General Motors – Time Rewind

On this Day June 5

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On This Day April 27

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Celebrity Birthdays

1791 – Inventor and painter Samuel Morse, most famous for creating the telegraph (d. 1872)

1822 – 18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who helped lead the Union forces to victory during the Civil War (d. 1885)

1922 – Actor Jack Klugman (“The Odd Couple,” “Quincy, M.E.”) (d. 2012)

1927 – Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2006)

1932 – Radio personality Casey Kasem, co-founder and former host of “American Top 40” and the voice of Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo” (d. 2014)

1951 – Guitarist and Kiss co-founder Ace Frehley

1959 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheena Easton (“Morning Train,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “Sugar Walls”)

1986 – Actress Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who,” “Victoria,” “The Cry”)

1988 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson

History Highlights

1865 – After surviving the horrors of the Civil War, some Union soldiers — many former prisoners of war — are crammed aboard the steamboat Sultana, heading home along the Mississippi River, when the ship’s boilers explode. More than 1,800 passengers die as the ship burns and sinks, resulting in the worst maritime disaster in American history — with more lives lost than in the 1912 Titanic sinking.

1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

1956 – Rocky Marciano retires from boxing at age 31, ending his career as the only undefeated world heavyweight champion: 49 wins in 49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts.

1974 – Some 10,000 demonstrators march in Washington, D.C. calling for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

1982 – Jury selection begins in the trial of John Hinckley, Jr., charged with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1993 – Authorities in North Carolina determine that film crew negligence is to blame for the death of actor Brandon Lee, who was accidentally shot and killed a month earlier on the set of the action-adventure movie “The Crow.” Brandon was the son of legendary martial arts star Bruce Lee.

2009 – General Motors (GM) announces plans to discontinue production of its 80-year-old Pontiac line of cars in 2010.

Musical Milestones

1963 – High school freshman Little Peggy March (born Margaret Annemarie Battavio) marches to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “I Will Follow Him.” The song remains at No. 1 for three weeks and makes March, at age 15, the youngest female singer to ever have a chart-topping hit.

1967 – Motown Records releases the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which becomes a Top 20 hit. Diana Ross’ 1970 version rockets to the top of the pop chart, becoming her first No. 1 since leaving The Supremes.

1974 – “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB and The Three Degrees, is the No. 1 single.

1981 – Singer-songwriter and legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr weds actress Barbara Bach, best known for her roles in the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Force 10 from Navarone.”

1985 – “We Are The World,” the musical collaboration produced under the baton of Quincy Jones as a fundraiser for African famine relief, is in the middle of a four-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – Amy Grant’s “Baby Baby begins two weeks as the most popular single in the U.S.

1999 – British rockers The Verve, best known for their Grammy-nominated hit “Bitter Sweet Symphony” and the chart-topping singles “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man,” announce their second breakup. The band re-forms in 2007, but by 2009, the musicians truly go their separate ways.

2002 – “Foolish,” off Ashanti’s self-titled debut album, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks. The accompanying music video features actor Terrence Howard.

On This Day April 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (d. 1951)

1899 – Jazz composer-pianist-bandleader Duke Ellington (d. 1974)

1917 – Actress Celeste Holm (“Oklahoma!” “Gentleman’s Agreement”) (d. 2012)

1933 – Iconic Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and activist Willie Nelson

1954 – Comedian-producer-actor Jerry Seinfeld, best known for his long-running NBC comedy series “Seinfeld”

1957 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Gangs of New York,” “Lincoln”)

1958 – Actress Michelle Pfeiffer (“Scarface,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “Batman Returns,” “Hairspray”,”Ant-Man and The Wasp”)

1970 – Retired tennis star Andre Agassi

1970 – Golden Globe-winning actress Uma Thurman (“Pulp Fiction,” “Gattaca,” “Kill Bill”)

History Highlights

1854 – Originally established as The Ashmun Institute, Lincoln University receives its charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, becoming the first degree-granting college in the U.S. founded solely for African-American students.

1945 – U.S. military forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany. More than 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945, and more than 28,000 died in the camp and its sub-camps.

1974 – President Richard Nixon announces that he will release edited transcripts of taped White House conversations in response to a subpoena in the Watergate scandal. The House Judiciary committee insists that he also turn over the tapes.

1986 – Pitching for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Roger Clemens sets a Major League Baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.

1992 – Riots erupt across Los Angeles after four LAPD officers are acquitted in the beating of unarmed African American motorist Rodney King. Protesters in south-central L.A. block freeway traffic, wreck and loot shops and set more than 100 fires. The rioting continues for five days and sparks a national conversation about racial and economic disparities and police brutality — a debate still raging today.

2004 – The National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million people who served as part of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 400,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

2004 – General Motors’ last Oldsmobile rolls off a Lansing, Michigan assembly line, marking the end of America’s oldest automotive brand. The final model is an Alero GLS sedan, which factory workers signed under the hood.

2011 – Great Britain’s Prince William marries his longtime girlfriend, Catherine “Kate” Middleton, at Westminster Abbey in London. An estimated two billion people around the world watch the ceremony on television.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy maintain their hold on No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.” The duet remains a chart-topper for four weeks.

1969 – On his 70th birthday, jazz legend Duke Ellington receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon in the East Room of the White House. Nixon concludes the presentation by playing the piano and singing.

1970 – George Harrison tells reporters that The Beatles will reunite eventually and announces plans for his first post-Beatles solo album.

1976 – Bruce Springsteen wraps up a concert performance in Memphis as part of his “Born to Run” tour and he and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt decide to pay their idol, Elvis Presley, a visit at his Graceland estate. Security guards escort Springsteen off the grounds after he jumps the gate and runs toward the front door. The King was not home at the time.

1978 – Topping the singles chart for the seventh consecutive week: The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

1989 – Madonna has the No. 1 single with “Like a Prayer,” from her album of the same name.

1993 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Barry White appears in the “Whacking Day” episode of the animated series “The Simpsons.” As White sings, Bart and Lisa place loudspeakers on the ground to lure snakes away from Springfield residents trying to kill them as part of Whacking Day tradition.

1995 – “This Is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan, is in the midst of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, is in the middle of a 10-week domination of the singles chart.

2006 – Daniel Powter owns the top spot on the pop chart with “Bad Day.”

On This Day March 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1746 – Artist Francisco Goya (d. 1828)

1853 – Artist Vincent Van Gogh (d. 1890)

1926 – TV game show host Peter Marshall

1930 – Actor John Astin, best known as Gomez Addams in the hit TV series “The Addams Family”

1937 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor-director Warren Beatty (“Splendor in the Grass,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Shampoo,” “Reds,” “Bulworth,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

1945 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Eric Clapton, born former member of the bands the Yardbirds, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Derek and the Dominos and Cream, and considered one of the world’s greatest guitarists and the only musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 3 times.

1957 – Comedian-actor Paul Reiser (“Diner,” “Aliens,” “Mad About You”)

1962 – Grammy-winning rap icon and actor M.C. Hammer, born Stanley Kirk Burrell (“U Can’t Touch This,” “2 Legit 2 Quit”)

1964 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman (“Fast Car,” “Talkin’ Bout A Revolution”)

1968 – Grammy-winning singer Celine Dion, best known for “My Heart Will Go On,” from the blockbuster 1997 movie “Titanic”

1979 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and pianist Norah Jones (“Don’t Know Why,” “Sunrise,” “Here We Go Again”)

History Highlights

1814 – European forces allied against Napoleonic France march triumphantly into Paris, formally ending a decade of French domination on the continent.

1842 – Anesthesia is used for the first time in an operation by Dr. Crawford Long.

1858 – The first wooden pencil featuring a built-in rubber eraser on top is patented by Philadelphia inventor Hymen Lipman, who later sells his patent for $100,000 (about $2 million in today’s market). In 1875, The Supreme Court invalidates the patent, ruling that because the pencil combined two existing devices, it was not a legitimate invention. Nevertheless, this is observed as National Pencil Day.

1867 – U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward signs a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska for $7.2 million. Despite the bargain price of roughly two cents an acre, the Alaskan purchase is ridiculed in Congress and in the press as “Seward’s Folly.”

1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C. hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., who claims he was seeking to gain the attention of actress Jodie Foster. Hinckley is found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric hospital until 2016, when he is allowed to live with his mother in her Virginia home. Reagan is released from the hospital less than two weeks after the attempted assassination.

2009 – President Barack Obama issues an ultimatum to struggling American automakers General Motors (GM) and Chrysler: In order to receive additional bailout loans from the government, he says, the companies need to dramatically change the way they run their businesses.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Buddy Knox becomes the first artist in the Rock ‘n’ Roll era to write his own No. 1 hit when “Party Doll” tops the Billboard singles chart. Knox goes on to score four more Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1961.

1963 – “He’s So Fine,” by The Chiffons, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks.

1963 – Seventeen-year-old Lesley Gore records her breakthrough hit, “It’s My Party.” The song, produced by Quincy Jones, reaches No. 1 that June.

1967 – The Beatles pose in costume for the “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” cover photo shoot. Designed by British pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth, the cover goes on to win a Grammy Award.

1974 – John Denver’s “Sunshine on My Shoulders” reaches the top of the Billboard pop chart.

1985 – “One More Night,” by Phil Collins, begins two weeks on top of the singles chart. It is Collins’ second U.S. chart-topper. The first was “Against All Odds” in 1984.

1991 – Gloria Estefan begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Coming Out of the Dark.”

2002 – “Ain’t It Funny,” by Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule, is mid-way through a six-week domination of the singles chart.

On This Day February 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1809 – Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president (d. 1865)

1809 – Scientist Charles Darwin, who laid the foundations for the theory of evolution in his book, “The Origin of Species” (d. 1882)

1915 – Radio announcer-turned-actor and singer Lorne Greene, best know as Ben Cartwright in the TV western “Bonanza,” and Commander Adama in the sci-fi TV series “Battlestar Galactica” (d. 1987)

1923 – Director-producer Franco Zeffirelli, known for his Shakespeare film adaptations, including “The Taming of the Shrew” and “Romeo and Juliet” (d. 2019)

1934 – Five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and 12-time All-Star Bill Russell, who led the Boston Celtics to 11 championships from 1957 to 1969

1938 – Best-selling author Judy Blume, known for her children’s books and young-adult novels, including “Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”

1952 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and former Doobies Brothers vocalist Michael McDonald

1956 – Actor, comedian and former talk show host Arsenio Hall

1968 – Actor Josh Brolin (“The Goonies,” “No Country For Old Men,” “W,” “Milk,” “Men in Black 3,” “Hail, Caesar!”, “Deadpool 2”, “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Once Upon A Deadpool”, “Avengers: Endgame”, )

1980 – Actress Christina Ricci (“The Addams Family,” “Casper,” “The Ice Storm,” “The Opposite of Sex,” “Sleepy Hollow,” “Monster,” “Pan Am”)

History Highlights

1909 – The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is founded. It is America’s oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization.

1976 – Oscar-nominated actor Sal Mineo (“Rebel Without a Cause,” “Giant,” “Exodus,” “The Longest Day”) is stabbed to death outside his West Hollywood apartment at the age of 37. It takes authorities more than two years to arrest Lionel Williams, who is convicted of the crime and sentenced to life in prison.

1986 – After spending eight years in Soviet prisons and labor camps, human rights activist Anatoly (Natan) Scharansky is released. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan brokered the amnesty deal at a summit meeting three months earlier.

1999 – The five-week impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton comes to an end, with the Senate voting to acquit Clinton on both articles of impeachment: perjury and obstruction of justice.

2002 – Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic goes on trial at The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of genocide and war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. The trial drags on for four years until Milosevic is found dead of a heart attack in his prison cell at the age of 64.

2008 – Struggling auto giant General Motors (GM) attempts to cut costs by offering buyouts to all 74,000 of its U.S. hourly employees represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.

2008 – Hollywood’s longest work stoppage since 1988 ends when members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) overwhelmingly vote to go back to work following a 100-day walkout. The strike crippled the production of countless TV shows and cost the California economy more than $2 billion. It also gave rise to more reality TV programming that required little or no scripting.

Musical Milestones

1955 – “Sincerely,” by the McGuire Sisters, tops the singles chart and stays there for 10 weeks.

1966 – Petula Clark marks her second and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Love.”

1972 – “Let’s Stay Together,” by Al Green, kicks off a week as the No. 1 single. In 2010, the Library of Congress adds it to the National Recording Registry, which collects recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

1977 – Barbra Streisand begins six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with the soundtrack to “A Star Is Born.” The track “Evergreen,” which becomes a No. 1 hit, garners a Best Original Song Oscar for Streisand and composer Paul Williams, as well as Grammys for Song of the Year and Female Pop Vocal Performance.

1983 – Men At Work’s “Down Under” climbs to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second time, marking its fourth and final week as a chart-topper. The track is among two No. 1 hits off the Aussie band’s “Business As Usual” album.

1994 – “The Power of Love” by Céline Dion begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

2012 – Adele wins all six Grammy Award categories for which she was nominated. The British singer captures Song of the Year for “Rolling In the Deep” and receives Grammys for Best Pop Solo Performance for “Someone Like You” and Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for “21.”

On This Day January 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1738 – Ethan Allen, future Revolutionary War hero and key founder of the Republic of Vermont (d. 1789)

1922 – Actor Telly Savalas, best known for playing a tough New York City detective in the TV series “Kojak” (d. 1994)

1924 – British comedian Benny Hill (d. 1992)

1938 – Legendary rock and roll disc jockey Wolfman Jack, born Robert Weston Smith (d. 1995)

1940 – Retired pro golf legend Jack Nicklaus, affectionately known as “The Golden Bear”

1941 – Grammy Award-winning operatic tenor Plácido Domingo, known as “King Of The Opera”

1941 – Folk singer-songwriter Richie Havens, who opened the famed Woodstock music festival in 1969 (d. 2013)

1942 – Pop-country crossover singer-songwriter Mac Davis, who wrote hits for Elvis Presley and Kenny Rogers and had his own No. 1 pop single in 1972 with “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me” (d. 2020)

1950 – Grammy-winning R&B singer Billy Ocean (“Caribbean Queen,” “Loverboy,” “Get Outta My Dreams; Get Into My Car”)

1956 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Geena Davis (“The Fly,” “Beetlejuice,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “Thelma and Louise,” “A League of Their Own,” “Commander in Chief”)

1963 – NBA Hall of Famer and former Houston Rockets star center Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon

1977 – Actor Jerry Trainor (“ER,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Drake & Josh,” “iCarly”)

History Highlights

1924 – Vladimir Lenin, the architect of the Bolshevik Revolution and the first leader of the Soviet Union, dies of a brain hemorrhage at the age of 54.

1954 – First Lady Mamie Eisenhower christens the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), during ceremonies at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Connecticut.

1970 – The Boeing 747 jumbo jet enters commercial service with a Pan Am flight from New York to London. However, the departure is delayed when one of the four engines of the original aircraft catches fire and a replacement 747 is brought in.

1976 – The supersonic Concorde passenger jet (SST) begins commercial duties with simultaneous flights from London to Bahrain, and Paris to Rio de Janeiro.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of Vietnam War draft evaders.

2009 – General Motors (GM) loses the title of world’s largest automaker to rival Toyota when it announces worldwide sales of 8.36 million cars and trucks in 2008, compared to Toyota’s 8.97 million vehicle sales that same year. It marks the first time in nearly 80 years that GM did not sell the most cars in the world.

2017 – On the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency, hundreds of thousands of people crowd into the U.S. capital for the Women’s March on Washington.

Musical Milestones

1968 – Jimi Hendrix records his version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” at Olympic Studios in London. The track eventually peaks at No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1978 – The “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack starts a 24-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. This disco “anthem,” from the movie starring John Travolta, goes on to sell more than 45 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

1984 – “Owner of a Lonely Heart” by Yes kicks off two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1989 – “Two Hearts” by Phil Collins is the No. 1 single.

1995 – Boyz II Men begin their sixth and final week as chart-toppers with “On Bended Knee.”

2002 – Singer-songwriter and actress Peggy Lee, best known for her 1958 smash, “Fever,” suffers a fatal heart attack at her Bel Air home at the age of 81.

2012 – Adele holds on to the top of the Billboard album chart with her second studio album, “21,” which yields five hit singles, including “Rolling in the Deep,” “Rumour Has It” and “Set Fire to the Rain.” The work ultimately racks up 24 weeks at No. 1 and wins Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

On This Day January 17

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Celebrity Birthdays

1706 – U.S. Founding Father, statesman, publisher and inventor Benjamin Franklin (d. 1790)

1899 – American gangster Al Capone (d. 1947)

1922 – Actress-comedian Betty White, whose eight decades in show business included memorable roles in TV’s “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Golden Girls,” “Hot in Cleveland” and “Saturday Night Live”) (d. 2021)

1927 – Singer-actress Eartha Kitt, best known for her rendition of “Santa Baby” and for playing Catwoman in the 60’s “Batman” TV series (d. 2007)

1931 – Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony-winning actor James Earl Jones, whose many performances include providing the voice of Darth Vader in the “Star Wars” movie series and Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King”

1942 – Former World Heavyweight Boxing champion Muhammad Ali (d. 2016)

1957 – Comedian and “Family Feud” host Steve Harvey

1962 – Golden Globe-winning actor-comedian Jim Carrey (“Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “Dumb and Dumber,” “The Mask,” “Batman Forever,” “Liar Liar,” “The Truman Show,” “Man on the Moon,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”)

1964 – Former First Lady Michelle Obama

1971 – Rapper and singer-songwriter Kid Rock, born Robert James Ritchie

1980 – Actress-singer Zooey Deschanel (“All the Real Girls,” “Elf,” “The Happening,” “(500) Days of Summer,” “New Girl”)

History Highlights

1916 – Golf great Walter Hagen and some 30 other pro golfers meet in New York City and form the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).

1950 – Eleven Boston bandits stage what comes to be called the “crime of the century,” the “perfect crime” and the “fabulous Brink’s robbery.” The group steals more than $2 million ($29 million today) from the Brink’s Armored Car depot in Boston. Six years later, the suspects are finally arrested — just days before the statute of limitations for the heist was to expire.

1953 – General Motors (GM) unveils a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car (code-named EX-122) at the Motorama auto show in New York City. Named for a fast type of naval warship, Corvette would eventually become an iconic American muscle car that is still in production today.

1955 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN 571), sets out to sea. Over the next several years, the vessel shatters all submerged speed and distance records.

1961 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers his farewell address to the nation and warns against the accumulation of power by “the military-industrial complex.”

1994 – A powerful earthquake rocks Los Angeles, leaving 57 people dead and causing billions of dollars in damage. The Northridge Quake, as it’s known, remains one of the most destructive in U.S. history.

Musical Milestones

1969 – Led Zeppelin’s self-titled debut album, featuring a stylized photo of the exploding Hindenburg airship on the cover, is released to a lackluster reception. The album, which includes the tracks “Good Times Bad Times” and “Dazed and Confused,” eventually climbs to No. 10 and helps shape the evolution of hard rock and heavy metal.

1970 – The Doors play the first of four shows at the Felt Forum in New York City. The performances are recorded for an eventual live compilation album.

1976 – Barry Manilow’s “I Write the Songs” reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and goes on to win a Grammy for Song of the Year. Ironically, Manilow did not write this song. It was penned by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys.

1987 – “Shake You Down,” by Gregory Abbott, is the No. 1 single.

1990 – The Four Seasons, The Platters, The Four Tops, Hank Ballard, Bobby Darin, Simon & Garfunkel, The Kinks, and The Who are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the fifth annual awards presentation in New York.

1998 – The Australian pop duo Savage Garden kicks off two weeks as Billboard chart-toppers with “Truly Madly Deeply.”

2004 – OutKast is in the middle of a nine-week domination of the pop chart with “Hey Ya!”

On This Day January 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1800 – 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore (d. 1874)

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins (“Danny’s Song,” “This is It,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose”)

1956 – Golden Globe-winning actor David Caruso (“Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue,” “CSI: Miami”)

1957 – TV journalist and former “Today” show co-host and “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric

1964 – Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage (“Raising Arizona,” “Moonstruck,” “Wild at Heart,” “The Rock,” “Face/Off,” “City of Angels,” “Adaptation,” “National Treasure,” “Ghost Rider”, “The Croods”, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse”)

1971 – Actor Jeremy Renner (“Dahmer,” “North Country,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Town,” “Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” “The Avengers,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “American Hustle,” “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

History Highlights

1789 – America’s first presidential election is held and George Washington emerges as the winner. The Virginia landowner who led the patriotic forces in the war against the British is sworn in to office about three months later.

1927 – The first official transatlantic telephone call is made when Walter Gifford, president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (known today as AT&T), calls Sir Evelyn Murray, secretary of the General Post Office of Great Britain. Speaking into a phone on his desk in New York, Gifford’s first words are, “How’s the weather over in London? “

1953 – During his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Harry Truman discusses U.S. development of the hydrogen bomb.

1985 – General Motors (GM) launches Saturn Corporation as a wholly owned independent subsidiary in response to growing Japanese automobile imports in the U.S. The company markets itself as a “different kind of car company.”

1999 – The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, formally charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice, begins in the U.S. Senate.

Musical Milestones

1956 – “Memories Are Made of This” puts Dean Martin on top of Billboard’s Most Played by [Disc] Jockeys chart (precursor to the Hot 100) for six weeks. The track becomes a Gold record and “Dino’s” biggest hit as well as his only No. 1 recording in the U.K.

1967 – The Monkees maintain their grip on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “I’m A Believer,” which holds at No. 1 for a total of seven weeks.

1978 – The Bee Gees mark their third and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “How Deep is Your Love.”

1986 – Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me,” from the movie “White Nights,” starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – Pop sensation Debbie Gibson makes her Broadway debut playing Eponine in “Les Misérables.”

1995 – “On Bended Knee,” by Boyz II Men, is in the middle of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2006 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week on top of the pop chart with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2012 – “Sexy and I Know It,” by LMFAO, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. LMFAO consists of Stephen Gordy (a.k.a. Redfoo) and Skyler Gordy (a.k.a. Sky Blu) — son and grandson of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

On This Day January 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1643 – Scientist Sir Isaac Newton, credited with developing the principles of modern physics (d. 1727)

1809 – Scientist Louis Braille, who created a touch-based reading system for the blind (d. 1852)

1930 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Retired Miami Dolphins coach and Don Shula

1937 – Actress Dyan Cannon (“Honeysuckle Rose,” “Deathtrap,” “That Darn Cat,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “The Practice,” “Ally McBeal”)

1957 – Grammy-winning country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member Patty Loveless (“Timber I’m Falling in Love,” “Chains,” “You Can Feel Better”)

1960 -Rock singer-songwriter and former R.E.M. front man Michael Stipe (“Orange Crush,” “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actress Julia Ormond (“Legends of the Fall,” “First Knight,” “Sabrina,” “The Barber of Siberia,” “Temple Grandin,” “My Week With Marilyn”)

History Highlights

1958 – Sputnik 1, the Soviet satellite responsible for triggering the Space Race between the superpowers, burns up while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after three months in orbit.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson uses his State of the Union address to outline ambitious plans for a “Great Society,” which include knocking down racial barriers and freeing Americans from what he calls the “crushing weight of poverty.”

1974 – President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1995 – The 104th Congress becomes the first held entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era some 40 years earlier.

1996 – General Motors (GM) takes the wraps off a prototype of its EV1 electric car, which the automaker only makes available in Arizona and California — and exclusively for lease — as GM considered the development of electric vehicle technology to be ongoing.

1999 – Europe is united with a common currency when the euro is introduced as a financial unit in corporate and investment markets. Eleven European Union (EU) nations adopt the currency in hopes of increasing European integration and economic growth.

2007 – Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the U.S. House.

Musical Milestones

1936 – Billboard magazine publishes its first list of best-selling pop records covering the week that ended December 30, 1935. Big band violinist Joe Venuti and his Orchestra have the first No. 1 with “Stop Look and Listen.”

1964 – Bobby Vinton begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “There! I’ve Said It Again.”

1975 – Elton John rules the U.S. pop chart with his version of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

1986 – Lionel Richie is mid-way through a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Say You, Say Me,” from his “Dancing on the Ceiling” album.

1997 – Toni Braxton has the first No. 1 single of 1997 with “Un-Break My Heart,” which remains a Billboard chart-topper for 11 weeks. The song goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem, maintains its grip on the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from the movie “8 Mile,” in which Eminem stars.

On This Day December 30

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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”)

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 Society 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.

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.