screenwriter – Time Rewind

On This Day January 25

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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 December 1

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Oscar-winning screenwriter-actor-director Woody Allen (“Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”)

1939 – Pro golfer Lee Trevino

1940 – Standup comedian-actor Richard Pryor (d. 2005)

1945 – Grammy, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning singer-actress Bette Midler, best known for her pop hits “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Wind Beneath My Wings” and the movies “The Rose,” “Beaches” and “For the Boys”

1946 – Singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan, best known for his 1970s hits “Alone Again (Naturally)”, “Clair” and “Get Down”

1951 – Actor Treat Williams (“Hair,” “Prince of the City,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “The Late Shift,” “127 Hours”)

1970 – Comedian and “SNL” alum Sarah Silverman (“School of Rock,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” “A Million Ways to Die in the West”)

History Highlights

1891 – James Naismith shoots and scores! The 30-year-old physical education teacher from the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts invents basket ball (originally two words) using two peach baskets and a ball. At the 1936 Summer Olympic Games, the year basketball was introduced to the international competition, Naismith was in Berlin, Germany to present medals to the winning teams of the three North American countries: United States, Gold; Canada, Silver; and Mexico, Bronze.

1913 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the first moving assembly line.

1914 – The Maserati company is founded in Bologna, Italy, and goes on to produce its first car in 1926.

1953 – The first issue of “Playboy” magazine is published, featuring a nude Marilyn Monroe centerfold. More than 50,000 copies sell at 50 cents apiece.

1955 – Rosa Parks is arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man — a violation of the city’s racial segregation laws. The incident, which triggers a year-long boycott of the city’s bus system, is considered the birth of the modern civil rights movement.

1992 – Workers drill a hole through a wall of rock 132 feet beneath the English Channel connecting both ends of a tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time in 8,000 years. The Channel Tunnel or “Chunnel” finally opens for passenger service in 1994.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Buddy Holly and the Crickets appear on “The Ed Sullivan Show” performing “That’ll Be The Day” and “Peggy Sue.” Sam Cooke is a guest on the same show performing “You Send Me.”

1958 – The Teddy Bears are No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “To Know Him is to Love Him.” It remains a chart-topper for three weeks.

1962 – The Four Seasons are midway through a five-week domination of the singles chart with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

1973 – “Top of the World” puts the Carpenters on top of the singles chart, where they remain for two weeks. It is the duo’s second No. 1 single following “(They Long to Be) Close to You” in 1970.

1984 – Wham! begins its third and final week with a No. 1 single: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

1990 – “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” by Whitney Houston, begins a week-long run at No. 1 on the pop chart. It is Houston’s eighth chart-topping single.

2001 – Mary J. Blige has the No. 1 single with “Family Affair.”

2007 – Alicia Keys kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “No One,” from her “As I Am” album. The track captures Grammys for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

On This Day November 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1835 – Author Mark Twain, a.k.a. Samuel Clemens, best known for his classic American novels “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” (d. 1910)

1874 – Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain and the Allies through the crisis of World War II, is born in Oxfordshire, England. (d. 1965)

1918 – Actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (“77 Sunset Strip,” “The F.B.I.”) (d. 2014)

1927 – Emmy-winning actor Robert Guillaume, best known for his role as the butler in the ABC sitcom “Benson”

1929 – Legendary TV host and producer Dick Clark, born Richard Wagstaff Clark, who is credited with such popular shows as “American Bandstand,” “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes,” among others. (d. 2012)

1937 – Emmy-winning director-producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” “Blade Runner,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “American Gangster,” “The Martian”)

1947 – Tony-winning playwright, screenwriter and director David Mamet (“The Verdict,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Wag the Dog,” “Ronin”)

1952 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Mandy Patinkin (“Yentl,” “The Princess Bride,” “Dick Tracy,” “The Adventures of Elmo In Grouchland,” “Chicago Hope,” “Criminal Minds”)

1955 – Rock singer-guitarist Billy Idol, born William Albert Michael Broad (“Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face,” “Rock the Cradle of Love”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actor, director and comedian Ben Stiller (“Reality Bites,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Zoolander,” the “Meet the Parents” trilogy, “DodgeBall,” “Tropic Thunder,” the “Madagascar” series, the “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”)

1978 – Singer and “American Idol” alum Clay Aiken, born Clayton Holmes Grissom

History Highlights

1965 – Consumer advocate Ralph Nader publishes “Unsafe at Any Speed,” a book that singles out the Chevy Corvair while criticizing U.S. auto safety standards. It immediately becomes a bestseller and prompts passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, seat belt laws in 49 states (all but New Hampshire) and other highway safety initiatives.

1967 – Senator Eugene McCarthy, who advocated for a negotiated end to the Vietnam War, declares that he will challenge President Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic Party nomination. However, four months later, Johnson announces that he is not seeking re-election.

1971 – The made-for-television movie “Brian’s Song” premieres on ABC, starring James Caan as Brian Piccolo, the Chicago Bears running back who is stricken with terminal cancer, and Billy Dee Williams as his teammate, Gale Sayers. It leaves audiences sobbing with its compelling portrayal of the strong friendship the two athletes form. The movie captures five Emmy Awards.

1977 – After nearly four decades with CBS News, anchor Eric Sevareid retires. Sevareid was among a group of elite war correspondents hired by legendary CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, and nicknamed “Murrow’s Boys .” He was the first to report the Fall of Paris when the city was captured by the Germans in World War II.

1993 – President Bill Clinton signs the Brady Bill into law, requiring a five-day waiting period for handgun purchases and background checks of prospective buyers.

Musical Milestones

1968 – Motown’s Diana Ross & The Supremes rule the singles chart with “Love Child,” their 11th chart-topper. The song remains at No. 1 for two weeks.

1974 – One-hit wonder Billy Swan has the No. 1 single with “I Can Help.”

1974 – “Elton John’s Greatest Hits” begins a 10-week run atop the Billboard album chart on its way to selling more than 24 million copies worldwide.

1982 – The best-selling album of all time, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” is released, delivering a slew of hits, including “Billie Jean” and “Beat It.” It goes on to capture eight Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year.

1985 – “Separate Lives,” by Phil Collins and Marilyn Martin, from the “White Nights” movie soundtrack, is the No. 1 single.

1991 – New Jersey-based hip hop/R&B band P.M. Dawn has its only No. 1 single, “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is built around a sampling of Spandau Ballet’s “True.” The track holds the top spot for a week.

1996 – Quirky 1960s pop star Tiny Tim, best known for his falsetto singing and ukulele playing in the 1968 novelty hit “Tip-Toe Thru the Tulips With Me,” dies at the age of 64.

1996 – “No Diggity,” by Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre and Queen Pen, marks its fourth and final week as a Billboard No. 1 single.

2002 – Eminem maintains his hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Lose Yourself,” which remains a chart-topper for a total of 12 weeks.

On This Day November 18

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Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Peabody-winning actress-comedian Imogene Coca (“Your Show of Shows,” “Vacation”) (d. 2001)

1923 – First American in space, astronaut Alan Shepard (d. 1998)

1939 – Actress Brenda Vaccaro (“Midnight Cowboy,” “Once Is Not Enough,” “Capricorn One,” “Supergirl”)

1942 – Actress Linda Evans (“The Big Valley,” “Dynasty”)

1953 – Comedic actor and “SNL” alum Kevin Nealon (“The Wedding Singer,” “Happy Gilmore,” “Blended”)

1960 – Actress Elizabeth Perkins (“About Last Night…,” “Big,” “Avalon,” “The Flintstones,” “Miracle on 34th Street,” “28 Days,” “Cats & Dogs”)

1968 – Actor, producer and screenwriter Owen Wilson (“The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Wedding Crashers,” “Night at the Museum” trilogy, “You, Me and Dupree,” “Marley & Me,” “The Internship”)

1974 – Actress Chloë Sevigny (“A Map of the World,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Big Love”)

History Highlights

1883 – U.S. and Canadian railroads implement five standardized time zones across North America to end years of confusion over local times: Intercolonial (now known as Atlantic Time in eastern Canada), Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific.

1928 – Mickey Mouse debuts in Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie,” the first synchronized sound cartoon ever produced. Mickey’s squeaky voice is provided by Mr. Disney himself.

1963 – The Bell Telephone Company introduces the push-button telephone. The first touch-tone telephone is the Western Electric model 1500, with 10 buttons. Engineers tested 15 different keypad layouts before settling on the configuration with 1 at the top left and 0 in the bottom row.

1978 – People’s Temple leader Jim Jones leads hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their Jonestown Commune in remote northwestern Guyana.

1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon free Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite after more than four years in captivity.

1999 – In the early morning hours, a 40-foot-high pyramid of logs for the annual Aggie Bonfire at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas collapses, killing 12 people and injuring 27 others. Investigators determine that the first stack of logs did not have sufficient containment strength.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Fats Domino appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and plays his smash, “Blueberry Hill.”

1957 – Elvis Presley remains perched atop the U.S. singles chart for a fifth straight week with “Jailhouse Rock,” from the movie of the same name.

1963 – “I’m Leaving It Up to You” by Dale & Grace is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1971 – Memphis blues singer and musician Herman ‘Junior’ Parker dies at the age of 39 during surgery for a brain tumor. Among his hits were “Feelin’ Good,” “Driving Wheel,” “Next Time You See Me,” “In the Dark” and “Sweet Home Chicago.”

1978 – “52nd Street” becomes Billy Joel’s first No. 1 album. It contains some of his biggest hits to date, including “My Life,” “Big Shot” and “Honesty,” and goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1989 – Bad English’s “When I See You Smile” begins its second and final weeks at No, 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1993 – Five months before Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s death, the pioneering grunge band records an “MTV Unplugged” special at Sony Music Studios in New York City. The set list consists of lesser-known material and cover versions of songs by The Vaselines, David Bowie, Meat Puppets and Lead Belly. The album goes on to win a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album in 1996.

1995 – “Fantasy.” by Mariah Carey, enters its eighth and final week on top of the pop chart.

2017 – Australian musician and songwriter Malcolm Young, best known as a co-founder, rhythm guitarist, backing vocalist and songwriter for the hard rock band AC/DC, dies at the age of 64.

On This Day November 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1734 – American pioneer-explorer-frontiersman Daniel Boone (d. 1820)

1913 – Oscar-winning actor Burt Lancaster (“Elmer Gantry,” “The Swimmer,” “Atlantic City,” “Field of Dreams”) (d. 1994)

1914 – Actor Ray Walston (“My Favorite Martian,” “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”) (d. 2001)

1938 – Journalist and conservative political commentator Pat Buchanan

1942 – Actress Stefanie Powers (“Hart to Hart”)

1961 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter k.d. lang (“Constant Craving,” “Miss Chatelaine”)

1966 – Actor David Schwimmer, best known for playing Ross Geller in the popular NBC sitcom “Friends”

1974 – Grammy-winning rapper-actor Nelly, born Cornell Haynes, Jr. (“Country Grammar,” “Hot in Herre,” “Dilemma,” “Party People,” “Just a Dream”)

History Highlights

1902 – Automobile designer Andrew Riker delivers the first four-cylinder, gas-powered “Locomobile” to a buyer in New York City. It’s a 12-horsepower Model C that sells for $4,000.

1947 – Aviator and engineer Howard Hughes performs the first and only flight of his Spruce Goose, the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built. The entire flight lasts only about a minute, as the mammoth, eight-engine airplane travels for one mile just above the surface of Long Beach Harbor in California. However, it was enough to prove to skeptics that the machine could actually fly.

1948 – In the greatest upset in presidential election history, Democratic incumbent, Harry S. Truman, defeats his Republican challenger, Governor Thomas E. Dewey of New York, by just over two million popular votes.

1983 – With the stroke of his pen, President Ronald Reagan designates the third Monday of January a federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

1992 – Producer, director and screenwriter Hal Roach—best known for producing the “Laurel and Hardy” and “Our Gang” (later called “The Little Rascals”) film comedy series—dies at the age of 100.

Musical Milestones

1963 – “Sugar Shack,” by Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs, is in the middle of five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart. By the end of the month, the track is certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than a million copies.

1968 – The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is in the midst of a nine-week ride atop the singles chart, forcing Mary Hopkin to settle for second-place with her single “Those Were the Days.”

1974 – His musical commentary on the social strife of 1970s America puts Stevie Wonder on top of the singles chart for a week with “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” featuring backup vocals by The Jackson 5.

1985 – “Part-Time Lover,” by Stevie Wonder, begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1991 – Karyn White has the No. 1 single with “Romantic.”

1996 – “Macarena,” by Los del Rio enters the final week of a 14-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

2002 – On his 28th birthday, Nelly concludes a tenth and final week at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Dilemma,” featuring Kelly Rowland. The song captures a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 45th Grammy Awards.

On This Day October 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Actor Bela Lugosi, who played Count Dracula and starred in other early black and white horror films (d. 1956)

1927 – Psychologist-advice columnist Dr. Joyce Brothers (d. 2013)

1935 – Actor Jerry Orbach (“Dirty Dancing,” “Law & Order,” “Beauty and the Beast”) (d. 2004)

1950 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame (“Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Director and screenwriter Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting,” “28 Days Later,” “Steve Jobs”)

1958 – Actor Viggo Mortensen (“Witness,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “28 Days,” “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises”)

1971 – Legendary rapper, producer and actor Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (“What’s My Name?” “Gin & Juice”)

1979 – Actor-director John Krasinski (“The Office,” “Away We Go,” “Leatherheads,” “License to Wed,” “Big Miracle,” “Something Borrowed,” “It’s Complicated,” “Promised Land,” “Aloha,” “A Quiet Place”)

History Highlights

1947 – In what comes to be known as the “Red Scare,” the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) opens hearings in Washington designed to expose communists in Hollywood. Many screenwriters, actors and directors are arrested and blacklisted by studio executives. Some would never work in Hollywood again.

1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis five years after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.

1973 – As part of the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to dismiss Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

1973 – Queen Elizabeth II travels to Australia to dedicate the Sydney Opera House.

1973 – “The Six Million Dollar Man” premieres on TV, starring Lee Majors as astronaut Steve Austin, who was “rebuilt” with bionic arms, legs and an eye after an accident that nearly killed him.

1994 – Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster (“Elmer Gantry,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Airport,” “Atlantic City,” “Field of Dreams”) dies at the age of 80.

Musical Milestones

1958 – “It’s All in the Game,” by Tommy Edwards, is in the No. 1 single and goes on to become a million-seller. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled “Melody in A Major,” written by Charles Dawes, who was Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by an American VP or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Dawes was both).

1962 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers kick off two weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Monster Mash,” still considered a staple of Halloween party playlists today.

1977 – A twin-engine plane carrying southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird”) crashes in a Mississippi swamp, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, a tour manager and both pilots.

1979 – “In Through the Out Door,” Led Zeppelin’s eighth and final studio album, is in the middle of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1983 – Country singer-songwriter Merle Travis, considered one of the most influential American guitarists of the 20th century, dies of a heart attack at the age of 65.

1984 – Stevie Wonder sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

1990 – “I Don’t Have the Heart,” by James Ingram, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – Amy Winehouse releases her debut album, “Frank,” named after her idol, legendary crooner Frank Sinatra.

On This Day September 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1934 – Actress-model-animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot

1938 – Legendary soul singer Ben E. King (“Stand by Me,” “This Magic Moment,” “Spanish Harlem”) (d. 2015)

1950 – Screenwriter-director John Sayles (“Return of the Secaucus 7,” “Passion Fish.” “Lone Star,” “Men With Guns”)

1964 – Actress-comedian and political activist Janeane Garofalo (“The Ben Stiller Show,” “Reality Bites,” “The Independent,” “Bad Parents”)

1967 – Oscar-winning actress-producer Mira Sorvino (“Mighty Aphrodite,” “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion,” “Mimic,” “The Replacement Killers,” “Summer of Sam,” “Human Trafficking”)

1968 – Actress Naomi Watts (“Mulholland Drive,” “The Ring,” “I Heart Huckabees,” “King Kong,” “J. Edgar,” “The Impossible,” “Birdman”)

1987 – Actress-singer Hilary Duff (“Lizzie McGuire,” “Cheaper By The Dozen,” “A Cinderella Story,” “Metamorphosis,” “War, Inc.”)

History Highlights

1928 – A landmark event in modern medicine takes place as young Scottish bacteriologist Sir Alexander Fleming accidentally discovers penicillin — one of the world’s first antibiotics. It means that doctors finally have a tool that could completely cure their patients of deadly infectious diseases.

1941 – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox plays a double-header against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular season and gets six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his batting average to .406 and become the first player since Bill Terry in 1930 to hit .400.

1960 – Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams thrills fans at Fenway Park when he hits a dramatic home run in the last at-bat of his 21-year career. He becomes the last player to hit .400 in a season. In 1966, Williams is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

1965 – Six years after leading the Cuban Revolution and four years after the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs Invasion, Fidel Castro announces that any Cuban wishing to leave the island was free to do so.

1980 – Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” premieres on PBS, becoming the most-viewed television series to date.

1982 – The first of seven deaths from cyanide-laced Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules is reported near Chicago. The case terrifies Americans and changes the way we buy and consume over-the-counter medications.

1989 – Former Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos, whose corrupt regime spanned 20 years, dies in exile in Hawaii.

Musical Milestones

1963 – Bobby Vinton is in the middle of a three-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Blue Velvet.”

1968 – The Beatles begin nine weeks on top of the singles chart with “Hey Jude.” With a running time of just over seven minutes, the track remains the lengthiest No. 1 single ever and is beloved by radio DJs around the world as the ultimate bathroom break song.

1974 – “Rock Me Gently,” by Andy Kim, is the hottest song on the radio.

1985 – “Money for Nothing,” by Dire Straits, is in the midst of a three-week run as a Billboard chart-topper. Sting lends his talents to the track as a background vocalist. The song captures a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards in 1986.

1991 – Jazz great Miles Davis dies at the age of 65.

1991 – Color Me Badd is in its second and final week on top of the singles chart with “I Adore Mi Amor.”

1996 – Los Del Rio dominate Top 40 radio as their smash, “Macarena,” continues its 14-week reign over the Billboard Hot 100.

2002 – “Dilemma,” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland, kicks off its seventh week as a No. 1 single.

2013 – Miley Cyrus kicks off two weeks on top of the pop chart with “Wrecking Ball.”

On this Day August 12

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Celebrity Birthdays

1881 – Legendary movie director Cecile B. DeMille (“Cleopatra,” “The Ten Commandments”) (d. 1959)

1910 – Emmy-winning actress Jane Wyatt, best known as housewife and mother Margaret Anderson on the comedy series “Father Knows Best” and as Spock’s human mother in “Star Trek” (d. 2006)

1931 – Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and bestselling author William Goldman (“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “All the President’s Men”) (d. 2018)

1939 – Golden Globe-winning actor George Hamilton (“Crime and Punishment U.S.A.,” “Light in the Piazza,” “Evel Knievel,” “Love at First Bite,” “Zorro, The Gay Blade,” “The Godfather Part III”)

1949 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-guitarist Mark Knopfler, best known as frontman for the rock band Dire Straits

1954 – Grammy-winning jazz guitarist Pat Metheny

1956 – Actor Bruce Greenwood (“Racing Stripes,” “Thirteen Days,” “Eight Below,” “Star Trek,” “Good Kill”)

1965 – Actor Peter Krause (“Six Feet Under,” “Parenthood”)

1971 – Tennis champion Pete Sampras

1975 – Actor-director Casey Affleck (“Oceans” trilogy, “Gerry,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Gone Baby Gone,” “Out of the Furnace,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”)

History Highlights

30 B.C. – Cleopatra, queen of Egypt and lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, takes her life following the defeat of her forces against Octavian, the future first emperor of Rome.

1851 – Business tycoon Isaac Merritt Singer patents the sewing machine.

1939 – “The Wizard of Oz,” starring Judy Garland and featuring words and music by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg and Harold Arlen, makes its world premiere at the Strand Theatre in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.

1963 – The first 1964 Ford Thunderbird rolls off a Detroit assembly line.

1977 – Space Shuttle Enterprise passes a critical test as it separates from the top of a 747 for its first free flight and makes a smooth landing in the Mojave Desert.

1981 – IBM takes the wraps off the first personal computer (the IBM 5150) with a price tag starting at $1,565. That includes the system unit, a keyboard and color/graphics capability. It costs more for options including a display, a printer, two diskette drives, extra memory, a game adapter and application packages — including one for text processing.

1990 – Digging on a cliff near Faith, South Dakota, paleontologist Susan Hendrickson unearths three huge bones that turn out to be part of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever discovered — a 67 million-year-old specimen dubbed Sue, after its discoverer.

2014 – Lauren Bacall, the smoky-voiced movie legend who taught Humphrey Bogart how to whistle in “To Have and Have Not,” dies at the age of 89. Bacall made more than 40 films during a 70-year career, including “The Big Sleep,” “How to Marry a Millionaire” and “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”

Musical Milestones

1960 – The Silver Beatles become The Beatles, and on this day, the newly renamed band hires Pete Best as drummer. Two years later, he is fired and replaced by Ringo Starr.

1964 – The Beatles’ first film, “A Hard Day’s Night,” opens in 500 U.S. theaters to rave reviews.

1966 – The Beatles’ final U.S. tour begins with two performances at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago. During a pre-show press conference, reporters challenge John Lennon to explain his recent boast that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.

1967 – The Doors close out three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Light My Fire.” About a month later, the band performs the song before a national audience on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”

1978 – “Three Times a Lady,” by the Commodores featuring Lionel Richie, is the No. 1 single.

1985 – Japanese singer-actor Kyu Sakamoto is killed at the age of 43 in the crash of a Japan Airlines jetliner outside Tokyo. Sakamoto was the first Asian recording artist to have a No. 1 hit in the U.S.: “Sukiyaki” in June of 1963, which sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

1995 – TLC is in the midst of a seven-week domination of the singles chart with “Waterfalls.”

2000 – “Incomplete,” by Sisqó, begins a two-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2009 – Legendary guitarist Les Paul dies of pneumonia at age 94. Paul designed one of the first solid-body electric guitars, which went on sale in 1952 and was “instrumental” in the development of rock ‘n roll. He also pioneered other recording innovations such as multi-track recording and overdubbing.