Nixon – Time Rewind

On This Day April 16

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On This Day April 26

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Celebrity Birthdays

1933 – Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning comedian-actress Carol Burnett

1936 – Guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Duane Eddy

1958 – Actor Giancarlo Esposito (“Do The Right Thing,” “School Days,” “The Usual Suspects,” “Malcolm X,” “Breaking Bad”)

1963 – Martial artist-actor Jet Li (“The War Lords,” “Lethal Weapon 4,” “Romeo Must Die,” “Kiss of the Dragon,” “The Forbidden Kingdom”)

1965 – Actor-comedian Kevin James (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The King of Queens,” “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” “Grown Ups,” “Zookeeper,” “Pixels”)

1980 – Actor Channing Tatum (“Coach Carter,” “21 Jump Street,” “22 Jump Street,” “She’s the Man,” “The Dilemma,” “White House Down,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Hateful Eight,” “Hail, Caesar!”, “Smallfoot”)

History Highlights

1865 – Presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth is killed by Union soldiers that track him to a Virginia farm 12 days after Booth fatally shot Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C.

1954 – More than 1.8 million American children (“Polio Pioneers”) participate in the Salk polio vaccine field trials. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the vaccine in an effort to wipe out polio — an infectious disease occurring primarily in children that can result in paralysis. A year later, researchers declare that the vaccine is safe and effective, and it becomes a standard part of childhood immunizations across the U.S.

1984 – President Ronald Reagan visits China — the first such mission by a U.S. president since the historic Nixon trip in 1972.

1986 – An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine sets off fires that release deadly radioactive material into the air, becoming the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

1986 – Almost a decade after meeting at a celebrity tennis tournament, TV news reporter Maria Shriver weds movie actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger. The marriage lasts 25 years.

1989 – An American entertainment icon, comedian Lucille Ball (“I Love Lucy”) dies at the age of 78.

1994 – South Africa’s 18 million blacks vote in multi-party elections for the first time ever and anti-Apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela is elected president.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The Edwin Hawkins Singers hit the singles chart with “Oh Happy Day,” which eventually soars to No. 4 and million-selling status. It becomes the first gospel track to cross over to the pop chart.

1975 – B.J. Thomas owns the hottest single in America with “(Hey Won’t You Play), Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.”

1980 – Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” begins its 15th and final week on top of the Billboard album chart. It becomes the best-selling album of 1980.

1986 – “Kiss,” by Prince and The Revolution, holds at No. 1 on the singles chart for a second week. The song clinches Prince a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

1988 – A jury in White Plains, New York finds Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger not guilty of copyright infringement. Reggae singer Patrick Alley had sued Jagger for $7 million over the song “Just Another Night,” claiming the chorus’s lyrics were similar to his version. Jagger provided jurors with a rare glimpse into his work habits by playing homemade and studio tapes demonstrating the development of his song.

1997 – “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down,” by Puff Daddy featuring Mase, wraps up a six-week run as a Billboard chart-topper.

2008 – Leona Lewis kicks off a week at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Bleeding Love.”

2013 – George Jones, known as “the greatest voice in country music,” dies in Nashville at the age of 81.

On This Day April 27

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Celebrity Birthdays

1791 – Inventor and painter Samuel Morse, most famous for creating the telegraph (d. 1872)

1822 – 18th U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant, who helped lead the Union forces to victory during the Civil War (d. 1885)

1922 – Actor Jack Klugman (“The Odd Couple,” “Quincy, M.E.”) (d. 2012)

1927 – Civil rights leader Coretta Scott King, wife of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 2006)

1932 – Radio personality Casey Kasem, co-founder and former host of “American Top 40” and the voice of Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo” (d. 2014)

1951 – Guitarist and Kiss co-founder Ace Frehley

1959 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheena Easton (“Morning Train,” “For Your Eyes Only,” “Sugar Walls”)

1986 – Actress Jenna Coleman (“Doctor Who,” “Victoria,” “The Cry”)

1988 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Lizzo, born Melissa Viviane Jefferson

History Highlights

1865 – After surviving the horrors of the Civil War, some Union soldiers — many former prisoners of war — are crammed aboard the steamboat Sultana, heading home along the Mississippi River, when the ship’s boilers explode. More than 1,800 passengers die as the ship burns and sinks, resulting in the worst maritime disaster in American history — with more lives lost than in the 1912 Titanic sinking.

1936 – The United Auto Workers (UAW) gains autonomy from the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

1956 – Rocky Marciano retires from boxing at age 31, ending his career as the only undefeated world heavyweight champion: 49 wins in 49 professional bouts, with 43 knockouts.

1974 – Some 10,000 demonstrators march in Washington, D.C. calling for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon.

1982 – Jury selection begins in the trial of John Hinckley, Jr., charged with the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1993 – Authorities in North Carolina determine that film crew negligence is to blame for the death of actor Brandon Lee, who was accidentally shot and killed a month earlier on the set of the action-adventure movie “The Crow.” Brandon was the son of legendary martial arts star Bruce Lee.

2009 – General Motors (GM) announces plans to discontinue production of its 80-year-old Pontiac line of cars in 2010.

Musical Milestones

1963 – High school freshman Little Peggy March (born Margaret Annemarie Battavio) marches to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “I Will Follow Him.” The song remains at No. 1 for three weeks and makes March, at age 15, the youngest female singer to ever have a chart-topping hit.

1967 – Motown Records releases the Marvin Gaye-Tammi Terrell duet, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” which becomes a Top 20 hit. Diana Ross’ 1970 version rockets to the top of the pop chart, becoming her first No. 1 since leaving The Supremes.

1974 – “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia),” by MFSB and The Three Degrees, is the No. 1 single.

1981 – Singer-songwriter and legendary Beatles drummer Ringo Starr weds actress Barbara Bach, best known for her roles in the James Bond movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” and “Force 10 from Navarone.”

1985 – “We Are The World,” the musical collaboration produced under the baton of Quincy Jones as a fundraiser for African famine relief, is in the middle of a four-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – Amy Grant’s “Baby Baby begins two weeks as the most popular single in the U.S.

1999 – British rockers The Verve, best known for their Grammy-nominated hit “Bitter Sweet Symphony” and the chart-topping singles “The Drugs Don’t Work” and “Lucky Man,” announce their second breakup. The band re-forms in 2007, but by 2009, the musicians truly go their separate ways.

2002 – “Foolish,” off Ashanti’s self-titled debut album, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains at No. 1 for 10 weeks. The accompanying music video features actor Terrence Howard.

On This Day February 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1818 – Former slave-turned-civil rights activist Frederick Douglass (d. 1895)

1894 – Legendary comedian Jack Benny, born Benjamin Kubelsky (d. 1974)

1913 – American labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances (d. 1975)

1921 – Retired Emmy-winning TV anchor-host Hugh Downs (“Today” show, “20/20”)

1934 – Actress Florence Henderson, best remembered for playing Carol Brady on the sitcom “The Brady Bunch” (d. 2016)

1942 – Businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

1944 – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former “Washington Post” reporter Carl Bernstein, who, along with colleague Bob Woodward, broke the Watergate story that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon

1960 – Golden Globe-winning actress Meg Tilly (“The Big Chill,” “Agnes of God”)

1970 – Actor Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End,” “Spaced,” “Star Trek,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Mission: Impossible”)

1972 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas

History Highlights

1849 – James Polk becomes the first American president to be photographed while in office.

1920 – The League of Women Voters is established as a “political experiment” designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. It encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy.

1924 – International technology giant IBM (International Business Machines Corp.) is founded and eventually becomes known as “Big Blue.”

1929 – Seven rivals of mobster Al Capone are gunned down in a Chicago garage during the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1962 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gives Americans an intimate, televised tour of The White House, hosted by CBS News correspondent Charles Collingwood. Although produced by CBS, the special airs on all three major TV networks the same week and is eventually broadcast in other countries, reaching an estimated global audience of some 80 million viewers.

1988 – U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the 500-meter race at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, falls during competition, only hours after learning his sister had died of cancer.

1989 – Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini calls on Muslims to kill “The Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie because his book mocked or at least contained mocking references to the Prophet Muhammad and other aspects of Islam.

2018 – An expelled student enters Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opens fire, killing 17 people and wounding 17 others, in what becomes the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Aretha Franklin records the soul single, “Respect,” at the Atlantic Records studio in New York. The now-classic track, which was written by Otis Redding, climbs to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that June.

1970 – ”Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” by Sly & the Family Stone, is the hottest song on the radio.

1972 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono serve as co-hosts of “The Mike Douglas Show” for an entire week.

1981 – “Celebration,” by Kool & the Gang, begins its second and final week as the No. 1 single.

1987 – Bon Jovi grabs hold of the top spot on the Billboard singles chart for four weeks with “Livin’ on a Prayer,” off the “Slippery When Wet” album.

1998 – Usher has his first No. 1 single with “Nice & Slow.” The track remains a Billboard chart-topper for two weeks.

2004 – “The Way You Move,” by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown, is the No. 1 single.

2015 – “Uptown Funk,” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, is in the midst of a 14-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On This Day December 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

1942 – Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

1945 – Singer-songwriter and The Monkees band member Davy Jones (d. 2012)

1946 – Singer-songwriter Patti Smith, known as the “Godmother of Punk”

1953 – Emmy-winning journalist and TV host Meredith Vieira (“The View,” “The Today Show,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)

1957 – Former TV journalist and NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, who was fired from his network job in November 2017 for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace

1975 – Pro golf champion Tiger Woods, born Eldrick Tont Woods

1984 – NBA superstar LeBron James, who played for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018

1986 – Pop star Ellie Goulding (“Starry Eyed,” “Your Song,” “Anything Could Happen,” “On My Mind,” “Love Me like You Do”)

History Highlights

1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established as a new communist state following the era of the Russian Empire. It becomes the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

1936 – Known as “the strike heard round the world,” auto workers at General Motors’ Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan stage one of the first sit-down strikes in U.S. history. The workers were seeking safer assembly line conditions, better pay and recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the sole bargaining agent for GM employees. The strike lasts 44 days.

1940 – California opens its first freeway — the Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of only three “federal scenic byways” in California, and designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a historical engineering landmark.

1963 – The game show “Let’s Make a Deal” debuts, hosted by Monty Hall.

1972 – President Richard Nixon orders a halt to the heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles say “hello” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hello, Goodbye,” the band’s 15th chart topper.

1968 – Peter Tork quits the pop-rock band The Monkees.

1978 – Chic rules the singles chart with disco anthem “Le Freak.”

1978 – Rock and Roll supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) officially announce their break-up.

1989 – “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins’ song about homelessness, becomes the last No. 1 single of the 80s and first No. 1 single of the 90s. It goes on to capture Record of the Year honors at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.

1995 – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men are in the middle of a 16-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day” — the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

1999 – George Harrison suffers stab wounds to the chest and a punctured lung when a 33-year-old man breaks into his home in Oxfordshire, England and attacks the former Beatle and his wife, Olivia.

2000 – Destiny’s Child (featuring Beyoncé) is in the midst of an 11-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part 1,” from the “Charlie’s Angels” movie soundtrack.

On This Day November 26

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (d. 2000)

1933 – Grammy, Tony and Emmy-winning singer-actor Robert Goulet (d. 2007)

1938 – Impressionist-comedian Rich Little, known as “the man of a thousand voices”

1939 – Grammy-winning rock singer-songwriter Tina Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock and dubbed the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” (“River Deep – Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” “Private Dancer,” “Typical Male”)

1981 – British pop star Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten,” “Soulmate,” “I Wanna Have Your Babies”)

History Highlights

1789 – November 26 is the day that President George Washington officially proclaims as Thanksgiving Day after Congress asks him to recommend “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” It is next proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 for the last Thursday in November. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moves Thanksgiving to the next to last Thursday in November, but facing criticism for the move, he signs a bill in 1941 officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

1922 – British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter King Tutankhamen’s tomb in more than 3,000 years. The sealed burial chambers in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings are found intact along with a collection of several thousand priceless objects, including a gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king.

1956 – TV’s longest-running game show, “The Price is Right,” premieres with Bill Cullen as host and Don Pardo as announcer.

1973 – Rose Mary Woods, President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary, tells a federal court that she accidentally erased 18 minutes from a key Watergate tape.

1975 – A federal jury finds Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme guilty of the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. Fromme receives a life sentence and manages to escape from prison in 1987. However, she was captured and returned to prison until her 2009 release.

Musical Milestones

1958 – Johnny Cash debuts on the country music chart when “Cry! Cry! Cry!” makes it to No. 14. His next seven singles would all make the country Top 10, with “I Walk the Line” and “There You Go” both reaching No. 1.

1962 – Four lads from Liverpool, England enter Abbey Road Studios for their first recording session as The Beatles, laying down “Please Please Me” and “Ask Me Why.”

1968 – The British rock band Cream, featuring guitarist-vocalist Eric Clapton, plays its farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Considered rock music’s first “super-group,” Cream is most remembered for the 1968 hits “Sunshine of Your Love” (Billboard No. 5) and “White Room” (Billboard No. 6).

1977 – Debby Boone maintains her 10-week hold on the No, 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “You Light Up My Life.”

1983 – “All Night Long (All Night),” by Lionel Richie, is in the middle of four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, begins its 14th and final week on top of the pop chart.

1994 – The Eagles kick off two weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Hell Freezes Over,” the band’s second live album.

On This Day November 25

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Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (d. 1919)

1914 – New York Yankees Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio (d. 1999)

1920 – Emmy-winning actor Ricardo Montalban, best known for playing Mr. Rourke on ABC’s “Fantasy Island” and Captain Kirk’s nemesis in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”) (d. 2009)

1944 – Economist-turned-presidential speechwriter-turned actor, comedian and Emmy-winning game show host Ben Stein (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “Win Ben Stein’s Money”)

1947 – Emmy-winning actor John Larroquette (“Night Court,” “The John Larroquette Show,” “The West Wing,” “Boston Legal”)

1960 – Publisher and presidential son John F. Kennedy, Jr. (d. 1999)

1960 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Amy Grant (“Next Time I Fall,” “Baby, Baby”)

1971 – Emmy-winning actress Christina Applegate (“Married… with Children,” “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” and its sequel, “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues”)

History Highlights

1947 – Film industry executives announce that 10 directors, producers and actors — the so-called “Hollywood Ten” — who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, will be fired or suspended.

1950 – A killer blizzard that comes to be known as “The Storm of the Century” paralyzes the eastern U.S. from western Pennsylvania and Ohio to New England and the Appalachians with heavy snow, 100-mile-per-hour winds and sub-zero temperatures. Coburn Creek, West Virginia receives the greatest snowfall: 62 inches. The storm claims more than 350 lives and becomes one of the costliest on record.

1973 – In response to the oil crisis, President Richard Nixon calls for a Sunday ban on the sale of gasoline to consumers. The proposal is part of a larger plan announced earlier in the month to achieve energy self-sufficiency in the U.S. by 1980.

1986 – The Iran-Contra scandal comes to light, as U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese announces that profits from covert weapons sales to Iran were illegally diverted to the anti-communist Contra rebels in Nicaragua. An investigation determines that the diversion of those funds had no direct link to then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Musical Milestones

1965 – Harrods department store in London closes to the public for two hours so The Beatles can go Christmas shopping. Sadly, with Christmas still four weeks away, the Fab Four end up giving away all the gifts they bought during their spree.

1967 – “Incense and Peppermints,” by Strawberry Alarm Clock. is on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1976 – The Band give their final performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The show also features Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton and other rock legends. Director Martin Scorsese films the event and releases it as a documentary called “The Last Waltz.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli start a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Blame It On The Rain,” the duo’s third No. 1 of the year.

1992 – “The Bodyguard” opens in theaters, starring Whitney Houston in her first acting role, and Kevin Costner. The soundtrack becomes the best-selling soundtrack of all time, with many of the songs dominating the pop chart.

1995 – Whitney Houston scores her 11th No. 1 single with “Exhale (Shoop Shoop),” off the “Waiting To Exhale” movie soundtrack. The song was written and produced by Babyface.

2003 – Pop music legend Michael Jackson is arrested on suspicion of child molestation. He posts a $3 million bond and is released less than an hour later.

On This Day November 17

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Actor and 1950s-60s leading man Rock Hudson (“Magnificent Obsession,” “All That Heaven Allows,” “Giant,” “Pillow Talk,” “McMillan & Wife”) (d. 1985)

1938 – Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the talent behind some of the biggest pop-folk hits of the 1970s (“If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,” “Rainy Day People,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”)

1942 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy-winning director-producer Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Irishman”)

1944 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor-director-producer Danny DeVito (“Taxi,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Ruthless People,” “Tin Men,” “Throw Momma from the Train,” “Get Shorty,” “L.A. Confidential”)

1944 – “Saturday Night Live” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels

1960 – Drag queen, singer and actor RuPaul, born RuPaul Andre Charles

1978 – Actress Rachel McAdams (“Mean Girls,” “The Notebook,” “Wedding Crashers,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Midnight in Paris,” “The Vow,” “Spotlight,” “Doctor Strange”)

History Highlights

1869 – The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, formally opens. The 100-mile-long waterway shortens the sea route from Europe to India by about 4,000 miles.

1962 – President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicate Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C. region.

1968 – The Oakland Raiders score two touchdowns in nine seconds at home to defeat the New York Jets, but television viewers never see the win. With just over a minute left in the game, NBC cuts to the previously scheduled made-for-TV movie “Heidi” — based on the book about a young girl and her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. The network apologizes after being bombarded by complaints in what comes to be called “The Heidi Game.”

1973 – In the midst of the Watergate scandal that eventually destroys his presidency, President Richard Nixon tells a room full of newspaper editors, “I’m not a crook.”

2003 – Actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as the 38th governor of California at the State Capitol in Sacramento.

2003 – Ex-soldier John Allen Muhammad is found guilty of one of a series of sniper shootings that terrorized the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and dominated national headlines for three weeks in the fall of 2002. The shootings left 10 people dead.

Musical Milestones

1839 – Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s first opera, “Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio,” debuts in Milan.

1958 – “Tom Dooley,” by The Kingston Trio, is No. 1 on the pop chart. The single goes on to sell over three million copies and puts the band at the forefront of the pop-folk boom that continued through the 1960s.

1962 – The Four Seasons park themselves on top of the singles chart for five weeks with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

1970 – Elton John’s music career is in its infancy when he performs a concert to a small audience at A&R Studios in New York that is broadcast live on local radio station WABC-FM. A recording of the session is packaged as his first live album, “11-17-70” (U.S. version) and “17-11-70” (U.K. version) and released in April 1971.

1979 – The Commodores top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Still.”

1984 – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” by Wham!, begins three weeks as a Billboard No. 1 single.

1990 – “Love Takes Time,” by Mariah Carey, is in the middle of three weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

2001 – Mary J. Blige is queen of the pop chart with “Family Affair.”

On This Day October 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – NBC “The Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson (d. 2005)

1940 – Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento (d. 2022)

1942 – Doctor-turned-author and producer Michael Crichton (“The Andromeda Strain,” “Jurassic Park,” “ER”) (d. 2008)

1954 – Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi”)

1956 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and actor Dwight Yoakam

1959 – The Grammy-winning master of the musical parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic

1962 – Former NFL and Canadian Football League star quarterback Doug Flutie

1976 – Actor Ryan Reynolds (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Proposal,” “Buried,” “The Green Lantern,” “The Change-Up,” “Mississippi Grind,” “Deadpool”)

History Highlights

1973 – President Richard Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the Watergate scandal.

1983 – A suicide bomber drives a truck into the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 military personnel.

1989 – Thunderous explosions rock the Phillips 66 refinery in Pasadena, Texas, outside Houston, killing 23 employees and injuring more than 130 others. The blasts pack the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake. The ensuing fires take nearly 10 hours to extinguish.

1998 – Dr. Barnett Slepian is shot to death inside his home near Buffalo, New York by an anti-abortion radical, marking the fifth straight year that a doctor who was willing to perform abortions in upstate New York and Canada was targeted by a sniper.

2002 – Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater and take close to a thousand people hostage during the sold-out performance of a popular musical. By the time the siege ends, the attackers and 130 hostages are dead.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Dion kicks off a two-week run atop the pop chart with “Runaround Sue.”

1962 – Little Stevie Wonder is 12 years old when he records his first single for Motown: “Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way).”

1965 – The Beatles are midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Yesterday,” off the “Help!” album.

1971 – “Maggie May,” by Rod Stewart, is in the middle of of five weeks as a No. 1 single.

1976 – Chicago scores its first No. 1 single with “If You Leave Me Now,” off the band’s “Chicago X” album.” The track remains a chart-topper for two weeks and goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1982 – Performing under the name “John Cougar” because of a contractual agreement with his record label, John Mellencamp enters his fourth and final week on top of the singles chart with “Jack & Diane.”

1987 – Madonna lands on the big screen, as the comedy “Who’s That Girl” opens in London.

1999 – “Smooth,” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, begins 12 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The single goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammys.

2006 – Amy Winehouse releases her autobiographical song, “Rehab,” from her second and final studio album, “Back to Black.” The track wins Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

On this Day August 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Actor Robert Shaw (“A Man For All Seasons,” “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three,” “Jaws,” “Black Sunday”) (d. 1978)

1944 – Actor Sam Elliott (“Gunsmoke,” “Mask,” “Road House,” “Tombstone,” “The Big Lebowski,” “Ghost Rider,” “The Golden Compass,” “Grandma,” “The Ranch”)

1957 – Golden Globe-winning actress Melanie Griffith (“Something Wild, “Working Girl,” “Shining Through,” “Crazy in Alabama”)

1963 – Six-time Grammy-winning pop sensation Whitney Houston (d. 2012)

1968 – Actor Eric Bana (“Black Hawk Down,” “Hulk,” “Munich,” “Star Trek”)

1968 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Gillian Anderson, best known for playing Special Agent Dana Scully in the hit sci-fi series “The X-Files.”

1985 – Actress Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” “The Twilight Saga,” “Pitch Perfect,” “Pitch Perfect 2,” “Into the Woods”)

History Highlights

1936 – African American track star Jesse Owens captures his fourth Gold medal at the Berlin Olympic Games in the 4×100-meter relay. His relay team set a new world record of 39.8 seconds. In their strong showing in track and field, Owens and other African American athletes struck a publicity blow to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who planned to use the international event to showcase supposed Aryan superiority.

1945 – Three days after the bombing of Hiroshima, the U.S. drops a second atomic bomb on Japan. This time the target is Nagasaki. The attack leads to Japan’s unconditional surrender and brings hostilities in World War II to a close. The combined attacks leave some 200,000 people dead and level both cities.

1969 – In one of the most horrifying crimes of the 1960s, members of Charles Manson’s cult, the Manson Family, murder five people in the Beverly Hills home of director Roman Polanski. Polanski’s pregnant wife, 26-year-old actress Sharon Tate, is among the victims.

1974 – Gerald Ford becomes the 38th U.S. president, taking the oath of office on the heels of the Richard Nixon resignation.

1975 – The Louisiana Superdome opens and an exhibition game there sees the Houston Oilers trounce the hometown New Orleans Saints by a score of 31-7.

2010 – JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater quits his job in dramatic fashion after his flight lands at New York’s JFK International Airport. He gets on the public address system, swears at a passenger whom he claimed treated him rudely, grabs a beer and slides down the plane’s emergency chute onto the tarmac.

Musical Milestones

1959 – “Stagger Lee,” by Lloyd Price, begins a four-week hold on the top spot on the singles chart.

1969 – Blood, Sweat, & Tears’ Grammy-winning self-titled album tops the Billboard 200. The album delivers the Top 5 hits “And When I Die,” “Spinning Wheel” and “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy.”

1975 – The Bee Gees dominate the Billboard Hot 100 with their second No. 1 hit in the U.S.: “Jive Talkin’.” The single holds the top spot for two weeks.

1980 – Olivia Newton-John is in the midst of a four-week reign over the pop chart with “Magic.”

1995 – Deadheads everywhere mourn as a heart attack claims the life of Grateful Dead leader Jerry Garcia at the age of 53. Rolling Stone magazine’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time ranks Garcia at No. 13.

1997 – “I’ll Be Missing You,” by Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112, continues its domination over the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – “Crazy in Love,” by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z, is the No. 1 single. The track holds the top spot for eight weeks.

2008 – Katy Perry is in the middle of a seven-week domination of the pop chart with “I Kissed a Girl.”