Happy birthday, John Oates!

John Oates, born April 7, 1948 in New York City, is half of one of the most successful duo acts in history, Hall & Oates.  He met Daryl Hall while they were attending Temple University in Philadelphia and formed the iconic duo.  He co-wrote many of their songs and was the main guitarist for the group.  

He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014, as a member of Hall & Oates. 

Oates still records music as a solo artist.  His latest album Reunion was released last year. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Charlotte E. Ray, first African American female lawyer in the US

On February 27, 1872, Charlotte Ray graduated from Howard University School of Law, becoming the first black woman to graduate from the school.  Born January 13, 1850 in New York City, she attended the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth, now the University of the District of Columbia, one of the few places where a black woman could get an education.

She became a teacher at Howard University, and attended and graduated from the law school.  She was the first female admitted to the District of Columbia Bar, and the first woman admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.

She opened her own law office in Washington, DC, but practiced only a few years since many people were not ready to trust a black female lawyer. She returned to teaching and working in the Brooklyn school system.

Ray was active in the National Woman Suffrage Association and the National Association of Colored Women.  She passed away in January 1911, after a severe case of bronchitis. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Phyllis Mae Dailey, first African American woman commissioned Navy officer

Phyllis Mae Dailey, born March 12, 1919 in New York City, became the first African American woman to serve in the United States Navy and a commissioned Navy officer.  She graduated from the Lincoln School for Nurses in Manhattan, and studied public health at Teachers College, Columbia University.  

When the US entered WWII, she kept applying to the Army Nurse Corps, and the Navy Nurse Corps.  The Navy desegrated its Nurse Corps in January 1945.  On March 8, 1945 Dailey was sworn into the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first African American woman to become a commissioned Navy officer.  

She served the Navy after the war until she was discharged May 9, 1951, having earned the rank of lieutenant (junior grade).  She worked as a clinical nursing instructor for the New York City Board of Education.  She died in October 1976 after a short illness.

Happy birthday, Star Trek actor Andrew Robinson!

Andrew Robinson, born February 14, 1942 in New York City, is best known for his role as Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. A versatile and talented actor, he has been nominated for awards for his work on Ryan's Hope (daytime soap), Child's Play 3, and Deep Space Nine. He's provided the voice for Garak in other Star Trek series and video games.  He has also appeared in an episode of The X-Files, The Incredible Hulk, and two episodes of Murder, She Wrote.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Eddie Palmieri, winner of first Grammy for Latin music

Eddie Palmieri at the piano

Eddie Palmieri, born December 15, 1936 in New York City, is a Latin-American musician who won the first Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording ever awarded in February 1976 for his album Sun of Latin Music.  He assembled his first band when he was 14 in 1950 and after playing in several bands, he released his first album La Perfecta in 1962.  Sun of Latin Music is his 19th album. 

In late 2005, Palmieri teamed up with Brian Lynch and recorded the CD The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpatico that included many jazz artists.  It won the Grammy for Best Latin Jazz recording in 2007.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Thomas Gomez, first and only Hispanic actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor

Thomas Gomez, born July 10, 1905 in New York City, was the first actor of Hispanic descent (and to date, the only Hispanic actor) to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.  His first film appearance was in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror in 1942.  In 1947, he appeared as Pancho in Ride the Pink Horse with Robert Montgomery. His performance was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar, becoming the first Hispanic actor to receive this nomination.

He appeared in The Conqueror with John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, and William Conrad.  Gomez continued to act in movies and television, including an episode of Bewitched, appearing with Agnes Moorehead and Robert Montgomery's daughter, Elizabeth.

Happy birthday, astronaut Anna Lee Fisher!

Anna Lee Fisher, born August 24, 1949 in New York City, went into space aboard Discovery (STS-51-A) as mission specialist in November 1984. She is the first mother to go into space and was married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher. She operated the Canadarm to successfully capture a satellite.

Fisher was scheduled to fly aboard STS-61-C but after the Challenger disaster, the mission was cancelled.  She spent almost 8 days in space. 

Celebrating Black History Month: Ira Aldridge, nineteenth century actor and trailblazer

Ira Frederick Aldridge, born July 24, 1807 in New York City, was a Shakespearean actor and toured all over Europe, becoming one of the top paid actors of the time. He began acting in the early 1820s but facing persistent discrimination against black actors, he emigrated to Liverpool, England in 1824.  British Parliament had outlawed slavery and was trying to abolish slavery in all of the British empire. This increased the possibility for black actors to perform.

In October 1825, he debuted at London's Royal Coburg Theatre, where he played the lead role in Revolt of Surinam, or A Slave's Revenge.  Audiences loved him, but theatre critics at the time were scandalized by his race, and made their racism evident in their reviews.

He continued to perform throughout Europe and was on tour in Poland in 1867, when he died from a prolonged lung condition.  He is the only African-American actor to be honored with a bronze plaque at the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon.  

Happy birthday, Village People lead vocalist Ray Simpson!

Ray Simpson, born January 15, 1954 in New York City, is best known as the former lead singer and Cop for Village People.  He sang backup for the group in its formative years.  When the original lead singer Victor Willis left the Village People in 1979, Simpson became the front man.  He appeared with the rest of the band in the movie Can't Stop the Music in 1980.  

His sister is Valerie Simpson of the duo Ashford & Simpson.

Ray lives in New Jersey with his wife Leslie and daughter Alayna.  

Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, born 1915

Bob Kane, born October 24, 1915 in New York City, is best known for his creation Batman.  He had worked in animation and began working in comics in 1936 as a freelance penciler and inker.  After the huge success of Superman, Kane wanted to create his own series and worked with ghost writer Bill Finger for additional ideas, and Batman was born.  Batman's first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in Detective Comics, which would eventually morph into DC Comics.   

Batman has become a worldwide icon, appearing in comic books, television series, and feature films. 

Bob Kane retired from DC Comics in 1966, to focus on fine art, and created television animation characters such as Courageous Cat and Cool McCool.  He passed away in November 1998 in Los Angeles.  He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2015 for his work in motion pictures. 

Celebrating Pride Month: Lynn Riggs, openly gay Cherokee playwright

Lynn Riggs, born August 31, 1899 near Claremore, Oklahoma to a mother who was 1/8 Cherokee.  He started attending the University of Oklahoma in 1920 and taught English for a year, but developed tuberculosis and did not graduate.  After recuperating in Santa Fe, New Mexico he traveled to New York and began writing plays.

After receiving a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1928, he traveled to Europe and began writing his most famous play Green Grow the Lilacs, while in Paris.

The play went onto become the musical and movie Oklahoma!

Being gay, he was often a non-romantic escort in Hollywood for actresses such as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.

He was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1943.

He passed away in NYC in June 1954 from stomach cancer.

Celebrating Pride Month: Gay Games IV Opening Ceremonies 1994

The Gay Games' fourth event opened in New York City, June 18, 1994.  It coincided with the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.  They lasted eight days, ending on June 25 with Sir Ian McKellen giving the closing address.  More than 15,000 people participated in the sporting events or in cultural cerremonies.  New event included flag football, figure skating and women's wrestling.

Celebrating Black History Month: Shirley Chisholm, first African-American woman to be elected to U.S. Congress

Shirley Chisholm, born November 30, 1924 in New York City, is the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.  She was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly from 1965-1968 and pushed for more black representation on key committees in the Assembly.

She ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 representing New York's 12th congressional district, which includes parts of Manhattan.  Her campaign slogan was "Unbought and unbossed".

In 1972, she announced that she would run for president, becoming the first black major party candidate to run for that office.  She did not win the nomination, but she did manage to obtain a lot of support, even though most of it were protest votes against McGovern.

She retired from Congress in 1983 and then moved to Florida in 1991.  She passed away in January 2005.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce Melnick!

Bruce Melnick, born December 5, 1949 in New York City, New York, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He spent 20 years in the Coast Guard, which included being chief test pilot at the Aircraft Program Office in Grand Prairie, Texas.

His first mission was on Discovery (STS-41) in October 1990 as mission specialist.  The main objective of the mission was to deploy the Ulysses spacecraft to explore the polar regions of the sun.

His second and final mission was the maiden voyage of Endeavour (STS-49) in May 1992 as mission specialist.  Its purpose was to retrieve an Intelsat satellite and boost it into a higher orbit.

Celebrating Pride Month - Stonewall National Monument, first designated LGBT historic site 2016

June 23, 2015, the Stonewall Inn became a New York City Landmark, making it the city's first landmark to commemorate LGBT rights.

On June 24, 2016, President Barack Obama officially dedicated the Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. national monument for LGBT history.  The dedication came just two weeks after the Orlando nightclub shooting, which took the lives of 49 people.

In October 2017, a rainbow LGBT flag was raised on the monument.




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_National_Monument

https://web.archive.org/web/20160818142844/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150623/civic-center/stonewall-inn-is-officially-nyc-landmark-unprecedented-move

Suzanne Pleshette born 1937

Beautiful, versatile and funny actress Suzanne Pleshette, born January 31, 1937 in New York City, is best known and loved for her role as Emily Hartley on the Bob Newhart Show which ran from 1972-1978.

She showed that she could be a dramatic actress as well, receiving a nomination for a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy for her role as Leona Helmsley in a TV movie made about the "Queen of Mean".

Suzanne was nominated for her comedy, being nominated twice for a Primetime Emmy for Lead Actress in a Comedy, for the Bob Newhart Show.

She and her The Birds co-star Veronica Cartwright both appeared as mothers (not in the same episodes though) in Will & Grace, Pleshette playing Karen Walker's mother, Cartwright playing Jack McFarlane's mother.

She received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in January 2008 just days after she passed away from respitory failure.

I love this scene from The Birds.

Happy birthday, Jon Stewart!

Jon Stewart, born November 28, 1962 as Johnathan Stuart Leibowitz in New York City, is best known for hosting the Daily Show, addressing current issues in our government in a hilarious way.  In 2004, Columbia Journalism Review listed him as #4 on a list of twenty journalists "who consistently above the superficial to do original and often insightful work".  Probably why more people trust him than many other news outlets.

He's won numerous Primetime Emmies for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series and Outstanding Variety Series.  He's also started careers for John Oliver, Trevor Noah and Samantha Bee.





http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0829537/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm#trivia

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month - Sylvia Rivera, gay, trans, homeless, activist

This is the reason why I love doing this type of research.  I get to learn so much more about our past ("our" meaning "U.S.A." of course) and the colorful history that has gone into creating it.  Not all of it is beautiful and it seems that more times than not it is the hardship of stark reality.

Sylvia Rivera's story takes from both aspects.  She was born Ray Rivera in New York City of Puerto Rican and Venezuelan descent.  Both parents died while she was very young and grew up with a grandmother in New York City.

Because she was gay and transgendered, had lived on the streets, battled addiction and often went hungry, Sylvia made these issues her personal crusades. She and her good friend Marsha P. Johnson founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries which advocated for homeless drag queens and runaways.

I can't list all of her accomplishments and chronicle her activism in a short blog so please read her incredible story here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Rivera

Billy Joel releases Turnstiles 1976

Billy Joel's fourth studio album, Turnstiles, was released May 19, 1976.  For whatever reason (Youtube and Wikipedia have different stories), Billy returned to his roots with a strong New York based album, recording in NYC and basing lyrics on the Big Apple.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnstiles_(album)

Celebrating Black History Month: Alan Bell, first black gay publisher

In 1977, Alan Bell founded Gaysweek, a gay and lesbian newspaper based in New York City.  It was an 8-page tabloid, and one of three weekly publications geared towards gay and lesbians.  It was the only mainstream gay publication owned by a black man.  It only ran for two years but by the time it close, it had grown to 24 pages and two colors.