Al Gore – Time Rewind

On This Day March 31

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On This Day January 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1737 – John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and first to sign the Declaration of Independence (d. 1793)

1919 – Comedian, writer and actor Ernie Kovacs (d. 1962)

1930 – Poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 (d. 2017)

1933 – Tony-winning actress-dancer-singer Chita Rivera (“The Rink,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Chicago”)

1944 – Golden Globe-winning actor Rutger Hauer (“Blade Runner,” “The Hitcher,” “Ladyhawke,” “Sin City,” “The Blood of Heroes,” “Batman Begins,” “Hobo with a Shotgun”) (d. 2019)

1951 – Retired pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who became a hero after safely landing a crippled passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2008, an event dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson”

1957 – Princess Caroline of Monaco

1964 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay, best known as Detective Olivia Benson in the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

History Highlights

1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman physician in U.S. history when she earns a medical degree from the all-male Geneva Medical College in upstate New York, graduating at the top of her class at the age of 28. Blackwell devotes her life to advocating for women in the healthcare professions and, in 1868, opens a women’s medical college in New York City.

1957 – The Wham-O toy company introduces the first aerodynamic plastic disc known as the Frisbee, and forever changes outdoor recreation. The disc was the creation of Walter Frederick Morrison, who originally named it the Pluto Platter.

1968 – North Korea seizes the U.S. intelligence-gathering ship USS Pueblo and interrogates its 83 crew members claiming the vessel violated North Korean territorial waters while spying.

1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord had been reached in Paris to end the Vietnam War.

1975 – The ABC sitcom “Barney Miller” debuts. It’s about an NYPD precinct captain played by Hal Linden, and the shenanigans he endures with his detectives.

1976 – Singer, actor, athlete and civil rights activist Paul Robeson dies at the age of 77.

1977 – The miniseries “Roots,” based on the book by Alex Haley, debuts. It runs for eight consecutive nights on ABC Television and becomes the single most-watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.

1997 – One day after her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Madeline Albright is sworn in as America’s first female Secretary of State by Vice President Al Gore.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Bert Kaempfert begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Wonderland By Night.”

1965 – Petula Clark strolls to the top of the singles chart with “Downtown” and remains there for two weeks. The recording features Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page on guitar. Page was a studio session player at the time.

1971 – “Knock Three Times,” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for three weeks.

1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members at a ceremony in New York City. Inductees include Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

1988 – Michael Jackson owns the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” off his “Bad” album.

2000 – Santana’s “Supernatural” reaches the top of Billboard album chart for the second time. The album, which contains the hit single “Smooth,” ultimately remains at No. 1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks and goes on to capture eight Grammy awards.

On This Day December 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning actor-comedian Dick Van Dyke (“Bye Bye Birdie,” “Mary Poppins,” “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “Night at the Museum”)

1929 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony-winning actor Christopher Plummer (“The Sound of Music,” ” A Beautiful Mind,” “Nicholas Nickleby,” “The New World,” “Inside Man,” “Beginners”)

1948 – Rock musician Ted Nugent, best known for his 1977 hit “Cat Scratch Fever”

1957 – Golden Globe-winning actor Steve Buscemi (“Reservoir Dogs,” “Desperado,” “Con Air,” “Fargo,” “Armageddon,” “Boardwalk Empire”)

1967 – Oscar and Grammy-winning actor-comedian and musician Jamie Foxx, born Eric Marlon Bishop (“Ray,” “Django Unchained,” “Dreamgirls,” “Collateral,” “The Soloist”)

1989 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Taylor Swift

History Highlights

1957 – The Ford Motor Company produces the last two-seater Thunderbird. Beginning with the 1958 model year, the car becomes a four-seater, referred to as the “Square Bird.”

1972 – Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt begin the third and final “extravehicular activity” (EVA) or “moonwalk” during NASA’s last manned mission to the moon.

1983 – The Detroit Pistons defeat the Denver Nuggets by a score of 186-184 in triple overtime, the highest scoring game in the history of the NBA.

2000 – A long and bitter U.S. presidential race finally comes to an end. After five weeks of legal wrangling over the vote count in Florida, Democrat Al Gore—then vice president—concedes to Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush after the Supreme Court rules that the Florida recount must stop.

2000 – Seven convicts escape from a maximum-security prison in South Texas, setting off a manhunt that lasts six weeks. The so-called ‘Texas Seven’ leave behind an ominous note that reads, “You haven’t heard the last of us yet.” A tip from someone that had seen the escapees profiled on TV’s “America’s Most Wanted” crime program leads to their capture.

2003 – Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is captured by U.S. military forces without as single shot being fired. Nine months after he and his family fled Baghdad, he is discovered hiding in an underground hole near his hometown of Tikrit. He stands trial and is executed in December 2006.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The Dutch band Shocking Blue hurtles onto the Billboard Hot 100 with “Venus,” which climbs to No. 1 in the U.S. and eight other countries in 1970. Bananarama’s 1986 cover of the song also becomes a chart-topper.

1975 – Silver Convention soars through its third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Fly, Robin, Fly.”

1980 – Kenny Rogers holds the top spot on the Billboard pop chart with “Lady” — a song written by Lionel Richie.

1986 – “The Way It Is,” by Bruce Hornsby and the Range, hits No.1 on the singles chart.

1993 – Janet Jackson’s “Again” is in the middle of a two-week ride atop the singles chart. The song goes on to receive Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Original Song.

On This Day October 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Playwright, novelist and actress Alice Childress (d. 1994)

1932 – Comedian-activist Dick Gregory (d. 2017)

1935 – R&B singer Sam “Soul Man” Moore of the duo Sam & Dave

1935 – Internationally renowned operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti (d. 2007)

1947 – Journalist-TV anchor Chris Wallace

1962 – Trumpeter-composer Chris Botti

1968 – Actor Hugh Jackman, best known for playing Wolverine in the “X-Men” movie series

1992 – Actor Josh Hutcherson (“Zathura,” “Little Manhattan,” “RV,” “Bridge to Terabithia,” “The Hunger Games”)

History Highlights

1492 – Explorer Christopher Columbus discovers the New World as his fleet comes ashore in what is now known as The Bahamas.

1810 – Bavarian Crown Prince Regent Ludwig, later King Ludwig I of Bavaria, marries Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen. The Bavarian royalty invite residents of Munich to attend the festivities, held on the fields in front of the city gates. This becomes an annual tradition that gives rise to Oktoberfest, which is now celebrated around the world.

1940 – Beloved cowboy actor Tom Mix is killed when he loses control of his 1937 Cord 812 phaeton and crashes near Florence, Arizona.

1960 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev creates a spectacle by pounding his shoe on a desk at a United Nations General Assembly meeting to protest the comments of a Philippines delegate.

1964 – Three Soviet cosmonauts blast off aboard the Voshkod-1 spacecraft and orbit Earth, becoming the first multi-person crew in space and the first to fly without spacesuits.

2000 – Two suicide bombers associated with the al-Qaeda terrorist network ram their motorboat full of explosives into the side of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole off Yemen. The attack kills 17 crew members, injures 39 others and leaves a gaping hole in the ship’s hull.

2007 – Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to increase public knowledge about man-made climate change.

Musical Milestones

1955 – Chrysler introduces the first car phonograph — the Highway Hi-Fi — which sits below the dashboard and plays 16 rpm records for up to 45 minutes. Despite claims that records would never skip while driving, they did and Chrysler dropped the $200 option two years later.

1963 – “Sugar Shack” by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs is the No. 1 single and remains there for five weeks.

1971 – Rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent — the talent behind the 1956 smash “Be-Bop-a-Lula” and who appeared in the movie “The Girl Can’t Help It” with Jayne Mansfield — dies at age 36 of complications from an ulcer.

1974 – Olivia Newton-John wraps up two weeks on top of the pop chart with “I Honestly Love You.”

1979 – Fleetwood Mac release their 12th studio album, “Tusk,” which spawns two Top 10 singles: the title track and “Sara.”

1985 – Ready For The World claims the top spot on the singles chart with “Oh Sheila.”

1991 – “Emotions,” by Mariah Carey, begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1997 – Country and pop music singer-songwriter and actor John Denver is killed when his experimental plane crashes into the Pacific Ocean. He was 53.

2002 – “A Moment Like This,” by Kelly Clarkson, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.