35 years ago today, Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, and Youssou N’Dour kicked off a 20-show tour at Wembley Stadium performing together under the act Human Rights Now! to benefit Amnesty International. it was one of the most ambitious rock tours in history at that time. Taking place in some of the world’s biggest arenas on 5 continents. READ more at watch the original promo… (1988)
It was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the United Nations signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was distributed for free by volunteers at the concerts to over 1.2 million people. Hundreds of thousands of concertgoers then signed petitions for governments to ratify the Declaration.
Former political prisoners of note and activists from Amnesty International also spoke at each of the concerts.
MORE Good News on this Day:
- Vietnam declared its independence from France, forming a republic (1945)
- The first automated teller machine (ATM) in the United States was installed in Rockville Centre, New York (1969)
- U2 released their very first record, an EP entitled U2-3 that was available only in Ireland in an initial run of 1,000 individually numbered copies (1979)
- The United States and Russia agreed to cooperate to build an international space station (1993)
- The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opened in Cleveland, Ohio (1995)
- After years of setbacks and investing over $15 million in personal donations to the project, former Atlanta NBA basketball player Dikembe Mutombo opened a $29 million, 300-bed hospital outside of Congo’s capital of Kinshasa, his hometown—the first modern medical facility to be built in the region in nearly 40 years (2006)
Happy 64th Birthday to Guy Laliberté, the Canadian co-founder of Cirque du Soleil.
Now a billionaire businessman, he skipped college to hitchhike around Europe, playing the accordion for tips, and hang around jugglers, stilt-walkers, and fire-eaters.
In 1984, he and a partner launched Cirque du Soleil, a Quebec circus company whose shows have been seen by more than 90 million people worldwide. In 2009, Laliberté paid tens of millions to become the first Canadian space tourist—and later published a book, entitled Gaia, containing photos of Earth he took from space. (1959)
78 years ago today, the United States first celebrated V-J Day on the day Japan officially signed an unconditional surrender document.
The historic moment took place aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay and finally ended six years of World War II, during which 60 to 80 million people died. (1945)
Happy Birthday to Mexican actress Salma Hayek, who is perhaps most remembered for her amazing performance in the 2002 film, Frida, and turns 57 years old today.
And, Happy 59th Birthday to Keanu Reeves, the actor who might be called one of the nicest guys in show business.
Also, Happy 75th Birthday to Terry Bradshaw, one of the most trusted and beloved NFL football stars to ever play the game. Known for having one of the most powerful arms in NFL history, he became the first quarterback to win three—then four—Super Bowls, and led the Pittsburgh Steelers to eight AFC Central championships in the 70s, calling his own plays in every game.
Since 1994, Bradshaw’s been a TV sports analyst and occasional actor, and he’s written or co-written five books and also recorded six albums of country/western and gospel music. His cover of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” hit the Top 20 on Billboard’s country chart. WATCH an NFL video to see why he was one of the greatest… (1948)
On this day in 1548, Vincenzo Scamozzi, one of the Venetian Republic’s greatest architects was born. His fingerprints (and blueprints) are to be seen all over the modern-day province of Veneto, in what was previously the Republic of Venice, and he designed and oversaw the building of the Procuratie Nuove, the three linked buildings with arcaded facades that stand in opposite to the Basilica of Saint Mark in the iconic Piazza San Marco.
Other famous works include Vicenza’s Teatro Olimpico, the Library of Saint Mark, the Villa Duodo near Padua, the Teatro Antica in Mantova, the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, and the Ca’ Vendramin Calergi on the Grand Canal which today hosts the Venice Casino and Wagner Museum.
Scamozzi inherited a number of unfinished projects from Andrea Palladio, probably the most famous Venetian architect to ever live. Another legacy piece of Scamozzi’s is his two-volume treatise, L’idea dell’architettura universale (“The Idea of a Universal Architecture”) which is one of the last works of the Renaissance dealing with the theory of architecture. (1548)
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