Freddie Mercury – Time Rewind

On This Day February 23

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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.

On This Day September 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1847 – Outlaw Jesse James (d. 1882)

1929 – Comedian-actor Bob Newhart (“The Bob Newhart Show,” “Newhart”)

1939 – Actor William Devane (“The Missiles of October,” “Knot’s Landing,” “Space Cowboys,” “24”)

1940 – Actress and 1960s-70s sex symbol Raquel Welch (d. 2023)

1945 – Singer-songwriter Al Stewart, best known for his 70s hits “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages”

1946 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara (d. 1991)

1951 – Golden Globe-winning actor Michael Keaton, born Michael John Douglas (“Mr. Mom,” “Beetlejuice,” “Batman Returns,” “Pacific Heights,” “My Life,” “The Paper,” “Birdman, “Spotlight”)

History Highlights

1836 – Sam Houston is elected president of the Republic of Texas, which earned its independence from Mexico in a successful military rebellion. He serves as president until 1838, then again from 1841 to 1844. Despite plans for retirement, Houston helps Texas win admission to the United States in 1845 and is elected as one of the state’s first two senators.

1958 – Boris Pasternak’s romantic novel, “Doctor Zhivago,” is published in the United States. The book was banned in the Soviet Union, but goes on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 and is the basis of the Oscar-winning 1965 movie starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie.

1966 – The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Telethon debuts. The live fundraiser was hosted every Labor Day weekend through 2011 by comedian Jerry Lewis.

1972 – The world watches in horror as news unfolds about a massacre at the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, where Palestinian terrorists murder 11 Israeli athletes. Many cite this tragedy as ushering in the modern age of terrorism.

1975 – An assassination attempt against President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California is thwarted by a Secret Service agent who wrests a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol from Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson. Fromme is paroled in 2009 after 34 years in prison.

1986 – A Pan Am flight from Bombay, India to New York (Pan Am Flight 73) is hijacked by four armed Palestinian men during a scheduled stop in Karachi, Pakistan. Twenty people are killed aboard the 747 jumbo jet — among them, flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who is posthumously honored with India’s highest peacetime award for bravery for protecting many of the 360 survivors.

2006 – Katie Couric debuts as the first female solo anchor of a weekday network evening news broadcast, the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” and draws an audience of 13.6 million viewers. Couric, who served as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show from 1991 to 2006, succeeded longtime anchor Dan Rather.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley surprises his mother with a gift of a pink Cadillac. The car remains in the Presley family for years, and eventually goes on display at Graceland.

1964 – The Animals begin a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “House of the Rising Sun.” The track also soars to the top of the U.K. singles chart.

1966 – Taking a break from nearly four years of touring with The Beatles, John Lennon begins acting duties as Private Gripweed in the movie “How I Won The War.” The black comedy, directed by Richard Lester (director of The Beatles’ movies “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!”), was filmed in Germany and Spain.

1981 – Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks finds solo success, soaring to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Bella Donna.” The album features the tracks “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (the Tom Petty duet), “Leather and Lace” (a duet with Don Henley) and “Edge of Seventeen.”

1992 – Boyz II Men is in the midst of a 13-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “End of the Road.”

1998 – Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” from the movie “Armageddon,” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks. It is band’s only chart-topping single to date.

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas continue their domination of the singles chart with “I Gotta Feeling,” which is in the midst of 14 weeks at No. 1.