North Carolina – Time Rewind

On This Day April 27

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On This Day December 31

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Celebrity Birthdays

1869 – Artist Henri Matisse (d. 1954)

1925 – Actor Peter Sellers, best known for his comedic roles in the “Pink Panther” series and “Dr. Strangelove” (d. 1980)

1932 – Country music singer Patsy Cline (“Crazy,” “Walking After Midnight”) (d. 1963)

1937 – Oscar-winning actor-director-producer Sir Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Nixon,” “Thor,” “Westworld”)

1942 – Singer-guitarist and The Police band member Andy Summers

1943 – Country-folk singer-songwriter, actor and environmentalist John Denver (d. 1997)

1943 – Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi,” “Bugsy, “Schindler’s List”)

1948 – Disco superstar Donna Summer (d. 2012)

1959 – Actor Val Kilmer (“Top Gun,” “The Doors,” “Batman Forever,” “Conspiracy,” “Double Identity”)

1977 – Singer-rapper PSY, born Park Jae-sang, best known for his 2012 smash single “Gangnam Style”

History Highlights

1781 – The first bank in the U.S. opens under the name The Bank of North America.

1862 – Nine months after engaging in the most famous naval battles in American history, the ironclad warship USS Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Sixteen crewmen are killed. The Monitor had dueled to a standstill with another ironclad, the CSS Virginia (originally the CSS Merrimack), off Hampton Roads, Virginia on March 9, 1862.

1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent light bulb to the public for the first time.

1904 – The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in New York’s Times Square — known then as Longacre Square — at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Three years later, in 1907, the tradition of the dropping ball is introduced.

1946 – President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

1984 – Bernhard Goetz, the white man known as the “subway vigilante” after he shot four young black men on a New York City subway train, turns himself in to authorities in New Hampshire.

1999 – Days after Mikhail Gorbachev is re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, stuns his country and the world by announcing his resignation six months before the end of his term. He turns control over to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, undercutting Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together.

1999 – The United States officially turns control of the Panama Canal over to Panamanian authorities for the first time.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Monkees swing to the top of the singles chart with “I’m a Believer” and hold on for seven weeks, finally yielding to The Buckinghams’ “Kind of a Drag” in mid-February.

1970 – Eight months after the The Beatles’ breakup and subsequent release of their last album, “Let It Be,” Paul McCartney files suit against bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to officially dissolve their partnership.

1972 – Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” concert is broadcast on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Three Dog Night and Al Green. Clark hosts the annual event for the next 32 years before turning the reins over to Ryan Seacrest.

1977 – “How Deep Is Your Love,” by the Bee Gees, is in the middle of three weeks as the No. 1 single. The song is part of the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack.

1983 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a six-week domination of the pop chart with “Say Say Say.”

1985 – Former teen idol Ricky Nelson and six others are killed when their chartered plane crashes in Texas.

1988 – “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” by Poison, is in the midst of a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard single chart.

2005 – Mariah Carey begins a two-week hold on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2015 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Natalie Cole (“This Will Be,” “I’ve Got Love On My Mind,” “Miss You Like Crazy,” “Unforgettable”), daughter of legendary crooner and jazz pianist Nat King Cole, dies of congestive heart failure at the age of 65.

On This Day December 17

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Celebrity Birthdays

1939 – Singer-songwriter (The Temptations co-founder) Eddie Kendricks (d. 1992)

1945 – Actor Ernie Hudson (“Ghostbusters,” “The Crow,” “Oz”)

1945 – Political commentator and MSNBC host Chris Matthews

1946 – Actor Eugene Levy (“A Mighty Wind, “Best in Show,” “Waiting for Guffman.” “American Pie,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonians,” “Cheaper by the Dozen 2”)

1953 – Actor Bill Pullman (“Spaceballs,” “While You Were Sleeping,” “Independence Day,” “The Sinner”)

1974 – Actor Giovanni Rabisi (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Public Enemies,” “The Boiler Room,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Lost in Translation,” “Avatar,” “Ted”)

1975 – Actress-model Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element,” “Dazed and Confused,” “The Three Musketeers,” the “Resident Evil” series)

1978 – International boxing champion and Philippines lawmaker Manny Pacquiao

History Highlights

1903 – The Wright Brothers make their first powered and heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and revolutionize aviation.

1944 – The U.S. approves ending the internment of Japanese-American “evacuees” from the West coast.

1963 – Congress passes the Clean Air Act, a sweeping set of laws designed to protect the environment from air pollution. During the six decades since its enactment, the measure led to huge reductions in airborne lead, sulfur compounds, chlorofluorocarbons as well as concentrations of carbon monoxide, particulate matter and ozone.

1975 – A federal jury in California sentences Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme to life in prison for her attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford.

1979 – Hollywood stuntman Stan Barrett tears across the dry lakebed at California’s Edwards Air Force Base in a rocket- and missile-powered car, becoming the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound on land. However, he does not set an official record.

1989 – Doh! FOX TV’s Emmy-winning animated comedy series “The Simpsons,” created by Matt Groening, premieres. The first episode is called “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.” In 2018, the show surpasses the classic Western TV series “Gunsmoke’s” record 635 episodes to become America’s longest-running series.

Musical Milestones

1966 – Two weeks after its first trip to No. 1, “Winchester Cathedral,” by The New Vaudeville Band, returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1969 – Singer Tiny Tim (real name Herbert Butros Khaury) marries his sweetheart, “Miss Vickie” (real name Victoria Budinger), on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.”

1977 – Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” begins its tenth and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart.

1983 – The Paul McCartney-Michael Jackson duet, “Say Say Say,” is in the midst of a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the last No. 1 song of 1983 and first of 1984.

1995 – The Mariah Carey-Boys II Men collaboration, “One Sweet Day,” is into an unprecedented 16-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

2005 – Chris Brown’s debut single, “Run It!”, featuring Juelz Santana, rules the Billboard Hot 100.

On This Day September 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1936 – Actor Walter Koenig, best known for playing Chekov in the the “Star Trek” TV and movie series

1947 – Actor Sam Neill (“Dead Calm,” “The Piano,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Jurassic Park,” “Event Horizon”)

1947 – Singer John “Bowzer” Bauman from the doo-wop band Sha Na Na

1960 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Melissa Leo (“Homicide: Life on the Street,” “All My Children,” “Frozen River,” “The Fighter”)

1964 – Actress Faith Ford (“thirtysomething,” “Murphy Brown,” “Hope & Faith”)

1983 – Five-time Grammy Award winner and soul-singing icon Amy Winehouse, who died of alcohol poisoning at the peak of her music career (d. 2011)

History Highlights

1814 – After witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812, 35-year-old lawyer and poet Francis Scott Key writes a poem titled “Defence of Fort M’Henry,” which is later set to music, and in 1931, becomes America’s national anthem under its new title: “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over the fort at daybreak.

1901 – Six months into his second term as U.S. president, William McKinley dies after being shot by a deranged anarchist during the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

1959 – The Soviet’s Luna 2 rocket reaches the surface of the moon, becoming the first man-made object sent from Earth to the lunar surface. The event gives the Soviets a short-lived lead in the Space Race, and prompts the U.S. to speed up efforts to develop its own space program.

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson awards entertainment pioneer Walt Disney the Presidential Medal of Freedom, saying “in the course of entertaining an age, he has created an American folklore.”

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to author John Steinbeck, who had already received numerous other honors for his literary work, including the 1962 Nobel Prize and 1939 Pulitzer Prize for “The Grapes of Wrath.”

1965 – Marching onto TV screens for the first time are the military farce “F Troop” and the short-lived sitcom “My Mother the Car.”

1972 – Americans meet the Walton family and witness its trials and tribulations for nine years on CBS. “The Waltons” airs for the last time on this day in 1981, the same day that “Entertainment Tonight” premieres.

1982 – Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly), who was an Oscar and Golden Globe-winning American actress before marrying into royalty, dies in a car crash at the age of 52.

1999 – Millions evacuate their homes along the southeastern coast of the U.S. as Hurricane Floyd advances. The storm weakens from Category 4 to Category 2 by the time it makes landfall at Cape Fear, North Carolina on September 16. Floyd is blamed for nearly 60 deaths across eight U.S. states and The Bahamas.

2015 – A 14-year-old Muslim boy is arrested at his Irving, Texas high school after a digital clock he had reassembled at home using a pencil case was mistaken by his teacher to be a bomb. Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest triggers a media frenzy, as many saw the incident as a case of racial profiling.

Musical Milestones

1963 – “My Boyfriend’s Back,” by the New Jersey-based girl group The Angels, enters its third and final week on top of the pop chart.

1969 – The Rascals begin their fifth and final week with the No. 1 single, “People Got to Be Free.”

1974 – Written and released by reggae sensation Bob Marley a year earlier, Eric Clapton’s version of “I Shot the Sheriff” is No. 1 on the singles chart.

1974 – Stevie Wonder begins two weeks at No.1 on the album chart with “Fulfillingness First Finale,” his second chart-topper. The album goes on to capture three Grammys, including Album of the Year.

1985 – John Parr’s “St. Elmo’s Fire,” from the movie of the same name, is the No. 1 single for a second straight week.

1991 – “The Promise of a New Day,” by Paula Abdul, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

1996 – “Macarena,” by Los del Rio, is in the middle of 14 weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, is the No. 1 single.

On this Day July 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (d. 1993)

1922 – Fashion designer Pierre Cardin

1925 – Civil rights leader Medgar Evers (d. 1963)

1937 – Champion race car driver Richard Petty, nicknamed “The King” for winning the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR national championship each seven times

1946 – Tony-winning actor Ron Silver (“Reversal of Fortune,” “Ali,” “The West Wing,” “Speed-the-Plow”) (d. 2009)

1947 – Comedian-actor-writer Larry David (“Seinfeld,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”)

1956 – Supermodel-actress Jerry Hall, who was once married to The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger

1985 – Actress-singer Ashley Tisdale (“The Suite Life of Zack & Cody,” “Hellcats,” ”High School Musical”)

1986 – Actress Lindsay Lohan (“The Parent Trap,” “Freaky Friday,” “Mean Girls,” “Herbie: Fully Loaded,” “Just My Luck,” “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Bobby,” “Chapter 27”)

History Highlights

1776 – Convening in Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress formally adopts Richard Henry Lee’s resolution for independence from Great Britain. The vote is unanimous, with only New York abstaining.

1881 – President James A. Garfield is shot while walking through a Washington, D.C. railroad station. Vice President Chester Arthur steps in as acting president while Garfield recuperates, but 80 days later, Garfield dies of blood poisoning and Arthur is inaugurated as 21st president. The assassin, 40-year-old Charles Guiteau, had stalked the president for weeks.

1937 – Aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappear over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world. They were believed to be headed for Howland Island — about halfway between Hawaii and Australia — after taking off from Lae, New Guinea.

1964 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. The historic measure prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in public places as well as in employment, union membership and voter registration.

1979 – The Susan B. Anthony dollar coin is introduced, but fails to catch on because many consumers are unable to distinguish it from a quarter.

1994 – While attempting to land, US Air Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte-Douglas Airport in North Carolina, killing 37 people and seriously injuring 16 others. Investigators determine that wind shear resulting from a thunderstorm caused the plane to plummet to the ground and strike a home.

1997 – “Men in Black,” starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, opens in U.S. theaters. The sci-fi-comedy action movie grosses more than $250 million domestically and helps establish Smith as one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley and his new band, The Jordanaires, record “Hound Dog” at RCA Studios in New York. It requires 31 takes to get the version Elvis likes, and the song becomes a No. 1 smash. The track was originally recorded four years earlier by Big Mama Thornton, whose version enjoyed seven weeks on top of the R&B chart.

1966 – Ol’ Blue Eyes — Frank Sinatra — sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Strangers in the Night.”

1977 – Bill Conti soars to the top of the Billboard pop chart with “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from the movie “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone.

1988 – “Dirty Diana,” by Michael Jackson, reaches No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart, where it holds for a week. The track is among five chart-topping hits from Jackson’s “Bad” album.

1994 – All-4-One is in the middle of an 11-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Swear.”

2005 – “Inside Your Heaven” sends “American Idol” winner Carrie Underwood to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

2011 – Adele enters her seventh and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Rolling in the Deep.” The track, off her second album, “21,” goes on to capture Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Short Form Music Video. Many music critics ranked it as the best song of 2011.