concentration camp – Time Rewind

On This Day April 29

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On This Day April 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Human rights advocate Ethel Kennedy, widow of assassinated U.S. Senator and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy

1932 – Oscar and Tony-winning actor, singer and dancer Joel Grey, born Joel David Katz, best known for his role in both the screen and stage versions of “Cabaret”

1939 – Actress Louise Lasser (“Take the Money and Run,” “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”)

1987 – Grammy-winning British soul singer-songwriter and actress Joss Stone (“Super Duper,” “Fell in Love with a Boy,” “Spoiled,” “Right to Be Wrong”)

History Highlights

1814 – An alliance of European nations signs a treaty removing Napoleon Bonaparte from the French throne and banishing him to the small Italian isle of Elba.

1945 – American troops liberate Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis during World War II.

1951 – In one of the most famous civilian-military confrontations in United States history, President Harry S. Truman relieves General Douglas MacArthur of command of American forces in Korea.

1968 – One week after the assassination of civil rights crusader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968 into law, banning housing discrimination.

1970 – Apollo 13 blasts off on a mechanically flawed mission that denies astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert a moon landing.

1981 – President Ronald Reagan is released from the hospital 12 days after he was shot outside a Washington D.C. hotel in an assassination attempt.

2001 – President George W. Bush announces that the Chinese government has agreed to release the crew of a U.S. spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter jet, killing the pilot.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Movie music dominates the pop chart as Percy Faith’s “Theme From A Summer Place” remains at No. 1 for an eighth consecutive week. The track holds the top spot for a total of nine weeks and goes on to capture a Grammy for Record of the Year.

1964 – “Can’t Buy Me Love,” by The Beatles, is in the middle of five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1970 – The Beatles’ “Let It Be” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for two weeks. It is the Fab Four’s last hit before their break-up.

1981 – Rocker Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli (“One Day at a Time”) tie the knot, The marriage lasts until 2007, when their divorce is finalized.

1981 – Darryl Hall & John Oates have the No. 1 single in the U.S. with “Kiss on My List.” The song remains on top of that list for three weeks.

1988 – Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley (of The Righteous Brothers) perform “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life” at the Academy Awards. The song, from the “Dirty Dancing” movie soundtrack, becomes the third one by Warnes to capture an Oscar.

1992 – “Save the Best for Last,” by Vanessa Williams, is parked at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100. It holds the top spot for five weeks.

1998 – “All My Life,” by R&B duo K-Ci & JoJo, is midway through a three-week domination of the Billboard pop chart.

2006 – June Pointer, the youngest of the four Pointer Sisters, who went from teenage gospel singers to the top of the pop chart with hits like “‘Fire,” “Slow Hand” and “I’m So Excited,” dies of cancer at the age of 52.

2009 – The Billboard Hot 100 deals Lady Gaga a favorable hand as “Poker Face” begins a week at No. 1. The track, which also tops the charts in 19 other countries, wins Best Dance Recording honors at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

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 August 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1821 – Fashion designer Louis Vuitton (d. 1892)

1901 – Legendary jazz trumpeter and singer Louis Armstrong, also known as “Satchmo” (d. 1971)

1920 – Helen Thomas, known as the “First Lady of the Press” for her more than 60-year career as a White House correspondent (d. 2013)

1944 – Actor, comedian and author Richard Belzer (“Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Law & Order: SVU”)

1955 – Actor-director Billy Bob Thornton (“Monster’s Ball,” “Sling Blade,” “Armageddon,” “Primary Colors,” “Bad Santa,” “The Judge”)

1961 – 44th U.S. President Barack Obama

1962 – Retired MLB All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens (a.k.a. “Rocket”), the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award seven times

1968 – Actor Daniel Dae Kim (“The Jackal,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Lost,” “Hawaii Five-O”)

1971 – Champion NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon

History Highlights

1790 – The U.S. Congress authorizes creation of a maritime service to enforce customs laws. We know that service today as the U.S. Coast Guard.

1936 – American track and field star Jesse Owens embarrasses German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler when he captures the gold medal in the long jump at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. The win discredits Hitler’s notion of a superior Aryan “master race” in front of an international audience.

1944 – Officers of the Nazi Gestapo (secret police) arrest eight Jews, including 15-year-old schoolgirl Anne Frank and her parents and sister, found hiding inside the secret annex of an Amsterdam warehouse. The Franks had taken shelter there two years earlier to avoid deportation to a concentration camp.

1955 – The romantic thriller “To Catch a Thief,” starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, opens in U.S. theaters.

1964 – The remains of three civil rights workers whose disappearance six weeks earlier garnered national attention are found buried in an earthen dam near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter signs legislation creating the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Musical Milestones

1958 – Billboard magazine introduces its Hot 100 chart, a list of the 100 best-selling pop singles in the U.S. The very first No. 1 is Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool,” which holds the top spot for two weeks.

1962 – Bobby Vinton’s “Roses Are Red (My Love)” wraps up four weeks as a Billboard No. 1.

1973 – Maureen McGovern sails to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “The Morning After,” the Academy Award-winning love theme from the cruise ship disaster movie “The Poseidon Adventure.”

1980 – John Lennon begins recording what becomes his final album, “Double Fantasy,” at The Hit Factory in New York. On December 8, 1980, Lennon is shot to death outside his Manhattan apartment building.

1990 – “Vision of Love,” by Mariah Carey, kicks off four weeks on top of the pop chart.

2001 – Destiny’s Child rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bootylicious,” off the trio’s “Survivor” album. The song contains a prominent sample from the Stevie Nicks song, “Edge of Seventeen.”

2007 – The Plain White T’s mark their second and final week as chart-toppers with “Hey There Delilah.”

2012 – Carly Rae Jepsen is in the middle of a nine-week reign over the pop chart with “Call Me Maybe,” which earns Grammy nominations for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.