Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often referred to mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to both great success and initial controversy.
Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley's classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley's first RCA Victor single, "Heartbreak Hotel", was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll; though his performative style and promotion of the then-marginalized sound of African-Americans led to him being widely considered a threat to the moral well-being of the White American youth.
In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender. Drafted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He held few concerts, however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964). In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours. In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii. Years of prescription drug abuse and unhealthy eating habits severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42.
Having sold over 400 million records worldwide, Presley is recognized as the best-selling solo music artist of all time by Guinness World Records. He was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, rhythm & blues, adult contemporary, and gospel. Presley won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. He holds several records, including the most RIAA certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, the most number-one albums by a solo artist on the UK Albums Chart, and the most number-one singles by any act on the UK Singles Chart. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
To read a WHOLE lot more about Elvis, go here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
- 3/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter
- 1 (12-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
- 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
- 3 cups cooked rice
- Preheat oven to 350º. Coat a 1-1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter; saute celery and onion 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Mix in remaining ingredients then place the mixture in baking dish.
- Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.
And births this date include...
1929 – Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1968)
1979 – Drew Brees, American football player
- Hats may be worn for safety and protection, religious reasons, ceremonial reasons, warmth or fashion.
- In the Middle Ages, hats were an indicator of social status.
- In the military, hats may denote one’s nationality, branch of service, rank and/or regiment.
- A Thebes tomb painting depicts one of the first pictorials of a hat. The painting shows a man wearing a conical straw hat.
- Structured hats for women began to be worn in the late 16th century.
- Millinery is the designing and manufacture of hats.
- The term “milliner” derived from the city of Milan, Italy. The best quality hats were made in Milan in the 18th century.
- Millinery began as traditionally a woman’s occupation, as the milliner not only created hats and bonnets but also chose lace, trim and accessories to complete an outfit.
- In the middle of the 1920s, to replace the bonnets and wide-brimmed hats, women began to wear smaller hats that hugged their heads.
NATIONAL HAT DAY HISTORY
