Simon & Garfunkels' mega-hit Bridge Over Troubled Water won a whopping 6 Grammy Awards at the 13th annual ceremony held March 16, 1971. It swept the top 3: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. It also won Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists Larry Knechtel and Paul Simon; Best Contemporary Song; and Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical for Roy Halee.
Pedro Duque, born March 14, 1963 in Madrid, Spain, is the first Spanish-born astronaut in space.
Duque's first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist for the European Space Agency in October-November 1998. He spent almost 10 days in space.
His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the International Space Station launched in October 2003 as Flight Engineer. He remained on board for about 10 days and returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-2.
After retiring from the ESA, he became the Minister of Science for the Government of Spain.
A day after its world premiere, What's Up, Doc?, starring Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Streisand, opened in theatres across the US, March 10, 1972. It is full of slapstick humor, invoking the likes of Buster Keaton, and is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Madeline Kahn made her movie debut. It also starred Kenneth Mars, Sorrel Booke (Boss Hogg from the Dukes of Hazard), Mabel Albertson (Samantha Steven's mother-in-law in Bewitched), and John Hillerman (Magnum P.I.).
The movie revolves around four identical, plaid, overnight bags. One contains a bag of "musical" rocks, one contains stolen, top-secret, government papers, one a collection of jewels, and the last clothes and a dictionary. Confusion and slapstick comedy ensue.
It was the third highest-grossing movie of the year behind The Godfather and The Poseidon Adventure. Madeline Kahn was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance for Most Promising Newcomer - Female.
What's Up, Doc? is recognized by the American Film Institute for AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs, and 100 Years...100 Passions.
Jolene Blalock, born March 5, 1975 in San Diego, California, is best known for her role as T'Pol in the Star Trek series Enterprise. She began her career as a model, but then turned to acting when she began to appear in commercials.
In 2002, she won two Saturn Awards (Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) for Best Supporting Actress andCinescape Genre Face of the Future Award for her work on Star Trek: Enterprise.
Swedish super-duper-group ABBA released their hit single Waterloo March 4, 1974. It was the first single from their second album Waterloo and it won the Eurovision Song Contest for Sweden in 1974.
In 2005, at the 50th anniversary celebration, Waterloo was chosen as the best song ever in the competition. It has sold 5 million copies world-wide.
Irving Berlin won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for his composition White Christmas at the 15th annual ceremony held March 4, 1942. Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds performed it in the movie Holiday Inn. The song has become one of the most beloved Christmas carols of all time.
Roberta Flack won two Grammy Awards for her performance of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face at the 15th annual ceremony held March 3, 1973. She won Record of the Year with Joel Dorn, producer. The second Grammy went to the songwriter Ewan MacColl for Song of the Year.
The same night she won Best Pop Vocal Performance by Duo, Group or Chorus with Donnie Hathaway for their performance of Where is the Love?
Charley Pride won two Grammys. Best Country Vocal Performance, Male for Charley Pride Sings Heart Songs; and Best Country Song for Kiss an Angel Good Morning with songwriter Ben Peters.
Billy Preston won Best Pop Instrumental Performance for Outa-Space.
Astronaut James Voss, born March 3, 1949 in Cordova, Alabama, is a veteran of 5 space shuttle flights. He graduated from Auburn University in 1972 with a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army. He attended the University of Colorado and graduated with a Master's Degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-44) as mission specialist in November-December 1991. The crew was scheduled for a ten-day mission but was scrubbed after only 6 days, due to failure of one of the three orbiter inertial measurement units.
His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-53) as mission specialist in December 1992. The payload was a classified by the US Department of Defense. Voss and the crew spent over 7 days in space.
His third mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-69) as mission specialist in September 1995. During the mission, Voss conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Michael Gernhardt which lasted o6 hours 46 minutes. The crew spent nearly 11 days in space.
Voss's fourth trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-101) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May 2000. During the mission, he conducted another EVA with fellow astronaut Jeffrey Williams which lasted 6 hours and 44 minutes. The crew spent nearly 10 days in space.
His fifth and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-102) as mission specialist launched in March 2001 to the International Space Station. Along with fellow astronauts Susan Helms (who celebrated her birthday last week) and cosmonaut Yuri Usachov, he participated in Expedition 2 aboard the ISS. He and Voss conducted the longest EVA to date: 8 hours, 56 minutes. They returned to Earth in August 2001 aboard Discovery (STS-105).
My man Billy Joel appeared on an episode of Sesame Street March 2, 1990. I can't find clips that are labeled from that episode, but here is a one from one of his appearances on the show. I think it's great to see him singing the ABCs to a group of children.
Zond 4, an unmanned Soviet spacecraft, was launched March 2, 1968. It was part of the program to carry cosmonauts to the moon. The launch was successful, but problems occurred upon re-entry when the guidance systems failed.
The Soviets decided to initiate the self-destruct at 10-15 km altitude, to avoid the probe falling into foreign hands.
One of the best movies of all time Casablanca won 3 Academy Awards at the 16th annual ceremony held March 2, 1944. It won Outstanding Motion Picture, Best Director for Michael Curtiz, and Best Screenplay.
It had received 9 nominations in total: Humphrey Bogart for Best Actor, Ingrid Bergman for Best Actress, Claud Rains for Best Supporting Actress, Best Scoring for a Motion Picture for Max Steiner, Best Cinematography Black & White for Arthur Edeson, and Best Film Editing for Owen Marks.
MFSB released their biggest hit, TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia) February 6, 1974. It is an awesome instrumental disco song with strings and horns. The Three Degrees provide background vocals. It was written by Gamble and Huff to be the theme song for Soul Train.
It was the first television theme song to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
MFSB won the Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance at the 17th Grammy Awards held March 1, 1975.
The 23rd episode of Season 2 of Star Trek, The Omega Glory, first aired on March 1, 1968. The USS Enterprise encounters the USS Exeter in orbit above Omega IV, abandoned. The entire crew had been infected with a deadly virus that removed all the water from their bodies, leaving behind only piles of crystals. Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy, and one red shirt Lt. Galloway beam down to the surface of the planet and discover that Captain Tracey of the USS Exeter has been violating the Prime Directive and interfering with the planet's inhabitants' war.
Although Lt. Galloway (David L. Ross) is killed by Tracey, he appears in two subsequent episodes, with no explanation for his resurrection. Lt. Uhura and Lt. Sulu appear in the episode, but Scotty and Chekov do not.
I suppose this episode is one of my favorites because of the surprise twist at the end when the character enters holding the American flag. Also, Spock uses his telepathy to call for help in a manner not seen before or since.
