DYR Today, February 28

“February 28”

Contributed by Pearleen Ang

“BORN TODAY”

• Gavin MacLeod (85)
  
• Olivia Palermo (30)
• Fefe Dobson (31)
• Karolina Kurkova (32)
• Natalia Vodianova (34)
• Jason Aldean (39)
• Ali Larter (40)
• Rory Cochrane (44)
• Tasha Smith (45)
• Tangi Miller (46)
• Patrick Monahan (47)
• Robert Sean Leonard (47)
• Rae Dawn Chong (55)
• John Turturro (59)
• Cindy Wilson (59)
• Gilbert Gottfried (61)
• Bernadette Peters (68)
• Mercedes Ruehl (68)
• Mike Figgis (68)
• Stephanie Beacham (69)
• Kelly Bishop (72)
• Mario Andretti (76)
• Tommy Tune (77)

“DIED TODAY”

• Eddie “Rochester” Anderson (Born: September 18, 1905 /Died: February 28, 1977)
• Philip Ahn (Born: March 29, 1905 / Died: February 28, 1978)
• David Byron (Born: January 29, 1947 / Died: February 28, 1985)
• Ray Ellington (Born: March 17, 1915 / Died: February 27, 1985)

“MOVIES TODAY”

-Check out the trailers in the links below –

• 1942 –  Pluto, Junior
• 1986 – Pretty in Pink
• 1986 – Salvador
• 1992 – The Mambo Kings 
• 1992 – Memoirs of an Invisible Man 
• 1997 – Booty Call
• 1997 – Donnie Brasco

“MUSIC TODAY”

• 1970 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon & Garfunkel wasted no time to get to #1–just four weeks, one of the shortest times to get there of the Rock Era thus far.  It debuted at #49 on February 7, moved to 13, to 3 and now to #1.

  

• 1970 – Led Zeppelin II was #1 on the Album chart for a seventh week while previous #1 Abbey Road by the Beatles was still at #2 after 20 weeks and CCR edged up with Willy and the Poorboys.
• 1972 – Due to its popularity in the movie Play Misty for Me, Roberta Flack re-released the single “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
• 1972 – Paul McCartney and Wings released the song “Give Ireland Back To The Irish” to protest the Bloody SundayMassacre in Northern Ireland.  The song was banned by the BBC.
• 1974 – Bobby Bloom died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, in Hollywood, California now considered accidental, at age 28.
• 1976 – Stanley, Idaho’s Carole King had the only new album in the Top 10–Thoroughbred, which vaulted from 16 to 10.
• 1976 – “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” by Paul Simon was the new #1 song on the Adult chart.
• 1976 – “The Theme From ‘S.W.A.T.'” by Rhythm Heritage was the talk of the land as the new #1 song and one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era*.
• 1978 – The Atlanta Rhythm Section released the song ‘Imaginary Lover”.
• 1981 – Yarbrough & Peoples took advantage of an opening and moved to #1 on the R&B chart with “Don’t Stop The Music”.
• 1981 – Eddie Rabbitt enjoyed a big crossover hit as “I Love A Rainy Night” moved to #1.
• 1981 – Listeners heard the new song “Just The Two Of Us” by jazz great Grover Washington, Jr. with Bill Withers on vocals and loved it–the song rose from 65 to 41 on this date.
• 1981 – Dolly Parton enjoyed a #1 Adult Contemporary hit with “9 to 5”.
• 1984 – Michael Jackson won a Rock Era record eight Grammy awards for his work on Thriller.
• 1987 – Slippery When Wet by Bon Jovi was still #1 on the Album chart for the eighth week after 25 weeks of release.
• 1987 – Not only was “Livin’ On A Prayer” the breakthrough hit that Bon Jovi needed, with a third week at #1, but it was on its way to becoming one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era*.
• 1998 – The Soundtrack to “Titanic” was #1 on the Album chart after six weeks with the Celine Dion release Let’s Talk About Love right behind.

“TV/RADIO TODAY”

• 1956 – Donald Novis, Judy Marsh and Wally Boag (from Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue) appear on the ABC-TV series Mickey Mouse Club. Today is Guest Star Day.
• 1954 – In San Francisco “Birth of a Planet” was aired. It was the first American phase-contrast cinemicrography film to be presented on television.
• 1956 – Donald Novis, Judy Marsh and Wally Boag (from Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue) appear on the ABC-TV series Mickey Mouse Club. Today is Guest Star Day.
• 1957 – Disney’s series Mickey Mouse Club is among the Golden Globe winners for Best TV Show

  

• 1959 – The Bugs Bunny Show: Hare-Abian Nights aired. A Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, Hare-Abian Nights is the only short in the Golden Age of American animation starring Yosemite Sam.
• 1965 – Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color airs part one of “Almost Angels” on NBC-TV
• 1977 – Episode 31 of The New Mickey Mouse Club airs. The Mouseketeers set sail in King Harbor, California, and join a Sabot sailboat race. When Mouseketeer Scott falls overboard, it’s the Coast Guard to the rescue! Goofy demonstrates the proper way how not to water ski in the Mousekartoon Aquamania
• 1983 – “M*A*S*H” became the most watched television program in history when the final episode aired.
• 1997 – ABC-TV airs “Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary Party” at 9 p.m. EST. The special is hosted by Melissa Joan Hart (of TV’s “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”) and Will Friedle (of TV’s “Boy Meets World”).

“OTHER IMPORTANT EVENTS…”

• 1929 – Frank Gehry, architect of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, is born Frank Owen Goldberg in Toronto, Canada. Some of his best-known creations include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain, Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, and his own private residence in Santa Monica, California!

  

• 1932 – The Model a Ford was one of the Ford Motor Company’s first signature automobiles. This particular vehicle was produced for the last time on this day. Great Video about old Fords worth watching.
• 1938 – Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev visits the Disney Studio, with his lawyer Randolph Polk, to play the piano score of Peter and the Wolf for Walt Disney and Disney composer Leigh Harline. Peter and the Wolf, written by Prokofiev in 1936, was actually first commissioned by Natalya Sats and the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow. Disney will produce an animated version of the work in 1946, with Sterling Holloway providing the voice of the narrator.
• 1940 – The first televised basketball game was shown. The game featured Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh from Madison Square Gardens in New York.
• 1968 – On this day, General Earl Wheeler had written President Lyndon B. Johnson requesting more troops in Saigon. This message was delivered to the President shortly after Wheeler had returned from his trip to Saigon.
• 1979 – Mr. Ed, the talking horse from the TV show “Mr. Ed”, died.
• 1981 – Disneyland holds the “America Sings Weekend” for the next two days. A whimsical salute to American history, guests can snap a souvenir photo with Sam the Eagle.
• 1986 – Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme was assassinated in Stockholm.
• 1987 – Disney’s Sleeping Beauty is released on LaserDisc. (LaserDisc  will remain the “Lexus of Video” … until the release of DVDs.)
• 1991 – The gulf war is over following Iraq accepting all 12 resolutions made by the United Nations. The official death toll for the Gulf War is 50,000, Iraq soldiers, 148 American Soldiers and 16 British soldiers.
• 1995 – The Denver International Airport opened after a 16-month delay.
• 1997 – Wookie Chewbacca and actress Carrie Fisher (who portrayed Princess Leia in the classic film Star Wars) cuts an opening ribbon with a light saber during a Star Tours rededication ceremony at Disneyland. The event highlights the attraction’s 10th anniversary (Star Tours first opened January 9, 1987) and the 20th anniversary of the film (originally released on May 25, 1977).
• 2001 – An earthquake in the Nisqually Valley near Olympia, Washington State reaches for many miles around. The 6.8 quake was one of the largest in the state’s history.