On This Day January 31

Musical Milestones

1970 – “I Want You Back” becomes the first No. 1 hit for the Jackson 5. The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & The Pips.

1976 – The Ohio Players ride to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Love Rollercoaster.”

1981 – Blondie, featuring Debbie Harry, sails to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Tide Is High,” the band’s third chart-topper.

1998 – Janet Jackson rules the pop chart with “Together Again,” a song that pays tribute to friends she lost to AIDS. It becomes her eighth No. 1 single. 

2004 – OutKast maintains a hold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart with “Hey Ya!”

2009 – “Just Dance,” by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis, wraps up three weeks at No. 1.

History Highlights

1949 – The first daytime soap opera premieres on NBC. It’s called “These Are My Children” and it runs just 15 minutes in length, airing weekdays at 5 p.m.

1950 – President Harry S. Truman publicly announces plans to support development of the hydrogen bomb. Two-and-a-half years later, the U.S. tests its first H-bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the South Pacific. 

1958 – The first American satellite, Explorer I, launches into space.

1968 – As part of the Tet Offensive, a squad of Viet Cong guerillas attacks the U.S. Embassy in Saigon.

1971 – Apollo 14, piloted by astronauts Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa, successfully launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on a manned mission to the moon.

1988 – “The Wonder Years” premieres on prime time TV. The coming-of-age tale set in the 1960s and 70s, stars Fred Savage. The last episode airs in the fall of 1993.

1990 – Los Angeles prosecutors announce that they will retry teacher Raymond Buckey, who was accused of molesting children at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California. The McMartin trials had already taken six years and cost more than $13.5 million without a single guilty verdict.

1990 – The first McDonald’s restaurant opens in Moscow.

Celebrity Birthdays

1919 – Baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball  (d. 1972)

1921 – Tony-winning singer-actress Carol Channing (“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” “Hello, Dolly!”) (d. 2019)

1929 – Actress Jean Simmons (“Guys and Dolls,” “Hamlet,” “Spartacus”) (d. 2010)

1937 – Composer Philip Glass, whose style is considered “minimalist music”

1947 – Baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan (a.k.a. The Ryan Express), who pitched for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers during a 27-year career

1959 – Actress Kelly Lynch (“Cocktail,” “Drugstore Cowboy,” “The Jacket”)

1959 – Actor Anthony LaPaglia (“So I Married an Axe Murderer,” “Without a Trace”)

1970 – Actress Minnie Driver (“Sleepers,” “Grosse Pointe Blank,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Beautiful,” “About a Boy”)

1973 – Actress Portia de Rossi (“Sirens,” “Ally McBeal,” “Arrested Development,” “Nip/Tuck”)

1981 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and actor Justin Timberlake, who was a member of the boy band NSYNC before embarking on a solo career (“Cry Me a River,” “Rock Your Body,” “SexyBack,” “My Love,” “What Goes Around… Comes Around”)

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

Jackson 5: The Ultimate Collection

Jackson 5

Autoamerican

Blondie

Earthrise: My Adventures as an Apollo 14 Astronaut

Edgar Mitchell

The Wonder Years: Complete Series

Starring Fred Savage and Daniel Stern

Jackie Robinson: A Biography

Arnold Rampersad

Good Will Hunting

Starring Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Minnie Driver, and directed by Gus Van Sant

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