Rick James – Time Rewind

On This Day February 1

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On this Day August 6

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Celebrity Birthdays

1911 – Actress-comedienne Lucille Ball, who was immortalized in the popular 1950s TV sitcom “I Love Lucy” (d. 1989)

1917 – Actor Robert Mitchum (“The Story of G.I. Joe,” “Crossfire,” “Out of the Past,”, “The Night of the Hunter,” “The Enemy Below,” “Cape Fear,” “El Dorado”) (d. 1997)

1928 – American pop artist and cultural icon Andy Warhol (d. 1987)

1962 – Actress Michelle Yeoh (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Tomorrow Never Dies”)

1970 – Director M. Night Shyamalan (“The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Signs,” “Lady in the Water.” “The Last Airbender,” “After Earth”)

1972 – Singer Geri Halliwell, a.k.a. “Ginger Spice” of the British pop group Spice Girls

History Highlights

1890 – The first execution by electric chair takes place at Auburn Prison in New York with William Kemmler facing the death penalty for the hatchet murder of his girlfriend, Tillie Ziegler.

1945 – An American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, leveling most of the city under a massive mushroom cloud. Some 70,000 people are killed in a matter of seconds.

1959 – Chevrolet unveils plans to produce the Corvair, a revolutionary rear-engine compact car that goes on to ignite controversy and debate over its safety.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote. The bill makes it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks.

2009 – John Hughes, the influential writer-director who captured the humor and angst of the teen experience, 1980s style, in hit movies such as “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” dies at 59.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Chubby Checker appears on TV’s “American Bandstand” and performs “The Twist,” which goes on to become a national sensation and No. 1 single.

1973 – A traffic accident leaves Motown sensation Stevie Wonder in a coma for four days and permanently robs him of his sense of smell. Amazingly, he’s back in the recording studio eight weeks later.

1981 – Stevie Nicks releases her first solo album, “Bella Donna,” featuring “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” a duet with Tom Petty that reaches No. 3 on the Billboard singles chart.

1982 – “Pink Floyd The Wall” opens in movie theaters, based on the British rock band’s 1979 album of the same name.

1988 – Almost a year to the day after debuting at No. 182 on the Billboard album chart, “Appetite for Destruction,” by Guns N’ Roses, reaches No. 1, fueled by the band’s tour and widespread airplay for the hit singles “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine.”

1994 – Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Stay (I Missed You).”

2004 – After years of cocaine use, funk legend Rick James is found dead of a heart attack at his Hollywood home at the age of 56. James was best known for his 1981 smash, “Super Freak.”

2005 – “We Belong Together,” by Mariah Carey, is midway through a 10-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On this Day May 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1883 – Actor-producer Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., who was one of Hollywood’s founding fathers (“The Mark of Zorro,” “The Thief of Baghdad,” “Robin Hood”) (d. 1939)

1910 – Actor-singer Scatman Crothers (“The Aristocats,” “Harlem Globetrotters,” “Chico and the Man,” “The Shining”) (d. 1986)

1928 – Singer Rosemary Clooney (“Come On-a My House”, “Botch-a-Me,” “Mambo Italiano,” “Tenderly,” “Half as Much,” “Hey There,” “This Ole House”) (d. 2002)

1933 – Golden Globe-winning actress and author Joan Collins, best known for her role in the 80s TV series “Dynasty”

1954 – Former middleweight champion boxer “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler

1958 – Best-selling author Mitch Albom, most widely recognized for his 1997 book, “Tuesdays With Morrie”

1958 – Comedian and TV game show host Drew Carey (“The Drew Carey Show,” “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” “The Price is Right”)

1965 – Actress Melissa McBride (“The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys,” “The Mist,” “The Walking Dead”)

1974 – Singer-songwriter Jewel, born Jewel Kilcher (“Who Will Save Your Soul,” “You Were Meant for Me,” “Foolish Games”)

History Highlights

1934 – Authorities shoot and kill outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow (“Bonnie and Clyde”) while the couple drive a stolen car through Louisiana. The ambush ends one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts in the U.S. up to that time.

1958 – America’s first satellite, Explorer 1, stops transmitting data when its batteries die. However, the probe remains in orbit for 12 years, eventually burning up as it re-enters Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean on March 31, 1970.

1960 – Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion announces the capture of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, who goes on to stand trial in Israel.

1980 – Stanley Kubrick’s psychological horror film “The Shining,” based on the Stephen King novel of the same name and starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall, opens in U.S. theaters.

2015 – Ireland legalizes same-sex marriage.

Musical Milestones

1960 – The Everly Brothers begin a five-week ride atop the singles chart with “Cathy’s Clown.”

1964 – Ella Fitzgerald becomes the first artist to enjoy a hit with a Beatles cover when “Can’t Buy Me Love” enters the British pop chart.

1979 – Rocker Tom Petty defies his record label and files for bankruptcy, a move that goes on to permanently change the music industry.

1981 – George Harrison’s “All Those Years Ago” debuts on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, eventually reaching No. 2. Paul and Linda McCartney and Ringo Starr lend their talents to the single, a tribute to John Lennon who died a year earlier.

1985 – Comedian-actor Eddie Murphy’s one and only hit single, “Party All The Time’ — produced by Rick James and Kevin Johnston — is released. The track reaches No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – “Jump,” by hip-hop duo Kris Kross, is in the middle of an eight-week hold on the top spot on the singles chart.

1998 – Mariah Carey enjoys a week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “My All.”