On This Day: October 18 – Time Rewind

On This Day October 18

Musical Milestones

1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono are busted after cannabis is discovered in their London flat. Lennon pleads guilty for fear that Ono would be deported.

1969 – “I Can’t Get Next to You” becomes the second chart-topping single for Motown’s The Temptations. The track holds the No. 1 spot for two weeks.

1975 – John Denver’s “Windsong” is No. 1 on the U.S. album chart. It contains the hits “I’m Sorry” and “Calypso.”

1980 – Queen enters its third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Another One Bites the Dust.”

1986 – Janet Jackson starts the second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “When I Think of You,” from her “Control” album.

1997 – Elton John’s tribute to the late Diana, Princess of Wales is the No. 1 single. It is a rewritten and rerecorded version of his 1974 song, “Candle in the Wind.”

History Highlights

1867 – The U.S. formally takes possession of Alaska after purchasing the territory from Russia for $7.2 million, or less than two cents an acre.

1898 – One year after Spain grants Puerto Rico self-rule, American troops raise the U.S. flag over the Caribbean nation, formalizing U.S. authority over the island’s one million inhabitants.

1931 – Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, dies from complications of diabetes in his West Orange, New Jersey home at the age of 84. Edison is most famous for inventing the phonograph, motion picture camera and the incandescent light bulb.

1954 – Music, information and sports become portable as Texas Instruments and the Regency division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates introduce the transistor radio. Marketed as the “world’s first pocket radio,” the Regency Model TR-1 retails for $49.95

1961 – “West Side Story” opens in theaters, featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The movie musical captures 10 Academy Awards.

1967 – “The Jungle Book” opens at the box office. It’s the last animated feature personally produced by Walt Disney, who died during production.

1968 – The U.S. Olympic Committee suspends two African American sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, for giving a “Black Power” salute during their medal ceremony at the Mexico City games.

1988 – The sitcom “Roseanne” premieres on ABC, starring Roseanne Barr and John Goodman.

Celebrity Birthdays

1926 – Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Chuck Berry (“Maybellene,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode”) (d. 2017)

1927 – Oscar-winning actor George C. Scott (“Anatomy of a Murder,” “Dr. Strangelove,” “Patton,” “The Day of the Dolphin,” “The Hindenburg,” “A Christmas Carol”) (d. 1999)

1935 – Emmy-winning actor Peter Boyle (“The Candidate,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Everybody Loves Raymond) (d. 2006)

1939 – Former NFL player, coach, and commentator Mike Ditka

1956 – Retired tennis champion Martina Navratilova

1960 – Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Bloodsport,” “Kickboxer,” “Universal Soldier,” “Timecop,” “Sudden Death,” “The Expendables 2”

1960 – Actress Erin Moran (“Happy Days,” “Joanie Loves Chachi”)

1984 – Actress Freida Pinto (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”)

1987 – Actor-singer Zac Efron (“High School Musical,” “Hairspray,” “The Lorax,” “We Are Your Friends,” “The Greatest Showman”)

Own a Piece of This Day

SHOP HERE:

The Definitive Collection

The Temptations

Control / Janet Jackson

Janet Jackson

West Side Story

Starring Natalie WoodRichard BeymerRuss Tamblyn, and directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise with music by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim

Something in the Air: American Passion and Defiance in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics

Richard Hoffer

Patton

Starring George C. Scott, Frank Latimore and Karl Malden, and directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

The Greatest Showman

Starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron and Michelle Williams, and directed by Michael Gracey

Tagged: 18, Alaska, Chuck Berry, Elton John, Erin Moran, Freida Paine, George C. Scott, Janet Jackson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, John Denver, John Lennon, Leonard Bernstein, Martina Navratilova, Mike Ditka, Model TR-1, October, Peter Boyle, Princess Diana, Puerto Rico, Queen, Regency, rock 'n roll, Roseanne, sitcom, Stephen Sondheim, Temptations, Texas Instruments, The Jungle Book, Thomas Edison, transistor radio, U.S. Olympic Committee, West Side Story, Yoko Ono, Zac Efron