Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the Empress of Soul,[1] [2] is an American singer–songwriter and actress. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner,[3] Knight is best known for the hits she recorded during the 1960s and 1970s, for both the Motown and Buddah Records labels, with her group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald Bubba Knight and her cousins Edward Patten and William Guest.

Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Merald Woodlow Knight, Sr., a postal worker and Sarah Elizabeth (née Woods).[4] [5] She first achieved minor fame by winning Ted Macks The Original Amateur Hour TV show contest at the age of seven in 1952. The following year, she, her brother Merald, sister Brenda, and cousins William and Elenor Guest formed a musical group called the Pips (named after another cousin, James Pip Woods). By the end of the decade, the act had begun to tour, and had replaced Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest with Gladys Knights cousin Edward Patten and friend Langston George.[citation needed]

In 1961 the group recorded Every Beat Of My Heart on the tiny Atlanta Huntom label, which was picked up by Vee Jay. At the same time, the group signed with Bobby Robinsons Fury label. Both labels issued different versions of the song, with the Vee Jay/Huntom version outselling the Fury remake. With the success of their follow-up, Letter Full Of Tears, Fury released their first album. They stayed with Fury through 1962, although the hits dried up. They signed with Larry Maxwells Maxx label in 1964 and released several modest hits produced by Van McCoy, including the original version of Giving Up and Lovers Always Forgive.

Main article: Gladys Knight & the Pips

Gladys Knight & the Pips joined the Motown Records roster in 1966 (while the band had no sure hit)[6], and, although initially regarded as a second-string act, scored several major hit singles, including I Heard It Through the Grapevine, (recorded first by Marvin Gaye, his version not released until

Francis Bebey , (born July 15, 1929, Douala, Cameroon—died May 28, 2001, Paris, France), Cameroonian-born writer, guitarist, and composer, one of the best-known singer-songwriters of Africa. He is sometimes called the father of world music.

Bebey began performing with a band while a teenager in Cameroon. In the mid-1950s he traveled to Paris to study at the Sorbonne, and during this time he was influenced by classical guitarist Andrés Segovia. After attending New York University, Bebey in 1960 settled in Paris, where he worked on several radio stations and was later hired by UNESCO to research and document traditional African music. Bebey continued composing his own music, gaining notice for his poetic lyrics and expressive voice. By 1967 he had made several recordings and had performed in New York City and Paris as well as in Africa. Highly experimental, Beby often incorporated Latin American, Western, and African sounds into his music. His numerous recordings include Akwaaba (1985), Amaya (1987), and Dibiye (1998).

Bebey was also a noted writer, and his first novel, Le Fils d’Agatha Moudio (Agatha Moudio’s Son, 1971), was published in 1967. Critics found the work a carefully constructed masterpiece of burlesque, and it won the Grand Prix Littéraire de l’Afrique Noire. The following year Embarras et Cie: nouvelles et poèmes (nine short stories, each accompanied by a poem) was published. Bebey claimed that his wide experience as a radio broadcaster affected the style of his stories, which he directed toward hearers rather than readers. His later works include La Poupée Ashanti (1973; The Ashanti Doll) and Le Roi Albert d’Effidi (1973; King Albert). Bebey also wrote a book on broadcasting in Africa and two books on African music, notably African Music: A People’s Art (1975, reprinted 1992).

Death of musician Mary Lou Williams (71), in Durham, North Carolina.

Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie was born on May 28, 1947 into a prominent Baltimore, Maryland family.

Singer Gladys Knight was born in Atlanta, Georgia.

Betty Shabazz, activist and widow of Malcolm X was born in Detroit, Michigan.

Gladys Maria Knight is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, actress, and humanitarian. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 28, 1944, to Sarah and Merald Knight Sr. and began singing in church as a child. At age seven, she gained minor fame after winning a performance contest on the televised “Ted Mack and the Original Amateur Hour.” In 1953 Knight, her brother Merald Jr., her sister Brenda, and their cousins Eleanor and William Guest formed a musical act called The Pips. Brenda Knight and Eleanor Guest both left the group to get married and were replaced by Edward Patten and Langston George. By 1960 The Pips had begun to perform and tour on a regular basis.

Knight and The Pips first experienced major success after signing with Motown Records in 1966 and began touring with The Supremes as an opening act. While at Motown, Knight and The Pips produced several major hits including, “I Heard It through the Grapevine,” “If I Were Your Woman,” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye).” She was responsible for sending the Jackson 5’s first demo tape to Motown Records after seeing them perform at “Amateur Night” at the Apollo Theater in August of 1967.

In 1973 Knight and The Pips left Motown Records and signed with Buddah Records and enjoyed major success with several top-charting hits including “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “On and On,” “Ive Got to Use My Imagination,” and “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me.” Knight and The Pips continued to produce major hit songs until the late 1980s. Her humanitarian work includes her collaboration with Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder in 1986 for the iconic AIDS benefit anthem “That’s What Friends Are For.”

Knight decided to branch out and pursue a solo career in 1989. Throughout the 1990s, Knight continued to tour and record successful R&B and gospel music. In 1996 Gladys Knight and The Pips were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. Additionally, Knight has been honored with numerous Grammy Awards, American

Gary Coleman was an American actor, best known for being a child star on the television sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”. He was born on February 8, 1968 in Illinois. He was adopted at birth by Edmonia Sue and W.G. Coleman. Coleman suffered from kidney disease from his childhood, and the steroids and medications used to treat it affected his physical development and left him stunted at a height of 4 feet and 7 inches. However, this became the most striking and distinguishing aspect of his personality. To overcome his kidney problems, Coleman went through two kidney transplants in 1973 and 1984. Unfortunately, both were unsuccessful and he required dialysis on a daily basis.

He began his acting career in 1974, appearing in commercials and making small appearances in television shows. Soon, he received the biggest and most important part of his life. This was the character of Arnold Jackson in the television sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes”. Arnold and his brother Willis (played by Todd Bridges) were two African American children adopted by a rich Park Avenue businessman named Phillip Drummond (played by Conrad Bain) and his daughter Kimberly (played by Dana Plato). The series launched the careers of all three child stars. The show was a huge hit and ran from 1978 to 1986.

Coleman was an integral part of the show and at one point, is reported to have earned up to $100,000 per episode. His character had a popular catchphrase on the show, and the show’s popularity made it a part of pop culture. His other roles included TV movies such as “On the Right Track” and “The Kid with the Broken Halo”. He was also the basis for Hanna-Barbera’s animated series The Gary Coleman Show in 1982. He made videogame appearances such as in “The Curse of Monkey Island” in 1997 and “Postal 2” in 2003. He also appeared in a music video by the wrestler John Cena for his song “Bad, Bad Man”. Coleman was a candidate for governor in the 2003 California elections, but himself voted for the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger who eventually won.

Coleman had a

Lizzie Black Kander , née Lizzie Black (born May 28, 1858, Milwaukee, Wis.

Maya Angelou , original name Marguerite Annie Johnson (born April 4, 1928, St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.—died May 28, 2014, Winston-Salem, North Carolina), American poet, memoirist, and actress whose several volumes of autobiography explore the themes of economic, racial, and sexual oppression.

Although born in St. Louis, Angelou spent much of her childhood in the care of her paternal grandmother in rural Stamps, Arkansas. When she was not yet eight years old, she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and told of it, after which he was murdered; the traumatic sequence of events left her almost completely mute for several years. This early life is the focus of her first autobiographical work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969; TV movie 1979), which gained critical acclaim and a National Book Award nomination. Subsequent volumes of autobiography include Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom & Me & Mom (2013).

In 1940 Angelou moved with her mother to San Francisco and worked intermittently as a cocktail waitress, a prostitute and madam, a cook, and a dancer. It was as a dancer that she assumed her professional name. Moving to New York City in the late 1950s, Angelou found encouragement for her literary talents at the Harlem Writers’ Guild. About the same time, Angelou landed a featured role in a State Department-sponsored production of George Gershwin’s folk opera Porgy and Bess; with this troupe she toured 22 countries in Europe and Africa. She also studied dance with Martha Graham and Pearl Primus. In 1961 she performed in Jean Genet’s play The Blacks. That same year she was persuaded by a South African dissident to whom she was briefly married to move to Cairo, where she worked for the Arab Observer. She later moved to Ghana and worked on The African Review.

Angelou returned to California in 1966 and wrote Black, Blues, Black (aired

Tucker was born in Compton,California on May 28, 1957 to awell established political family.

Horace King died on May 28, 1885 in LaGrange, Georgia.

Although born in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 28, 1943, to a former World War II soldier who later became a postal worker and a schoolteacher mother, the family moved to Atlanta, Georgia during her early childhood.