Halloween – Time Rewind

On This Day April 25

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On This Day October 31

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Celebrity Birthdays

1451 – Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus, who discovered the “New World” of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492. (d. 1506)

1860 – Juliette Gordon Low (a.k.a. “Daisy”), who founded the Girl Scouts of the USA in 1912 (d. 1927)

1912 – Actress-singer Dale Evans (married to Roy Rogers) (d. 2001)

1931 – TV journalist and longtime “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather

1936 – Actor-director Michael Landon, best known for his roles in “Bonanza” and “Little House on the Prairie.” (d. 1991)

1939 – Actor Ron Rifkin (“L.A. Confidential,” “The Negotiator,” “Boiler Room,” “Keeping the Faith,” “The Majestic,” “Dragonfly,” “Alias,” “Brothers & Sisters”)

1942 – Actor-director David Ogden Stiers (played Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III on TV’s “M*A*S*H”) (d. 2018)

1950 – Emmy-winning comedic actor John Candy (“Splash,” “Uncle Buck,” “Home Alone,” “Cool Runnings”) (d. 1994)

1951 – U2 drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.

1961 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning director-producer-writer Peter Jackson, best known for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” trilogies

1963 – Comedian-actor Rob Schneider (“Saturday Night Live,” “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo,” “The Hot Chick,” “The Benchwarmers,” “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan,” “Grown Ups”)

History Highlights

1926 – Celebrated magician, escape artist and actor Harry Houdini, born Erich Weisz, dies of peritonitis from a ruptured appendix at the age of 52. Despite his extraordinary skills as an illusionist, Houdini could not escape mortality.

1951 – Once known as All Hallows Eve, Halloween settles into American popular culture as trick-or-treating becomes an annual custom. As of 2019, Americans are spending an estimated $8 billion a year on Halloween decorations, costumes, makeup and candy, making it the nation’s second-largest commercial holiday.

1963 – An explosion rocks the Indiana State Fair Coliseum in Indianapolis during a skating exhibition, leaving 74 people dead and nearly 400 injured. Investigators blame a propane leak.

1968 – President Lyndon Johnson announces that he has ordered the complete cessation of “all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam” as a result of progress in the Paris peace talks.

1984 – Two of her own bodyguards assassinate Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, sparking riots across the capital city of New Delhi.

1993 – Actor River Phoenix (“Explorers,” “Stand By Me,” “Running on Empty”) is just 23 when he dies of a drug overdose outside a Hollywood nightclub. In addition to his acting career, Phoenix was a pioneer of the vegan movement and an ardent environmentalist.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Barbra Streisand’s “People” is the No. 1 album and later clinches Grammy Awards for Best Vocal Performance and Best Album Cover. The title track, from the 1964 Broadway musical “Funny Girl,” ranks among Streisand’s biggest hits of all time.

1964 – The Supremes reign over the singles chart with “Baby Love,” which holds the top spot for four weeks. It’s the second of five Supremes songs in a row to reach No. 1.

1970 – The Jackson 5 are midway through a five-week conquest of the pop chart with “I’ll Be There.”

1981 – “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” by Christopher Cross, marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1987 – King of Pop, Michael Jackson, does good with “Bad,” which marks its second week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1989 – MTV’s first “Unplugged” show is recorded in New York, featuring the British band Squeeze. The program, which becomes a 90s phenom, spotlights popular artists performing acoustic (“unplugged”) versions of their songs. This debut episode airs on November 26, 1989.

On This Day October 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Actor Bela Lugosi, who played Count Dracula and starred in other early black and white horror films (d. 1956)

1927 – Psychologist-advice columnist Dr. Joyce Brothers (d. 2013)

1935 – Actor Jerry Orbach (“Dirty Dancing,” “Law & Order,” “Beauty and the Beast”) (d. 2004)

1950 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame (“Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Director and screenwriter Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting,” “28 Days Later,” “Steve Jobs”)

1958 – Actor Viggo Mortensen (“Witness,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “28 Days,” “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises”)

1971 – Legendary rapper, producer and actor Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (“What’s My Name?” “Gin & Juice”)

1979 – Actor-director John Krasinski (“The Office,” “Away We Go,” “Leatherheads,” “License to Wed,” “Big Miracle,” “Something Borrowed,” “It’s Complicated,” “Promised Land,” “Aloha,” “A Quiet Place”)

History Highlights

1947 – In what comes to be known as the “Red Scare,” the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) opens hearings in Washington designed to expose communists in Hollywood. Many screenwriters, actors and directors are arrested and blacklisted by studio executives. Some would never work in Hollywood again.

1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis five years after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.

1973 – As part of the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to dismiss Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

1973 – Queen Elizabeth II travels to Australia to dedicate the Sydney Opera House.

1973 – “The Six Million Dollar Man” premieres on TV, starring Lee Majors as astronaut Steve Austin, who was “rebuilt” with bionic arms, legs and an eye after an accident that nearly killed him.

1994 – Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster (“Elmer Gantry,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Airport,” “Atlantic City,” “Field of Dreams”) dies at the age of 80.

Musical Milestones

1958 – “It’s All in the Game,” by Tommy Edwards, is in the No. 1 single and goes on to become a million-seller. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled “Melody in A Major,” written by Charles Dawes, who was Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by an American VP or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Dawes was both).

1962 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers kick off two weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Monster Mash,” still considered a staple of Halloween party playlists today.

1977 – A twin-engine plane carrying southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird”) crashes in a Mississippi swamp, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, a tour manager and both pilots.

1979 – “In Through the Out Door,” Led Zeppelin’s eighth and final studio album, is in the middle of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1983 – Country singer-songwriter Merle Travis, considered one of the most influential American guitarists of the 20th century, dies of a heart attack at the age of 65.

1984 – Stevie Wonder sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

1990 – “I Don’t Have the Heart,” by James Ingram, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – Amy Winehouse releases her debut album, “Frank,” named after her idol, legendary crooner Frank Sinatra.