disco – Time Rewind

On This Day April 15

Musical Milestones

1967 – Frank Sinatra and his daughter Nancy start a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.” They are the only father-daughter act to ever score a chart-topping single.

1972 – Roberta Flack begins a six-week reign over the singles chart with “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.” The track garners her Grammy Awards for Record and Song of the Year.

1978 – “Night Fever,” by the Bee Gees, blazes through a fifth week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The disco smash, from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack, remains a chart-topper for nine weeks.

1989 – “She Drives Me Crazy” by the Fine Young Cannibals is the No. 1 single. The song, from the band’s “The Raw & the Cooked” album, holds the top spot for a week.

1995 – One-hit-wonder Montell Jordan kicks off seven weeks on top of the pop chart with “This Is How We Do It.”

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, is in the second of 10 weeks as a chart-reigning single. The track, off the “Supernatural” album, goes on to won a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

2006 – Daniel Powter is in the middle of five weeks on top of the singles chart with “Bad Day.”

History Highlights

1865 – President Abraham Lincoln dies from the gunshot wound he sustained the night before while watching a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln’s death comes only six days after Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive army, effectively ending the American Civil War.

1912 – More than 1,500 lives are lost in the early morning hours when the luxury liner Titanic sinks after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City.

1947 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American in baseball’s major leagues when he debuts with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This becomes a landmark event not only for the sport, but for the U.S. civil rights movement.

1955 – The golden arches rise in Des Plaines, Illinois with the opening of the first McDonald’s restaurant. Customers pay just 15 cents for a hamburger. The restaurant is built for drive-through service only, with indoor seating eventually added in 1962.

1959 – Four months after leading a successful revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro begins an 11-day U.S. visit. It comes amid escalating tensions between his regime and the American government.

1997 – On the 50 anniversary of his first Major League Baseball game, the league retires Jackie Robinson’s number, 42. Robinson becomes the only player in MLB history to have his number retired across all teams, a sign of the reverence with which he is regarded decades after leading the charge to integrate the major leagues.

2013 – Two bombs go off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more than 260 others. Four days later, after an intense manhunt, authorities capture one of the bombing suspects, 19-year-old Dzhohkar Tsarnaev. His older brother and fellow suspect, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, dies following a shootout with police earlier that same day.

Celebrity Birthdays

1452 – Renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci (d. 1519)

1933 – Country music singer-guitarist and former “Hee Haw” host Roy Clark (d. 2018)

1933 – Actress Elizabeth Montgomery (“Bewitched”) (d. 1995)

1951 – “Hints From Heloise” columnist Heloise Bowles Cruse

1959 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End,” “The Remains of the Day,” “In the Name of the Father,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Nanny McPhee,” “Saving Mr. Banks”)

1982 – Actor Seth Rogen (“The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” “Funny People,” “This Is The End,” “The Long Shot”, “The Disaster Artist”)

1990 – Actress Emma Watson, best known for playing Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” movie series and Belle in the live-action adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast”

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Somethin' Stupid

Frank and Nancy Sinatra

Saturday Night Fever (Original Movie Soundtrack)

Bee Gees, Tavares, KC and the Sunshine Band, Yvonne Elliman and other artists

The Last Night on the Titanic: Unsinkable Drinking, Dining, and Style

Veronica Hinke

I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson

Sense and Sensibility

Starring Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, and directed by Ang Lee

50/50

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick, and directed by Jonathan Levine

On This Day March 10

Musical Milestones

1956 – RCA Victor takes out a half-page ad in Billboard magazine proclaiming that Elvis Presley is “the new singing rage.”

1962 – “Hey! Baby,” by Bruce Channel, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel record an acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence” for their debut album, “Wednesday Morning, 3AM.” Later, without the duo’s knowledge, Columbia Records producers overdub electric guitar, bass and drums for another version of the track that becomes the chart-topping hit in January 1966.

1979 – Gloria Gaynor reaches the top of the singles chart with the disco anthem “I Will Survive.”

1984 – Madonna charts for the first time in her career with “Borderline.” The single climbs as high as No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – Pop sensation Andy Gibb, the younger brother of the Bee Gees, dies of an inflammatory heart virus at the age of 30.

1990 – “Escapade,” by Janet Jackson, is in the midst of a three-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – During a concert in London, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines declares that the band is “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” referring to President George W. Bush. The remark sparks outrage among many Americans, and some radio stations stop playing their music.

2010 – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” by Kelly Clarkson, is the No. 1 single for a week.

History Highlights

1862 – Paper money, known as Legal Tender Notes or United States Notes, is issued for the first time in the U.S. The denominations are $5 (Hamilton), $10 (Lincoln) and $20 (Liberty).

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell places the world’s first telephone call at his Boston laboratory. He summons his assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in the next room, by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here — I want to see you.” Bell had secured a patent for his groundbreaking communication device just three days earlier.

1959 – Some 300,000 Tibetans band together in revolt, surrounding the summer palace of the Dalai Lama in defiance of Chinese occupation forces that moved in almost 10 years earlier. The anniversary of the failed rebellion is observed by Tibetan exiles as the “Tibetan Uprising Day.”

1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years in Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee. Ray later retracts his guilty plea.

1993 – An anti-abortion protester shoots and kills Dr. David Gunn outside the Pensacola (Florida) Women’s Medical Services clinic, where Gunn performed abortions. Although the gunman immediately turns himself in to authorities, the murder sets off a wave of deadly anti-abortion violence across the U.S.

Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris (“Way of the Dragon,” “Walker, Texas Ranger”)

1958 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Sharon Stone (“Total Recall,” “Basic Instinct,” “Casino,” “The Mighty”)

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actor Jon Hamm, best known as ad executive Don Draper in the TV series “Mad Men”

1983 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood, whose career was launched after winning Season 4 of “American Idol”

1984 – Actress Olivia Wilde (“House,” “Tron: Legacy,” “Cowboys and Aliens,” “In Time”)

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Wednesday Morning, 3AM

Simon & Garfunkel

Rhythm Nation 1814

Janet Jackson

A Guide Book Of United States Paper Money: Complete Source for History, Grading, and Prices (Official Red Book)

Arthur L. Friedberg

Killing the Dream: James Earl Ray and the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gerald Posner

Basic Instinct

Starring Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone and George Dzundza, and directed by Paul Verhoeven

Mad Men: Season 1

Starring Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss.

On This Day February 27

Musical Milestones

1954 – Doris Day has the No. 1 single with “Secret Love” from the movie “Calamity Jane.”” The recording goes on to capture an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

1961 – “Pony Time” by Chubby Checker gallops away as the No. 1 single for three weeks.

1971 – Five months after her death, Janis Joplin begins nine weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with her second and final solo studio album, “Pearl,” which contains her smash “Me and Bobby McGee.”

1980 – The first and last Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording goes to Gloria Gaynor for “I Will Survive,” unofficially marking the end of the disco era.

1988 – George Michael kicks off two weeks on top of the singles chart with “Father Figure,” off his debut studio album, “Faith.”

1993 – Whitney Houston wraps up a 14-week reign over the pop chart with “I Will Always Love You,” a song written and originally recorded by Dolly Parton in 1973.

1999 – “Angel of Mine,” by Monica, is in the midst of a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

History Highlights

1827 – Masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the first of the city’s traditional Mardi Gras celebrations. Early French settlers introduced the original Mardi Gras festivities to New Orleans until Spanish governors banned them in the 1700s. Once Louisiana became part of the U.S., laws prohibiting masks and public dancing were rescinded.

1922 – The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, providing for female suffrage, is declared constitutional by unanimous vote of all eight members of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1936 – Shirley Temple receives a new contract from 20th Century Fox that pays the seven-year-old star an unprecedented $50,000 per film. Over the course of the 1930s, the box office success of her more than 40 films helps Fox weather the Depression.

1951 – On the heels of FDR’s four successive presidential terms, Congress ratifies the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1, limiting the tenure of presidential office to two terms.

1964 – The Italian government announces that it is accepting suggestions on how to save the renowned Leaning Tower of Pisa from collapsing.

1991 – During the Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush announces that “Kuwait is liberated.”

Celebrity Birthdays

1902 – Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck (“The Grapes of Wrath,” “East of Eden,” “Of Mice and Men”) (d. 1968)

1930 – Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward (“The Three Faces of Eve,” “Rachel Rachel,” “Summer Wishes,” “Winter Dreams,” “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge”)

1932 – Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor (“National Velvet,” “A Place in the Sun,” “Giant,” “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof,” “Butterfield 8,” “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”) (d. 2011)

1940 – Actor Howard Hesseman, best known for playing DJ Johnny Fever on the 1970s TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati”

1980 – Presidential daughter and businesswoman Chelsea Clinton

1981 – Pop and classical singer-songwriter Josh Groban, who has performed at both the Olympics and the Super Bowl

1983 – Actress Kate Mara (“Brokeback Mountain,” “We Are Marshall,” “Shooter,” “The Open Road,” “Transcendence,” “Fant4stic” “House of Cards”)

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Pearl

Janis Joplin

Faith

George Michael

New Orleans Carnival Krewes: The History, Spirit & Secrets of Mardi Gras

Rosary O’Neill

A Brief History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Piero Pierotti

Of Mice and Men

John Steinbeck

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman and Burl Ives, and directed by Richard Brooks

On This Day January 29

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles spend the day at the Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris in their only studio recording session for EMI held outside the U.K. They record “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” in German.

1966 – “We Can Work It Out,” by The Beatles, reaches the top of the Billboard singles chart and remains there for a week.

1972 – Don McLean’s “American Pie” is in the midst of a four-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

1977 – “Car Wash,” by Rose Royce, is the No. 1 single. It comes from the movie of the same name that features Richard Pryor, George Carlin and The Pointer Sisters, and is considered a staple of the disco genre.

1983 – Men at Work wrap up three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Down Under,” off the Aussie band’s “Business as Usual” album.

1994 – “All for Love,” by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting, is in the middle of a three-week run on top of the pop chart. The single comes from the soundtrack to “The Three Musketeers,” a movie starring Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O’Donnell.

2000 – The No. 1 spot on the pop chart belongs to Australian pop duo Savage Garden with “I Knew I Loved You.”

2011 – Britney Spears lands on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Hold It Against Me.”

2019 – Two-time Grammy-winning 80s R&B singer-songwriter James Ingram (“Just Once,” “Baby, Come to Me,” “I Don’t Have the Heart”) dies of brain cancer at the age of 66.

History Highlights

1845 – The Evening Mirror publishes Edgar Allan Poe’s now-classic poem, “The Raven” which begins, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”

1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced In Cooperstown, New York. They include Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

1963 – Robert Frost, considered the dean of American poets, dies in Boston at the age of 88.

1964 – Stanley Kubrick’s black comic masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” opens in movie theaters to critical acclaim. Actor Peter Sellers plays three roles in the Cold War parody.

1979 – Teenager Brenda Spencer shoots and kills two men and wounds nine children as they enter the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego. Asked by authorities upon her arrest why she did it, the 16-year-old replies, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.” The incident inspires The Boomtown Rats to write their hit song, “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

1979 – President Jimmy Carter welcomes Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House following the establishment of diplomatic relations. The visit culminates with the signing of historic new accords that reverse decades of U.S. opposition to the People’s Republic of China.

2002 – In his first State of the Union address since the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S., President George W. Bush says Iraq, Iran and North Korea constitute an “axis of evil.” He outlines his rationale for the “war on terror,” a series of military engagements which would define U.S. foreign policy for years to come.

Celebrity Birthdays

1820 – Civil rights crusader Harriet Tubman, known for freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad, and who served as a Union spy during the Civil War (d. 1913)

1843 – 25th U.S. President William McKinley, who was assassinated six months into his second term after leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War (d. 1901)

1940 – Actress Katharine Ross (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Stepford Wives”)

1945 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Tom Selleck (“Magnum, P.I.,” “Lassiter,” “Three Men and a Baby,” “Friends,” “Blue Bloods”)

1954 – Media executive, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey

1970 – Actress Heather Graham (“Twin Peaks,” “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” “Boogie Nights,” “Bowfinger,” Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” “The Hangover”)

1975 – Actress and TV talk show host Sara Gilbert (“Roseanne,” “The Talk’)

1982 – Singer-songwriter Adam Lambert, whose career was launched during the eighth season of “American Idol” and now tours with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor as Queen + Adam Lambert

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American Pie

Don McLean

The Three Musketeers

Starring Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O’Donnell, Oliver Platt, Tim Curry and Rebecca De Mornay, and directed by Stephen Herek

Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame

Zev Chafets

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

Starring Peter Sellers, Peter Bull and George C. Scott, and directed by Stanley Kubrick

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, and directed by Thurl Ravenscroft and Jorge Russek

Magnum P.I.: The Complete First Season

Starring Tom Selleck and John Hillerman

On This Day December 31

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Monkees swing to the top of the singles chart with “I’m a Believer” and hold on for seven weeks, finally yielding to The Buckinghams’ “Kind of a Drag” in mid-February.

1970 – Eight months after the The Beatles’ breakup and subsequent release of their last album, “Let It Be,” Paul McCartney files suit against bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to officially dissolve their partnership.

1972 – Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” concert is broadcast on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Three Dog Night and Al Green. Clark hosts the annual event for the next 32 years before turning the reins over to Ryan Seacrest.

1977 – “How Deep Is Your Love,” by the Bee Gees, is in the middle of three weeks as the No. 1 single. The song is part of the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack.

1983 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a six-week domination of the pop chart with “Say Say Say.”

1985 – Former teen idol Ricky Nelson and six others are killed when their chartered plane crashes in Texas.

1988 – “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” by Poison, is in the midst of a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard single chart.

2005 – Mariah Carey begins a two-week hold on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2015 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Natalie Cole (“This Will Be,” “I’ve Got Love On My Mind,” “Miss You Like Crazy,” “Unforgettable”), daughter of legendary crooner and jazz pianist Nat King Cole, dies of congestive heart failure at the age of 65.

History Highlights

1781 – The first bank in the U.S. opens under the name The Bank of North America.

1862 – Nine months after engaging in the most famous naval battles in American history, the ironclad warship USS Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Sixteen crewmen are killed. The Monitor had dueled to a standstill with another ironclad, the CSS Virginia (originally the CSS Merrimack), off Hampton Roads, Virginia on March 9, 1862.

1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent light bulb to the public for the first time.

1904 – The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in New York’s Times Square — known then as Longacre Square — at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Three years later, in 1907, the tradition of the dropping ball is introduced.

1946 – President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

1984 – Bernhard Goetz, the white man known as the “subway vigilante” after he shot four young black men on a New York City subway train, turns himself in to authorities in New Hampshire.

1999 – Days after Mikhail Gorbachev is re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, stuns his country and the world by announcing his resignation six months before the end of his term. He turns control over to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, undercutting Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together.

1999 – The United States officially turns control of the Panama Canal over to Panamanian authorities for the first time.

Celebrity Birthdays

1869 – Artist Henri Matisse (d. 1954)

1925 – Actor Peter Sellers, best known for his comedic roles in the “Pink Panther” series and “Dr. Strangelove” (d. 1980)

1932 – Country music singer Patsy Cline (“Crazy,” “Walking After Midnight”) (d. 1963)

1937 – Oscar-winning actor-director-producer Sir Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Nixon,” “Thor,” “Westworld”)

1942 – Singer-guitarist and The Police band member Andy Summers

1943 – Country-folk singer-songwriter, actor and environmentalist John Denver (d. 1997)

1943 – Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi,” “Bugsy, “Schindler’s List”)

1948 – Disco superstar Donna Summer (d. 2012)

1959 – Actor Val Kilmer (“Top Gun,” “The Doors,” “Batman Forever,” “Conspiracy,” “Double Identity”)

1977 – Singer-rapper PSY, born Park Jae-sang, best known for his 2012 smash single “Gangnam Style”

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The Best of The Monkees

The Monkees

Rick Nelson: Greatest Hits

Ricky Nelson

One Times Square: A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World

Joe McKendry

The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World

Randall E. Stross

Patsy Cline: The Definitive Collection

Patsy Cline

The Silence of the Lambs

Starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, and directed by Jonathan Demme

Gandhi

Starring Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, and directed by Richard Attenborough

On This Day December 30

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles say “hello” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hello, Goodbye,” the band’s 15th chart topper.

1968 – Peter Tork quits the pop-rock band The Monkees.

1978 – Chic rules the singles chart with disco anthem “Le Freak.”

1978 – Rock and Roll supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) officially announce their break-up.

1989 – “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins’ song about homelessness, becomes the last No. 1 single of the 80s and first No. 1 single of the 90s. It goes on to capture Record of the Year honors at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.

1995 – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men are in the middle of a 16-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day” — the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

1999 – George Harrison suffers stab wounds to the chest and a punctured lung when a 33-year-old man breaks into his home in Oxfordshire, England and attacks the former Beatle and his wife, Olivia.

2000 – Destiny’s Child (featuring Beyoncé) is in the midst of an 11-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part 1,” from the “Charlie’s Angels” movie soundtrack.

History Highlights

1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established as a new communist state following the era of the Russian Empire. It becomes the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

1936 – Known as “the strike heard round the world,” auto workers at General Motors’ Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan stage one of the first sit-down strikes in U.S. history. The workers were seeking safer assembly line conditions, better pay and recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the sole bargaining agent for GM employees. The strike lasts 44 days.

1940 – California opens its first freeway — the Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of only three “federal scenic byways” in California, and designated by the American Socity of Civil Engineers as a historical engineering landmark.

1963 – The game show “Let’s Make a Deal” debuts, hosted by Monty Hall.

1972 – President Richard Nixon orders a halt to the heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

1942 – Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

1945 – Singer-songwriter and The Monkees band member Davy Jones (d. 2012)

1946 – Singer-songwriter Patti Smith, known as the “Godmother of Punk”

1953 – Emmy-winning journalist and TV host Meredith Vieira (“The View,” “The Today Show,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)

1957 – Former TV journalist and NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, who was fired from his network job in November 2017 for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace

1975 – Pro golf champion Tiger Woods, born Eldrick Tont Woods

1984 – NBA superstar LeBron James, who played for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018

1986 – Pop star Ellie Goulding (“Starry Eyed,” “Your Song,” “Anything Could Happen,” “On My Mind,” “Love Me like You Do”)

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer

...But Seriously

Phil Collins

Built in Detroit: A Story of the UAW, A Company, and a Gangster

Bob Morris

Happy Trails: A Pictorial Celebration of the Life and Times of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

Howard Kazanjian and Chris Enss

The Monkees - Greatest Hits

The Monkees

LeBron's Dream Team: How Four Friends and I Brought a Championship Home

LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger

On This Day December 14

Musical Milestones

1963 – Grammy-winning “Queen of the Blues,” Dinah Washington, dies at the age of 39 after mixing alcohol and weight-reduction pills.

1968 – Marvin Gaye scores his first No. 1 single when “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” starts five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1969 – The Jackson 5 make their first network television appearance in the U.S. as guests on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

1977 – “Saturday Night Fever” opens in New York, starring John Travolta and featuring a soundtrack that helped shape the disco era.

1979 – The Clash release “London Calling” in the U.K. (it is released in the U.S. about a month later). The double album receives widespread acclaim and, in 2003, is ranked eighth on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

1980 – John Lennon fans around the world stage a silent vigil to honor the beloved musician who, six days earlier, was gunned down outside his Manhattan apartment building.

1991 – Michael Jackson kicks off four weeks atop the Billboard album chart with “Dangerous.”

1996 – “Un-Break My Heart,” by Toni Braxton, is the No. 1 single. It remains a chart-topper for 11 weeks.

2002 – Eminem maintains a 12-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lose Yourself,” from the soundtrack to the 2002 movie “8 Mile.”

2013 – “Wrecking Ball,” by Miley Cyrus, strikes the top of the pop chart and holds there for a week.

History Highlights

1799 – George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and first U.S. president, dies of acute laryngitis at his estate in Mount Vernon, Virginia at the age of 67.

1900 – The quantum theory of modern physics is born on this day as German physicist Max Planck publishes his groundbreaking study of the effect of radiation on a “blackbody” substance.

1909 – Workers place the last of the 3.2 million 10-pound bricks that pave the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

1911 – A team led by Roald Amundsen becomes the first to reach the South Pole — beating out British rival Robert Falcon Scott.

1946 – The United Nations General Assembly votes to establish its headquarters in New York City.

1961 – President John F. Kennedy formally announces that the United States will increase aid to South Vietnam, which would include the expansion of the U.S. troop commitment.

2012 – A deranged gunman shoots and kills 20 first-graders and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut before turning the gun on himself. Investigators discover that Adam Lanza had shot and killed his mother at her nearby home before driving to the school and opening fire. The tragedy becomes the second-deadliest mass-shooting in the U.S. at that time.

Celebrity Birthdays

1932 – Country singer Charlie Rich (“Behind Closed Doors,” “The Most Beautiful Girl”) (d. 1995)

1935 – Actress Lee Remick (“Anatomy of a Murder,” “Days of Wine and Roses,” “The Omen”) (d. 1991)

1946 – Former Hollywood mogul Michael Ovitz

1946 – Oscar-winning actress and author Patty Duke (“The Miracle Worker,” “Valley of the Dolls,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Glee”) (d. 2016)

1948 – Actress and “scream queen” Dee Wallace (“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” “The Hills Have Eyes,” “The Howling,” “Cujo”)

1965 – Baseball Hall of Famer and former Houston Astros second baseman Craig Biggio

1988 – Actress-singer Vanessa Hudgens, best known for playing Gabriella Montez in the “High School Musical” series

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The Best of Dinah Washington: The Millennium Collection

Dinah Washington

Saturday Night Fever

Starring John Travolta, Joseph Cali and Karen Lynn Gorney, and directed by John Badham

Washington: A Life

Ron Chernow

The Last Viking: The Life of Roald Amundsen

Stephen R. Bown

Days of Wine & Roses

Starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, and directed by Blake Edwards

Valley of the Dolls

Starring Sharon Tate, Patty Duke and Barbara Parkins, and directed by Mark Robson

On This Day November 11

Musical Milestones

1938 – “God Bless America” is performed for the first time by the singer for whom composer Irving Berlin wrote it — Kate Smith — during her regular radio broadcast. It becomes Smith’s signature song.

1954 – Bill Haley & His Comets score their first Top-10 single with “Shake, Rattle and Roll.” Originally recorded by Big Joe Turner, the Haley version climbs to No. 7 on the pop chart and remains in the Top 40 for 27 weeks.

1967 – The theme from the movie “To Sir, With Love,” by Scottish vocalist Lulu, continues its five-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

1978 – ‘Disco Queen’ Donna Summer begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with her version of Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park.” The track is Summer’s first chart-topper.

1989 – Bad English enjoy their first and only trip to the top of the pop chart as “When I See You Smile” reaches No. 1.

1995 – Mariah Carey is in her seventh week on top of the pop chart with “Fantasy.” The song holds at No. 1 for another week.

1999 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) names The Beatles the best-selling act of the 20th century.

2000 – “With Arms Wide Open,” by Creed, begins a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the Florida rockers’ first and only No. 1 single.

2006 – “My Love,” by Justin Timberlake featuring T.I., kicks off three weeks as a chart-topping single.

History Highlights

1918 – At 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in France, World War I — known then as The Great War and called “the war to end all wars” — comes to an end with the signing of an armistice between Allied officials and the leaders of German forces. The document is technically a ceasefire agreement, with the conflict officially concluded when the Treaty of Versailles is signed in June 1919.

1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding dedicates the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia during an Armistice Day ceremony.

1926 – Route 66, the highway that Nat King Cole famously sang is the place to “get your kicks,” is established. Through the years, the legendary thoroughfare has been referred to as the “Main Street of America” and has also been named the Will Rogers Highway.

1981 – Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela is designated Rookie of the Year and wins the National League’s Cy Young Award, becoming the first player in baseball history to score both honors in the same season.

2000 – A funicular (train) crammed with skiers and snowboarders catches fire as it enters a tunnel in Austria, killing 155 people. Twelve people survive the tragedy, which is known as the Kaprun Disaster. Investigators blame a faulty electric heater for sparking the deadly blaze.

Celebrity Birthdays

1885 – General George S. Patton, Jr., who made a mark in World War I as the first officer assigned to the new U.S. Army Tank Corps before becoming one of the most prominent military commanders in World War II (d. 1945)

1922 – Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (“Cat’s Cradle,” “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Breakfast of Champions”) (d. 2007)

1925 – Grammy and Emmy-winning actor-comedian Jonathan Winters (d. 2013)

1960 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Stanley Tucci (“Prizzi’s Honor,” “Winchell,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Julie & Julia,” “The Lovely Bones,” “The Hunger Games” trilogy, “Spotlight”)

1962 – Actress-producer Demi Moore, born Demetria Guynes (“General Hospital,” “St. Elmo’s Fire,” “About Last Night…,” “Ghost,” “A Few Good Men,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Striptease,” “G.I. Jane”)

1964 – Golden Globe-winning actress Calista Flockhart, best known for her starring role in the sitcom “Ally McBeal”

1974 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor-producer Leonardo DiCaprio (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “Titanic,” “Catch Me If You Can,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Inception,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Revenant”)

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The Best Of Donna Summer: The Millennium Collection

Donna Summer

Daydream

Mariah Carey

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War

G. J. Meyer

The Route 66 Photo Road Trip

Rick & Susan Sammon

The Devil Wears Prada

Starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, and directed by David Frankel

Catch Me If You Can

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, and directed by Steven Spielberg

On This Day October 16

Musical Milestones

1965 – “Yesterday” plants The Beatles in the middle of a four-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

1966 – Grace Slick joins the San Francisco-based rock band Jefferson Airplane (which later becomes Jefferson Starship and then Starship), contributing her unique vocal talents to songs like “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”

1971 – Rod Stewart is midway through a five-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Maggie May,” off his “Every Picture Tells a Story” album.

1976 – Rick Dees, who would go on to become one of the nation’s most popular DJs, quacks his way to the top of the singles chart with “Disco Duck.”

1982 – “Jack & Diane,” by John Cougar Mellencamp, is in the midst of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1993 – Mariah Carey rules the pop chart with “Dreamlover,” which holds the top spot for eight weeks.

1999 – “Heartbreaker,” by Mariah Carey featuring Jay-Z, enters its second and final week as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

2004 – Goodies,” by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo, enters its sixth week at No. 1 on the pop chart.

History Highlights

1934 – Embattled Chinese Communists break through Nationalist enemy lines and begin a year-long, 6,000-mile pilgrimage north from their encircled headquarters in southwest China in what comes to be called The Long March.

1964 – A new contender joins the nuclear arms race as the People’s Republic of China successfully tests an atomic bomb.

1967 – With the Vietnam War raging, folk singer Joan Baez is among more than 100 draft protesters arrested in Oakland, California.

1973 – Henry Kissinger, then U.S. Secretary of State, and North Vietnamese diplomat Le Duc Tho are awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for negotiating the Paris peace accords. Kissinger accepts, but Tho declines the award.

1987 – Millions of TV viewers around the world watch live news coverage as 18-month-old Jessica McClure (“Baby Jessica”) is rescued from an abandoned well in Midland, Texas, where she was trapped for 58 terrifying hours.

1991 – One of the deadliest shootings in U.S. history begins when George Hennard drives his truck into a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, and opens fire on the lunch crowd. He kills 23 people and injures more than 20 others before turning the gun on himself.

Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy-winning actress Angela Lansbury, best known for playing sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the popular CBS mystery series “Murder, She Wrote”

1946 – Actress Suzanne Somers, best known for her role in the TV sitcom “Three’s Company”

1958 – Oscar-winning actor-director-activist Tim Robbins (“Bull Durham,” “The Player,” “Shortcuts,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Hudsucker proxy,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Mystic River,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”)

1962 – Musician Flea, born Michael Balzary, bassist for the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers

1975 – Actress Kellie Martin (“Life Goes On,” “ER”)

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer (“Your Body Is a Wonderland,” “Daughters”)

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1

The Beatles

Every Picture Tells a Story

Rod Stewart

The Making of the Atomic Bomb

Richard Rhodes

Does America Need a Foreign Policy?

Henry Kissinger

Mystic River

Starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne, and directed by Clint Eastwood

Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits

Red Hot Chili Peppers

On This Day October 1

Musical Milestones

1966 – “Cherish,” by The Association, parks itself at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1970 – Funeral services are held for Seattle native Jimi Hendrix. The legendary rock guitarist and singer-songwriter died in London two weeks earlier at the age of 27.

1977 – Meco’s disco interpretation of composer John Williams’ theme from the motion picture “Star Wars” (later retitled “Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”) kicks off two weeks as the No. 1 single.

1982 – A revolution in the way we listen to music takes place, as the first compact disc (CD) player goes on sale in Japan for about $1,000. It’s the Sony CDP-101, and it lands in stores around the world six months later. The first CD to officially hit the market is Billy Joel’s “52nd Street.”

1988 – “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” by Bobby McFerrin, marks its second and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

1994 – Boyz II Men own the top spot on the pop chart with “I’ll Make Love to You,” which remains at No. 1 for 14 weeks and captures a Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

2005 – “Gold Digger,” by Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx, is in the middle of a 10-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2011 – “Moves Like Jagger,” by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera, is the No. 1 single.

History Highlights

1890 – Yosemite National Park, located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California and home to such natural wonders as El Capitan and Half Dome as well as the giant sequoia trees, is established by an act of Congress. In recent years, the sprawling 750,000-acre park typically drew about four million visitors a year.

1961 – Americans meet a talking horse with the premiere of the TV comedy “Mister Ed.”

1961 – New York Yankee Roger Maris becomes the first Major League baseball player to hit more than 60 home runs in a single season. He hits his 61st homer on the final day of the season against the Boston Red Sox.

1962 – Johnny Carson begins hosting “The Tonight Show” on NBC. He succeeds Jack Paar, who took over from the original host, Steve Allen. Carson remains host until turning his seat and microphone over to Jay Leno in May 1992.

1971 – Ten thousand visitors converge near Orlando, Florida as Disney opens its second theme park — Walt Disney World. Admission to the Magic Kingdom costs $3.50 for adults and $1 for children.

Celebrity Birthdays

1910 – Outlaw Bonnie Parker (Bonnie & Clyde) (d. 1934)

1920 – Actor Walter Matthau (“The Odd Couple,” “The Fortune Cookie,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “Dennis the Menace”) (d. 2000)

1921 – Tony and Emmy-winning actor James Whitmore (“The Asphalt Jungle,” “Them!,” “Kiss Me Kate,” “Battle Cry,” “Oklahoma!,” “Planet of the Apes,” “Tora! Tora! Tora!,” “The Serpent’s Egg,” “Nuts,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Majestic.” (d. 2009)

1924 – 39th U.S. President Jimmy Carter

1927 – Actor Tom Bosley (“Happy Days,” “The Father Dowling Mysteries,” “Murder, She Wrote”) (d. 2010)

1928 – Actor George Peppard (“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “The Blue Max,” “The A-Team”) (d. 1994)

1930 – Actor Richard Harris, best known for his performances as King Arthur in Broadway’s “Camelot” and Albus Dumbledore in the first two “Harry Potter” films (d. 2002)

1935 – Oscar and Tony-winning actress-singer Julie Andrews, born Julia Elizabeth Wells (“Mary Poppins,” “The Sound of Music,” “Camelot,” “My Fair Lady,” “Victor, Victoria,” “The Princess Diaries”)

1950 – Actor and “Saturday Night Live” alum Randy Quaid (“National Lampoon’s Vacation” and its sequels, “Independence Day”)

1969 – Comedian-actor Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover” movie series, “Due Date,” “The Campaign,” “Are You Here,” “Birdman,” “Keeping Up with the Joneses”)

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The Association: Greatest Hiuts

The Association

Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix

Charles R. Cross

Roger Maris: Baseball's Reluctant Hero

Tom Clavin and Danny Peary

Johnny Carson

Henry Bushkin

The Odd Couple

Starring Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and John Fiedler, and directed by Gene Saks

Victor/Victoria

Starring Julie AndrewsJames Garner and Robert Preston, and directed by Blake Edwards