Geraldine Ferraro
politician: first woman to be nominated for vice president of the U.S. by a major political party [Democratic Party, 1984]; died Mar 26, 2011

1936 - Francine York
actress: Miracle at Sage Creek, Hercules in Hollywood, The Family Man, Private Obsession, The Underachievers, Cracking Up, Zero to Sixty; died Jan 6, 2017

1937 - Don Bowman
comedian, entertainer: Still Fighting Mental Health, Poor Old Ugly Gladys Jones, Giddyup Do-nut, Chit Atkins Make Me a Star; died Jun 5, 2013

1938 - Jet Black (Brian Duffy)
musician: drums: group: The Stranglers: Grip, Peaches, No More Heroes, Walk on By, Golden Brown, Skin Deep, Nice in Nice; died Dec 6, 2022

1939 - Bill White
hockey: NHL: LA Kings, Chicago Blackhawks

1940 - Don LaFontaine
voice actor: recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of TV sposts, network promos and video game trailers: he became identified with the phrase, “In a world...”; died Sep 1, 2008

1941 - Chris Curtis
musician: drums; singer: group: The Searchers: Sweets for My Sweet, Needles and Pins, Love Potion No.9, Don’t Throw Your Love Away, Sugar and Spice; died Feb 28, 2005

1941 - Jane Merrow
actress: Sharpe’s Waterloo, Once an Eagle, The Patricia Neal Story, Horror at 37,000 Feet, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Lion in Winter

1942 - Vic Dana
singer: Red Roses for a Blue Lady

1944 - Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker
musician: drums: group: Velvet Underground: Sweet Jane, Rock and Roll, Sunday Morning, I’m Waiting for the Man, Femme Fatale

1946 - Swede Savage
auto racer: killed in crash during Indianapolis 500 July 2, 1973

1946 - Valerie Simpson
songwriter [w/husband Nick Ashford]: Ashford & Simpson: Never Had It So Good, One Step at a Time, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, You’re All I Need to Get By, Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand, Remember Me

1949 - Bob Cowsill
singer: group: The Cowsills: The Rain, the Park and Other Things

1949 - Richard Cowsill
singer: group: The Cowsills: The Rain, the Park and Other Things

1952 - Michael Jeter
Emmy Award-winning actor: Evening Shade [1992]; Hot House, The Boys Next Door, Waterworld, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Gypsy, The Fisher King, Miller’s Crossing, The Green Mile; died Mar 30, 2003

1956 - Brett Cullen
actor: Falcon Crest, Friday Night Lights, In Bloom, Ghost Rider, Gridiron Gang, Brothel, NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323, National Security, On Golden Pond

1957 - John O’Neill
musician: guitar: groups: That Petrol Emotion: Keen, V2; The Undertones: Teenage Kicks, Jimmy, Jimmy, Here Comes Summer, My Perfect Cousin, Julie Ocean, Forever Paradise, It’s Going to Happen

1957 - Álex (Alejandro Castro) Treviño
baseball: catcher: NY Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Atlanta Braves, SF Giants, LA Dodgers, Houston Astros

1959 - Stan Van Gundy
basketball coach: NBA: Miami Heat [2003–2005]; Orlando Magic [2007–2012]; Detroit Pistons [2014– ]; 2× NBA All-Star Game head coach [2005, 2010]

1960 - Branford Marsalis
musician: saxophone: bandleader: The Tonight Show; toured with Sting

1961 - Jimmy Olander
musician: guitar: group: Diamond Rio: Meet in the Middle, Mirror Mirror, Mama Don’t Forget to Pray for Me, Norma Jean Riley, Nowhere Bound, In a Week or Two

1966 - Shirley Manson
singer: group: Garbage: LPs: Garbage, Version 2.0, Not Your Kind of People; actress: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

1969 - Ricky Bottalico
baseball [pitcher]: Central Conneticut State Univ; Philadelphia Phillies, SL Cardinals, KC Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, NY Mets, Milwaukee Brewers

1970 - Melissa McCarthy
actress: Mike & Molly, Bridesmaids, Life As We Know It, The Back-up Plan, Pretty Ugly People, The Nines, Chicken Party, Spy, Tammy, St. Vincent, Identity Thief, The Heat

1971 - Thalía (Ariadna Thalia Sodi Miranda)
songwriter, singer: LPs: Thalía, Mundo de Cristal, Love, En éxtasis, Amor a la Mexicana, Arrasando, El Sexto Sentido, Lunada, Habítame Siempre, VIVA KIDS

1974 - Kelvin Cato
basketball [forward, center]: NBA: Portland Trail Blazers, Houston Rockets, Orlando Magic

1979 - Jamal Lewis
football [running back]; Univ of Tennessee; NFL: Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns

1980 - Macaulay Culkin
actor: Home Alone series, Getting Even with Dad, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Good Son, My Girl, Uncle Buck, Only the Lonely, The Pagemaster, Richie Rich

1980 - Chris Pine
actor: Star Trek [2009], The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Just My Luck, Smokin’ Aces, Unstoppable, This Means War, Rise of the Guardians

1982 - John Mulaney
comedian, actor: Saturday Night Live: Weekend Update; The Top Part; New in Town; The Comeback Kid; Kid Gorgeous at Radio City; 32nd Independent Spirit Awards; Oh, Hello on Broadway; Big Mouth; Crashing

1985 - Brian Kelley
musician: guitar; singer: half of duo Florida Georgia Line: Cruise, Stay, This Is How We Roll, Dirt

1985 - David Price
baseball [pitcher]: Tampa Bay Rays [2008–2014]; Detroit Tigers [2014–2015]; Toronto Blue Jays [2015]; Boston Red Sox [2016–]

1986 - Cassie Ventura
singer: LP: Cassie: Me & U; actress: Step Up 2: The Streets

1988 - Danielle Savre
actress: Kaya, The X-Files, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Charmed, Summerland, Bring It On: All or Nothing, Heroes

1991 - Dylan O’Brien
actor: Maze Runner, Teen Wolf, The First Time, American Assassin, The Internship, Deepwater Horizon

1993 - Keke Palmer
actress: Barbershop 2: Back in Business, Akeelah and the Bee, Madea’s Family Reunion, Cleaner, The Longshots, Shrink, Joyful Noise, Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom, Ice Age: Continental Drift

and still more...
IMDb, iafd (adult), FAMOUS, NNDB,
BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, HOCKEY, PRO-FOOTBALL

Jump to Top Hit Music on This Day    August 26

1947Peg o’ My Heart (facts) - The Harmonicats
I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder (facts) - Eddy Howard
Across the Alley from the Alamo (facts) - The Mills Brothers
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! (That Cigarette) (facts) - Tex Williams

1956My Prayer (facts) - The Platters
Hound Dog (facts)/Don’t Be Cruel (facts) - Elvis Presley
Allegheny Moon (facts) - Patti Page
I Walk the Line (facts) - Johnny Cash

1965I Got You Babe (facts) - Sonny & Cher
Save Your Heart for Me (facts) - Gary Lewis & The Playboys
Help! (facts) - The Beatles
Yes, Mr. Peters (facts) - Roy Drusky & Priscilla Mitchell

1974(You’re) Having My Baby (facts) - Paul Anka
Tell Me Something Good (facts) - Rufus
I Shot the Sheriff (facts) - Eric Clapton
Old Man from the Mountain (facts) - Merle Haggard

1983Every Breath You Take (facts) - The Police
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (facts) - Eurythmics
She Works Hard for the Money (facts) - Donna Summer
Love Song (facts) - The Oak Ridge Boys

1992End of the Road (facts) - Boyz II Men
Baby-Baby-Baby (facts) - TLC
November Rain (facts) - Guns N’ Roses
Boot Scootin’ Boogie (facts) - Brooks & Dunn

2001Someone To Call My Lover (facts) - Janet Jackson
Let Me Blow Ya Mind (facts) - Eve featuring Gwen Stefani
Hit ’Em Up Style (Oops!) (facts) - Blu Cantrell
Austin (facts) - Blake Shelton

2010Love The Way You Lie (facts) - Eminem featuring Rihanna
Dynamite (facts) - Taio Cruz
Mine (facts) - Taylor Swift
Free (facts) - Zac Brown Band

2019Bad Guy (facts) - Billie Eilish
Señorita (facts) - Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello
Old Town Road (facts) - Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus
The Git Up (facts) - Blanco Brown

and even more...
Billboard, Oldies, Songfacts, Country


Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...


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Written and edited by Carol Williams and John Williams
Produced by John Williams


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