November 18, 1984, is a Sunday. By Congressional resolution, it’s the first day of National Family Week. The New York Times publishes several articles about Baby Fae, the anonymous child who died last Thursday after living 20 days with the transplanted heart of a baboon. The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub tops the Times bestseller list for fiction; Iacocca: An Autobiography, by former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca ,leads the nonfiction list. Future Avenged Sevenfold bassist Johnny Christ is born, although his parents name him Jonathan Lewis Seward. The Chuck Norris film Missing in Action tops the weekend box office. The New York City Opera’s production of Sweeney Todd closes after 13 performances.
In the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins suffer their first loss of the season to San Diego, 34-28. The San Francisco 49ers are also 11-and-1 after a 24-17 win over Tampa Bay. Tim Lewis of the Green Bay Packers sets a team record with a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 31-6 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Geoff Bodine wins the final NASCAR race of the season, but Terry Labonte wins the Winston Cup championship. (more…)
I myself was skeptical of the president’s birthplace until he drank a domestic beer — Bud Light — at 
Rick Springfield is getting something of a career re-boot this week. Twenty-seven years after “Jessie’s Girl” and the Working Class Dog album made him one of the ’80s’ first superstars, Springfield is ubiquitous once again – if only for a few days: Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kelly, Fox and Friends, Nightline on Friday evening. He even returned to his old haunting grounds on the General Hospital set, singing his new single “What’s Victoria’s Secret?” in the guise of aging rocker Eli Love. (See, Love is a doppelganger for Springfield’s classic character, Dr. Noah Drake, who one time had to fill in when Eli … oh, never mind.)