Madonna – Time Rewind

On This Day April 22

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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 April 8

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Celebrity Birthdays

1892 – Actress Mary Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” as she became a legend of the silent film era (d. 1979)

1938 – Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, along with the U.N., won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001

1963 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Julian Lennon (“Too Late for Goodbyes,” “Valotte”)

1966 – Golden Globe-winning actress Robin Wright (“The Princess Bride,” “Forrest Gump,” “House of Cards”)

1968 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Patricia Arquette (“True Romance,” “Flirting With Disaster,” “Medium,” “Boyhood”)

History Highlights

1974 – Playing for the Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron hits the 715th home run of his career, breaking the record set by Babe Ruth in 1935. The historic shot is hit off of Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers into the left field bullpen at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

1985 – The government of India files suit against Union Carbide for the Bhopal disaster which killed more than 2,200 people.

1986 – Actor-director Clint Eastwood is elected mayor of Carmel, California, and serves for two years.

1990 – Filmmaker David Lynch’s surreal prime-time series, “Twin Peaks,” premieres on ABC. Set in a small fictional logging town, strange and intriguing characters and their relationships are revealed as investigators try to solve the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer.

1992 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe stuns the world when he announces that he has AIDS, acquired from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery he underwent in 1983. Ashe, the first black man to win Wimbledon, dies from the disease less than a year later at age 49.

2013 – Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain, dies in London at the age of 87 from a stroke. Serving from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. She was nicknamed the “Iron Lady” because of her her fierce determination and unyielding will.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Diana Ross and The Supremes record “Where Did Our Love Go,” which eventually becomes the first of the girl group’s five No. 1 singles.

1967 – The Turtles’ “Happy Together” marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1972 – America gallops into its third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Horse with No Name.”

1975 – “Toys in the Attic,” the third studio album from Aerosmith, is released. It contains the hit singles “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” and becomes the Boston rockers’ best-selling album to date, with more than 8 million copies sold.

1989 – “The Look” by Roxette is the No. 1 single and becomes the Swedish duo’s international breakthrough hit after success in Europe.

1995 – “Take a Bow” marks its seventh and final week as a No. 1 single, becoming Madonna’s longest-reigning chart-topper.

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, kicks off 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track goes on to capture the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

On This Day April 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson (d. 2014)

1944 – Actor Craig T. Nelson (“Poltergeist,” “Coach,” “The Incredibles,” “Parenthood”)

1960 – Actor Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “V For Vendetta,” “The Hobbit” film series, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Hacksaw Ridge”)

1965 – Golden Globe-winning actor Robert Downey, Jr. (“Less Than Zero,” “Chaplin,” “Ally McBeal,” the “Iron Man” and “Avengers/MCU” and “Sherlock Holmes” movies, “The Judge”)

1966 – Actress Nancy McKeon (“The Facts of Life,” “The Division”)

1979 – Actor Heath Ledger (“10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Patriot,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Dark Knight”) (d. 2008)

History Highlights

1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by the U.S. and 11 other Western nations.

1960 – William Wyler’s Technicolor epic ,”Ben-Hur,” sets an Academy Awards record when it sweeps 11 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston).

1968 – A sniper shoots and kills civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, on the balcony of a Memphis, Tennessee motel. As word of the assassination spreads, riots erupt in cities across the U.S., and National Guard troops are deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. In 1991, the murder scene—the Lorraine Motel—is dedicated as part of the National Civil Rights Museum.

1969 – CBS cancels the most popular show on TV at the time, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” because the brothers failed to submit their script to network executives to review before broadcast.

1973 – A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held in New York’s Lower Manhattan to dedicate the original World Trade Center. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC, or the North Tower, and 2 WTC, the South Tower, would provide nearly 10 million square feet of office space. Reaching more than a quarter of a mile into the sky, the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period, the tallest buildings in the world.

1975 – At a time when most Americans are using typewriters, childhood friends and self-proclaimed computer geeks Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four years later, they relocate the business to Washington State and grow it into a major multinational technology corporation.

1986 – The last episode of NBC’s “Knight Rider,” starring David Hasselhoff as private eye Michael Knight, airs on this day.

2007 – Radio shock jock Don Imus makes offensive remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team on the air, creating a firestorm of criticism across the country. Imus apologizes and loses his job, but ultimately is able to salvage his career.

2013 – Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV’s Sneak Previews program for 31 years, dies at the age of 70 after battling cancer.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles simultaneously claim the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Can’t Buy Me Love” at No. 1 where it remains for five weeks. Never before, and not since, has a single act achieved that kind of musical monopoly.

1970 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, begins its sixth and final week as a Billboard No. 1. The track goes on to capture five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, is in its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1987 – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship is No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for two weeks. The song appears in the movie “Mannequin,” starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1998 – K-Ci & JoJo rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “All My Life.”

2009 – Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha wraps up a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” a track that samples the chorus of the 1984 Dead or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”

On This Day March 25

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Celebrity Birthdays

1881 – Classical composer Béla Bartók (d. 1945)

1918 – Longtime ABC sportscaster Howard Cosell, who was part of the original “Monday Night Football” announcer team (d. 1995)

1928 – Retired NASA astronaut (Apollo 8/Apollo 13) Jim Lovell

1934 – Feminist crusader and Ms. magazine founder-publisher Gloria Steinem

1942 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and undisputed “Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin (d. 2018)

1947 – Grammy, Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe-winning pop superstar Elton John, born Reginald Dwight

1965 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Sarah Jessica Parker (“Hocus Pocus,” “Ed Wood,” “Miami Rhapsody,” “The First Wives Club,” “Sex and the City”)

1982 – NASCAR star Danica Patrick, the first woman to lead the Indy 500 and win the pole position at the Daytona 500

History Highlights

1911 – A raging fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City kills 146 garment workers in less than 20 minutes. The tragedy becomes a turning point in labor history, triggering reforms in workplace health and safety laws.

1967 – The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 5,000 demonstrators in Chicago in a march against the Vietnam War, calling the conflict in Southeast Asia “a blasphemy against all that America stands for.” It is King’s first anti-war march.

1975 – Saudi Arabia’s King Faisal is assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed. A motive is never determined and the king’s son, Crown Prince Khalid, ascends to the throne.

1994 – Wrapping up a largely unsuccessful 15-month mission, the last American troops pull out of Somalia, leaving 20,000 U.N. troops behind to keep the peace and facilitate “nation building” in the divided country.

Musical Milestones

1967 – “Happy Together,” by The Turtles, begins a three-week run as the hottest single in the U.S.

1972 – “A Horse with No Name,” by America, gallops to the top of the singles chart and stables there for three weeks.

1978 – The Bee Gees continue their reign over the Billboard Hot 100 with “Night Fever.”

1983 – Motown celebrates its 25th anniversary with a star-studded concert featuring such musical legends as Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, The Supremes and The Temptations. Michael Jackson uses a performance of “Billie Jean” to introduce the world to his iconic moonwalk.

1989 – Mike + The Mechanics own their first and only No. 1 single with “The Living Years.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

1995 – Madonna is midway through a seven-week domination of the singles chart with “Take a Bow.”

2001 – Icelandic singer Björk walks the red carpet at the Academy Awards wearing a Marjan Pejoski-designed swan dress that is mocked for years to come. Björk had received an Original Song nomination for “I’ve Seen It All” from the movie “Dancer in the Dark.” However, the Oscar goes to Bob Dylan for “Things Have Changed,” from the “Wonder Boys” soundtrack.

2006 – Ne-Yo begins his second and final week on top of the pop chart with “So Sick.”

On This Day March 18

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Celebrity Birthdays

1837 – Twenty-second and twenty-fourth U.S. President Grover Cleveland (d. 1908)

1926 – Actor and TV host Peter Graves, best remembered as Jim Phelps in the CBS spy series “Mission: Impossible” and the pilot in “Airplane!” (d. 2010)

1938 – Country music singer-guitarist Charley Pride

1941 – Soul singer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Wilson Pickett (“In The Midnight Hour,” “Mustang Sally”) (d. 2006)

1962 – Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe-winning actress and singer-songwriter Irene Cara (“Fame,” “Flashdance… What a Feeling”)

1963 – Actress, singer and former Miss America, Vanessa Williams

1970 – Golden Globe and Grammy-winning actress-rapper Queen Latifah, born Dana Elaine Owens

1979 – Grammy-winning Maroon 5 frontman and former judge/coach on NBC’s “The Voice,” Adam Levine

History Highlights

1852 – Henry Wells and William G. Fargo sign papers at the Astor House hotel in New York to establish a new banking and express enterprise serving customers across the nation. Their company, Wells Fargo, is currently one of the world’s largest banks.

1931 – The first electric razor goes on sale in the U.S., developed by the Schick corporation. It revolutionizes personal grooming by minimizing the risk of nicks and cuts.

1937 – With just minutes left to the school day, a thunderous natural gas explosion levels the combined junior-senior high school in the small East Texas town of New London, killing 294 students and teachers. It is considered the worst school disaster in U.S. history.

1965 – In another chapter of the Space Race between the United States and Soviet Union, Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to walk in space when he leaves his spacecraft, Voskhod 2, for 12 minutes and nine seconds. He beats American astronaut Ed White on Gemini 4 by almost three months.

1968 – “The Producers,” starring Gene Wilder and Zero Mostel, opens at movie theaters around the U.S., eventually garnering a Best Original Screenplay Oscar for writer-director Mel Brooks.

Musical Milestones

1967 – “Penny Lane,” written by Paul McCartney, leads The Beatles to No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart.

1972 – “Heart of Gold” becomes Neil Young’s first, and to date, only No. 1 single. The track appears on his “Harvest” album.

1978 – The Bee Gees begin an eight-week ride on top of the singles chart with “Night Fever,” off the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. It is the band’s third No. 1 single of the year.

1982 – Former Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes lead singer Teddy Pendergrass is paralyzed from the neck down after his car crashes into a tree in Philadelphia.

1989 – Debbie Gibson wraps up three weeks at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Lost in Your Eyes.”

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album.”

2000 – “Say My Name,” by Destiny’s Child,” begins three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2006 – Ne-Yo kicks off two weeks on top of the singles chart with “So Sick.”

On This Day March 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1903 – Bandleader and accordion player Lawrence Welk (“The Lawrence Welk Show”), known as the creator and king of so-called “champagne music” (d. 1992)

1931 – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who founded News Corporation and FOX Broadcasting

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 smash, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

1963 – Actress Alex Kingston (“ER,” “Doctor Who,” “Arrow”)

1969 – Actor and singer-songwriter Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” “Crash,” “The Brave One,” “Iron Man,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Empire”)

1971 – Comedic actor Johnny Knoxville of MTV’s “Jackass” series

History Highlights

1888 – One of the worst blizzards in U.S. history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping 55 inches of snow in some areas. “The Great White Hurricane,” as it comes to be known, paralyzes the East coast for days from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Lend-Lease” program, which provides money and materials for U.S. allies in World War II, takes effect.

1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes head of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. At 54, he is the youngest member of the ruling Politburo.

1989 – One of the first reality TV shows premieres on Fox Television. It’s “COPS,” which is shot documentary style as cameras follow police officers pursuing suspects and making arrests.

2011 – The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and resulting tsunami kill more than 18,000 people in Japan, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Musical Milestones

1967 – “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” by the Supremes, begins one week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes the Motown trio’s ninth No. 1 single. The track is from the “The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland” album.

1972 – Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” begins its fourth and final week on top of the singles chart. The track garners Nilsson a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

1989 – Debbie Gibson conquers the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with Lost in Your Eyes.” It remains at No. 1 for a total of three weeks.

1995 – “Take a Bow,” by Madonna, is in the midst of a seven-week ride atop the pop chart. The track is from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1997 – Former Beatle Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a Buckingham Palace ceremony honoring his “services to music.”

2000 – Country music conquers the Billboard Hot 100 as Lonestar scores a No. 1 hit with “Amazed.” It’s the last country song to do so until Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” rockets to No. 1 on September 1, 2012.

2006 – “You’re Beautiful,” by British singer-songwriter James Blunt reaches the top of the pop chart and holds there for a week.

On This Day March 10

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Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Actor and martial artist Chuck Norris (“Way of the Dragon,” “Walker, Texas Ranger”)

1958 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Sharon Stone (“Total Recall,” “Basic Instinct,” “Casino,” “The Mighty”)

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actor Jon Hamm, best known as ad executive Don Draper in the TV series “Mad Men”

1983 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter Carrie Underwood, whose career was launched after winning Season 4 of “American Idol”

1984 – Actress Olivia Wilde (“House,” “Tron: Legacy,” “Cowboys and Aliens,” “In Time”)

History Highlights

1862 – Paper money, known as Legal Tender Notes or United States Notes, is issued for the first time in the U.S. The denominations are $5 (Hamilton), $10 (Lincoln) and $20 (Liberty).

1876 – Alexander Graham Bell places the world’s first telephone call at his Boston laboratory. He summons his assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in the next room, by saying, “Mr. Watson, come here — I want to see you.” Bell had secured a patent for his groundbreaking communication device just three days earlier.

1959 – Some 300,000 Tibetans band together in revolt, surrounding the summer palace of the Dalai Lama in defiance of Chinese occupation forces that moved in almost 10 years earlier. The anniversary of the failed rebellion is observed by Tibetan exiles as the “Tibetan Uprising Day.”

1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and is sentenced to 99 years in Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Tennessee. Ray later retracts his guilty plea.

1993 – An anti-abortion protester shoots and kills Dr. David Gunn outside the Pensacola (Florida) Women’s Medical Services clinic, where Gunn performed abortions. Although the gunman immediately turns himself in to authorities, the murder sets off a wave of deadly anti-abortion violence across the U.S.

Musical Milestones

1956 – RCA Victor takes out a half-page ad in Billboard magazine proclaiming that Elvis Presley is “the new singing rage.”

1962 – “Hey! Baby,” by Bruce Channel, begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel record an acoustic version of “The Sound of Silence” for their debut album, “Wednesday Morning, 3AM.” Later, without the duo’s knowledge, Columbia Records producers overdub electric guitar, bass and drums for another version of the track that becomes the chart-topping hit in January 1966.

1979 – Gloria Gaynor reaches the top of the singles chart with the disco anthem “I Will Survive.”

1984 – Madonna charts for the first time in her career with “Borderline.” The single climbs as high as No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1988 – Pop sensation Andy Gibb, the younger brother of the Bee Gees, dies of an inflammatory heart virus at the age of 30.

1990 – “Escapade,” by Janet Jackson, is in the midst of a three-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – During a concert in London, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines declares that the band is “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas,” referring to President George W. Bush. The remark sparks outrage among many Americans, and some radio stations stop playing their music.

2010 – “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” by Kelly Clarkson, is the No. 1 single for a week.

On This Day March 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1678 – Italian Baroque composer, virtuoso violinist, teacher and cleric Antonio Vivaldi (d. 1741)

1938 – Actress Paula Prentiss (“The Black Marble,” “The Stepford Wives,” “The Parallax View”)

1941 – Movie director Adrian Lyne (“Fatal Attraction,” “9½ Weeks,” “Flashdance,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Unfaithful”)

1954 – Actress Catherine O’Hara (“SCTV,” “Beetlejuice,” the “Home Alone” movies, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show”)

1958 – Emmy-winning actress Patricia Heaton, best known for playing Debra Barone in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”

1961 – Actor Steven Weber (“The Kennedys of Massachusetts,” “Wings,” “The Shining,” “Once and Again,” “NCIS: New Orleans”)

History Highlights

1925 – The second inauguration of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge is the first to be nationally broadcast. More than 20 radio stations carry the event to an estimated 23 million listeners, including many children whose school auditoriums were specially equipped with speakers.

1933 – During the height of the Great Depression, an estimated 150,000 spectators gather on the east grounds of the U.S. Capitol as Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated as the 32nd U.S. president. FDR tells Americans, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

1933 – Newly inaugurated President Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints Frances Perkins Secretary of Labor, making her the first female member of the U.S. cabinet.

1960 – Actress Lucille Ball divorces her husband and collaborator, Desi Arnaz, after 20 tumultuous years of marriage. The breakup of the couple, stars of the hit sitcom “I Love Lucy” and owners of Desilu Studios, becomes one of the highest-profile divorces in American history at that time.

1974 – People magazine makes its debut on American newsstands, featuring actress Mia Farrow on the cover.

1989 – Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans to merge into the world’s largest media and entertainment conglomerate.

1994 – Comedic actor John Candy (“Splash,” “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” “Uncle Buck,” “Home Alone”) dies of a heart attack at 43 while filming a movie in Mexico.

2005 – Billionaire mogul Martha Stewart is released from a federal prison in West Virginia after serving five months and paying a $30,000 fine for lying and obstructing justice in a 2001 stock sale. Stewart serves five months of home confinement at her Bedford, New York estate and then faces two years probation.

Musical Milestones

1963 – The Beach Boys release “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” which climbs as high as No. 3 on the Billboard pop chart. The The song features Brian Wilson’s lyrics set to the music of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.”

1966 – During an interview with the British newspaper London Evening Standard, John Lennon says of The Beatles: “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” The remark sets off an international furor when reprinted a few months later in an American teen magazine, with some radio stations refusing to play Beatles records and others burning them.

1967 – “Beggin’,” the 33rd hit single for Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, lands on the Billboard pop chart, eventually climbing to No. 16.

1967 – “Ruby Tuesday,” by The Rolling Stones, begins a week as the No. 1 single. Brian Jones plays recorder on the track while the double bass is played jointly by bassist Bill Wyman pressing the strings against the fingerboard and Keith Richards bowing the strings.

1978 – Andy Gibb sails to the top of the singles chart with “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water.” The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1989 – Debbie Gibson starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Lost in Your Eyes.”

1995 – Madonna is in the midst of a seven-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album.

2000 – Nashville-based country music band Lonestar claims the top spot on the pop chart with “Amazed.” The single holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

2006 – “Check on It,” by Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug, begins its fifth and final week as a No. 1 single.

On This Day February 25

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Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Actor Jim Backus, best known for playing stranded millionaire Thurston Howell III in the comedy “Gilligan’s Island” and providing the voice for the cartoon character “Mr. Magoo” (d. 1989)

1935 – Retired syndicated TV talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael

1937 – Retired Emmy-winning CBS News anchor-commentator and author Bob Schieffer

1943 – Singer-songwriter-guitarist and former Beatle George Harrison (d. 2001)

1965 – Comedian Carrot Top, born Scott Thompson

1966 – Actress Tea Leoni, born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni (“Bad Boys,” “Deep Impact,” “The Family Man,” “Tower Heist,” “Madam Secretary”)

1971 – Actor Sean Aston (“The Goonies,” “Rudy,” the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy)

1976 – Actress Rashida Jones (“The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” “The Social Network,” “Our Idiot Brother,” “Angie Tribeca”)

1997 – Actress Isabelle Fuhrman, best known for playing a demonic child in “Orphan” and Clove in “The Hunger Games”

History Highlights

1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Natchez, Mississippi, is sworn into the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in Congress. He is assigned to serve on the Committee on Education and Labor and the Committee on the District of Columbia.

1916 – German troops seize Fort Douaumont, the most formidable of the forts guarding the walled city of Verdun, France, four days after launching their initial attack. The Battle of Verdun becomes the longest and bloodiest conflict of World War I, lasting 10 months and resulting in over 700,000 casualties.

1950 – The TV comedy “Your Show of Shows,” hosted by Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, premieres, eventually helping launch the successful entertainment careers of Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Neil Simon, Woody Allen and others.

1964 – Twenty-two-year-old Cassius Clay (who later changes his name to Muhammad Ali) stuns odds-makers by dethroning world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston in a seventh-round technical knockout in Miami Beach.

1984 – A massive explosion, triggered when gasoline from a ruptured pipeline ignited, levels a shantytown outside Sao Paulo, Brazil, killing at least 500 people — mostly young children. However, investigators speculate that the actual death toll may have been closer to 700 since many bodies were incinerated in the intense blaze.

1986 – President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines flees the nation after 20 years of rule. Corazon Aquino becomes that nation’s first woman president.

2004 – “The Passion of the Christ,” Mel Gibson’s controversial film about the final hours of Jesus of Nazareth’s life, opens in U.S. theaters, starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus. It receives three Oscar nominations.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley scores his first hit when “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Country & Western chart. The Beatles cover the song in 1964 on the BBC radio show “From Us to You,” with George Harrison on lead vocals.

1956 – “Lisbon Antigua,” by Nelson Riddle, begins a four-week run as a No. 1 single.

1967 – The No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second and final week belongs to The Buckinghams: “Kind of a Drag”

1978 – The Bee Gees are in their fourth and final week at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Stayin’ Alive,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

1981 – Christopher Cross, then a little-known musician from Texas, cleans up at the Grammy Awards with five statuettes, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year (“Christopher Cross”) and Song of the Year (“Sailing”).

1984 – “Jump,” by Van Halen, kicks off five weeks atop the U.S. singles chart. The track, off the band’s “1984” album, is ranked among the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1995 – Madonna begins seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” off her “Bedtime Stories” album. The single becomes her eleventh chart-topper. With it, Madonna replaces Carole King as the female who had written the most No. 1 songs.