DYR Today, August 31

“Born Today”

• Julie Brown (57)
• Ryan Kelly (29)
• Joe Budden (35)
• Jeff Hardy (38)
• Shar Jackson (39)
• Sara Ramirez (40)
• Chris Tucker (44)
• Deborah Gibson (45)
• Queen Rania of Jordan (45)
• Jonathan LaPaglia (46)
• Elizabeth Ashley (76)
• Gina Schock (56)
• Marcia Clark (62)
• Richard Gere (66)
• Van Morrison (70)

“Died Today”

• Rocky Marciano (Born: September 1, 1923 / Died: August 31, 1969)
• Princess Diana (Born: July 1, 1969 / Died: August 31, 1997)
• David Frost (Born: April 7, 1939 / August 31, 2013)
• Georges Braque (Born: February 16, 1921 / August 31, 1963)

“Movies”

• 1966 – What Did You Do In War, Daddy?
• 1977 – You Light Up My Life
• 1983 – Microwave Massacre
• 1984 – Bolero
• 1984 – C.H.U.D
• 1994 – Milk Money

“Music”

• 1957 – Elvis Presley performed at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
• 1959 – Bobby Vee appeared on the music charts for the first time as “Suzie Baby” debuted.
• 1961 – Ray Charles released the single “Hit The Road Jack”

• 1963 – Little Stevie Wonder spent a fifth week at #1 on the R&B chart with “Fingertips – Pt. 2”

• 1963 – Peter, Paul & Mary remained at #1 on the Easy Listening chart with “Blowin’ In The Wind”

• 1963 – The Angels sang that “My Boyfriend’s Back”, and it took them all the way to #1.

• 1964 – J. Frank Wilson released the single “Last Kiss”
• 1964 – Manfred Mann released their first single “Do Wah Diddy Diddy”

• 1965 – The Beatles wrapped up their tour of North America with two shows at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. The group performed before 11,700 and 17,000 fans, respectively.
• 1967 – The Beatles announced that they would manage their own affairs after the death of Brian Epstein.
• 1968 – Guitarist Danny Kirwan joined Fleetwood Mac.
• 1968 – Jefferson Airplane, the Move, T. Rex, Fairport Convention and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown performed at the first Isle of Wight Festival in England.
• 1968 – Mason Williams had the #1 Easy Listening song for the third week with “Classical Gas”

• 1968 – Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell’s hit #1 with “You’re All I Need to Get By”

• 1968 – Wheels of Fire by Cream continued to set the pace on the album chart. Time Peace/The Rascals’ Greatest Hits was #2 and the Doors’ release Waiting for the Sun was at position #3.
• 1968 – The Rascals spent a fourth week at #1 with “People Got to Be Free.” Steppenwolf was at #2 with “Born to Be Wild,” Jose Feliciano edged up with “Light My Fire”

• 1969 – Bob Dylan appeared in concert for the first time since his motorcycle accident in 1966 at the Isle of Wight Pop Festival in England.
• 1969 – The Chicago Transit Authority, later shortened to Chicago, played for a second day at the Texas International Pop Festival at the Dallas International Motor Speedway. Led Zeppelin, Santana, Sam & Dave, Delaney, Bonnie & Friends, and The Incredible String Band also performed.
• 1970 – R. Dean Taylor released the single “Indiana Wants Me”
• 1973 – The Rolling Stones released the album Goat’s Head Soup.
• 1974 – John Lennon testified in federal court that the Nixon administration tried to have him deported due to his anti-war demonstrations at the 1972 Republican convention in Miami, Florida.
• 1974 – Roberta Flack held on to #1 on the R&B chart for the fifth straight week with “Feel Like Makin’ Love”

• 1974 – Paul Anka remained at #1 with “(You’re) Having My Baby” while Eric Clapton’s biggest career hit “I Shot the Sheriff” was at #2.  Rufus was a strong #3 with “Tell Me Something Good”

• 1976 – George Harrison was guilty of “unconscious plagiarism” of the Chiffons song “He’s So Fine” for his 1970 hit “My Sweet Lord”

• 1980 – Karen Carpenter married Thomas Burris in Beverly Hills, California.
• 1983 – Lionel Richie released the single “All Night Long”

• 1984 – Prince’s movie Purple Rain opened in theaters
• 1985 – Aretha Franklin made it five weeks at the top of the R&B chart for “Freeway of Love”

• 1985 – Huey Lewis & the News hit#1 with “The Power of Love.” “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” from John Parr moved up to challenge while Aretha Franklin made a huge comeback as her 73rd career hit (“Freeway of Love”) was her first Top 10 in 12 years.

• 1987 –  Billy Idol released his remake of the great Tommy James & the Shondells song “Mony Mony”

• 1987 – The album Bad set a Rock Era record when 2.25 million units were shipped to music stores.
• 1988 – Julianne Phillips filed for divorce from Bruce Springsteen.
• 1988 – Bob Seger and wife Annette filed for a divorce.
• 1989 – The Rolling Stones went on tour for the first time in eight years, performing at John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• 1991 – Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat was the #1 album in the U.K.
• 1991 – Metallica debuted at #1 with their self-titled release
• 1991 – “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” by Bryan Adams was #1 for a fifth week on the Adult Contemporary chart.

• 1996 – “Macarena” by Los Del Rio had been out for 37 weeks, but it was just getting started, spending a fifth week at #1. Donna Lewis had a strong #2 with “I Love You Always Forever”

• 1997 – James Brown became the first American artist to perform in Lebanon.
• 1997 – Oasis owned the top U.K. album with Be Here Now.
• 2000 –  Harold Lee Clayton, who wrote “Take Your Time (Do It Right)” for the S.O.S. band, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in Los Angeles, California.

“TV/Radio”

• 1920 – The first news program to be broadcast on radio was aired. The station was 8MK in Detroit, MI.
• 1974 – The Partridge Family television show ended.
• 1987 – Michael Jackson released his video “Bad” on CBS-TV.

“Other Important Events…”

• 1959 – Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open
• 1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris