November 21
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Events on This Day
1783 - Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis François Laurent d’Arlandes made the first flight in a balloon, thus becoming the first men to fly - period. The pair flew nearly six miles around Paris in 25 minutes reaching an altitude of around 300 feet. Ben Franklin was one of the spectators at the big event. The flight came less than six months after the first (unmanned) public balloon demonstration.1789 - The 12th of the 13 original colonies to become the United States of America, did so on this day. North Carolina or the Tar Heel State, boasts the brilliant red cardinal as its state bird, the graceful dogwood as its state flower, and lays claim to being the nation’s largest producer of tobacco and textiles. Raleigh is the state capital.
1871 - The cigar lighter was patented by Moses F. Gale of New York City.
1877 - Thomas A. Edison, who really dug the jazz he heard coming from his newest invention, told those gathered that he just invented the ‘talking machine’ (phonograph). On February 19, 1878, Edison received a patent for the device and was enrolled as a charter member of the Columbia House Record Club where he received his first 10 selections free -- with only six selections purchased at regular prices over the next three years...
1934 - Cole Porter’s Anything Goes opened at the Alvin Theatre in New York City. The show ran for 420 performances.
1937 - Following Carnegie Hall performances in both 1906 and 1919, Artur Rubinstein presented another historic and highly acclaimed performance at the arts center this day.
1938 - WBOE in Cleveland, OH became the first school-operated radio station (owned by a municipality) to receive a license from the FCC. WBOE went on the air as a 500-watt AM station and later became an FM station.
1938 - The first broadcast of Central City was heard. It was an adventure-mystery show set at the newspaper in, you guessed it, Central City. Elspeth Eric played the part of crime reporter Emily Olson; and Van Heflin was crime reporter Bob Shellenberger (later, the part was played by Myron McCormick). Central City aired until 1941.
1944 - “Happy trails to you, until we meet again....” The Roy Rogers Show was first heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Singing along with Roy (‘The King of the Cowboys’), were the Whippoorwills and The Sons of the Pioneers.
1944 - I’m Beginning to See the Light, the song that would become the theme song for Harry James and his orchestra, was recorded this day. The song featured the lovely voice of Kitty Kallen (Little Things Mean a Lot).
1946 - Harry Truman became the first U.S. president to travel in a submerged submarine. At Key West, Florida, Truman rode in a captured German submarine during naval exercises. Travel is the key word here. If you consider submerging in a sub to be the same as riding in one, President Theodore Roosevelt did it first. He went down in a submarine for almost an hour on August 25, 1905 near Oyster Bay, New York.
1952 - The first U.S. postage stamp in two colors (rotary process) was introduced. 136,220,000 of the stamps that honored the International Red Cross were issued.
1953 - “Piltdown Man Hoax is Exposed,” announced the New York Times. “Part of the skull of the Piltdown man, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, has been declared a hoax by authorities at the British Natural History Museum,” the story said.
1955 - The first lady of the American stage, Helen Hayes, was honored for her many remarkable years in show business, as the Fulton Theatre in New York City was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre.
1959 - Following his firing from WABC Radio in New York the day before, Alan Freed refused “on principle” to sign a statement that he never received money or gifts (payola) for plugging records. Incidentally, few may remember, but Freed left WABC while he was on the air. He was replaced in mid-record by Fred Robbins, who later became a nationally-known entertainment reporter.
1963 - U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady, Jacqueline, arrived in San Antonio to begin a two-day tour of Texas.
1964 - The Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened. Actually, the upper deck was opened to traffic on this day. The bridge, linking Brooklyn and Staten Island, was the world’s longest suspension bridge at 4,260 ft.
1967 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the first air quality act, allotting $428 million to fight air pollution.
1973 - President Richard M. Nixon’s attorney, J. Fred Buzhardt, revealed the presence of an 18 1/2-minute gap in one of the White House tape recordings related to Watergate.
1973 - Here’s one event that you can participate in without it costing you a dime or even one red cent. It’s easy, and it’s good for everyone. What could possibly be so wonderful? World Hello Day, that’s what. This friendly annual event began on this day and has grown enormously since. People in over 180 countries have participated and the heads of state of 114 countries have given their approval. Now here’s what you do to participate: you just say “hello” to ten people on this day. Greet them warmly and with a smile. And you can say “hello” in any language. The reason: World Hello Day will put us all one step further ahead in the attempt to advance world peace through personal communication.
1974 - The U.S. Senate overrode President Ford’s veto of the Freedom of Information Act. The vote was 65 to 27. The act generally requires agencies of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government to make certain information about their organization, functions and rules of procedure available to the general public.
1980 - 87 people died in a fire at the MGM Grand Hotel Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
1980 - The largest TV audience ever, an estimated 82 million people, watched as Sue Ellen’s sister, Kristin Shepard, shot J.R. Ewing on Dallas. The jilted mistress was seen holding the smoking gun after a summer of viewers asking that haunting question, “Who Shot J.R.?” Eighty percent of all viewers watched the show.
1981 - Olivia Newton-John started the first of 10 weeks at the top of the pop music charts when Physical became the music world’s top tune.
1983 - Doonesbury opened at Biltmore Theater on Broadway. The show ran for a not-so-impressive 104 performances.
1985 - Former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst Jonathan Jay Pollard was arrested. Pollard, convicted of spying for Israel, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987.
1986 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan instructed Attorney General Edwin Meese to open an inquiry for the purpose of compiling a “complete factual record” with respect to the Iran arms sale. This became known as the Iran-Contra scandal.
1987 - James E. Folsom , Alabama governor from 1947-1951 and 1955-1959, died. He was 79 years old.
1988 - Canada’s Progressive Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, won the general election.
1991 - The U.N. Security Council chose Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt to be the new Secretary-General, the first African and first Arab to hold the post.
1993 - Actor Bill Bixby died in Century City, CA at age 59. Bixby is remembered for roles in over forty movies, but especially for playing Tim O’Hara in the My Favorite Martian TV series and Dr. David Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk series. Bill Bixby also directed some thirty TV shows.
1995 - Capitol Records reported The Beatles’ Anthology I had sold 450,000 copies in its first day of release. It was the most single-day sales ever for an album. Yeah, yeah, yeah...
1995 - The Dayton Peace Accord was initialed this day. Parties at the Bosnia peace talks in Dayton, Ohio agreed to terms to end the bloody Balkan conflict.
1997 - These movies debuted in the U.S.: Anastasia (the lost Russian Princess Anastasia and her quest to find her true identity), starring Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst and Angela Lansbury; The Rainmaker (young lawyer and cynical partner take on powerful law firm representing a corrupt insurance company), with Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke, Danny Devito and Danny Glover; and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (set in Savannah GA amid beautiful architecture and odd doings), starring Kevin Spacey, John Cusack, Jack Thompson, Lady Chablis, Alison Eastwood, Irma P. Hall, Paul Hipp and Jude Law.
1999 - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $26 million donation to UNICEF for the elimination of tetanus.
2000 - The Florida Supreme Court granted Al Gore’s request to keep the presidential recounts going. Democrats were jubilant. Republicans were angry.
2001 - Films opening in U.S. theatres: Black Knight, starring Martin Lawrence, Tom Wilkinson, Marsha Thomason and Vincent Regan; Out Cold, with Jason London, Lee Majors, and Willie Garson; and Spy Game, starring Robert Redford, Brad Pitt, Catherine Mccormack, Stephen Dillane, Larry Bryggman and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
2001 - Tiger Woods won his 4th consecutive PGA Grand Slam with a win at Poipu Bay in Hawaii.
2003 - New motion pictures opening in the U.S.: Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, with Mike Myers, Alec Baldwin, Kelly Preston, Dakota Fanning, Spencer Breslin and Sean Hayes; and Gothika, starring Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Charles Dutton, John Carroll Lynch, Bernard Hill, Penélope Cruz, Dorian Harewood, Bronwen Mantel, Kathleen Mackey, Matthew G. Taylor, Michel Perron, Andrea Sheldon, Anana Rydvald, Laura Mitchell and Amy Sloan.
2003 - The U.S. Air Force conducted a second test of the MOAB, the Mother of All Bombs, in Florida. The 21,700-pound satellite-guided GBU-43/B is officially known as the Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb.
2004 - A trespassing deer hunter in northern Wisconsin opened fire on other hunters when they asked him to leave, killing five and wounding three. Another hunter died the next day. Police arrested Chai Soua Vang of St. Paul MN for killing six hunters. (In 2005 Vang (36) was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to six life terms.)
2004 - Scientists released water from Glen Canyon Dam to flood the Grand Canyon in a beginning effort to restore the Colorado river ecosystem.
2005 - As more than one million people in Zambia faced severe food shortages due to drought, Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa declared a national disaster and appealed for international food aid.
2006 - The United Nations reported that an estimated 39.5 million people were living with the AIDS virus worldwide and that infection rates and deaths from the disease were continuing to mount.
2007 - Movies debuting in the U.S.: August Rush, with Freddie Highmore, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard, Robin Williams and Mykelti Williamson; Enchanted, with Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey and Susan Sarandon; Hitman, starring Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko, Robert Knepper, Ulrich Thomsen and Michael Offei; Stephen King’s The Mist, with Thomas Jane, Andre Braugher, Laurie Holden, Amin Joseph, Frances Sternhagen, Alexa Davalos, Sam Witwer, Jeff DeMunn, Brian Libby, Marcia Gay Harden and Toby Jones; This Christmas, starring Laz Alonso, Chris Brown, Loretta Devine, Idris Elba, Regina King, Delroy Lindo, Mekhi Phifer and Columbus Short.
2007 - New Hampshire moved its presidential primary to Jan 8, reclaiming its traditional spot as the first primary in the U.S. New Hampshire’s decision was made in the wake of a Michigan Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for that state’s January 15 rogue primary.
2008 - New movies in the U.S.: Bolt, starring John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman and Mark Walton; and Twilight, with Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Cam Cigandet, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone and Ashley Greene.
2008 - In accordance with new legislation, Amsterdam announced the closure of dozens of coffee shops that sold cannabis near schools.
2008 - The DJIA rose 494.13 to close at 8,046.42 following news that President-elect Barack Obama would pick Timothy Geithner, chief of the New York Federal Reserve, as U.S. Treasury secretary.
2009 - The U.S. Senate voted to open debate on the health care bill. The vote was hailed a victory for President Obama, but final passage of the legislation was far from being a done deal.
2010 - The death toll from the Mount Merapi volcano eruption in Indonesia rose to 304 after more victims succumbed to severe burns and illnesses. The volcano had begun erupting Oct 25, 2010 killing 353 and forcing some 350,000 people from their homes.
2011 - The U.S. approved extra curbs on Iran’s banking system and oil industry in an ongoing effort to thwart the country’s nuclear program.
2011 - The U.S. Congress super-committee admitted it had failed in its quest to conquer the government debt that stood at a staggering $15 trillion.
2012 - Movies opening in the U.S.: The animated adventure, Rise of the Guardians, featuring the voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law and Dakota Goyo; Red Dawn, starring Chris Hemsworth, Josh Peck, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Isabel Lucas and Connor Cruise; Life of Pi, with érard Depardieu, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall, Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Adil Hussain; and The Silver Linings Playbook, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker, Shea Whigham, Dash Mihok and Jacki Weaver.
2012 - Dozens of non-governmental organizations in Russia refused to comply with a new law restricting their activities as part of the Kremlin’s crackdown on its critics. The law obliged all NGOs that receive foreign funding and are involved in loosely defined political activities to register as foreign agents.
2013 - The Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) closed at a record 16,009, its first close above 16,000.
2013 - China’s highest court issued demands that judges bar confessions abtained through torture and avoid the death penalty when the evidence is shaky.
2014 - Movies debuting in the U.S. included: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman; The Imitation Game, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode; and Reach Me, starring Lauren Cohan, Kyra Sedgwick and Thomas Jane.
2014 - The British defense publication, Jane’s, said satellite images showed China building an island on a reef in the disputed Spratly Islands. The new island was large enough to accommodate China’s first offshore airstrip in the South China Sea.
2015 - A snowstorm (named Bella by The Weather Channel) hit the Midwestern U.S., blanketing states from South Dakota to Wisconsin with as much as 16 inches (40 cm) of snow. The storm affected air travel, with hundreds of flights canceled by morning. Chicago’s O’Hare International and Midway International airports were the hardest hit.
2016 - 23-year-old Adam Ondra, a Czech mountain climber, free-climbed the El Capitan formation in Yosemite Valley in a record eight days using only a rope for safety.
2016 - The driver of an elementary school bus involved in a deadly Chattanooga, TN crash was arrested, Police Chief Fred Fletcher told reporters. Five children were killed, Fletcher said, and 24 were taken to hospitals. Fletcher earlier said police were looking at speed “very, very strongly” as a factor in the crash. The bus was the only vehicle involved but the crash scene covers a significant area, he said. One student who was on the bus said the driver “wasn’t paying attention and was going real fast.”
2017 - Singer and TV star David Cassidy died in Fort Lauderdale, FL. He was 67 years old. Cassidy starred on the TV sitcom The Partridge Family from 1970-1974. He played Keith Partridge, son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother Shirley Jones). The TV/recording family released several recordings. The biggest was the #1 hit I Think I Love You in 1970. Cassidy went on to enjoy a solo singing career and had several notable hits, especially in the U.K., including Cherish, Could It Be Forever, How Can I Be Sure, Daydreamer and I Am a Clown.
2017 - CBS News and PBS cut ties to U.S. media figure Charlie Rose less than 24 hours after several women who worked with him on his PBS interview show alleged a pattern of sexual misconduct by Rose. The women accused Rose of touching them on the breasts, buttocks or thigh, emerging naked from a shower when they were working at his residence and, in one case, calling a 21-year-old staffer to tell his fantasies of seeing her swim in the nude. A former associate producer for Rose’s PBS show, Reah Bravo, told The Washington Post: “He was a sexual predator, and I was his victim.”
2018 - New movies showing in the U.S. included: Creed II, starring Tessa Thompson, Sylvester Stallone and Michael B. Jordan; Green Book, with Linda Cardellini, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali; the animated Ralph Breaks the Internet, featuring the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina and Ed O’Neill; Robin Hood, with Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx and Ben Mendelsohn; and The Front Runner, starring Hugh Jackman, Vera Farmiga and J.K. Simmons.
2018 - The International Alliance for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms (AIDL) filed a lawsuit against Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan during his visit to France. The AIDL accused Mohammed of war crimes, complicity in torture and inhumane treatment in Yemen.
2018 - Kuwaiti officials said unprecedented recent heavy rains had unearthed dozens of land mines planted by Iraqi troops during their 1990-91 occupation. The danger disrupted the emirate’s popular desert camping season. Authorities closed 18 desert sites and had removed at least 48 mines after receiving complaints from the campers.
2019 - Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted for fraud, breach of trust and bribery relating to a series of corruption scandals. Netanyahu, who denied any wrongdoing and said he was the victim of a “witch hunt,” faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum 3-year term for fraud and breach of trust, according to legal experts. Netanyahu’s trial in the Jerusalem District Court began on May 24, 2020 -- and is still going on. (The prosecution rested in July 2024, and defense, starting with Netanyahu’s testimony, is scheduled to begin in December 2024.)
2019 - Iran began restoring internet access after a days-long nationwide shutdown meant to help stifle unrest over fuel price hikes. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards said several “ringleaders” of the recent unrest in the country had been arrested by intelligence services. The Guard’s official news service reported that the unidentified individuals had links to foreign security services.
2020 - Election officials in Wisconsin’s largest county accused observers for POTUS Trump of obstructing a recount of the presidential results. In some cases, by objecting to every ballot tabulators pulled to count.
2020 - Britain and Canada agreed to a rollover trade deal to maintain their flow of goods and services worth $27 billion to the two countries.
2021 - The 2021 class of U.S. Rhodes Scholars included the most women ever selected for the scholarship in one year. Of the 32 students chosen to study at the University of Oxford in England, 22 were women.
2022 - New York state regulators approved the state’s first dispensaries to be allowed to sell recreational marijuana. “Not long ago, the idea of New York legalizing cannabis seemed unbelievable,” said Tremaine Wright, who chairs the cannabis control board. “Now, not only have we legalized, but we’re also building a legal adult-use market with an equity-driven approach.”
2023 - Changpeng Zhao, founder of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges. As part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department, he was ordered to pay a $50 million fine and resign as CEO of the company. Binance itself agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines and restitution.
2023 - A landslide tore through a dense mountainside forest in southeast Alaska, killing a girl and two adults and leaving three other people missing. Search and rescue crews scoured the area for the missing people using heat-sensing drones and a cadaver-sniffing dog, although the ground remained too unstable for a large rescue mission. The landslide stretched about 140 yards wide near Wrangell, a fishing community with about 2,000 inhabitants.
and more...
Birthdays on This Day November 21
1694 - Voltaire
author, philosopher; died May 30, 17781785 - William Beaumont
physician, researcher, physiologist: pioneered understanding of human digestion: his research proved that digestion is a chemical process; died Apr 25, 18531854 - Giacomo della Chiesa
Pope Benedict XV: 258th pope of the Roman Catholic Church [1914-1922]; died Jan 22, 19221897 - Andy High
baseball: Brooklyn Robins, Boston Braves, SL Cardinals [World Series: 1928, 1930, 1931], Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies; died Feb 22, 19811904 - Coleman Hawkins
musician: tenor saxophone: solo w/Fletcher Henderson band: The Stampede, St. Louis Shuffle, Queer Notions, Hocus Pocus; jazz bandleader: Body and Soul; jazz sax solo: Picasso; died May 19, 19691907 - Jim Bishop
newspaper columnist, author: The Day Christ Died, The Days of Martin Luther King, Jr., The Day Kennedy Was Shot; died July 26, 19871908 - Paul Richards
baseball: catcher: Brooklyn Dodgers, NY Giants, Philadelphia Athletics, Detroit Tigers [World Series: 1945]; Manager: Chicago White 1951-61, 1976 Orioles; died May 4, 19861912 - Dorothy Granger
actress: Dondi, The Desperados Are in Town, Too Many Wives, High and Dizzy, Backstage Follies, Dangers of the Canadian Mounted; died Jan 4, 19951912 - Eleanor Powell
dancer, singer: Fascinating Rhythm, Swingin’ the Jinx Away, Star Eyes, So Long Sarah Jane, Hola E Pae, Anchors Aweigh; actress: George White’s 1935 Scandals, Born to Dance, Ship Ahoy, Sensations of 1945; died Feb 11, 19821916 - Sid Luckman
Pro Football Hall of Famer: Chicago Bears quarterback: 4 NFL Championships, MVP [1943]; shares NFL individual record for touchdowns thrown in a game [7, Nov. 14, 1943]; died July 5, 19981920 - Ralph Meeker
actor: Without Warning, Hi-Riders, Brannigan, Night Games, Love Comes Quietly, The Night Stalker, I Walk the Line, The Reluctant Heroes; died Aug 5, 19881920 - Stan Musial
Baseball Hall of Famer: SL Cardinals outfielder, first baseman [World Series: 1942, 1943, 1944, 1946/all-star: 1943, 1944, 1946-1963/Baseball Writers’ Award: 1946, 1948]; topped .300 mark 18 times, won seven N.L. batting titles with his famed corkscrew stance and ringing line drives; 3-time MVP played in 24 All-Star games; nicknamed ‘The Man’ by Dodger fans for the havoc he wrought at Ebbets Field; died Jan 19, 20131924 - Vivian Blaine (Stapleton)
actress: State Fair, Guys and Dolls, Those Two; died Dec 9, 19951927 - Joseph Campanella
actor: Ben, Meteor, Original Intent, The President’s Plane is Missing, The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Sky Hei$t, The Colbys, The Lawyers, The Nurses, Mannix; narrator: The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau; host: Emergency Call; died May 16, 20181927 - Jean Howell
actress: Superstar, Days of Our Lives, Who’ll Stop the Rain, The Fast and the Furious, Lies, Emergency: Survival on Charter #220, Stuff and Nonsense, Hell’s Crossroads, Apache Woman; died Jul 23, 19961931 - Jim Ringo
Pro Football Hall of Famer: Green Bay Packers: All-Pro center [1957, 1959-1963], Philadelphia Eagles: center; died Nov 19, 20071933 - Jean Shepard
country singer: Satisfied Mind, Beautiful Lies, Slippin’ Away, Satin Sheets, w/Ferlin Husky: A Dear John Letter; died Sep 25, 20161934 - Laurence Luckinbill
Emmy Award-winning executive producer: Lucy and Desi: A Home Movie [1992-1993]; actor: Lyndon, Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier, Messenger of Death, Cocktail, The Boys in the Band, The Delphi Bureau1936 - James DePreist
orchestra leader: Oregon Symphony; died Feb 8, 20131937 - Ingrid Pitt
actress: The House That Dripped Blood, Countess Dracula, The Asylum, Hanna’s War, Wild Geese II, Bones, Smiley’s People, The Wicker Man; died Nov 23, 2010; more1937 - Marlo Thomas
Emmy Award-winning producer: Marlo Thomas and Friends in Free to Be ... You and Me [1973-1974], Free to Be ... A Family [1988-1989], actress: Nobody’s Child [1985-1986]; That Girl, Tribute to Women in Comedy, The Joey Bishop Show, Held Hostage, In the Spirit, Jenny; wife of Phil Donahue; daughter of Danny Thomas1940 - Dr. John
musician: organ, guitar, singer: Right Place Wrong Time; songwriter: Lights Out, What’s Goin’ On, Lady Luck, Losing Battle; died Jun 6, 20191940 - Natalia Makarova
ballerina: Kirov Ballet [now Saint Petersburg Ballet]: 1959-1970]1941 - Juliet Mills
Emmy Award-winning actress: QB VII, Parts 1 & 2, ABC Movie Special [1974-1975]; Nanny and the Professor, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, The Cracker Factory; daughter of actor John Mills and sister of actress Hayley Mills1944 - Earl Monroe
Basketball Hall of Famer: Baltimore Bullets: Rookie of the Year [1967]; New York Knicks: championship team [1972-1973]1944 - Harold Ramis
writer: Ghostbusters series, Armed and Dangerous, National Lampoon’s Animal House, Stripes, Meatballs; writer, director: Multiplicity, Groundhog Day, Club Paradise, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Caddyshack, actor: Ghostbusters series, Second City TV, Love Affair, Stealing Home, Baby Boom; died Feb 24, 20141945 - Goldie Hawn
Academy Award-winning actress: Cactus Flower [1969]; First Wives Club, Bird on a Wire, Butterflies are Free, Housesitter, Death Becomes Her, Private Benjamin, Shampoo, The Sugarland Express, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, Good Morning, World1948 - Lonnie Jordan
musician: keyboard, singer: group: War: LPs: All Day Music, The World is a Ghetto, Why Can’t We Be Friends, Galaxy, The Music Band1948 - Deborah Shelton
actress: Surprise, Surprise, Quiet Kill, Sacrifice, Lone Greasers, The Clinic, Sins of the Night, Blind Vision; more1949 - Barbara Jo Rubin
horse-racing jockey: 1st U.S. woman to win a flat race against male jockeys [1969]; 1st woman to ride in NY & NJ1950 - Livingston Taylor
singer: I Will Be in Love with You; songwriter; brother of singer James Taylor1952 - Lorna Luft
singer, actress: Trapper John, M.D., Where the Boys Are ’84, Grease 2; daughter of singer-actress Judy Garland and producer Sid Luft; sister of singer-actress Liza Minelli1956 - Cherry Jones
Emmy Award-winning actress: 24 [2009]; Broadway: Tony Awards: The Heiress [1995], Doubt [2005]; Imaginary Friend, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Perestroika, A Moon for the Misbegotten [2000 revival], Our Country’s Good; films/TV: Awake, Amelia1956 - Cynthia Rhodes
actress, dancer: Dirty Dancing, Flashdance1963 - Nicollette Sheridan
actress: Desperate Housewives, Paper Dolls, Knots Landing, Spy Hard, Silver Strand, Noises Off, Deceptions, The Sure Thing1965 - Björk
singer, songwriter: group: The Sugarcubes: Life’s Too Good; solo: Human Behaviour, Post, Telegram Homogenic, Selmasongs, Dancer in the Dark1966 - Troy Aikman
football: Dallas Cowboys quarterback: Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII; holds record for longest pass completion w/receiver Alvin Harper in a playoff game [94 yards, 1/8/95]; since retiring in 2000, Aikman has served as a TV sportscaster for the Fox network; and since 2022 Aikman has been color analyst for Monday Night Football games with Joe Buck on ESPN1969 - Ken Griffey Jr
baseball: Seattle Mariners left-handed outfielder [all-star: 1990-1996/Gold Glove Award: 1990-1993]; shares individual record for consecutive games hitting home runs [8, July 20-28, 1993]; first son and father [Ken Griffey, Sr.] to play in major leagues at same time [1989] and on same team at same time [1990]1971 - Michael Strahan
football [defensive end]: Texas Southern Univ: NFL: New York Giants: NFL record for sacks in a season [2001: 22.5]; Super Bowl XLII; TV football analyst [FOX]; TV host1975 - Brian Meadows
baseball [pitcher]: Florida Marlins, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates1975 - Jimmi Simpson
actor: Westworld [2016 TV], 24, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Psych, My Name Is Earl, CSI, Date Night, The Invention of Lying, D. E. B. S., Zodiac, Seraphim Falls, Stay Alive, Herbie: Fully Loaded, White House Down, Loser1980 - Angel Long
actress [2001-2012]: X-rated films: Art of Anal Group Sex, Magic Sex Genie, Welcum Aboard, Hard Days at the Office, Ben Dover’s Royal Reamers1984 - Jena Malone
actress: Bastard Out of Carolina, Contact, Stepmom, Donnie Darko, Saved!, Into the Wild, Cold Mountain, Hitler: The Rise of Evil, American Girl, The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys1985 - Carly Rae Jepsen
songwriter, singer: Call Me Maybe, Good Time [with Owl City], Curiosity, Beautiful [featuring Justin Bieber]1985 - Jesús Navas
Spanish footballer [winger]: Sevilla [2003-2013]; Manchester City [2013-2017]; Sevilla [2017- ]; joined Spanish national team in 2009; member of the 2010 World Cup Championship team2000 - Isabel May
actress: Alexa & Katie, Young Sheldon, Run Hide Fight, 1883, 1923
and still more...
Hit Music on This Day November 21
1944The Trolley Song (facts) - Judy Garland
I’ll Walk Alone (facts) - Dinah Shore
1953
1962
1971
1980
1989
1998
2007
2016
and even more...
Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end...
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