Lincoln Memorial – Time Rewind

On This Day October 21

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On this Day August 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1943 – Actor-singer David Soul, born David Richard Solberg, best remembered for his role as Detective Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson in the 1970s TV series “Starsky & Hutch” (d. 2024)

1957 – Actor Daniel Stern (“Diner,” “City Slickers,” “Home Alone,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “The Wonder Years”)

1958 – U.S. Olympic Gold Medal figure skater and TV commentator Scott Hamilton

1962 – Golden Globe-winning director David Fincher (“Alien 3,” “Seven,” “Fight Club,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Social Network,” “Mindhunter”)

1965 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Shania Twain (“You’re Still the One,” “From This Moment On,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”, “I’m Gonna Getcha Good!”, “Forever and for Always”)

1969 – Actor Jason Priestley (“Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Call Me Fitz”)

1969 – Actor-comedian-musician Jack Black (“Shallow Hal,” “High Fidelity,” “School of Rock,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Kung Fu Panda” movies, “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Goosebumps”)

1982 – Grammy-winning country singer LeAnn Rimes, who covered the single “Blue” at the age of 13 and became the youngest country star since Tanya Tucker in 1972

1986 – Singer Florence Welch, lead singer of the indie rock band Florence and the Machine (“Kiss with a Fist,” “Shake It Out”)

History Highlights

1955 – While visiting relatives in Mississippi, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy from Chicago, is abducted, tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman four days earlier. Till’s devastated mother insisted on a public, open-casket funeral for her son to shed light on the violence inflicted on Black people in the South. The killers were acquitted, but Till’s death galvanized civil rights activists nationwide.

1963 – More than a quarter of a million people participate in the March on Washington, a peaceful civil rights rally which culminates with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivering his famous “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

1968 – Riots erupt in the streets of Chicago during the Democratic National Convention as Vietnam War protesters clash with police.

1981 – Oscar-winning director John Huston, known for such cinematic classics as “The Maltese Falcon,” “Key Largo,” “The African Queen,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Misfits,” dies of pneumonia at age 81.

1981 – The Centers for Disease Control announces a high incidence of pneumocystis and Kaposi’s sarcoma in gay men, soon to be recognized as symptoms of AIDS.

1988 – An air show involving military jets at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany turns tragic when three jets collide in mid-air and fall into the crowd. Seventy spectators are killed and hundreds others are injured.

1996 – Four years after their separation, Prince Charles and Princess Diana formally divorce.

Musical Milestones

1961 – The Marvelettes release their first single, “Please Mr. Postman,” which sells over a million copies and becomes the group’s biggest hit. It reaches the top of both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B survey, becoming Motown’s first chart-topper.

1961 – Joe Dowell rockets to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with his cover of “Wooden Heart,” originally performed by Elvis Presley a year earlier in the movie “G.I. Blues.” Presley’s version reached No. 1 in the U.K.

1965 – Bob Dylan kicks off a 40-date North American tour with a performance at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York. For the second time that year, he angers folk music purists when he performs the latter half of his show with an electric guitar.

1971 – The Bee Gees enjoy their fourth and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.”

1982 – “Eye of the Tiger,” by Survivor, roars into its sixth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is the theme from the movie “Rocky III,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

1986 – Grammy-winning “Queen of Rock ‘n Roll” Tina Turner is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1993 – Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams” begins three weeks atop the Billboard album chart. The album features cover artwork painted by Joel’s then-wife, Christie Brinkley.

1999 – Christina Aguilera wraps up a five-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Genie in a Bottle.”

2004 – Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe and Remy lays claim to the top spot on the singles chart with “Lean Back.”

On this Day May 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1908 Actor Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, Wile E. Coyote, Barney Rubble and many other beloved cartoon characters (d. 1989)

1909 – Jazz-swing bandleader Benny Goodman (d. 1986)

1943 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers, also known as “The Kansas Comet”

1951 – Actor Stephen Tobolowsky, best remembered for his role as Ned Ryerson in the movie “Groundhog Day”

1953 – Actor Colm Meaney, best known for playing Miles O’Brien in the TV series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

1964 – Country music singer Wynonna Judd (“She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light,” “No One Else on Earth,” “Only Love,” “To Be Loved by You”)

1971 – Tony Award-winning actress-singer Idina Menzel (“Rent,” “Wicked,” If/Then”)

1974 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer CeeLo Green, born Thomas Callaway (“Forget You,” “Crazy”)

History Highlights

1431 – Joan of Arc, the peasant girl who became the savior of France, is burned at the stake for heresy.

1783 – The Pennsylvania Evening Post becomes the first daily newspaper published in the United States.

1911 – The Indianapolis 500 is run for the first time and the winner is Ray Harroun, travelling at an average speed of 74.6 miles per hour in his single-seater Marmon Wasp.

1922 – Supreme Court Chief Justice and former President William Howard Taft dedicates the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Memorial was designed to heal national divisions caused by the Civil War. Yet for many, Lincoln’s promise of freedom remained incomplete. Over the next half century, the looming figure of Abraham Lincoln witnessed a number of events and demonstrations that reinforced the memorial’s importance as a symbolic space for civil rights movements.

1927 – The Kentucky River peaks during a massive flood caused by torrential rains. The disaster kills 89 people and leaves thousands homeless.

1971 – The unmanned spacecraft Mariner 9 launches on a mission to gather scientific information from Mars. It circles the Red Planet twice each day for almost a year, photographing the surface and analyzing the atmosphere with infrared and ultraviolet instruments.

1990 – With the Soviet economy on the brink of collapse, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in Washington, D.C., for three days of talks with President George H. W. Bush. The summit centers on the issue of Germany and its place in a changing Europe.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Brenda Lee is just 15 years old when her first No. 1 single, “I’m Sorry,” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100. It spends three weeks on top of the chart that July.

1963 – Seventeen-year-old Lesley Gore of New Jersey appears on “American Bandstand” and belts out a tune that goes on to become a No. 1 hit for her: “It’s My Party.”

1964 – “Love Me Do” by The Beatles reaches the top of the singles chart, becoming the Fab Four’s fourth No. 1 in five months.

1970 – Ray Stevens dominates the singles chart with “Everything Is Beautiful.”

1987 – U2’s “With or Without You,” off their album “The Joshua Tree,” concludes three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – Hip hop duo Kris Kross dominate the Bilboard Hot 100 with “Jump.” The track, off the “Totally Krossed Out” album, holds at No. 1 for eight weeks, becoming the pair’s most successful song and the fastest-selling single in the U.S. in 15 years.

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas enter their seventh week on top of the pop chart with “Boom Boom Pow.” The track holds at No. 1 for 12 weeks and goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.