October 12 is the 285th day of the year (286th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 80 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events[link]

• 539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon.
• 1216 – King John of England loses his crown jewels in The Wash, probably near Fosdyke, perhaps near Sutton Bridge
• 1279 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk founder of Nichiren Buddhism, inscribes the Dai-Gohonzon
• 1398 – The Treaty of Salynas is signed between Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytautas the Great and the Teutonic Knights, who received Samogitia.
• 1492 – Christopher Columbus's expedition makes landfall in the Caribbean, specifically in The Bahamas. The explorer believes he has reached India.
• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1654 – The Delft Explosion devastates the city in the Netherlands, killing more than 100 people.
• 1692 – The Salem witch trials are ended by a letter from Massachusetts Governor William Phips.
• 1773 – America's first insane asylum opens for 'Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds' in Virginia
• 1792 – First celebration of Columbus Day in the USA held in New York
• 1793 – The cornerstone of Old East, the oldest state university building in the United States, is laid on the campus of the University of North Carolina
• 1810 – First Oktoberfest: The Bavarian royalty invites the citizens of Munich to join the celebration of the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen.
• 1822 – Peter I of Brazil is proclaimed the emperor of the Brazil
• 1823 – Charles Macintosh of Scotland sells the first raincoat.
• 1871 – Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) enacted by British rule in India, which named over 160 local communities 'Criminal Tribes', i.e. hereditary criminals. Repealed in 1949, after Independence of India.
• 1892 – The Pledge of Allegiance is first recited by students in many US public schools, as part of a celebration marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus's voyage.
• 1901 – President Theodore Roosevelt officially renames the "Executive Mansion" to the White House.
• 1915 – World War I: British nurse Edith Cavell is executed by a German firing squad for helping Allied soldiers escape from Belgium
• 1917 – World War I: The First Battle of Passchendaele takes place resulting in the largest single day loss of life in New Zealand history.
• 1918 – A massive forest fire kills 453 people in Minnesota.
• 1928 – An iron lung respirator is used for the first time at Children's Hospital, Boston
• 1933 – The United States Army Disciplinary Barracks on Alcatraz Island, is acquired by the United States Department of Justice
• 1942 – World War II: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.
• 1944 – World War II: The Liberation of Athens from the German invaders.
• 1945 – World War II: Desmond Doss is the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor.
• 1953 – "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial" opens at Plymouth Theatre, New York
• 1959 – At the national congress of APRA in Peru a group of leftist radicals are expelled from the party. They will later form APRA Rebelde.
• 1960 – Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest a Philippine assertion of Soviet Union colonial policy being conducted in Eastern Europe
• 1960 – Inejiro Asanuma, Chair of the Japanese Socialist Party, is assassinated in Japan by Otoya Yamaguchi, a 17-year-old. The cameras were rolling at the time, so the moment was caught on film.
• 1962 – Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U.S. Pacific Northwest with record wind velocities; 46 dead and at least U.S. $230 million in damages
• 1964 – The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits
• 1967 – Vietnam War: US Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile because of North Vietnam's opposition
• 1968 – Equatorial Guinea becomes independent from Spain
• 1970 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas
• 1979 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the first of five books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction series by Douglas Adams is published.
• 1979 – The lowest recorded non-tornadic atmospheric pressure, 87.0 kPa (870 mbar or 25.69 inHg), occurred in the Western Pacific during Typhoon Tip.
• 1983 – Japan's former Prime Minister Tanaka Kakuei is found guilty of taking a $2 million bribe from Lockheed and is sentenced to 4 years in jail.
• 1984 – Brighton hotel bombing: The Provisional Irish Republican Army attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her cabinet. Thatcher escapes but the bomb kills five people and wounds 31.
• 1986 – Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visit the People's Republic of China
• 1988 – Jaffna University Helidrop: Commandos of Indian Peace Keeping Force raided the Jaffna University campus to capture the LTTE chief and walked into a trap.
• 1988 – Two officers of the Victoria Police are gunned down executional style in the Walsh Street police shootings, Australia.
• 1991 – Askar Akayev, previously chosen President of Kyrgyzstan by republic's Supreme Soviet, is confirmed president in an uncontested poll.
• 1994 – NASA loses radio contact with the Magellan spacecraft as the probe descends into the thick atmosphere of Venus (the spacecraft presumably burned up in the atmosphere).
• 1997 – Sidi Daoud massacre in Algeria; 43 killed at a fake roadblock.
• 1999 – Pervez Musharraf takes power in Pakistan from Nawaz Sharif through a bloodless coup.
• 1999 – The former Autonomous Soviet Republic of Abkhazia declares its independence from Georgia
• 2000 – The USS Cole is badly damaged in Aden, Yemen, by two suicide bombers, killing 17 crew members and wounding at least 39
• 2002 – Terrorists detonate bombs in the Sari Club in Kuta, Bali, killing 202 and wounding over 300.
• 2005 – The second Chinese human spaceflight Shenzhou 6 launched carrying Fèi Jùnlóng and Niè Hǎishèng for five days in orbit.

Births[link]

• 1006 – Emperor Go-Ichijō of Japan (d. 1036)
• 1350 – Dmitry Donskoy, Grand Prince of Moscovy (d. 1389)
• 1490 – Bernardo Pisano, Italian composer (d. 1548)
• 1537 – King Edward VI of England (d. 1553)
• 1558 – Archduke Maximilian III of Austria (d. 1618)
• 1558 – Jacques Sirmond, French scholar and Jesuit (d. 1651)
• 1576 – Thomas Dudley, English-born American colonial magistrate (d. 1653)
• 1602 – William Chillingworth, English religious leader (d. 1644)
• 1687 – Sylvius Leopold Weiss, German composer and lutenist (d. 1750)
• 1710 – Jonathan Trumbull, American politician and 16th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1785)
• 1712 – William Shippen, American physician and statesman (d. 1801)
• 1725 – Etienne Louis Geoffroy, French pharmacist and entomologist (d. 1810)
• 1792 – Christian Gmelin, German chemist (d. 1860)
• 1798 – Pedro I of Brazil (d. 1834)
• 1801 – Friedrich Frey-Herosé, Swiss statesman (d. 1873)
• 1815 – William J. Hardee, American Confederate general (d. 1873)
• 1840 – Helena Modjeska, Polish actress (d. 1909)
• 1855 – Arthur Nikisch, Hungarian conductor (d. 1922)
• 1860 – Elmer Sperry, American inventor (d. 1930)
• 1865 – Arthur Harden, English chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)
• 1866 – Ramsay MacDonald, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1937)
• 1872 – Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (d. 1958)
• 1874 – Jimmy Burke, American baseball player (d. 1942)
• 1875 – Aleister Crowley, English occultist and author (d. 1947)
• 1880 – Louis Hémon, French novelist (d. 1913)
• 1887 – Paula von Preradović, Croatian-Austrian poet (d. 1951)
• 1891 – Edith Stein, Carmelite Catholic nun (d. 1942)
• 1892 – Gilda dalla Rizza, Italian soprano (d. 1975)
• 1893 – Velvalee Dickinson, American spy (d. 1980)
• 1894 – Elisabeth of Romania (d. 1956)
• 1896 – Eugenio Montale, Italian poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1981)
• 1904 – Ding Ling, Chinese writer (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Lester Dent, American writer (d. 1959)
• 1906 – Joe Cronin, American baseball player and executive (d. 1984)
• 1906 – John Murray, American playwright (d.1984)
• 1908 – Paul Engle, American writer (d. 1991)
• 1908 – Ann Petry, American novelist (d. 1997)
• 1910 – Robert Fitzgerald, American poet and translator (d. 1985)
• 1913 – Alice Chetwynd Ley, British romance writer (d. 2004)
• 1916 – Alice Childress, American actress and playwright (d. 1994)
• 1917 – Roque Máspoli, Uruguayan footballer (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Gilles Beaudoin, Quebec politician (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Christy Ring, Irish hurler (d. 1979)
• 1920 – Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, British politician (d. 1987)
• 1921 – Art Clokey, American animator (Gumby) (d. 2010)
• 1921 – Jaroslav Drobný, Czech-Egyptian-British tennis player (d. 2001)
• 1923 – Goody Petronelli, American boxing trainer and manager
• 1924 – Doris Grau, American actress (d. 1995)
• 1924 – Leonidas Kyrkos, Greek politician (d. 2011)
• 1925 – Denis Lazure, Quebec politician (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Robert Coles, American psychologist and author
• 1929 – Nappy Brown, American R&B singer (d. 2008)
• 1929 – Magnús Magnússon, Icelandic television presenter (d. 2007)
• 1930 – Denis Brodeur, French-Canadian hockey photographer
• 1930 – Milica Kacin Wohinz, Slovenian historian
• 1931 – Ole-Johan Dahl, Norwegian computer scientist (d. 2002)
• 1932 – Dick Gregory, American comedian and activist
• 1932 – Ned Jarrett, American race car driver
• 1933 – Guido Molinari, Canadian painter (d. 2004)
• 1934 – Richard Meier, American architect
• 1934 – Albert Shiryaev, Russian mathematician
• 1935 – Tony Kubek, American baseball player
• 1935 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (d. 2007)
• 1935 – Sam Moore, American R&B singer (Sam & Dave)
• 1935 – Don Howe, English football player and manager
• 1937 – Paul Hawkins, Australian racing driver (d. 1969)
• 1937 – Robert Mangold, American artist
• 1938 – Bob Miller, American NHL broadcaster
• 1941 – Michael Mansfield, English barrister
• 1942 – Melvin Franklin, American singer (The Temptations) (d. 1995)
• 1942 – Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter (Black Panther Party) (d. 1969)
• 1942 – Daliah Lavi, Israeli actress and singer
• 1944 – Angela Rippon, British television personality
• 1945 – Aurore Clément, French actress
• 1945 – Dusty Rhodes, American professional wrestler
• 1947 – Chris Wallace, American journalist
• 1947 – George Lam, Hong Kong singer
• 1948 – Rick Parfitt, British musician (Status Quo)
• 1948 – Hans Sprenger, German footballer
• 1949 – Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, Venezuelan international terrorist
• 1949 – Stan Hansen, American professional wrestler
• 1949 – Dave Lloyd, British cyclist
• 1949 – Paul Went, English footballer
• 1950 – Susan Anton, American actress
• 1950 – Robin Askwith, English actor
• 1950 – Caroline Ellis, English actress
• 1950 – Dave Freudenthal, American politician and 31st Governor of Wyoming
• 1950 – Kaga Takeshi, Japanese actor
• 1951 – Sally Little, South-African-born American golfer
• 1951 – Ed Royce, American politician
• 1952 – Danielle Proulx, Quebec actress
• 1953 – Les Dennis, British comedian and presenter
• 1953 – Serge Lepeltier, French politician
• 1954 – Linval Thompson, Jamaican musician and record producer
• 1955 – Einar Jan Aas, Norwegian footballer
• 1955 – Ante Gotovina, Croatian general
• 1955 – Brigitte Lahaie, French talk show host and actress
• 1955 – Aggie MacKenzie, Scottish television presenter
• 1955 – Jane Siberry, Canadian musician
• 1956 – David Vanian, British singer, (The Damned)
• 1957 – Kristen Bjorn, British film director
• 1958 – Bryn Merrick, British musician, (The Damned)
• 1958 – Steve Austria, American politician
• 1959 – Anna Escobedo Cabral, 42nd Treasurer of the United States
• 1960 – Carlo Perrone, Italian football manager and player
• 1960 – Hiroyuki Sanada, Japanese actor
• 1962 – Carlos Bernard, American actor
• 1962 – Chris Botti, American jazz musician
• 1962 – Amanda Castro, Hondurian poet
• 1962 – John Coleman, English football manager and player
• 1962 – Branko Crvenkovski, Macedonian politician
• 1962 – Deborah Foreman, American actress
• 1963 – Raimond Aumann, German footballer
• 1963 – Lane Frost, American professional bull rider (d. 1989)
• 1963 – Satoshi Kon, Japanese anime director (d. 2010)
• 1963 – Alan McDonald, Northern Irish footballer
• 1963 – Luis Polonia, Dominican baseball player
• 1965 – Jean-Jacques Daigneault, Canadian hockey player
• 1965 – Scott O'Grady, American military officer
• 1966 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor
• 1966 – Wim Jonk, Dutch football player
• 1966 – Brian Kennedy, Northern Irish musician and author
• 1967 – Paul Laine Canadian singer/composer
• 1968 – Bill Auberlen, American race car driver
• 1968 – Paul Harragon, Australian Rugby League player
• 1968 – Hugh Jackman, Australian actor and singer
• 1968 – Adam Rich, American actor
• 1969 – Martie Maguire, American musician (Dixie Chicks)
• 1969 – Judit Mascó, Spanish model
• 1969 – Željko Milinovič, Slovenian footballer
• 1969 – Olaf Renn, German footballer
• 1969 – Dwayne Roloson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1969 – José Valentín, American baseball player
• 1970 – Kirk Cameron, American actor
• 1970 – Tanyon Sturtze, American baseball player
• 1970 – Charlie Ward, American pro basketball player
• 1970 – Julian, American pornographic actor
• 1971 – Tony Fiore, American baseball player
• 1971 – Steve Johnston, Australian speedway rider
• 1972 – Juan Manuel Silva, Argentine racing driver
• 1972 – Tom Van Mol, Belgian football player
• 1972 – Mechele Linehan, American convicted murderess
• 1973 – Lesli Brea, Dominican baseball player
• 1973 – Martin Corry, English rugby player
• 1974 – Stephen Lee, English snooker player
• 1974 – Kate Beahan, Australian actress
• 1974 – Marie Wilson, Canadian actress
• 1975 – Marion Jones, American track and field athlete
• 1975 – Ahmad, American rapper
• 1976 – Sarah Lane, American television personality
• 1977 – Jessica Barker, Canadian actress
• 1977 – Bode Miller, American alpine ski-racer
• 1977 – Javier Toyo, Venezuelan footballer
• 1978 – Stefan Binder, German footballer
• 1978 – Baden Cooke, Australian cyclist
• 1978 – Marko Jaric, Serbian basketball player
• 1979 – Steven Agnew, Northern Irish politician
• 1979 – Jordan Pundik, American singer (New Found Glory)
• 1980 – Ledley King, English footballer
• 1981 – Shola Ameobi, English footballer
• 1981 – Tom Guiry, American actor
• 1981 – Brian Kerr, Scottish footballer
• 1981 – Sneha, Indian actress
• 1981 – Brian J. Smith, American actor
• 1981 – Sun Tiantian, Chinese tennis player
• 1981 – Conrad Smith, New Zealand rugby player
• 1983 – Alex Brosque, Australian soccer player
• 1983 – Carlton Cole, English footballer
• 1983 – Katie Piper, English campaigner and television presenter
• 1985 – Mike Green, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1986 – Ioannis Maniatis, Greek footballer
• 1986 – Emmanuel Nwachi, Nigerian footballer
• 1986 – Sergio Peter, German footballer
• 1986 – Tyler Blackburn, American actor and singer
• 1987 – Marvin Ogunjimi, Belgian footballer
• 1988 – Sam Whitelock, New Zealand rugby player
• 1990 – Henri Lansbury, English footballer
• 1991 – Nicolao Dumitru, Italian footballer
• 1992 – Taylor Horn, American singer
• 1992 – Josh Hutcherson, American actor
• 1992 – Cüneyt Köz, German footballer
• 2001 – Raymond Ochoa, American actor

Deaths[link]

• 632 – Edwin of Northumbria (b.c. 586)
• 638 – Pope Honorius I
• 642 – Pope John IV
• 1095 – Margrave Leopold II of Austria (b. 1050)
• 1176 – William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel, English politician (b.c. 1109)
• 1320 – Michael IX Palaeologus (b. 1277)
• 1491 – Fritz Herlen, German artist (b.c. 1449)
• 1492 – Piero della Francesca, Italian painter
• 1565 – Jean Ribault, French explorer and colonizer (b. 1520)
• 1576 – Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1527)
• 1590 – Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (b. 1543)
• 1600 – Luis Molina, Spanish Jesuit (b. 1535)
• 1632 – Kutsuki Mototsuna, Japanese samurai commander (b. 1549)
• 1646 – François de Bassompierre, Marshal of France (b. 1579)
• 1678 – Edmund Berry Godfrey, English magistrate (b. 1621)
• 1679 – William Gurnall, English writer (b. 1617)
• 1685 – Christoph Ignaz Abele, Austrian jurist (b. 1628)
• 1730 – King Frederick IV of Denmark (b. 1671)
• 1758 – Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth, British field marshal (b. 1680)
• 1845 – Elizabeth Fry, British social reformer and philanthropist (b. 1780)
• 1870 – Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general (b. 1807)
• 1875 – Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, French sculptor and painter (b. 1827)
• 1896 – Christian Emil Krag-Juel-Vind-Frijs, Danish nobleman and politician (b. 1817)
• 1898 – Calvin Fairbank, American abolitionist minister (b. 1816)
• 1915 – Edith Cavell, English nurse (b. 1865)
• 1920 – Yu Gwan-sun, Korean independence leader (b. 1904)
• 1924 – Anatole France, French author, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1844)
• 1932 – Ioannis Chrysafis, Greek gymnast (b. 1873)
• 1933 – John Lister, English politician (b. 1847)
• 1940 – Tom Mix, American actor (b. 1880)
• 1946 – Joseph Stilwell, American general (b. 1883)
• 1948 – Susan Sutherland Isaacs, English educational psychologist and psychoanalyst (b. 1885).
• 1954 – George Welch, American pilot (b. 1918)
• 1956 – Lorenzo Perosi, Italian composer (b. 1872)
• 1958 – Gordon Griffith, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
• 1960 – Inejiro Asanuma, Japanese politician (b. 1898)
• 1965 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)
• 1967 – Ram Manohar Lohia, Indian Socialist politician leader (b. 1910)
• 1969 – Sonja Henie, Norwegian figure skater (b. 1912)
• 1970 – Mustafa Zaidi, Pakistani poet (b. 1930)
• 1971 – Dean Acheson, American statesman (b. 1893)
• 1971 – Gene Vincent, American rock musician (b. 1935)
• 1973 – Peter Aufschnaiter, Austrian mountaineer (b. 1899)
• 1978 – Nancy Spungen, American groupie and murder victim (b. 1958)
• 1983 – Ernie Roth, American pro wrestling manager (b. 1929)
• 1984 – Sir Anthony Berry, British politician (b. 1925)
• 1985 – Johnny Olson, American game show announcer (b. 1910)
• 1985 – Ricky Wilson, American musician (The B-52's) (b. 1953)
• 1987 – Alf Landon, American politician (b. 1887)
• 1988 – Ruth Manning-Sanders, Welsh poet and children's book author (b. 1886)
• 1988 – Coby Whitmore, American painter and magazine illustrator (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Carmen Cavallaro, American pianist (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Jay Ward, American animator (Rocky and Bullwinkle) (b. 1920)
• 1990 – Peter Wessel Zapffe, Norwegian author and mountaineer (b. 1899)
• 1991 – Sheila Florance, Australian film and television actress (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Arkady Strugatsky, Russian novelist (b. 1925)
• 1993 – Leon Ames, American actor (b. 1902)
• 1993 – Tofik Bakhramov, Azerbaijani linesman (b. 1926)
• 1994 – Gérald Godin, Québécois poet and politician (b. 1938)
• 1996 – Roger Lapébie, French cyclist (b. 1911)
• 1996 – René Lacoste, French tennis player (b. 1904)
• 1997 – John Denver, American singer (b. 1943)
• 1998 – Matthew Shepard, American murder victim (b. 1976)
• 1998 – Mario Beaulieu, French Canadian politician (b. 1930)
• 1999 – Wilt Chamberlain, American basketball player (b. 1936)
• 1999 – Robert Marsden Hope, Australian jurist (b. 1919)
• 2001 – Quintin Hogg, Baron Hailsham of St Marylebone, British politician (b. 1907)
• 2002 – Ray Conniff, American bandleader and musician (b. 1916)
• 2002 – Audrey Mestre, French diver (b. 1974)
• 2003 – Jim Cairns, Australian politician (b. 1914)
• 2003 – Joan Kroc, American philanthropist (b. 1928)
• 2003 – Willie Shoemaker, American jockey (b. 1931)
• 2005 – C. Delores Tucker, American politician and civil rights activist (b. 1927)
• 2006 – Gillo Pontecorvo, Italian film director (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (b. 1934)
• 2007 – Noel Coleman, British Actor (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Karl Chircop, Maltese politician (b. 1965)
• 2009 – Frank Vandenbroucke, Belgian cyclist (b. 1974)
• 2009 – Dickie Peterson American musician (b. 1948)
• 2010 – Woody Peoples, American football player (b. 1943)
• 2010 – Belva Plain, American novelist (b. 1919)
• 2011 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (b. 1921)
• 2011 – Patricia Breslin, American actress (b. 1931)
• 2011 – Dennis Ritchie, American computer scientist (b. 1941)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Heribert of Cologne (private feast day)
  • Wilfrid of York
  • October 12 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Children's Day or Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida (Brazil)
• Discovery of America by Columbus-related observances:
  • Descubrimiento de América (Mexico)
  • Día de la Hispanidad or Fiesta Nacional de España (Spain)
  • Día de la Raza, "Day of the Race" (Latin America)
  • Día de la Resistencia Indígena, "Day of Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela)
  • Día de las Américas, "Day of the Americas" (Uruguay)
  • Día de las Culturas, "Day of the Cultures" (Costa Rica)
  • Discovery Day (the Bahamas)
• Freethought Day (United States)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Equatorial Guinea from Spain in 1968.
• Mother's Day (Malawi)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: October 12

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra at Girl's Town Ball in Florida, March 12, 1960.
Background information
Birth name	Francis Albert Sinatra
Also known as	Ol' Blue Eyes[1] The Chairman of the Board The Voice
Born	(1915-12-12)December 12, 1915 Hoboken, New Jersey[2]
Died	May 14, 1998(1998-05-14) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California
Genres	Traditional pop, jazz, swing, big band, vocal[3]
Occupations	Singer,[1] actor, producer,[1] director,[1] conductor[4]
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1935-1995[5]
Labels	Columbia, Capitol, Reprise, Apple Records
Associated acts	Rat Pack, Bing Crosby, Nancy Sinatra, Judy Garland, Quincy Jones, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Dean Martin, Count Basie, Sammy Davis, Jr., Luis Miguel
Website	sinatra.com

Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra,  /sɨˈnɑːtrə/, (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998)^[6] was an American singer and film actor.

Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the "bobby soxers", he released his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra in 1946. His professional career had stalled by the 1950s, but it was reborn in 1953 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity.

He signed with Capitol Records in 1953 and released several critically lauded albums (such as In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin' Lovers, Come Fly with Me, Only the Lonely and Nice 'n' Easy). Sinatra left Capitol to found his own record label, Reprise Records in 1961 (finding success with albums such as Ring-a-Ding-Ding!, Sinatra at the Sands and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim), toured internationally, was a founding member of the Rat Pack and fraternized with celebrities and statesmen, including John F. Kennedy. Sinatra turned 50 in 1965, recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and scored hits with "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way".

With sales of his music dwindling and after appearing in several poorly received films, Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971. Two years later, however, he came out of retirement and in 1973 recorded several albums, scoring a Top 40 hit with "(Theme From) New York, New York" in 1980. Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally, until a short time before his death in 1998.

Sinatra also forged a successful career as a film actor, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in From Here to Eternity, a nomination for Best Actor for The Man with the Golden Arm, and critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate. He also starred in such musicals as High Society, Pal Joey, Guys and Dolls and On the Town. Sinatra was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Early life[link]

Born December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey,^[7] Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants Natalie Della (Garaventa) and Antonino Martino Sinatra,^[8] and was raised Roman Catholic.^[9] He left high school without graduating,^[10]:38 having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. Sinatra's father, often referred to as Marty, served with the Hoboken Fire Department as a Captain. His mother, known as Dolly, was influential in the neighborhood and in local Democratic Party circles, but also ran an illegal abortion business from her home; she was arrested several times and convicted twice for this offense.^[10]:16 During the Great Depression, Dolly nevertheless provided money to her son for outings with friends and expensive clothes.^{[11][page needed]} In 1938, Sinatra was arrested for carrying on with a married woman, a criminal offense at the time.^[12] For his livelihood, he worked as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper,^[10]:44 and later as a riveter at the Tietjan and Lang shipyard,^[10]:47 but music was Sinatra's main interest, and he listened carefully to big band jazz.^[13] He began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken. Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930s,^[10]:48 although he learned music by ear and never learned how to read music.^[13]

Career[link]

1935–40: Start of career, work with James and Dorsey[link]

Sinatra got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group, The Three Flashes, to let him join. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four,^[5] and they sufficiently impressed Edward Bowes. After appearing on his show, Major Bowes Amateur Hour, they attracted 40,000 votes and won the first prize – a six month contract to perform on stage and radio across the United States.

Sinatra left the Hoboken Four and returned home in late 1935. His mother secured him a job as a singing waiter and MC at the Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, for which he was paid $15 a week.^[14]

On March 18, 1939, Sinatra made a demo recording of a song called "Our Love", with the Frank Mane band. The record has "Frank Sinatra" signed on the front. The bandleader kept the original record in a safe for nearly 60 years.^{[10][page needed]} In June, Harry James hired Sinatra on a one year contract of $75 a week.^[15] It was with the James band that Sinatra released his first commercial record "From the Bottom of My Heart" in July 1939^[16]— US Brunswick #8443 and UK Columbia #DB2150.^{[17][page needed]}

Fewer than 8,000 copies of "From the Bottom of My Heart" (Brunswick #8443) were sold, making the record a very rare find that is sought after by record collectors worldwide. Sinatra released ten commercial tracks with James through 1939, including "All or Nothing At All" which had weak sales on its initial release but then sold millions of copies when re-released by Columbia at the height of Sinatra's popularity a few years later.^[18]

In November 1939, in a meeting at the Palmer House in Chicago, Sinatra was asked by bandleader Tommy Dorsey to join his band as a replacement for Jack Leonard, who had recently left to launch a solo career. This meeting was a turning point in Sinatra's career. By signing with Dorsey's band, one of the hottest at the time, he greatly increased his visibility with the American public. Though Sinatra was still under contract with James, James recognized the opportunity Dorsey offered and graciously released Sinatra from his contract. Sinatra recognized his debt to James throughout his life and upon hearing of James' death in 1983, stated: "he [James] is the one that made it all possible."^{[19][page needed]}

On January 26, 1940, Sinatra made his first public appearance with the Dorsey band at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, Illinois.^{[20][page needed]} In his first year with Dorsey, Sinatra released more than forty songs, with "I'll Never Smile Again" topping the charts for twelve weeks beginning in mid-July.^[10]:91

Sinatra's relationship with Tommy Dorsey was troubled, because of their contract, which awarded Dorsey one-third of Sinatra's lifetime earnings in the entertainment industry. In January 1942, Sinatra recorded his first solo sessions without the Dorsey band (but with Dorsey's arranger Axel Stordahl and with Dorsey's approval). These sessions were released commercially on the Bluebird label. Sinatra left the Dorsey band late in 1942 in an incident that started rumors of Sinatra's involvement with the Mafia. A story appeared in the Hearst newspapers that mobster Sam Giancana coerced Dorsey to let Sinatra out of his contract for a few thousand dollars, and was fictionalized in the movie The Godfather.^[13] According to Nancy Sinatra's biography, the Hearst rumors were started because of Frank's Democratic politics. In fact, the contract was bought out by MCA founder Jules Stein for $75,000.^{[19][page needed]}

1940–50: Sinatramania and decline of career[link]

In May 1941, Sinatra was at the top of the male singer polls in the Billboard and Down Beat magazines.^[10]:94 His appeal to bobby soxers, as teenage girls of that time were called, revealed a whole new audience for popular music, which had been recorded mainly for adults up to that time.

On December 30, 1942, Sinatra made a "legendary opening" at the Paramount Theater in New York. Jack Benny later said, "I thought the goddamned building was going to cave in. I never heard such a commotion... All this for a fellow I never heard of." When Sinatra returned to the Paramount in October 1944, 35,000 fans caused a near riot outside the venue because they were not allowed in.^[13]

Sinatra being interviewed for American Forces Network during World War II.

During the musicians' strike of 1942–44, Columbia re-released Harry James and Sinatra's version of "All or Nothing at All" (music by Arthur Altman and lyrics by Jack Lawrence), recorded in August 1939 and released before Sinatra had made a name for himself. The original release did not even mention the vocalist's name. When the recording was re–released in 1943 with Sinatra's name prominently displayed, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943.^[21]

Sinatra signed with Columbia on June 1, 1943, as a solo artist, and he initially had great success, particularly during the 1942–44 musicians' strike. Although no new records had been issued during the strike, he had been performing on the radio (on Your Hit Parade), and on stage. Columbia wanted to get new recordings of their growing star as fast as possible, so Sinatra convinced them to hire Alec Wilder as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list.^[22]

Sinatra did not serve in the military during World War II. On December 11, 1943, he was classified 4-F ("Registrant not acceptable for military service") for a perforated eardrum by his draft board. Additionally, an FBI report on Sinatra, released in 1998, showed that the doctors had also written that he was a "neurotic" and "not acceptable material from a psychiatric standpoint". This was omitted from his record to avoid "undue unpleasantness for both the selectee and the induction service".^[23][24] Active-duty servicemen, like journalist William Manchester, said of Sinatra, "I think Frank Sinatra was the most hated man of World War II, much more than Hitler", because Sinatra was back home making all of that money and being shown in photographs surrounded by beautiful women.^[11]:91[25] His exemption would resurface throughout his life and cause him grief when he had to defend himself.^[23][26] There were accusations, including some from noted columnist Walter Winchell,^[27] that Sinatra paid $40,000 to avoid the service – but the FBI found no evidence of this.^[24][28]

In her book "Over Here, Over There" with Bill Gilbert, Maxene Andrews recalled when Sinatra entertained the troops during an overseas USO tour with comedian Phil Silvers during the war, observing, "I guess they just had a wing-ding, whatever it was. Sinatra demanded his own plane. But Bing [Crosby] said, 'Don't demand anything. Just go over there and sing your hearts out.' So, we did."^[29] Sinatra worked frequently with the very popular Andrews Sisters, both on radio in the 1940s, appearing as guests on each other's shows, as well as on many shows broadcast to troops via the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS). He appeared as special guest on a rare pilot episode of the sisters' ABC Eight-to-the-Bar Ranch series at the end of 1944, and returned for another much funnier guest stint a few months later, while the trio in turn guested on his Songs By Sinatra series on CBS, to the delight of an audience filled with screaming bobby-soxers. Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne also teamed with Frankie when they appeared three times as guests on Sinatra's CBS television show in the early-1950s. Maxene once told Joe Franklin during a 1979 WWOR-AM Radio interview that Sinatra was "a peculiar man," with the ability to act indifferent towards her at times.^[30]

In 1945, Sinatra co-starred with Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh. That same year, he was loaned out to RKO to star in a short film titled The House I Live In. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, this film on tolerance and racial equality earned a special Academy Award shared among Sinatra and those who brought the film to the screen, along with a special Golden Globe for "Promoting Good Will". 1946 saw the release of his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, and the debut of his own weekly radio show. By the end of 1948, Sinatra felt that his career was stalling, something that was confirmed when he slipped to No. 4 on Down Beat's annual poll of most popular singers (behind Billy Eckstine, Frankie Laine, and Bing Crosby).^[10]:149

The year 1949 saw an upswing, as Frank co-starred with Gene Kelly in Take Me Out to the Ball Game. It was well received critically and became a major commercial success. That same year, Sinatra teamed up with Kelly for a third time in On the Town.

1950–60: Rebirth of career, Capitol concept albums[link]

After two years' absence, Sinatra returned to the concert stage on January 12, 1950, in Hartford, Connecticut. His voice suffered and he experienced hemorrhaging of his vocal cords on stage at the Copacabana on April 26, 1950.^{[11][page needed]} Sinatra's career and appeal to new teen audiences declined as he moved into his mid-30s.

This was a period of serious self-doubt about the trajectory of his career. In February 1951, he was walking through Times Square, past the Paramount theatre, keystone venue of his earlier phenomenal success. The Paramount marquee glowed in announcement of Eddie Fisher in concert. Swarms of teen-age girls had gathered in frenzy, swooning over the current singing idol. For Sinatra this public display of enthusiasm for Fisher validated a fear he had harbored in his own mind for a long time. The Sinatra star had fallen; the shouts of "Frankieee" were echoes of the past. Agitated and disconsolate he rushed home, closed his kitchen door, turned on the gas and laid his head on the top of the stove. A friend returned to the apartment not long after to find Sinatra lying on the floor sobbing out the melodrama of his life, proclaiming his failure was so complete he could not even commit suicide.^[31]:458

In September 1951, Sinatra made his Las Vegas debut at the Desert Inn. A month later, a second series of the Frank Sinatra Show aired on CBS. Ultimately, Sinatra did not find the success on television for which he had hoped. The persona he presented to the TV audience was not that of a performer easily welcomed into homes. He projected an arrogance not compatible with the type of cozy congeniality that played well on the small screen.^[31]:439

Columbia and MCA dropped him in 1952.

The rebirth of Sinatra's career began with the eve-of-Pearl Harbor drama From Here to Eternity (1953), for which he won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. This role and performance marked a turnaround in Sinatra's career: after several years of critical and commercial decline, becoming an Oscar-winning actor helped him regain his position as the top recording artist in the world.^[32]

Also in 1953, Sinatra starred in the NBC radio program Rocky Fortune. His character, Rocko Fortunato (aka Rocky Fortune) was a temp worker for the Gridley Employment Agency who stumbled into crime-solving by way of the odd jobs to which he was dispatched. The series aired on NBC radio Tuesday nights from October 1953 to March 1954, following the network's crime drama hit Dragnet. During the final months of the show, just before the 1954 Oscars, it became a running gag that Sinatra would manage to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into each episode, a reference to his Oscar-nominated performance.^[33]

In 1953, Sinatra signed with Capitol Records, where he worked with many of the finest musical arrangers of the era, most notably Nelson Riddle,^[16] Gordon Jenkins, and Billy May. With a series of albums featuring darker emotional material, Sinatra reinvented himself, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955)—Sinatra's first 12" LP and his second collaboration with Nelson Riddle—Where Are You? (1957) and Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely (1958). He also incorporated a hipper, "swinging" persona into some of his music, as heard on Swing Easy! (1954), Songs For Swingin' Lovers (1956), and Come Fly With Me (1957).

By the end of the year, Billboard had named "Young at Heart" Song of the Year; Swing Easy!, with Nelson Riddle at the helm (his second album for Capitol), was named Album of the Year; and Sinatra was named "Top Male Vocalist" by Billboard, Down Beat and Metronome.

A third collaboration with Nelson Riddle, Songs For Swingin' Lovers, was both a critical and financial success, featuring a recording of "I've Got You Under My Skin".

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, a stark collection of introspective saloon songs and blues-tinged ballads, was a mammoth commercial success, spending 120 weeks on Billboard's album chart and peaking at #1. Cuts from this LP, such as "Angel Eyes" and "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)", would remain staples of Sinatra's concerts throughout his life.

Through the late fifties, Sinatra frequently criticized rock and roll music, much of it being his reaction to rhythms and attitudes he found alien. In 1958 he lambasted it as "sung, played, and written for the most part by cretinous goons. It manages to be the martial music of every sideburned delinquent on the face of the earth."^[34]

Sinatra's 1959 hit "High Hopes" lasted on the Hot 100 for 17 weeks, more than any other Sinatra hit did on that chart, and was a recurring favorite for years on "Captain Kangaroo".

[edit] 1960–70: Ring-A-Ding-Ding, Reprise records, Basie, Jobim, "My Way"

Sinatra started the 1960s as he ended the 1950s. His first album of the decade, Nice 'n' Easy, topped Billboard's chart and won critical plaudits. Sinatra grew discontented at Capitol and decided to form his own label, Reprise Records. His first album on the label, Ring-A-Ding-Ding (1961), was a major success, peaking at No.4 on Billboard and No.8 in the UK.

His fourth and final Timex TV special was broadcast in March 1960, and earned massive viewing figures. Titled It's Nice to Go Travelling, the show is more commonly known as Welcome Home Elvis. Elvis Presley's appearance after his army discharge was somewhat ironic; Sinatra had been scathing about him in the mid fifties, saying: "His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac. It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people."^[35] Presley had responded: "... [Sinatra] is a great success and a fine actor, but I think he shouldn't have said it... [rock and roll] is a trend, just the same as he faced when he started years ago."^[36] Later, in efforts to maintain his commercial viability, Sinatra recorded Presley's hit "Love Me Tender" as well as works by Paul Simon ("Mrs. Robinson"), The Beatles ("Something", "Yesterday"), and Joni Mitchell ("Both Sides Now").^[37]

Following on the heels of the film Can Can was Ocean's 11, the movie that became the definitive on-screen outing for "The Rat Pack," a group of entertainers led by Sinatra who worked together on a loose basis in films and casino shows featuring Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. Subsequent pictures together included Sergeants 3 and Robin and the 7 Hoods, although the movies' rosters of actors varied slightly according to whom Sinatra happened be angry with when casting any given film; he replaced Sammy Davis, Jr. with Steve McQueen in Never So Few and Peter Lawford with Bing Crosby in Robin and the 7 Hoods.

From his youth, Sinatra displayed sympathy for African Americans and worked both publicly and privately all his life to help them win equal rights. He played a major role in the desegregation of Nevada hotels and casinos in the 1960s. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. He often spoke from the stage on desegregation and repeatedly played benefits on behalf of Dr. King and his movement. According to his son, Frank Sinatra, Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at a concert in 1963 as Sinatra sang Ol' Man River, a song from the musical Show Boat that is sung by an African-American stevedore.

On September 11 and 12, 1961, Sinatra recorded his final songs for Capitol.

In 1962, he starred with Janet Leigh and Laurence Harvey in the political thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, playing Bennett Marco. That same year, Sinatra and Count Basie collaborated for the album Sinatra-Basie. This popular and successful release prompted them to rejoin two years later for the follow-up It Might as Well Be Swing, which was arranged by Quincy Jones. One of Sinatra's more ambitious albums from the mid-1960s, The Concert Sinatra, was recorded with a 73-piece symphony orchestra on 35mm tape.

Sinatra's first live album, Sinatra at the Sands, was recorded during January and February 1966 at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra

In June 1965, Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Dean Martin played live in Saint Louis to benefit Dismas House. The Rat Pack concert was broadcast live via satellite to numerous movie theaters across America. Released in August 1965 was the Grammy Award–winning album of the year, September of My Years, containing the single "It Was A Very Good Year", which won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance, Male in 1966. A career anthology, A Man and His Music, followed in November, winning Album of the Year at the Grammys in 1966. The TV special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, garnered both an Emmy award and a Peabody Award.

In the spring, That's Life appeared, with both the single and album becoming Top Ten hits in the US on Billboard's pop charts. Strangers in the Night went on to top the Billboard and UK pop singles charts, winning the award for Record of the Year at the Grammys. The album of the same name also topped the Billboard chart and reached number 4 in the UK.

Sinatra started 1967 with a series of important recording sessions with Antônio Carlos Jobim. Later in the year, a duet with daughter Nancy, "Somethin' Stupid", topped the Billboard pop and UK singles charts. In December, Sinatra collaborated with Duke Ellington on the album Francis A. & Edward K..

During the late 1960s, press agent Lee Solters would invite columnists and their spouses into Sinatra's dressing room just before he was about to go on stage. The New Yorker recounted that "the first columnist they tried this on was Larry Fields of the Philadelphia Daily News, whose wife fainted when Sinatra kissed her cheek. 'Take care of it, Lee,' Sinatra said, and he was off." The professional relationship Sinatra shared with Solters focused on projects on the west coast while those focused on the east coast were handled by Solters' partner, Sheldon Roskin of Solters/Roskin/Friedman, a well-known firm at the time.^[38]

Back on the small-screen, Sinatra once again worked with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald on the TV special, A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim.

Watertown (1970) was one of Sinatra's most acclaimed concept albums^[39] but was all but ignored by the public. Selling a mere 30,000 copies and reaching a peak chart position of 101, its failure put an end to plans for a television special based on the album.

With Sinatra in mind, singer-songwriter Paul Anka wrote the song "My Way", inspired from the French "Comme d'habitude" ("As Usual"), composed by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. (The song had been previously commissioned to David Bowie, whose lyrics did not please the involved agents.) "My Way" would, ironically, become more closely identified with him than any other song over his seven decades as a singer even though he reputedly did not care for it.

1970–80: Retirement and comeback[link]

Empress Farah Diba of Iran and Frank Sinatra, Tehran, 1975.

Frank Sinatra, with Giulio Andreotti (left) and Richard Nixon at the White House, 1973.

On June 13, 1971 – at a concert in Hollywood to raise money for the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund – at the age of 55, Sinatra announced that he was retiring, bringing to an end his 36-year career in show business.

In 1973, Sinatra came out of retirement with a television special and album, both entitled Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. The album, arranged by Gordon Jenkins and Don Costa, was a great success, reaching number 13 on Billboard and number 12 in the UK. The TV special was highlighted by a dramatic reading of "Send in the Clowns" and a song and dance sequence with former co-star Gene Kelly.

In January 1974, Sinatra returned to Las Vegas, performing at Caesars Palace despite vowing in 1970 never to play there again after the manager of the resort, Sanford Waterman, pulled a gun on him during a heated argument.^[11]:436 With Waterman recently shot, the door was open for Sinatra to return.

In Australia, he caused an uproar by describing journalists there – who were aggressively pursuing his every move and pushing for a press conference – as "fags", "pimps", and "whores". Australian unions representing transport workers, waiters, and journalists went on strike, demanding that Sinatra apologize for his remarks.^[11]:464 Sinatra instead insisted that the journalists apologize for "fifteen years of abuse I have taken from the world press".^[11]:464 The future Prime Minister of Australia, Bob Hawke, then the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) leader, also insisted that Sinatra apologize, and a settlement was eventually reached to the apparent satisfaction of both parties,^[11]:464 Sinatra's final show of his Australian tour was televised to the nation.

In October 1974, Sinatra appeared at New York City's Madison Square Garden in a televised concert that was later released as an album under the title The Main Event – Live. Backing him was bandleader Woody Herman and the Young Thundering Herd, who accompanied Sinatra on a European tour later that month. The TV special garnered mostly positive reviews while the album – actually culled from various shows during his comeback tour – was only a moderate success, peaking at No.37 on Billboard and No.30 in the UK.

In August 1975, Sinatra held several back-to-back concerts together with the newly-risen singer, John Denver. Soon they became friends with each other. John Denver later appeared as a guest in the Sinatra and friends TV Special, singing "September Song" together with Sinatra. Sinatra covered the John Denver hits "My Sweet Lady" and "Leaving on a Jet Plane". And, according to Denver, his song "A Baby Just Like You" was written at Sinatra's request.

In 1979, in front of the Egyptian pyramids, Sinatra performed for Anwar Sadat. Back in Las Vegas, while celebrating 40 years in show business and his 64th birthday, he was awarded the Grammy Trustees Award during a party at Caesars Palace.

[edit] 1980–90: Trilogy, She Shot Me Down, L.A. Is My Lady

Sinatra sings with then First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House.

In 1980, Sinatra's first album in six years was released, Trilogy: Past Present Future, a highly ambitious triple album that found Sinatra recording songs from the past (pre-rock era) and present (rock era and contemporary) that he had overlooked during his career, while 'The Future' was a free-form suite of new songs linked à la musical theater by a theme, in this case, Sinatra pondering over the future. The album garnered six Grammy nominations – winning for best liner notes – and peaked at number 17 on Billboard's album chart, while spawning yet another song that would become a signature tune, "Theme from New York, New York", as well as Sinatra's much lauded (second) recording of George Harrison's "Something" (the first was not officially released on an album until 1972's Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2).

The following year, Sinatra built on the success of Trilogy with She Shot Me Down, an album that revisited the dark tone of his Capitol years, and was praised by critics as a vintage late-period Sinatra. Sinatra would comment that it was "A complete saloon album... tear-jerkers and cry-in-your-beer kind of things".^[40]

Also in 1981, Sinatra was embroiled in controversy when he worked a ten-day engagement for $2 million in Sun City, South Africa, breaking a cultural boycott against apartheid-era South Africa. See Artists United Against Apartheid

He was selected as one of the five recipients of the 1983 Kennedy Center Honors, alongside Katharine Dunham, James Stewart, Elia Kazan, and Virgil Thomson. Quoting Henry James in honoring his old friend, President Ronald Reagan said that "art was the shadow of humanity" and that Sinatra had "spent his life casting a magnificent and powerful shadow".^[11]:544

In 1984, Sinatra worked with Quincy Jones for the first time in nearly two decades on the album, L.A. Is My Lady, which was well received critically. The album was a substitute for another Jones project, an album of duets with Lena Horne, which had to be abandoned. (Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, could not wait to record.)

[edit] 1990s: Duets, final performances

In 1990, Sinatra did a national tour,^[41] and was awarded the second "Ella Award" by the Los Angeles–based Society of Singers. At the award ceremony, he performed for the final time with Ella Fitzgerald.^{[42][page needed]}

In December, as part of Sinatra's birthday celebrations, Patrick Pasculli, the Mayor of Hoboken, made a proclamation in his honor, declaring that "no other vocalist in history has sung, swung, crooned, and serenaded into the hearts of the young and old... as this consummate artist from Hoboken."^[42]:407 The same month Sinatra gave the first show of his Diamond Jubilee Tour at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 1993 Sinatra made a surprise return to Capitol and the recording studio for Duets, which was released in November.

The other artists who added their vocals to the album worked for free, and a follow-up album (Duets II) was released in 1994 that reached No.9 on the Billboard charts.

Still touring despite various health problems, Sinatra remained a top concert attraction on a global scale during the first half of the 1990s. At times during concerts his memory failed him and a fall onstage in Richmond, Virginia, in March 1994, signaled further problems.

Sinatra's final public concerts were held in Japan's Fukuoka Dome in December, 1994. The following year, on February 25, 1995, at a private party for 1200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. Esquire reported of the show that Sinatra was "clear, tough, on the money" and "in absolute control". His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come".

Sinatra was awarded the Legend Award at the 1994 Grammy Awards, where he was introduced by Bono, who said of him, "Frank's the chairman of the bad attitude... Rock 'n roll plays at being tough, but this guy is the boss—the chairman of boss... I'm not going to mess with him, are you?"^[43] Sinatra called it "the best welcome...I ever had", but his acceptance speech ran too long and was abruptly cut off, leaving him looking confused and talking into a dead microphone.^[44] Later in the telecast, Billy Joel protested the decision to cut Sinatra off by leaving a long pause in the middle of his song "The River of Dreams" in order to waste "valuable advertising time".^[45]

In 1995, to mark Sinatra's 80th birthday, the Empire State Building glowed blue. A star-studded birthday tribute, Sinatra: 80 Years My Way, was held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. At the end of the program Sinatra graced the stage for the last time to sing the final notes of "New York, New York" with an ensemble. It was Sinatra's last televised appearance.

In recognition of his many years of association with Las Vegas, Frank Sinatra was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 1997.^[46]