January 31
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Events on This Day
1885 - Carroll D. Wright was appointed as the first Commissioner of Labor in the United States. A lofty job for a gentleman whose salary was $3,000. Of course, in 1885, you could buy a house for $3,000 and a cow.1927 - Twenty years before the famous record by Art Mooney was recorded, Jean Goldkette and his dancing orchestra recorded, I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover. Though the name of the bandleader may not be so famous, two of his sidemen on this Victor recording session certainly were: Big band fans know Bix Beiderbecke and Joe Venuti.
1930 - Lt. Ralph S. Barnaby of the U.S. Navy became the first glider pilot to have his craft released from a dirigible -- a large blimp -- at Lakehurst, NJ (where the Hindenberg exploded). Lt. Barnaby’s glider was released at an altitude of 3,000 feet.
1934 - Jim Londos defeated Joe Savoldi in a one-fall match in Chicago, IL. One of the largest crowds to see a wrestling match (20,000 spectators) looked on.
1936 - The Green Hornet was introduced by its famous theme song, The Flight of the Bumble Bee. The radio show was first heard on WXYZ radio in Detroit, MI on this day. The show stayed on the air for 16 years. The Green Hornet originated from the same radio station where The Lone Ranger was performed. You may remember that the title character in The Green Hornet was really named Britt Reid. He was, in fact, supposed to be the great nephew of John Reid, the Lone Ranger. Both popular series were created by George Trendle and Fran Striker.
1940 - The very first monthly retirement check was issued by the U.S. Government -- to Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. Ida May’s check, numbered 00-000-001, was in the amount of $22.54. Fuller, a Legal Secretary, retired in November 1939 and lived to be 100 years old (she died in 1975).
1943 - After a week of heavy fighting, German Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrendered to the Russians at Stalingrad. 24 other German commanders surrendered with Paulus.
1945 - Private Eddie Slovik became the only American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion. He was shot by an American firing squad in France on this day.
1946 - Yugoslavia adopted a new constitution and became the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
1951 - Paul Pettit signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He set a record for baseball bonuses when he signed to collect nearly $100,000 in bonuses and guarantees.
1953 - A sudden ‘surge’, or wall of water, caused by a fierce storm and high spring tide, burst through the dikes and over the banks of low-lying coastal areas of eastern England, northern Belgium and southern Netherlands. 1,800 drowned in Belgium and the Netherlands. Thousands lost their homes, hundreds of animals died and farmland was unusable for years to come. The North Sea’s saltwater had left its mark. Only the receding waters of low tide had prevented the River Thames from flooding central London and killing thousands more.
1957 - A U.S. Air Force F-89J Scorpion jet fighter and a Douglas DC-7B airliner, both being flown on test flights, collided in midair over the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. The collision killed one of two pilots on the fighter jet and all four test flight crew members aboard the DC-7. The crippled passenger jet crashed in flames onto the Pacoima Junior High athletic field, killing three students and injuring 70 others.
1958 - Explorer I, the first U.S. space satellite, was put into orbit around the earth by a Jupiter-C rocket. Radio signals from the transmitter aboard the 30.8 pound satellite were picked up in California within a few minutes after the launch. Explorer I orbited the earth every 114 minutes at a maximum height of 2,000 miles and a minimum altitude of 230 miles. This event marked the beginning of discussions, debates and decisions that would lead to the formation of NASA and eventually to the creation of Saturn launch vehicles.
1968 - Nauru Island (formerly Pleasant Island) declared its independence from Australia.
1971 - Astronauts Alan B. Shepard Jr., Edgar D. Mitchell and Stuart A. Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14. It was the first U.S. moon mission since the ill-fated mission of Apollo 13, for a third lunar landing.
1974 - Polish-American film magnate Samuel Goldwyn died. He was 91 years old. Goldwyn was the ‘G’ in MGM.
1976 - Ernesto Miranda, famous from the Supreme Court ruling on Miranda rights, was stabbed to death in Arizona.
1979 - The U.S. and China signed a scientific and cultural exchange accord, ending nearly three decades of estrangement.
1984 - Newsman Edwin Newman retired from NBC News after 35 years with the network.
1985 - John Fogerty, former leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival, returned to the A&M recording studios in Hollywood, CA to give his first ‘live’ performance in 14 years. Actually, Fogerty performed in a video called Rock and Roll Girls.
1987 - Madonna’s tune, Open Your Heart, moved to the #2 spot on the pop charts (right behind At This Moment by Billy Vera and The Beaters). A week later, Open Your Heart became Madonna’s fifth #1 hit since 1983. She had 11 consecutive singles in the Top 10 -- the most for any female artist of the rock era.
1988 - Super Bowl XXII (at San Diego): Washington Redskins 42, Denver Broncos 10. The score at the end of the first quarter: Broncos 10, Redskins 0. The score one quarter later: Redskins 35, Broncos 10. In that 2nd quarter Redskins’ QB Doug Williams (MVP) tossed a 70-yard TD pass to WR Ricky Sanders and a 50-yard pass setting up another TD. He threw a 27-yard TD pass to WR Gary Clark, an 8-yard TD pass to TE Clint Didier and handed off to RB Timmy Smith, who ran 58 yards for another TD. That one quarter so inspired the Redskins, the Broncos never had another chance. Tickets: $100.00.
1990 - McDonald’s opened their first restaurant in Russia -- in Moscow. 30,000 people dropped by to get a taste that first day. Did somebody say, “Mickey Deeofsky’s?”
1993 - Super Bowl XXVII (at Pasadena): Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17. Cowboys’ QB Troy Aikman (MVP) threw four TD passes, Emmit Smith rushed for 100 yards and Buffalo turned the ball over nine times (five fumbles, four interceptions). Third Super Bowl loss in a row for the Bufflo Bills. Tickets: $175.00.
1994 - The Barcelona opera theater, Gran Teatre del Liceu, burned down after a spark accidentally fell on the curtain during a routine repair.
1996 - Japanese astronomer, Yuji Hyakutake, first sighted the comet that now bears his name. It came to within ten million miles of the Earth on its closest approach on March 26.
1997 - Films opening in U.S. theatres: Meet Wally Sparks, with Rodney Dangerfield, David Ogden Stiers, Debi Mazar, Cindy Williams, Burt Reynolds and Alan Rachins; Shadow Conspiracy, starring Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland, Linda Hamilton, Stephen Lang, Ben Gazzara, Nicholas Turturro, Stanley Anderson, Theodore Bikel, Charles Cioffi, Paul Gleason, Terry O’Quinn, Sam Waterston and Gore Vidal; Waiting for Guffman, with Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Fred Willard, Parker Posey, Bob Balaban, Lewis Arquette and Matt Keeslar.
1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII (at Miami): Denver Broncos 34, Atlanta Falcons 19. Broncos’ QB John Elway (MVP) completed 18 of 29 passes for 336 yards and one TD -- and ran three yards for another score. Play of the game: Ellway to Rod Smith for a 90-yard touchdown. Tickets: $325.00.
2000 - Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed into the Santa Barbara Channel in California, some twenty miles off Point Mogu. The McDonnell Douglas MD-83 carried 88 people bound for San Francisco from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. There were no survivors. Fault for the crash was eventually placed on the failure of a two-foot-long jackscrew -- part of a system that drives adjustments to the horizontal stabilizer, which in turn controls the pitch, or up-and-down orientation, of the aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board also concluded that a contributing factor was the lack of a fail-safe mechanism to protect the jet from a catastrophic loss of that jackscrew.
2001 - A Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Co-defendant Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty.
2001 - The state of Georgia hoisted its new flag above its statehouse, one featuring a smaller Confederate battle emblem.
2002 - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a speech that the United States had to prepare for potential surprise attacks “vastly more deadly” than the Sept. 11 terrorist hijackings.
2003 - These movies opened in the U.S.: Biker Boyz, starring Laurence Fishburne, Larenz Tate, Meagan Good, Tyson Beckford, Dion Basco, Dante Basco, Brendan Fehr, Derek Luke, Kadeem Hardison, Terrence Dashon Howard, Orlando Jones, Rick Gonzalez, Melissa De Sousa, Vanessa Bell Calloway and Lisa Bonet; and Final Destination 2, with Ali Larter, A.J. Cook, Michael Landes, T.C. Carson, Jonathan Cherry, Keegan Connor Tracy, Sarah Carter, Lynda Boyd, David Paetkau, James Kirk, Tony Todd.
2004 - The Mars rover Opportunity rolled off its landing pad onto the surface of Mars.
2005 - Pop star Michael Jackson pleaded not guilty as his trial for child molestation began in Santa Maria, California.
2006 - Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in.
2007 - Ziff Davis Game Group handed out its fourth annual 1Up Awards for computer games. Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess was chosen game of the year by the 13-million voters voicing their choice).
2008 - The European Union ordered Italy to clean up Naples within a month, or face legal action. More on the crisis.
2008 - The U.S. Navy test fired a powerful big gun designed to replace conventional weaponry aboard ships. Navy officials called it the world’s most powerful electromagnetic railgun.
2008 - The Mideast and India suffered through a second day of telecom woes after two undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean sustained damage. Damage to undersea cables, while rare, can result from movement of geologic faults or possibly from a ship’s anchor being dragged.
2009 - The city council of Birmingham, England’s second-largest city decided to drop apostrophes from all its street signs, saying they’re confusing and old-fashioned.
2009 - Porsche’s new museum, a sprawling monument to 60 years of German engineering, opened to the public in Stuttgart, Germany.
2009 - 31-year-old Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was detained in Tehran. On April 13, 2009, she was tried and soon sentenced to 8 years in jail for spying. An appeals court later reduced her prison term to a two-year suspended sentence. She was released on May 11, 2009.
2010 - Beyoncé picked up a record six Grammy awards: Song of the Year [Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)], Best Female Pop Vocal Performance [Halo], Best Female R&B Performance [Single Ladies...], Best Traditional R&B Performance: [At Last], Best R&B Song: [Single Ladies...], Best Contemporary R&B Album: [I Am… Sasha Fierce]. The Beyoncé collection was the most wins by a female in one night in the 52-year-history of the Grammys. And it was a big night for pop/country sensation Taylor Swift, who won four Grammys: Album of the Year and Best Country Album [Fearless], Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance [White Horse].
2011 - Relatives of Liu Yonghua, a patient who had died in a hospital in Shanghai, China went on a rampage. They armed themselves with knives and charged throgh the hospital, seriously wounding six people. The distraught relatives also tried to throw a hospital official from an eighth floor window but other employees stepped in to save the doctor.
2012 - Mitt Romney won the Florida Republican primary with 47% of the vote. Newt Gingrich was second (32%). Rick Santorum won 13 % and Ron Paul 7%. Romney’s Florida victory was seen as a rebound in his fortunes over the previous 10 days, during which Gingrich had seemed to be gaining momentum after his South Carolina victory.
2013 - After much international consternation the U.S. Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation raising the U.S. debt ceiling. The legislation put off a government default until May 19, 2013. But Congress continued to use the threat of a shutdown until actually forcing one on October 1, 2013, with about 800,000 Federal employees being put on temporary leave.
2013 - The U.S. government reported that California’s Hispanic population was about to equal that of whites and would become the state’s largest demographic group in 2014.
2014 - New movies in U.S. theatres included: Labor Day, starring Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin and Gattlin Griffith; That Awkward Moment, with Zac Efron, Michael B. Jordan and Miles Teller; the documentary, 12 O’Clock Boys; Best Night Ever, starring Desiree Hall, Samantha Colburn and Eddie Ritchard; California Scheming, with Devon Werkheiser, Gia Mantegna and Claudia Christian; The Wait, starring Jena Malone, Chloë Sevigny and Luke Grimes; and Armistice, with Joseph Morgan, Matt Ryan and William Troughton.
2014 - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, Montana filed for bankruptcy protection. The legal action came in advance of proposed settlements for two lawsuits that claimed clergy members sexually abused 362 people over decades (30-60 years) and that the church covered it up.
2015 - India succeeded in using a mobile launcher to test-fire an Agni V long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead deep inside rival China. It was the first time the weapon had been fired from a so-called canister mounted on a truck rather than from a concrete launch pad used in previous trials.
2016 - Cuba announced its launching of broadband Internet service in two Havana neighborhoods. The goal of the pilot project was to allow home Web access for one of the world’s least connected nations. The U.S. had been urging Cuba to demonstrate that it was improving conditions for its citizens after President Barack Obama loosened the half-century old U.S. trade embargo on the island.
2017 - Germany began sending tanks and other equipment to Lithuania as part of a NATO mission to beef up the defense of eastern Europe and send a signal of resolve to Russia, which has denounced the build-up as an act of aggression.
2017 - POTUS Donald Trump nominated 49-year-old Neil Gorsuch to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice. Trump chose Gorsuch to tilt the court’s opinion to the conservative side, hoping to get right wing rulings on divisive issues such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty and religious rights.
2018 - Cuba protested the creation of a U.S. task force to work out the increasing of internet access on the island. Cuba had one of the lowest internet access rates in Latin America. The task force would figure ways for more Cubans to be connected and obtain access to information not controlled by the Cuban government.
2018 - Hong Kong lawmakers approved the banning of ivory trading in the Chinese territory -- by 2021. Conservation groups hailed the ban as a major victory in the worldwide fight to save elephants.
2019 - Russian news agencies reported that the state communications regulator said that the BBC World News channel had committed “certain violations” while operating in Russia. Apparently, the charge was nothing more than retaliation for pressure London had been applying on a Kremlin-funded broadcaster’s operations in Britain.
2019 - Several travel agents were charged with running illicit ‘birth tourism’ schemes across southern California that brought in hundreds of pregnant Chinese clients to the U.S. illegally. Dongyuan Li, Michael Wei Yueh Liu and his wife Jing Dong were arrested (along with some 20 others). Li’s business was called “You Win USA”, and authorities said she coached pregnant Chinese women on how to get into the United States to deliver babies who would automatically enjoy all the benefits of American citizenship. (Li was later sentenced to 10 months in prison for her role in the scheme.)
2020 - Films showing for the first time on U.S. theatre screens included: Gretel & Hansel, with Sophia Lillis, Jessica De Gouw and Alice Krige; The Rhythm Section, starring Blake Lively, Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown; and The Assistant, with Julia Garner, Matthew Macfadyen and Makenzie Leigh.
2020 - The Trump administration declared a public health emergency to attempt to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus, which had stricken China and spread to countries around the world. Quarantines of Americans who had recently been to certain parts of China were ordered. “While this virus poses a serious public health threat, the risk to the American public remains low at this time, and we are working to keep this risk low,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II said.
2020 - The United Kingdom left the European Union. The move was one of the biggest blows to Europe’s attempt to forge unity from the ruins of World War Two. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed full customs and border checks on all European goods entering the U.K. This, as thousands of pro-Brexit supporters in central London erupted in cheers, sent balloons into the sky and sang Rule Britannia.
2021 - Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger (IL) launched a political action committee called Country 1st that focussed on challenging former POTUS Donald Trump’s dominance of the Republican Party. Kinzinger said, “We need to quit being the party that even an iota defends an insurrection, a dead police officer, and other dead Americans on the Capitol. There is no equivalency to that. And we have to run from that as fast as we can!”
2021 - The United Kingdom opened applications for a new visa ‘route’ that provided eligible Hong Kong residents the right to live, work, and study in the country for five years before applying for citizenship. Two weeks later, some 5,000 Hong Kong citizens had applied.
2021 - France closed its borders -- and all large shopping centers -- to people arriving from outside the European Union. This, to try to stop the spread of new variants of the coronavirus. The strict shutdown lasted until March 11, 2021.
2022 - The Secret Service in Phoenix arrested Adrian Jean Pineda, seized $5,000 in counterfeit money and recovered $5,300 in genuine currency. The Home Depot employee was arrested for swapping out $387,500 of the store’s cash with counterfeit money.
2022 - A British inquiry said some events at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office and residence during a COVID-19 lockdown should not have taken place, describing serious failures of leadership and judgment at the heart of the British government. Johnson apologized and vowed to “fix it.”
2022 - Online word puzzle Wordle was bought for more than $1 million by The New York Times. Wordle gives players six tries to guess a five-letter mystery word. It was created by Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn. The game had millions of daily players.
2022 - Exxon Mobil reported a record $55.7 billion in annual profit for 2022. Only Apple and Microsoft had raked in more. Exxon and other oil companies got a boost from surging oil and gasoline prices, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the market -- and the reopening of businesses in China. The White House said it was “outrageous” for Exxon to post such massive profits in 2022, after Americans had to “pay such high prices at the pump.”
2022 - Black taxpayers were three times as likely as other taxpayers to face Internal Revenue Service audits, according to a report by a team of economists. The findings didn’t point to discrimination by individual IRS employees, who don’t know the race of audited taxpayers. But the did study suggests that computer algorithms used to determine who should be audited appeared to be the cause. “Some of that discrimination appears to be rooted in decisions that IRS officials made over the past decade as they sought to maintain tax enforcement in the face of budget cuts, by relying on automated systems,” the report said.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day January 31
1797 - Franz Schubert
composer: Unfinished Symphony; died Nov 19, 18281872 - Zane Grey (Pearl Grey)
dentist; author: The Spirit of the Border, The Last of the Plainsmen, Riders of the Purple Sage; died Oct 23, 19391892 - Eddie Cantor (Iskowitz)
‘banjo eyes’: actor, singer: If You Knew Susie like I Know Susie, Alabamy Bound, Dinah, Ida, Makin’ Whoopee, Ma He’s Makin’ Eyes at Me; died Oct 10, 19641902 - Tallulah Bankhead
actress: Stage Door Canteen, Die! Die! My Darling!; died Dec 12, 19681912 - Patrick Holt
actor: Strike It Rich, The Sea Wolves: The Last Charge of the Calcutta Light Horse, Lillie, Legend of the Werewolf, The Amorous Milkman; died Oct 12, 19921913 - Don Hutson
Pro Football Hall of Famer: Green Bay Packers: 488 catches for 7,991 yards and 99 touchdowns, scored 823 points held 18 major records at retirement; died June 26, 19971914 - Jersey Joe Walcott (Arnold Raymond Cream)
‘The Barbados Demon’: International Boxing Hall of Famer, World Heavyweight Champion [1952]; lifetime record: 53-18-1, 33 KOs; died Feb 25, 19941915 - Garry Moore (Thomas Garrison Morfit)
Emmy Award-winning entertainer: Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Variety [1961-62]: The Garry Moore Show; I’ve Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth; died Nov 28, 19931919 - Jackie (Jack Roosevelt) Robinson
Baseball Hall of Famer: broke baseball’s color barrier when Branch Rickey brought him up to the Dodgers in 1947: Brooklyn Dodgers [World Series: 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956/all-star: 1949-1954/NL MVP [1949]; pictured on US Black Heritage Series postage stamp; died Oct 24, 19721921 - John Agar
actor: Body Bags, Curse of the Swamp Creatures, Invisible Invaders, Revenge of the Creature, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Sands of Iwo Jima, Fort Apache; died Apr 7, 20021921 - Carol Channing (Lowe)
Tony Award-winning actress: Hello, Dolly! [1964], Thoroughly Modern Millie; died Jan 15, 20191921 - Mario Lanza (Alfred Cocozza)
actor: That Midnight Kiss, The Great Caruso, Because You’re Mine, The Student Prince; singer: Be My Love, The Loveliest Night of the Year, Because You’re Mine; died Oct 7, 19591922 - Joanne Dru (LaCock)
actress: Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Wagon Master, All the King’s Men, The Pride of St. Louis, Sincerely Yours, Super Fuzz, Hell on Frisco Bay, Playhouse 90, Guestward Ho!; died Sep 10, 19961923 - Norman Mailer
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist: The Armies of the Night; Miami and the Siege of Chicago, The Executioner’s Song, The Naked and the Dead, An American Dream; died Nov 10, 20071929 - Jean Simmons
actress: The Big Country, Elmer Gantry, The Robe, Spartacus, Great Expectations, The Thorn Birds, North and South; died Jan 22, 20101930 - Jo Bonnier
Swedish auto racer: started in 104 Grand Prix races; killed in 24 Hours of Le Mans race June 11, 19721931 - Ernie (Ernest) Banks
Baseball Hall of Famer: Chicago Cubs [all-star: 1955-1962, 1965, 1967, 1969/NL Baseball Writer’s Award: 1958, 1959]; 512 home runs; over 40 in a single season five times; record five grand slams [1955], 47 home runs [1958] most ever hit by a shortstop; died Jan 23, 20151934 - James (Grover) Franciscus
actor: Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Good Guys Wear Black, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy; died July 8, 19911937 - Philip Glass
composer: film scores: The Hours, The Truman Show, Kundun, Notes on a Scandal1937 - Suzanne Pleshette
actress: The Bob Newhart Show, Oh God Book 2, The Birds, If It’s Tuesday This Must be Belgium; died Jan 19, 20081938 - Princess Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard)
former Queen of the Netherlands [1980-2013]1940 - Stuart Margolin
Emmy Award-winning actor: The Rockford Files [1979, 1980]; Kelly’s Heroes, The Stone Killer, The Gambler, S.O.B., Iron Eagle II, The Sweetest Gift; Mother Trucker: The Diana Kilmury Story, Tom Stone, director: The Tracey Ullman Show [episodes: Meg and Tina in August, Pre-School, Golf], Northern Exposure [episode: Goodbye to All That], Salt Water Moose; died Dec 12, 20221941 - Richard Gephardt
politician: Missouri Democratic member of U.S House of Representatives [1977-2005]1941 - Sharon Miller
golfer: Women’s Trans National Amateur Champion: 19651941 - Jessica Walter
Emmy Award-winning actress: Amy Prentiss/NBC Sunday Mystery Movie [1975]; Temptress, The Execution, The Flamingo Kid, She’s Dressed to Kill, Play Misty for Me, Three’s a Crowd, For the People, Dinosaurs, Bare Essence; died Mar 24, 20211946 - Terry Kath
musician: guitar: group: Chicago: Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?; died Jan 23, 1978; more1947 - Jonathan Banks
actor: Easier, Softer Way, Dark Blue, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, Millennium Man, Foolish, Harvey, Dark Breed1947 - (Lynn) Nolan Ryan
baseball: pitcher: NY Mets [World Series: 1969], California Angels [all-star: 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979], Houston Astros [all-star: 1981, 1985], Texas Rangers [all-star: 1989]; record for career strike outs [5,714] and no-hitters [7]1947 - Glynn Turman
actor: Cooley High, A Different World, The Wire, The Defenders, House of Lies1951 - Mike Brumm
songwriter, singer: group: Ohio Express: Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Nothing Sweeter Than My Baby, Lucky, Sweeter Than Sugar, Nighttime, Chewy Chewy, She’s Not Comin’1951 - Harry Wayne Casey
musician: keyboard, singer: group: KC and the Sunshine Band: Do It Good, Queen of Hearts, Rock Your Baby, Get Down Tonight, That’s the Way [I Like It], [Shake, Shake, Shake] Shake Your Booty, I’m Your Boogie Man, Keep It Comin’ Love, Please Don’t Go1951 - Phil Manzanera (Targett-Adams)
musician: guitar: group: Roxy Music: Virginia Plain, Pyjamarama, Do the Strand, Editions of You, In Every Dream a Heartache, All I Want is You, Out of the Blue; solo: LPs: Diamond Head, Listen Now, K-Scope, Primitive Guitars1951 - Larry McNeill
basketball: Marquette Univ1951 - Cristine Rose
actress: Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Take Me Home, Shades of Ray, Cook-Off, Enough About Me, The Big Split, For the Future: The Irvine Fertility Scandal1956 - Johnny Lydon aka Johnny Rotten
singer: groups: The Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the UK, God Save the Queen, Pretty Vacant, Holidays in the Sun, Public Image Ltd.: Flowers of Romance, This is Not a Love Song; actor: Cop Killer1957 - Shirley Babashoff
swimmer: holds the record for American woman winning the most Olympic medals [2 gold, 6 silver, 1972 & 1976]1959 - Anthony LaPaglia
actor: Without a Trace, All Fall Dow, Winter Solstice, Manhood, I’m With Lucy, The Salton Sea, Jack the Dog, Autumn in New York, Frasier1959 - Kelly Lynch
actress: Drugstore Cowboy, Road House, A Good Funeral, Kaboom, The Perfect Age of Rock ’n’ Roll, Normal Adolescent Behavior, The Visitation, Cyber Seduction: His Secret Life1961 - Lloyd Cole
musician: guitar, singer: group: Lloyd Cole and The Commotions: Perfect Skin, Forest Fire, Four Flights Up, Down on Mission Street1963 - Réal Andrews
actor: Simon Says, Mad Dog Time, Hostile Advances: The Kerry Ellison Story, Gridlock, Family of Cops, Red Scorpion 21964 - Amelia Bullmore
comedian; writer: This Life, Attachments, Black Cab, The Middle; actress: I’m Alan Partridge, The Truth, The Baader Meinhof Gang Show, Bookcruncher, Tilly Trotter, Frontiers, Stuck on You1965 - Bobby Dollas
hockey: Winnipeg Jets, Quebec Nordiques, Detroit Red Wings, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, San Jose Sharks1966 - Dexter Fletcher
actor: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Hotel Babylon, Band of Brothers, Press Gang, Jack Falls, Fedz, White Van Man, The Three Musketeers [2011]1968 - Doug Pederson
football [quarterback]: NFL: Miami Dolphins [1993–1995], Green Bay Packers [1996–1998], Philadelphia Eagles [1999], Cleveland Browns [2000], Green Bay Packers [2001–2004]; head coach: Philadelphia Eagles [2016–2020]1970 - Minnie Driver
actress: Circle of Friends, GoldenEye, Good Will Hunting, Hope Springs, The Phantom of the Opera1973 - Portia de Rossi
actress: Arrested Development, Better Off Ted, Cursed, Dead and Breakfast, The Night We Called It a Day, America’s Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, Who Is Cletis Tout?1975 - Preity Zinta
actress: Kya Kehna, Kal Ho Naa Ho, The Hero, Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke, Farz, Raja Kumarudu, Dil Se1976 - Paul Scheer
comedian, actor: The League, 30 Rock, Best Week Ever, Childrens Hospital, Funny or Die Presents, Parks and Recreation, Happy Endings, Party Down, Yo Gabba Gabba, Piranha 3D, Bride Wars, School for Scoundrels, Year One1977 - Kevin Christy
actor: EMR, Love Don’t Cost a Thing, Neverland, New Port South, Dude, Where’s My Car?, A Time for Dancing1977 - Bobby Moynihan
comedian, actor: Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Mystery Team, The Invention of Lying, Revenge for Jolly!, Delivery Man1977 - Kerry Washington
actress: Scandal, Django Unchained, Think I Love My Wife, Prescious, Lakeview Terrace, The Dead Girl, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Against the Ropes, Ray, Save the Last Dance1978 - Paul Smith
football [running back]: NFL: San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, Denver Broncos1980 - April Lee Hernández
actress: Freedom Writers, Person of Interest, The History of Future Folk, Officer Down, The Stockroom1981 - Justin Timberlake
singer: group: ’N Sync: I Want You Back, Tearin’ Up My Heart, Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You, I Drive Myself Crazy, Music of My Heart1982 - Elena (Helena) Paparizou
Greek singer: group: Antique; solo: Anapandites Kliseis, My Number One, Mambo!, Gigolo, Teardrops, Fos, Mazi Sou, To Fili Tis Zois, Porta Gia Ton Ourano, I Kardia Sou Petra, Baby It’s Over1984 - Vernon Davis
football [tight end]: Univ of Maryland; NFL: San Francisco 49ers [2006–2015]; Denver Broncos [2015-2016]: 2016 Super Bowl 50; Washington Redskins [2016–2019]1984 - Jeremy Wariner
track athlete specializing in the 400 meters: won four Olympic medals [three gold, one silver] and six World Championships medals; third fastest competitor in history of 400m event [43.45 sec]1985 - Mario Williams
football [defensive end]: North Carolina State Univ; NFL: Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills1987 - Tyler Hubbard
singer: group: Florida Georgia Line: Cruise, Get Your Shine On, Round Here, Stay1987 - Victor Ortiz
boxer: Junior Olympics champ: 132 pound division [2003]; WBC Welterweight Champ1992 - Tyler Seguin
hockey [right winger]: NHL: Boston Bruins [2010-2012]: 2011 Stanley Cup champs, 2013 Stanley Cup; Dallas Stars [2013- ]: 2020 Stanley Cup1995 - Danielle Campbell
actress: Starstruck, Prom, Prison Break, 16 South1996 - Joel Courtney
actor: Super 8, The Between, Mercy, Dear Eleanor, Sins of Our Youth; more
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day January 31
1952Slowpoke (facts) - Pee Wee King
Cry (facts) - Johnnie Ray
1961
1970
1979
1988
1997
2006
2015
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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