By Eunice Charles
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Francis Thomas Avallone (born September 18, 1940), better known as Frankie Avalon, is an American singer, actor and former teen idol. He had 31 charting U.S. Billboard singles from 1958 to late 1962, including number one hits, “Venus” in 1959 and “Why” in 1960.
Avalon started appearing in films in the 1960s; he is well-known for having appeared in the Beach party films of this decade and for a supporting role in the 1978 musical film Grease, in which he sings the song “Beauty School Dropout“.
Avalon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Italian-American parents Mary and Nicholas Avallone. His mother was originally from Sicily. His father was a butcher who was born in Philadelphia, whose father Francesco was from Salerno, in Campania, Italy, and whose mother was from Sicily.
Avalon married Kathryn “Kay” Diebel on January 19, 1963. She was a beauty pageant winner he met while playing cards at a friend’s house.
The Avalons have eight children and ten grandchildren. His son Frankie Jr. is a former actor who appeared in the original The Karate Kid.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Before using a cast-iron skillet for the first time, rub the inside and outside with cooking oil and heat it in the oven. Seasoning will prevent food from sticking and from tasting like cast iron.
Learn more about the proper way to clean and season your cast-iron cookware.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Samuel Johnson (author) –
- Elmer Henry Maytag (manufacturer) –
- Archie “Grey Owl” Belaney (conservationist) –
- Harold Clurman (director) –
- Greta Garbo (actress) –
- Jack Warden (actor) –
- Frankie Avalon (singer & actor) –
- Fred Willard (actor) –
- Darryl Sittler (hockey player) –
- Jada Pinkett Smith (actress) –
- James Marsden (actor) –
- Alison Lohman (actress) –
Died
- Jimi Hendrix (musician) –
- Katherine Anne Porter (author) –
- Vitas Gerulaitis (tennis player) –
- Ernie Coombs (children’s entertainer, Mr. Dressup) –
- Bullet Bob Hayes (Olympic gold medalist and football player) –
Events
- Christopher Columbus landed in what is now Costa Rica –
- New Hampshire territory separated from Massachusetts –
- The cornerstone for the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., was laid –
- The first edition of “The New York Daily Times” went on sale. The paper later dropped “Daily” from its title –
- Shirley Temple made her film debut, at the age of 3, in War Babies –
- First nighttime skywriting in the U.S. –
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) founded –
- What had previously been The Toast of the Town on CBS TV since 1948 became The Ed Sullivan Show –
- Final day of streetcar service in Winnipeg, Manitoba –
- The UN accepts East Germany, West Germany and the Bahamas as members –
- Fugitive Patty Hearst was arrested in San Francisco after spending more than six months with the Symbionese Liberation Army –
- Cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez first Latin American in space –
- George Meegan finished an almost seven-year long walk, from the tip of South America to the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska –
- Aquarium of the Bay in California reported that an angel shark had been born –
Weather
- The Great Miami Hurricane brought 27.61 inches of rain and winds over 135 mph to Miami, Florida –
- Hurricane Hugo hit Puerto Rico –
- Hurricane Isabel made landfall on the East Coast of the United States –
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