Born On This Day: Billy Idol turns 57 today An English rock musician. A member of the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first achieved fame in the punk rock era as a member of the band Generation X. He then embarked on a successful solo career, aided by a series of music videos, making him one of the first MTV stars.

In Memoriam: Oscar Wilde died 112 years ago today An Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s. Today he is remembered for his epigrams and plays, and the circumstances of his imprisonment which was followed by his early death.

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Born On This Day: Howie Mandel turns 57 today A Canadian comedian, actor, television host, and voice actor. He is well known as host of the NBC game show Deal or No Deal, as well as the show's daytime and Canadian-English counterparts. Mandel was best known for being the creator and star of the children's cartoon Bobby's World.

In Memoriam: Coleman Young died 15 years ago today Served as mayor of Detroit in the U.S. state of Michigan from 1974 to 1993. Young became the first African-American mayor of Detroit in the same week that Maynard Jackson became the first African-American mayor of Atlanta. In 1981, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.

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Born On This Day: Jon Stewart turns 50 today An American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian. He is widely known as host of The Daily Show, a satirical news program that airs on Comedy Central. Stewart started as a stand-up comedian, but branched into television as host of Short Attention Span Theater for Comedy Central. He went on to host his own show on MTV, called The Jon Stewart Show, and then hosted another show on MTV called You Wrote It, You Watch It. Stewart became the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central in early 1999.

In Memoriam: James Naismith died 73 years ago today A Canadian-American sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891 and is often credited with introducing the first football helmet. He wrote the original basketball rulebook, founded the University of Kansas basketball program, and lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of both the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (1939).

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Born On This Day: Jaleel White turns 36 today An American actor and screenwriter, best known for his role as Steve Urkel in Family Matters and voicing the character of Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as other characters for the Sonic the Hedgehog series. In March 2012, White began appearing as a contestant in season 14 of Dancing with the Stars. He was partnered with two-time dance champion Kym Johnson. White also hosts the game show Total Blackout, which premiered on the Syfy channel on April 25, 2012.

In Memoriam: Gary Speed died 1 years ago today A Welsh footballer and manager. As a player, he is best known for his spell between 1984 and 1996 at Leeds United where he won the English Football League First Division Championship in 1992, and also for his spell between 1998 and 2004 at Newcastle United. He was also the captain of the Wales national football team until he retired from international football in 2004. He remains the most capped outfield player for Wales and the second overall, having appeared 85 times at senior level.

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Born On This Day: Tina Turner turns 73 today An American singer whose career has spanned more than half a century, earning her recognition and numerous awards. Turner started out her music career in the early 60s with husband Ike Turner as a member of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Success followed with a string of notable hits including "River Deep – Mountain High" and "Proud Mary".

In Memoriam: Dave Cockrum died 6 years ago today An American comic book artist known for his co-creation of the new X-Men characters Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus. Cockrum was also a prolific and inventive costume designer, who updated the uniforms of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and did the same for the new X-Men and many of their antagonists, in the 1970s and early 1980s.

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Born On This Day: Ben Stein turns 68 today An American actor, writer, lawyer, and commentator on political and economic issues. He attained early success as a speechwriter for American presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Later, he entered the entertainment field and became an actor, comedian, and Emmy Award-winning game show host. Stein has frequently written commentaries on economic, political, and social issues, along with financial advice to individual investors. He is the son of economist and writer Herbert Stein, who worked at the White House under President Nixon.

In Memoriam: Upton Sinclair, Jr. died 44 years ago today An American author and one-time candidate for governor of California who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle (1906). It exposed conditions in the U.S. meat packing industry, causing a public uproar that contributed in part to the passage a few months later of the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act. Time magazine called him "a man with every gift except humor and silence."

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Born On This Day: Billy Connolly turns 70 today A Scottish comedian, musician, presenter and actor. He is sometimes known, especially in his native Scotland, by the nickname 'The Big Yin' ('The Big One'). His first trade was as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards, but he gave it up towards the end of the decade to pursue a career as a folk singer in the Humblebums and subsequently as a soloist. In the early 1970s, he made the transition from folk-singer with a comedic persona to full-fledged comedian.

In Memoriam: Diego Rivera died 55 years ago today A prominent Mexican painter and husband of Frida Kahlo (1929–1939 and 1940–1954). His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in Mexican art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals among others in Mexico City, Chapingo, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. In 1931, a retrospective exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

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Born On This Day: Miley Cyrus turns 20 today An American actress and singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana. Cyrus recorded music for the soundtracks, Hannah Montana and Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, released by Walt Disney Records. With the success of the Hannah Montana franchise she established herself as a teen idol. In 2007, Cyrus signed to Hollywood Records to pursue a solo career.

In Memoriam: Anita O'Day died 6 years ago today An American jazz singer. Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer". Refusing to pander to any female stereotype, O'Day presented herself as a "hip" jazz musician, wearing a band jacket and skirt as opposed to an evening gown. She changed her surname from Colton to O'Day, pig Latin for "dough," slang for money.

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Born On This Day: Scarlett Johansson turns 28 today An American actress, model and singer. Johansson made her film debut in North (1994) and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo (1996). She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer (1998) and Ghost World (2001). She shifted to adult roles with her performances in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003) and Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation (2003), for which she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

In Memoriam: John F. Kennedy died 49 years ago today The 35th President of the United States. He served from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Major events during his presidency include the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the American Civil Rights Movement and early events of the Vietnam War. John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas, United States. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with the crime, but was himself murdered two days later by Jack Ruby before Oswald could be put on trial.

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Born On This Day: Goldie Hawn turns 67 today An American actress, film director, producer, and occasional singer. Hawn is known for her roles in Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Private Benjamin, Foul Play, Shampoo, Overboard, Bird on a Wire, Death Becomes Her, The First Wives Club, and Cactus Flower, for which she won the 1969 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is the mother of actors Oliver and Kate Hudson.

In Memoriam: Bill Bixby died 19 years ago today An American film and television actor, director, and frequent game show panelist. His career spanned over three decades; he appeared on stage, in motion pictures and TV series. He is known for his roles as Tim O'Hara on the CBS sitcom My Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on the ABC comedy-drama series The Courtship of Eddie's Father, and Dr. David Banner on the CBS drama series The Incredible Hulk.

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Born On This Day: Dick Smothers turns 73 today An American actor, comedian, composer and musician. He is best known for being half of the musical comedy team the Smothers Brothers, with his older brother Tom. The Smothers Brothers have appeared on numerous television shows over the past three decades, including two shows of their own: The Smothers Brothers Show, a sit-com from 1965 to 1966; and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a variety show in 1967.

In Memoriam: Francisco Franco died 37 years ago today A Spanish general, dictator and leader of the Nationalist military rebellion in the Spanish Civil War, and authoritarian head of state of Spain, from October 1936 (as a unified nation from 1939 onward  until his death in November 1975. He came to power while recognizing the principles of the far-right Falange movement, although this was for propaganda reasons, as he belonged to no political party before becoming Head of State.

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Born On This Day: Larry King turns 79 today An American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards. He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview TV program Larry King Live on CNN.

In Memoriam: John Robert Vane died 8 years ago today An English pharmacologist who was instrumental in the understanding of how aspirin produces pain-relief and anti-inflammatory effects and his work led to new treatments for heart and blood vessel disease and introduction of ACE inhibitors. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1982 along with Sune K. Bergström and Bengt I.

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Born On This Day: Kirk Hammett turns 50 today The lead guitarist and a songwriter in the heavy metal band Metallica and has been a member of the band since 1983. Before joining Metallica he formed and named the band Exodus. In 2003, Hammett was ranked 11th on Rolling Stone's list of The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In 2009, Hammett was ranked number 15 in Joel McIver's book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists.

In Memoriam: Niels Henrik David Bohr died 50 years ago A Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics. He developed the model of the atom with the nucleus at the center and electrons in orbit around it, which he compared to the planets orbiting the sun. He worked on the idea in quantum mechanics that electrons move from one energy level to another in discrete steps, not continuously.

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Born On This Day: Rachel McAdams turns 34 today A Canadian actress. After graduating from a four-year theatre program at York University in 2001, McAdams initially worked in Canadian television and film productions such as My Name is Tanino, Perfect Pie (for which she received a Genie Award nomination) and Slings and Arrows (for which she won a Gemini Award). Her first Hollywood movie was the 2002 comedy The Hot Chick. McAdams found fame in 2004 with starring roles in the teen comedy Mean Girls and the romantic drama The Notebook.

In Memoriam: Auguste Rodin died 95 years ago today A French sculptor. Although Rodin is generally considered the progenitor of modern sculpture, he did not set out to rebel against the past. He was schooled traditionally, took a craftsman-like approach to his work, and desired academic recognition, although he was never accepted into Paris's foremost school of art. Sculpturally, Rodin possessed a unique ability to model a complex, turbulent, deeply pocketed surface in clay. Many of his most notable sculptures were roundly criticized during his lifetime.

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Born On This Day: Maggie Gyllenhaal turns 35 today An American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner (née Achs) and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films. Gyllenhaal achieved recognition in a supporting role in the indie cult hit Donnie Darko (2001). Her breakthrough role was in the 2002 sadomasochistic romance Secretary, for which she received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination.

In Memoriam: Clark Gable died 52 years ago today An American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh. His performance earned him his third nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor; he won for It Happened One Night (1934) and was also nominated for Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Later movies included Run Silent, Run Deep, a submarine war film, and his final film, The Misfits (1961), which paired Gable with Marilyn Monroe.

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Born On This Day: Ed Asner turns 83 today An American film, television, stage, and voice actor and former president of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his Emmy Award-winning role as Lou Grant on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant. In 2009, he starred as the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's award-winning animated film, Up. In early 2011, Asner returned to television as butcher Hank Greziak in Working Class, the first original sitcom on cable channel CMT.

In Memoriam: James W. Watts died 18 years ago today A neurosurgeon, born in Lynchburg, Virginia and a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Watts is noteworthy for his professional partnership with the neurologist and psychiatrist Walter Freeman. The two became advocates and prolific practitioners of psychosurgery, specifically the lobotomy. Watts is known for carrying out the lobotomy of Rose Marie Kennedy under the supervision of Freeman.

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Born On This Day: Yanni turns 58 today A Greek self-taught pianist, composer, and music producer. Yanni has blended jazz, classical, soft rock, and world music to create predominantly instrumental works. As this genre of music was not well suited for commercial pop radio and music television, Yanni achieved international recognition by producing concerts at historic monuments and by producing videos that were broadcast on public television.

In Memoriam: Alexander Nevsky died 749 years ago today The Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military victories over the German and Swedish invaders while accepting to pay tribute to the powerful Golden Horde.

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Born On This Day: Whoopi Goldberg turns 57 today An American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, author and talk show host. Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple (1985) playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her first Golden Globe Award for her role in the film. In 1990, she starred as Oda Mae Brown, a psychic helping a slain man (Patrick Swayze) find his killer in the film Ghost. This performance won her a second Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In Memoriam: Ol' Dirty Bastard died 8 years ago today An American rapper and occasional producer, who went by the stage name Ol' Dirty Bastard, ODB, Ason Unique, Osirus, Rainman, and Big Baby Jesus. He was one of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, a rap group primarily from Staten Island, New York that first rose to mainstream prominence with their 1993 debut album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers). After establishing the Wu-Tang Clan, Ol' Dirty Bastard went on to pursue a successful solo career. However, his professional success was hampered by frequent legal troubles, including incarceration.

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Born On This Day: Neil Young turns 67 today A Canadian singer-songwriter. Young began performing as a solo artist in Canada in 1960, before moving to California in 1966, where he co-founded the band Buffalo Springfield along with Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, and later joined Crosby, Stills & Nash as a fourth member in 1969. He forged a successful and acclaimed solo career, releasing his first album in 1968; his career has since spanned over 40 years and 34 studio albums, with an uncompromising exploration of musical styles.

In Memoriam: Jonathan Brandis died 9 years ago today An American actor, director, and screenwriter. Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and eventually won television and film roles. At the age of 17, Brandis landed his best known role as Lucas Wolenczak, a teen prodigy on the NBC series seaQuest DSV. The character was popular among teenage female viewers, and Brandis regularly appeared in teen magazines. He died of injuries after he attempted to hang himself at the age of 27.

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Born On This Day: Demi Moore turns 50 today An American actress, film producer, film director, former songwriter, and model. Moore dropped out of high school at age 16 to pursue a modeling career, and posed for a nude pictorial in Oui magazine in 1980. After making her film debut in 1981, she appeared on the soap opera General Hospital and subsequently gained attention for her roles in Blame It on Rio and St. Elmo's Fire. Her first film to become both a critical and commercial hit was About Last Night..., establishing her as a Hollywood star.

In Memoriam: Yasser Arafat died 8 years ago today A Palestinian leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), and leader of the Fatah political party and former paramilitary group, which he founded in 1959. Arafat spent much of his life fighting against Israel in the name of Palestinian self-determination. Originally opposed to Israel's existence, he modified his position in 1988 when he accepted UN Security Council Resolution 242.

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Born On This Day: Tracy Morgan turns 44 today An American actor and comedian who is best known for his eight seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as the role of Tracy Jordan on the NBC series 30 Rock.

In Memoriam: Norman Mailer died 5 years ago today An American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate. His best work was widely considered to be The Executioner's Song, for which he won one of his two Pulitzer Prizes.

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Born On This Day: Nick Lachey turns 39 today An American singer, songwriter, actor, producer and television personality. Lachey rose to fame as a member of the boy band 98 Degrees. He later starred in the reality television series Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica with his then-wife, Jessica Simpson. He has released two solo albums, SoulO and What's Left of Me. As a solo artist Nick Lachey sold over 600,000 records and with 98 Degrees, over 10 million records worldwide.

In Memoriam: Dylan Thomas died 59 years ago today A Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems, "Do not go gentle into that good night", "And death shall have no dominion", the "play for voices", Under Milk Wood, and stories and radio broadcasts such as A Child's Christmas in Wales and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog. He became popular in his lifetime, and remained popular after his death; partly due to his larger than life character, and his reputation for drinking to excess.

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Born On This Day: Gordon Ramsay turns 46 today A British chef, businessman, entrepreneur, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars in total and currently holds 12. Ramsay is known for presenting TV programmes about competitive cookery and food, such as the British series Hell's Kitchen, The F Word, Ramsay's Best Restaurant, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon's Great Escape, Gordon Behind Bars and Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course.

In Memoriam: Michael O'Donoghue died 18 years ago A writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live. O'Donoghue's early career included work as a playwright and stage actor at the University of Rochester where he drifted in and out of school beginning in 1959. His first published writing appeared in the school's humor magazine Ugh!

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Born On This Day: Billy Graham turns 94 today An American Christian evangelist, ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, who rose to celebrity status in 1949 with the national media backing of William Randolph Hearst and Henry Luce. His sermons were broadcast on radio and television, some still being re-broadcast today. Graham is notable for having been a spiritual adviser to several United States Presidents; he was particularly close to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon.

In Memoriam: Joe Frazier died 1 years ago today Also known as Smokin' Joe, was an American professional boxer, Olympic gold medalist and Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. Frazier emerged as the top contender in the late 1960s, defeating opponents that included Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Buster Mathis, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, George Chuvalo and Jimmy Ellis en route to becoming Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in 1970.

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Born On This Day: Emma Stone turns 24 today An American actress. Stone was a cast member of the TV series Drive, and made her feature film debut in the comedy Superbad (2007). She appeared in The House Bunny (2008) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009). She then starred in the horror-comedy Zombieland and the indie comedy Paper Man in 2009. In 2010, Stone voiced the character Mazie in Marmaduke, and starred in the high school comedy Easy A, which earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

In Memoriam: Pyotr Tchaikovsky died 119 years ago A Russian composer whose works included symphonies, concertos, operas, ballets, and chamber music. Some of these are among the most popular concert and theatrical music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, which he bolstered with appearances as a guest conductor later in his career in Europe and the United States. One of these appearances was at the inaugural concert of Carnegie Hall in New York City in 1891.

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