Challenger – Time Rewind

On This Day February 7

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On This Day January 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock (d. 1956)

1936 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor-director Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H,” “Same Time, Next Year,” “The Four Seasons,” “Everyone Says I Love You,” “The West Wing,” “The Aviator”)

1959 – Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”)

1968 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (“Building a Mystery,” “Angel,” “Fallen”)

1977 – Singer, actor and TV personality Joey Fatone, former member of NSYNC, one of the most popular boy bands of all time

1981 – Actor-producer Elijah Wood (“Avalon,” “The Ice Storm,” “Deep Impact,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Sin City,” “Happy Feet”)

History Highlights

1901 – Professional baseball’s American League is founded in Milwaukee with plans for a 140-game schedule, 14-man rosters and a players’ union.

1915 – The American merchant ship William P. Frye becomes the first casualty of World War I as a German cruiser opens fire and sinks the vessel. Despite apologies from the German government, the attack sparks outrage in the U.S.

1917 – Mexican maid Carmelita Torres refuses to put up with the indignity she has been made to suffer every morning since she began working across the border in the United States. Torres’ objection to the noxious chemical delousing Mexicans were required to undergo upon crossing the Northern border sparks what became known as the Bath Riots.

1922 – Ninety-eight guests are killed, 133 others are injured when the roof of Washington, D.C.’s Knickerbocker Theatre collapses under the weight of a heavy snowfall. The disaster ranks as one of Washington’s worst, and the “Knickerbocker Snowstorm,” as it is known, still holds the record for Washington’s single greatest snowfall.

1958 – The interlocking stud-and-tube plastic Lego brick is patented by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, whose father founded the Lego toy company (“Lego,” from the Danish term “leg godt,” meaning “play well”). The colorful bricks have covered playroom floors for generations. In fact, it’s estimated that Lego has since produced the equivalent of 62 bricks for every human being on the planet.

1964 – The State Department accuses the Soviet Union of shooting down an unarmed Air Force trainer jet over East Germany, killing its three occupants.

1986 – A nation watches in horror as Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) explodes 73 seconds into flight, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe — who was to have been the first civilian in space — and fellow crew members Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair and Gregory Jarvis.

1997 – Four apartheid-era police officers, appearing before a tribunal in South Africa, admit to the 1977 killing of Stephen Biko, a leader of the South African “Black consciousness” movement.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a seven-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m a Believer,” a song written by Neil Diamond.

1978 – “Baby Come Back,” by Player, begins its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1984 – “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” off Yes’ “90125” album, rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a second and final week.

1985 – Forty-five of the world’s top recording artists gather in a Los Angeles studio to record “We Are the World” to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, reaches No. 1 on the singles chart three months later.

1995 – TLC marks the first of four weeks as Billboard singles chart-toppers with “Creep.”

2001 – Super Bowl XXXV, with the Baltimore Ravens taking on the New York Giants in Tampa, features a veritable Who’s Who of musical talent. Ray Charles sings “America The Beautiful,” the Backstreet Boys sing the national anthem and halftime performers include Aerosmith, ‘N Sync and Britney Spears.

2006 – “Grillz,” by Nelly featuring fellow rappers Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, is the No. 1 single.

2012 – “We Found Love,” by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

2017 – Ed Sheeran rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Shape of You.”

On This Day September 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1907 – Entertainer Gene Autry, born Orvon Grover Autry, affectionately known as “The Singing Cowboy” (d. 1998)

1929 – NFL coach Bum Phillips, most associated with the former Houston Oilers (d. 2013)

1935 – Rock and Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” “Great Balls of Fire”)

1942 – Jazz-rock violinist-composer Jean Luc Ponty

1942 – Actress Madeline Kahn, born Madeline Gail Wolfson, best known for her roles in the Mel Brooks comedies “Blazing Saddles,” “High Anxiety” and “Young Frankenstein” (d. 1999)

1943 – Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa, former Polish president and leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement

1948 – Emmy-winning former “Today Show” co-host and “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” host Bryant Gumbel

1980 – Actor Zachary Levi (“Less Than Perfect,” “Chuck,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “Tangled,” “Thor: The Dark World”)

History Highlights

1941 – The Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children begins on the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine. The two-day bloodbath becomes a symbol of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.

1966 – General Motors rolls out the sporty Chevy Camaro in an effort to go head-to-head with the popular Ford Mustang, which debuted two years earlier.

1988 – NASA launches the so-called “Return to Flight Mission” — the first space shuttle launch since the devastating Challenger explosion that claimed the lives of all seven crew members in January 1986. STS-26 marks the seventh flight for shuttle Discovery.

1988 – Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, becomes the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth.

1995 – President Bill Clinton posthumously awards voting rights advocate Willie Velasquez the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Velasquez and the organizations he founded are credited with dramatically increasing political awareness and participation among the Hispanic communities of the Southwestern U.S.

2005 – New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from a federal detention center after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the leaking of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.

2008 – Congress fails to pass a $700 billion bank bailout plan, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 780 points — at the time, the largest single-day point loss in history. The free fall follows the bankruptcies of Wall Street brokerage firm Lehman Brothers, Savings and Loan bank Washington Mutual and the Fed’s pledge to extend an $85 billion bailout for insurance provider AIG.

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Sherry,” by The Four Seasons, is in the middle of a five-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart.

1973 – Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is the No. 1 single.

1976 – Enjoying a little target practice during his own birthday party, rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shoots his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, in the chest. Twice! Owens survives and sues Lewis.

1979 – The Knack begin their fifth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sharona.”

1984 – Prince and the Revolution rule the singles chart with “Let’s Go Crazy,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Purple Rain.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks.

1990 – The hard rock band Nelson begins one week atop the pop chart with “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.”

2004 – Keith Moon’s five-piece silver Premier drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sells for £120,000 ($215,772 U.S.) at Christie’s auction house in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.

2007 – “Stronger,” by Kanye West, is the No. 1 single.

On This Day September 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1946 – Grammy-winning singer-keyboardist Billy Preston, who collaborated with the Beatles and Rolling Stones and had big hits of his own, including “Outa-Space,” “Nothing From Nothing,” “Will It Go Round in Circles” (d. 2006)

1948 – Legendary NFL quarterback and sportscaster Terry Bradshaw

1948 – Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion (d. 1986)

1951 – Actor Mark Harmon (“St. Elsewhere,” “The Presidio,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Chicago Hope,” “The West Wing,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Freaky Friday,” “Weather Girl,” “NCIS”)

1952 – Tennis great Jimmy Connors

1964 – Actor-director and bass player Keanu Reeves (“Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Speed,” “The Matrix” trilogy, “A Walk in the Clouds,” “Devil’s Advocate,” “John Wick”)

1966 – Emmy-winning actress Salma Hayek (“Desperado,” “The Faculty,” “Wild Wild West,” “Fools Rush In,” “Frida,” the “Grown Ups” movies, “Puss in Boots,” “Tale of Tales”)

History Highlights

1789 – Congress establishes the U.S. Treasury Department to maintain the day-to-day activities of the federal government.

1945 – Japan officially surrenders to the Allies aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, marking the end of World War II (V-J Day).

1959 – Ford introduces the 90-horsepower, 30 mile-per-gallon Falcon during the first nationwide closed-circuit TV news conference. Marketed as “the small car with the big car feel,” the Falcon becomes an overnight success.

1969 – Personal banking is revolutionized as America’s first automatic teller machine (ATM) goes into service, dispensing cash to customers at Chemical Bank in Rockville Centre (Long Island), New York.

2013 – Endurance swimmer Diana Nyad becomes the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the use of a protective shark cage. The 64-year-old Nyad completes the 110-mile swim from Havana to Key West, through the jellyfish-and shark-infested waters of the Straits of Florida, in approximately 53 hours.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Elvis Presley’s first soundtrack album, “Loving You,” tops the Billboard 200 and spawns the chart-topping hit, “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.”

1967 – Bobbie Gentry is mid-way through a four-week ride on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Ode to Billie Joe.” Gentry was among the first female country music artists to write and produce her own material.

1972 – Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally)” returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 after spending four weeks there in July and August.

1986 – Sixteen-year-old Debbie Gibson signs with Atlantic Records, launching a string of 11 chart singles.

1989 – Paula Abdul has the No. 1 single with “Cold Hearted.”

1995 – The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame opens in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Most of the celebration actually takes place at nearby Cleveland Municipal Stadium with a marathon concert featuring a slew of legendary musicians and vocalists.

1995 – Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone,” off his “HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I” album, becomes the first single in Billboard history to debut at No. 1. It is also Jackson’s 13th and final chart-topper.

2000 – Janet Jackson rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Doesn’t Really Matter.”

2006 – Fergie begins her third and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “London Bridge.”

On this Day August 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1898 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Shirley Booth (“Come Back, Little Sheba,” “Hazel,” “The Glass Menagerie”) (d. 1992)

1908 – Actor Fred MacMurray (“Double Indemnity,” “My Three Sons”) (d. 1991)

1918 – Baseball legend Ted Williams (d. 2002)

1924 – Fashion designer Geoffrey Beene (d. 2004)

1927 – Actor Bill Daily (“I Dream of Jeannie,” “The Bob Newhart Show”) (d. 2018)

1930 – Investment guru and philanthropist Warren Buffett, a.k.a. “The Oracle of Omaha”

1939 – Tony-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley (“Take Her, She’s Mine,” “The Carpetbaggers,” “Evening Shade”)

1946 – Actress Peggy Lipton (“The Mod Squad,” “Twin Peaks,” “The Postman”) (d. 2019)

1948 – Grammy-winning comedian Lewis Black (“The Daily Show,” “Black on Broadway,” “Red, White, and Screwed,” “The Carnegie Hall Performance”)

1954 – Actor David Paymer (“Mr. Saturday Night,” “Quiz Show,” “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” “City Slickers,” “Crazy People,” “Get Shorty,” “The American President,” “Ocean’s Thirteen,” “Drag Me to Hell”)

1963 – Actor Michael Chiklis (“The Commish,” “The Shield,” “Fantastic Four,” “Vegas,” “American Horror Story”)

1966 – Actress Michael Michele (“ER,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Ali,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”)

1972 – Actress Cameron Diaz (“The Mask,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Being John Malkovich,” the “Charlie’s Angels” movies, the animated “Shrek” movies,” “Vanilla Sky,” “The Other Woman,” “Sex Tape,” “Annie”)

1982 – Tennis great Andy Roddick

History Highlights

1918 – Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin is shot twice by a member of the Social Revolutionary party, but survives the attack. The attempted assassination triggers a wave of reprisals by Bolsheviks against the Social Revolutionaries and other political opponents. Thousands are executed as Russia falls deeper into civil war.

1963 – A “hotline” linking Moscow and Washington, D.C. is activated to provide instant communication between the Superpowers in case nuclear weapons are accidentally launched. The system consists of a cable with a device resembling a large typewriter on either end.

1965 – New York Mets Manager Casey Stengel announces his retirement, ending a 56-year career in professional baseball.

1967 – The U.S. Senate confirms Thurgood Marshall as the first African American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In nominating Marshall to the nation’s highest court, President Lyndon B. Johnson said, “It was the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” Marshall serves 24 years on the high court before retiring in 1991.

1976 – Tom Brokaw becomes news anchor of NBC’s “Today” show. where he remains for six years. He leaves in 1982 to co-anchor “NBC Nightly News” with Roger Mudd, taking over as sole anchor in 1983 and remaining in that post until 2004.

1983 – U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion “Guy” Bluford becomes the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on its third mission. In 2010, Bluford is inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

2003 – Actor Charles Bronson, best known for his tough-guy roles in movies like “The Dirty Dozen” and the “Death Wish” franchise, dies at the age of 81 in Los Angeles.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The Rolling Stones rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “Honky Tonk Women.” The single was released in the UK the day after the death of founding member Brian Jones, with “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” on the B-side. It ends up topping the charts in seven countries, including the band’s native UK, where it becomes their last No. 1.

1975 – “Get Down Tonight,” by KC and The Sunshine Band, struts its way to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. It’s the first of five consecutive chart-toppers for the band that hails from Hialeah, Florida.

1980 – “Sailing,” by Christopher Cross, is the hottest single. It goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Arrangement of the Year, and helps Cross capture the Best New Artist award.

1986 – Steve Winwood has the No. 1 single with “Higher Love,” off his “Back in the High Life” album.

1997 – “Mo Money Mo Problems,” by The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Puff Daddy and Mase, kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It becomes Notorious B.I.G.’s second posthumous chart-topper following “Hypnotize.”

On this Day June 18

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Celebrity Birthdays

1942 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sir Paul McCartney, former member of The Beatles

1942 – Pulitzer Prize-winning “Chicago Sun-Times” film critic Roger Ebert (d. 2013)

1952 – Actress Carol Kane (“Hester Street,” “Taxi,” “The Princess Bride”)

1952 – Model and actress Isabella Rossellini (“Blue Velvet,” “Cousins,” “Wild at Heart,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Fearless,” “Immortal Beloved,” “Crime of the Century”)

1976 – Country Music Association (CMA) Award-winning vocalist and NBC’s “The Voice” coach Blake Shelton

History Highlights

1812 – Frustrated by Britain’s maritime practices and support of Native American resistance to western expansion, U.S. President James Madison signs a declaration of war against Britain, authorized by Congress, that sets the War of 1812 into motion. However, U.S. troops suffer great losses on land and at sea against the stronger British army. In August 1814, British troops enter Washington, D.C. and burn the U.S. Capitol and the White House. By December, both the Americans and British end the conflict with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

1923 – The first Checker cab is produced at the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company in Kalamazoo, Michigan and becomes part of a fleet rolling across the streets of Chicago. The iconic cab eventually serves big cities across the U.S. with a reputation for comfort and reliability. Checker production continues for 59 years until the last model rolls off the assembly line in July 1982.

1961 – The Western series “Gunsmoke” is broadcast for the last time on CBS Radio.

1979 – President Jimmy Carter and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign the SALT-II agreement establishing limitations and guidelines for nuclear weapons. The treaty, which never formally takes effect, proves to be one of the most controversial U.S.-Soviet agreements of the Cold War.

1983 – Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space as she sets out on a six-day mission aboard the space shuttle Challenger. During her NASA career, Ride flew on two shuttle missions and later became a champion for science education and a role model for generations.

1984 – Members of a white nationalist group called The Order shoot and kill controversial radio talk show host Alan Berg in the driveway of his Denver home.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Rolling Stones enter their second and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Paint It Black.”

1967 – A prelude to the “Summer of Love” — the Monterey International Pop Festival — concludes with performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Association, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane and Lou Rawls.

1977 – “Dreams” becomes Fleetwood Mac’s first and only No. 1 single. The song, written by Stevie Nicks and featuring her lead vocals, goes on to sell more than a million copies. The track is from the band’s Grammy-winning “Rumours” album.

1983 – “Flashdance (What a Feeling),” Irene Cara’s Oscar-winning theme from the movie “Flashdance,” is in the midst of a six-week ride on top of the singles chart.

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

2010 – John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to The Beatles’ song “A Day In The Life” sells for $1.2 million at an auction at Sotheby’s in New York. The double-sided sheet of paper with notes written in felt marker and blue ink also contained some corrections and other notes penned in red ink.