On This Day: January 12 – Time Rewind

On This Day January 12

Musical Milestones

1963 – “Go Away Little Girl,” by Steve Lawrence, begins two weeks on top of the singles chart.

1974 – Jim Croce starts a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim.”

1974 – The Steve Miller Band has the No. 1 single in the U.S. with “The Joker,” off the album of the same name.

1980 – “Escape (The Piña Colada Song),” by Rupert Holmes, is the most popular single in the U.S.

1985 – “Like a Virgin,” by Madonna, is in the middle of six-weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart.

1991 – Madonna rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Justify My Love.”

2002 – “How You Remind Me,” by Nickelback, begins its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single.

2003 – Maurice Gibb of the celebrated musical trio, the Bee Gees, dies of a heart attack at the age of 53 after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery at a Miami hospital.

2013 – The 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow used by Queen frontman Freddie Mercury until his 1991 death sells at auction for £74,000 to a Russian businessman.

History Highlights

1904 – Driving his “999” Arrow Racer, automotive pioneer Henry Ford sets a land speed record of 91.37 miles per hours on the frozen surface of Michigan’s Lake St. Clair.

1926 – The two-man comedy series “Sam ‘n’ Henry” debuts on Chicago radio station WGN. Two years later, after changing its name to “Amos ‘n’ Andy,” the show becomes one of the most popular radio programs in American history.

1932 – Hattie Wyatt Caraway, an Arkansas Democrat, becomes the first woman elected to the U.S. Senate.

1966 – The “Batman” television series debuts on ABC, starring Adam West and Burt Ward. Episodes feature acclaimed guest stars playing the various villains that battle Batman for supremacy over Gotham City.

1969 – In the most celebrated performance of his prolific career, quarterback Joe Namath leads the New York Jets to a stunning 16-7 victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in Miami.

1971 – The groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family” premieres on CBS, about a working-class Queens, New York family grappling with various social issues. It stars Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker, Jean Stapleton as his wife, Edith, Sally Struthers as their daughter, Gloria, and Rob Reiner as their son-in-law, Michael (“Meathead”). The show was the brainchild of acclaimed writer-producer Norman Lear.

1981 – A three-hour television movie serves as ABC’s pilot for the prime-time soap opera “Dynasty,” starring John Forsythe as oil tycoon Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as his wife, Crystal, and Joan Collins as Alexis, Carrington’s scheming ex-wife and business rival.

2010 – A magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastates the Caribbean island nation of Haiti. The quake — the strongest to strike the region in more than 200 years — leaves about 250,000 people dead and some 895,000 Haitians homeless.

Celebrity Birthdays

1876 – Author Jack London (“The Call of the Wild,” “White Fang”) (d. 2016)

1944 – Retired World Heavyweight Boxing champion Joe Frazier (d. 2011)

1951 – Conservative talk show host and Radio Hall of Famer Rush Limbaugh

1951 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Kirstie Alley (“Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” “Cheers,” “Shoot to Kill,” “Look Who’s Talking”)

1954 – Radio shock jock and former “America’s Got Talent” judge Howard Stern

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

You Don't Mess Around With Jim

Jim Croce

The Joker

The Steve Miller Band

Batman: The Complete First Season

Starring Adam West and Burt Ward

All in the Family: Complete First Season

Starring Jean Stapleton and Carroll O’Connor

The Call of the Wild

by Jack London

Cheers: Season 6

Starring Kirstie Alley, Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman

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