August 25, 2001: Aaliyah Is Killed In a Plane Crash

You might be cool, but you probably won't be

cool enough to wear a T-shirt with

your own face on it and get away with it.

August 25, 2001: Aaliyah Dana Houghton, the hip-hop-influenced singer known professionally by just her first name, is killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas.

Aaliyah was born on January 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, and grew up in Detroit. She was related by marriage to singer Gladys Knight, and saw her in concert many times. In 1989, she appeared on the talent show Star Search, singing "My Funny Valentine." She graduated from The Detroit School of Arts with a 4.0 grade point average.

In 1994, only 15, she released her 1st album, titled Age Ain't Nothing But a Number. It was successful, but the title proved problematic. It was eventually revealed that, on August 31, 1994, Aaliyah had married Chicago-based singer Robert Kelly, a.k.a. R. Kelly. He was 27. On the marriage certificate, she listed her age as 18. She was actually 15.

Both denied the marriage, but it was discovered, and annulled due to her being underage. There was a rumor of pregnancy, including the alleged fact that he only married her because of it, but no child was born, nor is there any known record of an abortion. She later described him as "a bad man," and the marriage was used as evidence in his later trial for statutory rape.

She released the albums One in a Million in 1996, and Aaliyah in 2001. In 2000, she began an acting career, starring in Romeo Must Die. Her song from that film, "Try Again," hit Number 1 in 2001. She had just finished filming the title role in Queen of the Damned, based on the vampire novel in Anne Rice's Lestat series. She was widely believed to have been dating record executive Damon Dash.

On August 25, 2001, she completed filming a video for "Rock the Boat," a song off Aaliyah -- not to be confused with the song of the same name, a Number 1 hit for The Hues Corporation in 1974 -- in The Bahamas. She got on board a Cessna 402, a propeller-driven plane. In 2001. She was 22, but still should have been aware enough to say, "A propeller-driven plane? Who's piloting this thing, Charles Lindbergh? Oh, hell, no, I ain't getting on that thing!" But she got on, and, shortly after takeoff, it crashed into Marsh Harbour. All 9 people on board were killed.

Tributes soon followed, including at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards. At the end of the calendar year, the U.S. Social Security Administration ranked the name Aaliyah as one of the 100 most popular names for newborn girls.

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August 25, 2001 was a Saturday. It was the opening day of the college football season, and these 4 games were played:

* Number 3 Oklahoma beat North Carolina, 41-27 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Texas Christian University (TCU), 21-7 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

* Number 22 Wisconsin beat Virginia, 26-17 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.

* And Brigham Young University (BYU) beat Tulane, 70-35 at the newly-renamed LaVell Edwards Stadium, known from its 1964 opening until 2000 as Cougar Stadium.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the team then known as the Anaheim Angels, 7-5 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Roger Clemens was the winning pitcher. Paul O'Neill and Bernie Williams hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 1-for-5.

* The New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Rey Ordóñez singled home Jay Payton with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with 2 walks -- neither of them intentional.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 4-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-0 at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Kelvim Escobar pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves, 8-7 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Chicago White Sox, 8-4 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Florida Marlins, 7-1 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Astros, 8-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sammy Sosa went 0-for-3 with a walk. Mark McGwire did not play: He was in his last few weeks as an active player, and had been replaced as the Cardinal 1st baseman by rookie Albert Pujols, who went 1-for-4. Despite those heavy hitters, the only home run in the game was hit by Jim Edmonds of the Cardinals.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies, 5-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 7-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 6-1 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum).

* The Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 8-7 at The Ballpark in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. (It's now named Choctaw Stadium.) The game lasted 18 innings, before a groundout by Bill Hasselman allowed Chad Curtis to score.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-2 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle. The game ended in the bottom of the 11th inning, when John Rocker, the former Atlanta loudmouth now pitching for Cleveland, made a throwing error on a David Bell grounder, allowing Al Martin to score. Ichiro Suzuki, having only the 2nd Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player season ever (though he only met the definition of "rookie" by MLB standards), did not play.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Midlands team Leicester City, 4-0 at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.