On This Day - Time Rewind

On This Day April 14

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On This Day April 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1743 – Third U.S. president and Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson (d. 1826)

1923 – Emmy-winning actor-comedian Don Adams, best known for his role as secret agent Maxwell Smart in the NBC sitcom “Get Smart” (d. 2005)

1939 – Actor Paul Sorvino (“Goodfellas,” “Law & Order,” “The Firm”) (d. 2022)

1946 – Grammy-winning soul singer-songwriter, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and minister Al Green (“Let’s Stay Together,” “I’m Still In Love With You”)

1950 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ron Perlman (“Beauty and the Beast,” “Hellboy,” “Sons of Anarchy”)

1963 – Russian chess Grandmaster and former World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov

1970 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ricky Schroder (“The Champ,” “Silver Spoons,” “Lonesome Dove,” “NYPD Blue”)

History Highlights

1928 – German pilot Hermann Köhl, Irish aviator James Fitzmaurice and Baron Ehrenfried Günther Freiherr von Hünefeld complete the first Europe to North America transatlantic flight, taking off from Ireland and landing safely on a small Canadian island.

1964 – Sidney Poitier becomes the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in “Lilies of the Field.”

1970 – The phrase “Houston, we’ve had a problem” is immortalized in a radio transmission from the crew of Apollo 13 after an explosion in an oxygen tank forces cancellation of a planned moon landing. NASA’s priority quickly becomes finding a way to get the astronauts safely home as they begin losing precious oxygen and power.

1972 – The first strike in the history of Major League Baseball ends 13 days after players walk off the field.

1976 – The Federal Reserve begins issuing $2 bicentennial notes.

1997 – Tiger Woods wins the Masters Tournament for the first time. At 21, he becomes the youngest man to win the title, and the first African American man to ever win a major. Woods had only turned pro eight months earlier.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up” tops what Billboard then called the Best Sellers in Stores chart — later becoming the Hot 100. The single remains at No. 1 for eight weeks.

1958 – A 13-year-old British boy named Laurie London turns an American gospel song into commercial success, as “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” begins four weeks on top of the U.S. singles chart. However, it is to be London’s only hit and charting single. So, it can be said that in the pre-Beatles era, this was the most successful record by a British male singer in the U.S.

1964 – The Beatles shoot chase scenes for “A Hard Day’s Night” with actors dressed as policemen in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. That evening, the Fab Four record the movie’s title track at Abbey Road Studios.

1968 – Bobby Goldsboro’s “Honey” begins a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1974 – “Bennie and the Jets,” from Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album, kicks off a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – The charity single “We Are the World,” featuring dozens of famous pop artists collaborating for African famine relief, begins four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2000 – Metallica files a copyright infringement lawsuit against the online music file sharing company Napster for allowing the illegal swapping of the band’s music. The case is the first in an ongoing love-hate relationship between the music industry and the Internet.

On This Day April 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Human rights advocate Ethel Kennedy, widow of assassinated U.S. Senator and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy

1932 – Oscar and Tony-winning actor, singer and dancer Joel Grey, born Joel David Katz, best known for his role in both the screen and stage versions of “Cabaret”

1939 – Actress Louise Lasser (“Take the Money and Run,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”)

1987 – Grammy-winning British soul singer-songwriter and actress Joss Stone (“Super Duper,” “Fell in Love with a Boy,” “Spoiled,” “Right to Be Wrong”)

History Highlights

1814 – An alliance of European nations signs a treaty removing Napoleon Bonaparte from the French throne and banishing him to the small Italian isle of Elba.

1945 – American troops liberate Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis during World War II.

1951 – In one of the most famous civilian-military confrontations in United States history, President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of command of American forces in Korea.

1968 – One week after the assassination of civil rights crusader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law, banning housing discrimination.

1970 – Apollo 13 blasts off on a mechanically flawed mission that denies astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert a moon landing.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan is released from the hospital 12 days after he was shot outside a Washington D.C. hotel in an assassination attempt.

2001 – President George W. Bush announces that the Chinese government has agreed to release the crew of a U.S. spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet, killing the pilot.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Movie music dominates the pop chart as Percy Faith’s “Theme From A Summer Place” remains at No. 1 for an eighth consecutive week. The track holds the top spot for a total of nine weeks and goes on to capture a Grammy for Record of the Year.

1964 – “Can’t Buy Me Love,” by The Beatles, is in the middle of five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1970 – The Beatles’ “Let It Be” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for two weeks. It is the Fab Four’s last hit before their break-up.

1981 – Rocker Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli (“One Day at a Time”) tie the knot, The marriage lasts until 2007, when their divorce is finalized.

1981 – Darryl Hall & John Oates have the No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Kiss on My List.” The song remains on top of that list for three weeks.

1988 – Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley (of The Righteous Brothers) perform “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” at the Academy Awards. The song, from the “Dirty Dancing” movie soundtrack, becomes the third one by Warnes to capture an Oscar.

1992 – “Save the Best for Last,” by Vanessa Williams, is parked at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. It holds the top spot for five weeks.

1998 – “All My Life,” by R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, is midway through a three-week domination of the Billboard pop chart.

2006 – June Pointer, the youngest of the four Pointer Sisters, who went from teenage gospel singers to the top of the pop chart with hits like “‘Fire,” “Slow Hand” and “I’m So Excited,” dies of cancer at the age of 52.

2009 – The Billboard Hot 100 deals Lady Gaga a favorable hand as “Poker Face” begins a week at No. 1. The track, which also tops the charts in 19 other countries, wins Best Dance Recording honors at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

On This Day April 10

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Celebrity Birthdays

1921 – Professional baseball and basketball player-turned-actor Chuck Connors (“The Rifleman”) (d. 1992)

1929 – Actor Max von Sydow (“The Seventh Seal,” “The Exorcist,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Pelle The Conqueror,” “Minority Report,” “Game of Thrones”) (d. 2020)

1932 – Golden Globe Award-winning actor Omar Sharif (“Lawrence of Arabia,” “Doctor Zhivago,” “Funny Girl”) (d. 2015)

1936 – Pro Football Hall of Famer, retired NFL coach and sportscaster John Madden

1952 – Actor, producer and martial artist Steven Seagal (“Above the Law,” “Under Siege,” “Executive Decision,” “The Patriot”)

1959 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter and music producer Babyface, born Kenneth Edmonds

1984 – Singer-songwriter and actress Mandy Moore (“Candy,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Tangled,” “This Is Us”)

1988 – Actor Haley Joel Osment (“Forrest Gump,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Pay It Forward,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Entourage”)

History Highlights

1790 – President George Washington signs a bill establishing the U.S. Patent system as a means of protecting the rights of inventors for their creations.

1849 – New York mason Walter Hunt is granted U.S. Patent #6,281 for his safety pin invention, which he fashioned from a single piece of wire.

1866 – A major step toward protecting the welfare of animals is taken on this day when philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh establishes the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

1912 – The luxury liner Titanic sets sail from Southampton, England on its fateful voyage to New York.

1953 – The first color 3-D movie to be released by a major studio opens in New York. It’s “House of Wax,” starring Vincent Price and directed by André De Toth. In addition to sparking the 3-D movie craze of the 1950s, this motion picture also launched Price’s long and successful career as a star of the horror genre.

1963 – All 129 crewmen die when the nuclear submarine USS Thresher sinks some 300 miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while conducting drills.

1971 – The U.S. table tennis team begins a week-long visit to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the invitation of China’s communist government. The well-publicized trip is part of the PRC’s efforts to build closer diplomatic relations with the United States.

Musical Milestones

1954 – “Wanted,” by Perry Como, begins an eight-week run on top of the pop chart.

1965 – Freddie and the Dreamers, known for their unique dance gyrations while performing, hold the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m Telling You Now.”

1970 – Paul McCartney issues a press statement — more of a self-interview — announcing the breakup of The Beatles. McCartney wrote, “I have no future plans to record or appear with The Beatles again, or to write any music with John (Lennon).”

1971 – Motown sensation The Temptations have the No. 1 single with “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me).”

1976 – The biggest-selling live album in rock history hits the top of the U.S. album chart and remains there for 10 weeks. It’s “Frampton Comes Alive!” by British singer-songwriter Peter Frampton. An estimated 11 million copies have been sold worldwide.

1993 – One-hit-wonder Snow is in the middle of seven weeks atop the pop chart with “Informer.”

1999 – The female trio TLC kicks off four weeks as chart-toppers with “No Scrubs.”

On This Day April 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1898 – Stage actor, singer and civil rights crusader Paul Robeson (d. 1976)

1926 – Playboy magazine founder and publisher Hugh Hefner (d. 2017)

1928 – Singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, and mathematician Tom Lehrer

1954 – Actor Dennis Quaid (“Breaking Away,” “The Right Stuff,” “Enemy Mine,” “Innerspace,” “Postcards From the Edge,” “The Parent Trap,” “Frequency,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “In Good Company,” “A Dog’s Purpose”)

1966 – Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning actress Cynthia Nixon, best known as Miranda Hobbes in “Sex and the City”

1990 – Actress Kristen Stewart (“Panic Room,” “Zathura,” “The Twilight Saga,” “Snow White and the Huntsman”)

1998 – Actress Elle Fanning (“I Am Sam,” “Phoebe in Wonderland,” “Super 8,” “We Bought a Zoo,” “Low Down,” “Maleficent,” “Trumbo”)

History Highlights

1865 – Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Virginia, ending the American Civil War.

1959 – Six months after its creation, NASA holds a news conference to introduce the U.S. Air Force pilots that were to become America’s first astronauts – the Mercury Seven: Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.

1962 – “West Side Story” sweeps the Academy Awards, winning 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Actress and Best Director.

1965 – The Houston Astrodome, the world’s first domed stadium and so-called “Eighth Wonder of the World,” opens to the public with a sold-out exhibition game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees. President Lyndon B. Johnson is in attendance as the Astros prevail 2-1.

1972 – Jane Fonda wins the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as a call girl who witnesses a crime in “Klute,” co-starring Donald Sutherland.

Musical Milestones

1966 – “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” by The Righteous Brothers, launches a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1969 – Columbia Records releases Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline” album, showcasing Dylan’s foray into country music. It spawns the hit “Lay Lady Lay,” which climbs as high as No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1977 – “Dancing Queen,” by ABBA, becomes the Swedish band’s first and only No. 1 single in the U.S. The song holds the top spot for a week.

1978 – Donna Summer’s “Last Dance,” from the “Thank God It’s Friday” soundtrack, captures an Oscar for Best Original Song at the 51st annual Academy Awards.

1988 – Billy Ocean kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car.”

1994 – “Bump n’ Grind,” by R. Kelly, begins four weeks as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

On This Day April 8

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Celebrity Birthdays

1892 – Actress Mary Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” as she became a legend of the silent film era (d. 1979)

1918 – Former First Lady and treatment center founder Betty Ford, noted for her candor about her battles with breast cancer and addiction

1938 – Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, along with the U.N., won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 (d. 2018)

1963 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Julian Lennon (“Too Late for Goodbyes,” “Valotte”)

1966 – Golden Globe-winning actress Robin Wright (“The Princess Bride,” “Forrest Gump,” “House of Cards”)

1968 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Patricia Arquette (“True Romance,” “Flirting With Disaster,” “Medium,” “Boyhood,” “Severance”)

History Highlights

1974 – Playing for the Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron hits the 715th home run of his career, breaking the record set by Babe Ruth in 1935. The historic shot is hit off of Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers into the left field bullpen at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

1985 – The government of India files suit against Union Carbide for the Bhopal disaster which killed more than 2,200 people.

1986 – Actor-director Clint Eastwood is elected mayor of Carmel, California, and serves for two years.

1990 – Filmmaker David Lynch’s surreal prime-time series, “Twin Peaks,” premieres on ABC. Set in a small fictional logging town, strange and intriguing characters and their relationships are revealed as investigators try to solve the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer.

1990 – Ryan White, a national symbol of the AIDS crisis, dies at the age of 18.

1992 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe stuns the world when he announces that he has AIDS, acquired from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery he underwent in 1983. Ashe, the first black man to win Wimbledon, dies from the disease less than a year later at age 49.

2013 – Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain, dies in London at the age of 87 from a stroke. Serving from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. She was nicknamed the “Iron Lady” because of her her fierce determination and unyielding will.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Diana Ross and The Supremes record “Where Did Our Love Go,” which eventually becomes the first of the girl group’s five No. 1 singles.

1967 – The Turtles’ “Happy Together” marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1972 – America gallops into its third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Horse with No Name.”

1975 – “Toys in the Attic,” the third studio album from Aerosmith, is released. It contains the hit singles “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” and becomes the Boston rockers’ best-selling album to date, with more than 8 million copies sold.

1989 – “The Look” by Roxette is the No. 1 single and becomes the Swedish duo’s international breakthrough hit after success in Europe.

1994 – The body of grunge music icon and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is found in his Seattle home three days after taking his own life.

1995 – “Take a Bow” marks its seventh and final week as a No. 1 single, becoming Madonna’s longest-reigning chart-topper.

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, kicks off 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track goes on to capture the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

2006 – Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter begins five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bad Day.”

2017 – “Shape of You,” by Ed Sheeran, rules the U.S. singles chart. The track enjoys 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and also tops the charts in 33 other countries.

On This Day April 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1915 – Legendary jazz and blues singer-songwriter Billie Holliday, born Eleanora Fagan (d. 1959)

1920 – Indian musician-composer Ravi Shankar, who popularized the sitar and Indian classical music in Western culture (d. 2012)

1928 – Golden Globe-winning actor James Garner (“The Rockford Files,” “Maverick,” “The Notebook”) (d. 2014)

1939 – British TV talk show host David Frost, most remembered for his revealing interview series with U.S. President Richard Nixon (d. 2013)

1939 – Oscar-winning director-producer-screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather” series, “Apocalypse Now,” “Cotton Club,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”)

1954 – Actor, martial artist, stuntman and choreographer Jackie Chan (“Rumble in the Bronx,” “Rush Hour” series, “Shanghai Knights”,”Kung-Fu Panda” franchise)

1964 – Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe (“L.A. Confidential,” “The Insider,” “Gladiator,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Cinderella Man,” “American Gangster,” “Les Misérables”, “Man of Steel”)

History Highlights

1776 – U.S. Navy Captain John Barry (a.k.a. “Father of the American Navy”), commander of the warship Lexington, achieves the first American naval capture of a British vessel when he seizes the British warship HMS Edward off the coast of Virginia. The capture of the Edward and its cargo turns Barry into a national hero and boosts the morale of the Continental forces.

1948 – The United Nations establishes the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote “the highest possible level of health” around the globe. A major cornerstone of WHO is the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease. World Health Day is observed internationally every April 7.

1954 – President Dwight Eisenhower coins one of the most famous Cold War phrases when he suggests the fall of French Indochina to the communists could create a “domino effect” in Southeast Asia. The so-called “domino theory” guided U.S. strategy toward Vietnam for the next decade.

1961 – President John F. Kennedy lobbies Congress to fund the preservation of historic monuments in Egypt’s Nile Valley threatened by construction of the Aswan High Dam.

1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court strikes down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material (Stanley v. Georgia).

1970 – At the 42nd annual Academy Awards, screen legend John Wayne ropes his first and only Oscar: Best Actor for his role in the Western “True Grit.”

1978 – President Jimmy Carter cancels the planned production of the neutron bomb.

1994 – Violence in Rwanda fuels the launch of what becomes the worst episode of genocide since World War II: the massacre of an estimated 500,000 to 1 million innocent civilian Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Mick Jagger and Keith Richards meet Brian Jones at the Ealing Jazz Club in London and begin laying the groundwork for formation of The Rolling Stones.

1973 – Comedian Vicki Lawrence finds success as a vocalist, claiming the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” which holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

1984 – This day marks a second British Invasion, as an unprecedented 40 singles by British artists hold sway on the Billboard Hot 100. Two are in the Top-10: “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins (No. 3) and “Here Comes the Rain Again” by The Eurythmics ( No. 4).

1984 – Kenny Loggins holds the top position on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Footloose,” from the movie of the same name, starring Kevin Bacon.

1985 – Wham! becomes the first Western pop group to play in China when they perform at the Worker’s Gymnasium in Beijing. Footage from their trip appears in the video for their song “Freedom.”

1990 – “Love Will Lead You Back,” by Taylor Dayne, lands on top of the singles chart for a week.

2001 – “Butterfly,” by Crazy Town, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week.

2007 – Akon begins two weeks on top of the singles chart with “Don’t Matter.”

On This Day April 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1937 – Actor Billy Dee Williams, best known for his portrayal of Lando Calrissian in “Star Wars Episode V” and “Star Wars Episode VI”

1937 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Merle Haggard (d. 2016)

1947 – Actor John Ratzenberger, best known for playing letter carrier Cliff Clavin in the sitcom “Cheers” and being the voice of Hamm, the piggy bank, in Pixar’s “Toy Story” trilogy

1952 – Actress and author Marilu Henner (“Taxi,” “Evening Shade,” “The Celebrity Apprentice”)

1969 – Actor Paul Rudd (“Clueless,” “The Object Of My Affection,” “Anchorman,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Ant-Man”)

1975 – Grammy-winning actor-director Zach Braff (“Scrubs,” “Garden State,” “Oz the Great and Powerful,” “Going in Style”)

History Highlights

1896 – Opening ceremonies for the first Olympic Games of the modern era take place in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens 1,500 years after the event was banned by Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Some 80,000 spectators welcome about 240 athletes from 14 countries to the international competition, which featured nine sports.

1917 – Two days after the U.S. Senate votes 82 to 6 to declare war against Germany, the U.S. House of Representatives endorses the decision by a vote of 373 to 50, and the United States formally enters World War I.

1938 – Roy Plunkett invents Teflon, whose non-stick properties revolutionize cooking.

1947 – The first Tony Awards for theatrical achievement are handed out. The Tonys are named after actress-director-producer Antoinette Perry, the dynamic wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing who had recently died.

1973 – Major League Baseball’s American League uses a designated hitter for the first time.

1980 – The 3M company revolutionizes the workplace when it introduces Post-it notes, which adorn computer monitors, cubicle partitions and walls the world over.

Musical Milestones

1963 – The Chiffons are in the midst of a four-week domination of the singles chart with “He’s So Fine” which was written by Ronnie Mack.

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel reach No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with the soundtrack to the movie “The Graduate,” featuring their hits “The Sound of Silence” and “Mrs. Robinson.”

1974 – “Hooked on a Feeling,” by Blue Swede, is the No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – Phil Collins’ “One More Night” begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1991 – “Coming Out of the Dark,” by Gloria Estefan, kicks off its second and final week on top of the pop chart.

1998 – Country singer Tammy Wynette dies in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 55. Known as the First Lady of Country Music, Wynette scored 12 hit singles including “Stand By Your Man,” and sold more than 30 million records world-wide.

1999 – An all-star tribute to singer-songwriter Johnny Cash takes place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, with Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak, Willie Nelson and U2 all performing for the special, broadcast on TNT.

On This Day April 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1900 – Oscar-winning actor Spencer Tracy (“Boys Town,” “Inherit the Wind,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”) (d. 1967)

1908 – Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis, known as “The First Lady of the American Screen” (“Jezebel,” “All About Eve,” “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”) (d. 1989)

1916 – Oscar-winning actor Gregory Peck (“The Keys of the Kingdom,” “Gentleman’s Agreement,” “To Kill a Mockingbird”) (d. 2003)

1926 – Producer-director Roger Corman, known as “The Pope of Pop Cinema” (“The Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Raven,” “Piranha,” ” Rock ‘n’ Roll High School”)

1937 – Soldier-turned-statesman Colin Powell, a four-star U.S. general who became the first African American secretary of state in 2001

1941 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Michael Moriarty (“Bang the Drum Slowly,” “Holocaust,” “Law & Order”)

1973 – Singer-rapper-music producer Pharrell Williams, best known for his 2014 smash “Happy,” from the movie “Despicable Me 2.”

History Highlights

1614 – Pocahontas, daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indian confederacy, weds English tobacco planter John Rolfe in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage ensures peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Powhatan Indians for several years.

1951 – A federal judge sentences Julius and Ethel Rosenberg to death for their roles in passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. The couple had been convicted of their crimes a week earlier. They are executed by electric chair in 1953, becoming the only two American civilians to be executed for Cold War espionage.

1965 – Movie musicals sweep the Oscars. At the 37th Academy Awards, “My Fair Lady” wins Best Picture, while its star, Rex Harrison, wins Best Actor. Singer/actress Julie Andrews wins Best Actress for her role in “Mary Poppins.”

1971 – Canadian Fran Phipps becomes the first woman to reach the North Pole.

1987 – The sitcom “Married…With Children” debuts on Fox and ultimately lasts 11 seasons, becoming the network’s longest-running live action series.

2000 – Lee Petty, an early star of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) and the patriarch of a racing dynasty that includes his son, NASCAR legend Richard Petty, dies at the age 86. Lee Petty won more than 50 races during his career.

Musical Milestones

1969 – Tommy Roe enjoys his fourth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Dizzy.”

1975 – “Lovin’ You,” by Minnie Riperton, tops the Billboard Hot 100. At the end of the track, you can hear her sing, “Maya, Maya” to her daughter, actress-comedian and “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph. Tragically, Riperton dies of breast cancer four years later at the age of 31.

1980 – “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II,” by Pink Floyd, is the No. 1 single.

1984 – The funeral service for Motown legend Marvin Gaye takes place at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and other Motown talent are on hand to pay their respects.

1985 – At 3:50 p.m. GMT, more than 5,000 radio stations around the world simultaneously broadcast the single “We Are the World,” produced as a charity to benefit Ethiopian famine relief. The single, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, features the voices of some of the biggest musical acts of the day.

1994 – Grunge music icon Kurt Cobain, Nirvana founder and frontman, commits suicide at age 27. His body is discovered at his Seattle home three days later by an electrician who showed up to install a security system.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, is in the middle of a six-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – Another grunge legend, singer-songwriter Layne Staley, co-founder and lead vocalist of alternative rock band Alice in Chains, is found dead in his Seattle home from a drug overdose at the age of 34.

2008 – Leona Lewis has the No. 1 single with “Bleeding Love.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

2014 – Pharrell Williams holds the top spot on the singles chart with “Happy,” which remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks.

On This Day April 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson (d. 2014)

1944 – Actor Craig T. Nelson (“Poltergeist,” “Coach,” “The Incredibles,” “Parenthood”)

1960 – Actor Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “V For Vendetta,” “The Hobbit” film series, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Hacksaw Ridge”)

1965 – Golden Globe-winning actor Robert Downey, Jr. (“Less Than Zero,” “Chaplin,” “Ally McBeal,” the “Iron Man” and “Avengers/MCU” and “Sherlock Holmes” movies, “The Judge”)

1966 – Actress Nancy McKeon (“The Facts of Life,” “The Division”)

1979 – Actor Heath Ledger (“10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Patriot,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Dark Knight”) (d. 2008)

History Highlights

1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by the U.S. and 11 other Western nations.

1960 – William Wyler’s Technicolor epic ,”Ben-Hur,” sets an Academy Awards record when it sweeps 11 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston).

1968 – A sniper shoots and kills civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, on the balcony of a Memphis, Tennessee motel. As word of the assassination spreads, riots erupt in cities across the U.S., and National Guard troops are deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. In 1991, the murder scene—the Lorraine Motel—is dedicated as part of the National Civil Rights Museum.

1969 – CBS cancels the most popular show on TV at the time, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” because the brothers failed to submit their script to network executives to review before broadcast.

1973 – A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held in New York’s Lower Manhattan to dedicate the original World Trade Center. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC, or the North Tower, and 2 WTC, the South Tower, would provide nearly 10 million square feet of office space. Reaching more than a quarter of a mile into the sky, the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period, the tallest buildings in the world.

1975 – At a time when most Americans are using typewriters, childhood friends and self-proclaimed computer geeks Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four years later, they relocate the business to Washington State and grow it into a major multinational technology corporation.

1986 – The last episode of NBC’s “Knight Rider,” starring David Hasselhoff as private eye Michael Knight, airs on this day.

2007 – Radio shock jock Don Imus makes offensive remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team on the air, creating a firestorm of criticism across the country. Imus apologizes and loses his job, but ultimately is able to salvage his career.

2013 – Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV’s Sneak Previews program for 31 years, dies at the age of 70 after battling cancer.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles simultaneously claim the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Can’t Buy Me Love” at No. 1 where it remains for five weeks. Never before, and not since, has a single act achieved that kind of musical monopoly.

1970 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, begins its sixth and final week as a Billboard No. 1. The track goes on to capture five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, is in its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1987 – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship is No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for two weeks. The song appears in the movie “Mannequin,” starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1998 – K-Ci & JoJo rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “All My Life.”

2009 – Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha wraps up a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” a track that samples the chorus of the 1984 Dead or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”