7 – Time Rewind

On This Day April 7

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On This Day March 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1934 – Longtime NBC weatherman and “Today” show personality Willard Scott

1945 – Actor John Heard (“Awakenings,” “Home Alone,” “The Pelican Brief”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Bryan Cranston (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Breaking Bad,” “Argo,” “Trumbo,” “The Infiltrator,” “Isle of Dogs,” “The Upside”)

1964 – Emmy-winning comedian Wanda Sykes (“The Chris Rock Show,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”)

1970 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Rachel Weisz (“Stealing Beauty,” “The Mummy,” “The Constant Gardener,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “Oz the Great and Powerful,” “The Favourite”)

1974 – Actress-producer Jenna Fischer (“The Office,” “Blades of Glory,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “The Promotion,” “Hall Pass”)

1980 – Actress Laura Prepon (“That ‘70s Show,” “Slackers,” “Lightning Bug,” “The Pornographer: A Love Story,” “The Killing Game,” “Orange is the New Black”)

History Highlights

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell receives a patent for his revolutionary invention, the telephone, which remains a vital communications tool around the world today.

1924 – “The New Republic” publishes Robert Frost’s poem “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening.” The work, beginning with the famous line “Whose woods these are, I think I know. His house is in the village though,” introduces millions of American students to poetry.

1933 – Unemployed during the Great Depression, Charles Darrow creates the board game Monopoly, which he personally sells for two years until Parker Brothers begins mass-marketing it in 1935. Darrow dies a millionaire in 1967.

1965 – A peaceful civil rights demonstration ends in violence in Selma, Alabama when many of the protesters are tear-gassed and beaten by white state troopers and sheriff’s deputies. The day’s events become known as “Bloody Sunday” and mark a tragic but important milestone in America’s civil rights movement. The clash was reported on national television and other media, spurring demonstrations in 80 cities across the country over the next few days.

1999 – Acclaimed screenwriter-director-producer Stanley Kubrick (“Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “The Shining,” “Full Metal Jacket,” “Eyes Wide Shut”) dies in England at the age of 70.

2010 – Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Director, for the movie “The Hurt Locker,” about an American bomb squad that disables explosives in Iraq in 2004. Bigelow beats out directing heavyweights James Cameron (coincidentally, her ex-husband), Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino.

Musical Milestones

1964 – “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” by The Beatles, is in the middle of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the band’s first No. 1 hit in the U.S. and marks the rising tide of the British Invasion and Beatlemania.

1966 – Tina Turner records her vocals for the legendary Phil Spector-produced “River Deep Mountain High.”

1970 – Just as Simon & Garfunkel split, the acclaimed pop duo’s final collaboration, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” starts a 10-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1987 – The Beastie Boys become the first rap act to have a No. 1 album with their debut work, “Licensed To Ill.” The album contains fan favorites including “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)” and “No Sleep till Brooklyn.”

1992 – Mr. Big is in the middle of three weeks as Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “To Be With You.”

1998 – Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” the theme from the blockbuster movie “Titanic,” begins its second and final week on top of the pop chart.

2009 – Flo Rida is in the middle of a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” which was inspired by Dead or Alive’s 1985 hit, “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”

On This Day February 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1812 – Author Charles Dickens (“David Copperfield,” “Oliver Twist,” “A Christmas Carol”) (d. 1870)

1867 – Pioneer author Laura Ingalls Wilder, best known for her “Little House on the Prairie” series (d. 1957)

1885 – Novelist Sinclair Lewis, the first American author to win the Nobel prize for literature (d. 1951)

1955 – Actor Miguel Ferrer (“Twin Peaks,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Traffic,” “NCIS: Los Angeles”) (d. 2017)

1960 – Emmy-winning actor James Spader (“Less Than Zero,” “The Practice,” “Boston Legal,” “The Blacklist”)

1962 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Garth Brooks

1965 – Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian, actor, producer and “SNL” alum Chris Rock (“New Jack City,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Everybody Hates Chris”)

1978 – Actor-producer Ashton Kutcher (“That 70s Show,” “Dude, Where’s My Car?”, “Guess Who,” “A Lot Like Love,” “What Happens in Vegas,” “No Strings Attached,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Jobs”)

History Highlights

1812 – The most violent in a series of earthquakes near Missouri causes the Mississippi River to flow backward for several hours, a phenomenon known as a fluvial tsunami. It triggers landslides and leaves massive cracks in the ground. Research completed in 2011 determines that these powerful New Madrid earthquakes could be felt in varying intensity across a nearly 965,000-square-mile stretch of the U.S.

1979 – Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor known as the “Angel of Death,” who performed medical experiments at the Auschwitz death camps, dies of a stroke while swimming in Brazil. However, his death is not confirmed until 1985.

1984 – While in orbit 170 miles above Earth, Navy Captain Bruce McCandless becomes the first human being to fly untethered in space when he exits the space shuttle Challenger and maneuvers freely, using a rocket pack of his own design.

1986 – Twenty-eight years of one-family rule end in Haiti when President Jean-Claude ”Baby Doc” Duvalier flees the Caribbean nation.

1990 – The Soviet Union crumbles when the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party agrees to give up its monopoly on power.

1999 – Jordan’s King Hussein bin Talal, the 20th century’s longest-serving executive head of state dies, and his son Prince Abdallah bin Hussein ascends to the throne.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles are mobbed by thousands of adoring fans after landing at New York’s Kennedy Airport to start their first U.S. tour. Later in the day, they appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” becoming the first British rock group to perform on American television.

1970 – The No. 1 single is “Venus” by the Dutch rock band Shocking Blue.

1976 – Paul Simon begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.”

1981 – Kool & the Gang have reason to celebrate as their single, “Celebration,” tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – New York Mayor Ed Koch proclaims Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “New York, New York” as the official anthem of New York City, although it was never actually made official.

1986 – Madonna clinches the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with her fifth chart-topping single, “Open Your Heart.”

1998 – Janet Jackson wraps up two weeks on top of the U.S. singles chart with “Together Again.”

2004 – OutKast concludes a nine-week domination of the U.S. pop chart with “Hey Ya!”

On This Day January 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1800 – 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore (d. 1874)

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins (“Danny’s Song,” “This is It,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose”)

1956 – Golden Globe-winning actor David Caruso (“Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue,” “CSI: Miami”)

1957 – TV journalist and former “Today” show co-host and “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric

1964 – Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage (“Raising Arizona,” “Moonstruck,” “Wild at Heart,” “The Rock,” “Face/Off,” “City of Angels,” “Adaptation,” “National Treasure,” “Ghost Rider”, “The Croods”, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse”)

1971 – Actor Jeremy Renner (“Dahmer,” “North Country,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Town,” “Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” “The Avengers,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “American Hustle,” “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

History Highlights

1789 – America’s first presidential election is held and George Washington emerges as the winner. The Virginia landowner who led the patriotic forces in the war against the British is sworn in to office about three months later.

1927 – The first official transatlantic telephone call is made when Walter Gifford, president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (known today as AT&T), calls Sir Evelyn Murray, secretary of the General Post Office of Great Britain. Speaking into a phone on his desk in New York, Gifford’s first words are, “How’s the weather over in London? “

1953 – During his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Harry Truman discusses U.S. development of the hydrogen bomb.

1985 – General Motors (GM) launches Saturn Corporation as a wholly owned independent subsidiary in response to growing Japanese automobile imports in the U.S. The company markets itself as a “different kind of car company.”

1999 – The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, formally charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice, begins in the U.S. Senate.

Musical Milestones

1956 – “Memories Are Made of This” puts Dean Martin on top of Billboard’s Most Played by [Disc] Jockeys chart (precursor to the Hot 100) for six weeks. The track becomes a Gold record and “Dino’s” biggest hit as well as his only No. 1 recording in the U.K.

1967 – The Monkees maintain their grip on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “I’m A Believer,” which holds at No. 1 for a total of seven weeks.

1978 – The Bee Gees mark their third and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “How Deep is Your Love.”

1986 – Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me,” from the movie “White Nights,” starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – Pop sensation Debbie Gibson makes her Broadway debut playing Eponine in “Les Misérables.”

1995 – “On Bended Knee,” by Boyz II Men, is in the middle of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2006 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week on top of the pop chart with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2012 – “Sexy and I Know It,” by LMFAO, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. LMFAO consists of Stephen Gordy (a.k.a. Redfoo) and Skyler Gordy (a.k.a. Sky Blu) — son and grandson of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

On This Day December 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1915 – Tony and Emmy-winning actor Eli Wallach (“The Misfits,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Nuts,” “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”) (d. 2014)

1932 – Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn (“The Exorcist,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”)

1947 – Baseball Hall of Famer and former Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench

1949 – Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter and actor Tom Waits (“Jersey Girl,” “Hold On,” “One From the Heart”)

1956 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Indiana Pacers coach/legendary Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird

1979 – Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles (“Love Song,” “King of Anything”)

History Highlights

1941 – Japanese forces launch a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, thrusting the U.S. into World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt calls it “a date which will live in infamy.”

1963 – Decades before the DVR and years before the first Super Bowl, instant replay is used for the first time during an Army-Navy college football game. As the CBS broadcast replays Rollie Stichweh’s winning touchdown, commentator Lindsey Nelson tells viewers, “Ladies and gentlemen, Army did not score again!”

1972 – Apollo 17 hurtles toward space, carrying a three-man crew to the last moon landing of the Apollo program.

1982 – The nation’s first execution by lethal injection takes place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Charles Brooks, Jr. was convicted of kidnapping and murdering an auto mechanic.

1993 – Colin Ferguson opens fire on a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) commuter train after it pulls out of New York’s Penn Station, killing six and injuring 19. Other passengers overpower Ferguson when he stops to reload his pistol. The incident comes to be known as the Long Island Rail Road Massacre.

2001 – The heist film “Ocean’s Eleven,” starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts, and directed by Steven Soderbergh, opens in theaters. It is a remake of the 1960 movie of the same name that starred “Rat Pack” members Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., along with Angie Dickinson.

Musical Milestones

1963 – The Singing Nun begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Dominique,” which goes on to sell 1.5 million copies in the U.S. and win a Grammy for the year’s best Gospel song.

1974 – One-hit wonder Carl Douglas chops his way to the top of the singles chart with “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song, which holds at No. 1 for two weeks, sells 11 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

1985 – “Broken Wings,” by Mr. Mister, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – U2 conquer the Billboard album chart with “Achtung Baby,” featuring “One,” “Mysterious Ways,” “Even Better Than The Real Thing” and other popular tracks.

2002 – Eminem is in the midst of a 12-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lose Yourself.” The track, from his “8 Mile” movie soundtrack, becomes the first rap song to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also garners Eminem two Grammys.

On This Day November 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1918 – Christian evangelist Billy Graham, often called “America’s pastor” (d. 2018)

1938 – Actor Barry Newman (“Vanishing Point,” “Petrocelli”)

1942 – Rock and roll singer-songwriter Johnny Rivers, whose biggest hits were “Secret Agent Man,” “Poor Side of Town”)

1943 – Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, who enjoyed a string of hits in the 1970s, including “Chelsea Morning,” “Both Sides, Now” and “Big Yellow Taxi”

1967 – Grammy-winning DJ and record producer David Guetta (“Love Don’t Let Me Go,” “People Come People Go,” “Gettin’ Over You,” “When Love Takes Over”)

1970 – Documentary producer and host Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me,” “Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?” “30 Days,” “Morgan Spurlock Inside Man”)

History Highlights

1944 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) is elected to an unprecedented fourth term in office, but with his physical health in decline during World War II, he dies the following April. FDR is the only U.S. president to have served more than two terms.

1962 – Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt dies at the age of 78.

1962 – The morning after the California gubernatorial election, Richard Nixon concedes to incumbent Governor Pat Brown and then accuses the media of biased, campaign coverage. Nixon tells reporters that this is his last press conference, saying, “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.”

1980 – Moviegoers mourn the death of “The King of Cool,” actor Steve McQueen (“The Great Escape,” “Bullitt,” “The Getaway”). McQueen conquered many tough guys on screen and performed most of his own stunts, but he lost his real-life battle with mesothelioma — a rare form of lung cancer — at the age of 50.

1991 – Basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson stuns the world by announcing his sudden retirement from the Los Angeles Lakers after testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Two and a half decades later, the three-time NBA MVP, 12-time All-Star and Olympic Gold Medalist continues to promote awareness and education about HIV/AIDS.

Musical Milestones

1951 – Legendary crooner Frank Sinatra marries his second wife, actress Ava Gardner. Six years later, they are divorced.

1964 – “Baby Love,” by The Supremes, is in the middle of four weeks as a No. 1 single. It’s a follow-up to the Motown sensation’s “Where Did Our Love Go,” which was their first chart-topper.

1969 – Paul McCartney and his family are the subject of a LIFE Magazine cover story called “The Case of the Missing Beatle: Paul is Still With Us.” Interviewed on his Scottish farm after initially chasing off the reporter, McCartney dispels rumors about his death that had been circulating around the world.

1970 – “I’ll Be There,” by The Jackson 5, is in the midst of a five-week ride atop the singles chart. It is the band’s fourth consecutive No. 1.

1981 – Hall & Oates begin a two-week run at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Private Eyes.” The single becomes the duo’s third of six career chart-toppers.

1987 – Sixteen-year-old Tiffany tops the singles chart with “I Think We’re Alone Now,” originally a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells in 1967, four years before Tiffany was born.

1992 – It’s the end of the road for Boyz II Men’s 13-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with their Grammy-winning single, “End of the Road.”

1998 – “The First Night,” by Monica, marks its last week as a No. 1 single. The track enjoys a total of five weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

2009 – Owl City is perched at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Fireflies.”

On This Day October 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Anti-apartheid hero, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (d. 2021)

1951 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (“Ain’t Even Done With the Night,” “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Crumblin’ Down,” “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” “Cherry Bomb”)

1955 -Internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma

1959 – TV producer, executive and celebrity judge Simon Cowell (“American Idol, “The X Factor,” “America’s Got Talent”)

1967 – Grammy-winning soul-R&B singer and actress Toni Braxton, best known for her 1996 hit “Un-Break My Heart” and for playing Belle in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast”

History Highlights

1913 – The moving assembly line is introduced at Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park factory outside Detroit. Henry Ford’s invention allowed workers to build a Model T from scratch in 84 steps, cutting production time from 12.5 hours to six hours, and a year later to just 93 minutes.

1968 – The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopts its film rating system. Movies are rated G for general audiences, M (which later becomes PG), R or X (for adults only).

1982 – “Cats” opens, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history. The musical is based the T.S. Eliot’s 1939 collection of poems, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” and features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1985 – Four Palestinian terrorists hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean Sea. They kill a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and order his body thrown overboard with his wheelchair.

2001 – President George W. Bush announces that a U.S.-led coalition has begun attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. The campaign, in retaliation for terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. three weeks earlier (9/11), is known as Operation Enduring Freedom.

2003 – “Terminator” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, replacing Gray Davis — the first U.S. governor to be recalled by the public since 1921. Affectionately called “The Governator,” he is reelected in 2006.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Mamas & the Papas’ British tour is cancelled when Mama Cass Elliot is arrested and charged with stealing items from a hotel.

1967 – The Box Tops are mid-way through a four-week ride at No. 1 on the pop chart with “The Letter.”

1977 – Queen releases the single “We Will Rock You,” with “We Are the Champions” on the B-side, and many radio stations eventually play the tracks back to back. The songs continue getting airplay today on classic rock stations and serve as a motivational anthem at sporting events around the world.

1978 – Exile tops the Billboard Hot 100 with “Kiss You All Over.”

1989 – “Miss You Much,” by Janet Jackson, begins a four-week run as a chart-topping single.

1995 – Alanis Morissette rules the Billboard album chart with “Jagged Little Pill,” becoming the first Canadian female artist to reach No. 1 in the U.S. The album sells more than 30 million copies and goes on to capture four Grammy Awards.

2000 – “Music,” by Madonna, enters its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single.

2006 – Justin Timberlake is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “SexyBack.”

On This Day September 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1860 – Folk artist Grandma Moses (d, 1861)

1936 – Rock and roll legend Buddy Holly (d. 1959)

1949 – Singer Gloria Gaynor, best known for her disco smash “I Will Survive”

1950 – Actress and voice artist Julie Kavner, best recognized as the voice of TV’s Marge Simpson

1951 – Pretenders founder and lead singer Chrissie Hynde

1954 – Actor Corbin Bernsen (“L.A. Law,” “Psych”)

1956 – Singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, known for his interpretation of the Great American Songbook

1987 – Actress Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen,” “Across The Universe,” “The Wrestler,” “Whatever Works,” “The Ides of March”)

History Highlights

1813 – The United States gets its nickname, “Uncle Sam.” The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. Wilson stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to their rations as “Uncle Sam’s.”

1965 – Hurricane Betsy churns across extreme southern Florida en route to Louisiana where it kills 76 people and triggers widespread flooding. She’s the first hurricane to cause more than a billion dollars in damage, earning the nickname “Billion-Dollar Betsy.”

1968 – Fifty women led by the New York Radical Women feminist group stages the first protest against the Miss America pageant.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter signs a treaty granting Panama control over the Panama Canal beginning in the year 2000. The treaty ends an agreement signed in 1904 between then-President Theodore Roosevelt and Panama, which gave the U.S. the right to build the canal and a renewable lease to control five miles of land along either side of it.

1979 – The sports network ESPN debuts on cable TV.

1980 – The 33rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony takes place, with statues going to the producers of “Taxi” and “Lou Grant” and performers Ed Asner and Barbara Bel Geddes — Asner for his starring role as newspaper editor Lou Grant, and Bel Geddes for her role as Miss Ellie, the Ewing family matriarch in the prime time soap “Dallas.”

1986 – Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

Musical Milestones

1936 – Rock ‘n’ roll legend Buddy Holly is born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas. He produces a string of hits before his death at age 22 in a 1959 plane crash that also claims the lives of musical greats Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson).

1968 – The Rascals are in the midst of a five-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “People Got to Be Free.”

1974 – “(You’re) Having My Baby,” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates, wraps up three weeks on top of the singles chart.

1978 – Acclaimed drummer Keith Moon of the British rock band The Who dies of a drug overdose at the age of 32.

1985 – The theme from the movie “St. Elmo’s Fire” (“Man In Motion”), by John Parr, is the No. 1 single.

1994 – With TV host David Letterman as her escort, Madonna hands Aerosmith the Best Video award for “Cryin’” during the MTV Video Music Awards at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

2001 – Michael Jackson is reunited onstage with the Jackson Five at his 30th Anniversary Celebration in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, rules the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (“Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money”) dies of lung cancer at the age of 56. Ironically, Zevon earned the Grammys posthumously for his final album, “The Wind,” which was released just two weeks before his death.

2013 – “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, enters its 12th and final week as a Billboard chart-topper.

On this Day August 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1903 – Paleontologist, archaeologist and anthropologist Louis Leakey (d. 1972)

1904 – Nobel Peace Prize–winning academic and U.N. diplomat Ralph Bunche (d. 1971)

1942 – Pop-country singer B.J. Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” “(Hey Won’t You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song,” “Don’t Worry Baby”)

1942 – Grammy-winning writer and “A Prairie Home Companion” creator-host Garrison Keillor

1955 – Actor Wayne Knight, best known as Newman from the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld”

1960 – Actor David Duchovny, best known for playing Special Agent Fox Mulder in “The X-Files”

1963 – Actor Harold Perrineau (“Oz,” “28 Weeks Later,” “The Matrix Reloaded,” “The Matrix Revolutions,” “The Killing Jar,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lost”)

1975 – Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron (“The Devil’s Advocate,” “Mighty Joe Young,” “The Cider House Rules,” “Monster,” “North Country,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Atomic Blonde”)

History Highlights

1782 – General George Washington, commander in chief of the Continental Army, creates the “Badge for Military Merit” — a decoration for valor consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk with the word “Merit” stitched across the face. Only three soldiers were awarded the badge before it fell into disuse. It was revived in 1932 as the Purple Heart, consisting of a bust of Washington below a coat of arms.

1959 – The sheaves of wheat image on the U.S. penny is replaced with the Lincoln Memorial.

1959 – NASA launches the Explorer 6 satellite to study trapped radiation, galactic cosmic rays and geomagnetism in the upper atmosphere. It is the first spacecraft to transmit images of Earth from orbit.

1972 – Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax, Lefty Gomez and Early Wynn are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

1974 – After six years of planning and preparation, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit walks a tightrope a quarter mile above the streets of Manhattan between the World Trade Center towers.

1990 – President George H. W. Bush orders the launch of Operation Desert Shield in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2. The order prepares American troops to join an international coalition in the war against Iraq that would be launched as Operation Desert Storm in January 1991.

2005 – Longtime ABC News anchor and reporter Peter Jennings loses his battle with cancer at the age of 67.

2005 – The seven-person crew of a small Russian submarine (Priz) is rescued by an unmanned British submersible that freed the sub after its propellers became entangled in fishing nets deep in Pacific waters.

Musical Milestones

1965 – “I’m Henry VIII, I Am” by Herman’s Hermits is the best-selling single in the U.S. It’s the band’s second Billboard No. 1.

1971 – The Bee Gees achieve a milestone when “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” becomes the trio’s first No. 1 single. The song holds the top spot for four weeks.

1976 – Heartbreak is the theme of another No. 1 single: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee, which remains on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.

1982 – “Eye of the Tiger,” from the movie “Rocky III,” is midway through a six-week domination of the pop chart. The track garners Survivor a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by Duo or Group With Vocal.

1982 – Fleetwood Mac kicks off five weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with “Mirage,” the band’s third chart-topping album, which contains the Top-20 hits “Hold Me” and “Gypsy.”

1993 – UB40 is mid-way through a seven-week occupation of the top spot on the singles chart with their cover of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

1999 – Christina Aguilera rules the pop chart with “Genie in a Bottle.” The track holds at No. 1 for five weeks.

2004 – “Slow Motion,” by rapper Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim, kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On this Day July 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Leroy “Satchel” Paige, who played in the Negro Leagues until drafted by the Major League (d. 1982)

1927 – Trumpeter and former NBC Orchestra bandleader (“NBC Tonight Show with Johnny Carson”) Doc Severinsen

1933 – Pulitzer Prize-winning author, narrator and historian David McCullough (“Truman,” “John Adams,” “The Path Between the Seas,” “Mornings on Horseback,” The Wright Brothers,” “The American Spirit”)

1940 – Singer-songwriter, actor and former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, born Richard Starkey

1949 – Actress Shelley Duvall (“Thieves Like Us,” “Popeye,” “The Shining”)

1959 – Actor Billy Campbell (“Dynasty,” “The Rocketeer,” “Once and Again,” “Crime Story”)

1980 – World figure skating champion Michelle Kwan

History Highlights

1865 – Four co-conspirators of John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln face execution by hanging. Mary Surratt — the first woman executed by the federal government — Lewis Powell, George Atzerodt and David Herold were convicted by a military tribunal of conspiring with Booth as part of a sophisticated Confederate kidnapping plot that turned to murder.

1898 – President William McKinley signs a resolution annexing the Hawaiian islands as a territory of the United States.

1930 – Construction begins on Hoover Dam, an engineering marvel along the Nevada-Arizona border that was originally known as Boulder Dam. Over the next five years, 21,000 workers build what becomes the largest dam of its time, as well as one of the largest manmade structures in the world.

1948 – Italian-born Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini is canonized, becoming the first American saint.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan nominates Sandra Day O’Connor, an Arizona court of appeals judge, to be the first woman Supreme Court justice.

2005 – Terrorists attack the London transit system during rush hour, killing 52 people and injuring 700 others.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Recorded in 1958, David Rose and His Orchestra’s bold, brassy instrumental, “The Stripper,” shines in the spotlight for a week as the No. 1 single. In 1967, the track makes a comeback in a TV commercial for Noxzema shaving cream.

1969 – Only three of the four Beatles are on hand to record “Here Comes the Sun” at EMI Studios in London. John Lennon missed the session because he was recovering from a car accident in Scotland. The track is on the band’s “Abbey Road” album.

1973 – Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles” rules the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks.

1979 – One-hit-wonder Anita Ward enjoys her second and final week on top of the pop chart with the disco hit “Ring My Bell.”

1984 – “Born in the U.S.A.,” by Bruce Springsteen, begins four weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. The album becomes one of the biggest sellers of all time as it spawns seven top-10 singles, including the title track, “Dancing in the Dark,” “Glory Days” and “I’m on Fire.” It also garners a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year.

1984 – Prince starts a five-week run on top of the singles chart with “When Doves Cry,” off the “Purple Rain” soundtrack. It’s Prince’s first No. 1 and goes on to become the best-selling single of 1984.

1990 – New Kids on the Block are No. 1 on the pop chart with “Step by Step.”

2001 – Usher kicks off four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “U Remind Me.”

2010 – Paul McCartney joins Ringo Starr on stage during a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to help celebrate the former Beatles drummer’s 70th birthday.