Ludacris – Time Rewind

On This Day February 29

Click each item below to learn more!

On This Day April 17

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1837 – Financier J. P. Morgan (d. 1913)

1918 – Actor William Holden (“Stalag 17,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “Network”) (d. 1981)

1923 – Network television anchor-reporter Harry Reasoner (d. 1991)

1959 – Actor Sean Bean (“The Field,” “Patriot Games,” “Ronin,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “GoldenEye,” “National Treasure,” “Flightplan,” “The Island,” “The Martian”)

1972 – Golden Globe-winning actress Jennifer Garner (“Alias,” “13 Going on 30,” “Juno,” “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” “Miracles from Heaven,” “Daredevil,” “Love, Simon”)

1974 – Singer-actress and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, known as Posh Spice when she performed with The Spice Girls

1985 – Actress Rooney Mara (“The Social Network,” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” ” Side Effects,” “Carol”)

History Highlights

1961 – The Bay of Pigs Invasion sees 1,400 CIA-trained and financed Cuban exiles invade Cuba in a failed attempt to overthrow dictator Fidel Castro.

1964 – Jerrie Mock achieves what Amelia Earhart could not, becoming the first woman pilot to fly solo around the world. It takes her 29.5 days to achieve the historic feat. Later, Mock is honored with the Gold Medal Award from President Lyndon Johnson on behalf of what is now the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

1964 – The Ford Mustang is officially unveiled at the World’s Fair in New York. That same day, the the so-called “pony car” debuts in Ford showrooms across the U.S. with buyers immediately snapping up almost 22,000 vehicles. Price tag for the base model is $2,372, half the cost of a Corvette.

1964 – Shea Stadium opens as the new home of the New York Mets in Flushing Queens, just a short distance from the World’s Fair.

1969 – A jury convicts Sirhan Sirhan of first degree murder for the assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy a year earlier. Sirhan continues to serve a life sentence at a federal prison in California.

1970 – The Apollo 13 astronauts return safely to earth after an oxygen tank explosion robs them of a moon landing and nearly costs them their lives.

Musical Milestones

1965 – Freddie and the Dreamers wrap up two weeks as chart-toppers with “I’m Telling You Now.”

1970 – At the invitation of President Richard Nixon, country music legend Johnny Cash performs for an invited audience in the East Room of the White House. One of the first songs that Cash plays is a track that Nixon personally requested: “A Boy Named Sue.”

1971 – ”Joy to the World” launches Three Dog Night on a six-week ride atop the singles chart.

1973 – Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” which delivers classics like “Money” and “Us and Them,” begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, but remains on the chart for 15 years — the longest stretch of any rock album.

1982 – Vangelis rules the album chart with the soundtrack to “Chariots Of Fire,” for which he later wins a Best Original Score Oscar.

1998 – Linda McCartney dies at the age of 56 following a long battle with cancer. She was married to Paul McCartney for nearly 30 years, was a member of his band Wings, and was an accomplished photographer and animal rights advocate.

1999 – “No Scrubs” becomes TLC’s third No. 1 single and holds the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The track also garners the girl group a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year.

2004 – “Yeah,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, is in the middle of a 12-week domination of the single chart.

On This Day March 31

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (d. 1993)

1934 – Oscar-winning actress and singer Shirley Jones (“The Music Man,” “The Partridge Family”)

1935 – Grammy-winning trumpeter and the “A” in A&M Records, Herb Alpert

1943 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor and frequent “Saturday Night Live” host Christopher Walken (“Annie Hall,” “The Deer Hunter,” “Sarah, Plain and Tall,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Catch Me If You Can”)

1948 – Environmental activist and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore

1971 – Actor Ewan McGregor (“Trainspotting,” “Star Wars” prequel trilogy, “Moulin Rouge!” “Big Fish,” “Robots,” “The Island,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “T2 Trainspotting”,”Christopher Robin”,”Birds of Prey”)

History Highlights

1492 – Spain’s King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issue the Alhambra Decree, also known as the The Edict of Expulsion, mandating that all Jews be expelled from the country by the end of that July.

1889 – The iconic Eiffel Tower, built for the Paris International Exhibition, is formally dedicated. Engineer Gustave Eiffel, who designed the massive structure, presides at the ceremony with French Prime Minister Pierre Tirard, other dignitaries and 200 construction workers.

1959 – The Dalai Lama flees Chinese suppression in Tibet, and after an epic 15-day journey on foot over the Himalayan mountains, is granted political asylum in India.

1968 – During a national address to provide an update on the status of the Vietnam War, President Lyndon B. Johnson stuns Americans by announcing that he will not seek a second term in office.

1981 – Robert De Niro wins the Best Actor Oscar for his role in “Raging Bull,” in which he portrays former World Middleweight Champion Jake LaMotta. De Niro gained more than 60 pounds to portray LaMotta’s retirement years. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie also features performances by Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty.

1995 – Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, known as the “Mexican Madonna,” is shot and killed by Yolanda Saldívar, the president of her fan club. Selena was the first female Tejano artist to win a Grammy, in the Best Mexican-American album category, for her 1993 album “Selena Live!” At the time of her murder, at age 23, Selena was on the brink of international fame, recording her first English language album.

1999 – The sci-fi thriller “The Matrix,” starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne, opens in movie theaters and goes on to become a cult classic followed, in 2003, by sequels “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions.”

Musical Milestones

1943 – Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” premieres on Broadway. In 1955, the musical is produced as a motion picture starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones (in her film debut).

1958 – Chess Records releases “Johnny B. Goode,” by Chuck Berry. The song climbs as high as No. 8 on the pop chart and goes on to become a rock and roll classic.

1962 – Connie Francis claims the top spot on the pop chart for a week with “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You”

1967 – Jimi Hendrix suffers minor burns to his hands when he sets his guitar on fire during a performance at Finsbury Park in London. Nevertheless, he goes on to torch guitars several times during his short career.

1973 – Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song” returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a fifth week after The O’Jays interrupted her for a week with their hit, “Love Train.”

1979 – “Tragedy,” by the Bee Gees, dominates the singles chart for a second and final week.

1984 – Kenny Loggins kicks off a three-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Footloose,” from the movie of the same name.

1987 – Prince releases his ninth studio album, “Sign o’ the Times,” which spawns three Top 10 hit singles: “If I Was Your Girlfriend,” “U Got the Look,” (with Sheena Easton) and the title track.

2007 – “Glamorous,” by Fergie featuring Ludacris, enters its second and final week as the No. 1 single.

On This Day March 20

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Bandleader, actor and director Ozzie Nelson (“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”) (d. 1975)

1922 – Emmy and Grammy-winning actor-comedian-writer-director-producer Carl Reiner (“Your Show of Shows,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “2000 Year Old Man,” “The Jerk”) (d. 2020)

1928 – Fred Rogers, minister and host of the beloved PBS children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (d. 2003)

1931 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor-singer Hal Linden, born Harold Lipshitz, best known for his role as an NYPD police captain in the 1970s ABC sitcom “Barney Miller”

1950 – Oscar-winning actor William Hurt (“Altered States,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “Broadcast News,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “The Doctor,” “The Challenger Disaster,” “Captain America: Civil War”) (d. 2022)

1957 – Emmy and Peabody-winning director-producer and actor Spike Lee (“She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do The Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Malcolm X,” “Crooklyn,” “Clockers,” “Summer of Sam,” “The Original Kings of Comedy”, “BlacKkKlansman”)

1958 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Holly Hunter (“Raising Arizona,” “Broadcast News,” “Always,” “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” “The Piano,” “The Firm,” “The Incredibles,” “Saving Grace”)

History Highlights

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his “General Theory of Relativity.”

1953 – Two weeks after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev is among five men named by the Soviet government to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. Khrushchev eventually leads the Soviet Union through some of the tensest periods of Cold War relations with the U.S.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson places the Alabama National Guard under federal control to protect a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Governor George Wallace had assured Johnson that the National Guard would protect marchers. But Wallace, a segregationist, reneged and demanded that federal troops be sent instead.

1987 – A major medical breakthrough is achieved as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approves the anti-HIV/AIDS drug Zidovudine, better known as AZT.

1995 – A nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system by members of a religious cult kills 13 people and injures thousands of others. The incident sparks global worries about terrorist groups obtaining chemical weapons.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Elvis Presley is King of the Billboard pop chart with “Surrender.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks and is among six No. 1 hits Elvis enjoys that decade.

1964 – The Temptations release their debut album, “Meet the Temptations,” on the Gordy (Motown) label.

1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono tie the knot at the British Embassy in Gibraltar.

1971 – Five months after her death from a drug overdose, Janis Joplin dominates the singles chart for a second and final week with “Me and Bobby McGee,” off her “Pearl” album.

1982 – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts begin a seven-week run on top of the singles chart with “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”

1993 – The reggae-rap single “Informer,” by Snow, is in its second week at No. 1 on the pop chart. It remains there for another five weeks.

1999 – “Believe,” by Cher, is mid-way through a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, maintains its hold on the summit of the singles chart.

On This Day March 13

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Singer-songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka (“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” “Laughter in the Rain,” “Bad Blood”)

1941 – Singer-dancer-comedian Charo, born María del Rosario Mercedes Pilar Martínez Molina Baez, remembered for her catch phrase “cuchi-cuchi”

1950 – Emmy-winning actor William H. Macy (“ER,” “Fargo,” “Pleasantville,” “Boogie Nights,” “Shameless”)

1956 – Emmy-winning actress Dana Delany (“China Beach,” “Desperate Housewives”)

1960 – Grammy-winning U2 bassist Adam Clayton

1971 – Actress Annabeth Gish (“Mystic Pizza,” “Double Jeopardy,” “The West Wing,” “The X-Files”)

1972 – Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning rapper-actor Common, born Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr. (“Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop),” “Just Wright,” “The Odd Life of Timothy Green,” “Selma”)

History Highlights

1781 – Astronomer Sir William Herschel discovers the seventh planet from the sun, Uranus, named after the Greek god of the sky.

1933 – With the Great Depression raging, U.S. banks begin to re-open on this day after President Franklin D. Roosevelt had mandated a “bank holiday.”

1942 – The federal government authorizes the use of dogs in America’s war effort. Originally known as “Dogs for Defense” (DFD), the War Dog Program, or “K-9 (Canine) Corps,” initially allows the U.S. Army to work with 30 breeds of dogs, but later narrows it to seven. Dogs are also trained to serve the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard.

1969 – Walt Disney Productions releases “The Love Bug,” a comedy starring Dean Jones, Michele Lee, Buddy Hackett and Herbie — a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own.

2005 – Walt Disney Company announces that Robert Iger, Disney’s president and chief operating officer, will succeed Michael Eisner as the company’s chief executive officer. The move ends Eisner’s storied and tumultuous two-decade reign at Disney.

Musical Milestones

1965 – “Eight Days a Week,” by The Beatles, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the final of seven songs by the Fab Four to be No. 1 in the U.S. in a one-year period, an all-time record.

1976 – The Four Seasons are Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night).”

1982 – The J. Geils Band kicks off its sixth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Centerfold.”

1999 – “Believe” is Cher’s first No. 1 hit since 1974’s “Dark Lady.” The song tops the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and becomes the biggest-selling single in the U.S. for 1999. The recording is one of the first to use an Auto-Tune processor to alter vocal pitch, a technique now commonplace in pop music.

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, is in the middle of a 12-week domination of the singles chart.

2010 – “Imma Bee,” by The Black Eyed Peas, enters its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

On This Day March 6

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1475 – Michelangelo, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists

1906 – Actor-comedian Lou Costello of the comedic duo, Abbott & Costello (d. 1959)

1923 – TV host Ed McMahon (“The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “Star Search”) (d. 2009)

1926 – Economist and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan

1927 – Astronaut Gordon Cooper, who piloted the sixth and last flight of NASA’s Mercury program and later commanded Gemini 5 (d. 2004)

1946 – Guitarist-vocalist David Gilmour of the rock band Pink Floyd

1947 – Director-producer-actor Rob Reiner, who garnered Emmys playing Michael ‘Meathead’ Stivic in the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family,” and directed box office bonanzas including”Stand By Me,” “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men”

1959 – Actor-comedian Tom Arnold (“True Lies,” “Nine Months,” “The Stupids,” “McHale’s Navy,” “The Best Damn Sports Show Period”)

1972 – Retired NBA star and actor-rapper Shaquille “Shaq” O’Neal

History Highlights

1836 – The Battle of the Alamo comes to a bloody end, capping off a pivotal moment in the Texas Revolution. Mexican forces successfully recapture the garrison after a 13-day siege, and nearly all of the roughly 200 Alamo defenders — including legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett — are killed.

1899 – Acetylsalicylic acid, better known as aspirin, is trademarked by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer. Designed to relieve pain and fever, it becomes the most common drug found in household medicine cabinets.

1930 – Industrialist and inventor Clarence Birdseye brings the food industry into the modern era as he introduces consumers to pre-packaged, frozen foods — still available in supermarkets today.

1933 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a national “bank holiday,” closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions in an effort to salvage the faltering banking system during the Great Depression. The banks reopen a week later with depositors standing in lines to return their hoarded cash.

1981 – An estimated 17 million American viewers watch as anchor Walter Cronkite says, “And that’s the way it is” for the final time as he signs off the “CBS Evening News.” Considered “the most trusted man in America,” Cronkite retires after more than 30 years in broadcasting and is succeeded by Dan Rather.

1986 – Georgia O’Keeffe, the artist who gained worldwide fame for her austere minimalist paintings of the American southwest, dies in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of 98.

Musical Milestones

1965 – The Temptations claim the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Girl,” the first of four chart-toppers the Motown legends produced during their career.

1971 – “One Bad Apple” by The Osmonds is midway through a five-week ride on top of the singles chart.

1976 – “Love Machine (Part 1),” by The Miracles (without Smokey Robinson), is the No. 1 single.

1982 – The J. Geils Band is in the middle of a six-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Centerfold.”

1988 – George Michael wraps up a two-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Father Figure,” from his Grammy-winning debut solo album, “Faith.”

1993 – The Peabo Bryson-Regina Belle duet, “A Whole New World,” tops the singles chart. The song, written by Alan Menken and Tim Rice, comes from Disney’s 1992 animated feature, “Aladdin.”

1999 – “Angel of Mine,” by Monica begins its fourth and final week on top of the pop chart.

2004 – “Yeah!”, by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, rules the Billboard Hot 100 and holds the top spot for 12 weeks, becoming the longest-running No. 1 single of 2004.

On This Day December 25

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1821 – Clara Barton, Civil War volunteer nurse who founded the American Red Cross (d. 1912)

1899 – Legendary Oscar-winning actor Humphrey Bogart (“Casablanca,” “Maltese Falcon,” “The African Queen,” “Key Largo”) (d. 1957)

1924 – Emmy-winning “The Twilight Zone” creator-writer Rod Serling (d. 1975)

1946 – Singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett (“Margaritaville,” “Cheeseburger in Paradise”) (d. 2023)

1948 – Grammy-winning country music singer Barbara Mandrell (“Sleeping Single in a Double Bed,” “Years”)

1949 – Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek (“Carrie,” “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “In the Bedroom,” “The Help”)

1952 – Actress CCH Pounder (“Hill Street Blues,” “ER,” “The Practice,” “Law & Order: SVU,”, “Millennium,” “The West Wing,” “The Shield”)

1954 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Annie Lennox, formerly of the 1980s new wave band Eurythmics

History Highlights

1776 – General George Washington and 2,400 of his Continental Army troops cross the icy waters of the Delaware River for a surprise attack against Hessian forces at Trenton, New Jersey.

1914 – Gunfire is replaced with the sounds of Christmas carols as German troops serving in World War I lay down their weapons and break into song on Christmas morning. Russian, French and British troops do the same and even shake hands and exchange cigarettes with enemy soldiers along the eastern and western fronts during the Christmas Truce of 1914.

1962 – “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a film based on the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee, opens in theaters, starring Gregory Peck, who wins a Best Actor Oscar for his performance as attorney Atticus Finch.

1973 – “The Sting,” starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as a pair of 1930s grifters, premieres.

1977 – British director, producer and comedic actor Charlie Chaplin, an icon of the silent film era, dies at the age of 88.

1989 – Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, are executed following a popular uprising.

1989 – Former New York Yankees manager Billy Martin dies in a traffic accident at the age of 61.

1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as president of the Soviet Union just days after 11 of the former Soviet republics establish the Commonwealth of Independent States.

1996 – Six-year-old JonBenét Ramsey is killed in her Boulder, Colorado, home. Her parents call police the following morning to report their daughter missing and discover a ransom note demanding $118,000. The girl’s body is found in the basement that afternoon. The crime becomes a national sensation that remains unsolved today.

Musical Milestones

1941 – Bing Crosby performs the Irving Berlin holiday classic “White Christmas” for the first time on his weekly NBC Radio show “The Kraft Music Hall.” Crosby later performs it in the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn.” It remains the largest-selling single in music history until surpassed by Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind 1997.”

1961 – The Brooklyn-based doo-wop group The Tokens rule the singles chart with “The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wimoweh)” — originally written and recorded as “Mbube” in 1939 by Zulu artist Solomon Linda.

1965 – The Dave Clark Five have the No. 1 single with “Over and Over.”

1976 – Rod Stewart claims the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh straight week with “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright).”

1982 – “Maneater,” by Hall & Oates, is mid-way through a four week domination of the singles chart.

1995 – Entertainer Dean Martin, a beloved member of the so-called “Rat Pack,” dies at the age of 78.

2004 – Ludacris has the No. 1 album with “The Red Light District,” which spawns the hit singles “Get Back” and “Number One Spot.”

On This Day December 6

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1900 – Actress Agnes Moorehead (“Citizen Kane,” “The Magnificent Ambersons,” “All That Heaven Allows,” “Show Boat,” “Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte,” “Bewitched”) (d. 1974)

1920 – Jazz-classical pianist-composer Dave Brubeck (“In Your Own Sweet Way,” “The Duke,” “Take Five”) (d. 2012)

1948 – Actress JoBeth Williams (“Stir Crazy,” “Poltergeist,” “The Big Chill,” “The Day After,” “Adam,” “Baby M”)

1955 – Comedian-actor and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Wright

1962 – Actress Janine Turner (“Northern Exposure,” “Strong Medicine”)

1967 – Emmy-winning producer-director Judd Apatow (“Freaks and Geeks,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” “This Is 40,” “Trainwreck”)

History Highlights

1865 – The 13th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, abolishing slavery. It provides that “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

1884 – Workers place a nine-inch aluminum tip atop a white marble tower, completing construction of the iconic Washington Monument in Washington, D.C. At the time, the structure was the tallest building in the world, standing 555 feet, 5.125 inches.

1923 – Calvin Coolidge, known by many as America’s “Silent President,” delivers the first presidential radio address—the State of the Union—which is transmitted to listeners in six cities.

1947 – President Harry Truman dedicates the Florida Everglades as a national park.

1955 – The federal government standardizes the size of license plates throughout the U.S.

Musical Milestones

1968 – The Rolling Stones release “Beggars Banquet,” an album that represents a return to roots rock for the band following the psychedelic pop of their 1967 release, “Their Satanic Majesties Request.”

1969 – “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” by Steam, is the most popular song in the U.S. The track holds the top spot for two weeks.

1975 – “Still Crazy After All These Years” becomes Paul Simon’s first solo production to reach No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1986 – Peter Cetera and Amy Grant are on top of the singles chart with “The Next Time I Fall.”

1988 – Grammy-winning Rock And Roll Hall of Famer Roy Orbison (“Only the Lonely,” “Crying,” “Oh, Pretty Woman”) — recognized for his distinctive, impassioned voice, complex compositions and dark emotional ballads — dies of a heart attack at the age of 52.

1997 – Elton John’s musical tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, “Candle in the Wind 1997” (also known as “Goodbye England’s Rose”), is in the middle of a 14-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “Stand Up,” by Ludacris featuring Shawnna, captures the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the first chart-topper for Ludacris.

On This Day November 4

Click each item below to learn more!

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.

On This Day October 28

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1914 – Physician and medical researcher Jonas Salk, who developed the first safe and effective polio vaccine (d. 1995)

1927 – Grammy-winning jazz vocalist and actress Cleo Laine

1936 – Grammy-winning country music singer-fiddler Charlie Daniels, best known for his 1979 smash “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”

1944 – Actor Dennis Franz (“Die Hard 2,” “NYPD Blue,” “City of Angels”)

1949 – U.S. Olympic decathlon gold medalist and reality TV star Caitlyn Jenner, born Bruce Jenner

1952 – Actress Annie Potts (“Ghostbusters,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2”)

1955 – Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates

1967 – Oscar-winning actress Julia Roberts (“Mystic Pizza,” “Flatliners,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Pretty Woman,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Closer”)

1974 – Grammy and Golden Globe-winning actor-musician Joaquin Phoenix (“Gladiator,” “Walk the Line,” “The Master,” “Her”)

History Highlights

1886 – The Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the U.S., is dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland.

1919 – Congress overrides President Woodrow Wilson’s veto of the Volstead Act, paving the way for Prohibition, which remains in effect until passage of the 21st Amendment to the Constitution in 1933.

1922 – The Princeton Tigers take on the Chicago Maroons in the first nationally broadcast college football game in U.S. history. Telephone lines carry the play-by-play from Chicago’s Stagg Field to radio receivers around the country. The Tigers prevail and ultimately go 8 and 0 in the 1922 season, defeating Harvard and Yale to win the Big Three championship.

1962 – The world is pulled back from the brink of nuclear war when the Soviet Union and United States reach an agreement that ends the Cuban Missile Crisis. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agrees to remove missiles from Cuba in exchange for a U.S. promise to respect Cuba’s territorial sovereignty.

1965 – With the final stainless steel section set into place, construction is completed on the iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri.

1998 – President Bill Clinton signs the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) into law to strengthen existing federal copyright protections against new threats posed by the Internet.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley makes his second appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and the host presents him with a gold record for “Love Me Tender.”

1967 – Lulu is in the midst of a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the theme from the movie “To Sir With Love.”

1972 – Stevie Wonder releases “Talking Book,” the album that gives us the Grammy-winning “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “Superstition.”

1977 – Queen’s “News of the World” is released. The sixth studio album by the British rockers contains two tracks that go on to become Billboard smashes: “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.”

1978 – The hottest song on the radio is “Hot Child in the City” by Nick Gilder.

1989 – Janet Jackson starts a four-week run at No. 1 on the album chart with “Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814,” which contains a record seven Top 5 hit singles, including “Miss You Much,” “Escapade” and “Rhythm Nation.”

2000 – “Come on Over Baby (All I Want Is You),” by Christina Aguilera, is in the middle of a four-week run as a No. 1 single.

2006 – “Money Maker,” by Ludacris featuring Pharrell, kicks off two weeks on top of the pop chart.