silent film - Time Rewind

On This Day October 4

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On This Day April 16

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Celebrity Birthdays

1867 – Wilbur Wright, who along with his brother Orville, is considered a pioneer of flight (d. 1912)

1889 – Silent film icon Charlie Chaplin (d. 1977)

1935 – Pop vocalist Bobby Vinton (“Roses Are Red,” “Blue Velvet,” “Mr. Lonely“)

1939 – Pop singer Dusty Springfield {“Wishin’ and Hopin’,” “The Look of Love”) (d. 1999)

1947 – Retired NBA legend and Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, born Ferdinand Lewis (Lew) Alcindor, Jr.

1954 – Emmy and Tony-winning actress Ellen Barkin (“Buckaroo Banzai,” “The Big Easy,” “Sea of Love,” “Switch”)

1965 – Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence (“Bad Boys,” “Blue Streak,” “Big Momma’s House”)

1971 – Grammy-winning Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla (d. 1995)

1993 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and record producer Chance The Rapper, born Chancelor Bennett (“Confident,” “Coloring Book”)

History Highlights

1947 – A powerful explosion aboard a chemical-laden freighter docked at Texas City, near Houston, touches off fires that destroy much of the city. Nearly 600 people are killed in what is still considered one of the worst industrial accidents in U.S. history.

1947 – Multimillionaire financier and presidential adviser Bernard Baruch coins the term “Cold War” to describe relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. The phrase sticks, and for more than four decades is a fixture of American diplomacy.

1968 – The longest night game in Major League Baseball ends in the Houston Astrodome in the wee hours of the morning with the Astros shutting out the New York Mets 1-0 in 24 innings.

1972 – The Chinese government sends President Richard Nixon two giant pandas as a sign of friendship. The gesture becomes known as “Panda Diplomacy.” Female panda Ling-Ling and male companion Hsing-Hsing make their home at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

2007 – In one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, 32 people are gunned down on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, by a student at the college who would later take his own life.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles film chase scenes for their movie, “A Hard Day’s Night,” with actors dressed as policemen (“Bobbies”) in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. That evening, the Fab Four record the title track at Abbey Road Studios.

1966 – “(You’re My) Soul and Inspiration,” by The Righteous Brothers, is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single. Billboard goes on to rank the track as the No. 3 single for all of 1966.

1973 – Paul McCartney’s first television special, “James Paul McCartney,” airs on ABC-TV. The show, which includes performances by McCartney and Wings, is broadcast in the U.K. about a month later.

1977 – The hottest song on the radio is “Don’t Give Up on Us,” by David Soul, best known as the star of the 1970s TV police drama, “Starsky & Hutch.”

1983 – “Billie Jean,” from Michael Jackson’s Grammy-winning “Thriller” album, wraps up seven weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – R. Kelly is midway through a four-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bump ‘N Grind.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, is in the midst of a nine-week domination of the U.S. pop chart.

2018 – Kendrick Lamar becomes the first rapper to win the Pulitzer Prize. The honor is for his 2017 album, “DAMN.” The recognition is part of a growing acceptance of hip-hop by reigning cultural institutions.

On This Day April 8

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Celebrity Birthdays

1892 – Actress Mary Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” as she became a legend of the silent film era (d. 1979)

1918 – Former First Lady and treatment center founder Betty Ford, noted for her candor about her battles with breast cancer and addiction

1938 – Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who, along with the U.N., won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001 (d. 2018)

1963 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Julian Lennon (“Too Late for Goodbyes,” “Valotte”)

1966 – Golden Globe-winning actress Robin Wright (“The Princess Bride,” “Forrest Gump,” “House of Cards”)

1968 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Patricia Arquette (“True Romance,” “Flirting With Disaster,” “Medium,” “Boyhood,” “Severance”)

History Highlights

1974 – Playing for the Atlanta Braves, Hank Aaron hits the 715th home run of his career, breaking the record set by Babe Ruth in 1935. The historic shot is hit off of Al Downing of the Los Angeles Dodgers into the left field bullpen at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

1985 – The government of India files suit against Union Carbide for the Bhopal disaster which killed more than 2,200 people.

1986 – Actor-director Clint Eastwood is elected mayor of Carmel, California, and serves for two years.

1990 – Filmmaker David Lynch’s surreal prime-time series, “Twin Peaks,” premieres on ABC. Set in a small fictional logging town, strange and intriguing characters and their relationships are revealed as investigators try to solve the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer.

1990 – Ryan White, a national symbol of the AIDS crisis, dies at the age of 18.

1992 – Tennis great Arthur Ashe stuns the world when he announces that he has AIDS, acquired from a blood transfusion during heart bypass surgery he underwent in 1983. Ashe, the first black man to win Wimbledon, dies from the disease less than a year later at age 49.

2013 – Margaret Thatcher, the first female prime minister of Britain, dies in London at the age of 87 from a stroke. Serving from 1979 to 1990, Thatcher was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century. She was nicknamed the “Iron Lady” because of her her fierce determination and unyielding will.

Musical Milestones

1964 – Diana Ross and The Supremes record “Where Did Our Love Go,” which eventually becomes the first of the girl group’s five No. 1 singles.

1967 – The Turtles’ “Happy Together” marks its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1972 – America gallops into its third and final week atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Horse with No Name.”

1975 – “Toys in the Attic,” the third studio album from Aerosmith, is released. It contains the hit singles “Walk This Way” and “Sweet Emotion” and becomes the Boston rockers’ best-selling album to date, with more than 8 million copies sold.

1989 – “The Look” by Roxette is the No. 1 single and becomes the Swedish duo’s international breakthrough hit after success in Europe.

1994 – The body of grunge music icon and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is found in his Seattle home three days after taking his own life.

1995 – “Take a Bow” marks its seventh and final week as a No. 1 single, becoming Madonna’s longest-reigning chart-topper.

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, kicks off 10 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track goes on to capture the Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

2006 – Canadian singer-songwriter Daniel Powter begins five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bad Day.”

2017 – “Shape of You,” by Ed Sheeran, rules the U.S. singles chart. The track enjoys 12 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 and also tops the charts in 33 other countries.

On This Day December 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1856 – 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (d. 1924)

1922 – Legendary Marvel Comics writer, editor and publisher Stan Lee, who co-created such iconic characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, Black Panther and the Fantastic Four (d. 2018)

1932 – Actress Nichelle Nichols, best known as Lieutenant Uhura from the “Star Trek” TV series and movies (d. 2022)

1934 – Actress Dame Maggie Smith, who plays Professor McGonagall in the “Harry Potter” movie series

1954 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Tony-winning actor-director-producer Denzel Washington (“St. Elsewhere,” “Glory,” “Malcolm X,” “Training Day,” “Antwone Fisher,” “American Gangster,” “Unstoppable,” “Flight,” “The Equalizer,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Fences”)

1973 – Emmy-winning actor-comedian-writer-TV host Seth Meyers (“Saturday Night Live,” “Late Night with Seth Meyers”)

1978 – Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning singer-songwriter and actor John Legend (“Ordinary People,” “All of Me,” “Glory”)

History Highlights

1895 – The world’s first commercial movie screening takes place at the Salon Indien of the Grand Cafe in Paris. Guests pay one franc to watch 10 short films produced by siblings Louis and Auguste Lumiere, who developed a camera-projector called the Cinematographe.

1938 – Silent-film star Florence Lawrence commits suicide in Beverly Hills at the age of 52. Though best known for roles in nearly 250 films, Lawrence also invented the first “auto signaling arm,” a mechanical turn signal, along with the first mechanical brake signal. However, because she never patented them, she never received credit for or profit from either one.

1945 – Congress officially recognizes the Pledge of Allegiance. The words “under God” were added in 1954 in response to the anti-Communist (and thus anti-atheist) opinion sweeping the U.S. during the Cold War.

1958 – Known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” the Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants at New York’s Yankee Stadium in the first National Football League (NFL) sudden death overtime playoff game

1981 – The first American test-tube baby, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Musical Milestones

1959 – “Why,” by teen idol Frankie Avalon, becomes the last No. 1 single of the 1950s. It holds the top spot for a week.

1968 – The Beatles land on top of the Billboard album chart with their self-titled “The Beatles,” better known as “The White Album” — produced while the band was falling apart. It becomes their 12th chart-topping album.

1968 – Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” is in the midst of a seven-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100. The track is the Motown legend’s first No. 1 hit and the label’s best-selling single of the 60s.

1974 – Helen Reddy dominates the Billboard Hot 100 with “Angie Baby,” one of her best-selling singles. The track was written by Alan O’Day, most recognized for his 1977 smash “Undercover Angel.”

1983 – Dennis Wilson, the only real surfer in the band The Beach Boys, drowns at the age of 39 after a day of drinking and diving off Marina del Ray, California.

1985 – “Say You, Say Me,” by Lionel Richie, is midway through a four-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1996 – Toni Braxton dominates the Billboard Hot 100 with “Un-Break My Heart,” which remains a No. 1 single for 11 weeks.

2002 – Eminem rolls into an eighth week on top of the singles chart with “Lose Yourself,” which becomes the last No. 1 hit of 2002 and the first of 2003. It remains a chart-topper for a total of 12 weeks.

On This Day October 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1822 – 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes (d. 1893)

1861 – American West artist-sculptor Frederic Remington (d. 1909)

1880 – Journalist-writer Damon Runyon (d. 1946)

1895 – Silent film icon Buster Keaton (“The General”) (d. 1966)

1923 – Oscar-winning actor and three-time National Rifle Association (NRA) President Charlton Heston (“Antony and Cleopatra,” “Ben-Hur,” “The 10 Commandments,” “Planet of the Apes”) (d. 2008)

1941 – Gothic novelist Anne Rice (“The Vampire Chronicles”)

1946 – Oscar-winning actress and social activist Susan Sarandon (” The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Bull Durham,” “Thelma & Louise,” “Dead Man Walking,” “Anywhere But Here,” “Elizabethtown,” “Enchanted”)

1949 – Actor Armand Assante (“The Lords of Flatbush,” “I, The Jury,” “Q&A,” “Hoffa,” “The Mambo Kings,” “American Gangster”)

1956 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds,” “Carnage,” “Django Unchained,” “Horrible Bosses 2,” “Big Eyes,” “Spectre”)

1967 – Tony-winning actor Liev Schreiber (the “Scream” movie series, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “Hamlet,” “The Butler,” “Ray Donovan,” “Spotlight”)

1976 – Actress-producer and author Alicia Silverstone (“The Crush,” “Clueless,” “Batman & Robin”)

History Highlights

1927 – Sculpting begins on the face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest. The 14-year project produces granite images of four of America’s most revered and beloved presidents—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

1931 – The “Dick Tracy” comic strip by Chester Gould debuts in the “Detroit Mirror” newspaper.

1957 – The Soviets trigger the “Space Race” between the Superpowers with the launch of Sputnik — a basketball-size satellite that becomes the first man-made object to orbit Earth.

1957 – “Leave It To Beaver” premieres on TV. The family sitcom was a stereotypical portrayal of American family life.

1976 – Barbara Walters joins Harry Reasoner on the “ABC Evening News,” becoming the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast.

Musical Milestones

1969 – The Archies are mid-way through a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Sugar, Sugar.”

1970 – Rock and roll legend Janis Joplin, known for her distinctive blues-inspired vocals, rebellious lifestyle, psychedelic Porsche and free-flowing fashion sense, dies of a drug overdose at the age of 27.

1980 – “Another One Bites the Dust” puts Queen on top of the singles chart for three weeks.

1990 – “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection,” by Nelson, is the No. 1 single.

2003 – “Baby Boy,” by Beyoncé featuring Sean Paul, kicks off nine weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

On this Day August 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Actor-dancer-singer Gene Kelly (d. 1996)

1929 – Actress Vera Miles, best known for her role as Lila Crane in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”

1931 – Actress Barbara Eden, who starred in TV’s “I Dream of Jeannie” from 1965-1970

1946 – The Who drummer Keith Moon (d. 1978)

1949 – Actress Shelley Long (“Cheers,” “The Money Pit,” “The Brady Bunch Movie”)

1949 – Singer-songwriter and actor Rick Springfield, who starred in the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” in the early 1980s and won a Grammy for his 1981 smash “Jessie’s Girl”

1970 – Actor-comedian Jay Mohr (“Saturday Night Live,” “Jerry Maguire,” “200 Cigarettes,” “Pay It Forward,” “Scrubs,” “The Jeff Foxworthy Show”)

1970 – Actor River Phoenix (“Explorers,” “Stand By Me,” “Running On Empty”) (d. 1993)

1978 – NBA legend Kobe Bryant, who devoted his entire 20-year playing career to the Los Angeles Lakers (d. 2020)

1988 – NBA star point guard Jeremy Lin, who unexpectedly led a winning turnaround with the New York Knicks in 2012 that generated a global following known as “Linsanity”

History Highlights

1926 – Silent film idol Rudolph Valentino dies in New York at the age of 31.

1927 – Despite worldwide demonstrations in support of their innocence, Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are executed in Massachusetts for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery.

1966 – NASA’S Lunar Orbiter 1 captures the very first image of Earth from the moon’s orbit. The unmanned spacecraft was launched to survey the lunar surface in preparation for the Apollo 11 moon landing.

1989 – Former Cincinnati Reds star player and manager Pete Rose is banned from baseball for life as punishment for betting on the sport. The ban robs Rose of any future employment in Major League Baseball and, despite a stellar playing career, renders him ineligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

1999 – Health officials report an encephalitis outbreak in New York City that turns out to be the earliest cases of West Nile virus in the U.S. Seven people die.

Musical Milestones

1966 – A little over a year after their first appearance at New York’s Shea Stadium, The Beatles return for a second time, however this performance fails to draw a sell-out crowd.

1969 – The Rolling Stones kick off four weeks on top of the singles chart with “Honky Tonk Women.”

1969 – Johnny Cash begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Johnny Cash At San Quentin” — the recording of a live concert for inmates of San Quentin State Prison. It is the follow-up to Cash’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful “At Folsom Prison.”

1975 – “Fallin’ in Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds is the hottest single in America.

1986 – Madonna rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Papa Don’t Preach,” off her “True Blue” album.

1997 – The Grammy-winning “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy with Faith Evans and 112 tops the singles chart.

On This Day October 4

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On This Day April 16

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On This Day April 8

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On This Day December 28

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On This Day October 4

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On this Day August 23

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