FDR – Time Rewind

On This Day April 30

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On This Day March 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Karl Malden (“A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Streets of San Francisco”), best remembered for his line, “Don’t leave home without them,” in American Express commercials (d. 2009)

1923 – French actor and world renowned mine artist Marcel Marceau, most famous for his stage persona, “Bip the Clown.” (d. 2007)

1930 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim (“West Side Story,” “Gypsy,” “Sweeney Todd”) (d. 2021)

1931 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and author William Shatner, best known as Captain James T. Kirk in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1943 – Grammy-winning jazz guitarist-singer George Benson (“Breezin’,” “This Masquerade,” “On Broadway,” “Give Me The Night”)

1948 – Oscar, Tony and Grammy-winning Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber (“Jesus Christ Superstar,” “Cats,” “Evita,” “The Phantom of the Opera”)

1948 – CNN anchor and host Wolf Blitzer

1952 – Emmy-winning NBC sportscaster and Olympic Games anchor Bob Costas

1959 – Actor Matthew Modine (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Married to the Mob,” “Memphis Belle,” “And The Band Played On,” “The Dark Knight Rises”)

1976 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress-producer Reese Witherspoon (“Pleasantville,” the “Legally Blonde” movies, “Walk the Line,” “Gone Girl,” “Wild”)

History Highlights

1765 – The British Parliament passes the Stamp Act to help fund British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War. The act required the colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents and playing cards. Reactions range from boycotts of British goods to more violent protests, including riots and attacks on tax collectors.

1933 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Beer-Wine Revenue Act into law. The measure legalizes the sale of alcoholic beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol (this level was declared non-intoxicating). Prohibition is officially repealed by the 21st Amendment in December 1933.

1972 – The Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and sends it to the states for ratification. However, it falls short of the required three-fourths approval.

1983 – The Pentagon awards a $1.2 billion contract to AM General Corporation to develop 55,000 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV), nicknamed the Humvee. Designed to transport troops and cargo, these workhorses became widely recognized when used by the U.S. military during the 1989 invasion of Panama and the first Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s.

1984 – Teachers at the McMartin Preschool in Manhattan Beach, California are charged with satanic ritual-related abuse of their students. The charges are later dropped as completely unfounded.

Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases his fifth studio album,” Bringing It All Back Home” — the first of Dylan’s albums to break into the Billboard Top 10. The lead-off track, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” becomes Dylan’s first single to chart, peaking at No. 39.

1969 – “Dizzy,” by Tommy Roe, is in the midst of four weeks as a Billboard singles chart-topper.

1975 – Frankie Valli owns the hottest single for a week with “My Eyes Adored You.”

1975 – Led Zeppelin launches a six-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Physical Graffiti,” the group’s fourth chart-topping album. Among the most popular tracks on this double-album are “Kashmir,” “In My Time of Dying” and “Trampled Under Foot.”

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” is on top of the singles chart and holds there for four weeks. It’s the only No. 1 single the band has ever had in the U.S.

1986 – “These Dreams,” by Heart, becomes the sister duo’s first Billboard chart-topper. The song, co-written by longtime Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, was originally offered to Stevie Nicks, who turned it down. The track spends a week at No. 1.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, kicks off a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “In da Club,” by 50 Cent, is in the middle of nine-weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

On This Day April 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1932 – Singer and ukulele player Tiny Tim, born Herbert Buckingham Khaury (d. 1996)

1940 – Oscar and Grammy-winning jazz musician Herbie Hancock

1947 – Bestselling author Tom Clancy (“Patriot Games,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Clear and Present Danger”) (d. 2013)

1947 – Comedian and retired “Late Show” host David Letterman

1950 – Actor-singer and former teen heartthrob David Cassidy (“The Partridge Family”) (d.2017)

1956 – Actor-director Andy Garcia (“The Untouchables,” “The Godfather Part III,” “Stand and Deliver,” “Oceans Eleven” and its sequels, “The Lost City”)

1957 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Vince Gill (“When I Call Your Name,” “Go Rest High On That Mountain,” “I Still Believe in You”)

1971 – Actress-director Shannen Doherty (“Little House on the Prairie,” “Our House,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Charmed”)

1979 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Claire Danes (“My So-Called Life,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Rainmaker,” “Homeland”)

History Highlights

1861 – The Civil War — the bloodiest four years in American history — begins in the early-morning hours when Confederate troops open fire on Union-held Fort Sumter in South Carolina’s Charleston Bay. Neither side anticipated the length of the war nor the devastation that the conflict would bring.

1945 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies during his fourth term in office, leaving Vice President Harry Truman in charge of a nation still embroiled in World War II.

1961 – The Space Race between the U.S. and Soviet Union begins as the Soviets launch Vostok I. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, making a single orbit around Earth in just under two hours.

1981 – The U.S. achieves a space exploration milestone with the inaugural space shuttle flight. Shuttle Columbia represents the first manned U.S. space mission since Apollo-Soyuz in July 1976. The shuttle is also the first reusable manned spacecraft.

2003 – Fifty years after their introduction, tokens for the New York City subway system are sold for the last time, replaced by the Metro Card.

Musical Milestones

1954 – Bill Haley and his Comets record “(We’re Gonna) Rock Around The Clock” at Pythian Temple studios in New York City. The song, widely credited with bringing rock ‘n’ roll into the mainstream, becomes a worldwide No. 1 and the biggest-selling pop single, with sales exceeding 25 million.

1963 – Bob Dylan performs his first major solo concert at Town Hall in Manhattan. Dylan’s 24-song set includes “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall,” “Highway 51” and “Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie.”

1969 – The 5th Dimension soar to the top of the singles chart with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” which holds at No. 1 for six weeks.

1973 – Stevie Wonder is just 23 years old when he makes a guest appearance on the children’s television show Sesame Street. Wonder interacts with several beloved characters in segments throughout the program, including Grover, whom he teaches how to sing. He also performs his smash hit, “Superstition.”

1975 – Elton John claims the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks with “Philadelphia Freedom,” a song he wrote for his good friend, international tennis legend Billie Jean King. “Philadelphia Freedom” is the name of the tennis team that King coached at the time.

1986 – Falco wraps up three weeks atop the Billboard singles chart with “Rock Me Amadeus.”

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, is in the midst of a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – 50 Cent rules the singles chart with “In da Club,” which remains at No. 1 for nine weeks.

On This Day March 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Singer-songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka (“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Bad Blood”)

1941 – Singer-dancer-comedian Charo, born María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baez, remembered for her catch phrase “cuchi-cuchi”

1950 – Emmy-winning actor William H. Macy (“ER,” “Fargo,” “Pleasantville,” “Boogie Nights,” “Shameless”)

1956 – Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany (“China Beach,” “Desperate Housewives”)

1960 – Grammy-winning U2 bassist Adam Clayton

1971 – Actress Annabeth Gish (“Mystic Pizza,” “Double Jeopardy,” “The West Wing,” “The X-Files”)

1972 – Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning rapper-actor Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (“Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop),” “Just Wright,” “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “Selma”)

History Highlights

1781 – Astronomer Sir William Herschel discovers the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, named after the Greek god of the sky.

1933 – With the Great Depression raging, U.S. banks begin to re-open on this day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt had mandated a “bank holiday.”

1942 – The federal government authorizes the use of dogs in America’s war effort. Originally known as “Dogs for Defense” (DFD), the War Dog Program, or “K-9 (Canine) Corps,” initially allows the U.S. Army to work with 30 breeds of dogs, but later narrows it to seven. Dogs are also trained to serve the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

1969 – Walt Disney Productions releases “The Love Bug,” a comedy starring Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and Herbie — a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own.

2005 – Walt Disney Company announces that Robert Iger, Disney’s president and chief operating officer, will succeed Michael Eisner as the company’s chief executive officer. The move ends Eisner’s storied and tumultuous two-decade reign at Disney.

Musical Milestones

1965 – “Eight Days a Week,” by The Beatles, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the final of seven songs by the Fab Four to be No. 1 in the U.S. in a one-year period, an all-time record.

1976 – The Four Seasons are Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).”

1982 – The J. Geils Band kicks off its sixth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Centerfold.”

1999 – “Believe” is Cher’s first No. 1 hit since 1974’s “Dark Lady.” The song tops the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and becomes the biggest-selling single in the U.S. for 1999. The recording is one of the first to use an Auto-Tune processor to alter vocal pitch, a technique now commonplace in pop music.

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, is in the middle of a 12-week domination of the singles chart.

2010 – “Imma Bee,” by The Black Eyed Peas, enters its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

On This Day March 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Beat Generation poet and novelist Jack Kerouac (d. 1969)

1940 – Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Al Jarreau (“We’re in This Love Together,” “Moonlighting” TV theme) (d. 2017)

1946 – Oscar, Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy-winning singer-actress Liza Minnelli (“Cabaret,” “Lucky Lady,” “New York, New York,” “Arthur”)

1947 – Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter James Taylor (“Fire and Rain,” “You’ve Got a Friend,” “Shower the People”)

History Highlights

1912 – Juliette Gordon Low gathers 18 girls in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, to share what she had learned abroad about a new outdoor and educational program for youth. She names the group the “Girl Guides” with a mission to embrace, together, their individuality, strength and intellect, and the Girl Scout Movement is born. Today, that group is known as the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.

1933 – One week after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addresses the nation by radio from the White House in the first of his Sunday evening “fireside chats.” With nearly all U.S. banks temporarily closed in response to mass withdrawals by a panicked public, Roosevelt calms fears and outlines his plan to restore confidence in the banking system.

1947 – President Harry S. Truman establishes the “Truman Doctrine” to aid in the containment of Communism.

1989 – Computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee submits his first proposal for an “information management system” that leads to development of the “World Wide Web” and ultimately revolutionizes global communication and human interaction.

1993 – One day after her Senate confirmation, Janet Reno is sworn in as the first female U.S. Attorney General.

Musical Milestones

1955 – Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker dies of a heart attack in New York City at the age of 34. Cause of death is determined to be lobar pneumonia and the devastating effects of long-term substance abuse.

1966 – “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down),” by Cher, premieres on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first solo Top 5 hit. It ultimately reaches No. 2.

1969 – The Temptations become the first Motown recording act to win a Grammy Award — Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance for “Cloud Nine, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – “Anything For You,” the first of three No. 1 hits for Gloria Estefan, debuts on the singles charts.

1988 – Rick Astley kicks off two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Never Gonna Give You Up.” It is the first of Astley’s two career chart-toppers.

1994 – “The Sign,” by Swedish pop group Ace of Base, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks.

2007 – Amy Winehouse makes her American television debut on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” performing “Rehab.” The song goes on to win three Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

On This Day March 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1903 – Bandleader and accordion player Lawrence Welk (“The Lawrence Welk Show”), known as the creator and king of so-called “champagne music” (d. 1992)

1931 – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who founded News Corporation and FOX Broadcasting

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 smash, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

1963 – Actress Alex Kingston (“ER,” “Doctor Who,” “Arrow”)

1969 – Actor and singer-songwriter Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” “Crash,” “The Brave One,” “Iron Man,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Empire”)

1971 – Comedic actor Johnny Knoxville of MTV’s “Jackass” series

History Highlights

1888 – One of the worst blizzards in U.S. history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping 55 inches of snow in some areas. “The Great White Hurricane,” as it comes to be known, paralyzes the East coast for days from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Lend-Lease” program, which provides money and materials for U.S. allies in World War II, takes effect.

1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes head of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. At 54, he is the youngest member of the ruling Politburo.

1989 – One of the first reality TV shows premieres on Fox Television. It’s “COPS,” which is shot documentary style as cameras follow police officers pursuing suspects and making arrests.

2011 – The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and resulting tsunami kill more than 18,000 people in Japan, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Musical Milestones

1967 – “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” by the Supremes, begins one week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes the Motown trio’s ninth No. 1 single. The track is from the “The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland” album.

1972 – Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” begins its fourth and final week on top of the singles chart. The track garners Nilsson a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

1989 – Debbie Gibson conquers the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with Lost in Your Eyes.” It remains at No. 1 for a total of three weeks.

1995 – “Take a Bow,” by Madonna, is in the midst of a seven-week ride atop the pop chart. The track is from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1997 – Former Beatle Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a Buckingham Palace ceremony honoring his “services to music.”

2000 – Country music conquers the Billboard Hot 100 as Lonestar scores a No. 1 hit with “Amazed.” It’s the last country song to do so until Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” rockets to No. 1 on September 1, 2012.

2006 – “You’re Beautiful,” by British singer-songwriter James Blunt reaches the top of the pop chart and holds there for a week.

On This Day March 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1475 – Michelangelo, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists

1906 – Actor-comedian Lou Costello of the comedic duo, Abbott & Costello (d. 1959)

1923 – TV host Ed McMahon (“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “Star Search”) (d. 2009)

1926 – Economist and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan

1927 – Astronaut Gordon Cooper, who piloted the sixth and last flight of NASA’s Mercury program and later commanded Gemini 5 (d. 2004)

1946 – Guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour of the rock band Pink Floyd

1947 – Director-producer-actor Rob Reiner, who garnered Emmys playing Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic in the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” and directed box office bonanzas including”Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men”

1959 – Actor-comedian Tom Arnold (“True Lies,” “Nine Months,” “The Stupids,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Best Damn Sports Show Period”)

1972 – Retired NBA star and actor-rapper Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal

History Highlights

1836 – The Battle of the Alamo comes to a bloody end, capping off a pivotal moment in the Texas Revolution. Mexican forces successfully recapture the garrison after a 13-day siege, and nearly all of the roughly 200 Alamo defenders — including legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett — are killed.

1899 – Acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin, is trademarked by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer. Designed to relieve pain and fever, it becomes the most common drug found in household medicine cabinets.

1930 – Industrialist and inventor Clarence Birdseye brings the food industry into the modern era as he introduces consumers to pre-packaged, frozen foods — still available in supermarkets today.

1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national “bank holiday,” closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions in an effort to salvage the faltering banking system during the Great Depression. The banks reopen a week later with depositors standing in lines to return their hoarded cash.

1981 – An estimated 17 million American viewers watch as anchor Walter Cronkite says, “And that’s the way it is” for the final time as he signs off the “CBS Evening News.” Considered “the most trusted man in America,” Cronkite retires after more than 30 years in broadcasting and is succeeded by Dan Rather.

1986 – Georgia O’Keeffe, the artist who gained worldwide fame for her austere minimalist paintings of the American southwest, dies in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 98.

Musical Milestones

1965 – The Temptations claim the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Girl,” the first of four chart-toppers the Motown legends produced during their career.

1971 – “One Bad Apple” by The Osmonds is midway through a five-week ride on top of the singles chart.

1976 – “Love Machine (Part 1),” by The Miracles (without Smokey Robinson), is the No. 1 single.

1982 – The J. Geils Band is in the middle of a six-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Centerfold.”

1988 – George Michael wraps up a two-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Father Figure,” from his Grammy-winning debut solo album, “Faith.”

1993 – The Peabo Bryson-Regina Belle duet, “A Whole New World,” tops the singles chart. The song, written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, comes from Disney’s 1992 animated feature, “Aladdin.”

1999 – “Angel of Mine,” by Monica begins its fourth and final week on top of the pop chart.

2004 – “Yeah!”, by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, rules the Billboard Hot 100 and holds the top spot for 12 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single of 2004.

On This Day March 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1678 – Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric Antonio Vivaldi (d. 1741)

1938 – Actress Paula Prentiss (“The Black Marble,” “The Stepford Wives,” “The Parallax View”)

1941 – Movie director Adrian Lyne (“Fatal Attraction,” “9½ Weeks,” “Flashdance,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Unfaithful”)

1954 – Actress Catherine O’Hara (“SCTV,” “Beetlejuice,” the “Home Alone” movies, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show”)

1958 – Emmy-winning actress Patricia Heaton, best known for playing Debra Barone in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”

1961 – Actor Steven Weber (“The Kennedys of Massachusetts,” “Wings,” “The Shining,” “Once and Again,” “NCIS: New Orleans”)

History Highlights

1925 – The second inauguration of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge is the first to be nationally broadcast. More than 20 radio stations carry the event to an estimated 23 million listeners, including many children whose school auditoriums were specially equipped with speakers.

1933 – During the height of the Great Depression, an estimated 150,000 spectators gather on the east grounds of the U.S. Capitol as Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president. FDR tells Americans, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

1933 – Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Frances Perkins Secretary of Labor, making her the first female member of the U.S. cabinet.

1960 – Actress Lucille Ball divorces her husband and collaborator, Desi Arnaz, after 20 tumultuous years of marriage. The breakup of the couple, stars of the hit sitcom “I Love Lucy” and owners of Desilu Studios, becomes one of the highest-profile divorces in American history at that time.

1974 – People magazine makes its debut on American newsstands, featuring actress Mia Farrow on the cover.

1989 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans to merge into the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate.

1994 – Comedic actor John Candy (“Splash,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck,” “Home Alone”) dies of a heart attack at 43 while filming a movie in Mexico.

2005 – Billionaire mogul Martha Stewart is released from a federal prison in West Virginia after serving five months and paying a $30,000 fine for lying and obstructing justice in a 2001 stock sale. Stewart serves five months of home confinement at her Bedford, New York estate and then faces two years probation.

Musical Milestones

1963 – The Beach Boys release “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” which climbs as high as No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. The The song features Brian Wilson’s lyrics set to the music of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.”

1966 – During an interview with the British newspaper London Evening Standard, John Lennon says of The Beatles: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” The remark sets off an international furor when reprinted a few months later in an American teen magazine, with some radio stations refusing to play Beatles records and others burning them.

1967 – “Beggin’,” the 33rd hit single for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, lands on the Billboard pop chart, eventually climbing to No. 16.

1967 – “Ruby Tuesday,” by The Rolling Stones, begins a week as the No. 1 single. Brian Jones plays recorder on the track while the double bass is played jointly by bassist Bill Wyman pressing the strings against the fingerboard and Keith Richards bowing the strings.

1978 – Andy Gibb sails to the top of the singles chart with “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water.” The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1989 – Debbie Gibson starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Lost in Your Eyes.”

1995 – Madonna is in the midst of a seven-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album.

2000 – Nashville-based country music band Lonestar claims the top spot on the pop chart with “Amazed.” The single holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

2006 – “Check on It,” by Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug, begins its fifth and final week as a No. 1 single.

On This Day February 27

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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”)

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.”

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.

On This Day February 26

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Celebrity Birthdays

1802 – French Romantic poet-author Victor Hugo (“Les Misérables,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) (d. 1885)

1829 – Entrepreneur Levi Strauss, best known for his blue jeans manufacturing company (d. 1902)

1916 – Actor-comedian Jackie Gleason (“Cavalcade of Stars,” “The Jackie Gleason Show,” “The Honeymooners,” “The Hustler,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Nothing in Common”) (d. 1987)

1920 – Emmy-winning actor Tony Randall, born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg, best known for playing fussy Felix Unger in the sitcom “The Odd Couple” (d. 2004)

1928 – Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Fats Domino, born Antoine Domino, Jr., who sold more records than any 1950s-era rocker except Elvis Presley (d. 2017)

1932 – Legendary country singer Johnny Cash, known as “The Man in Black” (d. 2003)

1953 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Michael Bolton (“Fool’s Game”, “When a Man Loves a Woman,” “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You”)

1971 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter and actress Erykah Badu (“On & On,” “The Cider House Rules”)

History Highlights

1919 – The U.S. Congress passes an act establishing the Grand Canyon as a National Park in Arizona.

1929 – The U.S. Congress establishes Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

1934 – President Franklin Roosevelt orders the creation of a Communications Commission, which would become the FCC later that year by an act of Congress.

1972 – A mining dam collapses, sending millions of gallons of black coal wastewater across a wide area of Logan County, West Virginia. The Buffalo Creek Disaster claims 125 lives and leaves 4,000 people homeless.

1993 – Six people are killed and more than 1,000 others are injured when a bomb, planted inside a parked van, explodes in the garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. The blast leaves a crater 150 feet wide and causes the collapse of several steel-reinforced concrete floors. Six terrorists are eventually captured, tried and convicted for the attack.

1998 – A jury finds Oprah Winfrey not guilty in a $10 million defamation lawsuit brought by Texas cattle ranchers. The plaintiffs had accused the talk show host of harming the U.S. beef industry with a 1996 broadcast about mad cow disease. Exiting the courtroom, Winfrey exclaims, “Free speech not only lives, it rocks!”

2012 – Trayvon Martin, an African-American teen, is fatally shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman while walking home from a Sanford, Florida convenience store. The killing sparks a national outcry over race relations and self-defense gun laws, as Martin was unarmed when he was shot.

Musical Milestones

1966 – “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” by Nancy Sinatra, marches to the top of the Billboard singles chart where it spends a week.

1977 – The most popular single on the radio is “New Kid in Town,” off the Eagles’ “Hotel California” album.

1983 – “Baby Come to Me,” by Patti Austin and James Ingram, enters its second and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” is No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and holds the top spot for 37 weeks. The blockbuster album gives us hits including “Thriller,” “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.” It goes on to capture a record-breaking eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.

1994 – Céline Dion is midway through a four-week domination of the singles chart with “The Power of Love,” her first Billboard No. 1.

2004 – Mario wraps up nine weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with his Grammy-nominated “Let Me Love You.”