On This Day February 17

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History Highlights
History Highlights

1801 – Thomas Jefferson is elected the third president of the United States. The election constitutes the first peaceful transfer of power from one U.S. political party to another. In addition to drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson had served in two Continental Congresses, was minister to France and secretary of state under George Washington and had served as John Adams’ vice president.

1933 – Newsweek magazine is published for the first time (called News-Week at the time), featuring cover stories about German dictator Adolf Hitler and U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. A copy sells for 10 cents.

1947 – The Voice of America (VOA) begins to transmit radio broadcasts to the Soviet Union.

1972 – President Richard Nixon leaves Washington on a peace mission to the People’s Republic of China, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.

1974 – Disgruntled U.S. Army Private Robert K. Preston buzzes the White House in a stolen military helicopter. Secret Service agents fire on the chopper, forcing it to land on the South Lawn. Preston suffers minor injuries and is quickly arrested. President and Mrs. Richard Nixon were away at the time.

1979 – Garrison Keillor’s popular radio variety show, “A Prairie Home Companion” premieres on National Public Radio (NPR). The broadcast originated from Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

1996 – In the final game of a six-game match, world chess champion Garry Kasparov triumphs over Deep Blue, IBM’s chess-playing computer, and wins the match, 4-2. However, Deep Blue defeats Kasparov in a heavily publicized rematch the following year.

On This Day February 10

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On this Day May 11

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Musical Milestones
Musical Milestones

1959 – The instrumental “The Happy Organ,” by organist-pianist Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez, is the No. 1 single for a week and becomes a fixture at roller skating rinks across the U.S. Cortez makes one more trip to the Top-10 during his career with “Rinky Dink” in 1962.

1963 – Little Peggy March wraps up three weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Will Follow Him.”

1970 – The three-disk soundtrack to the Woodstock Festival is released and goes gold within two weeks.

1972 – John Lennon makes a guest appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show” and claims the FBI is tapping his phone.

1981 – Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist Bob Marley, who introduced international audiences to reggae music, dies of cancer at the age of 36. Marley is posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 2001, receives a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

1985 – Madonna has the No. 1 single with “Crazy for You,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Vision Quest,” starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino. The track garners Madonna her first Grammy nomination in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category.

1991 – “Joyride,” by Swedish pop duo Roxette, is the No. 1 single for a week.

1996 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Always Be My Baby.”

2002 – Ashanti maintains her hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Foolish.” The track remains a chart-topper for 10 weeks.