Iran Hostage Crisis – Time Rewind

On This Day April 24

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On This Day April 25

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Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Nobel Prize-winning radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937)

1908 – Pioneering broadcast journalist and longtime CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow (d. 1965)

1917 – Legendary Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Song” (d. 1996)

1932 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, born Meadow Lemon III (d. 2015)

1940 – Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor Al Pacino (“The Godfather” movie series, “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” ” …And Justice for All,” “Scarface,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “The Insider,” “Oceans Thrteen,” “Danny Collins,” “The Irishman,” “Hunters”)

1946 – Actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” films and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series

1964 – Emmy-winning actor-producer-comedian Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons,” “The Birdcage,” “Mystery Men,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “The Smurfs,” “Brockmire”)

1969 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Renée Zellweger (“Jerry McGuire,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Me Myself and Irene,” “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Cinderella Man”)

History Highlights

1901 – The first license plate is affixed to an automobile, as New York becomes the first state to require tags.

1945 – A milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe is achieved when U.S. and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting Nazi Germany in two.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs the nation that eight U.S. servicemen were killed in the collision of two military aircraft to be used to rescue 52 Americans held hostage in Iran. Those hostages are finally freed the following January, on the day Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president.

1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov personally invites American fifth-grader Samantha Smith of Maine to visit his country after reading her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. She makes the trip that summer and becomes an honorary ambassador for peace at a time when U.S.-Soviet relations were strained during the Cold War. Sadly, Smith dies in a plane crash two years later.

1990 – The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. Hubble — named after astronomer Edwin Hubble — continues to provide astronomers with an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe.

1995 – Oscar-winning entertainer Ginger Rogers, best known for her films with dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley signs a seven-year movie contract with Paramount Pictures.

1960 – Elvis Presley gets stuck on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks with “Stuck On You.” It’s his first hit single following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army.

1970 – The Jackson 5 give The Beatles’ “Let It Be” the boot and claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks with “ABC.”

1981 – Daryl Hall and John Oates begin their third and final week as chart-toppers with “Kiss On My List.”

1987 – U2 begin a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “The Joshua Tree,” which packs chart-topping tracks including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It goes on to capture Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival is auctioned off for a record $330,000. His two-hour set at the 1969 rock festival included a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

1992 – “Jump,” by hip hop duo Kris Kross, grabs the top spot on the singles chart and remains there for eight weeks.

1998 – Next has the No. 1 single with “Too Close.” The track remains on top of the pop chart for five weeks.

2007 – Leukemia claims the life of 69-year-old Bobby “Boris” Pickett, best known for his hit novelty song “Monster Mash,” which still gets radio airplay every Halloween.

On This Day January 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1896 – Oscar-winning comedian-actor-singer and writer George Burns, born Nathan Birnbaum (“The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” “The Sunshine Boys,” “Oh, God!”) (d. 1996)

1920 – Actor DeForest Kelley, who played Dr. “Bones” McCoy in the “Star Trek” TV and movie series (d. 1999)

1920 – Italian film director Federico Fellini (La strada,” “Le notti di Cabiria,” “8 1/2,” “Amarcord”) (d. 1993)

1930 – Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to set foot on the moon

1946 – Director David Lynch (“Eraserhead,” “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet,” “Twin Peaks,” “Wild at Heart,” “Lost Highway,” “Mulholland Drive”)

1952 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Stanley, born Stanley Bert Eisen, of the rock band Kiss

1966 – Actor Rainn Wilson, best known for his role as Dwight Schrute in the TV comedy, “The Office.”

History Highlights

1841 – During the First Opium War, China cedes the island of Hong Kong to the British with the signing of the Chuenpi Convention — an agreement seeking an end to the first Anglo-Chinese conflict.

1937 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as U.S. president for the second time. His first inauguration, in 1933, was held in March, but the 20th Amendment, passed later that year, made January 20 the official inauguration date for all future presidents.

1961 – President John F. Kennedy is sworn into office and delivers his inaugural address outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. The speech concludes with his now-famous line: “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

1980 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter calls for the 1980 Summer Olympics to be moved from the planned host city, Moscow, or canceled altogether if the Soviet Union fails to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan within a month.

1981 – Minutes after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as the 40th U.S. president, 52 American captives held at the American embassy in Teheran, Iran, are released, ending the 444-day Iran Hostage Crisis.

1984 – Hungarian-born Olympic gold medal swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan in the movies, dies at the age of 79.

1993 – Actress, fashion icon and philanthropist Audrey Hepburn (“Roman Holiday,” “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “My Fair Lady”) dies of colon cancer at the age of 63. Hepburn remains among just a handful of performers who have won Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards.

2009 – On a freezing day in Washington, D.C., Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president. The son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas, Obama was the first African-American to win election to the nation’s highest office.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The British Invasion is on as Capitol Records releases “Meet the Beatles!,” the band’s second album in the U.S.

1965 – American disc jockey Alan Freed is 43 years old when he dies from cirrhosis brought on by alcoholism. Freed, a 1986 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is credited with coining the term “rock ‘n’ roll.” His career was destroyed by the payola scandal that shook up the American broadcasting industry in the early 1960s.

1968 – “Judy in Disguise (with Glasses),” a parody of The Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” puts John Fred and his Playboy Band at No. 1 on the singles chart for two weeks.

1971 – “What’s Going On,” by Marvin Gaye, is released and introduces fans to a different, more personal side of the Motown star in this anthem about social injustice. The song spends five weeks on top of the Hot Soul Singles chart before crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100, where it climbs to No. 2.

1973 – Carly Simon begins her third and final week on top of the singles chart with “You’re So Vain.” After years of speculation, Simon eventually admits that the song refers to actor Warren Beatty.

1988 – Mick Jagger presides as The Beatles are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Paul McCartney decides not to attend, issuing a statement citing ongoing business differences among The Beatles.

1990 – Michael Bolton rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “How Am I Supposed to Live Without You.” The single holds the No. 1 spot for three weeks.

1996 – The Mariah Carey-Boyz II Men collaboration, “One Sweet Day,” is midway through a 16-week ride on top of the Billboard singles chart –the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

2007 – “Irreplaceable,” Beyoncé, is in its sixth week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track remains there for another four weeks and clinches a Record of the Year Grammy nomination.

On This Day November 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1943 – Actor and playwright Wallace Shawn (“The Princess Bride,” “Toy Story,” “The Incredibles”)

1945 – Legendary singer-songwriter-guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young (“Old Man,” “Harvest Moon,” “Heart of Gold”)

1961 – Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comaneci

1967 – Former World Heavyweight boxing champion Michael Moorer

1980 – Actor-musician Ryan Gosling (“The Notebook,” “Half Nelson,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Lost River,” The Big Short”)

1982 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Anne Hathaway (“The Princess Diaries,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “Becoming Jane,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Les Misérables,” “Interstellar,” “The Intern”)

History Highlights

1946 – America’s first drive-up teller window opens at the Exchange National Bank of Chicago. It features 10 bulletproof windows, with money and paperwork exchanged through sliding drawers.

1954 – Ellis Island, the gateway to America, shuts its doors after processing more than 12 million immigrants since its 1892 opening. About 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots through Ellis Island to relatives that sought a better life and the “American Dream.” Located in New York Harbor, Ellis Island reopens in 1990 as a museum and national park.

1965 – Brothers Bill and Bob Summers set a world land speed record (409.277 miles per hour) at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats in their hemi-powered hot rod, Goldenrod.

1979 – President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to oil imports from Iran after Americans are taken hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.

1982 – Yuri Andropov assumes leadership of the Soviet Union, succeeding Leonid Brezhnev, who died two days earlier.

Musical Milestones

1966 – “Poor Side of Town” puts Johnny Rivers on the rich side of the singles chart – the No. 1 spot.

1977 – Debby Boone dominates the Billboard Hot 100 with “You Light Up My Life,” which remains a No. 1 single for 10 weeks.

1980 – Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1983 – Lionel Richie starts a four-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “All Night Long (All Night).” The track also makes its way to the top of the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.

1988 – The Escape Club reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Wild, Wild West,” becoming the first British musical act with a No. 1 in the U.S. while never charting in the U.K.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, is in its 12th week as a No. 1 single. It holds the top spot for another two weeks.

2001 – The three living former Beatles meet for the last time at George Harrison’s New York City hotel for lunch. Harrison would die of cancer two weeks later at the age of 58.

On This Day November 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1879 – American cowboy-vaudeville performer-actor Will Rogers (d. 1935)

1916 – Legendary broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite, longtime anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” who was dubbed “the most trusted man in America” (d. 2009)

1918 – Oscar-winning actor-comedian Art Carney, best known as Ed Norton in the 1950s sitcom “The Honeymooners” (d. 2003)

1925 – Emmy-winning actress Doris Roberts (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) (d. 2016)

1937 – Actress Loretta Swit, best remembered for her role as “Hot Lips” Houlihan in the popular TV series “M*A*S*H”

1946 – Former First Lady Laura Bush

1960 – Emmy and Grammy-winning comedian Kathy Griffin

1961 – Actor Ralph Macchio (“Eight is Enough,” “The Karate Kid,” “My Cousin Vinny”)

1969 – Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey (“Dazed and Confused,” “Lone Star,” “Contact,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Interstellar,” “True Detective”)

1969 – Grammy-winning rapper-songwriter-producer Sean Combs, previously known as Puff Daddy, P. Diddy and, later, Diddy

History Highlights

1922 – British archaeologist Howard Carter and his crew discover the entrance to King Tutankhamen’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings.

1924 – Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected as the first female governor in the United States, winning a special election to succeed her husband, who died just a year and 10 months into his term. Ross remains the only woman ever to have served as a Wyoming governor.

1939 – America’s first air-conditioned car goes on display at the 40th National Automobile Show in Chicago. The mechanical refrigeration unit of the 1940 Packard 180 prototype automatically switched to heating in winter and therefore was not called an air conditioner, but rather a “Weather Conditioner.” It was a $279 option that Packard stopped offering after 1942.

1948 – The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to T.S. Eliot “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry.”

1952 – The National Security Agency (NSA) is established by order of President Harry Truman to coordinate communications intelligence work across the entire federal government.

1979 – An angry mob of young Islamic revolutionaries storms the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran and takes 90 Americans hostage. Two weeks later, about half are released. The remaining hostages are held captive for the next 14 months in what is known as the Iran Hostage Crisis.

1990 – “Dances With Wolves,” starring Kevin Costner as an American Civil War-era soldier who forms a bond with a tribe of Sioux Indians, premieres in Los Angeles. The movie, which also marks Costner’s directorial debut, goes on to capture seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and proves the Western genre is not dead.

1995 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated. The 73-year-old leader was walking to his car following a peace rally in Tel Aviv when he was shot by a 27-year-old Israeli extremist who is arrested at the scene of the shooting, and later confesses to the crime.

2008 – Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) defeats Senator John McCain (R- Arizona) to become the 44th U.S. president and the first African American elected to the White House.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Lulu is in the middle of a five-week domination of the pop chart with the theme song from the movie “To Sir, With Love,” starring Sidney Poitier.

1972 – “I Can See Clearly Now” puts Johnny Nash on top of the Billboard singles chart and keeps him there for four weeks.

1978 – Anne Murray’s “You Needed Me” becomes her first and only No. 1 single.

1989 – With “Sacrifice,” Elton John becomes only the third artist to score 50 chart singles in the U.K. The others were Elvis Presley and Cliff Richard. “Sacrifice” reaches No. 1 in the U.K. and France, but only climbs to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1989 – “Listen to Your Heart,” by the Swedish duo Roxette, grabs the top spot on the Billboard singles chart.

1995 – Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Carey makes her directorial debut with the accompanying music video.

2000 – Christina Aguilera wraps up four weeks as a chart-topper with “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You).”

2006 – “Money Maker,” by Ludacris featuring Pharrell, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.