Alan Freed – Time Rewind

On This Day March 17

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On This Day January 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1896 – Oscar-winning comedian-actor-singer and writer George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum (“The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Oh, God!”) (d. 1996)

1920 – Actor DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. “Bones” McCoy in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series (d. 1999)

1920 – Italian film director Federico Fellini (La strada,” “Le notti di Cabiria,” “8 1/2,” “Amarcord”) (d. 1993)

1930 – Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon

1946 – Director David Lynch (“Eraserhead,” “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet,” “Twin Peaks,” “Wild at Heart,” “Lost Highway,” “Mulholland Drive”)

1952 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Stanley, born Stanley Bert Eisen, of the rock band Kiss

1966 – Actor Rainn Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute in the TV comedy, “The Office.”

History Highlights

1841 – During the First Opium War, China cedes the island of Hong Kong to the British with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention — an agreement seeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict.

1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as U.S. president for the second time. His first inauguration, in 1933, was held in March, but the 20th Amendment, passed later that year, made January 20 the official inauguration date for all future presidents.

1961 – President John F. Kennedy is sworn into office and delivers his inaugural address outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The speech concludes with his now-famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter calls for the 1980 Summer Olympics to be moved from the planned host city, Moscow, or canceled altogether if the Soviet Union fails to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan within a month.

1981 – Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th U.S. president, 52 American captives held at the American embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

1984 – Hungarian-born Olympic gold medal swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan in the movies, dies at the age of 79.

1993 – Actress, fashion icon and philanthropist Audrey Hepburn (“Roman Holiday,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “My Fair Lady”) dies of colon cancer at the age of 63. Hepburn remains among just a handful of performers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards.

2009 – On a freezing day in Washington, D.C., Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, Obama was the first African-American to win election to the nation’s highest office.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The British Invasion is on as Capitol Records releases “Meet the Beatles!,” the band’s second album in the U.S.

1965 – American disc jockey Alan Freed is 43 years old when he dies from cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism. Freed, a 1986 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is credited with coining the term “rock ‘n’ roll.” His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that shook up the American broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.

1968 – “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses),” a parody of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” puts John Fred and his Playboy Band at No. 1 on the singles chart for two weeks.

1971 – “What’s Going On,” by Marvin Gaye, is released and introduces fans to a different, more personal side of the Motown star in this anthem about social injustice. The song spends five weeks on top of the Hot Soul Singles chart before crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it climbs to No. 2.

1973 – Carly Simon begins her third and final week on top of the singles chart with “You’re So Vain.” After years of speculation, Simon eventually admits that the song refers to actor Warren Beatty.

1988 – Mick Jagger presides as The Beatles are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Paul McCartney decides not to attend, issuing a statement citing ongoing business differences among The Beatles.

1990 – Michael Bolton rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” The single holds the No. 1 spot for three weeks.

1996 – The Mariah Carey-Boyz II Men collaboration, “One Sweet Day,” is midway through a 16-week ride on top of the Billboard singles chart –the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

2007 – “Irreplaceable,” Beyoncé, is in its sixth week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track remains there for another four weeks and clinches a Record of the Year Grammy nomination.

On this Day July 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1767 – John Quincy Adams, sixth U.S. president (d. 1848)

1920 – Tony and Oscar-winning actor Yul Brynner (“The King and I,” “Anastasia,” “The Ten Commandments,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Westworld”) (d. 1985)

1934 – Fashion designer Giorgio Armani

1950 – Actor Bruce McGill (“MacGyver,” “My Cousin Vinny,” “The Insider,” “Ali,” “Legally Blonde 2,” “Collateral,” “Rizzoli & Isles”)

1953 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Leon Spinks (d. 2021)

1956 – Emmy-winning actress Sela Ward (“Sisters,” “The Fugitive,” “Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story,” “Once and Again,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “The Guardian,” “The Stepfather,” “Gone Girl”)

1959 – Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega (“Tom’s Diner,” “Luka”)

1963 – Actress and TV host Lisa Rinna (“Days of Our Lives,” “Melrose Place,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills”)

1975 – Grammy-winning rapper Lil’ Kim, born Kimberly Denise Jones (“Magic Stick,” “Crush on You,” “Lady Marmalade”)

History Highlights

1804 – Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his longtime political antagonist, Alexander Hamilton, in a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and former Treasury Secretary, dies the next day.

1914 – George Herman “Babe” Ruth makes his major league debut, pitching seven strong innings to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians, 4-3.

1916 – President Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Aid Road Act, making federal funds available for construction and maintenance of U.S. highways.

1979 – Skylab plunges to Earth six years after its launch, showering flaming debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia, but fortunately causing no casualties.

1985 – Coca-Cola officials hold a news conference to announce that original Coke is coming back after consumers overwhelmingly rejected its replacement by New Coke. The original formula is renamed Coca-Cola Classic.

Musical Milestones

1951 – Legendary disc jockey Alan Freed (a.k.a. “Moondog”) starts his new job spinning records for a rhythm and blues show on radio station WJW in Cleveland. With his unprecedented on-air mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues songs, Freed is credited with coining the term “rock ‘n roll.”

1969 – David Bowie releases “Space Oddity,” which soars to No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is ranked among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.”

1970 – The “Woodstock” soundtrack hits the top of the Billboard album chart and remains there for four weeks.

1970 – The No. 1 single in the U.S. is “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” by Three Dog Night. The song, written by Randy Newman, holds the top spot for two weeks.

1987 – “Alone,” by Heart, kicks off three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the sibling duo’s biggest hit in the U.S.

1992 – “Baby Got Back,” by American rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot, is in the midst of five weeks as a No. 1 single.

1998 – Brandy and Monica are in the middle of a 13-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Boy is Mine.”

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas kick off 14 weeks on top of the U.S. singles chart with “I Gotta Feeling,” the longest-running No. 1 single of 2009. The song is goes on to win a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

On this Day May 19

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Religious leader and civil rights activist Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little (d. 1965)

1934 – Journalist, author and former PBS anchor and political debate moderator Jim Lehrer (d. 2020)

1941 – Screenwriter-producer-director Nora Ephron (“Silkwood,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “You’ve Got Mail,” “Julie & Julia”) (d, 2012)

1944 – Actor Peter Mayhew, best known for playing Chewbacca in the “Star Wars” movie franchise (d. 2019)

1945 – Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Pete Townshend, lead guitarist of legendary rock band The Who

1946 – Wrestler-actor Andre the Giant, whom most remember from his role as the giant in the movie “The Princess Bride (d. 1993)

1951 – Joey Ramone, born Jeffrey Ross Hyman, guitarist and lead singer of the punk rock band The Ramones (“Blitzkrieg Bop,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker,” “Rockaway Beach”) (d. 2001)

1952 – Singer, model and actress Grace Jones (“Pull Up to the Bumper,” “I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango),” “Private Life,” “Slave to the Rhythm”)

1992 – Grammy-winning pop vocalist Sam Smith (“Latch,” “Lay Me Down,” “Stay With Me”)

History Highlights

1749 – England’s King George II grants the Ohio Company of Virginia a charter of 200,000 acres stretching out from the forks of the Ohio River on the present site of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1921 – Congress passes the Emergency Quota Act (also known as the Immigration Act of 1921), establishing national quotas on the immigration of foreigners into the U.S.

1935 – T.E. Lawrence, known to the world as Lawrence of Arabia, dies as a retired Royal Air Force mechanic living under an assumed name. He is just 46. The legendary war hero, author, and archaeological scholar succumbed to to severe brain injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident six days earlier. His death eventually led to development of the crash helmet. Lawrence was famously portrayed in the Oscar-winning 1962 movie, “Lawrence of Arabia,” by actor Peter O’Toole.

1962 – Marilyn Monroe takes center stage at New York’s Madison Square Garden as she sings “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy. About 15,000 people are on hand for the star-studded gala that takes place 10 days before JFK’s actual birthday.

2006 – Amid a firestorm of publicity and controversy, director Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s mega-bestselling thriller, “The Da Vinci Code,” debuts in theaters, starring Tom Hanks.

2016 – EgyptAir Flight 804, an Airbus A320 on a routine flight from Paris to Cairo, disappears over the Mediterranean Sea with 66 passengers and crew. It takes weeks to find signs of the wreckage, and while terrorism is suspected initially, investigators conclude that the aircraft broke up in midair after a fire broke out in the cockpit and quickly spread.

Musical Milestones

1958 – The “South Pacific” movie soundtrack, featuring the music of Rodgers and Hammerstein, is No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1960 – Disc jockey Alan Freed (a.k.a. “Moondog”), who introduced radio listeners across the U.S. to the music that came to be called “rock ‘n roll,” is indicted along with seven others by a federal grand jury in connection with a scandal over payola — the practice of accepting cash and gifts from music promoters in exchange for playing their records.

1973 – Stevie Wonder scores his third No. 1 single with “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” which later garners him a Grammy for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1979 – “Reunited,” by Peaches & Herb, is in the midst of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1979 – Supertramp’s “Breakfast in America” — featuring the hits “The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger” and “Take the Long Way Home” — reaches the top of the Billboard album chart and stays there for four weeks. The album goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1984 – Lionel Richie wraps up the second of two weeks as king of the pop chart with “Hello.”

1990 – Madonna starts a three week run at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Vogue,” off her “I’m Breathless” album.

2001 – Janet Jackson is queen of the pop chart as “All For You” achieves its sixth week as a No. 1 single.