Today's Famous Birthdays

[IceWizard]

Lester Alvin Burnett
(March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967),

better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic
actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and
other B-movie cowboys. He was also a prolific singer-songwriter who is reported to have
played proficiently over 100 musical instruments, sometimes more than one simultaneously.
His career, beginning in 1934, spanned four decades, including a regular role on CBS-TV's
Petticoat Junction in the 1960s.









Peter Graves
(born Peter Duesler Aurness; March 18, 1926 – March 14, 2010)

was an American actor who portrayed Jim Phelps in the CBS television series Mission: Impossible
from 1967 to 1973 and in its revival from 1988 to 1990. His elder brother was actor James Arness.
Graves also played airline pilot Captain Clarence Oveur in the 1980 comedy film Airplane!
and its 1982 sequel Airplane II: The Sequel.








Vanessa Lynn Williams
(born March 18, 1963)

is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. She gained recognition as the first
African-American woman to receive the Miss America title when she was crowned
Miss America 1984. She resigned her title amid a media controversy surrounding
nude photographs of her being published on Penthouse magazine. Thirty-two years later,
Williams was offered a public apology during the Miss America 2016 pageant for the events.









Queen Latifah
(born Dana Elaine Owens, on March 18, 1970)

is an American rapper, actress, and singer. She has received various accolades, including a
Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards,
two NAACP Image Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award. In 2006, she
became the first hip hop artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.










Stephen Grover Cleveland
(March 18, 1837 – June 24, 1908)

was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the
United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president
in American history to serve two non-consecutive terms in office. He won the popular vote
for three presidential elections—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was one of two Democrats
(followed by Woodrow Wilson in 1912) to be elected president during the era of Republican
presidential domination dating from 1861 to 1933.










Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel
(18 March 1858 – 29 September 1913)

was a German inventor and mechanical engineer who is famous for having invented the
diesel engine, which burns diesel fuel; both are named after him.










Wilson Pickett
(March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006)

was an American singer and songwriter.

A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made
the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the Billboard Hot 100. Among his best-known
hits are "In the Midnight Hour" (which he co-wrote), "Land of 1,000 Dances",
"634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)", "Mustang Sally", "Funky Broadway", "Engine No. 9", and
"Don't Knock My Love".

Pickett was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991,
in recognition of his impact on songwriting and recording