30 – Time Rewind

On This Day April 30

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On This Day March 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1746 – Artist Francisco Goya (d. 1828)

1853 – Artist Vincent Van Gogh (d. 1890)

1926 – TV game show host Peter Marshall

1930 – Actor John Astin, best known as Gomez Addams in the hit TV series “The Addams Family”

1937 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor-director Warren Beatty (“Splendor in the Grass,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Shampoo,” “Reds,” “Bulworth,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

1945 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Eric Clapton, born former member of the bands the Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Derek and the Dominos and Cream, and considered one of the world’s greatest guitarists and the only musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 3 times.

1957 – Comedian-actor Paul Reiser (“Diner,” “Aliens,” “Mad About You”)

1962 – Grammy-winning rap icon and actor M.C. Hammer, born Stanley Kirk Burrell (“U Can’t Touch This,” “2 Legit 2 Quit”)

1964 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (“Fast Car,” “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”)

1968 – Grammy-winning singer Celine Dion, best known for “My Heart Will Go On,” from the blockbuster 1997 movie “Titanic”

1979 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones (“Don’t Know Why,” “Sunrise,” “Here We Go Again”)

History Highlights

1814 – European forces allied against Napoleonic France march triumphantly into Paris, formally ending a decade of French domination on the continent.

1842 – Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.

1858 – The first wooden pencil featuring a built-in rubber eraser on top is patented by Philadelphia inventor Hymen Lipman, who later sells his patent for $100,000 (about $2 million in today’s market). In 1875, The Supreme Court invalidates the patent, ruling that because the pencil combined two existing devices, it was not a legitimate invention. Nevertheless, this is observed as National Pencil Day.

1867 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million. Despite the bargain price of roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase is ridiculed in Congress and in the press as “Seward’s Folly.”

1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., who claims he was seeking to gain the attention of actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital until 2016, when he is allowed to live with his mother in her Virginia home. Reagan is released from the hospital less than two weeks after the attempted assassination.

2009 – President Barack Obama issues an ultimatum to struggling American automakers General Motors (GM) and Chrysler: In order to receive additional bailout loans from the government, he says, the companies need to dramatically change the way they run their businesses.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Buddy Knox becomes the first artist in the Rock ‘n’ Roll era to write his own No. 1 hit when “Party Doll” tops the Billboard singles chart. Knox goes on to score four more Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1961.

1963 – “He’s So Fine,” by The Chiffons, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks.

1963 – Seventeen-year-old Lesley Gore records her breakthrough hit, “It’s My Party.” The song, produced by Quincy Jones, reaches No. 1 that June.

1967 – The Beatles pose in costume for the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover photo shoot. Designed by British pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, the cover goes on to win a Grammy Award.

1974 – John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” reaches the top of the Billboard pop chart.

1985 – “One More Night,” by Phil Collins, begins two weeks on top of the singles chart. It is Collins’ second U.S. chart-topper. The first was “Against All Odds” in 1984.

1991 – Gloria Estefan begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Coming Out of the Dark.”

2002 – “Ain’t It Funny,” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, is mid-way through a six-week domination of the singles chart.

On This Day January 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR), 32nd U.S. president (d. 1945)

1930 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Gene Hackman (“The French Connection,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Superman,” “Reds,” “Unforgiven,” “The Firm,” “Crimson Tide,” “Get Shorty,” “The Royal Tenenbaums”)

1937 – Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave (“Murder on the Orient Express,” “Julia,” “The Bostonians,” “Mrs. Dalloway,” “Howard’s End,” “Girl, Interrupted”)

1941 – Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who previously served as Defense Secretary under President George H. W. Bush

1951 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Phil Collins, formerly of the rock band Genesis (“In the Air Tonight,” “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now),” “One More Night,” “Sussudio,” “Two Hearts,” “Another Day in Paradise”)

1974 – Oscar-winning actor Christian Bale (“Empire of the Sun,” “American Psycho,” “The Machinist,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “The Fighter,” “American Hustle,” “The Big Short,” “Vice”)

History Highlights

1933 – Adolf Hitler is appointed and sworn in as Chancellor of Germany.

1933 – “The Lone Ranger” debuts on Detroit radio station WXYZ, introducing listeners to the legendary “masked rider of the plains.” The show remains on Detroit radio until the mid 1940s. The three main actors who played the Lone Ranger were George Seaton (in 1933), Earle Graser (1933-1941), and Brace Beemer (1941-1954).

1948 – Mohandas Gandhi (also known as Mahatma Gandhi), the political and spiritual leader of the Indian independence movement and a global advocate for non-violent civil disobedience, is assassinated in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.

1956 – Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s home is bombed by an unidentified white supremacist in retaliation for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. No one is injured, and shortly after the attack, King preaches non-violence to a crowd that had gathered near the site of the blast.

1972 – In Londonderry, Northern Ireland, 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators are shot and killed by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.” The protesters, all Northern Catholics, were marching in opposition to the British policy of internment of suspected Irish nationalists.

1994 – American speed skater Dan Jansen sets a new world record of 35.76 at the World Sprint Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Musical Milestones

1961 – “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” by The Shirelles, begins two weeks on top of the pop chart. Co-written by legendary singer-songwriter Carole King, the recording is the first by an African American girl group to reach No. 1.

1969 – The Beatles entertain for the last time in public when they play a free rooftop concert above the London headquarters of Apple Records. Throngs of passersby gather below to take in the music.

1973 – KISS makes its first-ever concert appearance, performing at the Popcorn Pub in Queens, New York (later known as Coventry). About 10 guests attend and, according to bassist Gene Simmons, the band earned $50 for playing two sets.

1982 – “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do),” by Daryl Hall & John Oates, becomes the duo’s fourth single to top the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – The Australian rock band INXS rules the singles chart for a week with “Need You Tonight.” The track, from the “Kick” album, is the group’s only No. 1 in the U.S.

1999 – Britney Spears kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “…Baby One More Time,” her debut single.

2010 – Ke$ha rules the pop chart with “Tik Tok.”

On This Day December 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

1942 – Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

1945 – Singer-songwriter and The Monkees band member Davy Jones (d. 2012)

1946 – Singer-songwriter Patti Smith, known as the “Godmother of Punk”

1953 – Emmy-winning journalist and TV host Meredith Vieira (“The View,” “The Today Show,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)

1957 – Former TV journalist and NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, who was fired from his network job in November 2017 for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace

1975 – Pro golf champion Tiger Woods, born Eldrick Tont Woods

1984 – NBA superstar LeBron James, who played for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018

1986 – Pop star Ellie Goulding (“Starry Eyed,” “Your Song,” “Anything Could Happen,” “On My Mind,” “Love Me like You Do”)

History Highlights

1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established as a new communist state following the era of the Russian Empire. It becomes the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

1936 – Known as “the strike heard round the world,” auto workers at General Motors’ Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan stage one of the first sit-down strikes in U.S. history. The workers were seeking safer assembly line conditions, better pay and recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the sole bargaining agent for GM employees. The strike lasts 44 days.

1940 – California opens its first freeway — the Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of only three “federal scenic byways” in California, and designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a historical engineering landmark.

1963 – The game show “Let’s Make a Deal” debuts, hosted by Monty Hall.

1972 – President Richard Nixon orders a halt to the heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles say “hello” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hello, Goodbye,” the band’s 15th chart topper.

1968 – Peter Tork quits the pop-rock band The Monkees.

1978 – Chic rules the singles chart with disco anthem “Le Freak.”

1978 – Rock and Roll supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) officially announce their break-up.

1989 – “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins’ song about homelessness, becomes the last No. 1 single of the 80s and first No. 1 single of the 90s. It goes on to capture Record of the Year honors at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.

1995 – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men are in the middle of a 16-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day” — the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

1999 – George Harrison suffers stab wounds to the chest and a punctured lung when a 33-year-old man breaks into his home in Oxfordshire, England and attacks the former Beatle and his wife, Olivia.

2000 – Destiny’s Child (featuring Beyoncé) is in the midst of an 11-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part 1,” from the “Charlie’s Angels” movie soundtrack.

On This Day November 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Author Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, best known for his classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (d. 1910)

1874 – Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born in Oxfordshire, England. (d. 1965)

1918 – Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (“77 Sunset Strip,” “The F.B.I.”) (d. 2014)

1927 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his role as the butler in the ABC sitcom “Benson”

1929 – Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark, born Richard Wagstaff Clark, who is credited with such popular shows as “American Bandstand,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes,” among others. (d. 2012)

1937 – Emmy-winning director-producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian”)

1947 – Tony-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet (“The Verdict,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Wag the Dog,” “Ronin”)

1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (“Yentl,” “The Princess Bride,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland,” “Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds”)

1955 – Rock singer-guitarist Billy Idol, born William Albert Michael Broad (“Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rock the Cradle of Love”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actor, director and comedian Ben Stiller (“Reality Bites,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Zoolander,” the “Meet the Parents” trilogy, “DodgeBall,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Madagascar” series, the “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”)

1978 – Singer and “American Idol” alum Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom

History Highlights

1965 – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a book that singles out the Chevy Corvair while criticizing U.S. auto safety standards. It immediately becomes a bestseller and prompts passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, seat belt laws in 49 states (all but New Hampshire) and other highway safety initiatives.

1967 – Senator Eugene McCarthy, who advocated for a negotiated end to the Vietnam War, declares that he will challenge President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic Party nomination. However, four months later, Johnson announces that he is not seeking re-election.

1971 – The made-for-television movie “Brian’s Song” premieres on ABC, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo, the Chicago Bears running back who is stricken with terminal cancer, and Billy Dee Williams as his teammate, Gale Sayers. It leaves audiences sobbing with its compelling portrayal of the strong friendship the two athletes form. The movie captures five Emmy Awards.

1977 – After nearly four decades with CBS News, anchor Eric Sevareid retires. Sevareid was among a group of elite war correspondents hired by legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, and nicknamed “Murrow’s Boys .” He was the first to report the Fall of Paris when the city was captured by the Germans in World War II.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

Musical Milestones

1968 – Motown’s Diana Ross & The Supremes rule the singles chart with “Love Child,” their 11th chart-topper. The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – One-hit wonder Billy Swan has the No. 1 single with “I Can Help.”

1974 – “Elton John’s Greatest Hits” begins a 10-week run atop the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than 24 million copies worldwide.

1982 – The best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” is released, delivering a slew of hits, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” It goes on to capture eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

1985 – “Separate Lives,” by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the “White Nights” movie soundtrack, is the No. 1 single.

1991 – New Jersey-based hip hop/R&B band P.M. Dawn has its only No. 1 single, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is built around a sampling of Spandau Ballet’s “True.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

1996 – Quirky 1960s pop star Tiny Tim, best known for his falsetto singing and ukulele playing in the 1968 novelty hit “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips With Me,” dies at the age of 64.

1996 – “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, marks its fourth and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

2002 – Eminem maintains his hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Lose Yourself,” which remains a chart-topper for a total of 12 weeks.

On This Day October 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1735 – One of America’s Founding Fathers, second U.S. President John Adams (d. 1826)

1939 – Rock singer-songwriter Grace Slick, who performed with Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship/Starship

1945 – Actor Henry Winkler, best remembered for playing “The Fonz” in the popular ABC sitcom “Happy Days”

1951 – Actor Harry Hamlin (“Clash of the Titans,” “L.A. Law,” “Mad Men”)

1957 – Actor Kevin Pollak (“Avalon,” “A Few Good Men,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “The Usual Suspects”)

1970 – Actress Nia Long (“The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Third Watch,” “Boiler Room,” the “Big Momma’s House” movies, “Are We There Yet?”)

History Highlights

1938 – In what could be called an early case of fake news, actor Orson Welles terrifies radio listeners across the United States with his “War of the Worlds” broadcast — a dramatization of H.G. Wells’ tale about a Martian invasion.

1968 – “The Lion in Winter,” starring Peter O’Toole and Katharine Hepburn, opens at the box office. The movie goes on to capture three Oscars, including a Best Actress win for Hepburn.

1974 – An historic boxing match-up called the “Rumble in the Jungle” sees Muhammad Ali knock out George Foreman in the eighth round in Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo), in central Africa.

1975 – The New York Daily News runs its infamous front-page headline ‘Ford to City: Drop Dead’ in reference to President Gerald Ford’s speech the day before denying federal assistance to help New York City avert bankruptcy.

1991 – A so-called “perfect storm” churns across the North Atlantic, producing powerful and deadly waves along the coasts of New England and Canada. The Gloucester, Massachusetts-based fishing boat Andrea Gail and its six-member crew are lost in the nor’easter, which inspires the best-selling book, “The Perfect Storm,” by Sebastian Junger, and a blockbuster movie starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

Musical Milestones

1965 – “Yesterday,” by The Beatles, marks its fourth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1971 – Rod Stewart concludes a five-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Maggie May.”

1976 – Chicago has the No. 1 single with “If You Leave Me Now,” which goes on to capture the band’s first Grammy.

1982 – The Australian band Men At Work climbs to the top of the U.S. singles chart with “Who Can It Be Now?” One week earlier, the group performed that song and their other hit, “Down Under,” on “Saturday Night Live,” and the following February, won a Best New Artist Grammy.

1993 – Mariah Carey’s “Dreamlover” marks the end of an eight-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart. It is her seventh No. 1 hit.

2004 – Usher and Alicia Keys rule the pop chart with “My Boo,” which holds the No. 1 spot for six weeks.

On This Day September 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Legendary jazz drummer Buddy Rich, who played with bandleaders Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw before leading his own band (d. 1987)

1924 – “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood” author Truman Capote (d. 1984)

1928 – Nobel Peace Prize-winning author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel (d. 2016)

1931 – Actress Angie Dickinson, who starred in the 1970s TV crime drama “Police Woman”

1935 – Grammy Hall of Fame pop vocalist Johnny Mathis (“Chances Are,” “Misty”, “It’s Not for Me to Say”)

1943 – Singer Marilyn McCoo, formerly of the band the 5th Dimension

1954 – Actor Barry Williams, born Barry William Blenkhorn, who played Greg on TV’s “The Brady Bunch”

1957 – Actress-comedian Fran Drescher, best known for her starring role in the 1990s sitcom “The Nanny”

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actress Jenna Elfman, best known for her role as Dharma in the sitcom “Dharma & Greg”

1975 – Oscar-winning actress Marion Cotillard (“La Vie en Rose,” “Big Fish,” “Public Enemies,” “Midnight in Paris,” “Contagion,” “Inception,” “The Dark Knight Rises”)

History Highlights

1927 – Babe Ruth hits his 60th home run of the season off Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators. Ruth’s record for the most homers in a single season stands for 34 years until Roger Maris hits 61 in 1961.

1954 – The U.S. Navy commissions the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine. During its early years of service, the vessel breaks numerous submarine travel records, and in August 1958, achieves the first voyage under the North Pole.

1955 – Hollywood legend James Dean is killed in a car accident at the age of 24. At the time, Dean is speeding in his beloved “Little Bastard” — a silver Porsche 550 Spyder — to a car race in Salinas, California, when a vehicle driven by a 23-year-old college student veers into his path.

1960 – Yabba Dabba Do! Hanna-Barbera introduces Americans to a “modern Stone Age family” in the animated series “The Flintstones,” which lasts six seasons on ABC.

1968 – The first Boeing 747, named “City of Everett,” is rolled out before thousands of employees and the international press at Boeing’s Everett, Washington factory. The jumbo jet is the world’s largest civilian aircraft at that time — capable of carrying up to 490 passengers and 33 attendants. It officially enters service on February 9, 1969.

1982 – The NBC sitcom “Cheers,” set in a Boston bar, debuts, starring Ted Danson and Shelley Long. It is nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series each of the 11 seasons it is on the air, capturing 28 Primetime Emmy Awards from a record 117 nominations.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Box Tops are in the middle of a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “The Letter.” Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the track among its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to its “500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll” list, and in 2011, the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1972 – Mac Davis is in the midst of a three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me.” The track receives a nomination for a Best Pop Vocal Performance (Male) Grammy.

1977 – Mary Ford, who with her husband, guitar pioneer Les Paul, made up one of the most popular musical duos of the 1950s, dies from complications of diabetes at the age of 53.

1978 – Exile kicks off a four-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Kiss You All Over.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli begin their second and final week at No. 1 with “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You,” from the German dance-pop duo’s debut album, “Girl You Know It’s True.”

1995 – Mariah Carey becomes the first female artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have a single debut at No. 1, as “Fantasy” begins eight weeks as a chart-topper.

2006 – Justin Timberlake rules the Billboard album chart with his second solo album, “FutureSex/LoveSounds,” which becomes the biggest album ever for pre-orders on iTunes.

On this Day August 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1898 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Shirley Booth (“Come Back, Little Sheba,” “Hazel,” “The Glass Menagerie”) (d. 1992)

1908 – Actor Fred MacMurray (“Double Indemnity,” “My Three Sons”) (d. 1991)

1918 – Baseball legend Ted Williams (d. 2002)

1924 – Fashion designer Geoffrey Beene (d. 2004)

1927 – Actor Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Bob Newhart Show”) (d. 2018)

1930 – Investment guru and philanthropist Warren Buffett, a.k.a. “The Oracle of Omaha”

1939 – Tony-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley (“Take Her, She’s Mine,” “The Carpetbaggers,” “Evening Shade”)

1946 – Actress Peggy Lipton (“The Mod Squad,” “Twin Peaks,” “The Postman”) (d. 2019)

1948 – Grammy-winning comedian Lewis Black (“The Daily Show,” “Black on Broadway,” “Red, White, and Screwed,” “The Carnegie Hall Performance”)

1954 – Actor David Paymer (“Mr. Saturday Night,” “Quiz Show,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “City Slickers,” “Crazy People,” “Get Shorty,” “The American President,” “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “Drag Me to Hell”)

1963 – Actor Michael Chiklis (“The Commish,” “The Shield,” “Fantastic Four,” “Vegas,” “American Horror Story”)

1966 – Actress Michael Michele (“ER,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Ali,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”)

1972 – Actress Cameron Diaz (“The Mask,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Being John Malkovich,” the “Charlie’s Angels” movies, the animated “Shrek” movies,” “Vanilla Sky,” “The Other Woman,” “Sex Tape,” “Annie”)

1982 – Tennis great Andy Roddick

History Highlights

1918 – Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by a member of the Social Revolutionary party, but survives the attack. The attempted assassination triggers a wave of reprisals by Bolsheviks against the Social Revolutionaries and other political opponents. Thousands are executed as Russia falls deeper into civil war.

1963 – A “hotline” linking Moscow and Washington, D.C. is activated to provide instant communication between the Superpowers in case nuclear weapons are accidentally launched. The system consists of a cable with a device resembling a large typewriter on either end.

1965 – New York Mets Manager Casey Stengel announces his retirement, ending a 56-year career in professional baseball.

1967 – The U.S. Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as the first African American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In nominating Marshall to the nation’s highest court, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “It was the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” Marshall serves 24 years on the high court before retiring in 1991.

1976 – Tom Brokaw becomes news anchor of NBC’s “Today” show. where he remains for six years. He leaves in 1982 to co-anchor “NBC Nightly News” with Roger Mudd, taking over as sole anchor in 1983 and remaining in that post until 2004.

1983 – U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion “Guy” Bluford becomes the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on its third mission. In 2010, Bluford is inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

2003 – Actor Charles Bronson, best known for his tough-guy roles in movies like “The Dirty Dozen” and the “Death Wish” franchise, dies at the age of 81 in Los Angeles.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The Rolling Stones are on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Honky Tonk Women.”

1975 – “Get Down Tonight,” by KC and The Sunshine Band, struts its way to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. It’s the first of five consecutive chart-toppers for the band that hails from Hialeah, Florida.

1980 – “Sailing,” by Christopher Cross, is the hottest single. It goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Arrangement of the Year, and helps Cross capture the Best New Artist award.

1986 – Steve Winwood has the No. 1 single with “Higher Love,” off his “Back in the High Life” album.

1997 – “Mo Money Mo Problems,” by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase, kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It becomes Notorious B.I.G.’s second posthumous chart-topper following “Hypnotize.”

On this Day July 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Industrialist and Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford

1890 – Baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel

1941 – Singer-songwriter Paul Anka

1947 – Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

1961 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Laurence Fishburne (“Boyz n the Hood,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Matrix” trilogy, “Mission: Impossible III”)

1963 – Actress-comedian Lisa Kudrow, best known for her role as Phoebe in the popular sitcom “Friends”

1964 – Actress Vivica Fox (“Days of Our Lives,” “Independence Day,” “Batman & Robin,” “Alias”)

1969 – Actor Simon Baker (“L.A. Confidential,” “Land of the Dead,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Mentalist”)

1970 – Director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Inception,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Interstellar”)

1974 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Amelia”)

History Highlights

1935 – Literature’s first paperback is introduced by Penguin Books in London. It’s “Ariel” by André Maurois, who traces the life of the poet Shelley.

1945 – A Japanese submarine torpedoes the U.S. Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis in Pacific waters after it delivers the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The ship sinks in just 12 minutes. Of the approximately 1,200 crewmen, 300 go down with the ship. The rest face exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water.

1956 – Two years after pushing to have the phrase “under God” inserted into the United States’ pledge of allegiance, President Dwight Eisenhower signs a law declaring “In God We Trust” the nation’s official motto.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare bill into law, granting seniors access to affordable healthcare. The bill-signing ceremony takes place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, where former President Harry S. Truman is enrolled as Medicare’s first beneficiary and receives the first Medicare card.

2003 – The last of over 21 million Volkswagen Beetles, known as the “Volkswagen Type 1,” rolls off an assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, ending nearly 70 years of production. The baby blue car is sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where VW is headquartered.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Beatles own the No. 1 position on the Billboard album chart with “Yesterday…And Today.” The album, released in the U.S. and Canada only, holds the top spot for five weeks. It contains such fan favorites as “Drive My Car,” “Yesterday,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Nowhere Man” and “Day Tripper.”

1966 – The Troggs claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Wild Thing.” The track was originally recorded by the American rock band, The Wild Ones, in 1965, but never charted. The Troggs’ version holds at No. 1 for two weeks and reaches No. 2 on the pop chart in their native U.K.

1977 – Andy Gibb kicks off three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “I Just Want to Be Your Everything.”

1988 – “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood begins four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – All-4-One wraps up an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “I Swear.”

2003 – Record producer Sam Phillips, who founded the legendary Sun Record Company and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, dies of respiratory failure. He discovered Elvis Presley and worked with other musical greats, including Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.

2005 – Mariah Carey owns the top spot on the singles chart with “We Belong Together,” which holds at No. 1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks.

On this Day June 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Grammy-winning jazz and pop music singer, dancer and actress Lena Horne (d. 2010)

1956 – Actor-comedian David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”)

1959 – Actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Men In Black,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Judge,” “Run All Night,” “Jurassic World”)

1966 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson

1982 – Actress Lizzy Caplan (“Mean Girls,” “True Blood,” “Cloverfield”)

1985 – U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps

History Highlights

1859 – Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, a.k.a. The Great Blondin, or Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Thousands of spectators line the American and Canadian sides of the falls to observe the feat, which he performs along an 1,100-foot-long tightrope suspended 160 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Gorge.

1934 – In what comes to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future.

1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gone with the Wind,” one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for the blockbuster 1939 movie, is published.

1971 – “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” a movie musical-fantasy starring Gene Wilder, opens in theaters. It’s an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

1971 – Three Soviet cosmonauts who made up the crew of the world’s first space station are killed when their spacecraft, Soyuz 11, depressurizes during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere.

1974 – The July 4th scene from the movie “Jaws” is filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, with 400 screaming, panic-stricken extras in bathing suits running from the water multiple times until director Steven Spielberg gets the right take.

1989 – Writer-director Spike Lee’s celebrated third feature film, “Do the Right Thing” — about racial tensions boiling over in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on the hottest day of the year — opens in U.S. theaters. The movie receives Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello.

1993 – The legal thriller “The Firm,” directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman, opens in theaters. It’s based on the 1991 novel of the same name by John Grisham.

1995 – Director Ron Howard’s high-intensity drama “Apollo 13,” about NASA’s desperate efforts to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely home after an explosion that denies them a moon landing, opens in U.S. theaters. Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise, the movie receives nine Oscar nominations and wins for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Ray Charles enjoys his fifth and final week dominating the pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

1973 – George Harrison has the hottest single on the radio for a week with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” from his “Living in the Material World” album.” The track is the ex-Beatles’ second solo No. 1.

1975 – Less than a week after her divorce from Sonny Bono is finalized, Cher ties the knot with rock musician Gregg Allman only to divorce him 10 days later.

1984 – “The Reflex,” by Duran Duran, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1990 – New Kids On the Block step to the top of the singles chart for three weeks with “Step By Step.” The song is an international smash, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and becomes one of the biggest selling singles of 1990.

2001 – “Lady Marmalade,” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink, enters its fifth and final week as a chart-topper. The cover is from the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack.

2007 – Rihanna and Jay-Z rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “Umbrella.”