Mars – Time Rewind

On This Day November 28

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On This Day November 27

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Celebrity Birthdays

1940 – Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee (d. 1973)

1941 – Country music singer Eddie Rabbitt (“I Love a Rainy Night,” “Drivin’ My Life Away,” “You and I”) (d. 1998)

1942 – Pioneering rock guitarist and singer Jimi Hendrix (d. 1970)

1955 – Science educator-TV host Bill “The Science Guy” Nye

1957 – Diplomat, author and presidential daughter Caroline Kennedy

1964 – Actress Robin Givens (“Head of the Class,” “Sparks”)

History Highlights

1910 – The largest railway station in the world — Pennsylvania Station — opens in Midtown Manhattan, establishing itself as an architectural and transportation marvel. However, the complex is demolished in 1963 due to declining rail travel and eventually becomes the site of the sports and entertainment venue, Madison Square Garden.

1965 – Detroit Red Wing Gordie Howe scores his 600th goal in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Howe is the first (until Wayne Gretzky) NHL player to score 600 times in a career.

1971 – The Soviet Union’s unmanned Mars 2 spacecraft becomes the first man-made object to reach the surface of the Red Planet.

1973 – The U.S. Senate votes to confirm Gerald Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro Agnew, who resigned amid charges of financial misconduct.

1978 – Gay rights activist Harvey Milk and openly gay San Francisco Mayor George Moscone are murdered by former by City Supervisor Dan White. White receives a five-year prison sentence for the killings. Unable to resume a normal life following his release, he takes his own life in 1986.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles release the “Magical Mystery Tour” album, which introduces fans to hits like “Hello, Goodbye,” “Penny Lane” and “All You Need is Love.”

1968 – Steppenwolf’s self-titled debut album, featuring “Born to Be Wild” and “The Pusher,” is certified gold with sales in excess of 500,000 copies. Both tracks are also part of the soundtrack to the 1969 cult classic, “Easy Rider.”

1970 – George Harrison releases “All Things Must Pass,” which contains the hit singles “My Sweet Lord” and “What Is Life,” as well as songs such as “Isn’t It a Pity” and the title track that had been rejected for Beatles productions. The triple album becomes the best selling album by any solo Beatle.

1982 – Lionel Richie’s “Truly” begins two weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart.

1993 – Meat Loaf is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” the first single from his album “Bat Out of Hell II: Back into Hell.”

1999 – “Smooth” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas is mid-way through a 12-week domination of the pop chart. The song goes on to capture three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

On This Day September 3

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Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Actor Alan Ladd (“This Gun For Hire,” “Shane”) (d. 1964)

1932 – Actress Eileen Brennan (“The Last Picture Show,” “Private Benjamin,” “Will & Grace”) (d. 2013)

1942 – Guitarist-singer-songwriter and Beach Boys founding member Al Jardine

1955 – Guitarist Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols

1965 – Actor Charlie Sheen (“Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Young Guns,” “Eight Men Out,” “Major League,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Spin City,” “Two and a Half Men”)

1973 – Singer Jennifer Paige, best known for her 1998 hit “Crush”

1976 – Actress Ashley Jones (“The Young and the Restless,” “True Blood”)

1986 – Two-time Olympic Gold medal snowboarder Shaun White

History Highlights

1777 – The American flag flies in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War clash between a Patriot force of infantry and cavalry and British and Hessian troops at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Known as the “Stars and Stripes,” it consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a circular configuration over a blue field.

1783 – Representatives of the United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolution. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies.

1939 – Britain and France declare war on Germany in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland two days earlier.

1967 – Viewers bid farewell to the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time TV. “What’s My Line” was an entertainment staple on CBS for 18 seasons.

1976 – The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 lands on Mars and takes the first pictures of the Red Planet’s surface.

1991 – Director Frank Capra, whose movies include the classic “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” dies at the age of 94.

2004 – A three-day hostage crisis at a Russian school comes to a bloody end after a gun battle erupts between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. In the end, more than 300 people are killed, many of them children, while some 700 others are injured.

Musical Milestones

1955 – Bandleader Mitch Miller has a No. 1 hit with a song that was originally written in 1853: “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” It remains on top of the pop chart for six weeks and goes on to sell more than a million copies.

1966 – “Sunshine Superman,” by Donovan, soars to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for a week.

1968 – Ringo Starr rejoins The Beatles two weeks after storming out on his bandmates in frustration. He returns to find his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back.

1977 – The Emotions are in the middle of four weeks atop the singles chart with “Best of My Love.”

1983 – Eurythmics top the singles chart for a week with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” which establishes the British duo as a formidable force in the 80s new wave music scene. The accompanying video is considered a classic from the early MTV era.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, is the No. 1 single. The song holds the top spot for 14 weeks.

2005 – Considered her “comeback song,” Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” holds the top spot on the Hot 100, goes on to win two Grammy Awards and is ultimately labeled “song of the decade” by Billboard magazine.

On this Day July 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1822 – Scientist Gregor Mendel, known as the father of modern genetics (d. 1884)

1919 – Explorer Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest (d. 2008)

1938 – Actress Diana Rigg, who played Emma Peel from the 60s British TV spy drama “The Avengers”

1938 – Golden Globe-winning actress Natalie Wood (“Miracle on 34th Street,” “Splendor in the Grass,” “Rebel Without a Cause,” “West Side Story”) (d. 1981)

1945 – Singer-songwriter Kim Carnes, best known for her 1981 hit single “Bette Davis Eyes”

1947 – Grammy-winning rock guitarist Carlos Santana, who pioneered the fusion of rock and Latin American music

1969 – Actor Josh Holloway, best known for playing Sawyer on the ABC series “Lost”

1971 – Golden Globe-winning actress Sandra Oh (“The Princess Diaries,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Sideways,” “Grey’s Anatomy”)

1973 – Actor, rapper and songwriter Omar Epps (“Juice,” “ER,” “Breakfast of Champions,” “House,” “Resurrection”)

History Highlights

1944 – A plot to murder German dictator Adolf Hitler fails as a bomb planted in a briefcase goes off, but leaves him only slightly wounded. Known as Operation Valkyrie, the assassination attempt was masterminded by senior-level German military officials who wanted to remove Hitler in order to establish a new government. Hitler’s would-be assassins are executed after being discovered.

1969 – More than a billion people around the world are glued to TV sets and radios as Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to step onto the surface of the moon. He famously marks the landmark event by saying, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

1973 – Actor and martial arts icon Bruce Lee dies unexpectedly at the age of 32, just before the release of his film, “Enter the Dragon.” The official cause of death is a brain edema, possibly triggered by a reaction to a prescription painkiller that Lee was reportedly taking for a back injury.

1976 – On the seventh anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Viking 1, an unmanned U.S. planetary probe, becomes the first spacecraft to successfully land on the surface of Mars.

1976 – In Major League Baseball, “Hammerin'” Hank Aaron hits his 755th and final home run during the Milwaukee Brewers’ game against the California Angels.

1977 – A flash flood washes over Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 84 people and causing millions of dollars in damage. The disaster marks the third time that floods, caused by dam failures, devastate the same community. The Great Flood of 1889 killed more than 2,000 people in Johnstown. A second flood in 1936 left two dozen people dead.

2012 – Twelve people are killed and 70 others are injured when a gunman opens fire inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The theater was packed with Batman fans that were there for a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” The tragedy becomes the deadliest mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine shooting in 1999 in which 12 high school students and a teacher were gunned down.

Musical Milestones

1963 – Beach music is the favorite on this day, as Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” hits No. 1 on the singles chart.

1968 – Trumpeter Hugh Masekela begins a two-week run on top of the singles chart with the jazz instrumental “Grazing in the Grass.” In 2018, the song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1968 – Heavy metal strikes the album chart for the first time in the form of Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida,” which was originally supposed to be titled “In The Garden of Eden.” The 17-minute title track takes up all of Side Two and was edited down to 2:53 for release as a single.

1974 – Early disco hit “Rock Your Baby,” by George McCrae, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1985 – Duran Duran begin their second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “A View to a Kill,” from the James Bond movie of the same name.

1986 – The movie “Sid & Nancy,” based on the life of Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, premieres in London, starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb.

1991 – One-hit-wonder EMF kick off a week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Unbelievable.”

1996 – “How Do U Want It,” by 2Pac featuring K-Ci & JoJo, grabs the top spot on the Billboard single chart. The track remains at No. 1 for a week.

2002 – “Hot in Herre,” by Nelly, is in the midst of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track garners Nelly a 2003 Grammy for Best Male Rap Solo Performance, a brand new category at the time.

On this Day July 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1776 – United States of America

1872 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th U.S. president (d. 1933)

1911 – Musician-conductor-TV host Mitch Miller (d. 2010)

1918 – Advice columnist Ann Landers (d. 2002)

1920 – Businesswoman Leona Helmsley, nicknamed “Queen of Mean” (d. 2007)

1924 – Oscar and Primetime Emmy-winning actress Eva Marie Saint (“On The Waterfront,” “North By Northwest”)

1927 – Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Neil Simon (“Barefoot in the Park,” “The Odd Couple,” “Lost in Yonkers”) (d, 2018)

1930 – Former New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (d. 2010)

1938 – Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame vocalist Bill Withers (“Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean On Me,” “Lovely Day”) (d. 2020)

1943 – Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist-TV host Geraldo Rivera

History Highlights

1776 – The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopts the Declaration of Independence, proclaiming the independence of the United States of America from Great Britain and its king.

1911 – A heatwave drives temperatures to triple-digit record highs from Pennsylvania to Maine, leaving nearly 400 people dead. In Nashua, New Hampshire, the mercury peaks at 106. The heatwave lingers across the Northeast for 11 days.

1939 – Baseball great Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), tells a crowd at New York’s Yankee Stadium that he considers himself “the luckiest man on the face of the Earth,” as he announces his retirement from Major League Baseball. The speech is later dubbed “baseball’s Gettysburg Address.” Gehrig dies from the disease two years later at the age of 37. Today, ALS is known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

1966 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) into law, granting public access to government records.

1997 – After traveling 120 million miles in seven months, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder becomes the first American spacecraft in more than two decades to land on Mars.

Musical Milestones

1953 – Eddie Fisher begins a seven-week domination of the singles chart with “I’m Walking Behind You.”

1964 – “I Get Around,” by the Beach Boys, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It holds the top spot for two weeks.

1969 – Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Blood Sweat & Tears, Chuck Berry and other popular acts perform at the Atlanta Pop Festival in Byron, Georgia.

1970 – A radio institution is born on this day. It’s “American Top 40” (“AT40”) with host Casey Kasem, a nationally syndicated program that counts down the 40 hottest singles in the U.S. according to Billboard magazine. The first countdown ends with the Jackson 5’s “The Love You Save,” then in its second and final week at No. 1.

1981 – Kim Carnes tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a seventh week with “Bette Davis Eyes.”

1987 – “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” by Whitney Houston, begins its second and final week as a Billboard chart-topper.

1992 – “Baby Got Back” puts Sir Mix-a-Lot on top of the pop chart for five weeks. The track becomes the second best-selling song of 1992, behind Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”

2003 – Grammy-winning soul singer-songwriter Barry White (“Can’t Get Enough of Your Love,” “You’re the First, The Last, My Everything”) — whose smooth, deep vocals dominated the pop chart throughout the 70s — dies of kidney failure at the age of 58.

On this Day July 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1904 – Nobel Prize-winning novelist and short story writer Isaac Bashevis Singer (“The Family Moskat,” “Gimpel, The Fool”) (d. 1991)

1912 – American folk music icon Woody Guthrie (d. 1967)

1913 – Gerald Ford, 38th U.S. president (d. 2006)

1918 – Legendary film director Ingmar Bergman (d. 2007)

1926 – Actor Harry Dean Stanton (“Cool Hand Luke,” “Paris, Texas,” “Repo Man,” “Wild at Heart,” “The Green Mile,” “Big Love”) (d. 2017)

1930 – Emmy-winning actress-singer Polly Bergen (“The Helen Morgan Story,” “Cape Fear,” “The Caretakers”) (d. 2014)

1932 – Former New York Giants defensive lineman-turned-actor-turned-Christian minister Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier

1960 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Jane Lynch (“Best In Show,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Glee”)

1966 – Actor Matthew Fox (“Lost,” “We Are Marshall,” “Vantage Point,” “Speed Racer”)

1988 – Irish mixed martial arts fighter and professional boxer Conor McGregor

History Highlights

1789 – French revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signals the beginning of the French Revolution. Today, it is observed as France’s national holiday of Bastille Day.

1881 – William H. Bonney, better known as the outlaw Billy the Kid, is shot and killed at the age of 21 by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The gunfighter, also known as Henry McCarty, had led authorities on a three-month manhunt after escaping from prison where he was awaiting execution on murder charges.

1955 – Already well-established for its Beetle, Volkswagen introduces the iconic, rear-engine Karmann-Ghia coupe in Europe. One year later, VW brings the vehicle to the U.S. auto market, and in 1958, rolls out a convertible model. The Karmann-Ghia remains in production through 1974.

1965 – Mariner 4 takes the first close-up photos of Mars. Its blurry views of craters and bare ground lead some scientists to believe that Mars has an environment that is similar to the moon.

1966 – One of the nation’s most notorious killers, Richard Speck, brutally murders eight student nurses at the home they share on Chicago’s South Side. Authorities conduct a manhunt and capture Speck two days later. He spends the rest of his life in prison until his death from a heart attack in 1991 at age 49.

1968 – Atlanta Braves slugger Henry “Hank” Aaron becomes the seventh major league player to achieve 500 career home runs when he knocks the ball out of the park during a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

1969 – The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve officially remove the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills from circulation.

2016 – A terrorist drives a truck at high speed down a crowded sidewalk in Nice, France during Bastille Day celebrations, killing 86 people, including 10 children. More than 300 other people are injured.

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Roses Are Red (My Love),” by Bobby Vinton, is the No. 1 single.

1973 – Phil Everly smashes his guitar during a concert in California, storms off the stage and announces the breakup of The Everly Brothers. The duo will go nearly 10 years before performing together again.

1973 – Billy Preston enjoys his second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Will It Go Round in Circles.” The track is the first of two No. 1 hits for the man who once performed with The Beatles.

1979 – Donna Summer scores her third No. 1 single with “Bad Girls” while the album of the same name begins a five-week run at No. 1.

1984 – “When Doves Cry,” by Prince, is in the midst of five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from his “Purple Rain” album.

1990 – New Kids On The Block begin their third and final week on top of the singles chart with “Step By Step.”

2001 – Usher enters his second week on top of the singles chart with “U Remind Me.” The track holds the top spot for four weeks.

2012 – “Call Me Maybe,” by Carly Rae Jepsen, is midway through a nine-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.

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.