Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013)

During the mid-1960s, she established herself as a film
actress, popularizing the successful "Beach Party"
genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon.

In 1992, Annette Funicello announced that she had been
diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She succumbed to
the disease on April 8, 2013.

Charles Edward Anderson Berry was an singer, guitarist and
songwriter who pioneered rock and roll with distinctive songs
such as "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956),
"Rock and Roll Music" (1957), and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958).

Writing lyrics that focused on teen life and consumerism, and
developing a music style that included guitar solos along with
showmanship, Berry was a major influence on subsequent
rock music.   

 
Charles Edward Anderson Berry
(October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017)

The rock star scored early hits like "That’ll Be the Day" and
"Peggy Sue” before he was killed in rock ‘n’ roll’s most
famous plane crash at age 22.

Holly was among the first artists inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him
number 13 in its list of 100 Greatest Artists in 2010.

Last photo of Buddy during concert at the Surf
Ballroom, Clear Lake, Iowa.  (February 2,  1959)

SANDY KOZEL

On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, at age 28, became the first
African American player in Major League Baseball’s modern
era when he steps onto Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to compete
for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson broke the color barrier
in a sport that had been segregated for more than 50 years.

Exactly 50 years later, on April 15, 1997, Jackie Robinson’s groundbreaking career was honored and his uniform number,
42, was retired from Major League Baseball by Commissioner
Bud Selig in a ceremony attended by over 50,000 fans at New
York City’s Shea Stadium.

1972
          

On March 21, 1952, Cleveland, Ohio hosted an event now
recognized as history’s first major rock-and-roll show…
the Moondog Coronation Ball.

Breathless promotion on the local radio station. Tickets
selling out in a single day. Thousands of teenagers,
hours before show time, lining up outside the biggest
venue in town.

The “Moondog” in question was the legendary disk jockey
Alan Freed, the self-styled “father of rock and roll” who
was then the host of the enormously popular “Moondog
Show” on Cleveland AM radio station WJW.