American Revolution – Time Rewind

On This Day April 19

Click each item below to learn more!

On This Day March 5

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Rex Harrison (“Cleopatra,” “My Fair Lady,” “Doctor Doolittle”) (d. 1990)

1936 – Actor Dean Stockwell, most remembered as Rear Admiral Al Calavicci in the NBC television series “Quantum Leap”

1955 – Emmy-winning magician, illusionist, comedian and author Penn Jillette, of the Penn & Teller team

1958 – Pop singer Andy Gibb (“I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water,” “Shadow Dancing”) (d. 1988)

1963 – Televangelist pastor and author Joel Osteen

1974 – Actress Eva Mendes (“Training Day,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Stuck on You,” “Hitch,” “Ghost Rider,” “The Other Guys,” “Fast Five,” “Girl in Progress,” “Lost River”)

History Highlights

1770 – The Boston Massacre takes begins as a skirmish between British troops and a crowd and ends with those troops killing five men and injuring six others. Crispus Attucks, one of the dead, is thought to be a runaway slave. Word of the bloody clash sparks growing resentment toward the British regime in America and eventually leads to the American Revolution.

1946 – Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill introduces the term “iron curtain” during a speech in which he condemns the Soviet Union’s policies in Europe. His remarks are considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War.

1963 – Wham-O Company co-founders Arthur “Spud” Melin and Richard Knerr patent the Hula Hoop, the hip-swiveling toy that goes on to become one of America’s greatest fads. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops sell during the first four months of production alone.

1982 – Comedic actor and singer John Belushi dies of a drug overdose at the age of 33. Belushi was best known as one of the original “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) cast members and for starring roles in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers.”

Musical Milestones

1963 – Country music star Patsy Cline, known for hits like “Crazy” and “Walking After Midnight,” is killed in a Tennessee plane crash at the age of 30. Ten years later, she becomes the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1966 – “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” by U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, starts a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1977 – Barbra Streisand claims the No. 1 spot on the singles chart for the second time in her career. This time it’s with “Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born),” which holds the top spot for three weeks. The track captures an Oscar for Best Original Song as well as Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year (which it shares with “You Light Up My Life”), and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

1983 – Michael Jackson begins a seven-week hold on the top spot on the singles chart with “Billie Jean,” off his Grammy-winning “Thriller” album.

1994 – Céline Dion enjoys her fourth and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “The Power of Love.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, kicks off nine weeks on top of the singles chart and receives a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song.

On This Day October 19

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Spy novelist John le Carré, best known for his 1963 international best-seller, “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” (d. 2020)

1932 – Actor Robert Reed, most remembered for playing family man Mike Brady in “The Brady Bunch” TV series (d. 1992)

1937 – Contemporary artist and pop art icon Peter Max

1940 – Actor Sir Michael Gambon, who played Albus Dumbledore in six “Harry Potter” movies

1945 – Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor John Lithgow (“The World According to Garp,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Footloose,” “Shrek,” “3rd Rock from the Sun,” “Dexter”)

1962 – Heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield

1964 – Reality TV host Ty Pennington (“Trading Spaces,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”)

1966 – Actor-director Jon Favreau (“Rudy,” “Swingers,” “The Break-Up,” “Elf,” “Cowboys & Aliens” and the “Iron Man” movie series)

1970 – Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Chris Kattan

History Highlights

1781 – Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution. The event is known as the Siege of Yorktown or the Battle of Yorktown.

1960 – The Cold War heats up as the U.S. imposes an embargo on exports to Cuba. The original embargo covers all exports except medicine and some food products. President John F. Kennedy expands the embargo to cover U.S. imports from Cuba, which is made permanent in early 1962.

1970 – In New York City, One World Trade Center welcomes its first tenants, even as construction of the upper floors of the world’s tallest building continues.

1977 – An aviation icon, the supersonic Concorde SST, makes its first landing at New York’s JFK International Airport. The aircraft provides high-speed trans-Atlantic service until a 2003 Air France crash during takeoff from Paris that kills everyone on board.

1982 – Auto executive John DeLorean is arrested for drug trafficking and money laundering after FBI agents nab him with a briefcase containing $24 million worth of cocaine.

1987 – The Dow Jones Industrial Average suffers the largest-ever one-day percentage decline, dropping 508 points (22.6 percent), in what comes to be known as “Black Monday.” It is a bigger collapse than what rocked Wall Street in 1929, right before the Great Depression.

1991 – What begins as a small fire on private property in the hills of Oakland, California grows into an inferno that consumes 2.5 square miles of mostly residential neighborhoods. The Oakland Hills Firestorm kills 25 people and injures 150 others, and destroys nearly 3,500 homes and apartments.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Tamla/Motown Records releases “I Second That Emotion,” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, which peaks at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 that December. However, the track does make it to No. 1 on the R&B singles chart.

1974 – Billy Preston is on top of the singles chart with “Nothing From Nothing.”

1985 – The Norwegian band a-ha claims the top spot on the singles chart with “Take on Me. The accompanying music video features the band in a pencil-sketch animation combined with live action, which won six awards and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards.

1991 – “Emotions,” by Mariah Carey, is in the middle of a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart.

1998 – “One Week,” by Barenaked Ladies, is No. 1 for a week. The track remains the Canadian band’s best-performing single to this day.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On This Day September 21

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1866 – Author H. G. Wells (“The Time Machine,” “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” “The Invisible Man,” “The War of the Worlds”) (d. 1946)

1931 – Actor Larry Hagman, best known for his role as villainous Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing in CBS’ hit series “Dallas” (d. 2012)

1934 – Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, known for his poetic lyrics, iconic songs and baritone voice (d. 2016)

1943 – Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“Beverly Hills Cop,” “Flashdance,” “Top Gun,” “The Rock,” “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “National Treasure”)

1947 – Award-winning horror, science fiction, and suspense novelist Stephen King (“Carrie,” “The Shining,” “The Stand,” “Misery,” “The Dark Tower”)

1950 – Emmy-winning actor-comedian Bill Murray (“Saturday Night Live,” “Caddyshack,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” “Groundhog Day,” “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Lost in Translation,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” “Hyde Park on Hudson,” “St. Vincent”)

1957 – Writer-producer Ethan Coen of the Coen Brothers (“Raising Arizona,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “Fargo, “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Hail, Caesar!”)

1967 – Grammy-winning country music singer Faith Hill (“Wild One,” “Piece of My Heart,” “This Kiss,” “Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me”)

1968 – Actress and talk show host Ricki Lake (“Hairspray,” “Ricki Lake”)

1971 – Actor Luke Wilson (“Idiocracy,” “Old School,” “Bottle Rocket,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Blue Streak,” “Bongwater,” “Legally Blonde”)

History Highlights

1780 – Revolutionary War hero Benedict Arnold turns his back on his country during a secret meeting with British Major John Andre. The two discuss Arnold’s handing over West Point to the British in exchange for a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The scheme is exposed and Arnold instantly goes from American patriot to traitor.

1970 – “Monday Night Football” premieres on ABC with Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson.

1981 – The U.S. Senate unanimously confirms Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Supreme Court justice. Considered a moderate conservative, O’Connor serves for 24 years.

1989 – U.S. Army General Colin Powell is confirmed by the Senate Armed Services Committee as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell becomes the first African American to achieve the nation’s highest military post.

2003 – After a 14-year mission studying Jupiter and its moons, the Galileo space probe is destroyed by NASA engineers to protect a possible ocean beneath the icy crust of the moon Europa.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Robert Allen Zimmerman enters a New York City recording studio and, after spending $400, emerges with a completed LP. Columbia Records goes on to release his self-titled album—”Bob Dylan.”

1963 – Bobby Vinton sees early success in his musical career as “Blue Velvet” reaches No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for three weeks.

1966 – Jimi Hendrix changes the spelling of his first name from J-I-M-M-Y to J-I-M-I.

1968 – One-hit-wonder Jeannie C. Riley owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Harper Valley PTA.” The country-pop crossover also topped the Billboard Country chart.

1974 – Barry White grabs hold of the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe.”

1985 – Heavy exposure on MTV helps Dire Straits reach No. 1 on the singles chart with “Money for Nothing.” The track, which features Sting on background vocals, holds the top spot for three weeks.

2002 – Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, is in the middle of a seven-week ride atop the pop chart.

On This Day September 3

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Actor Alan Ladd (“This Gun For Hire,” “Shane”) (d. 1964)

1932 – Actress Eileen Brennan (“The Last Picture Show,” “Private Benjamin,” “Will & Grace”) (d. 2013)

1942 – Guitarist-singer-songwriter and Beach Boys founding member Al Jardine

1955 – Guitarist Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols

1965 – Actor Charlie Sheen (“Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Young Guns,” “Eight Men Out,” “Major League,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Spin City,” “Two and a Half Men”)

1973 – Singer Jennifer Paige, best known for her 1998 hit “Crush”

1976 – Actress Ashley Jones (“The Young and the Restless,” “True Blood”)

1986 – Two-time Olympic Gold medal snowboarder Shaun White

History Highlights

1777 – The American flag flies in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War clash between a Patriot force of infantry and cavalry and British and Hessian troops at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Known as the “Stars and Stripes,” it consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a circular configuration over a blue field.

1783 – Representatives of the United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolution. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies.

1939 – Britain and France declare war on Germany in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland two days earlier.

1967 – Viewers bid farewell to the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time TV. “What’s My Line” was an entertainment staple on CBS for 18 seasons.

1976 – The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 lands on Mars and takes the first pictures of the Red Planet’s surface.

1991 – Director Frank Capra, whose movies include the classic “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” dies at the age of 94.

2004 – A three-day hostage crisis at a Russian school comes to a bloody end after a gun battle erupts between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. In the end, more than 300 people are killed, many of them children, while some 700 others are injured.

Musical Milestones

1955 – Bandleader Mitch Miller has a No. 1 hit with a song that was originally written in 1853: “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” It remains on top of the pop chart for six weeks and goes on to sell more than a million copies.

1966 – “Sunshine Superman,” by Donovan, soars to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for a week.

1968 – Ringo Starr rejoins The Beatles two weeks after storming out on his bandmates in frustration. He returns to find his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back.

1977 – The Emotions are in the middle of four weeks atop the singles chart with “Best of My Love.”

1983 – Eurythmics top the singles chart for a week with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” which establishes the British duo as a formidable force in the 80s new wave music scene. The accompanying video is considered a classic from the early MTV era.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, is the No. 1 single. The song holds the top spot for 14 weeks.

2005 – Considered her “comeback song,” Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” holds the top spot on the Hot 100, goes on to win two Grammy Awards and is ultimately labeled “song of the decade” by Billboard magazine.

On this Day August 16

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Grammy and Emmy-winning singer Eydie Gormé, who often performed with her husband, Steve Lawrence (d. 2013)

1930 – NFL Hall of Famer and sportscaster Frank Gifford (d. 2015)

1933 – Tony-winning actress Julie Newmar, born Julie Newmeyer, best known for playing Catwoman in the 1960s “Batman” TV series

1953 – TV talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford (“The Morning Show,” “Today” show)

1954 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning director James Cameron (“The Terminator,” “Aliens,” “The Abyss,” “True Lies,” “Titanic,” “Avatar”)

1958 – Golden Globe-winning actress Angela Bassett (“What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Waiting to Exhale,” “The Rosa Parks Story,” “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” “Malcolm X,” “American Horror Story”)

1958 – Pop superstar Madonna, born Madonna Ciccone

1960 – Oscar-winning actor Timothy Hutton (“Ordinary People,” “Taps,” “The Falcon and the Snowman,” “The Dark Half”)

1962 – Golden Globe-winning actor-comedian Steve Carell (“The Office,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” “Anchorman,” “Despicable Me,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Big Short”)

History Highlights

1812 – During the War of 1812, U.S. General William Hull surrenders Fort Detroit and his army to the British without a fight. Hull, a 59-year-old veteran of the American Revolution, had lost hope of defending the settlement after seeing the large English and Indian force gathering outside Detroit’s walls.

1920 – Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman is struck in the temple by a ball pitched by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees. Chapman dies 12 hours later, becoming the first and only Major League Baseball player to die as the result of a pitched ball.

1948 – Cancer claims the life of baseball legend George Herman “Babe” Ruth. For two days following, his body lays in state at the main entrance to Yankee Stadium, and tens of thousands of people stand in line to pay their last respects.

1984 – John DeLorean, the celebrity millionaire caught on videotape discussing cocaine deals with government agents posing as drug dealers, is acquitted of all charges by a federal jury in a tumultuous and emotional climax to a five-month, $1 million trial.

1985 – The final episode of “The Dukes of Hazzard” airs on CBS.

1987 – A four-year-old girl is the lone survivor of the crash of a Northwest Airlines flight after takeoff from Detroit. 148 passengers and six crew members are killed in the accident which investigators blame on pilot error.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Twelve-year-old ‘Little’ Stevie Wonder releases his first single, “I Call It Pretty Music, (But The Old People Call It The Blues),” which features Marvin Gaye on drums.

1969 – The world is introduced to the Jackson 5 by Diana Ross & The Supremes during a performance at the Los Angeles Forum.

1975 – Peter Gabriel announces that he’s leaving Genesis. After auditioning more than 400 singers over the next 18 months, the band selects its longtime drummer, Phil Collins, as new frontman.

1977 – Music legend Elvis Presley dies of a heart attack at the age of 42. The King’s career included 33 movies and 105 Top 40 hits that continue to entertain fans decades after his death.

1980 – “Magic,” by Olivia Newton-John, is in the middle of a one-month reign of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – On her 27th birthday, Madonna weds actor Sean Penn in a Malibu ceremony described as a “media circus.” The marriage lasts four years.

1986 – “Papa Don’t Preach” becomes Madonna’s fourth No. 1 single. It holds the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. The track is from her “True Blue” album, which begins its own five-week run atop the album chart this same day.

1997 – “I’ll Be Missing You, by Puff Daddy and Faith Evans featuring 112, tops the Billboard Hot 100. The song samples The Police’s 1983 hit song “Every Breath You Take.”

2018 – ‘Queen of Soul’ Aretha Franklin dies of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. The self-taught piano prodigy, vocalist and songwriter notched 77 Hot 100 chart entries and earned 18 Grammys during her career. In 1987, Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.