Buddy Holly – Time Rewind

On This Day February 29

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On This Day February 3

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Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Author-poet and art collector Gertrude Stein (“How to Write,” “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”) (d. 1946)

1894 – Artist Norman Rockwell, famous for his “Saturday Evening Post” cover illustrations of everyday American life (d. 1978)

1918 – Entertainer and “Rat Pack” member Joey Bishop (d. 2007)

1940 – Legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who spent 18 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants

1943 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Blythe Danner (“Butterflies are Free,” “Will & Grace,” “Meet the Parents”)

1950 – Actress Morgan Fairchild (“Dallas,” “Falcon Crest,” “Murphy Brown”)

1956 – Tony-winning actor-comedian Nathan Lane (“The Producers,” “Guys and Dolls,” “The Birdcage”)

History Highlights

1913 – The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, authorizing the federal government to impose and collect a nationwide income tax.

1966 – The Soviets achieve the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the moon with Luna 9. After touching down, the circular capsule opens like a flower and begins transmitting photographs and television images back to Earth.

1971 – New York City police officer Frank Serpico is shot during a Brooklyn drug bust and survives to expose corruption in the NYPD. Many believe the shooting was fellow officers trying to kill him. His experience is immortalized in the 1973 movie “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino.

1994 – President Bill Clinton lifts the 19-year-old U.S. trade embargo on Vietnam that was first imposed during the Vietnam War when North Vietnamese forces captured Saigon in South Vietnam.

2002 – The New England Patriots shock football fans everywhere by defeating the heavily favored St. Louis Rams, 20-17, to clinch their first Super Bowl victory. Super Bowl XXXVI was played at the Superdome in New Orleans before a crowd of nearly 73,000 people.

2005 – Alberto Gonzales wins U.S. Senate confirmation as the nation’s first Hispanic attorney general despite protests over his record on torture.

Musical Milestones

1959 – Rock and Roll greats Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. ‘The Big Bopper’ Richardson are killed when their single-engine plane crashes in an Iowa cornfield during their Winter Dance Party tour. The tragedy is remembered as “The Day the Music Died.”

1968 – One-hit wonder The Lemon Pipers shake their way up to No. 1 on the singles chart with “Green Tambourine.”

1973 – Elton John scores his first No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Crocodile Rock,” from his “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player” album. The song holds the top spot for three weeks.

1979 – The Blues Brothers (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi) land on top of the Billboard album chart with “Briefcase Full of Blues.” The album contains their cover of “Soul Man,” which reaches No. 14 on the singles chart, and “Rubber Biscuit,” which climbs as high as No. 37.

1990 – Michael Bolton begins his third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.”

2007 – Beyoncé rules the singles chart with “Irreplaceable,” which holds at No. 1 for 10 weeks.

On This Day February 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Novelist James Joyce, considered one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century (“Dubliners,” “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” “Ulysses,” “Finnegans Wake”) (d. 1941)

1937 – Comedian-musician Tom Smothers of the Smothers Brothers

1942 – Singer-songwriter Graham Nash, who performed with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Hollies

1947 – Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress and pop icon Farrah Fawcett (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Extremities,” “The Burning Bed “) (d. 2009)

1949 – Actor Brent Spiner, best known for his portrayal of Data in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series and four subsequent films

1954 – Supermodel Christie Brinkley

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Shakira, born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (“Whenever, Wherever,” “Hips Don’t Lie”)

History Highlights

1880 – The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.

1887 – Groundhog Day is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if the groundhog sees his shadow, we’re in for six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring.

1913 – After 10 years of construction, the iconic Grand Central Terminal opens in Midtown Manhattan. More than 150,000 people visit New York City’s newest landmark on its first day of operation.

1964 – The G.I. Joe action figure hits U.S. toy stores. Manufacturer Hasbro boasts that this fighting man has 21 movable parts.

1980 – Details of ABSCAM, an FBI operation to uncover political corruption in the government, are released to the public. Thirty-one public officials had been targeted for investigation.

1996 – Acclaimed dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly, who helped shape the Golden Age of movie musicals, dies at his Beverly Hills, California home at the age of 83.

2014 – Oscar-winning actor, director and producer Philip Seymour Hoffman, who starred in more than 50 movies, including “Capote, “Doubt,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” and “The Hunger Games” series, dies of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 46.

Musical Milestones

1959 – The Platters are perched on top of the singles chart with “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

1959 – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper take their Winter Dance Party tour to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. It would be the last gig the three rock and roll legends ever play, as a plane crash claims their lives the next day.

1963 – The Rooftop Singers mark their second and final week as chart toppers with “Walk Right In.”

1973 – The first rock concert TV series, “The Midnight Special,” debuts on NBC, hosted by Wolfman Jack and Mike Carruthers.

1974 – Barbra Streisand starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the Academy Award-winning theme from the movie “The Way We Were.”

1979 – Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose in New York City at the age of 21. It happens just one day after his release from prison on bail following his arrest on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend.

1980 – Michael Jackson is in the midst of a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Rock With You,” from his “Off The Wall” album.

1991 – “To The Extreme,” by Vanilla Ice, tops the Billboard album chart. The album contains the hits “Ice Ice Baby” and a cover of “Play That Funky Music.”

2002 – Usher is in the middle of a five-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “U Got It Bad.”

2008 – “Low,” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, is the No. 1 single.

On This Day January 24

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Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine (“Marty,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Gattaca”) (d. 2012)

1941 – Grammy-winning singer Aaron Neville, formerly of The Neville Brothers (“Tell It Like It Is,” “Don’t Know Much”)

1941 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Diamond (“Cherry, Cherry,” “Kentucky Woman,” “Holly Holy,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Cracklin’ Rosie,” “Song Sung Blue”)

1947 – Rock singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (“Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”) (d. 2003)

1949 – Actor-comedian John Belushi (“Saturday Night Live,” “Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers”) (d. 1982)

1951 – Comedian Yakov Smirnoff

1961 – Actress Nastassja Kinski (“Tess,” “Cat People,” “Paris, Texas”)

1968 – Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton

1974 – Actor Ed Helms (“The Daily Show,” “The Office,” “The Hangover” movie series)

History Highlights

1935 – The first canned beer goes on sale. In partnership with the American Can Company, the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company delivers 2,000 cans of Krueger’s Finest Beer and Krueger’s Cream Ale to faithful Krueger drinkers in Richmond, Virginia

1965 – Sir Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, dies in London at the age of 90.

1972 – After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local farmers discover Shoichi Yokoi, a Japanese sergeant who was unaware that World War II had ended.

1984 – The first Apple Macintosh computer goes on sale two days after it was announced to the world in a dramatic TV commercial, directed by legendary film director Ridley Scott, that was broadcast during Super Bowl XVIII. This spot launched the tradition of specially produced, high-dollar commercials airing during the Super Bowl.

2006 – The Walt Disney Company announces plans to purchase computer animation giant Pixar for $7.4 billion.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Brian Epstein signs a five-year management deal with The Beatles that stipulates that he receive 25 percent of the band’s gross earnings at a time when the normal management deal was 10 percent.

1970 – “Randrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” by B. J. Thomas, marks its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single.

1976 – “Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To),” by Diana Ross, tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1979 – The Clash release their first single in the U.S., “I Fought The Law.” The song was originally written in 1958 by Sonny Curtis, formerly a member of Buddy Holly’s band, The Crickets.

1981 – John Lennon’s “(Just Like) Starting Over” wraps up five weeks on top of the pop chart. The track is from “Double Fantasy,” the last album Lennon produced before his murder.

1998 – “Truly Madly Deeply,” by Australian pop band Savage Garden, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

2004 – OutKast holds the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hey Ya!”

2009 – “Just Dance,” by Lady Gaga featuring Colby O’Donis, is in the middle of a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart. The song garners a Best Dance Recording Grammy nomination.

On This Day January 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1737 – John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and first to sign the Declaration of Independence (d. 1793)

1919 – Comedian, writer and actor Ernie Kovacs (d. 1962)

1930 – Poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 (d. 2017)

1933 – Tony-winning actress-dancer-singer Chita Rivera (“The Rink,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Chicago”)

1944 – Golden Globe-winning actor Rutger Hauer (“Blade Runner,” “The Hitcher,” “Ladyhawke,” “Sin City,” “The Blood of Heroes,” “Batman Begins,” “Hobo with a Shotgun”) (d. 2019)

1951 – Retired pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who became a hero after safely landing a crippled passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2008, an event dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson”

1957 – Princess Caroline of Monaco

1964 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay, best known as Detective Olivia Benson in the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

History Highlights

1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman physician in U.S. history when she earns a medical degree from the all-male Geneva Medical College in upstate New York, graduating at the top of her class at the age of 28. Blackwell devotes her life to advocating for women in the healthcare professions and, in 1868, opens a women’s medical college in New York City.

1957 – The Wham-O toy company introduces the first aerodynamic plastic disc known as the Frisbee, and forever changes outdoor recreation. The disc was the creation of Walter Frederick Morrison, who originally named it the Pluto Platter.

1968 – North Korea seizes the U.S. intelligence-gathering ship USS Pueblo and interrogates its 83 crew members claiming the vessel violated North Korean territorial waters while spying.

1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord had been reached in Paris to end the Vietnam War.

1975 – The ABC sitcom “Barney Miller” debuts. It’s about an NYPD precinct captain played by Hal Linden, and the shenanigans he endures with his detectives.

1976 – Singer, actor, athlete and civil rights activist Paul Robeson dies at the age of 77.

1977 – The miniseries “Roots,” based on the book by Alex Haley, debuts. It runs for eight consecutive nights on ABC Television and becomes the single most-watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.

1997 – One day after her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Madeline Albright is sworn in as America’s first female Secretary of State by Vice President Al Gore.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Bert Kaempfert begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Wonderland By Night.”

1965 – Petula Clark strolls to the top of the singles chart with “Downtown.” The recording features Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page on guitar. Page was a studio session player at the time.

1971 – “Knock Three Times,” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for three weeks.

1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members at a ceremony in New York City. Inductees include Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

1988 – Michael Jackson owns the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” off his “Bad” album.

2000 – Santana’s “Supernatural” reaches the top of Billboard album chart for the second time. The album, which contains the hit single “Smooth,” ultimately remains at No. 1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks and goes on to capture eight Grammy awards.

On This Day January 18

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – British author A. A. Milne, who created the Winnie-the-Pooh character (d. 1956)

1892 – Oliver Hardy, one half of the famous comedy duo, Laurel and Hardy (d. 1957)

1904 – Actor Cary Grant, born Archibald Alexander Leach (“The Philadelphia Story,” “The Awful Truth,” “His Girl Friday,” “Notorious,” “North By Northwest”) (d. 1986)

1911 – Golden Globe-winning actor, comedian and dancer Danny Kaye (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Court Jester,” “On the Riviera,” “Me and the Colonel”) (d. 1987)

1941 – Pop and country music singer-songwriter Bobby Goldsboro (“See the Funny Little Clown,” “Honey”)

1955 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor-director and musician Kevin Costner (“The Untouchables,” “Bull Durham,” “Field of Dreams,” “Dances With Wolves,” “JFK,” “The Bodyguard,” “Waterworld,” “Hatfields & McCoys,” “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” “Hidden Figures”)

1969 – Actor Jesse L. Martin (“Rent,” “Ally McBeal,” “Law & Order”)

1980 – Actor Jason Segel (“Freaks and Geeks,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Knocked Up,” “The Five-Year Engagement,” “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” “The Muppets,” “Sex Tape”)

History Highlights

1778 – British explorer Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu. Two days later, he lands at Waimea on the island of Kauai and names the island cluster the Sandwich Islands, after the voyage’s sponsor, the Earl of Sandwich.

1919 – Leaders of the Allied powers — the United States, France, Great Britain and Italy — convene in Paris, France to begin the long and complex negotiations that would pave the way for the end of World War I. The Paris Peace Conference, as it is known, leads to creation of the League of Nations, an international peacekeeping organization.

1975 – The sitcom “The Jeffersons,” one of several spin-offs from TV’s groundbreaking “All in the Family,” premieres on CBS and becomes a ratings bonanza of its own during an 11-season run. Another Norman Lear creation, it stars Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford as a successful African-American couple adjusting to life on Manhattan’s ritzy East Side after leaving their modest Queens neighborhood.

1977 – Scientists identify the cause of a mysterious outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease that killed 34 people at a 1976 American Legion Convention in Philadelphia.

1990 – An FBI sting leads to the arrest of Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry for possession of crack cocaine. After serving six months in federal prison, the so-called “mayor for life” makes one of the most improbable comebacks in the history of American politics in 1994 when D.C. residents elect him to a fourth term as mayor.

Musical Milestones

1944 – The first jazz concert — known as the Esquire All-American Jazz Concert — is held at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, featuring Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge, Jack Teagarden and Billie Holiday.

1960 – Johnny Preston starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Running Bear,” a song written by J. P. Richardson (a.k.a. “The Big Bopper”). The song was released shortly after Richardson’s death in the February 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.

1964 – The Beatles make their U.S. singles chart debut when “I Want To Hold Your Hand” enters at No. 45. It goes on to spend seven weeks at No. 1.

1969 – Marvin Gaye is midway through a seven-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart with “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.” The track becomes Motown’s biggest-selling hit at that time.

1975 – Barry Manilow scores his first chart-topping single when “Mandy” reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1986 – “That’s What Friends Are For” by Dionne Warwick, featuring Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder, is the No. 1 single. The track, written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, wins Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals and Song of the Year Grammys.

1989 – At 38 years of age, Stevie Wonder becomes the youngest living person inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He has excellent company, as other inductees in his class include The Rolling Stones, The Temptations and Dion (DiMucci).

1992 – Michael Jackson wraps up seven weeks as a chart-topper with “Black or White,” off his “Dangerous” album.

2003 – Eminem finds himself on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for another week with “Lose Yourself,” from the “8 Mile” soundtrack.

On This Day January 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Former U.S. Vice President Walter “Fritz” Mondale, who served under President Jimmy Carter

1931 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Robert Duvall (“To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Apocalypse Now,” “The Godfather,” “The Godfather Part II,” “Tender Mercies,” “Lonesome Dove,” “The Judge”)

1946 – Oscar-winning actress Diane Keaton (“The Godfather” series, “Annie Hall,” “The First Wives Club,” “Something’s Gotta Give”)

1969 – Shock rocker Marilyn Manson, born Brian Hugh Warner (“Sweet Dreams are Made of These,” “The Dope Show,” “The Beautiful People”)

1975 – Actor-director Bradley Cooper (“Wedding Crashers,” “Yes Man,” “He’s Just Not That Into You,” “The Hangover” trilogy, “Silver Linings Playbook,” “American Hustle,” “American Sniper,” “A Star is Born”)

1978 – Actress January Jones, best known for her role as Betty Draper in the “Mad Men” television series

History Highlights

1914 – The Ford Motor Company introduces an eight-hour workday and minimum wage of $5 for a day’s labor.

1933 – Construction begins on California’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge, spanning San Francisco Bay. Crews complete the engineering marvel ahead of schedule and $1.3 million under budget when it opens four years later, on May 27, 1937.

1970 – The ABC soap “All My Children” premieres and runs for 41 seasons.

1972 – President Richard Nixon orders the development of a new space transportation system that relies on a reusable vehicle, and NASA’s space shuttle program is born.

1998 – Entertainer-turned-congressman Sonny Bono is killed in a California skiing accident at the age of 62.

Musical Milestones

1959 – Coral Records releases Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore.” It is Holly’s last single before his tragic death in a February 1959 plane crash that also killed popular singers Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.

1963 – “Telstar,” by the British instrumental band The Tornados, marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1973 – Bruce Springsteen releases his debut album, “Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.,” on Columbia Records.

1979 – Jazz musician and bandleader Charles Mingus dies at the age of 56.

1980 – KC and the Sunshine Band claims the top spot on the singles chart with “Please Don’t Go,” the band’s fifth and final Billboard No. 1.

1991 – Madonna scores the first No. 1 single of 1991 with “Justify My Love,” off her album, “The Immaculate Collection.” It remains a chart-topper for two weeks.

2002 – Nickelback enters its third week on top of the singles chart with “How You Remind Me.”

On This Day December 1

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Oscar-winning screenwriter-actor-director Woody Allen (“Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”)

1939 – Pro golfer Lee Trevino

1940 – Standup comedian-actor Richard Pryor (d. 2005)

1945 – Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning singer-actress Bette Midler, best known for her pop hits “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Wind Beneath My Wings” and the movies “The Rose,” “Beaches” and “For the Boys”

1946 – Singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan, best known for his 1970s hits “Alone Again (Naturally)”, “Clair” and “Get Down”

1951 – Actor Treat Williams (“Hair,” “Prince of the City,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “The Late Shift,” “127 Hours”)

1970 – Comedian and “SNL” alum Sarah Silverman (“School of Rock,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “A Million Ways to Die in the West”)

History Highlights

1891 – James Naismith shoots and scores! The 30-year-old physical education teacher from the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts invents basket ball (originally two words) using two peach baskets and a ball. At the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, the year basketball was introduced to the international competition, Naismith was in Berlin, Germany to present medals to the winning teams of the three North American countries: United States, Gold; Canada, Silver; and Mexico, Bronze.

1913 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.

1914 – The Maserati company is founded in Bologna, Italy, and goes on to produce its first car in 1926.

1953 – The first issue of “Playboy” magazine is published, featuring a nude Marilyn Monroe centerfold. More than 50,000 copies sell at 50 cents apiece.

1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man — a violation of the city’s racial segregation laws. The incident, which triggers a year-long boycott of the city’s bus system, is considered the birth of the modern civil rights movement.

1992 – Workers drill a hole through a wall of rock 132 feet beneath the English Channel connecting both ends of a tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time in 8,000 years. The Channel Tunnel or “Chunnel” finally opens for passenger service in 1994.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Buddy Holly and the Crickets appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” performing “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue.” Sam Cooke is a guest on the same show performing “You Send Me.”

1958 – The Teddy Bears are No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “To Know Him is to Love Him.” It remains a chart-topper for three weeks.

1962 – The Four Seasons are midway through a five-week domination of the singles chart with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

1973 – “Top of the World” puts the Carpenters on top of the singles chart, where they remain for two weeks. It is the duo’s second No. 1 single following “(They Long to Be) Close to You” in 1970.

1984 – Wham! begins its third and final week with a No. 1 single: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

1990 – “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” by Whitney Houston, begins a week-long run at No. 1 on the pop chart. It is Houston’s eighth chart-topping single.

2001 – Mary J. Blige has the No. 1 single with “Family Affair.”

2007 – Alicia Keys kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “No One,” from her “As I Am” album. The track captures Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

On This Day October 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Legendary jazz trumpeter-composer Dizzy Gillespie, who helped develop the “bebop” music style (d. 1993)

1924 – Actress Joyce Randolph, who played Trixie Norton in the 1950s sitcom “The Honeymooners”

1928 – Baseball Hall of Famer Whitey Ford, who was a star pitcher for the New York Yankees

1942 – Judith Sheindlin, better known as TV’s “Judge Judy”

1956 – Actress-author Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” movie trilogy and wrote “Postcards From the Edge” (d. 2016)

1959 – Actor Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai,” “Batman Begins,” “Inception,” “Godzilla”)

1980 – Socialite and reality TV star Kim Kardashian (“Keeping Up With The Kardashians”)

History Highlights

1879 – Thomas Edison throws the switch on his newly invented incandescent lamp, which burns for nearly 14 hours.

1921 – President Warren Harding delivers a speech in Alabama condemning lynchings that were being committed primarily by white supremacists against African Americans in the Deep South. Harding is the first U.S. president to address the controversial subject.

1941 – Nazi troops massacre thousands of men, women and children across Yugoslavia in retaliation for that country’s rejection of an alliance with Germany.

1959 – The distinctive and world-renowned Guggenheim Museum opens in New York City. Designed by acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the museum houses one of the world’s top collections of contemporary art.

1959 – President Dwight Eisenhower signs an executive order transferring renowned rocket engineer Wernher von Braun and his team from the U.S. Army to the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Von Braun, who masterminded America’s space program, developed the lethal V-2 rocket for Nazi Germany during World War II, and had been a member of the Nazi Party and an SS officer.

1967 – In Washington, D.C., thousands of Vietnam War protesters stage a peaceful rally at the Lincoln Memorial before attempting to storm the Pentagon. Police arrest 250 of the demonstrators.

2014 – South African Oscar Pistorius, the first double amputee runner to compete at the Olympics, is sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of culpable homicide (manslaughter) in the 2013 death of his girlfriend, 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp. His sentence is later doubled by a higher court.

Musical Milestones

1958 – Rock and roll legend Buddy Holly’s last recording session takes place in a New York City studio. Among the songs he records is “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” which was written by Paul Anka and becomes a No. 13 hit following Holly’s death in a February 1959 plane crash.

1967 – Lulu begins a five-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with the theme from the movie “To Sir With Love,” starring Sidney Poitier.

1972 – Curtis Mayfield begins four weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with the soundtrack to the movie “Super Fly.” Sales of the album, which contains the hits “Freddy’s Dead” and “Super Fly,” go on to surpass the movie’s box office performance.

1973 – “Angie” begins a week as a No. 1 single for The Rolling Stones. The track is from the band’s “Goats Head Soup” album and becomes their seventh U.S. chart-topper.

1989 – Janet Jackson’s “Miss You Much” is mid-way through a four-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

1995 – Mariah Carey holds on to the top spot on the pop chart for a fourth week with “Fantasy.” The track remains there for another four weeks.

2000 – “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You)” becomes the third No. 1 single of Christina Aguilera’s music career. This track stays on top for four weeks.

2000 – Radiohead’s fourth album, “Kid A,” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

2006 – Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” marks its seventh and final week at No. 1 on the singles chart. The track captures a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2007.

On This Day September 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1920 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Mickey Rooney (d. 2014)

1930 – Grammy-winning soul music pioneer Ray Charles (d. 2004)

1943 – Grammy-winning pop singer Julio Iglesias (“Begin the Beguine,” “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before”)

1947 – Emmy-winning actress Mary Kay Place (“Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”)

1949 – Grammy-winning rock singer-songwriter Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen

1959 – Tony Award-winning actor-comedian Jason Alexander, best known as George Costanza in the hit comedy series “Seinfeld”

History Highlights

1846 – German astronomer Johann Galle discovers Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun.

1875 – Originally named Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and later William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid as he was most widely known, is 15 when he is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He eventually earns a reputation as an outlaw and fugitive, with a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders.

1952 – Vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon delivers his nationally televised “Checkers Speech.” Nixon defends himself against charges of using a private fund for political expenses, and declares he would never give back the dog, Checkers, which was a gift to his daughters.

1962 – The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City opens with the completion of the first building, the Philharmonic Hall, now Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic.

1994 – “The Shawshank Redemption,” starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, opens in theaters. Based on a 1982 short story by Stephen King titled “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” the film garners seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but wins none.

Musical Milestones

1957 – The Crickets, featuring Buddy Holly, dominate the singles chart with “That’ll Be The Day.” The song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2005, is placed in the National Recording Registry among recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

1967 – “The Letter” sends The Box Tops to the top of the singles chart where they remain slotted for four weeks.

1972 – Mac Davis begins three weeks as a chart-topper with “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” his only No. 1.

1978 – With the disco era in full swing, A Taste of Honey enters its third and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli’s “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” becomes the duo’s second chart-topping single. The album it’s on, “Girl You Know It’s True,” also kicks off two week’s at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

2000 – Madonna is in the middle of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Music.” It is her 12th No. 1 single.