| 2007 | A medical examiner’s report officially states that Anna Nicole Smith died as the result of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Drugs found in her system included methadone, Xanax, human growth hormone and chloral hydrate (a sleep medication). |
| 2007 | David Hicks, the so-called Australian Taliban being held by the U-S at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, pleads guilty to one count of supporting a terrorist organization as part of a plea deal that will return him to Australia. |
| 2002 | Shania Twain‘s Come on Over is certified 19-times platinum, solidifying its title as the best-selling album ever released by a female artist in any format. |
| 2000 | Gladiator wins Best Picture at the Academy Awards. |
| 1999 | Dr. Jack Kevorkian is convicted of second-degree murder in an assisted-suicide case. |
| 1999 | At the 13th annual Soul Train Music Awards, Lauryn Hill wins three of the four awards she was nominated for and shares Entertainer of the Year honors with R. Kelly. Luther Vandross receives the Heritage Award. |
| 1999 | Fanmail by TLC is certified double-platinum. |
| 1997 | The bodies of 39 members of the Heaven’s Gate cult are found in a mansion in Rancho Santa Fe, California. The new age group had committed suicide thinking that they would be picked up by a spaceship following behind the comet Hale-Bopp. |
| 1997 | Aerosmith‘s Nine Lives album debuts at number-one on the Billboard 200. It’s the group’s second chart-topper. |
| 1995 | Rapper, producer and Ruthless Records mogul Eazy-E, who was born Eric Wright, dies of AIDS in Los Angeles at age 31. |
| 1992 | Mike Tyson is sentenced to 10 years in prison, with four of them suspended, for the 1991 rape of Desiree Washington. He is denied bail and ordered to begin his jail term immediately. |
| 1988 | Michael Jackson‘s “Man in the Mirror” hits number-one. |
| 1982 | Ground is broken for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D-C. |
| 1972 | The Los Angeles Lakers break a National Basketball Association record by winning 69 of their season’s 82 games. |