Madison Square Garden

On this day, at a gala held in Madison Square Garden, Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy birthday, Mr President” for John F. Kennedy’s 45th birthday in front of 15,000 guests. The event was a fund-raising gala for the democratic party and took place 10 days before the president’s actual birthday. Marilyn wore an alluring, skintight dress and sang “Happy birthday, Mr President” in a sultry, intimate voice, continuing with a snippet from the classic 1938 song, “Thanks for the Memory“, for which she had written new lyrics specifically aimed at Kennedy. When Kennedy came on stage, he said jokingly, “I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.” The performance was one of Monroe’s last major public appearances before her death less than three months later.