Britain – Time Rewind

On This Day January 26

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On This Day December 19

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Celebrity Birthdays

1915 – Internationally acclaimed French cabaret singer-songwriter and actress Edith Piaf, who became widely regarded as France’s national chanteuse (d. 1963)

1924 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Cicely Tyson (“Sounder,” “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” “The Help”)

1944 – Paleoanthropologist-conservationist Richard Leakey

1957 – Basketball Hall of Famer Kevin McHale

1963 – Actress Jennifer Beals (“Flashdance,” “Devil in a Blue Dress,” “Four Rooms,” “The Chicago Code”)

1972 – Actress Alyssa Milano (“Who’s the Boss?” “Melrose Place,” “Charmed,” “Mistresses”)

1980 – Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (“October Sky,” “Donnie Darko,” “The Day After Tomorrow,” “Jarhead,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Zodiac,” “Nightcrawler,” “Southpaw”)

History Highlights

1732 – Benjamin Franklin begins publishing “Poor Richard’s Almanack.” The book, filled with proverbs preaching industry and prudence, is published continuously for 25 years and becomes one of the most popular publications in colonial America, selling an average of 10,000 copies a year.

1843 – Charles Dickens publishes his Christmas classic, “A Christmas Carol.” Originally titled “A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas,” the first edition sells out by Christmas Eve. By the end of 1844, 13 editions had been released. The work continues to be printed and sold nearly 200 years later and has been adapted countless times for film, stage, opera and other media, including a video game.

1903 – New Yorkers celebrate the opening of the Williamsburg Bridge, the second and largest of three steel-frame suspension bridges crossing the East River.

1917 – The National Hockey League (NHL) opens its first season with two games. At the time, the league consists of five franchises: the Canadiens and the Wanderers (both of Montreal), the Ottawa Senators, the Quebec Bulldogs and the Toronto Arenas (known at the time as the Toronto Hockey Club).

1972 – NASA’S Apollo manned lunar-landing program ends as the last three astronauts to travel to the moon safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Apollo 17 had blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, 10 days earlier.

1984 – The British government signs an agreement to return Hong Kong to China in 1997.

1997 – Director James Cameron’s epic drama “Titanic” opens in U.S. theaters, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film becomes a box office smash and goes on to capture 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

1998 – President Bill Clinton is impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by a divided House of Representatives, which recommends virtually along party lines that the Senate remove the nation’s 42d president from office. Clinton vows to finish his term.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Diana Ross & The Supremes score their third No. 1 single of 1964 with “Come See About Me,” which holds the top spot for a week.

1970 – Elton John’s first U.S. hit, “Your Song,” from the “Elton John” album, enters the Billboard Hot 100 chart, where it eventually climbs to No. 8.

1979 – Elvis Presley’s personal physician, George Nichopoulos, is charged with ‘illegally and indiscriminately’ prescribing more than 12,000 uppers, downers and painkillers for the star during the 20 months preceding his untimely death.

1981 – Olivia Newton-John is in the middle of a 10-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Physical.”

1987 – George Michael is in the middle of a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Faith.”

1992 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, starts its fourth week as a No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for a total of 14 weeks.

2000 – Roebuck “Pops” Staples, gospel singer, songwriter, guitarist and founding member of the Staple Singers, dies at age 85. The group had hits including “I’ll Take You There,” “Respect Yourself” and “Let’s Do It Again” in the 1970s.

2009 – “Empire State of Mind,” by Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys, rules the singles chart.

On This Day November 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Retired Hall of Fame sportscaster Vin Scully, play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn and later the Los Angeles Dodgers for 67 seasons

1935 – Golden Globe-winning actress Diane Ladd, born Rose Diane Lanier (“Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Alice,” “Wild at Heart,” “Rambling Rose”)

1940 – Jazz trumpeter Chuck Mangione, best known for his 1978 smash “Feels So Good”

1949 – Comedian-actor Garry Shandling (“It’s Garry Shandling’s Show,” “The Larry Sanders Show”) (d. 2016)

1954 – Oscar-winning director Joel Coen of the Coen Brothers (“Blood Simple,” “Raising Arizona,” “Miller’s Crossing,” “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” “No Country for Old Men,” “A Serious Man,” “True Grit”)

1955 – Comedian-actor and TV host-judge Howie Mandel (“St. Elsewhere,” “Deal or No Deal,” “Bobby’s World,” “America’s Got Talent”)

1960 – Actress Cathy Moriarty (“Raging Bull,” “Soapdish,” “The Mambo Kings,” “Casper,” “Analyze That,” “The Bounty Hunter”)

1961 – Emmy-winning actress Kim Delaney (“NYPD Blue,” “All My Children,” “Philly,” “CSI: Miami”)

1962 – Actor-director Andrew McCarthy (“St. Elmo’s Fire,” “Mannequin,” “Weekend at Bernie’s,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Less Than Zero,” “Orange is the New Black”)

1964 – Golden Globe-winning actor Don Cheadle (“Boogie Nights,” “Hotel Rwanda,” “Crash,” “House of Lies,” “Iron Man 2,” “Iron Man 3,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

History Highlights

1929 – American explorer Richard Byrd and three companions make the first flight over the South Pole.

1947 – Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

1962 – Britain and France announce a joint agreement to design and build Concorde, the world’s first supersonic airliner.

1963 – One week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the fatal shooting. Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, the Commission later concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

1981 – Actress Natalie Wood, who starred in such movies as “Rebel Without a Cause,” “Splendor in the Grass” and “West Side Story,“ drowns in a boating accident near California’s Catalina Island at the age of 43. Although the Hollywood star’s death was officially labeled accidental, suspicion continues to swirl around the case.

1986 – Two-time Oscar nominee Cary Grant (“The Philadelphia Story,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “Notorious,” “North By Northwest”) dies of a stroke at the age of 82.

Musical Milestones

1969 – “Come Together/Something,” by The Beatles, claims the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. It is the band’s 18th chart-topper.

1975 – Silver Convention soars to the top of the singles chart with “Fly, Robin, Fly.” The disco smash nests there for three weeks.

1986 – Bon Jovi has its first No. 1 single with “You Give Love a Bad Name,” off the “Slippery When Wet” album. The track remains on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

1997 – Barbra Streisand’s “Higher Ground,” her first album in four years, tops the Billboard album chart. It contains the Grammy-nominated duet, “Tell Him,” with Celine Dion.

2001 – Beatles guitarist, singer and songwriter George Harrison loses his battle with cancer at the age of 58.

2003 – “Baby Boy,” by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, wraps up a nine-week run as a Billboard chart-topper.

On This Day September 3

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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 May 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson (d. 2006)

1929 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Audrey Hepburn (“Roman Holiday,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”) (d. 1993)

1937 – Musician Dick Dale, known as the “King of the Surf Guitar” (d. 2019)

1939 – Actor Paul Gleason (“All My Children,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Trading Places,” “Die Hard”) (d. 2006)

1941 – Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist-author George Will

1947 – Emmy-winning actor Richard Jenkins (“Six Feet Under,” “The Visitor,” “Burn After Reading,” “White House Down,” “Olive Kitteridge,” “The Shape of Water”)

1953 – Golden Globe-winning actress-singer Pia Zadora (“Santa Claus Conquers the Martians”)

1959 – Grammy-winning country music singer and actor Randy Travis (“On the Other Hand,” “Forever and Ever Amen,” “Deeper Than a Holler,” “Three Wooden Crosses”)

1970 – Actor Will Arnett (“Arrested Development,” “30 Rock,” “Let’s Go To Prison,” “Blades of Glory,” “The Lego Movie”)

History Highlights

1932 – Mobster Al Capone begins serving an 11-year sentence for income tax evasion in a federal prison in Atlanta.

1961 – Civil rights activists calling themselves the “Freedom Riders” decide to test a recent Supreme Court decision prohibiting racial segregation in interstate travel. They set out on a dangerous journey aboard buses from Washington, D.C. through the Deep South to New Orleans, defying segregated restrooms, restaurants and bus station waiting areas along the way.

1970 – Four students are killed, nine others wounded when National Guard troops open fire during a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University in Ohio. Guardsmen fire 67 rounds in 13 seconds. The tragedy sends shockwaves across the U.S. and around the world.

1977 – British journalist David Frost sits down with former President Richard Nixon for the first of four revealing television interviews. Nixon apologizes for putting “the American people through two years of needless agony” during the Watergate scandal.

1979 – Britain’s Conservative Party leader, Margaret Thatcher, becomes that nation’s first female prime minister.

2008 – The term “May the 4th be with you,” a tribute to the popular Star Wars phrase, “May the force be with you,” becomes a part of pop culture as it begins to be used among members of Star Wars-related Facebook groups that turn it into a celebration of the beloved sci-fi franchise. In 2011 and 2012, Star Wars Day is observed by fans in Toronto during a festival that draws significant media coverage. In 2013, just months after purchasing Lucasfilm, Disney officially recognizes May 4 as Star Wars Day, and its marketing of new movies, TV shows and merchandise continues to explode today.

Musical Milestones

1959 – The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presents the first Grammy Awards with ceremonies held simultaneously in New York and Los Angeles. Among the awards handed out, “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” (better known as “Volare”) wins both song and record of the year for composer Domenico Modugno.

1968 – Bobby Goldsboro is in the middle of a five-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Honey.”

1973 – Led Zeppelin opens its 1973 North American tour in Atlanta. Billed as “the biggest and most profitable rock & roll tour in the history of the United States,” the group would gross more than $4 million from it.

1974 – The soundtrack to the motion picture “The Sting,” featuring Marvin Hamlisch’s interpretation of ragtime music by Scott Joplin, begins a five-week run at No. 1 on the album chart.

1974 – Grand Funk Railroad chugs its way to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “The Loco-Motion.”

1985 – “We Are The World,” the musical collaboration produced under the baton of Quincy Jones as a fundraiser for African famine relief, begins its fourth and final week as a chart-topper.

1990 – Madonna kicks off the North American leg of her 57-date Blond Ambition World Tour with a performance in Houston, Texas at The Summit (now Lakewood Church). Years later, Rolling Stone magazine would call the tour “the Greatest Concert of the 1990s.”

2002 – Ashanti has the No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Foolish.” The single remains on top of the pop chart for 10 weeks.