Poland – Time Rewind

On This Day April 19

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On This Day December 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1916 – Actor Kirk Douglas, born Issur Danielovitch (“Spartacus,” “The Bad and the Beautiful,” “The Odyssey,” “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral,” “Tough Guys,” “Lust for Life”) (d. 2020)

1922 – Standup comedian-actor Redd Foxx, born John Elroy Sanford, who played a junk dealer the 1970s NBC sitcom “Sanford and Son” (d. 1991)

1928 – Actor Dick Van Patten, best known for his role as the father in the ABC sitcom “Eight Is Enough” (d. 2015)

1930 – Screenwriter, director and actor Buck Henry, born Henry Zuckerman (“The Garduate,” “Heaven Can Wait”)

1934 – Oscar-winning actress Dame Judi Dench (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Chocolat,” “Iris,” “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” “Notes on a Scandal,” “Philomena,” and has played M in several James Bond films)

1941 – Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy-winning actor Beau Bridges (“Without Warning: The James Brady Story,” “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys”)

1953 – Emmy-winning actor, director and producer John Malkovich (“Places in the Heart,” “The Killing Fields,” “Death of a Salesman,” “Empire of the Sun,” “Dangerous Liaisons,” “In the Line of Fire,” “Con Air,” “Being John Malkovich,” “Secretariat,” “Burn After Reading,” “RED”)

1957 – Musician, dancer and former teen idol Donny Osmond

History Highlights

1835 – The newly created Texan Army captures the city of San Antonio, an important victory for the Republic of Texas in its war for independence from Mexico.

1965 – Based on the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premieres on CBS and remains a holiday season viewing staple all these decades later.

1979 – A scientific panel declares that smallpox has been eradicated from the world. It marks the first time that a disease had been banished from the earth by the planning and action of international public health officials.

1983 – “Scarface,” a crime drama starring Al Pacino, opens in movie theaters. Directed by Brian De Palma and written by Oliver Stone, it is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name.

1990 – Lech Walesa becomes the first popularly elected president of Poland. Walesa had fought on behalf of Polish workers against the communist government as head of the Solidarity movement.

1992 – More than 1,800 U.S. Marines arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the war-stricken and famine-plagued African nation.

1992 – British Prime Minister John Major announces the formal separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Daydream Believer.”

1972 – “I Am Woman,” by Helen Reddy, dominates the Billboard Hot 100 for one week, but endures as the unofficial anthem of the women’s rights movement.

1978 – Disco is all the rage as “Le Freak,” by Chic, tops the singles chart for the first of six non-sequential weeks.

1989 – Billy Joel has the top-selling single in the U.S. with “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” off his “Storm Front” album. The song burns brightly on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

1995 – “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, tops the Billboard Hot 100. It holds that spot for an unprecedented 16 weeks.

2000 – Destiny’s Child is in the middle of an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “Independent Women.”

2006 – “I Wanna Love You,” by Akon featuring Snoop Dog, begins its second and final week on top of the pop chart.

On This Day November 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1840 – French artist Claude Monet (d. 1926)

1900 – Oscar- and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Copland (“Fanfare for the Common Man,” “El Salón México,” “Appalachian Spring”) (d. 1990)

1921 – Actor Brian Keith (“The Parent Trap,” “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” “Family Affair,” “The Wind and the Lion”) (d. 1997)

1948 – King Charles III, formerly known as the Prince of Wales

1951 – Singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop (“On and On”, “It Might Be You”)

1954 – New age music composer-pianist Yanni, born Yiannis Chryssomalis

1954 – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the first African American woman to hold that position

1964 – Rapper Reverend Run, born Joseph Simmons, of the legendary 80s rap group Run-D.M.C.

History Highlights

1851 – Harper & Brothers publishes Herman Melville’s novel “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale,” a treasured piece of American literature about the voyage of the whaling ship Pequod, whose commander, Captain Ahab, goes on an obsessive quest for a white whale.

1941 – The Alfred Hitchcock romantic thriller “Suspicion” opens in U.S. theaters, starring Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. The film is nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, but loses to “How Green Was My Valley.” However, Fontaine wins a Best Actress Oscar — the only Oscar performance ever in a Hitchcock movie.

1969 – Apollo 12 clears the launch pad at Cape Kennedy in Florida on its way to America’s second manned moon landing.

1970 – A chartered jet carrying most of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team crashes while preparing to land in Huntington, West Virginia, killing 37 players, the coach, doctors, the university athletic director, flight crew and 25 team boosters. The tragedy remains the worst sports-related air disaster in U.S. history. It inspired the 2006 movie, “We Are Marshall,” starring Matthew McConaughey.

1972 – Wall Street hits record territory when the Dow Jones Industrial Average tops the 1,000 mark for the first time.

1982 – Lech Walesa, leader of communist Poland’s outlawed Solidarity movement, is released after 11 months of internment near the Soviet border.

2006 – State officials close the last two of Texas’ beloved Pig Stands, the only remaining pieces of the nation’s first drive-in restaurant empire. The owners had filed for bankruptcy and owed the state more than $200,000 in back-taxes.

Musical Milestones

1952 – The U.K.’s first Official Singles Chart debuts, published in the New Musical Express (NME). The No. 1 single is “Here In My Heart,” by American singer Al Martino.

1960 – Ray Charles has the No. 1 single with “Georgia on My Mind.” In 1979, the state of Georgia adopts it as the official state song.

1970 – “I’ll Be There,” by The Jackson 5, begins its fifth and final week on top of the pop chart.

1981 – An Aussie invasion of sorts takes place as Australian acts make up four of the day’s Top-10 singles in the U.S., led by Olivia Newton-John with “Physical” (No. 3). Other acts are Little River Band, Air Supply and Rick Springfield.

1987 – The soundtrack from the movie “Dirty Dancing” shimmies its way to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, where it remains for 18 weeks. It goes on to sell 32 million copies worldwide and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

1998 – Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing)” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for two weeks. Her only chart-topper, the track goes on to clinch Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

2009 – Jason Derulo owns the top spot on the singles chart with “Whatcha Say,” which holds at No. 1 for a week.

On This Day October 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1905 – Entrepreneur Ray Kroc, best known for turning McDonald’s from a local chain into a profitable restaurant franchise (d.1984)

1943 – Guitarist and singer-songwriter Steve Miller (“The Joker,” “Fly Like an Eagle,” “Jet Airliner,” “Jungle Love,” “Abracadabra”)

1951 – Actress Karen Allen (” National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”)

1951 – Singer-songwriter and political activist Bob Geldof, formerly frontman for The Boomtown Rats

1967 – Emmy-winning actor Guy Pearce (“L.A. Confidential,” “Memento,” “The King’s Speech,” “Prometheus,” “Iron Man 3”)

1972 – Seven-time NBA All-Star Grant Hill

1975 – Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet (“Titanic,” “The Reader,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Finding Neverland”)

1983 – Actor Jesse Eisenberg (“The Squid and the Whale,” “Zombieland,” “The Social Network,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”)

History Highlights

1947 – President Harry Truman delivers the first-ever televised presidential address from the White House, asking Americans to reduce their use of grain in order to help starving Europeans.

1969 – A Cuban defector enters U.S. airspace undetected and lands his Soviet-built MiG-17 fighter jet at Homestead Air Force Base near Miami, where Air Force One is parked.

1970 – Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) takes over operations from National Educational Television (NET), which was established by the Ford Foundation in 1952.

1974 – American David Kunst returns home to Minnesota as the first person to travel the globe on foot. It takes him four years and 21 pairs of shoes to cross four continents, covering a total of 14,500 miles. The achievement enables him to plant his heels in the “Guinness Book of Records.”

1983 – Solidarity leader Lech Walesa wins the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the cause of Polish workers.

2011 – Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Inc., which revolutionized the computer, music and mobile communications industries with a host of devices, including the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad, dies of complications from pancreatic cancer at 56.

Musical Milestones

1959 – Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife” kicks off six weeks on top of the singles chart.

1962 – The Beatles release their first single, “Love Me Do,” in the U.K., where it reaches No. 17 on the pop chart. It becomes a No. 1 single in the U.S. in May of 1964.

1966 – Musicians Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding form The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

1973 – Considered one of pop music’s greatest double-albums, Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” — which contains the hits “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” and “Candle in the Wind” — is released. The album spends eight weeks on top of the Billboard 200. In 2003, it is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1974 – Olivia Newton-John claims her first No. 1 single with “I Honestly Love You.”

1991 – Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Hollaway top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Good Vibrations.”

1999 – Roger Daltrey announces that The Who are getting back together and will give their first performance in Las Vegas on October 29, 1999 during a show broadcast live on the Internet.

2002 – Kelly Clarkson kicks off two weeks on top of the singles chart with “A Moment Like This.”

On This Day September 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1907 – Entertainer Gene Autry, born Orvon Grover Autry, affectionately known as “The Singing Cowboy” (d. 1998)

1929 – NFL coach Bum Phillips, most associated with the former Houston Oilers (d. 2013)

1935 – Rock and Roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (“Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” “Great Balls of Fire”)

1942 – Jazz-rock violinist-composer Jean Luc Ponty

1942 – Actress Madeline Kahn, born Madeline Gail Wolfson, best known for her roles in the Mel Brooks comedies “Blazing Saddles,” “High Anxiety” and “Young Frankenstein” (d. 1999)

1943 – Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa, former Polish president and leader of Poland’s Solidarity movement

1948 – Emmy-winning former “Today Show” co-host and “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” host Bryant Gumbel

1980 – Actor Zachary Levi (“Less Than Perfect,” “Chuck,” “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel,” “Tangled,” “Thor: The Dark World”)

History Highlights

1941 – The Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women, and children begins on the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine. The two-day bloodbath becomes a symbol of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.

1966 – General Motors rolls out the sporty Chevy Camaro in an effort to go head-to-head with the popular Ford Mustang, which debuted two years earlier.

1988 – NASA launches the so-called “Return to Flight Mission” — the first space shuttle launch since the devastating Challenger explosion that claimed the lives of all seven crew members in January 1986. STS-26 marks the seventh flight for shuttle Discovery.

1988 – Stacy Allison of Portland, Oregon, becomes the first American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth.

1995 – President Bill Clinton posthumously awards voting rights advocate Willie Velasquez the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Velasquez and the organizations he founded are credited with dramatically increasing political awareness and participation among the Hispanic communities of the Southwestern U.S.

2005 – New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released from a federal detention center after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the leaking of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame.

2008 – Congress fails to pass a $700 billion bank bailout plan, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeting nearly 780 points — at the time, the largest single-day point loss in history. The free fall follows the bankruptcies of Wall Street brokerage firm Lehman Brothers, Savings and Loan bank Washington Mutual and the Fed’s pledge to extend an $85 billion bailout for insurance provider AIG.

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Sherry,” by The Four Seasons, is in the middle of a five-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart.

1973 – Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re An American Band” is the No. 1 single.

1976 – Enjoying a little target practice during his own birthday party, rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shoots his bass player, Norman “Butch” Owens, in the chest. Twice! Owens survives and sues Lewis.

1979 – The Knack begin their fifth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “My Sharona.”

1984 – Prince and the Revolution rule the singles chart with “Let’s Go Crazy,” from the soundtrack to the movie “Purple Rain.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks.

1990 – The hard rock band Nelson begins one week atop the pop chart with “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection.”

2004 – Keith Moon’s five-piece silver Premier drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sells for £120,000 ($215,772 U.S.) at Christie’s auction house in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.

2007 – “Stronger,” by Kanye West, is the No. 1 single.

On This Day September 3

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Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Actor Alan Ladd (“This Gun For Hire,” “Shane”) (d. 1964)

1932 – Actress Eileen Brennan (“The Last Picture Show,” “Private Benjamin,” “Will & Grace”) (d. 2013)

1942 – Guitarist-singer-songwriter and Beach Boys founding member Al Jardine

1955 – Guitarist Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols

1965 – Actor Charlie Sheen (“Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Young Guns,” “Eight Men Out,” “Major League,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Spin City,” “Two and a Half Men”)

1973 – Singer Jennifer Paige, best known for her 1998 hit “Crush”

1976 – Actress Ashley Jones (“The Young and the Restless,” “True Blood”)

1986 – Two-time Olympic Gold medal snowboarder Shaun White

History Highlights

1777 – The American flag flies in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War clash between a Patriot force of infantry and cavalry and British and Hessian troops at Cooch’s Bridge, Delaware. Known as the “Stars and Stripes,” it consists of 13 alternating red and white stripes and 13 white stars in a circular configuration over a blue field.

1783 – Representatives of the United States and Great Britain sign the Treaty of Paris, ending the American Revolution. The signing signified America’s status as a free nation, as Britain formally recognized the independence of its 13 former American colonies.

1939 – Britain and France declare war on Germany in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland two days earlier.

1967 – Viewers bid farewell to the longest-running game show in the history of prime-time TV. “What’s My Line” was an entertainment staple on CBS for 18 seasons.

1976 – The unmanned U.S. spacecraft Viking 2 lands on Mars and takes the first pictures of the Red Planet’s surface.

1991 – Director Frank Capra, whose movies include the classic “You Can’t Take It With You,” “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and “It’s a Wonderful Life,” dies at the age of 94.

2004 – A three-day hostage crisis at a Russian school comes to a bloody end after a gun battle erupts between the hostage-takers and Russian security forces. In the end, more than 300 people are killed, many of them children, while some 700 others are injured.

Musical Milestones

1955 – Bandleader Mitch Miller has a No. 1 hit with a song that was originally written in 1853: “The Yellow Rose of Texas.” It remains on top of the pop chart for six weeks and goes on to sell more than a million copies.

1966 – “Sunshine Superman,” by Donovan, soars to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for a week.

1968 – Ringo Starr rejoins The Beatles two weeks after storming out on his bandmates in frustration. He returns to find his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back.

1977 – The Emotions are in the middle of four weeks atop the singles chart with “Best of My Love.”

1983 – Eurythmics top the singles chart for a week with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),” which establishes the British duo as a formidable force in the 80s new wave music scene. The accompanying video is considered a classic from the early MTV era.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, is the No. 1 single. The song holds the top spot for 14 weeks.

2005 – Considered her “comeback song,” Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” holds the top spot on the Hot 100, goes on to win two Grammy Awards and is ultimately labeled “song of the decade” by Billboard magazine.

On this Day August 31

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Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Comedic actor Buddy Hackett, born Leonard Hacker (“The Music Man,” “Loose Shoes,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” “The Love Bug”) (d. 2003)

1928 – Oscar-winning actor James Coburn (“Our Man Flint,” “Affliction”) (d. 2002)

1945 – Singer-songwriter Van Morrison (“Brown Eyed Girl,” “Moondance”)

1945 – Grammy-winning violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman

1949 – Golden Globe-winning actor Richard Gere (“American Gigolo,” “An Officer and A Gentleman,” “Pretty Woman,” “Primal Fear,” “Chicago,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “Arbitrage”)

1970 – Singer-songwriter-actress Debbie Gibson (“Only in My Dreams,” “Lost in Your Eyes,” “Shake Your Love”)

1971 – Actor-comedian Chris Tucker (“Def Comedy Jam,” “The Fifth Element,” the “Rush Hour” movie series, “Silver Linings Playbook”)

History Highlights

1888 – A passerby in London’s East End discovers the mutilated body of prostitute Mary Ann Nichols, the first victim of serial killer Jack the Ripper.

1964 – California surpasses New York to become the most populated state in the U.S.

1972 – American swimmer Mark Spitz speeds his way to an unprecedented seven Gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

1980 – Representatives of Poland’s communist government agree to the demands of striking shipyard workers in Gdansk. Former electrician Lech Walesa leads the striking workers, who go on to form Solidarity, the first independent labor union to develop in a Soviet bloc nation.

1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, and her companion, Dodi Al-Fayed, die in a Paris car crash while being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes. The tragedy leaves the world shocked and saddened.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Supremes reign over the singles chart with “Where Did Our Love Go,” which holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – “(You’re) Having My Baby, by Paul Anka with Odia Coates, is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single. It becomes Anka’s first chart-topper since “Lonely Boy” in 1959.

1976 – A judge rules that when George Harrison wrote “My Sweet Lord,” he plagiarized The Chiffons’ “He’s So Fine, written by Ronnie Mack. The crime costs the ex-Beatle $1.6 million for what the court calls “subconscious plagiarism.”

1985 – Huey Lewis and the News enjoy a second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “The Power of Love.”

1991 – Metallica’s self-titled album, also known as “The Black Album,” kicks off four weeks on top of the Billboard album chart and goes on to sell more than 16 million copies in the U.S. alone. It contains popular tracks including “Nothing Else Matters,” “Wherever I May Roam,” “The Unforgiven,” “Sad But True” and “Enter Sandman.”

1996 – “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” by Los del Rio, is in the midst of a 14-week domination of the pop chart. The track becomes an international hit and dance phenom. In 2002, VH1 dubbed Los del Rio the No. 1 Greatest One-Hot Wonder of All Time.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly and Kelly (Rowland), claims the No. 1 spot on the Billboard singles chart.

On this Day June 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1731 – First U.S. First Lady, Martha Washington (d. 1802)

1904 – Olympic Gold-winning swimmer and actor Johnny Weissmuller, best known for his portrayal of Tarzan in the 1930s and 40s movies (d. 1984)

1937 – Actress Sally Kellerman (“M*A*S*H,” “Brewster McCloud”)

1941 – Actor Stacy Keach (“Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer,” “Titus”)

1941 – Legendary Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts

1944 – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Golden Globe, Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch (d. 2012)

1955 – Emmy-winning comedian-actor Dana Carvey (“Saturday Night Live,” the “Wayne’s World” movie series)

1977 – Actor Zachary Quinto (“Heroes,” “Star Trek,” “American Horror Story”)

1978 – Actor Justin Long (“Galaxy Quest,” “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “Live Free or Die Hard”)

History Highlights

1865 – Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signs the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators. Smith’s surrender effectively dissolves the last Confederate army, formally ending the Civil War — the bloodiest four years in U.S. history.

1924 – President Calvin Coolidge signs the Indian Citizen Act, granting automatic American citizenship to Native Americans born in the United States.

1935 – Babe Ruth, one of the greatest players in the history of baseball, ends his Major League playing career after 22 seasons, 10 World Series and 714 home runs.

1941 – Another baseball legend, Lou Gehrig, dies of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), a rare type of paralysis commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

1953 – Queen Elizabeth II of Britain is crowned in Westminster Abbey during the first televised coronation ceremony.

1979 – Pope John Paul II becomes the first pontiff to visit a communist country when he tours his native Poland.

1989 – Moviegoers discover a darker side of comedian-actor Robin Williams when “Dead Poets Society” opens in U.S. theaters, starring Williams as an unconventional prep school English teacher. The performance garners Williams a Best Actor Oscar nomination.

1997 – Timothy McVeigh, a former U.S. Army soldier, is convicted on 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction for his role in the 1995 terrorist bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He is later sentenced to death.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Ray Charles kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.” The track also reaches No. 1 on the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts.

1973 – Paul McCartney and Wings dominate two separate music charts: “Red Rose Speedway” is the No. 1 album while one of the tracks on it, “My Love,” is the No. 1 single.

1979 – “Hot Stuff,” by Donna Summer, captures the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

1984 – “Let’s Hear It for the Boy,” by Deniece Williams, begins its second and final week at No. 1. The song is from the “Footloose” movie soundtrack, which sits at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1990 – Madonna begins her third and final week on top of the pop chart with “Vogue.” The song and accompanying video, directed by David Fincher, celebrate voguing — a style of dance popularized in New York’s mostly gay ballroom club scene of the 1980s that mimics fashion-shoot poses.

2001 – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with their cover of Labelle’s 1974 smash, “Lady Marmalade.” This reinterpretation, for the “Moulin Rouge!” movie soundtrack, holds the top spot for five weeks.

2008 – Legendary singer-guitarist Bo Diddley dies of heart failure at the age of 79. Born Ellas Otha Bates, Diddley helped shape the transition of blues to rock and roll, and influenced artists including Buddy Holly, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen and U2.

On this Day June 1

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Celebrity Birthdays

1926 – Grammy-winning actor and comedian Andy Griffith (“The Andy Griffith Show,” “Matlock,” “Waitress”) (d. 2012)

1926 – Iconic actress, model, singer and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jean Baker (d. 1962)

1934 – Pop singer and TV personality Pat Boone, whose popularity peaked throughout the 1950s and 60s

1937 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Morgan Freeman (“Glory,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Seven,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Unforgiven,” “Bruce Almighty,” “Batman Begins,” “The Bucket List,” “Invictus,” “Now You See Me,” “Going In Style”)

1947 – Rolling Stones guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ron Wood

1969 – Actress Teri Polo, best known for her role as Pam Focker in the “Meet the Parents” movie franchise

1973 – Supermodel, reality TV star and “America’s Got Talent” judge Heidi Klum

1974 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette (“You Oughta Know,” “Hand in My Pocket,” “Ironic,” “You Learn”)

History Highlights

1938 – Publication of “Action Comics No. 1” introduces the world to Superman and is considered the first true superhero comic. It not only marks the first appearance of the Man of Steel, Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but launches the entire superhero genre. A pristine copy sells on eBay for $3.2 million in 2014 — the highest price ever paid for a single comic book.

1942 – News of Holocaust death camp killings becomes public for the first time. Liberty Brigade, a Warsaw underground newspaper, reports on the gassing of tens of thousands of Jews at Chelmno, a Nazi-operated death camp in Poland— nearly seven months after extermination of prisoners began.

1968 – Helen Keller, who overcame blindness and deafness to become a world-renowned writer, lecturer, humanitarian and co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), dies at the age of 87.

1974 – The Heimlich maneuver for rescuing choking victims is published in the journal Emergency Medicine.

1980 – Cable News Network (CNN) debuts as TV’s first all-news service. The first broadcast is co-anchored by David Walker and Lois Hart.

1990 – President George H. W. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev agree to halt their production of chemical weapons and commit to the eventual destruction of 80 percent of their chemical weapons stockpiles.

2004 – Opening statements begin in the trial of Scott Peterson, who was accused of murdering his wife Laci and the couple’s unborn son in a case that dominated the headlines for nearly two years.

Musical Milestones

1963 – “It’s My Party,” by Lesley Gore, kicks off two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1964 – The Rolling Stones step onto American soil for the first time when they arrive at New York’s Kennedy Airport to kick off their debut U.S. tour. At the time, they were not as well known in the U.S. as The Beatles were when they arrived four months earlier.

1967 – The Beatles release the groundbreaking album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The album took four months and cost $75,000 to complete. It goes on to sell more than 8 million copies and spends 15 weeks at No. 1.

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel grab the top spot on the singles chart with “Mrs. Robinson.” The song, from the duo’s “Bookends” album, is also in the soundtrack to the movie “The Graduate,” starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman. It goes on to capture a Record of the Year Grammy.

1974 – Ray Stevens’ novelty song, “The Streak,” begins its third and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – Prince and The Revolution launch a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Around The World In A Day,” which contains Top 10 hits “Raspberry Beret” and “Pop Life.”

1991 – “I Don’t Wanna Cry,” by Mariah Carey, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 hit.

1996 – “Tha Crossroads,” by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, is in the middle of an eight-week domination of the singles chart.

2002 – Ashanti maintains her hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Foolish.”

2013 – “Modern Vampires of the City,” by Vampire Weekend, debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.