auto racer – Time Rewind

On This Day February 28

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On This Day January 27

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Celebrity Birthdays

1756 – Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1791)

1832 – Writer Lewis Carroll (“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “Through the Looking-Glass”) (d. 1898)

1921 – Actress Donna Reed (“It’s a Wonderful Life,” “From Here to Eternity,” “The Donna Reed Show”) (d. 1986)

1940 – Emmy-winning actor James Cromwell (“Babe,” “Star Trek: First Contact,” “L.A. Confidential,” “The Green Mile,” “Six Feet Under,” “American Horror Story: Asylum”)

1944 – Pink Floyd founding member-drummer and auto racer Nick Mason

1948 – Dancer-actor Mikhail Baryshnikov (“The Turning Point,” “White Nights,” “Sex and the City”)

1956 – Actress Mimi Rogers (“Someone to Watch Over Me,” “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery”)

1959 – TV host and political commentator Keith Olbermann

1964 – Actress Bridget Fonda (“Single White Female,” “Point of No Return,” “Jackie Brown”)

1979 – Actress Rosamund Pike (“Die Another Day,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “Jack Reacher,” “Gone Girl,” “Entebbe”)

History Highlights

1888 – The National Geographic Society is founded in Washington, D.C. for “the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge.”

1910 – Thomas Crapper, widely considered the prime developer of the flush toilet mechanism still in use today, dies at the age of 73.

1945 – Soviet troops reach the Auschwitz concentration camp complex and liberate some 7,000 remaining prisoners who survived the Holocaust, but were ill and dying. An estimated 1.1 million Auschwitz prisoners were killed between 1940 and 1945.

1965 – Ford introduces the Shelby GT 350, a version of the Mustang sports car developed by auto racer/car designer Carroll Shelby. The vehicle features a 306-horsepower V-8 engine and remains in production through 1971.

1967 – A launch pad fire during a preflight test at Cape Kennedy, Florida, kills Apollo 1 astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee. An investigation determines that a faulty electrical wire inside the command module was the probable cause.

1973 – In Paris, the U.S., South Vietnam, Viet Cong, and North Vietnam formally sign “An Agreement Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam.”

1996 – Tennis great Monica Seles wins her first Grand Slam title since her 1993 stabbing by a mentally unstable fan during a tournament in Hamburg, Germany that led her to take a two-year hiatus from the sport.

Musical Milestones

1956 – RCA Records releases Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel,” which sells 300,000 copies in its first week to become Presley’s first Gold record. That spring, it spends seven weeks on top of the pop chart.

1962 – With the American dance craze going strong, the hottest song on the radio is “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee & The Starliters. The track holds at No. 1 for three weeks.

1973 – Stevie Wonder sneaks into the top spot on the singles chart with “Superstition,” from his “Talking Book” album that also contains the hit “You Are The Sunshine of My Life.”

1984 – King of Pop, Michael Jackson, suffers second and third degree burns on his scalp during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in Los Angeles.

1991 – Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston performs “The Star Spangled Banner” at Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, Florida to such excellent response that a single (that eventually reaches No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100) and video are rush-released. Houston’s appearance comes amid heightened patriotism across the U.S. during the Persian Gulf War.

1996 – “One Sweet Day” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men is in the midst of an unprecedented 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2001 – Destiny’s Child enjoys the final week of an 11-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women, Part I.”

On This Day September 26

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Celebrity Birthdays

1888 – Poet T.S. Eliot (d. 1965)

1898 – Composer George Gershwin (“Rhapsody in Blue,” “An American in Paris,” “Porgy and Bess”) (d. 1937)

1930 – Tony-winning actor Philip Bosco (“Trading Places,” “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” “Three Men and a Baby,” “Working Girl,” “Shadows and Fog”) (d. 2018)

1947 – Grammy-winning country singer Lynn Anderson, best remembered for her 1970 hit “Rose Garden” (d. 2015)

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-actress Olivia Newton-John, who co-starred with John Travolta in the 1978 box office smash “Grease” and whose Top 40 hits include “Let Me Be There,” “I Honestly Love You,” “Have You Never Been Mellow,” “Magic” and “Physical”)

1956 – Actress Linda Hamilton, best known for her role as Sarah Connor in “The Terminator” movie series

1968 – Actor Jim Caviezel (“The Count of Monte Cristo,” “The Passion of the Christ,” “Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius,” “Frequency,” “Person of Interest”)

1981 – Tennis superstar Serena Williams

History Highlights

1960 – Democratic Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy and Republican Vice President Richard Nixon go head to head during the first televised presidential debate.

1964 – Seven fictional passengers set sail aboard the charter boat SS Minnow for a three-hour tour, but end up stranded on an island for three TV seasons. It’s the debut of “Gilligan’s Island” on CBS.

1969 – “The Brady Bunch” premieres on ABC. Considered daring for its time, the sitcom centers around a mother with three daughters by one marriage who marries a widower with three boys, a maid and a dog.

1986 – In one of the most bizarre plot twists ever in prime time television, “Dallas” character Bobby Ewing returns to the show after being killed off the previous season. His wife, Pam, discovers him very much alive in their shower.

2008 – Screen legend, auto racer and entrepreneur Paul Newman, whose 65 movies include such classics as “Cool Hand Luke,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Sting” and “The Verdict,” dies of cancer at age 83.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Roy Orbison dominates the singles chart with “Oh, Pretty Woman.” The track holds at No. 1 for three weeks.

1969 – The Beatles release their final studio album, “Abbey Road,” in the U.K. This recording features the iconic cover photo of the Fab Four marching single-file across a London crosswalk and contains such favorites as “Come Together,” “Here Comes The Sun,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Octopus’s Garden.”

1975 – “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” opens in movie theaters across the U.S. The cult classic musical features then-unknows Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick and still draws crowds to midnight screenings.

1987 – Michael Jackson kicks off six weeks atop the Billboard album chart with “Bad,” the follow-up to 1982’s “Thriller.” It becomes the world’s best-selling album with an estimated 45 million copies sold worldwide. The album spawns five No. 1 singles — the first ever to do so.

1987 – Whitney Houston rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Didn’t We Almost Have It All.”

2003 – British singer-songwriter Robert Palmer, best known for the ’80s hits “Addicted To Love” and “Simply Irresistible,” dies of a heart attack at the age of 54.

On this Day July 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (d. 1993)

1922 – Fashion designer Pierre Cardin

1925 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers (d. 1963)

1937 – Champion race car driver Richard Petty, nicknamed “The King” for winning the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR national championship each seven times

1946 – Tony-winning actor Ron Silver (“Reversal of Fortune,” “Ali,” “The West Wing,” “Speed-the-Plow”) (d. 2009)

1947 – Comedian-actor-writer Larry David (“Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”)

1956 – Supermodel-actress Jerry Hall, who was once married to The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger

1985 – Actress-singer Ashley Tisdale (“The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” “Hellcats,” ”High School Musical”)

1986 – Actress Lindsay Lohan (“The Parent Trap,” “Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls,” “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” “Just My Luck,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Bobby,” “Chapter 27”)

History Highlights

1776 – Convening in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress formally adopts Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence from Great Britain. The vote is unanimous, with only New York abstaining.

1881 – President James A. Garfield is shot while walking through a Washington, D.C. railroad station. Vice President Chester Arthur steps in as acting president while Garfield recuperates, but 80 days later, Garfield dies of blood poisoning and Arthur is inaugurated as 21st president. The assassin, 40-year-old Charles Guiteau, had stalked the president for weeks.

1937 – Aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world. They were believed to be headed for Howland Island — about halfway between Hawaii and Australia — after taking off from Lae, New Guinea.

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The historic measure prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in public places as well as in employment, union membership and voter registration.

1979 – The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin is introduced, but fails to catch on because many consumers are unable to distinguish it from a quarter.

1994 – While attempting to land, US Air Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte-Douglas Airport in North Carolina, killing 37 people and seriously injuring 16 others. Investigators determine that wind shear resulting from a thunderstorm caused the plane to plummet to the ground and strike a home.

1997 – “Men in Black,” starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, opens in U.S. theaters. The sci-fi-comedy action movie grosses more than $250 million domestically and helps establish Smith as one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley and his new band, The Jordanaires, record “Hound Dog” at RCA Studios in New York. It requires 31 takes to get the version Elvis likes, and the song becomes a No. 1 smash. The track was originally recorded four years earlier by Big Mama Thornton, whose version enjoyed seven weeks on top of the R&B chart.

1966 – Ol’ Blue Eyes — Frank Sinatra — sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Strangers in the Night.”

1977 – Bill Conti soars to the top of the Billboard pop chart with “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from the movie “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

1988 – “Dirty Diana,” by Michael Jackson, reaches No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart, where it holds for a week. The track is among five chart-topping hits from Jackson’s “Bad” album.

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

2005 – “Inside Your Heaven” sends “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

2011 – Adele enters her seventh and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Rolling in the Deep.” The track, off her second album, “21,” goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video. Many music critics ranked it as the best song of 2011.

On this Day May 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1820 – Nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (d. 1910)

1907 – Oscar-winning actress Katharine Hepburn (“The African Queen,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “On Golden Pond”) (d. 2003)

1925 – Baseball Hall of Fame player-coach-manager Yogi Berra (d. 2015)

1928 – Grammy and Oscar-winning composer-pianist Burt Bacharach (“The Look of Love,” “This Guy’s in Love with You,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” “That’s What Friends Are For,” “On My Own”)

1936 – Late-night TV talk show host Tom Snyder (“The Tomorrow Show,” “The Late Late Show”) (d. 2007)

1937 – Stand-up comedian and actor George Carlin (d. 2008)

1950 – Actor Gabriel Byrne (“Miller’s Crossing,” “The Usual Suspects,” “End of Days,” “In Treatment”)

1959 – Golden Globe-winning actor Ving Rhames (“Dave,” “Mission: Impossible” film series, “Pulp Fiction,” “Con Air,” “Don King: Only in America”)

1962 – ‘Brat Pack’ actor Emilio Estevez (“Repo Man,” “The Breakfast Club,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Stakeout,” “Young Guns,” “The Mighty Ducks”)

1978 – Actor Jason Biggs (“As The World Turns,” the “American Pie” movie series, “Orange is the New Black,” “Amateur Night”)

1981 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor and producer Rami Malek (“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Mr. Robot,” “Night at the Museum”)

History Highlights

1847 – Way before the Fitbit, William Clayton creates a device to measure distance with his invention of the odometer. Its original use was to record how far horse-drawn wagons traveled during America’s pioneer days.

1903 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president captured on film during a trip to San Francisco. Cameraman H.J. Miles chronicles Roosevelt as his carriage travels down Market Street during a parade in his honor. The short silent movie, titled “The President’s Carriage,” is later played on nickelodeons in arcades across America.

1932 – The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh’s 20-month-old baby is found more than two months after his kidnapping from the family’s New Jersey home.

1957 – Legendary auto racer A.J. Foyt is 22 years old when he scores his first professional victory in a U.S. Automobile Club midget car race in Kansas City, Missouri.

1970 – The U.S. Senate confirms President Richard Nixon’s nomination of Federal Circuit Judge Harry Blackmun to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Musical Milestones

1958 – The Everly Brothers begin a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “All I Have To Do Is Dream.”

1963 – Bob Dylan walks off the set of “The Ed Sullivan Show” after a CBS executive tells him he cannot perform his song “Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues” because it mocks segregation and the military.

1964 – Barbra Streisand wins a Grammy for Best Female Vocalist for “The Barbra Streisand Album,” which is named Album of the Year.

1979 – “Reunited,” by Peaches & Herb, is in the middle of a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. The track also tops the R&B singles chart for four weeks and goes on to sell more than two million copies.

1984 – Lionel Richie begins two weeks on top of the pop chart with “Hello,” off his “Can’t Slow Down” album.

1990 – Sinéad O’Connor’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” completes a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2001 – Janet Jackson is in the middle of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “All for You.”