Simon and Garfunkel – Time Rewind

On This Day April 6

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On This Day April 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1928 – Poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou, born Marguerite Annie Johnson (d. 2014)

1944 – Actor Craig T. Nelson (“Poltergeist,” “Coach,” “The Incredibles,” “Parenthood”)

1960 – Actor Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “V For Vendetta,” “The Hobbit” film series, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” “Hacksaw Ridge”)

1965 – Golden Globe-winning actor Robert Downey, Jr. (“Less Than Zero,” “Chaplin,” “Ally McBeal,” the “Iron Man” and “Avengers/MCU” and “Sherlock Holmes” movies, “The Judge”)

1966 – Actress Nancy McKeon (“The Facts of Life,” “The Division”)

1979 – Actor Heath Ledger (“10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Patriot,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “Monster’s Ball,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “The Dark Knight”) (d. 2008)

History Highlights

1949 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is established by the U.S. and 11 other Western nations.

1960 – William Wyler’s Technicolor epic ,”Ben-Hur,” sets an Academy Awards record when it sweeps 11 of the 12 categories for which it was nominated, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Charlton Heston).

1968 – A sniper shoots and kills civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 39, on the balcony of a Memphis, Tennessee motel. As word of the assassination spreads, riots erupt in cities across the U.S., and National Guard troops are deployed in Memphis and Washington, D.C. In 1991, the murder scene—the Lorraine Motel—is dedicated as part of the National Civil Rights Museum.

1969 – CBS cancels the most popular show on TV at the time, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,” because the brothers failed to submit their script to network executives to review before broadcast.

1973 – A ribbon-cutting ceremony is held in New York’s Lower Manhattan to dedicate the original World Trade Center. At 110 stories each, 1 WTC, or the North Tower, and 2 WTC, the South Tower, would provide nearly 10 million square feet of office space. Reaching more than a quarter of a mile into the sky, the Twin Towers were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period, the tallest buildings in the world.

1975 – At a time when most Americans are using typewriters, childhood friends and self-proclaimed computer geeks Bill Gates and Paul Allen establish Microsoft in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Four years later, they relocate the business to Washington State and grow it into a major multinational technology corporation.

1986 – The last episode of NBC’s “Knight Rider,” starring David Hasselhoff as private eye Michael Knight, airs on this day.

2007 – Radio shock jock Don Imus makes offensive remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team on the air, creating a firestorm of criticism across the country. Imus apologizes and loses his job, but ultimately is able to salvage his career.

2013 – Acclaimed movie critic Roger Ebert, who reviewed movies for the Chicago Sun-Times for 46 years and on TV’s Sneak Previews program for 31 years, dies at the age of 70 after battling cancer.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles simultaneously claim the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100, with “Can’t Buy Me Love” at No. 1 where it remains for five weeks. Never before, and not since, has a single act achieved that kind of musical monopoly.

1970 – “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, begins its sixth and final week as a Billboard No. 1. The track goes on to capture five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, is in its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1987 – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” by Starship is No. 1 on the singles chart and stays there for two weeks. The song appears in the movie “Mannequin,” starring Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

1995 – Madonna is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Take a Bow,” from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1998 – K-Ci & JoJo rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “All My Life.”

2009 – Flo Rida featuring Ke$ha wraps up a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Right Round,” a track that samples the chorus of the 1984 Dead or Alive song “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).”

On This Day March 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1944 – Actor Ken Howard (“1776,” “The White Shadow,” “Clear and Present Danger,” “Crossing Jordan”) (d. 2016)

1948 – Oscar, Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Dianne Wiest (“Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Parenthood,” “The Lost Boys,” “Bullets Over Broadway,” “In Treatment,” “Law & Order”)

1955 – Grammy-winning country singer and actress Reba McEntire, who starred in her own sitcom, “Reba,” from 2001-07

1970 – Actor Vince Vaughn (“Swingers,” “Wedding Crashers,” “The Break-Up,” “The Internship,” “True Detective”)

1981 – Actress Julia Stiles (“Save the Last Dance,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “Dexter”)

1986 – Grammy and Golden Globe-winning pop superstar and actress Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta

History Highlights

1834 – The U.S. Congress censures President Andrew Jackson over his refusal to turn over documents regarding his dealings with the Bank of the United States.

1881 – The Greatest Show on Earth is born when P.T. Barnum and James Bailey merge their circus troupes.

1915 – The first American is killed during World War I, before the U.S. had even entered the conflict. Leon Thrasher, a 31-year-old mining engineer from Massachusetts, drowns when a German U-boat (submarine) torpedoes the British steamship RMS Falaba off the coast of England. The vessel was on its way from Liverpool to West Africa when the Germans attacked. The sinking is reported by American media as the “Thrasher Incident.”

1969 – Dwight Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States and one of the most highly decorated American generals of World War II, dies at the age of 78.

1979 – The worst commercial nuclear accident in U.S. history takes place at the Three Mile Island plant near Harrisburg, PA. A mechanical failure in the Unit 2 reactor, compounded by human error, forces thousands to evacuate and triggers a public backlash against the nuclear power industry.

1984 – Baltimore Colts owner Robert Irsay outrages fans and local officials when he moves the NFL franchise to Indianapolis in the middle of the night with no public announcement.

Musical Milestones

1958 – Composer William Christopher “W.C.” Handy, regarded as the “Father of the Blues,” dies in New York City.

1964 – “She Loves You,” by The Beatles, tops the U.S. pop chart. It is the second of three consecutive singles that keep The Beatles at No. 1 from the beginning of February through the beginning of May of that year.

1970 – “Bridge over Troubled Water,” by Simon & Garfunkel, sits at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1981 – Kim Carnes delivers new music to the Billboard singles chart in the form of “Bette Davis Eyes,” which reaches No. 1 that May and holds there for nine weeks.

1981 – “Rapture,” by Blondie featuring Debbie Harry, becomes the first rap song to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track, off the band’s “Autoamerican” album, claims the top spot for two weeks.

1987 – Club Nouveau’s cover of the Bill Withers soul classic, “Lean On Me, ” wraps up two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1992 – Vanessa Williams rules the singles chart for five weeks beginning this day with “Save the Best for Last.”

1998 – Will Smith wraps up a three-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It.”

2001 – Sean Combs, the Grammy-winning artist formerly known as both Puffy and Puff Daddy, tells MTV that he now wants to be known as P. Diddy. In August 2005, he changes his stage name to simply Diddy.

2009 – “Right Round,” by Flo Rida featuring Kesha, tops the pop chart.

On This Day March 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1685 – Classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach (d. 1750)

1944 – Actor Timothy Dalton, who played James Bond in two films

1949 – Singer-songwriter Eddie Money, born Edward Mahoney (“Baby Hold On,” “Two Tickets to Paradise”, “Take Me Home Tonight”) (d. 2019)

1958 – Actor Gary Oldman (“Sid and Nancy,” “JFK,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” “The Fifth Element,” “Air Force One,” played Sirius Black in the “Harry Potter” series, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” “The Book of Eli,” “Darkest Hour”)

1962 – Emmy-winning comedian-TV host-actress Rosie O’Donnell (“The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” “The View,” “A League of Their Own,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Now and Then”)

1962 – Tony-winning actor Matthew Broderick (“War Games,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Biloxi Blues,” “Glory,” “The Freshman,” “Inspector Gadget,” “The Producers,” “Tower Heist,” “Rules Don’t Apply”)

History Highlights

1947 – With fears about communism swirling across the U.S., President Harry Truman signs Executive Order 9835. It creates a Loyalty Program to investigate federal employees to determine if they demonstrated “complete and unswerving loyalty” to the United States.

1965 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. leads some 3,200 civil rights activists on a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Federalized Alabama National Guardsmen and FBI agents supervise the procession, which Alabama state police had previously blocked at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter announces a U.S. boycott of the Summer Olympics in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

1980 – In the Season 3 finale of CBS’ hit prime time drama “Dallas,” an unseen assailant shoots bad-boy J.R. Ewing (played by Larry Hagman), who falls to the floor of his office before the scene fades to black. The episode, entitled “A House Divided,” becomes one of the most talked about season finales of all time, sparking the “Who Shot J.R.” craze. Some 160 million fans wait eight months to learn the identity of the shooter in Season 4.

1994 – Eleven-year-old Anna Paquin is stunned when actor Gene Hackman announces that she has won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Piano.” Paquin becomes the second youngest Oscar winner of all time.

1999 – Aviators Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones complete the first non-stop around-the-world flight in a hot air balloon, making aviation history.

Musical Milestones

1953 – “(How Much is) That Doggie in the Window” launches Patti Page on an eight-week ride at No. 1 on the singles chart.

1964 – The Beatles rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “She Loves You” — the second of three consecutive hits that keep the Fab Four on top of the singles chart through early May of that year.

1970 – Simon & Garfunkel remain suspended at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track holds there for a total of six weeks.

1981 – REO Speedwagon clinches the top spot on the singles chart with “Keep On Loving You,” the group’s first Top 40 hit and No. 1.

1992 – Vanessa Williams kicks off five weeks on top of the Billboard pop chart with “Save the Best for Last.”

1994 – Bruce Springsteen performs “Streets of Philadelphia” during the 66th Academy Awards, and a short time later, is handed a Best Original Song Oscar for it. It’s from the movie “Philadelphia,” for which Tom Hanks won Best Actor. The track goes on to capture four Grammys.

1998 – Will Smith maintains his hold on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.”

On This Day March 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1879 – Physicist Albert Einstein, who developed the theory of relativity (d. 1955)

1933 – Oscar-winning actor Sir Michael Caine (“Deathtrap,” “Educating Rita,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” “The Cider House Rules,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Interstellar”)

1933 – Grammy-winning composer-producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Quincy Jones

1948 – Emmy and Tony-winning comedian-actor Billy Crystal (“The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally…,” “City Slickers,” “Analyze This,” “Monsters, Inc.”)

1988 – NBA superstar and 2015/2016 MVP Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors

1997 – Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles, the most decorated American gymnast in history; also the first American woman to win seven national all-around titles and first female gymnast to earn three consecutive World All-Around titles.

History Highlights

1879 – Albert Einstein, the physicist best known for his theory of relativity and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1921, is born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany.

1950 – The FBI introduces the “Ten Most-Wanted Fugitives” list to help track down dangerous criminals who are at large. The first person placed on the list is Thomas James Holden, wanted for the murder of his wife, her brother and her stepbrother.

1964 – A Dallas jury finds Jack Ruby guilty of murder in the death of JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Ruby is sentenced to death.

1990 – Running unopposed, Mikhail Gorbachev is elected president of the Soviet Union. While the election was a victory, it also revealed serious weaknesses in Gorbachev’s power base that eventually lead to the collapse of his presidency in December 1991.

1991 – British authorities release the so-called “Birmingham Six” — six Irish men who had been sent to prison 16 years earlier for the 1974 terrorist bombings of two Birmingham, England pubs.

Musical Milestones

1958 – The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards its first official Gold Record to Perry Como for his last No. 1 single — the smash “Catch A Falling Star.”

1964 – The Beatles begin their seventh and final week as Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” The following week, the Fab Four are back at No. 1 with “She Loves You.”

1970 – Simon & Garfunkel are in the midst of a six-week domination of the singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

1981 – Dolly Parton takes the theme song from the movie “9 to 5” to the top of the singles chart for a second time. The track spent a week at No. 1 beginning on February 21.

1983 – Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora and Alec John Such form the rock band Bon Jovi in Sayreville, New Jersey.

1987 – “Jacob’s Ladder,” by Huey Lewis and the News, is the No. 1 single. It’s among five Top 10 singles to come off the band’s “Fore!” album.

1998 – Will Smith kicks off a three-week run atop the singles chart with “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It.” The song is based around a sample of “He’s the Greatest Dancer” by Sister Sledge.

On This Day January 1

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Celebrity Birthdays

1735 – American Revolution patriot Paul Revere (d. 1818)

1919 – Author J. D. Salinger, best known for his critically acclaimed novel “The Catcher in the Rye” (d. 2010)

1938 – Tony-winning actor Frank Langella (“Dracula,” “Dave,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Unknown”)

1942 – Country Joe McDonald, lead singer of the 60s psychedelic rock group Country Joe & the Fish

1943 – Actor-comedian Don Novello, best known as Father Guido Salducci on “Saturday Night Live”

1958 – Rapper Grandmaster Flash, born Joseph Saddler, considered one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting and mixing

1969 – Actor Morris Chestnut (“Boyz n the Hood,” “The Best Man,” “Ladder 49”)

History Highlights

1818 – Mary Shelley’s classic “Frankenstein” is published.

1863 – President Abraham Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation aimed at abolishing slavery in the U.S.

1942 – The United Nations is created when U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issue a declaration, signed by representatives of 26 countries, vowing to form an international postwar peacekeeping organization.

1959 – Cuban President Fulgencio Batista is overthrown by Fidel Castro’s rebel forces during the Cuban Revolution. Amid celebration and chaos in the capitol of Havana, the U.S. is left to determine how best to deal with the radical Castro and brewing anti-Americanism in Cuba.

1971 – A ban on cigarette advertising on American television takes effect, with the last commercial (for Virginia Slims) broadcast on “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” at 11:50 p.m.

1994 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) takes effect between Canada, the United States and Mexico. Former President George H.W. Bush signed the NAFTA agreement in 1992 before leaving office.

Musical Milestones

1953 – One of America’s first country music superstars, Hank Williams, dies at the age of 29, but leaves a lasting legacy that continues to influence artists of all musical genres.

1959 – Country music legend Johnny Cash (a.k.a. “The Man in Black”) plays his first of many free concerts at California’s San Quentin Prison. The captive audience of inmates included future country music great Merle Haggard , who, at 19, was serving time for grand theft auto and armed robbery.

1962 – From the “Ooops” file: The Beatles audition for London record company Decca on the same day as Brian Poole & the Tremeloes. Decca tells The Beatles, “guitar groups are on their way out,” and signs the Tremeloes.

1966 – Simon & Garfunkel are No. 1 on the singles chart with “The Sounds of Silence.”

1977 – Rod Stewart begins his eighth and final week on top of the pop chart with “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright).”

1983 – Hall & Oates dominate the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week with “Maneater.”

2000 – “Smooth,” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, scores its ninth week on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track will spend one more week at No. 1 and later capture three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

On This Day November 9

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated actress-singer-dancer Dorothy Dandridge, who performed regularly at the legendary Cotton Club and Apollo Theater in New York’s Harlem (d. 1965)

1934 – Astronomer-author Carl Sagan (“Cosmos: A Personal Voyage”) (d. 1996)

1935 – Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson

1941 – Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) rhythm guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Tom Fogerty (d. 1990)

1951 – Actor-bodybuilder Lou Ferrigno, best known for playing the big green guy in TV’s “The Incredible Hulk”

1970 – Grammy-winning blues singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi of Tedeschi Trucks Band

1972 – Actor Eric Dane, best known for playing Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy”

History Highlights

1906 – On the first foreign trip by a U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt departs for Panama from Chesapeake Bay aboard the recently commissioned battleship Louisiana.

1938 – Violent anti-Jewish demonstrations erupt across Germany, Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. The Nazi-led attacks are part of what is called “Kristallnacht” (“Night of Broken Glass”) after the countless smashed windows of Jewish-owned establishments. Nearly a hundred Jews are killed, 7,500 Jewish businesses are damaged and hundreds of synagogues, homes, schools and graveyards are vandalized.

1965 – A massive power failure in the middle of the evening rush hour leaves New Yorkers and millions of others in the Northeast and parts of Canada in the dark, with many people stranded in subways and elevators for up to 13 hours.

1967 – The first edition of Rolling Stone magazine hits newsstands featuring John Lennon on the cover.

1982 – Sugar Ray Leonard retires from boxing, but climbs back into the ring two years later.

1989 – A Cold War icon begins to literally crumble as East German officials open the Berlin Wall and allow citizens to travel from East to West Berlin. Built in 1961 by East German officials allied with the Soviets, the wall was designed to prevent those in East Germany from going to the West and came to represent the ideological differences between the Eastern Bloc and western countries at the time.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Record store manager Brian Epstein goes to a Liverpool, England nightclub to hear and meet The Beatles. Two months later, he becomes their manager and helps secure their first record deal, setting them on a path to global fame and fortune. Sometimes referred to as “the fifth Beatle,” Epstein dies in 1967 from an apparent accidental drug overdose at the age of 32.

1969 – Simon and Garfunkel record what becomes one of their signature songs — “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The track captures five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1974 – Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – Jan Hammer tops the singles chart with the theme from the TV series “Miami Vice,” which starred Don Johnson and Phillip Michael Thomas.

1991 – “Cream,” by Prince and the New Power Generation, kicks off two weeks as a No. 1 single.

1996 – Blackstreet featuring Dr. Dre rule the Billboard Hot 100 with “No Diggity,” which remains at No. 1 for four weeks.

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.

On this Day May 25

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Celebrity Birthdays

1927 – Robert Ludlum, author of more than 20 thrillers, including the Jason Bourne spy novels (d. 2001)

1939 – Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Sir Ian McKellen, best known as Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and Magneto in the “X-Men” movies

1943 – Tony and Emmy-winning actress-singer Leslie Uggams (“Hallelujah, Baby!,” “Roots”)

1944 – Emmy-winning actor-director and “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show” puppeteer Frank Oz, who also provided the voice of Yoda in the “Star Wars” movies

1963 – Emmy-winning comedic actor Mike Myers (“Saturday Night Live,” “Wayne’s World,” “So I Married an Axe Murderer,” and the “Austin Powers” and “Shrek” movie series)

1969 – Actress Anne Heche (“Donnie Brasco,” “Volcano,” “Wag the Dog,” “Six Days Seven Nights,” “John Q,” “Men in Trees”)

1972 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Octavia Spencer (“A Time to Kill,” “The Help,” “Hidden Figures,” “The Shape of Water”)

History Highlights

1961 – Addressing a special joint session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy announces his goal to send an American to the moon before the end of the decade. He also requests financial support for an accelerated space program.

1977 – “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” With those words on the screen, cinematic history is made as George Lucas’ epic sci-fi adventure “Star Wars” opens on Memorial Day weekend at just 32 theaters across the U.S. with no official premiere. By August, more than 1,000 theaters are screening the film, propelling it box office glory. Later renamed “Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope,” the movie captures seven Academy Awards and becomes a marketing bonanza.

1979 – This day marks the worst domestic air crash in U.S. history. American Airlines Flight 191, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10, crashes during takeoff at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground. Investigators blame a faulty pylon assembly for the tragedy in which the left engine fell off the LA-bound aircraft.

1979 – Six-year old Etan Patz disappears while walking two blocks from home to his bus stop in Manhattan. Investigators have the boy’s face and description printed on milk cartons all across the U.S. in hopes that someone would find him — the first time that method is used to aid in a missing child case. It takes 38 years for authorities to find and convict the suspect in Patz’s kidnapping and murder.

Musical Milestones

1963 – Jimmy Soul enjoys his second and final week on top of the pop chart with “If You Wanna Be Happy.”

1965 – Blues singer-songwriter and harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson dies in his sleep at age 65. Over the years, Van Morrison, Aerosmith, The Who, The Animals, Yardbirds and The Moody Blues have all covered his songs.

1968 – Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bookends” becomes the duo’s second No. 1 album, delivering such classic tracks as “Mrs. Robinson,” “America,” “A Hazy Shade Of Winter” and “At The Zoo.” The album holds the top spot for three weeks.

1973 – More than 100,000 people flock to New York’s Central Park for a free concert by singer-songwriting sensation Carole King.

1974 – Ray Stevens’ novelty song, “The Streak,” is in the midst of a three-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1985 – “Everything She Wants,” by Wham! (featuring George Michael), begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It becomes the pop duo’s third consecutive million-selling No. 1 hit in the U.S.

1991 – Mariah Carey’s “I Don’t Wanna Cry” rules the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

1996 – Bone Thugs-n-Harmony claim the top spot on the pop chart with “Tha Crossroads.”

2002 – “Foolish,” by Ashanti, is in its sixth week as a Billboard singles chart-topper. It spends another four weeks at No. 1.