movie – Time Rewind

On This Day January 15

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On This Day April 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1909 – Legendary jazz vibraphonist Lionel Hampton (d. 2002)

1937 – Actor and LGBTQ rights advocate George Takei, best known as Lieutenant Sulu from the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1941 – Actor Ryan O’Neal (“Love Story,” “What’s Up Doc,” “Paper Moon,” “The Main Event”)

1949 – Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Jessica Lange (“King Kong,” “Tootsie,” “Frances,” “Country,” “Grey Gardens,” “American Horror Story,” “Feud”)

1951 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Luther Vandross (“Never Too Much,” “Here and Now,” “Any Love,” “Power of Love/Love Power,” “Dance with My Father”) (d. 2005)

1964 – Actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy and Caesar in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”. He also had roles in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”,”Star Wars: The Last Jedi”, “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Black Panther”

1964 – Actor Crispin Glover, best known for playing George McFly in the “Back to the Future” movie franchise

1972 – Model-turned-actress and reality TV star Carmen Electra (“Baywatch,” “Meet the Spartans,” “Epic Movie,” “Cheaper by the Dozen 2”)

History Highlights

1912 – With 27,000 people in the stands, the Boston Red Sox play their first game at Fenway Park and defeat the New York Highlanders (later renamed the Yankees) by a score of 7-6 in 11 innings.

1916 – The first National League game played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field (then Weeghman Park) sees the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 in 11 innings. A bear cub is in attendance at the ballpark, which becomes known as Cubs Park in 1920 after the Wrigley family purchases the team from Weeghman. It is named Wrigley Field in 1926 in honor of William Wrigley Jr., the club’s owner.

1971 – The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the practice of busing to desegregate schools, ruling in the case of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. Two years later, the high court makes a second ruling restricting the use of busing, concluding that students could only be bused across district lines if there was evidence that multiple districts had implemented deliberately discriminatory policies.

1977 – The comedy “Annie Hall” opens, starring director Woody Allen and Diane Keaton. The film goes on to win Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay.

1980 – The Castro regime announces that all Cubans wishing to emigrate to the U.S. are free to board boats at the port of Mariel west of Havana, launching the Mariel Boatlift.

1999 – The school day at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado is shattered by deadly gunfire. Two seniors fatally shoot 12 students and a teacher before taking their own lives. Twenty-three others are injured in what ushers in a wave of U.S. school shootings over the next two decades.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Elvis Presley is on top of Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart for a second week with “All Shook Up.” The track remains at No. 1 for eight weeks and becomes the biggest single of 1957, selling more than two million copies.

1963 – The Chiffons wrap up a four-week domination of the pop chart with “He’s So Fine.”

1968 – “Honey,” by Bobby Goldsboro, is in the middle of a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1970 – The New York Times reports that Catholic and Protestant youth groups have adopted The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine as a religious symbol and formed so called “submarine churches.” These churches featured the outline of a yellow submarine with a small cross on its periscope as their symbol. It is displayed alongside peace signs, flowers and other popular emblems of the period.

1974 – “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB featuring the Three Degrees, claims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

1991 – Wilson Phillips’ “You’re in Love” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1996 – Céline Dion’s Grammy-winning “Because You Loved Me” continues a six-week ride atop the U.S. singles chart. The track is from the 1996 movie “Up Close and Personal,” starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer.

2002 – Ashanti launches a 10-week run on top of the pop chart with “Foolish,” off her self-titled debut album.

2013 – Bruno Mars kicks off a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “When I Was Your Man.”

On This Day April 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1564 – Poet-playwright William Shakespeare (d. 1616)

1928 – Oscar-winning child star Shirley Temple (d. 2014)

1936 – Rock and roll singer-songwriter Roy Orbison (“Oh, Pretty Woman,” “Crying,” “Dream Baby”) (d. 1988)

1939 – Actor Lee Majors, best remembered for his role as astronaut Steve Austin in the 1970s hit series “The Six Million Dollar Man”

1942 – Golden Globe-winning actress Sandra Dee, nicknamed “Queen of Teens” (“Gidget,” “A Summer Place”) (d. 2005)

1954 – Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (“Roger and Me,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “Fahrenheit 9/11″”Capitalism: A Love Story”)

1960 – Actress Valerie Bertinelli (“One Day at a Time,” “Touched by an Angel,” “Hot in Cleveland”)

1961 – Actor-comedian George Lopez, best known for his self-produced sitcom “George Lopez” that aired on ABC-TV for six seasons

1977 – Actor and former Obama administration aide Kal Penn, born Kalpen Suresh Modi (the “Harold and Kumar” films, “House,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Designated Survivor”)

1990 – Actor Dev Patel (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “The Newsroom,” “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Chappie,” “The Man Who Knew Infinity,” “Lion,” “Hotel Mumbai”)

History Highlights

1896 – Entertainment is revolutionized as an audience at Koster and Bial’s Music Hall on 34th Street in New York City watches the first movie ever projected onto a screen.

1953 – Paramount Pictures releases “Shane,” starring Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur and Van Heflin, a film considered by many to be one of the greatest Westerns ever made.

1968 – Columbia University students, opposed to the Vietnam War and the school’s plans to construct a gymnasium in a Harlem neighborhood adjacent to the campus, seize administration buildings, take the dean hostage and shut the university down for a week.

1969 – Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to the death penalty following his conviction for the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy of New York. In 1972, Sirhan’s sentence is commuted to life in prison after California abolishes the death penalty.

1985 – Coca-Cola replaces its original formula Coke with a beverage called New Coke. However, consumers overwhelmingly reject the new soft drink. Three months later, the company backtracks and announces the return of the original formula, which is branded Coca-Cola Classic.

2004 – The romantic comedy “13 Going on 30,” starring Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo, opens in U.S. theaters. Garner plays the adult version of a 13-year-old girl whose dream of being “30, flirty, and thriving” comes true with the help of some magic dust.

Musical Milestones

1961 – In what’s been called “the greatest night in show business history,” Judy Garland — beloved for her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” — performs at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Garland sings 27 numbers, frequently interrupted by extended standing ovations. The double album of the historic performance becomes a smash, charting for 94 weeks on the Billboard chart, including 13 weeks at No. 1. It also captures five Grammy Awards.

1966 – “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” by The Righteous Brothers, marks its third and final week as the No. 1 single. It is the duo’s first major hit after leaving their longtime producer, Phil Spector.

1977 – Thelma Houston’s disco smash, “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song goes on to capture a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

1983 – The hottest single belongs to one-hit-wonder Dexys Midnight Runners: “Come On Eileen.”

1988 – “Where Do Broken Hearts Go?,” by Whitney Houston, begins a two-week hold on the No. 1 slot on Billboard Hot 100.

1994 – R. Kelly rules the singles chart with “Bump n’ Grind.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, begins its eighth week on top of the pop chart. It will remain there for one more week.

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 24

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Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weisz (d. 1926)

1930 – Actor and auto racer Steve McQueen, nicknamed the “King of Cool” (“The Magnificent Seven,” “The Great Escape,” “The Sand Pebbles,” “Bullitt,” “The Getaway,” “The Towering Inferno”) (d. 1980)

1951 – Fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger

1970 – Actress Lara Flynn Boyle (“Twin Peaks,” “The Practice,” “Men In Black II”)

1973 – Emmy-winning actor Jim Parsons (“Garden State,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Hidden Figures”)

1974 – Actress Alyson Hannigan (“American Pie,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” “How I Met Your Mother”)

1976 – Retired star NFL quarterback and actor Peyton Manning, who set records for most career passing yards and most career passing touchdowns while playing for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos

History Highlights

1965 – NASA’s Ranger 9 spacecraft beams the first video images of the moon down to Earth before making a planned crash-landing on the lunar surface.

1977 – For the first time since severing diplomatic relations in 1961, Cuba and the U.S. enter into direct negotiations when the two nations discuss fishing rights.

1989 – The tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound off Alaska and spills 11 million gallons of crude oil into one of nature’s richest habitats, eventually contaminating 1,300 miles of coastline. This was the largest oil spill in U.S. waters until the 2010 Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico caused a 168-million-gallon spill.

1996 – Astronaut Shannon Lucid begins the first full day of a five-month stay aboard the Russian space station Mir. She transfers from the space shuttle Atlantis, becoming the first female American astronaut to live on a space station.

2002 – Halle Berry becomes the first African-American performer to win a Best Actress Oscar (for “Monster’s Ball”) and only the second African-American actress ever to be honored by the Academy (the first was Hattie McDaniel, who won for her supporting role in 1939’s “Gone With the Wind”).

Musical Milestones

1958 – Elvis Presley swaps his blue suede shoes for military boots as he reports for duty in U.S. Army as a private at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. The King achieves the rank of sergeant in February 1960, and a month later, is honorably discharged from active duty at the age of 25.

1962 – Bruce Channel wraps up his three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Hey! Baby.”

1973 – “Love Train” by the O’Jays steams its way to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1979 – The Bee Gees have the No. 1 single on the radio with “Tragedy,” off their “Spirits Having Flown” album.

1986 – Howard Jones releases “No One Is To Blame” in the U.S. It goes on to become his biggest-selling single.

1992 – A class-action lawsuit against Milli Vanilli’s record label is resolved when a judge approves a plan to refund up to $3 to everyone who bought the pop duo’s music before November 27, 1990 — the date they admitted to not actually singing their songs. Fans who bought tickets to a Milli Vanilli concert could claim a rebate of up to $2.50.

2001 – One-hit-wonder Crazy Town has the No. 1 single for a week with “Butterfly,” which features a sample of “Pretty Little Ditty” from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

On This Day March 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1685 – Classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1750)

1944 – Actor Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond in two films

1949 – Singer-songwriter Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (“Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise”, “Take Me Home Tonight”) (d. 2019)

1958 – Actor Gary Oldman (“Sid and Nancy,” “JFK,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Fifth Element,” “Air Force One,” played Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” series, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Book of Eli,” “Darkest Hour”)

1962 – Emmy-winning comedian-TV host-actress Rosie O’Donnell (“The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The View,” “A League of Their Own,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Now and Then”)

1962 – Tony-winning actor Matthew Broderick (“War Games,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Glory,” “The Freshman,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Producers,” “Tower Heist,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

History Highlights

1947 – With fears about communism swirling across the U.S., President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835. It creates a Loyalty Program to investigate federal employees to determine if they demonstrated “complete and unswerving loyalty” to the United States.

1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads some 3,200 civil rights activists on a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents supervise the procession, which Alabama state police had previously blocked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1980 – In the Season 3 finale of CBS’ hit prime time drama “Dallas,” an unseen assailant shoots bad-boy J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman), who falls to the floor of his office before the scene fades to black. The episode, entitled “A House Divided,” becomes one of the most talked about season finales of all time, sparking the “Who Shot J.R.” craze. Some 160 million fans wait eight months to learn the identity of the shooter in Season 4.

1994 – Eleven-year-old Anna Paquin is stunned when actor Gene Hackman announces that she has won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Piano.” Paquin becomes the second youngest Oscar winner of all time.

1999 – Aviators Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones complete the first non-stop around-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, making aviation history.

Musical Milestones

1953 – “(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window” launches Patti Page on an eight-week ride at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – The Beatles rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Loves You” — the second of three consecutive hits that keep the Fab Four on top of the singles chart through early May of that year.

1970 – Simon & Garfunkel remain suspended at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track holds there for a total of six weeks.

1981 – REO Speedwagon clinches the top spot on the singles chart with “Keep On Loving You,” the group’s first Top 40 hit and No. 1.

1992 – Vanessa Williams kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Save the Best for Last.”

1994 – Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Philadelphia” during the 66th Academy Awards, and a short time later, is handed a Best Original Song Oscar for it. It’s from the movie “Philadelphia,” for which Tom Hanks won Best Actor. The track goes on to capture four Grammys.

1998 – Will Smith maintains his hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”

On This Day February 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1923 – Retired U.S. Air Force General Chuck Yaeger, the first pilot to break the sound barrier

1933 – Actress Kim Novak (“Vertigo,” “The Man With the Golden Arm,” “Bell, Book and Candle”)

1934 – Golden Globe-winning actor George Segal (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “A Touch of Class,” “Just Shoot Me,” “The Goldbergs”)

1942 – Singer-songwriter Peter Tork, best known as keyboardist and bass guitarist of The Monkees (d. 2019)

1944 – Talk show host and former Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer

1944 – Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Stockard Channing (“Grease,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” “The West Wing”)

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and former Genesis front man Peter Gabriel (“Solsbury Hill,” “Shock the Money,” “Sledgehammer,” “Don’t Give Up,” “Big Time,” “In Your Eyes,” “Red Rain”)

1979 – Actress Mena Suvari (“American Beauty,” “American Pie,” “Six Feet Under”)

History Highlights

1861 – Colonel Bernard Irwin becomes the first person awarded the new U.S. Medal of Honor for leading his troops in a battle against the Chiricahua Apaches during a rescue mission.

1923 – The New York Renaissance (a.k.a. “The Rens”), the first all-Black professional basketball team, is organized. It becomes one of the dominant teams of the 1920s and 1930s.

1945 – Allied firebombing raids begin against Dresden, reducing the eastern German city to rubble and flames, and causing around 25,000 deaths. The assault becomes the single most destructive bombing of World War II — including Hiroshima and Nagasaki — and has been considered controversial because Dresden was neither significant to German wartime production nor an industrial center.

1965 – Sixteen-year-old Peggy Fleming wins the ladies senior figure skating title at the U.S. Figure Skating championships in Lake Placid, New York. Fleming goes on to win Olympic gold.

1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

2001 – “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” by director Ang Lee, earns 10 Oscar nominations, becoming the first Asian film and only the seventh foreign-language production to get a nod for Best Picture.

Musical Milestones

1914 – The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

1961 – “Calcutta,” by American bandleader and television host Lawrence Welk, begins two weeks as the No. 1 single. It becomes the most successful chart hit of Welk’s career.

1961 – Frank Sinatra launches Reprise Records in order to have more artistic freedom for his own recordings — a move that garners him the nickname “The Chairman of the Board.” Reprise later becomes the home of many influential acts, such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and The Beach Boys.

1967 – The Beatles release the double A-sided single “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane” on Capitol Records in the U.S.

1971 – “One Bad Apple,” by The Osmonds, latches on to the No. 1 spot on the singles chart for five weeks.

1982 – The J. Geils Band is in the midst of a six-week stretch at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Centerfold.”

1993 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, is in the midst of a 14-week ride atop the singles chart.

1999 – Monica begins a four-week hold at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Angel of Mine.”

On This Day February 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Novelist James Joyce, considered one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century (“Dubliners,” “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” “Ulysses,” “Finnegans Wake”) (d. 1941)

1937 – Comedian-musician Tom Smothers of the Smothers Brothers

1942 – Singer-songwriter Graham Nash, who performed with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and The Hollies

1947 – Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated actress and pop icon Farrah Fawcett (“Charlie’s Angels,” “Extremities,” “The Burning Bed “) (d. 2009)

1949 – Actor Brent Spiner, best known for his portrayal of Data in TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series and four subsequent films

1954 – Supermodel Christie Brinkley

1977 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Shakira, born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll (“Whenever, Wherever,” “Hips Don’t Lie”)

History Highlights

1880 – The first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana.

1887 – Groundhog Day is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. According to tradition, if the groundhog sees his shadow, we’re in for six more weeks of winter. No shadow means an early spring.

1913 – After 10 years of construction, the iconic Grand Central Terminal opens in Midtown Manhattan. More than 150,000 people visit New York City’s newest landmark on its first day of operation.

1964 – The G.I. Joe action figure hits U.S. toy stores. Manufacturer Hasbro boasts that this fighting man has 21 movable parts.

1980 – Details of ABSCAM, an FBI operation to uncover political corruption in the government, are released to the public. Thirty-one public officials had been targeted for investigation.

1996 – Acclaimed dancer, actor and choreographer Gene Kelly, who helped shape the Golden Age of movie musicals, dies at his Beverly Hills, California home at the age of 83.

2014 – Oscar-winning actor, director and producer Philip Seymour Hoffman, who starred in more than 50 movies, including “Capote, “Doubt,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” and “The Hunger Games” series, dies of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 46.

Musical Milestones

1959 – The Platters are perched on top of the singles chart with “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.”

1959 – Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper take their Winter Dance Party tour to the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. It would be the last gig the three rock and roll legends ever play, as a plane crash claims their lives the next day.

1963 – The Rooftop Singers mark their second and final week as chart toppers with “Walk Right In.”

1973 – The first rock concert TV series, “The Midnight Special,” debuts on NBC, hosted by Wolfman Jack and Mike Carruthers.

1974 – Barbra Streisand starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the Academy Award-winning theme from the movie “The Way We Were.”

1979 – Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious dies of a heroin overdose in New York City at the age of 21. It happens just one day after his release from prison on bail following his arrest on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend.

1980 – Michael Jackson is in the midst of a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Rock With You,” from his “Off The Wall” album.

1991 – “To The Extreme,” by Vanilla Ice, tops the Billboard album chart. The album contains the hits “Ice Ice Baby” and a cover of “Play That Funky Music.”

2002 – Usher is in the middle of a five-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “U Got It Bad.”

2008 – “Low,” by Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, is the No. 1 single.

On This Day January 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1820 – Civil rights crusader Harriet Tubman, known for freeing slaves via the Underground Railroad, and who served as a Union spy during the Civil War (d. 1913)

1843 – 25th U.S. President William McKinley, who was assassinated six months into his second term after leading the nation to victory in the Spanish-American War (d. 1901)

1940 – Actress Katharine Ross (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Stepford Wives”)

1945 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Tom Selleck (“Magnum, P.I.,” “Lassiter,” “Three Men and a Baby,” “Friends,” “Blue Bloods”)

1954 – Media executive, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey

1970 – Actress Heather Graham (“Twin Peaks,” “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me,” “Boogie Nights,” “Bowfinger,” Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” “The Hangover”)

1975 – Actress and TV talk show host Sara Gilbert (“Roseanne,” “The Talk’)

1982 – Singer-songwriter Adam Lambert, whose career was launched during the eighth season of “American Idol” and now tours with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor as Queen + Adam Lambert

History Highlights

1845 – The Evening Mirror publishes Edgar Allan Poe’s now-classic poem, “The Raven” which begins, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary…”

1936 – The first inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame are announced In Cooperstown, New York. They include Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

1963 – Robert Frost, considered the dean of American poets, dies in Boston at the age of 88.

1964 – Stanley Kubrick’s black comic masterpiece, “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” opens in movie theaters to critical acclaim. Actor Peter Sellers plays three roles in the Cold War parody.

1979 – Teenager Brenda Spencer shoots and kills two men and wounds nine children as they enter the Grover Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego. Asked by authorities upon her arrest why she did it, the 16-year-old replies, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.” The incident inspires The Boomtown Rats to write their hit song, “I Don’t Like Mondays.”

1979 – President Jimmy Carter welcomes Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to the White House following the establishment of diplomatic relations. The visit culminates with the signing of historic new accords that reverse decades of U.S. opposition to the People’s Republic of China.

2002 – In his first State of the Union address since the September 11 terror attacks on the U.S., President George W. Bush says Iraq, Iran and North Korea constitute an “axis of evil.” He outlines his rationale for the “war on terror,” a series of military engagements which would define U.S. foreign policy for years to come.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles spend the day at the Pathe Marconi Studios in Paris in their only studio recording session for EMI held outside the U.K. They record “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “Can’t Buy Me Love” in German.

1966 – “We Can Work It Out,” by The Beatles, reaches the top of the Billboard singles chart and remains there for a week.

1970 – Elvis Presley releases the single “Kentucky Rain,” which climbs as high as No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1972 – Don McLean’s “American Pie” is in the midst of a four-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100. In 2017, the recording is selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or artistically significant.”

1977 – “Car Wash,” by Rose Royce, is the No. 1 single. It comes from the movie of the same name that features Richard Pryor, George Carlin and The Pointer Sisters, and is considered a staple of the disco genre.

1983 – Men at Work wrap up three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Down Under,” off the Aussie band’s “Business as Usual” album.

1994 – “All for Love,” by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting, is in the middle of a three-week run on top of the pop chart. The single comes from the soundtrack to “The Three Musketeers,” a movie starring Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland and Chris O’Donnell.

2000 – The No. 1 spot on the pop chart belongs to Australian pop duo Savage Garden with “I Knew I Loved You.”

2011 – Britney Spears lands on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Hold It Against Me.”

2019 – Two-time Grammy-winning 80s R&B singer-songwriter James Ingram (“Just Once,” “Baby, Come to Me,” “I Don’t Have the Heart”) dies of brain cancer at the age of 66.

On This Day January 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Soul singing sensation Sam Cooke (“You Send Me,” “Chain Gang” and “Twistin’ the Night Away”) (d. 1964)

1934 – Actor Bill Bixby (“My Favorite Martian,” “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father,” “The Incredible Hulk”) (d. 1993)

1940 – Actor John Hurt (“A Man For All Seasons,” “Midnight Express,” “Alien,” “The Elephant Man”) (d. 2017)

1949 – Journey frontman Steve Perry

1959 – Actress Linda Blair, best known for her portrayal of the demonically possessed girl in the horror movie “The Exorcist”

1960 – INXS founding member and frontman Michael Hutchence (d. 1997)

1965 – Actress Diane Lane (“Unfaithful,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Under the Tuscan Sun,” “Man of Steel”)

1968 – Restaurateur and TV host Guy Fieri (“Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives”)

History Highlights

1968 – The variety show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” premieres on NBC and helps launch the acting careers of Goldie Hawn, Lily Tomlin and many others.

1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court delivers its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing elective abortion in all 50 states. The 7-2 ruling means that a woman’s right to privacy extends to her right to make her own medical decisions, including having an abortion.

1973 – George Foreman is crowned World Heavyweight Boxing Champion after knocking out Joe Frazier in two rounds during “The Sunshine Showdown” in Kingston, Jamaica.

1973 – Four years after completing his last term as U.S. president, Lyndon Johnson dies at his Texas ranch at the age of 64.

1998 – Mathematics professor-turned-domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. “The Unabomber”) pleads guilty to federal charges in connection with his 17-year campaign of package bombings that killed three people and injured more than 20 others. He receives a life sentence.

2008 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Heath Ledger, best known for his roles in the movies “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Dark Knight,” dies from accidental intoxication by prescription drugs at the age of 28.

Musical Milestones

1963 – The Drifters enter a studio to record their classic, “On Broadway,” which climbs as high as No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. In 1978, George Benson’s cover of the hit makes it to No. 7 on the pop chart.

1966 – “The Sounds of Silence,” by Simon & Garfunkel, is the No. 1 single.

1966 – Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, steps onto the Billboard Hot 100 with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” The track marches its way to No. 1 about a month later.

1977 – Stevie Wonder is on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Wish.”

1983 – “Down Under,” by Australian band Men At Work, is mid-way through a three-week reign over the Billboard singles chart.

1994 – “All For Love” by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting is the No. 1 single. The track is from the movie “The Three Musketeers.”

2000 – Christina Aguilera has the No. 1 single with “What a Girl Wants.”