Big on family and community, Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby (1903–1977) was born on this day in Tacoma, Washington. His nickname came from a comic strip he loved called "The Bingville Bugle."

With an easygoing croon and a mellow voice, Crosby rose to fame in the 1930s through radio, then expanded his reach to films and music. He recorded over 1,600 songs—a voice of warmth through decades of evolving styles, from Hawaiian ballads to patriotic anthems.

He starred in over 60 films and won an Oscar for his role as Father O'Malley in Going My Way (1944). Alongside Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, he shared smiles and adventure in the beloved "Road to" comedies—seven in all.

Holiday Inn introduced Irving Berlin's White Christmas, a song that captured wartime longing and still echoes through the holidays.

With his pipe in hand, Crosby loved golf, trout fishing, and relaxing with his family. He once joked his epitaph should read: "He was an average guy who could carry a tune." In truth, he carried a generation through joy and hardship, with kindness and song.