FRIDAY MAY 18

1642, the city of Montreal in Canada was founded.
1652, Rhode Island prohibits holding blacks or whites in slavery for more than 10 years — the first American law regulating slavery.
1798, The first Secretary Of The Navy, Benjamin Stoddert, was appointed.
1804, the French Senate proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte emperor.
1896, the U.S. Supreme Court endorsed racial segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, which okayed “separate but equal” public facilities for whites and blacks. The ruling was overturned 58 years later in Brown v. Board Of Education.
1910, Halley’s Comet, as seen from Earth, moved across the sun.
1911, Gustav Mahler died like Beethoven, in Vienna and in the middle of a thunderstorm. Mahler was 50 and had suffered from heart disease. His last word was “Mozart.”
1914, The Mariner became the first steamboat with cargo to pass through the Panama Canal.
1934, Congress approved the “Lindbergh Act,” after the kidnapping and murder of aviator Charles Lindbergh‘s baby, which called for the death penalty in cases of interstate kidnapping.
1951, the United Nations moved into its permanent home on the east side of Manhattan.
1980, Washington’s Mount St. Helens volcano exploded after being dormant for over 100 years. The blast, which was 500 times as powerful as the Hiroshima atom bomb, left 57 people dead or missing.
1982, the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church whose members are known as Moonies, was convicted in New York of tax evasion.
1998, the federal government filed an antitrust case against Microsoft, saying the computer software company’s “choke hold” on competitors denied consumers choices.
1998, the series finale of Murphy Brown aired on CBS.

SATURDAY MAY 19

1884, the first Ringling Brothers circus was performed.
1921, Congress passed the Emergency Quota Act, which set national immigrant quotas.
1925 Malcolm X is born. He dies in 1965.
1946 Actor and professional wrestler Andre The Giant (The Princess Bride) is born. He dies in 1993.
1962, Marilyn Monroe sang a breathless, seductive “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1964, the State Department revealed that 40 hidden microphones had been found in the U.S. embassy in Moscow.
1965 FBI Agents visit the Wand Records offices to investigate the lyrics to the song “Louie Louie.”
1967, the U.S.S.R. ratified a treaty with the U.S. and Britain banning nuclear weapons in space.
1970, future U.S. vice president Al Gore married Mary Elizabeth “Tipper” Aitcheson.
1977 The movie Smokey & The Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, and Jackie Gleason, opens.
1987, Hill Street Blues last aired on NBC.
1992, the 27th Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits Congress from giving itself mid-term pay raises, was ratified.
1992, Mary Jo Buttafuoco was shot and seriously wounded by teenager Amy Fisher, who was having an affair with Buttafuoco’s husband Joey.
1992 In San Francisco, Vice President Dan Quayle denounces the “poverty of values” in America’s inner cities, and criticizes the TV show Murphy Brown for its title character giving birth out of wedlock.
1993, the White House fired the entire staff of its travel office, leading to the controversy dubbed Travelgate.
1994 Jacqueline Onassis dies at age 64.
1994 The Food & Drug Administration approves the first genetically-engineered tomato.
1994, Eighteen-year-old tennis star Jennifer Capriati checked into a drug rehab center.
1997 Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are married.
1997, NBC sportscaster Marv Albert was charged with assault, for allegedly biting a woman several times, and forcible sodomy. The attack in a Virginia hotel room was against a woman with whom Albert had had previous sexual encounters. He eventually pleaded guilty to lesser charges and served no jail time.
1998, Bandits stole three of Rome’s most important paintings, two by Van Gogh and one by Cezanne, from the National Gallery Of Modern Art.

SUNDAY MAY 20

1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act, which opened millions of acres of free land to settlers in the West.
1908 Actor James Stewart (Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, It’s A Wonderful Life, Harvey, Rear Window,Vertigo) is born.
1916, Norman Rockwell‘s artwork appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post for the first time. The image was of a boy having to care for his infant sibling, pushing the baby carriage while his friends ran off to play baseball. Rockwell’s final Post cover appeared in 1963.
1927, Charles Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, aboard The Spirit Of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. He landed 33-1/2 hours later.
1932, Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland bound for Ireland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. She landed 13-1/2 hours later.
1939, Regular transatlantic air service began when the Pan American plane Yankee Clipper took off from Port Washington, New York, bound for Europe.
1969, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces captured Apbia Mountain, referred to as “Hamburger Hill” by the Americans, following one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War.
1978, Fifty-three-year-old Mavis Hutchinson made it to New York City to become the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.
1989 Actress-comedienne Gilda Radner (Saturday Night Live) dies at age 42.
1993, After 11 years, the last episode of Cheers aired. Over 80 million people tuned in.
1995, After the Oklahoma City bombing, President Bill Clinton announced that the two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House would be permanently closed to vehicles to avoid terrorist threats.
1997, Roseanne aired its last episode after nine seasons.
1998, In Beverly Hills, California, Hollywood royalty bid farewell, in a private, invitation-only funeral, to Frank Sinatra, who had died almost a week earlier at age 82.

FRIDAY MAY 18

• Reggie Jackson (Hall of Fame Major League Baseball player) (66)
• Bill Macy (actor, Maude’s Walter Findlay) (90)
• Brooks Robinson (Baseball Hall-of-Famer) (75)
• Tina Fey (writer and actress, Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls, 30 Rock) (42)
• Jack Johnson (Hawaiian-born singer) (37)
• Chow Yun Fat (actor, The Replacement Killers, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Bulletproof Monk) (57)
• Rick Wakeman (keyboardist, Yes) (63)
• George Strait (country singer) (60, disputed)

SATURDAY MAY 19

• Steven Ford (actor, former President Gerald Ford‘s son) (56)
• Peter Mayhew (played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies ) (68)
• David Hartman (TV talk show host and actor) (77)
• James P. Hoffa ( Lawyer and Teamster union leader, son of legendary Teamsters head Jimmy Hoffa) (71)
• Jim Lehrer (journalist, PBS’ News Hour with Jim Lehrer) (78)
• Pete Townshend (rock star, The Who) (67)
• Tom Scott (jazz saxophonist) (64)
• Phil Rudd (drummer, AC/DC) (58)
• Dusty Hill (bassist and singer, ZZ Top) (63)
• Grace Jones (eccentric model, actress, singer) (64)
• Nora Ephron (filmmaker, When Harry Met Sally…, Sleepless in Seattle, Silkwood, Julie & Julia, Hanging Up, You’ve Got Mail, Michael) (71)
• Kim Zolciak (reality TV star, The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Don’t Be Tardy for the Wedding) (34)

SUNDAY MAY 20

• Cher (Academy Award-winning actress and singer, was born Cherilyn LaPierre Sarkesian) (66)
• Joe Cocker (legendary rock singer) (68)
• Mindy Cohn (actress, played Natalie on the Facts of Life) (46)
• David Wells (former major league baseball player) (49)
• Bronson Pinchot (actor, Beverly Hills Cop, Risky Business, “Balki” on TVs Perfect Strangers) (53)
• Busta Rhymes (rapper) (40)
• David Paterson (politician, 55th Governor of New York) (58)
• Timothy Olyphant (actor, Justified, Damages, Deadwood, The Girl Next Door, Live Free or Die Hard, Sex and the City, Gone In 60 Seconds, Catch & Release) (44)

RIP DONNA SUMMER

• Ryan Seacrest: “I remember sitting in the front seat of my mom’s toyota while she sang Donna Summer’s “she works hard for the money” songs were just classic”
• Timbaland: “this cant be true. I can’t believe this RIP Donna Summer. At a loss for words”
• Robin Roberts: “Heard about the passing of #DonnaSummer – fond memories of singing and dancing to her music. Blessings to her family.?
• Holly Robinson Peete: “#IJUSTCANT. Donna Summer…”The VOICE”… Well Done Diva. #RIPDonna *long tears*
• Jackee Harry wrote, “Life Is A Dash – But Donna Summer’s Was Beautifully Punctuated! #LoveToLove Her. RIP Donna.”
• Niecy Nash: “Whitney. Tina Marie. Vesta. Now Donna Summer. The choir in heaven has a new member. They will be singing up a beautiful storm:) RIP DonnaSummer #discodiva #sadtweet”
• Rupaul: “Donna Summer, your last dance with remain in our hearts forever.”
• The Roots‘ ?uestlove wrote, “Donna Summer. Man I can’t believe this— like ‘My Baby Understands’ was on my workout playlist this morning! This MORNING! God…I just…”

BIO

LaDonna Adrian Gaines was born on December 31, 1941 in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a groundbreaking artist who merged the sounds of R&B, pop, funk, rock, disco and electronica. As a young girl, Donna sang in church choirs and city-wide choruses. By her early twenties, she launched her music career on stage in Munich, Germany, in productions of Hair and Porgy & Bess. While in Germany, she hooked up with producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellote who produced her first single “Hostage,” which became a hit in The Netherlands, France and Belgium.

In 1972, she married Austrian actor Helmuth Sommer and gave birth to their daughter Mimi Sommer in 1973. The two divorced after she had an alleged affair but she kept his last name, but changed it to Summer.

In 1975, Moroder and Bellotte produced “Love To Love You Baby” — which rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. She also released hits like “MacArthur Park,” “Bad Girls,” “Hot Stuff,” “Dim All The Lights,” “On The Radio” and Enough Is Enough” as well as the Grammy and Academy award winning theme song “Last Dance” from the Thank God It’s Friday film.

By 1977, the pressures of fame and past mistakes had begun to take a toll on her. Donna had began suffering from depression and anxiety attacks and had attempted suicide several times. She was also addicted to prescription medicine. Following a nervous breakdown in 1979, Summer became a born again Christian.

On her suicide attempt, she once reportedly said, “It sorta snuck up on me, and I think it because I had my daughter, and during that period, my marriage broke up, and I was alone, and I was staying up at night, and I would go out and work and then, I would be getting 2 to 3 hours a sleep a day. It was scary, and so I couldn’t deal another minute of it, and I was on my way out the window . . .”

She continued, “I was sticking my foot out, I was shifting my weight, and I got caught in a curtain and the maid opened the door, exactly that time . . . and I thought, ‘Oh, my God!,’ It really kind of shook me, it woke me up and then I let her in, and I got on the phone, and I think I called somebody said, ‘I need help,’ and thank God that lady came, because I’d be gone today.”

In 1980, Donna became the first artist to sign to David Geffen‘s new label Geffen Records. She released three albums on the label, The Wanderer, 1982’s Donna Summer and She Works Hard for the Money. She went on to collaborate with writers and producers like Quincy Jones, Michael Omartian, and England’s dance-pop production compound Stock Aitken Waterman and produced hits like “State of Independence,” featuring Michael Jackson on backing vocals, and “She Works Hard For The Money,” one of the most-played songs of all-time, and “This Time I Know It’s For Real.”

By the mid 1980’s Donna Summer was embroiled in controversy. She allegedly made anti-gay comments regarding the-then relatively new disease AIDS. Her comments had a negative impact on her career and saw thousands of her records being returned to her record company by angry fans. Donna allegedly said that AIDS was a punishment from God for the immoral lifestyles of homosexual. She later apologized and denied making the comments.

She went on the release the albums Cats Without Claws (1984), All Systems Go (1987), Another Place And Time (1989). In the 90’s she released albums such as Mistaken Identity, The Donna Summer Anthology, Christmas Spirit, and Endless Summer: Greatest Hits — which spawned the #1 hit, “Melody of Love”, and Live & More Encore. She continued to tour to sold out audiences worldwide and also made guest appearances on the hit TV sitcom Family Matters.

In 1999, Sony/Epic Records released VH1 Presents Donna Summer: Live & More – Encore! an album and DVD of Donna’s acclaimed VH1 broadcast taped at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. The show premiered on VH1 as one of the network’s highest rated shows to date and featured live performances of Summer’s top hits.

In 2003, she released The Journey: The Very Best of Donna Summer. She also released her autobiography Ordinary Girl.

In 2008, celebrating four decades of milestones, Donna Summer released a new album in 17 years entitledCrayons. The album debuted at #17 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart making it Summer’s highest debuting album ever. It also debuted at #5 on the Billboard R&B chart. ”

Career Achievements

The five-time Grammy winner was the first female artist to have back-to-back multiplatinum double albums and the first female artist to incorporate synthesizers as well as the first artist to create and extended play song. She was also first female to have four #1 singles in a 12 month period; 3 as a solo artist and one as a duo with Barbra Streisand.

Donna Summer was the first artist to win the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female (1979, “Hot Stuff”) as well as the first-ever recipient of the Grammy for Best Dance Recording (1997, “Carry On”).

In 2004, she became one of the first inductees, as both an Artist Inductee and a Record Inductee (for 1977’s “I Feel Love”) into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in New York City.

Donna Summer earned five Grammy Awards, six American Music Awards, three consecutive #1 platinum double albums (she’s the only artist, male or female, ever to accomplish this), 11 gold albums, four #1 singles, 2 platinum singles, and 12 gold singles.

Donna was also the first female artist to have a #1 single and #1 album on the Billboard charts simultaneously (“Live & More;” “MacArthur Park” 1978) a feat she also repeated six months later (“Bad Girls” & “Hot Stuff” in 1979). She charted 22 #1 hits on the Billboard Disco/Dance charts, over a period of 25 years a milestone solidifying her as The Queen of Dance.

In addition to her recording and performing career, Summer was an accomplished visual artist whose work had been shown at exhibitions worldwide. Since 1989, she had sold over 1.2 million dollars in original art – with her highest piece going for $150,000.

Donna has sold more than 130 million records worldwide.

She was ranked at #24 in Billboard Magazine’s 50th anniversary issue featuring Hot 100 Artists of All Time.

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS….

MEL B MIGHT BE HEADED BACK TO DWTS: Melanie Brown might be part of the all-star cast of this upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars. According to Perez Hilton, Mel wants to come back and take another crack at bringing home the trophy. Mel even tweeted her former partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She said, “@MaksimC are we gonna do this or what brotha???”

JOHN MAYER SPINS FOR FANS: John Mayer can’t sing so he hosted an intimate advance spin in New York City this past week. He gave an advance screening of his album, Born and Raised, which is out May 22. He said, “I’ve done four or five of these [listening parties] but this is definitely the most special because this is where the record was made. I’m just so proud that it’s almost out. There comes a time making a record that you forget anyone is ever going to hear it because it seems so far off.”