Today in History: Thursday, July 15, 2021

Television:
ABC daytime drama “One Life to Live” began its 43-year run in 1968. It exited on January 13, 2012 less than four months after the departure of another daytime veteran, “All My Children.” Both briefly returned with original episodes via production company Prospect Park in 2013…Cartoon character Garfield ate his first lasagna in the comic strip in 1978…Heather Locklear and Linda Purl starred in the “Single White Female”-like made-for-cable movie “Body Language” which premiered on USA Network in 1992…Cable news network MSNBC launched in 1996. The first show of the channel was hosted by Jodi Applegate…Teen sitcom “Kenan & Kel” starring former “All That” cast members Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell debuted on Nickelodeon in 1996. It ran for four seasons and produced 65 episodes…Phil Donahue returned to television with a new discussion program called “Donahue” on MSNBC in 2002. The show was canceled on February 24, 2003…Reality makeover series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” with Carson Kressley, Ted Allen, Jai Rodriguez, Kyan Douglas and Thom Filicia premiered on Bravo in 2003. Its original run lasted five seasons. It was rebooted by Netflix in 2018 as “Queer Eye.“

Movies:
“Stayin’ Alive“, the sequel to “Saturday Night Fever”, starring John Travolta and directed by Sylvester Stallone had its nationwide release in 1983… Two classic films were released in the U.S. in 1988: skyscraper thriller “Die Hard,” starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman; comedy “A Fish Called Wanda” starring Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin…Action comedy “True Lies” directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere and Eliza Dushku opened in wide release in 1994…The Farrelly Brothers‘ highest-grossing film “There’s Something About Mary” starring Cameron Diaz, Ben Stiller and Matt Dillon opened in 1998…“Wedding Crashers,” starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, opened in 2005…“Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,” the sixth film based on the books by J.K. Rowling, opened in theaters in 2009.

Music:
Chubby Checker released his version of “The Twist” in the United States in 1960…John Lennon’s “I’m Stepping Out” was released posthumously in 1984… Reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100: Simply Red‘s cover version of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” in 1989.

Celebrity Birthdays
Singer Linda Ronstadt is 75; Publisher and entrepreneur Arianna Huffington is 71; former pro wrestler and Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura is 70; actor Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) is 69; model Kim Alexis is 61; actor Willie Aames (“Eight is Enough”, “Charles in Charge”) is also 61; Oscar winner Forest Whitaker is 60; actress Lolita Davidovich (“Blaze”) is also 60; actress Brigitte Nielsen (“Red Sonja”) is 58; comedian Eddie Griffin is 53: “Felicity” star Scott Foley is 49; model Beth Ostrosky Stern (Mrs. Howard Stern) is also 49; “Beverly Hillis, 90210” star Brian Austin Green is 48; actress Diane Kruger (“National Treasure”) is 45; actress Lana Parrilla (“Once Upon A Time”) is 44; actress Laura Benanti (“Law & Order: SVU”) is 42; actor Taylor Kinney (“Chicago Fire”) is 40; NBA All-Star Damian Lillard is 31; actor Iain Armitage (“Young Sheldon”) is 13.

Did You Know?
Phil Donahue’s long-running daytime talk show, “Donahue,“ was the first in the genre that included audience participation. The show had a 29-year run on national television that began in locally in Dayton, Ohio in 1966 and ended in New York City in 1996.