Panama – Time Rewind

On This Day March 22

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On This Day January 3

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Celebrity Birthdays

1892 – English writer and poet J. R. R. Tolkien (“The Hobbit,” “Lord of the Rings”) (d. 1973)

1926 – Record producer-arranger George Martin, known as the “Fifth Beatle” (d. 2016)

1930 – Actor-director Robert Loggia (“Scarface,” “Big,” “Jagged Edge,” “Independence Day,” “Lost Highway,” “The Sopranos”) (d. 2015)

1932 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Dabney Coleman, (“9 to 5,” “Tootsie,” “WarGames,” “Buffalo Bill,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

1950 – Actress Victoria Principal, best known for her role as Pam Ewing in the hit series “Dallas”

1956 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor-producer-director Mel Gibson (“Mad Max,” “Braveheart,” the “Lethal Weapon” movie series, “The Patriot,” “The Passion of the Christ,” “The Beaver,” “Hacksaw Ridge”)

1981 – Star NFL quarterback Eli Manning of the New York Giants

History Highlights

1938 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his former law partner, Basil O’Connor, establish the March of Dimes (originally known as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis) to battle polio, the disease FDR contracted at the age of 39 that prevented him from ever walking on his own again.

1961 – The U.S. severs diplomatic relations with Cuba two years after Fidel Castro seized control of the island nation 90 miles off the coast of Florida.

1967 – Jack Ruby, the Dallas nightclub owner who killed the alleged assassin of President John F. Kennedy, dies of cancer in a Dallas hospital. The Texas Court of Appeals had recently overturned Ruby’s death sentence for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald and was scheduled to grant him a new trial.

1969 – Apollo 8 astronauts William Anders, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell grace the cover of TIME magazine as “Men of the Year” for becoming the first humans to orbit the moon. During their mission, the trio also captured the iconic “Earthrise” image of planet Earth hovering above the lunar surface. They were hailed for bringing a hopeful conclusion to 1968 — a year filled with social strife that included the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

1990 – Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega surrenders to U.S. military troops to face charges of drug trafficking.

1993 – The Buffalo Bills stage the greatest comeback in NFL history. Backup quarterback Frank Reich leads the Bills to an improbable 41-38 overtime victory over the Houston Oilers in an AFC wild card playoff game that would forever be known to football fans as “The Comeback.” In Houston, however, it was referred to as “The Choke.”

Musical Milestones

1970 – The Beatles record their last song as a group — George Harrison’s “I, Me, Mine” — which appears on the “Let It Be” album.

1970 – “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” by B.J. Thomas, begins a four-week domination of the singles chart. The song is featured in the film “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman.

1976 – S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT! Scotland’s Bay City Rollers hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Saturday Night.”

1981 – Less than four weeks after his assassination outside his Manhattan apartment building, John Lennon has the first No. 1 single of 1981 with “(Just Like) Starting Over.”

1987 – Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1987 – The Bangles claim the top spot on the singles chart with “Walk Like an Egyptian.”

1998 – Elton John’s tribute to the late Princess Diana, “Candle in the Wind 1997,” enters its 13th week as a No. 1 single.

2004 – OutKast rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hey Ya!” The track ultimately holds the top spot for nine weeks and goes on to win a Best Urban/Alternative Performance Grammy Award.

On This Day December 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1881 – Baseball Hall of Famer Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers coach who introduced Jackie Robinson, the farm club system and the batting helmet to baseball (d. 1965)

1898 – Actress Irene Dunne (“Showboat, “Anna and the King of Siam,” “Love Affair”) (d. 1990)

1932 – Actor John Hillerman (Higgins in the 1980s “Magnum, P.I.” series) (d. 2017)

1945 – Peter Criss, founding member and original drummer for the rock n’ roll supergroup, KISS

1946 – TV producer Dick Wolf (“Miami Vice,” “Law & Order”)

1957 – Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg (“She’s Leaving Home,” “We Laughed”)

1970 – Director-producer Todd Phillips (“The Hangover” series, “Due Date,” “Road Trip,” “Starsky & Hutch”)

1983 – Actor-comedian Jonah Hill (“Superbad,” “Knocked Up,” “21 Jump Street,” “This Is the End,” “22 Jump Street,” “Moneyball,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”)

History Highlights

1803 – One of the greatest real estate deals in history is completed as France turns over more than a million square miles of the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. for a price equal to about $20 per square mile.

1963 – More than two years after construction of the Berlin Wall by East Germany to prevent citizens from fleeing its communist regime, the wall is temporarily opened for the holidays. Nearly 4,000 West Berliners are granted one-day passes to cross into East Berlin to visit relatives. The wall is sealed off again on January 5, 1964.

1968 – Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Nobel laureate John Steinbeck, best known for works like “East of Eden,” “Of Mice and Men” and “The Grapes of Wrath,” dies at the age of 66.

1989 – Michael Moore’s documentary “Roger & Me,” about the economic toll General Motors’ factory closings and layoffs had on his hometown of Flint, Michigan, opens in theaters. It launches Moore’s career as a filmmaker.

1989 – The U.S. invades Panama in an effort to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Rock and Roll legend Elvis Presley is served his draft notice by the U.S. Army. Three months later, he ships out to the Company “D” 1st Tank Battalion 32nd Armor Corps based in Germany.

1969 – Peter, Paul and Mary top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” The song, written by John Denver, becomes the trio’s only No. 1 single and final hit recording.

1973 – The talent behind hits like “Dream Lover,” “Mack the Knife” and “Beyond the Sea” — teen idol Bobby Darin — dies at the age of 37 following open heart surgery.

1975 – “That’s the Way (I Like It),” by KC and the Sunshine Band, is the No. 1 single.

1986 – The Bangles start a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Walk Like an Egyptian.” That makes the track the final No. 1 single of 1986 and the first of 1987.

1997 – Elton John’s updated version of “Candle in the Wind,” a tribute to Princess Diana, maintains its hold on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

On This Day November 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actress-singer-dancer Dorothy Dandridge, who performed regularly at the legendary Cotton Club and Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem (d. 1965)

1934 – Astronomer-author Carl Sagan (“Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”) (d. 1996)

1935 – Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson

1941 – Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) rhythm guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Fogerty (d. 1990)

1951 – Actor-bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, best known for playing the big green guy in TV’s “The Incredible Hulk”

1970 – Grammy-winning blues singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi of Tedeschi Trucks Band

1972 – Actor Eric Dane, best known for playing Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy”

History Highlights

1906 – On the first foreign trip by a U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt departs for Panama from Chesapeake Bay aboard the recently commissioned battleship Louisiana.

1938 – Violent anti-Jewish demonstrations erupt across Germany, Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. The Nazi-led attacks are part of what is called “Kristallnacht” (“Night of Broken Glass”) after the countless smashed windows of Jewish-owned establishments. Nearly a hundred Jews are killed, 7,500 Jewish businesses are damaged and hundreds of synagogues, homes, schools and graveyards are vandalized.

1965 – A massive power failure in the middle of the evening rush hour leaves New Yorkers and millions of others in the Northeast and parts of Canada in the dark, with many people stranded in subways and elevators for up to 13 hours.

1967 – The first edition of Rolling Stone magazine hits newsstands featuring John Lennon on the cover.

1982 – Sugar Ray Leonard retires from boxing, but climbs back into the ring two years later.

1989 – A Cold War icon begins to literally crumble as East German officials open the Berlin Wall and allow citizens to travel from East to West Berlin. Built in 1961 by East German officials allied with the Soviets, the wall was designed to prevent those in East Germany from going to the West and came to represent the ideological differences between the Eastern Bloc and western countries at the time.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Record store manager Brian Epstein goes to a Liverpool, England nightclub to hear and meet The Beatles. Two months later, he becomes their manager and helps secure their first record deal, setting them on a path to global fame and fortune. Sometimes referred to as “the fifth Beatle,” Epstein dies in 1967 from an apparent accidental drug overdose at the age of 32.

1969 – Simon and Garfunkel record what becomes one of their signature songs — “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track captures five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1974 – Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – Jan Hammer tops the singles chart with the theme from the TV series “Miami Vice,” which starred Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas.

1991 – “Cream,” by Prince and the New Power Generation, kicks off two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1996 – Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “No Diggity,” which remains at No. 1 for four weeks.

On This Day November 3

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Celebrity Birthdays

1921 – “Tough guy” actor Charles Bronson (“The Magnificent Seven,” “The Great Escape,” “The Dirty Dozen,” “The Mechanic,” “Death Wish”) (d. 2003)

1933 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy-winning film composer John Barry (“Midnight Cowboy,” “Out of Africa,” “Dances With Wolves” and many more) (d. 2011)

1952 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress-comedian Roseanne Barr, best known for her hit comedy series “Roseanne”

1953 – Actress Kate Capshaw, who met her husband, director Steven Spielberg, while working on the movie “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”

1953 – Comedian, “SNL” alum and political commentator Dennis Miller

1954 – New wave musician Adam Ant (“Antmusic,” “Goody Two Shoes”)

1957 – Swedish actor, director and martial artist Dolph Lundgren, best known for playing Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in “Rocky IV” and Gunner Jensen in “The Expendables”

History Highlights

1903 – With the support of the U.S. government, Panama declares its independence from Colombia.

1948 – The Chicago Tribune mistakenly declares New York Governor Thomas Dewey winner of the presidential race against incumbent Harry S. Truman in a front-page headline: “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Truman had actually defeated Dewey by 114 electoral votes.

1957 – The Soviet Union ups the ante in the Space Race by launching Sputnik 2. On board the spacecraft is a dog named Laika that becomes the first living animal in space.

1964 – In one of the most crushing victories in the history of U.S. presidential elections, incumbent Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater, Sr.

1969 – A group of local educational TV stations unites under the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) banner. There are more than 345 PBS stations in the U.S. today.

1976 – Based on a Stephen King novel, the horror film “Carrie,” starring Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie, and directed by Brian De Palma, opens in U.S. theaters.

2014 – One World Trade Center officially opens in Manhattan. The 104-story, 1,776-foot-high tower is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and replaces the Twin Towers, which were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Musical Milestones

1962 – “He’s a Rebel,” by The Crystals, begins a two-week ride on top of the Billboard singles chart.

1967 – The filming of “Magical Mystery Tour” wraps, with sequences for George Harrison’s song, “Blue Jay Way,” shot at Ringo Starr’s house with Ringo himself directing.

1972 – James Taylor and Carly Simon are married by a judge in Simon’s Manhattan apartment, beginning an 11-year marriage. That evening, Simon joins Taylor on stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and announces their union to a cheering audience.

1979 – One-hit wonder M has the most popular single in the U.S. with “Pop Muzik,” a song credited with ushering in the new wave era.

1984 – Billy Ocean starts a two-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run).”

1990 – Vanilla Ice owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week with “Ice Ice Baby” — the first No. 1 hip hop single. The track is constructed on the bassline of “Under Pressure,” by Queen and David Bowie.

2001 – “Family Affair” becomes Mary J. Blige’s first No. 1 single. It holds the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks.

2007 – “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” by Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em, enters its seventh and final week as a No. 1 single.

On This Day September 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1860 – Folk artist Grandma Moses (d, 1861)

1936 – Rock and roll legend Buddy Holly (d. 1959)

1949 – Singer Gloria Gaynor, best known for her disco smash “I Will Survive”

1950 – Actress and voice artist Julie Kavner, best recognized as the voice of TV’s Marge Simpson

1951 – Pretenders founder and lead singer Chrissie Hynde

1954 – Actor Corbin Bernsen (“L.A. Law,” “Psych”)

1956 – Singer-pianist Michael Feinstein, known for his interpretation of the Great American Songbook

1987 – Actress Evan Rachel Wood (“Thirteen,” “Across The Universe,” “The Wrestler,” “Whatever Works,” “The Ides of March”)

History Highlights

1813 – The United States gets its nickname, “Uncle Sam.” The name is linked to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who supplied barrels of beef to the U.S. Army during the War of 1812. Wilson stamped the barrels with “U.S.” for United States, but soldiers began referring to their rations as “Uncle Sam’s.”

1965 – Hurricane Betsy churns across extreme southern Florida en route to Louisiana where it kills 76 people and triggers widespread flooding. She’s the first hurricane to cause more than a billion dollars in damage, earning the nickname “Billion-Dollar Betsy.”

1968 – Fifty women led by the New York Radical Women feminist group stages the first protest against the Miss America pageant.

1977 – President Jimmy Carter signs a treaty granting Panama control over the Panama Canal beginning in the year 2000. The treaty ends an agreement signed in 1904 between then-President Theodore Roosevelt and Panama, which gave the U.S. the right to build the canal and a renewable lease to control five miles of land along either side of it.

1979 – The sports network ESPN debuts on cable TV.

1980 – The 33rd annual Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony takes place, with statues going to the producers of “Taxi” and “Lou Grant” and performers Ed Asner and Barbara Bel Geddes — Asner for his starring role as newspaper editor Lou Grant, and Bel Geddes for her role as Miss Ellie, the Ewing family matriarch in the prime time soap “Dallas.”

1986 – Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu becomes the first black man to lead the Anglican Church in South Africa.

Musical Milestones

1936 – Rock ‘n’ roll legend Buddy Holly is born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas. He produces a string of hits before his death at age 22 in a 1959 plane crash that also claims the lives of musical greats Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” (J.P. Richardson).

1968 – The Rascals are in the midst of a five-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “People Got to Be Free.”

1974 – “(You’re) Having My Baby,” by Paul Anka and Odia Coates, wraps up three weeks on top of the singles chart.

1978 – Acclaimed drummer Keith Moon of the British rock band The Who dies of a drug overdose at the age of 32.

1985 – The theme from the movie “St. Elmo’s Fire” (“Man In Motion”), by John Parr, is the No. 1 single.

1994 – With TV host David Letterman as her escort, Madonna hands Aerosmith the Best Video award for “Cryin’” during the MTV Video Music Awards at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

2001 – Michael Jackson is reunited onstage with the Jackson Five at his 30th Anniversary Celebration in New York City’s Madison Square Garden.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, rules the Billboard Hot 100.

2003 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (“Werewolves of London,” “Lawyers, Guns and Money”) dies of lung cancer at the age of 56. Ironically, Zevon earned the Grammys posthumously for his final album, “The Wind,” which was released just two weeks before his death.

2013 – “Blurred Lines,” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, enters its 12th and final week as a Billboard chart-topper.