Atlanta – Time Rewind

On This Day December 15

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On this Day July 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1918 – Major League Baseball All-Star shortstop Pee Wee Reese, born Harold Henry Reese (d. 1999)

1933 – Emmy-winning actor and game show host Bert Convy (d. 1991)

1940 – Radio talk show host Don Imus (d. 2019)

1961 – Emmy-winning actor Woody Harrelson (“Cheers,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Kingpin,” “The Thin Red Line,” “True Detective”)

1965 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist and songwriter Slash, born Saul Hudson, formerly with Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver

1967 – Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman (“The Talented Mr. Ripley,” “Capote,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Boogie Nights,” “Mission: Impossible III,” “Doubt,” “The Hunger Games”) (d. 2014)

1973 – Former White House intern-turned-designer Monica Lewinsky

1987 – Actor Daniel Radcliffe, best known for his portrayal of Harry Potter in the movie series

History Highlights

1885 – Shortly after completing his memoirs, Civil War hero and former president Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer.

1967 – A police raid on an illegal Detroit bar triggers the 12th Street Riot, with days of firebombing, violence and looting, as African Americans lash out over police brutality, housing discrimination and unemployment.

1982 – Actor Vic Morrow and two child actors are killed in an accident involving a helicopter while filming a Vietnam combat scene for “Twilight Zone: The Movie” — director John Landis’ film adaptation of Rod Serling’s TV series. The deaths lead to tighter on-set safety measures by the film industry.

1984 – Vanessa Williams gives up her Miss America title — the first resignation in the pageant’s history — after Penthouse magazine announces plans to publish nude photos of her. At 21, Williams was the first African American woman to win the Miss America crown. Despite the scandal, she goes on to enjoy a successful singing and acting career that continues today.

1985 – A revolution in gaming takes place as Commodore releases the Amiga 1000, the home computer that played host to everything from Speedball to Rainbow Islands.

1996 – At the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the U.S. women’s gymnastics team, nicknamed the “Mag 7” or “Magnificent 7,” captures its first-ever team gold.

Musical Milestones

1966 – Tommy James and the Shondells have the No. 1 single in the U.S. for a second straight week: “Hanky Panky.”

1977 – Barry Manilow’s “Looks Like We Made It” makes it to the No. 1 spot on the singles chart.

1983 – “Synchronicity,” by The Police, kicks off 17 weeks on top of the Billboard album chart. It is the band’s fifth and final studio album and goes on to capture three Grammy Awards. In 2009, it is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1988 – The first single from Richard Marx, “Hold On to the Nights,” is the hottest song on the radio.

1988 – Guns N’ Roses scores a huge popular breakthrough when their first hit single, “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” enters the Billboard Top 40. It climbs to No. 1 that September.

1994 – “I Swear,” by All-4-One, is in the middle of an 11-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2005 – Mariah Carey claims the top spot on the pop chart with “We Belong Together.”

2011 – Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse (“Stronger Than Me,” “Rehab”) dies of alcohol poisoning in her London townhouse at the age of 27.

On this Day May 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1904 – Jazz pianist Fats Waller, best remembered for such jazz standards as “Ain’t Misbehavin’” (d. 1943)

1917 – Actor Raymond Burr (“Perry Mason,” “Ironside”) (d. 1993)

1948 – Singer-songwriter Leo Sayer (“You Make Me Feel Like Dancing,” “When I Need You,” “More Than I Can Say”)

1952 – Actor-pro wrestler Mr. T, born Laurence Tureaud, known for his trademark mohawk and gold chains and who starred in the 1980s TV programs “The A-Team” and “Mister T”

1957 – Actor Judge Reinhold (“Fast Times at Ridgemont High,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Ruthless People”)

1959 – Actor-director Nick Cassavetes (“Face/Off,” “The Astronaut’s Wife,” “John Q,” “Alpha Dog,” “She’s So Lovely,” “The Notebook”)

1966 – Actress Lisa Edelstein (“The West Wing,” “Ally McBeal,” “House”)

1972 – Acclaimed rapper The Notoroius B.I.G. (a.k.a. Biggie Smalls), born Christopher Wallace (d. 1997)

1980 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Gotye, born Wouter De Backer, best known for his 2011 smash “Somebody That I Used to Know”

History Highlights

1881 – After being around wounded soldiers during the Civil War and, later, the Franco-Prussian War overseas, nurse and educator Clara Barton establishes the American Red Cross to provide humanitarian aid to victims of wars and natural disasters as well as to military personnel and their families.

1901 – Connecticut becomes the first state to impose a speed limit for motor vehicles (known then as “horseless carriages”). Motorists are required to keep it to 12 miles per hour in the city and 15 miles per hour on country roads. Speed limits were first enacted in Connecticut because horseless carriage manufacturers were springing up all across New England, and New Englanders were buying, and driving, their products.

1917 – The Great Atlanta Fire destroys much of that city’s Fourth Ward, including nearly 2,000 homes and businesses. Ten thousand people—nearly one tenth of the city’s population—are left homeless.

1979 – Gay rights activists riot outside San Francisco City Hall following the conviction of Dan White for the murders of Mayor George Moscone and Harvey Milk, an openly gay San Francisco supervisor. Protesters participating in the so-called White Night Riots contend that White’s sentence is too light.

1980 – A new installment to George Lucas’ “Star Wars” film saga opens in U.S. theaters: “The Empire Strikes Back.”

1999 – Ninetheenth time’s the charm! After 18 straight years of being nominated for a Best Actress Daytime Emmy Award and never winning, Susan Lucci finally captures the coveted honor for her portrayal of Erica Kane in the popular ABC soap opera “All My Children.”

Musical Milestones

1955 – Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry enters a Chicago sound studio and records his first single, “Ida Red.” During the session, his producer decides the track needs a new name: “Maybelline.” It becomes the first of Berry’s many hits.

1968 – “Tighten Up,” by Archie Bell & The Drells from Houston, Texas, is in the middle of a two-week run as the No. 1 single.

1971 – Marvin Gaye releases his eleventh studio album, “What’s Going On,” which becomes Motown Records’ best-selling album to date. It serves as a musical commentary on the Vietnam War. The title track soars to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes one of Gaye’s signature songs.

1977 – His musical tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington, “Sir Duke,” puts Stevie Wonder on top of the singles chart.

1979 – Elton John becomes the first Western rock star to tour the Soviet Union. Over the course of eight days, he plays four concerts at the Great October Hall in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and four more at the exclusive Rossya Hotel in Moscow.

1983 – David Bowie grabs the top spot on the singles chart for a week with “Let’s Dance,” off the album of the same name. Coincidentally, that album was nominated for an Album of the Year Grammy but had the misfortune of competing against Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”

1994 – “I Swear,” by All-4-One, begins an 11-week domination of the pop chart.

2011 – Adele kicks off seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Rolling in the Deep,” which goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video Grammys.