DYR Today, February 14

“BORN TODAY”

• Allie Grant (23)
• Shane Harper (24)
• Freddie Highmore (25)
• Brett Dier (27)
• Jake Weary (27)
• Tiffany Thornton (31)
• Havana Brown (32)
• Matt Barr (33)
• The Fat Jew (35)
• Erin Torpey (36)
• Danai Gurira (39)
• Rie Rasmussen (41)
• Big Smo (41)
• Rob Thomas (45)
• Simon Pegg (47)
• Jules Asner (49)
• Meg Tilly (57)
• Renee Fleming (58)
• James Eckhouse (62)
• Pat O’Brien (69)
• Teller (69)
• Alan Parker (73)
• Michael Bloomberg (75)
• Phyllis McGuire (86)
• Hugh Downs (96)
• Florence Henderson (RIP)
• Frederick Douglas (RIP)

“DIED TODAY”

• Vic Morrow (Born: February 14, 1929 / Died: July 23, 1982,)
• Stuart Erwin (Born: February 14, 1903 / Died: December 21, 1967)
• Vincent Crane (Born: May 21, 1943 / Died: February 14, 1989)
• Iriving Gordon (Born: February 14, 1915 / Died: December 1, 1996 )
• Buddy Knox (Born: July 20, 1933 / Died: February 14, 1999)
• Mick Tucker (Born: July 17, 1947/ Died: February 14, 2002)
• Donna Atwood (Born: February 14, 1925 / Died: December 20, 2010)
• Steven Stucky (Born: November 7, 1942 / Died: February 14, 2016)

“MOVIES TODAY”

• 1941 – The Little Whirlwind
• 1973 – The World’s Greatest Athlete

• 1986 – The Delta Force
• 1986 – Knights of the City
• 1986 – Quicksilver
• 1986 – Wildcats
• 1991 – The Silence of the Lambs
• 1992 –Wayne’s World
• 1997 – Absolute Power
• 1997 – Fools Rush In
• 1997 – Vegas Vacation

“MUSIC TODAY”

• 1953 –  Teresa Brewer’s “Till I Waltz Again with You” hits #1
• 1967 –  Aretha Franklin recorded one of The Top 500 Songs of the Rock Era*–“Respect” at Atlantic Records Studio in New York City.
• 1968 –  Manfred Mann topped the U.K. chart with “The Mighty Quinn”.
• 1970 –  “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)”/”Everybody Is A Star” became a double-sided #1 for Sly & the Family Stone.
• 1970 –  We had no idea how great this new act would be in the years to come.  But on this date, the Carpenters first debuted on the chart with their remake of the Beatles’ “Ticket To Ride”.
• 1976 –  Jimmy Buffett released the single “Margaritaville”.
• 1977 –  Leo Sayer released the single “When I Need You”.
• 1981 –  ABBA continued to have the #1 Adult Contemporary song with the fantastic “The Winner Takes It All”.
• 1981 – Charly McClain claims a #1 country single with “Who’s Cheatin’ Who”
• 1983 –  Michael Jackson released the single “Beat It”.
• 1987 –  Bon Jovi made it six weeks at #1 for the album Slippery When Wet.
• 1987 –  Bon Jovi climbed to the top with “Livin’ On A Prayer”.
• 1998 –  Usher had the #1 song with “Nice & Slow”.

“TV/RADIO TODAY”

• 1942 –  Anti Fascist TV Broadcast  In the midst of World War II, a new anti-fascist broadcast was aired on four major U.S. television stations.

• 1962 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gives a tour of the White House shown on Television which 3 out of 4 Americans watch on TV
• 1964 – Chad and Jeremy guest star on ABC’s The Patty Duke Show.
• 1972 –  John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono began a week of hosting The Mike Douglas Show on television
• 1980 – Walter Cronkite announced his retirement from the “CBS Evening News.”
• 1985 – Cable News Network (CNN) reporter Jeremy Levin was freed. He had been being held in Lebanon by extremists.
• 1986 –  Frank Zappa was a guest star on Miami Vice on television.
• 2001 –  Barbra Streisand’s farewell concert, Barbra Streisand –  Timeless was shown on FOX-TV.

“OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS…”

• 278 A.D.- Valentine, a holy priest in Rome in the days of Emperor Claudius II, was executed. Under the rule of Claudius the Cruel, Rome was involved in many unpopular and bloody campaigns. The emperor had to maintain a strong army, but was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. Claudius believed that Roman men were unwilling to join the army because of their strong attachment to their wives and families. To get rid of the problem, Claudius banned all marriages and engagements in Rome. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret.   When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Valentine was arrested and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. The sentence was carried out on February 14, on or about the year 270. Legend also has it that while in jail, St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine.”
• 1929 – St. Valentine’s Day Massacre  Seven gangster rivals of Al Capone were murdered in Chicago when Jack “Machine Gun” McGurn ordered the kill of rival George “Bugs” Moran. (Known as St. Valentine’s Day Massacre).
• 1929 – In England, Sir Alexander Fleming discovers Penicillin after leaving a plate of staphylococcus bacteria uncovered, he noticed that a mold that had fallen on the culture had killed many of the bacteria.
• 1929 – The original Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant opens at 1624 Vine Street in California.
• 1939 – The German Reich launches the battleship Bismarck, which was the largest battleship ever commissioned up to that date.

• 1948 – NASCAR holds its first race for modified stock cars on a 3.2 mile-course at Daytona Beach.
• 1967 –  If you were anywhere near Sunset Strip on this date, you had to go in.  The Doors were live at the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles.
• 1968 – The fourth Madison Square Gardens opened.
• 1970 – Billboard Magazine reports that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is “Mounting Total War Against Tape Pirating of Prerecorded Music.”
• 1972 –  The musical Grease opened off-Broadway at the Eden Theatre in downtown Manhattan.
• 1977 –  Janis Ian received 461 Valentine’s Day cards after the lyrics of her 1975 song “At Seventeen” indicated she had never received any.  It’s news like this that makes one think there is indeed hope for the world!
• 1980 –  Phil Lynott, leader of Thin Lizzy, married Caroline Crowther.
• 1980 –  Lou Reed married Sylvia Morales in New York City.

• 1984 –  Elton John married Renate Blauel.
• 1990 – Oscar nominations are announced for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards:   Best Picture – Dead Poets Society (Disney’s Touchstone Pictures) Actor in a Leading Role – Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society) Directing – Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society) Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen – Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society) Song – “Kiss the Girl”; Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid) & “Under the Sea”; Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid) Original Score – Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid).
• 1994 –  Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead married Deborah Koons.
• 1996 –  Prince married Mayte Garcia.
• 2000 –  KISS announced they would do a farewell tour in makeup.