Ray Charles – Time Rewind

On This Day February 18

Click each item below to learn more!

On This Day January 28

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock (d. 1956)

1936 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor-director Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H,” “Same Time, Next Year,” “The Four Seasons,” “Everyone Says I Love You,” “The West Wing,” “The Aviator”)

1959 – Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”)

1968 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (“Building a Mystery,” “Angel,” “Fallen”)

1977 – Singer, actor and TV personality Joey Fatone, former member of NSYNC, one of the most popular boy bands of all time

1981 – Actor-producer Elijah Wood (“Avalon,” “The Ice Storm,” “Deep Impact,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Sin City,” “Happy Feet”)

History Highlights

1901 – Professional baseball’s American League is founded in Milwaukee with plans for a 140-game schedule, 14-man rosters and a players’ union.

1915 – The American merchant ship William P. Frye becomes the first casualty of World War I as a German cruiser opens fire and sinks the vessel. Despite apologies from the German government, the attack sparks outrage in the U.S.

1917 – Mexican maid Carmelita Torres refuses to put up with the indignity she has been made to suffer every morning since she began working across the border in the United States. Torres’ objection to the noxious chemical delousing Mexicans were required to undergo upon crossing the Northern border sparks what became known as the Bath Riots.

1922 – Ninety-eight guests are killed, 133 others are injured when the roof of Washington, D.C.’s Knickerbocker Theatre collapses under the weight of a heavy snowfall. The disaster ranks as one of Washington’s worst, and the “Knickerbocker Snowstorm,” as it is known, still holds the record for Washington’s single greatest snowfall.

1958 – The interlocking stud-and-tube plastic Lego brick is patented by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, whose father founded the Lego toy company (“Lego,” from the Danish term “leg godt,” meaning “play well”). The colorful bricks have covered playroom floors for generations. In fact, it’s estimated that Lego has since produced the equivalent of 62 bricks for every human being on the planet.

1964 – The State Department accuses the Soviet Union of shooting down an unarmed Air Force trainer jet over East Germany, killing its three occupants.

1986 – A nation watches in horror as Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) explodes 73 seconds into flight, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe — who was to have been the first civilian in space — and fellow crew members Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair and Gregory Jarvis.

1997 – Four apartheid-era police officers, appearing before a tribunal in South Africa, admit to the 1977 killing of Stephen Biko, a leader of the South African “Black consciousness” movement.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a seven-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m a Believer,” a song written by Neil Diamond.

1978 – “Baby Come Back,” by Player, begins its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1984 – “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” off Yes’ “90125” album, rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a second and final week.

1985 – Forty-five of the world’s top recording artists gather in a Los Angeles studio to record “We Are the World” to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, reaches No. 1 on the singles chart three months later.

1995 – TLC marks the first of four weeks as Billboard singles chart-toppers with “Creep.”

2001 – Super Bowl XXXV, with the Baltimore Ravens taking on the New York Giants in Tampa, features a veritable Who’s Who of musical talent. Ray Charles sings “America The Beautiful,” the Backstreet Boys sing the national anthem and halftime performers include Aerosmith, ‘N Sync and Britney Spears.

2006 – “Grillz,” by Nelly featuring fellow rappers Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, is the No. 1 single.

2012 – “We Found Love,” by Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

2017 – Ed Sheeran rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Shape of You.”

On This Day January 23

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1737 – John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress and first to sign the Declaration of Independence (d. 1793)

1919 – Comedian, writer and actor Ernie Kovacs (d. 1962)

1930 – Poet and playwright Derek Walcott, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992 (d. 2017)

1933 – Tony-winning actress-dancer-singer Chita Rivera (“The Rink,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “West Side Story,” “Sweet Charity,” “Chicago”)

1944 – Golden Globe-winning actor Rutger Hauer (“Blade Runner,” “The Hitcher,” “Ladyhawke,” “Sin City,” “The Blood of Heroes,” “Batman Begins,” “Hobo with a Shotgun”) (d. 2019)

1951 – Retired pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who became a hero after safely landing a crippled passenger jet on the Hudson River in 2008, an event dubbed the “Miracle on the Hudson”

1957 – Princess Caroline of Monaco

1964 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Mariska Hargitay, best known as Detective Olivia Benson in the NBC crime series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

History Highlights

1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the first woman physician in U.S. history when she earns a medical degree from the all-male Geneva Medical College in upstate New York, graduating at the top of her class at the age of 28. Blackwell devotes her life to advocating for women in the healthcare professions and, in 1868, opens a women’s medical college in New York City.

1957 – The Wham-O toy company introduces the first aerodynamic plastic disc known as the Frisbee, and forever changes outdoor recreation. The disc was the creation of Walter Frederick Morrison, who originally named it the Pluto Platter.

1968 – North Korea seizes the U.S. intelligence-gathering ship USS Pueblo and interrogates its 83 crew members claiming the vessel violated North Korean territorial waters while spying.

1973 – President Richard Nixon announces that a peace accord had been reached in Paris to end the Vietnam War.

1975 – The ABC sitcom “Barney Miller” debuts. It’s about an NYPD precinct captain played by Hal Linden, and the shenanigans he endures with his detectives.

1976 – Singer, actor, athlete and civil rights activist Paul Robeson dies at the age of 77.

1977 – The miniseries “Roots,” based on the book by Alex Haley, debuts. It runs for eight consecutive nights on ABC Television and becomes the single most-watched program in American history, drawing about 100 million viewers.

1997 – One day after her unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Madeline Albright is sworn in as America’s first female Secretary of State by Vice President Al Gore.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Bert Kaempfert begins his third and final week on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Wonderland By Night.”

1965 – Petula Clark strolls to the top of the singles chart with “Downtown” and remains there for two weeks. The recording features Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page on guitar. Page was a studio session player at the time.

1971 – “Knock Three Times,” by Dawn featuring Tony Orlando, tops the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for three weeks.

1986 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducts its first members at a ceremony in New York City. Inductees include Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley.

1988 – Michael Jackson owns the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100: “The Way You Make Me Feel,” off his “Bad” album.

2000 – Santana’s “Supernatural” reaches the top of Billboard album chart for the second time. The album, which contains the hit single “Smooth,” ultimately remains at No. 1 for 12 non-consecutive weeks and goes on to capture eight Grammy awards.

On This Day November 14

Click each item below to learn more!

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 September 23

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1920 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor Mickey Rooney (d. 2014)

1930 – Grammy-winning soul music pioneer Ray Charles (d. 2004)

1943 – Grammy-winning pop singer Julio Iglesias (“Begin the Beguine,” “To All The Girls I’ve Loved Before”)

1947 – Emmy-winning actress Mary Kay Place (“Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman”)

1949 – Grammy-winning rock singer-songwriter Bruce “The Boss” Springsteen

1959 – Tony Award-winning actor-comedian Jason Alexander, best known as George Costanza in the hit comedy series “Seinfeld”

History Highlights

1846 – German astronomer Johann Galle discovers Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun.

1875 – Originally named Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, and later William H. Bonney, Billy the Kid as he was most widely known, is 15 when he is arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He eventually earns a reputation as an outlaw and fugitive, with a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders.

1952 – Vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon delivers his nationally televised “Checkers Speech.” Nixon defends himself against charges of using a private fund for political expenses, and declares he would never give back the dog, Checkers, which was a gift to his daughters.

1962 – The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City opens with the completion of the first building, the Philharmonic Hall, now Avery Fisher Hall, home of the New York Philharmonic.

1994 – “The Shawshank Redemption,” starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins, opens in theaters. Based on a 1982 short story by Stephen King titled “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption,” the film garners seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, but wins none.

Musical Milestones

1957 – The Crickets, featuring Buddy Holly, dominate the singles chart with “That’ll Be The Day.” The song is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998, and in 2005, is placed in the National Recording Registry among recordings that are “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

1967 – “The Letter” sends The Box Tops to the top of the singles chart where they remain slotted for four weeks.

1972 – Mac Davis begins three weeks as a chart-topper with “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me,” his only No. 1.

1978 – With the disco era in full swing, A Taste of Honey enters its third and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.”

1989 – Milli Vanilli’s “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” becomes the duo’s second chart-topping single. The album it’s on, “Girl You Know It’s True,” also kicks off two week’s at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

2000 – Madonna is in the middle of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Music.” It is her 12th No. 1 single.

On this Day June 30

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1917 – Grammy-winning jazz and pop music singer, dancer and actress Lena Horne (d. 2010)

1956 – Actor-comedian David Alan Grier (“In Living Color”)

1959 – Actor Vincent D’Onofrio (“Full Metal Jacket,” “Men In Black,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Judge,” “Run All Night,” “Jurassic World”)

1966 – Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson

1982 – Actress Lizzy Caplan (“Mean Girls,” “True Blood,” “Cloverfield”)

1985 – U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Michael Phelps

History Highlights

1859 – Frenchman Jean Francois Gravelet, a.k.a. The Great Blondin, or Charles Blondin, becomes the first daredevil to walk across Niagara Falls on a tightrope. Thousands of spectators line the American and Canadian sides of the falls to observe the feat, which he performs along an 1,100-foot-long tightrope suspended 160 feet above the raging waters of Niagara Gorge.

1934 – In what comes to be known as the Night of the Long Knives, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler orders a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future.

1936 – Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Gone with the Wind,” one of the best-selling novels of all time and the basis for the blockbuster 1939 movie, is published.

1971 – “Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory,” a movie musical-fantasy starring Gene Wilder, opens in theaters. It’s an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

1971 – Three Soviet cosmonauts who made up the crew of the world’s first space station are killed when their spacecraft, Soyuz 11, depressurizes during reentry to Earth’s atmosphere.

1974 – The July 4th scene from the movie “Jaws” is filmed on Martha’s Vineyard, with 400 screaming, panic-stricken extras in bathing suits running from the water multiple times until director Steven Spielberg gets the right take.

1989 – Writer-director Spike Lee’s celebrated third feature film, “Do the Right Thing” — about racial tensions boiling over in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on the hottest day of the year — opens in U.S. theaters. The movie receives Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Danny Aiello.

1993 – The legal thriller “The Firm,” directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman, opens in theaters. It’s based on the 1991 novel of the same name by John Grisham.

1995 – Director Ron Howard’s high-intensity drama “Apollo 13,” about NASA’s desperate efforts to bring the crew of Apollo 13 safely home after an explosion that denies them a moon landing, opens in U.S. theaters. Starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Ed Harris and Gary Sinise, the movie receives nine Oscar nominations and wins for Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

Musical Milestones

1962 – Ray Charles enjoys his fifth and final week dominating the pop chart with “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

1973 – George Harrison has the hottest single on the radio for a week with “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth),” from his “Living in the Material World” album.” The track is the ex-Beatles’ second solo No. 1.

1975 – Less than a week after her divorce from Sonny Bono is finalized, Cher ties the knot with rock musician Gregg Allman only to divorce him 10 days later.

1984 – “The Reflex,” by Duran Duran, begins its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1990 – New Kids On the Block step to the top of the singles chart for three weeks with “Step By Step.” The song is an international smash, selling over 10 million copies worldwide, and becomes one of the biggest selling singles of 1990.

2001 – “Lady Marmalade,” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink, enters its fifth and final week as a chart-topper. The cover is from the “Moulin Rouge!” soundtrack.

2007 – Rihanna and Jay-Z rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “Umbrella.”

On this Day June 10

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1895 – Hattie McDaniel, first African American actress to receive an Academy Award, which she won for her supporting role as Mammy in “Gone With the Wind” (d. 1952)

1922 – Actress-singer Judy Garland, best known for her role as Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” (d. 1969)

1921 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms

1928 – Children’s author-illustrator Maurice Sendak (“Where the Wild Things Are,” “Little Bear”) (d. 2012)

1962 – Actress Gina Gershon (“Showgirls,” “Face/Off,” “The Insider,” “Killer Joe,” “House of Versace”)

1963 – Actress Jeanne Tripplehorn (“Basic Instinct,” “The Firm,” “Big Love,” “Criminal Minds”)

1965 – Model-actress Elizabeth Hurley (“Passenger 57,” the first two “Austin Powers” movies, “Bedazzled”)

1982 – U.S. Olympic champion figure skater Tara Lipinksi

1983 – Actress Leelee Sobieski (“Joan of Arc,” “The Glass House,” “Deep Impact”)

History Highlights

1692 – Bridget Bishop, the first Massachusetts Bay colonist to be tried in the Salem witch trials, is hanged after being found guilty of the practice of witchcraft.

1752 – Benjamin Franklin flies a kite during a thunderstorm and collects ambient electrical charge in a Leyden jar, enabling him to demonstrate the connection between lightning and electricity along with an understanding of positive and negative charges. His experiment leads to development of the lightning rod, which grounded buildings thereby helping prevent deadly fires.

1935 – Alcoholics Anonymous, also known as AA, is founded by two recovering alcoholics — Bill W., a New York stockbroker, and Dr. Bob S., an Ohio surgeon. Today, the organization continues to fulfill the pair’s original mission to help alcoholics stop drinking and stay sober.

1943 – Hungarian Laszlo Biro patents the ballpoint pen. In many languages, the word for ballpoint pen is “biro.”

1967 – In the Middle East, the Six-Day War ends when Israel and Syria agree to a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

1980 – A letter written by imprisoned anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela and smuggled out of Robben Island prison, is shared publicly by the African National Congress (ANC). The letter is a call to arms against apartheid.

2007 – An estimated 12 million viewers tune in to “Made in America” — the final episode of HBO’s critically acclaimed, award-winning Mob family drama, “The Sopranos,” starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Lorraine Bracco and Steven Van Zandt.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Aretha Franklin begins her second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Respect.”

1972 – Sammy Davis, Jr. starts a three-week run with a No. 1 single — his only chart-topper. It’s “Candy Man,” from the movie “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.”

1976 – The first concert ever performed at the Seattle Kingdome features Paul McCartney and Wings, and draws a crowd of more than 67,000 — beating the record attendance that The Beatles had a decade earlier at New York’s Shea Stadium.

1978 – John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John conquer the singles chart with “You’re The One That I Want,” from the movie in which they co-star: “Grease.”

1989 – Bette Midler tops the singles chart with “Wind Beneath My Wings,” from the film “Beaches.”

1995 – Bryan Adams reigns over the pop chart with “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” The track, from the Johnny Depp movie movie “Don Juan DeMarco,” holds at No. 1 for five weeks.

2000 – The Grammy-winning single “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, begins its tenth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2004 – Pioneering R&B/soul singer Ray Charles (“I Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Hit the Road Jack,” “What’d I Say,” “Georgia on My Mind”) — a 1986 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee — dies of complications from liver disease at the age of 73.

On this Day June 9

Click each item below to learn more!

Celebrity Birthdays

1891 – Composer-songwriter Cole Porter, whose music dominated Broadway from the 1930s to the 1950s (d. 1964)

1915 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist, songwriter and electric guitar designer Les Paul, born Lester William Polsfuss (d. 2009)

1934 – Stand-up comedian and actor Jackie Mason (d. 2021)

1934 – Grammy Hall of Fame and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Jackie Wilson (“Lonely Teardrops,” “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”) (d. 1984)

1961 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Michael J. Fox (“Family Ties,” the “Back to the Future” movie series, “Teen Wolf,” “Spin City”)

1963 – Golden Globe-winning actor Johnny Depp (“What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “Edward Scissorhands,” the “Pirates of the Caribbean” series, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Rango,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindewald”)

1981 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Natalie Portman (“Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace,” “Garden State,” “Closer,” “Black Swan,” “Jackie”)

History Highlights

1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in the Walt Disney short film, “The Wise Little Hen.”

1954 – In a dramatic confrontation, Joseph Welch, special counsel for the U.S. Army, lashes out at Senator Joseph McCarthy during hearings on whether communism has infiltrated the U.S. armed forces. Welch’s rebuke effectively derails McCarthy’s campaign to stoke the anticommunist hysteria of America’s ‘Red Scare’.

1973 – Secretariat wins the Belmont Stakes to become the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. Secretariat runs the 1.5-mile race in 2:24, a world record that many believe will never be broken.

1980 – Comedian Richard Pryor suffers third-degree burns over more than half of his body while freebasing cocaine.

1993- The so-called “Hollywood Madam,” Heidi Fleiss, is arrested and charged in connection with a high-class prostitution ring that catered to wealthy clients, including actor Charlie Sheen. A jury convicts Fleiss on three counts of pandering, for which she receives a three-year sentence. That conviction is overturned in 1996, but a federal tax-evasion case the next year leads to a 20-month prison sentence.

2006 – The animated feature film “Cars,” produced by Pixar Animation Studios, opens in U.S. theaters, starring Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen and Paul Newman in his final acting role, as Doc Hudson.

Musical Milestones

1958 – The hottest single in the U.S. is “The Purple People Eater” by Sheb Wooley. The novelty hit holds the No. 1 spot for six weeks.

1962 – “I Can’t Stop Loving You,” by Ray Charles, is in its second week as a No. 1 single. It retains the top spot for five weeks. Across the pond, the track hits the top of the U.K. singles chart that July and holds there for two weeks.

1972 – Elvis Presley plays his first concert in New York City — the first of four sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden. The performances are recorded for later release on the “Elvis As Recorded at Madison Square Garden” album.

1972 – One month after auditioning for Columbia Records, Bruce Springsteen is signed by the label and begins assembling his E Street Band. His debut album, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.,” comes out in January 1973.

1979 – The Bee Gees reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the ninth time with “Love You Inside Out.” It becomes the sibling trio’s final chart-topper.

1984 – Cyndi Lauper begins a two-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Time After Time,” off her debut album, “She’s So Unusual.” The track earns a Song of the Year Grammy nomination.

1990 – “Hold On,” by Wilson Phillips, clinches the top spot on the pop chart. The track goes on to win the Billboard Music Award for 1990 Hot 100 Single of the Year and is nominated for a Song of the Year Grammy.

1998 – The Ronettes (“Be My Baby,” “Walking In The Rain”) appear in court for their lawsuit against producer Phil Spector, whom they allege breached their 34-year-old contract by failing to pay royalties since 1963. Although The Ronettes win the case, the New York State Court of Appeals later overturns the decision, saying Spector had unconditional rights to their recordings.

2001 – Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mýa and Pink have the No. 1 single with their cover of Labelle’s 1974 smash, “Lady Marmalade.”

On this Day June 2

Click each item below to learn more!

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.