Singer, actress, and fashion designer Vanessa Williams turned 59 in March.
On July 23, 1984, 21-year-old Vanessa Williams gave up her Miss America title, the first resignation in the pageant’s history, after Penthouse magazine announces plans to publish nude photos of the beauty queen in its September issue. Williams originally made history on September 17, 1983, when she became the first Black woman to win the Miss America crown.
Miss New Jersey, Suzette Charles (below), the first runner-up and also African American, assumed Williams’ tiara for the two monthsthat remained of her reign.
Under the Indian Ocean, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake sent 500-mph waves across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal on this day in 2004. The tsunami killed more than 200,000 people in a dozen countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Sumatra, Thailand and India.
On this day in 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, CO. It was reported in September 2016 that the investigation into JonBenét’s death continues to be an active homicide case, per Boulder Police Chief Greg Testa.
Patsy Ramsey and her husband John Ramsey, parents of JonBenet.
John Mark Karr, 41, was being charged by police for child porn in California when out of nowhere, he confessed to killing JonBenet, but his DNA didn’t match the DNA found on JonBenet Ramsey, and he wasn’t charged with her death.
Under the Indian Ocean, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake sent 500-mph waves across the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal on this day in 2004. The tsunami killed at least 283,000 people in a dozen countries, including Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Sumatra, Thailand and India.
Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled to death in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder, CO on this day in 1996.
On this day in 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress.
Tennessee Williams’ play "The Glass Menagerie" was first performed publicly, at the Civic Theatre in Chicago, IL. on this day in 1944.
Anthony Ross, Laurette Taylor, Eddie Dowling and Julie Haydon in the Broadway production of “The Glass Menagerie”.
Musical actress Shirley Jones starred as the mom of The Partridge Family on ABC-TV from September 25, 1970 – March 23, 1974. She won the Miss Pittsburgh contest in 1952.
Actress Dawn Wells played Mary Ann Summers on the CBS television series Gilligan’s Island (1964-1967). She later opened boot camp for actors. Wells gained the title of Miss Nevada after competing in the Miss America pageant. She made her TV debut in a 1961 episode of The Everglades, playing the character Piney.
