On this day: TINA TURNER ROCKED IT (And more, ENJOY)
1988, Tina Turner gave herself a place in the record books when she performed in front of 182,000 people in Rio De Janeiro. The largest audience ever for a single artist.
Today, January 16th
Actors:
- Debbie Allen is 69 (“Fame,” “Grey’s Anatomy”)
- David Chokachi is 51 (“Baywatch" “Witchblade,” “Beyond The Break”)
- Josie Davis is 46 (“Charles in Charge,” “Perfect Assistant”)
- Jake Epstein is 32 (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”)
- Mason Gamble is 33 (“Dennis the Menace,” “Anya’s Bell”)
- Denis O’Hare is 57 (“Sweet Charity,” “Milk,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “True Blood,” “American Horror Story”)
- Richard T. Jones is 47 (“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” sci-fi series, “Why Did I Get Married?,” “Hawaii Five-0”)
- The late Ethel Merman (1908 - 1984) ("Anything Goes,” and "There's No Business Like Show Business”) (She was known as "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage”)
Musicians:
- En Vogue’s Maxine Jones is 57
- Ronnie Milsap is 76
- Sade is 60 (born Helen Folasade Adu)
- The Strokes’ guitarist Nick Valensi is 38
- Talk Talk’s Paul Webb is 57
- Eli Young Band guitarist James Young is 39
- The late Aaliyah (1979 - 2001)…she would have been 40
- The late Billy Francis (of Hook and The Medicine Show) (1942 – 2010)…he would have been 77
Plus:
- Director John Carpenter is 71 (“Halloween,” “Escape from New York” and “Starman,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “The Fog,” “The Thing,” “Christine,” “Big Trouble in Little China”)
- Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback Joe Flacco is 34
- Race Car Driver AJ Foyt is 84 (FAST FACT: He is the only driver to win the Indianapolis 500 (which he won four times), the Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 24 of Le Mans.)
- Author and journalist William Kennedy is 91 (FAST FACT: The “Ironweed” author won the Pulitzer Pride for Fiction in 1984)
- Kids’ entertainer Greg Page is 47 (FAST FACT: He’s the retired member of The Wiggles – he was the yellow one. Shortly after leaving The Wiggles, Page joined the cast of the children's educational television program, “Butterscotch's Playground”)
- The late celebrity husband (and manager) Rene Angelil (1942 – 2016) …he would have been 77
- The late baseball player Dizzy Dean (1910 - 1974) (Known for hisbrash and colorful personality, Dean was the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in one season. After his playing career, he became a popular television sports commentator. Dean was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953. When the Cardinals reopened the team Hall of Fame in 2014, Dean was inducted among the inaugural class.
- The late scientist Dian Fossey (1932 – 1985) …she would have been 87 (She undertook an extensive study of gorilla groups over a period of 18 years and is considered an authority on gorillas) (FAST FACTS: Her 1983 book, “Gorillas in the Mist,” combines her scientific study of the mountain gorilla at Karisoke Research Center with her own personal story. It was adapted into a 1988 film starring Sigourney Weaver. Fossey was murdered in 1985; the case remains open)
- The late Edith Frank (1900 – 1945) (FAST FACT: Holocaust victim and mother of Anne Frank, she died from starvation at the age of 44, ten days before her 45thbirthday while being held at Auschwitz concentration camp.)
- The late industrialist Andre Michelin(1853 – 1931)(He founded the Michelin Tyre Company in 1888 in France, and in 1900, he published the first Michelin Guide. The purpose? To promote tourism by car, which obviously supported his manufacturing operation.)
- The late filmmaker and activist Susan Sontag (1933-2004)…she would have been 86 (She wrote extensively about photography, culture and media, AIDS and illness, human rights, and communism and leftist ideology. Although her essays and speeches sometimes drew controversy, she has been described as "one of the most influential critics of her generation.)
On This Day - Today (1/16) & Tomorrow (1/17)
The “Ya Gotta Remember” List – Today, January 16th
- Today in 1896, the first five-player college basketball game was played in Iowa City, Iowa.
- Today in 1920, prohibition went into effect in the U.S. It was in effect for 13 years.
- Today in 1961, Mickey Mantle signed a contract that made him the highest paid baseball player in the American League for the 1961 season, ranking at $75,000 ($628,814 in today’s money). To compare, Ted Williams (who had just retired) had been paid over $100,000 in a season, and Ruth had a peak salary of $80,000.
- Today in 1991, the White House announced the start of Operation Desert Storm, which was designed to drive Iraqi forces out of Kuwait.
- Today in 1998, Kenneth Starr was granted authority to probe whether U.S. President Clinton or Vernon Jordan urged Monica Lewinsky to lie about her relationship with Clinton.
- Today in 2001, President Bill Clinton posthumously awarded former President Theodore Roosevelt a Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish-American War.
- Today in 2002, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted sanctions against Osama bin Laden, his terror network and the remnants of the Taliban. The sanction required that all nations impose arms embargoes and freeze their finances.
- Today in 2005, Romanian university lecturer Adriana Illiescu became the oldest birth mother in the world…at 66-years-old.
- Today in 2016, the first-ever flower grown in space – a zinnia – bloomed aboard the International Space Station using the NASA Veggie system.