duet – Time Rewind

On This Day December 17

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On This Day December 10

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Celebrity Birthdays

1830 – Poet Emily Dickinson (d. 1886)

1922 – Writer Agnes Nixon, the creative force behind groundbreaking soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children,” which introduced social awareness to daytime television (d. 2016)

1952 – Actress Susan Dey (“The Partridge Family,” “L.A. Law”)

1957 – Actor Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile,” “The Whole Nine Yards”) (d. 2012)

1960 – Emmy-winning actor-director Kenneth Branagh (“Henry V,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Hamlet,” “Love’s Labour’s Lost,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “As You Like It,” “Thor,” “My Week with Marilyn,” “Dunkirk,” “Murder on the Orient Express”)

1961 – Singer-actress Nia Peeples (“Fame,” “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Pretty Little Liars”)

1964 – Celebrity chef and restaurateur Bobby Flay

1985 – Actress-singer Raven-Symoné, born Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman (“The Cosby Show,” “That’s So Raven,” “The Cheetah Girls”)

History Highlights

1898 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Spanish-American War. It effectively dissolves the Spanish empire with the United States taking over much of Spain’s overseas holdings. Puerto Rico and Guam are ceded to the U.S., the Philippines is purchased for $20 million, and Cuba becomes a U.S. protectorate.

1901 – The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace. Named after Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize is still considered the most prestigious international honor. Notable winners throughout the years have included Marie Curie, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others.

1907 – An American scientist wins the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time. It’s University of Chicago physics professor Albert Michelson, known for his research into the speed of light and optics.

1950 – Diplomat, scholar and activist Dr. Ralph Bunche, a key member of the United Nations for more than two decades, becomes the first African-American awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his mediation efforts between Israel and neighboring Arab states in the late 1940s.

1999 – “The Cider House Rules,” starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, opens in movie theaters. Oscars go to Caine for Best Supporting Actor and John Irving for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Musical Milestones

1927 – The Grand Ole Opry produces its first radio broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee.

1966 – The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. Costing about $60,000 to produce, it is the most expensive pop song ever recorded up to that time.

1967 – Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a Wisconsin plane crash three days after recording his biggest hit, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.” He is just 26 years old.

1967 – Doors frontman Jim Morrison becomes the first rock star arrested on stage during a performance. It happens in New Haven, Connecticut. Following a backstage altercation with a police officer that maced him, Morrison taunts police during his set and is taken into custody. Angry fans riot.

1977 – Debby Boone continues to light up the pop chart with “You Light Up My Life,” which begins its ninth out of 10 weeks as a No. 1 single.

1983 – “Say Say Say,” by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, starts a six-week hold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

1994 – Boyz II Men dominate the pop chart for a second straight week with “On Bended Knee.”

On This Day November 24

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Celebrity Birthdays

1784 – Zachary Taylor, 12th U.S. president (d. 1850)

1868 – Ragtime composer and pianist Scott Joplin (“The Maple Leaf Rag,” “The Entertainer”) (d. 1917)

1925 – Conservative author-commentator William F. Buckley, Jr. (d. 2008)

1938 – Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar “Big O” Robertson

1941 – Original Beatles drummer Pete Best

1978 – Emmy-winning actress Katherine Heigl (“Grey’s Anatomy,” “Knocked Up,” “State of Affairs”)

1990 – Actress Sarah Hyland (“Private Parts,” “Modern Family,” “Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters”)

History Highlights

1859 – “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection,” a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England, and every copy sells the first day. Darwin concluded that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called “natural selection.”

1960 – Philadelphia Warrior Wilt Chamberlain snags 55 rebounds in a game against the Boston Celtics, setting an NBA record for the most rebounds in a single game.

1963 – Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby shoots and kills accused JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald in the garage of Dallas police headquarters. The incident is captured on live television as media outlets cover Oswald’s transfer from the police station to a county jail.

1971 – A hijacker identifying himself as D.B. Cooper takes $200,000 in ransom money and parachutes from a Seattle-bound passenger jet flying through a thunderstorm at 10,000 feet. Cooper’s fate remains a mystery to this day.

1978 – David Letterman makes his first guest appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

Musical Milestones

1950 – The musical comedy “Guys and Dolls” premieres on Broadway at the 46th Street Theatre. Two years later, it spawns a film adaptation starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra.

1962 – The Four Seasons, featuring Frankie Valli, are in the second week of a five-week run as Billboard chart-toppers with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

1966 – The Beatles gather in a studio for the first time since wrapping up their U.S. summer concert tour and spend the entire day recording John Lennon’s “Strawberry Fields Forever.”

1972 – Don Kirshner’s “Rock Concert” TV show debuts, featuring Chuck Berry, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Alice Cooper.

1973 – Ringo Starr’s “Photograph” begins a week as the No. 1 single.

1979 – The Barbra Streisand-Donna Summer duet “No More Tears (Enough is Enough)” kicks off two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1984 – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” by Wham!, rules the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – Queen frontman Freddie Mercury dies of complications from AIDS exactly one day after publicly disclosing that he is HIV positive. He was 45 years old.

1997 – Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols is the defendant in an episode of TV’s “Judge Judy.” The case is a wrongful termination suit brought on by his former drummer, which Rotten wins.

2007 – Jay-Z climbs to the top of the Billboard album chart with “American Gangster,” his 10th chart-topping album. This ties the rapper to 2nd place with Elvis Presley for the most No. 1 albums. Only The Beatles have had more, with 19.