Mercury – Time Rewind

On This Day March 6

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On This Day February 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1902 – Pioneering photographer and preservationist Ansel Adams (d. 1984)

1927 – Oscar-winning actor-director Sidney Poitier (“Lilies of the Field,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “To Sir, With Love,” “Sneakers,” “The Jackal”)

1946 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist John Warren Geils, Jr., known professionally as J. Geils, frontman for the 80s rockers The J. Geils Band. (d. 2017)

1963 – Retired basketball star Charles Barkley, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History

1966 – Fashion icon, supermodel and entrepreneur Cindy Crawford

1967 – Legendary grunge music pioneer Kurt Cobain, lead singer-songwriter-guitarist of the band Nirvana (d. 1994)

1988 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty (“Umbrella,” “We Found Love,” “The Monster”)

History Highlights

1792 – President George Washington signs the Postal Act, creating the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

1895 – American journalist, author, orator and abolitionist Frederick Douglass dies at the age of 78. Douglass conferred with President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and recruited northern Black officers for the Union Army. After the War, he fought for the rights of women and African Americans alike.

1962 – John Glenn launches into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard NASA’s Mercury capsule, named Friendship 7, on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut. He completes three Earth orbits in just under five hours, ushering in a new era of spaceflight for the United States.

1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission to photograph possible landing sites for the Apollo program.

1986 – The Soviet Union launches the first components of the Mir space station, which orbits Earth more than 86,000 times before falling harmlessly into the South Pacific near Fiji in March 2001.

1998 – American Tara Lipinski is 15 when she wins the Gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, becoming the youngest gold medalist in her sport.

2003 – One hundred people are killed, 230 others are injured when pyrotechnics during a Great White concert at The Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island ignite flammable foam installed as soundproofing. The club burns to the ground in less than three minutes.

Musical Milestones

1959 – Legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix is 16 years old when he makes his stage debut during a performance at Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue in Seattle. He is fired before the second set begins.

1965 – “This Diamond Ring,” by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, begins a two-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

1970 – The single “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On),” by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, is released in the U.S. Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed the track all in one day, on January 27, 1970, with producer Phil Spector, at the Abbey Road Studios in London.

1982 – The J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” is midway through a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first single from the band’s “Freeze Frame” album. The music video becomes an early staple of MTV programming.

1988 – “Seasons Change,” by one-hit wonder Exposé, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

1991 – Actor Jack Nicholson presents Bob Dylan with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammys.

1993 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, enters its 13th week as a No. 1 single. Written by Dolly Parton, the song is from the soundtrack to the movie, “The Bodyguard,” starring Houston and Kevin Costner.

1999 – Monica is in the middle of a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Angel of Mine.”

2010 – Kesha dominates the pop chart with “Tik Tok,” which enters its eighth week at No. 1.

On this Day May 15

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Celebrity Birthdays

1905 – Film, stage and TV actor Joseph Cotten (“The Philadelphia Story,” “Citizen Kane,” “Journey Into Fear”) (d. 1994)

1909 – Golden Globe-winning actor James Mason (“North by Northwest,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “A Star is Born,” “Lolita”) (d. 1984)

1918 – Country Music Hall of Fame artist Eddy Arnold (d. 2008)

1937 – Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, born Maria Jana Korbelova, the first woman to serve in that Cabinet position

1948 – Ambient music composer-producer Brian Eno

1952 – Actor-writer Chazz Palminteri (“A Bronx Tale,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “The Usual Suspects”)

1981 – Actress Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who played Meadow Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos”

History Highlights

1896 – Seventy-three people are killed and homes and businesses are leveled when a powerful tornado churns through Sherman, Texas. The twister is believed to be a rare F5 tornado, with winds exceeding 260 miles per hour.

1930 – Ellen Church, a registered nurse and licensed pilot, becomes the world’s first airline stewardess, working Boeing Air Transport’s (predecessor to United Airlines) Oakland, California to Chicago route.

1940 – A new chapter in women’s fashion is written with the introduction of the nylon stocking, which lands on store shelves across New York City. By the end of the day, shoppers purchase 780,000 pairs. By the end of 1940, more than 64 million pairs of nylons sell. However, the following year, with the U.S. drawn into World War II, the three most common sheer stocking materials — silk, nylon, and rayon — are sacrificed to the war effort.

1963 – The final Mercury mission begins with the launch of Faith 7. Astronaut Gordon Cooper becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space. He orbits Earth 22 times in 34 hours and 20 minutes — the longest U.S. space flight at that time.

1972 – Alabama Governor George Wallace is shot and paralyzed while campaigning in Maryland for the U.S. presidency.

1988 – More than eight years after intervening in Afghanistan to support the pro-communist government, Soviet troops begin to withdraw.

2009 – After decades of environmental damage and legal wrangling, General Electric (GE) finally begins its government-mandated effort to clean the Hudson River. Between 1947 and 1977, GE dumped an estimated 1.3 million pounds of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the waterway.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Del Shannon begins his fourth and final week as a chart-topper with “Runaway.”

1965 – Herman’s Hermits begin the third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter” — the band’s first No. 1 hit in the U.S.

1967 – Paul McCartney meets American photographer Linda Eastman for the first time, during a Georgie Fame concert at the Bag O’Nails nightclub in London. They marry less than two years later.

1971 – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young score their second No. 1 album with “4 Way Street,” consisting of live recordings from shows at the Fillmore East in New York and The Forum in Los Angeles.

1976 – The Sylvers burn up the singles chart when their disco hit, “Boogie Fever,” reaches No. 1.

1982 – Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney begin a seven-week hold on to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “Ebony and Ivory.”

1993 – “That’s the Way Love Goes,” by Janet Jackson, is the No. 1 single and maintains that spot for eight weeks. The track goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.

1999 – Ricky Martin burns up the Billboard Hot 100 with “Livin’ la Vida Loca,” which is in the middle of five weeks as a No. 1 single.

2010 – “OMG,” by Usher featuring will.i.am, begins four non-sequentional weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is Usher’s ninth chart-topper and the second will.i.am collaboration.

On this Day May 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1818 – Karl Marx, political theorist, philosopher and economist, best known for writing “Das Kapital” and “The Communist Manifesto” (d. 1883)

1914 – Actor Tyrone Power (“Witness for the Prosecution,” “The Mark of Zorro”) (d. 1958)

1927 – Actress Pat Carroll (“The Danny Thomas Show, “ Laverne & Shirley,” “ER”)

1942 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Tammy Wynette, dubbed “The First Lady of Country Music” and best known for her 1968 hit “Stand by Your Man” (d. 1998)

1943 – Actor, writer and comedian Michael Palin, best known as a member of the British comedy troupe Monty Python

1945 – Former MTV music news host, Rolling Stone magazine editor, film critic and author Kurt Loder

1959 – Emmy-winning TV journalist and former “NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams

1983 – Actor Henry Cavill (“The Tudors,” “The Immortals,” “Man of Steel,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice”)

1988 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Adele, born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (“Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You,” “Hello”)

1989 – Grammy-winning singer-dancer Chris Brown (“Run It!,” “Kiss Kiss,” “Forever,” “Look at Me Now,” “Beautiful People”)

History Highlights

1862 – During the Battle of Puebla, Mexican troops under General Ignacio Zaragoza — outnumbered three to one — defeat invading French forces. The historic event is marked each year with Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

1925 – Teacher John Scopes is arrested for violating the Butler Act, which prevents the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools. He is later tried in the famous Scopes Monkey Trial.

1945 – One woman and five children are killed in rural Oregon while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods. The balloon was armed and exploded after the group began tampering with it. They were the first and only known American civilians killed in the continental U.S. during World War II.

1955 – The Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) becomes a sovereign state when the U.S., France and Great Britain end their 10-year military occupation. The move clears the way for West Germany to rearm and become a full-fledged member of the western alliance against the Soviet Union.

1961 – Astronaut Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space during a suborbital flight of 15 minutes aboard the Mercury capsule named Freedom 7.

1985 – President Ronald Reagan angers Jewish leaders and Holocaust survivors by visiting the Bitburg war cemetery in Germany, unaware that the cemetery houses the graves of 49 Nazi officers.

2002 – “Spider-Man” becomes first movie to top $100 million in an opening weekend. Directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire in the title role, the eagerly awaited comic book adaptation rakes in a staggering $114.8 million.

Musical Milestones

1891 – New York’s Carnegie Hall opens with acclaimed Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky as guest conductor.

1956 – Elvis Presley’s self-titled debut album reaches No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and remains there for 10 weeks. It’s the album that brings us “Blue Suede Shoes.”

1962 – The soundtrack to the Oscar-winning movie musical “West Side Story,” featuring the music of Leonard Bernstein and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, begins 54 weeks on top of the Billboard album chart. It goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Sound Track Album – Original Cast.

1962 – “Soldier Boy,” by The Shirelles, marches to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for three weeks.

1973 – “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree,” by Tony Orlando and Dawn, is midway through a four-week domination of the pop chart.

1979 – Peaches & Herb kick off four weeks at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Reunited.”

1986 – Cleveland is selected as the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, beating out New York, San Francisco, Memphis and Chicago. It opens to the public on September 2, 1995.

1990 – Sinead O’Connor is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a song penned by Prince: “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

2001 – Janet Jackson holds the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “All For You.”