Chevy – Time Rewind

On This Day January 17

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On This Day December 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, former U.S. First Lady and wife of 36th President Lyndon Johnson (d. 2007)

1915 – Actress Barbara Billingsley, who played housewife June Cleaver on TV’s “Leave It to Beaver” (d. 2010)

1917 – Longtime “Match Game” host Gene Rayburn, born Eugene Jelyevich (d. 1999)

1936 – Emmy-winning actor Hector Elizondo (“The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” “Pretty Woman,” “Chicago Hope,” “Last Man Standing,” “The Princess Diaries”)

1945 – Emmy-winning TV journalist and former ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer

1949 – Singer-songwriter and Bee Gees band member Robin Gibb (d. 2012)

1949 – Singer-songwriter and Bee Gees band member Maurice Gibb (d. 2003)

1962 – Tony-winning actor Ralph Fiennes, born Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes (“Schindler’s List,” “The English Patient,” the “Harry Potter” movie series, “Red Dragon,” “The Constant Gardener,” “In Bruges,” “The Reader,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Menu”)

1989 – Singer-songwriter-actress and youngest “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks (“Tattoo,” “No Air,” “Battlefield”)

1993 – Grammy-winning pop singer-songwriter Meghan Trainor (“All About That Bass,” “Lips Are Moving,” “Dear Future Husband,” “Like I’m Gonna Lose You,” “No”)

History Highlights

1900 – The first car manufactured under the Mercedes name (Mercedes 35 hp) is delivered to its buyer — Emil Jellinek, an Austrian car racer and automotive executive.

1952 – General Motors completes a production-ready prototype of the first Corvette (EX-122) to display three weeks later at GM’s Motorama auto show in New York City. It becomes Chevrolet’s flagship sports car and remains a fixture of automotive culture.

1956 – Colo, the first gorilla born in captivity, enters the world at the Columbus Zoo in Ohio, weighing slightly more than three pounds. Beloved the world over, Colo dies just weeks after her 60th birthday, on January 17, 2017. Colo is credited with helping the Columbus Zoo establish its reputation as a global leader in gorilla breeding, care, habitat and conservation.

1978 – Serial killer John Wayne Gacy confesses to murdering over two dozen boys and young men and burying their bodies under his suburban Chicago home.

1984 – Bernhard Goetz, a 37-year-old white man, shoots four black teenagers on a New York City subway train after they surround him and ask for $5. Goetz is heralded as a hero and dubbed the “Subway Vigilante.”

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Telstar,” by The Tornados, soars to the top of the singles chart, becoming the first major hit on the American chart by a British band.

1979 – Rupert Holmes begins a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”

1979 – Pat Benatar’s breakthrough single, “Heartbreaker,” lands on the Billboard Hot 100 and climbs as high as No. 23. The Grammy-winning rocker produces 16 more hits through the 1980s.

1984 – Madonna kicks off six weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Like a Virgin.”

1990 – “Because I Love You (The Postman Song),” by Stevie B, is the No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for four weeks.

2001 – Nickelback sets out on a four-week domination of the singles chart with “How You Remind Me.”

On This Day November 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Author Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, best known for his classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (d. 1910)

1874 – Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born in Oxfordshire, England. (d. 1965)

1918 – Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (“77 Sunset Strip,” “The F.B.I.”) (d. 2014)

1927 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his role as the butler in the ABC sitcom “Benson”

1929 – Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark, born Richard Wagstaff Clark, who is credited with such popular shows as “American Bandstand,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes,” among others. (d. 2012)

1937 – Emmy-winning director-producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian”)

1947 – Tony-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet (“The Verdict,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Wag the Dog,” “Ronin”)

1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (“Yentl,” “The Princess Bride,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland,” “Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds”)

1955 – Rock singer-guitarist Billy Idol, born William Albert Michael Broad (“Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rock the Cradle of Love”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actor, director and comedian Ben Stiller (“Reality Bites,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Zoolander,” the “Meet the Parents” trilogy, “DodgeBall,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Madagascar” series, the “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”)

1978 – Singer and “American Idol” alum Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom

History Highlights

1965 – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a book that singles out the Chevy Corvair while criticizing U.S. auto safety standards. It immediately becomes a bestseller and prompts passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, seat belt laws in 49 states (all but New Hampshire) and other highway safety initiatives.

1967 – Senator Eugene McCarthy, who advocated for a negotiated end to the Vietnam War, declares that he will challenge President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic Party nomination. However, four months later, Johnson announces that he is not seeking re-election.

1971 – The made-for-television movie “Brian’s Song” premieres on ABC, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo, the Chicago Bears running back who is stricken with terminal cancer, and Billy Dee Williams as his teammate, Gale Sayers. It leaves audiences sobbing with its compelling portrayal of the strong friendship the two athletes form. The movie captures five Emmy Awards.

1977 – After nearly four decades with CBS News, anchor Eric Sevareid retires. Sevareid was among a group of elite war correspondents hired by legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, and nicknamed “Murrow’s Boys .” He was the first to report the Fall of Paris when the city was captured by the Germans in World War II.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

Musical Milestones

1968 – Motown’s Diana Ross & The Supremes rule the singles chart with “Love Child,” their 11th chart-topper. The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – One-hit wonder Billy Swan has the No. 1 single with “I Can Help.”

1974 – “Elton John’s Greatest Hits” begins a 10-week run atop the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than 24 million copies worldwide.

1982 – The best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” is released, delivering a slew of hits, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” It goes on to capture eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

1985 – “Separate Lives,” by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the “White Nights” movie soundtrack, is the No. 1 single.

1991 – New Jersey-based hip hop/R&B band P.M. Dawn has its only No. 1 single, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is built around a sampling of Spandau Ballet’s “True.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

1996 – Quirky 1960s pop star Tiny Tim, best known for his falsetto singing and ukulele playing in the 1968 novelty hit “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips With Me,” dies at the age of 64.

1996 – “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, marks its fourth and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

2002 – Eminem maintains his hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Lose Yourself,” which remains a chart-topper for a total of 12 weeks.

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 August 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1911 – Actress-comedienne Lucille Ball, who was immortalized in the popular 1950s TV sitcom “I Love Lucy” (d. 1989)

1917 – Actor Robert Mitchum (“The Story of G.I. Joe,” “Crossfire,” “Out of the Past,”, “The Night of the Hunter,” “The Enemy Below,” “Cape Fear,” “El Dorado”) (d. 1997)

1928 – American pop artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol (d. 1987)

1962 – Actress Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Tomorrow Never Dies”)

1970 – Director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Signs,” “Lady in the Water.” “The Last Airbender,” “After Earth”)

1972 – Singer Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. “Ginger Spice” of the British pop group Spice Girls

History Highlights

1890 – The first execution by electric chair takes place at Auburn Prison in New York with William Kemmler facing the death penalty for the hatchet murder of his girlfriend, Tillie Ziegler.

1945 – An American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, leveling most of the city under a massive mushroom cloud. Some 70,000 people are killed in a matter of seconds.

1959 – Chevrolet unveils plans to produce the Corvair, a revolutionary rear-engine compact car that goes on to ignite controversy and debate over its safety.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote. The bill makes it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks.

2009 – John Hughes, the influential writer-director who captured the humor and angst of the teen experience, 1980s style, in hit movies such as “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” dies at 59.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Chubby Checker appears on TV’s “American Bandstand” and performs “The Twist,” which goes on to become a national sensation and No. 1 single.

1973 – A traffic accident leaves Motown sensation Stevie Wonder in a coma for four days and permanently robs him of his sense of smell. Amazingly, he’s back in the recording studio eight weeks later.

1981 – Stevie Nicks releases her first solo album, “Bella Donna,” featuring “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” a duet with Tom Petty that reaches No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart.

1982 – “Pink Floyd The Wall” opens in movie theaters, based on the British rock band’s 1979 album of the same name.

1988 – Almost a year to the day after debuting at No. 182 on the Billboard album chart, “Appetite for Destruction,” by Guns N’ Roses, reaches No. 1, fueled by the band’s tour and widespread airplay for the hit singles “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

1994 – Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Stay (I Missed You).”

2004 – After years of cocaine use, funk legend Rick James is found dead of a heart attack at his Hollywood home at the age of 56. James was best known for his 1981 smash, “Super Freak.”

2005 – “We Belong Together,” by Mariah Carey, is midway through a 10-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On this Day May 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1936 – Singer Bobby Darin (“Splish Splash,” “Mack the Knife,” “If I Were a Carpenter”) (d. 1973)

1944 – Filmmaker George Lucas, the creative mastermind behind the “Star Wars” franchise as well as “American Graffiti” and other movies

1952 – Singer-songwriter and Talking Heads founder David Byrne

1952 – Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis (“Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” the “Back to the Future” movie series, “Forrest Gump,” “Contact,” “Cast Away,” “The Polar Express”)

1961 – Actor Tim Roth (“Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Rob Roy,” “Everyone Says I Love You”)

1969 – Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Notes On A Scandal,” “The Aviator,” “Blue Jasmine”)

1984 – Philanthropist and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

1993 – Actress Miranda Cosgrove (“School of Rock,” “Drake & Josh,” “iCarly,” “Despicable Me”)

History Highlights

1804 – The Lewis & Clark expedition leaves St. Louis, Missouri, on a mission to explore the Northwest from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. President Thomas Jefferson commissioned his private secretary Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, an army captain, to make the journey.

1904 – The Third Olympiad of the modern era, and the first Olympic Games to be held in the United States, opens in St. Louis, Missouri. However, it is far from the international affair of more recent deacdes. Only 12 countries attend, with Americans accounting for 523 of the 630 participating athletes.

1948 – British rule in Palestine comes to an end as the Jewish National Council proclaims the establishment of the State of Israel. Within hours, Arab forces attack the fledgling nation.

1955 – The Soviet Union and seven Eastern European countries sign a treaty establishing the Warsaw Pact, a mutual defense organization that puts the Soviets in command of the armed forces of its partners. The move is aimed at counterbalancing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The Pact officially disbands in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union.

1969 – After nine years of production, the last Chevy Corvair rolls off the assembly line. That’s the rear-engine compact car that consumer advocate Ralph Nader took to task citing safety concerns.

1973 – Skylab, America’s first space station, is successfully launched on a mission to observe and photograph the sun as well as to study the biological effects of life in space.

Musical Milestones

1968 – John Lennon and Paul McCartney are guests on NBC’s “Tonight Show” with Joe Garagiola guest-hosting for Johnny Carson. The conversation includes some light-hearted banter about meditation, the forming of Apple Corps. and songwriting.

1977 – Leo Sayer has the No. 1 hit for a week with “When I Need You.”

1988 – Led Zeppelin band members reunite for the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party at Madison Square Garden in New York, appearing with Jason Bonham, son of John Bonham, on drums. Other performing acts include Foreigner, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King.

1988 – “Anything for You” by Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine begins a two-week run on top of the singles chart.

1998 – Known as “Ol’ Blue Eyes” and “The Chairman of the Board,” legendary crooner Frank Sinatra dies at the age of 82. His entertainment career spanned half a century and left such an impression in American culture that “Rolling Stone” magazine labeled him “indisputably the 20th century’s greatest singer of popular song.”

2005 – Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” is in the midst of a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.