Marilyn Monroe sang President John F. Kennedy “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” in Madison Square Garden on this day in 1962. It was an odd event by today’s standards even without Monroe’s now-famous song, with a major national venue filled for a president’s birthday. But the show (actually a political fundraiser for the Democratic Party) really made the history books because of the intimate, and then-controversial, performance.
In a development that was probably for the best, First Lady Jackie Kennedy rarely attended political events, so she wasn’t there to see Monroe sing. A few months after the event that has lived on as one of Monroe’s most famous performances, she passed away at age 36.
In 2016, the garment she wore at the performance was sold at an auction for $4.8 million, effectively making it the most expensive dress out there. It’s now kept in a vault by the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum chain. Controversially, it allowed Kim Kardashian to wear the dress to the 2022 Met Gala, which many experts said resulted in permanent damage to the historical artifact (something Ripley’s denies).
