On This Day: September 28

Musical Milestones

1963 – Bobby Vinton dominates the Billboard Hot 100 with “Blue Velvet.”

1968 – The Beatles begin nine weeks on top of the singles chart with “Hey Jude.” With a running time of just over seven minutes, it remains the lengthiest No. 1 single ever.

1974 – “Rock Me Gently,” by Andy Kim, is the hottest song on the radio.

1985 – “Money for Nothing,” by Dire Straits, is in the midst of a three-week run as a Billboard chart-topper. Sting lends his talents to the track as a background vocalist. The song captures a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986.

1991 – Jazz great Miles Davis dies at the age of 65.

1996 – Los Del Rio dominate Top 40 radio as their smash, “Macarena,” continues its 14-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, kicks off its seventh week as a No. 1 single.

History Highlights

1928 – A landmark event in modern medicine takes place as young Scottish bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin — one of the world’s first antibiotics. It means that doctors finally have a tool that could completely cure their patients of deadly infectious diseases.

1941 – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox plays a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular season and gets six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his batting average to .406 and become the first player since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400. 

1960 – Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams thrills fans at Fenway Park when he hits a dramatic home run in the last at-bat of his 21-year career. He becomes the last player to hit .400 in a season.

1965 – Six years after leading the Cuban Revolution and four years after the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion, Fidel Castro announces that any Cuban wishing to leave the island was free to do so.

1980 – Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” premieres on PBS, becoming the most-viewed television series to date.

1982 – The first of seven deaths from cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules is reported near Chicago. The case terrifies Americans and changes the way we buy and consume over-the-counter medications.

1989 – Former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos, whose corrupt regime spanned 20 years, dies in exile in Hawaii.

Celebrity Birthdays

1934 – Actress-model-animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot

1938 – Legendary soul singer Ben E. King (“Stand by Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “Spanish Harlem”) (d. 2015)

1950 – Screenwriter-director John Sayles (“Return of the Secaucus 7,” “Passion Fish.” “Lone Star,” “Men With Guns”)

1964 – Actress-comedian and political activist Janeane Garofalo

1967 – Oscar-winning actress-producer Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite,” “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Mimic,” “The Replacement Killers,” “Summer of Sam,” “Human Trafficking”)

1968 – Actress Naomi Watts (“Mulholland Drive,” “The Ring,” “I Heart Huckabees,” “King Kong,” “J. Edgar,” “The Impossible,” “Birdman”)

1987 – Actress-singer Hilary Duff (“Lizzie McGuire,” “Cheaper By The Dozen,” “A Cinderella Story,” “Metamorphosis,” “War, Inc.”)

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The Beatles 1967-1970 (The Blue Album)

The Beatles

Kind of Blue

Miles Davis

Cosmos

Carl Sagan

TYMURS: The 1982 Tylenol Murders

Scott Bartz

The Very Best of Ben E. King

Ben E. King

Lone Star

Starring Chris Cooper, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey and Elizabeth Pena, and directed by John Sayles

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On This Day: September 21

Musical Milestones

1961 – A man named Robert Allen Zimmerman enters a New York City recording studio and, after spending $400, emerges with a completed LP. Columbia Records goes on to release his self-titled album—”Bob Dylan.”

1963 – Bobby Vinton sees early success in his musical career as “Blue Velvet” reaches No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for three weeks. 

1966 – Jimi Hendrix changes the spelling of his first name from J-I-M-M-Y to J-I-M-I. 

1985 – Heavy exposure on MTV helps Dire Straits reach No. 1 on the singles chart with “Money for Nothing.” 

History Highlights

1780 – During the American Revolution, U.S. General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in exchange for a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot is foiled and Arnold, a former American hero, becomes synonymous with the term “traitor.”

1970 – “Monday Night Football” premieres on ABC with Howard Cosell, Don Meredith and Keith Jackson. 

1981 – The U.S. Senate unanimously confirms Sandra Day O’Connor as the first female Supreme Court justice. Considered a moderate conservative, O’Connor serves for 24 years.

1989 – U.S. Army General Colin Powell is confirmed by the Senate Armed Services Committee as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell becomes the first African American to achieve the nation’s highest military post. 

2003 – After a 14-year mission studying Jupiter and its moons, the Galileo space probe is destroyed by NASA engineers to protect a possible ocean beneath the icy crust of the moon Europa.

Celebrity Birthdays

1866 – Author H. G. Wells (“The Time Machine,” “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” “The Invisible Man,” “The War of the Worlds”) (d. 1946)

1931 – Actor Larry Hagman, best known for his role as villainous Texas oil tycoon J.R. Ewing in CBS’ hit series “Dallas” (d. 2012)

1934 – Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, known for his poetic lyrics, iconic songs and baritone voice (d. 2016)

1943 – Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (“Beverly Hills Cop,” “Flashdance,” “Top Gun,” “The Rock,” “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “National Treasure”) 

1947 – Award-winning horror, science fiction, and suspense novelist Stephen King (“Carrie,” “The Shining,” “The Stand,” “Misery,” “The Dark Tower”)

1950 – Emmy-winning actor-comedian Bill Murray (“Saturday Night Live,” “Caddyshack,” “Stripes,” “Ghostbusters,” “Groundhog Day,” “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Lost in Translation,” “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” “Hyde Park on Hudson,” “St. Vincent”)

1957 – Writer-producer Ethan Coen of the Coen Brothers (“Raising Arizona,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “Fargo, “The Big Lebowski,” “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Hail, Caesar!”)

1967 – Grammy-winning country music singer Faith Hill (“Wild One,” “Piece of My Heart,” “This Kiss,” “Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me”)

1968 – Actress and talk show host Ricki Lake (“Hairspray,” “Ricki Lake”)

1971 – Actor Luke Wilson (“Idiocracy,” “Old School,” “Bottle Rocket,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Blue Streak,” “Bongwater,” “Legally Blonde”)

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Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

The Best of Bobby Vinton

Bobby Vinton

The Majesty of the Law

Sandra Day O’Connor

It Worked For Me

Colin Powell

The Shining

Stephen King

Groundhog Day

Starring Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell and Chris Elliott, and directed by Harold Ramis

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