Soviet Union – Time Rewind

On This Day April 19

Musical Milestones

1969 – The 5th Dimension have the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures).”

1975 – Elton John rules the pop chart with “Philadelphia Freedom.” The track is sometimes mistaken as a patriotic song about America, with the bicentennial approaching. It is actually a tribute to John’s close friend, tennis legend Billie Jean King, who, at the time, coached a tennis team called the Philadelphia Freedoms.

1980 – For the first time ever, the top five artists on the country music chart are all female: Crystal Gayle is No. 1, with Dottie West, Debby Boone, Emmylou Harris and Tammy Wynette making up the rest of the top five.

1980 – “Call Me” by Blondie claims the top spot on the singles chart and holds there for six weeks. The track is from the band’s “Autoamerican” album and is featured in the movie “American Gigolo,” starring Richard Gere.

1986 – “Kiss,” by Prince and The Revolution from the “Parade” album (the “Under the Cherry Moon” soundtrack) is the No. 1 single. Following Prince’s April 2016 death, the song re-charted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 28, and jumped to No. 23 a week later.

1997 – Michael Jackson attends the unveiling of a wax statue of himself at the Grevin Museum of Wax in Paris. The King of Pop had provided one of his own outfits to dress the figure.

2008 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Touch My Body.”

History Highlights

1775 – The “shot heard round the world” is fired in Lexington, Massachusetts, triggering the American Revolution.

1897 – The first Boston Marathon is run, and John McDermott of New York emerges from a 15-person starter field as the winner of the all-male event with a completion time of 2:55:10. In 1924, the course is extended from 24.5 miles to 26 miles, 385 yards to conform to the Olympic standard.

1943 – Nazi forces attempting to clear out the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw, Poland are met by gunfire from Jewish resistance fighters, marking the beginning of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

1956 – American actress Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco in a spectacular ceremony that is dubbed the “Wedding of the Century.” The 26-year-old American beauty becomes Princess Grace of Monaco.

1971 – The Soviet Union launches Salyut, the first manned orbiting space lab that goes on to be replaced by Mir in 1986.

1993 – A 51-day standoff between federal agents and Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas comes to a fiery end. The cult compound burns to the ground and 80 Davidians, including their leader, David Koresh and 22 children, are dead.

1995 – A massive explosion at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma kills 168 people and injures hundreds more. The bomb, contained in a rented truck parked outside the building, goes off at 9:02 a.m. as people prepare for the workday.

Celebrity Birthdays

1903 – Federal Agent Eliot Ness, head of “The Untouchables,” which helped bring down gangster Al Capone (d. 1957)

1933 – Actress-singer Jayne Mansfield (“The Girl Can’t Help It,” “Too Hot to Handle,” “Kiss Them for Me”) (d. 1967)

1935 – Actor-comedian-musician-composer Dudley Moore (“Bedazzled,” “10,” “Arthur”) (d. 2002)

1946 – Actor Tim Curry (“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “It,” “The Three Musketeers,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”)

1968 – Actress Ashley Judd (“Kiss the Girls,” “High Crimes,” “Divergent,” “Dolphin Tale,” “Dolphin Tale 2,” “Missing”)

1978 – Golden Globe-winning actor James Franco (“Freaks and Geeks,” “James Dean,” “Pineapple Express,” the “Spider-Man” trilogy, “127 Hours,” “11.22.63,” “Sausage Party”,”The Disaster Artist”)

1979 – Golden Globe-winning actress Kate Hudson (“Almost Famous,” You, Me and Dupree,” “Fool’s Gold,” “Bride Wars,” “Deepwater Horizon”)

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Autoamerican

Blondie

Parade: Music from the Motion Picture "Under the Cherry Moon"

Prince and The Revolution

The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789

Robert Middlekauff

American Experience: Oklahoma City

Starring Bill Morlin and Mark Potok and directed by Barak Goodman

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick, and directed by Jim Sharman

127 Hours

Starring James Franco, Amber Tabmblyn, Kate Mara and Amber Tamblyn, and directed by Danny Boyle

On This Day April 22

Musical Milestones

1967 – Nancy Sinatra and her father, Frank, are midway through a four-week ride atop the singles chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.”

1978 – John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd debut as The Blues Brothers on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live (SNL).” The duo go on to earn three Top 40 hits (“Soul Man,” “Rubber Biscuit” and “Gimme Some Lovin'”), a No. 1 pop album (“Briefcase Full of Blues”) and a piece of screen immortality with their 1980 film, “The Blues Brothers.”

1978 – The Bee Gees maintain a grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Night Fever,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack.

1989 – “Like a Prayer,” by Madonna, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and stays there for three weeks.

1995 – Montell Jordan dominates the singles chart with “This Is How We Do It.” The track has a lock on the top spot for seven weeks.

2000 – Santana featuring The Product G&B are midway through a 10-week hold on the No. 1 spot on the singles chart with “Maria Maria”

2006 – Daniel Powter is in the midst of a five-week run on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Bad Day.”

History Highlights

1864 – By an act of Congress, the words “In God We Trust” are inscribed on all coins minted as U.S. currency beginning with the two-cent piece.

1969 – British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world.

1970 – The modern environmental movement is born as millions across America observe the first Earth Day, an effort to increase public awareness of global environmental problems.

1976 – ABC announces that Barbara Walters will co-anchor “ABC Evening News” with Harry Reasoner that October. The move makes Walters the first woman co-anchor of a network evening news program as well as television’s highest paid journalist, earning $1 million a year for five years.

1994 – 37th U.S. President Richard Nixon, who helped forge improved relations with China and the Soviet Union before resigning in 1974 amid the Watergate scandal, dies of a stroke at age 81.

Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Actor Eddie Albert (“Roman Holiday,” “Green Acres,” “The Heartbreak Kid”) (d. 2005)

1922 – Jazz double-bassist Charles Mingus (d. 1979)

1923 – Producer-screenwriter Aaron Spelling (“The Mod Squad,” “The Rookies,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Beverly Hills 90210,” “Melrose Place”) (d. 2006)

1926 – Actress Charlotte Rae, best known for her role as Mrs. Garrett on TV’s “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life” (d. 2018)

1936 – Grammy-winning country music singer Glen Campbell (“Wichita Lineman,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “Galveston,” “Rhinestone Cowboy”) (d. 2017)

1937 – Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson (“Five Easy Pieces,” “Chinatown,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “The Shining,” “Terms of Endearment,” “A Few Good Men,” “As Good as It Gets,” “The Departed,” “Batman”)

1950 – Rock singer-songwriter Peter Frampton (“Show Me the Way”, “Baby, I Love Your Way”, “Do You Feel Like We Do,” “I’m in You”)

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Briefcase Full of Blues

The Blues Brothers

Supernatural

Santana

The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation

Adam Rome

Audition: A Memoir

Barbara Walters

Glen Campbell: Greatest Hits

Glen Campbell

Five Easy Pieces

Starring Jack Nicholson, Fannie Flagg and Karen Black, and directed by Bob Rafelson

On This Day April 25

Musical Milestones

1956 – Rock and Roll King Elvis Presley signs a seven-year movie contract with Paramount Pictures.

1960 – Elvis Presley gets stuck on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks with “Stuck On You.” It’s his first hit single following his two-year stint in the U.S. Army.

1970 – The Jackson 5 give The Beatles’ “Let It Be” the boot and claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks with “ABC.”

1981 – Daryl Hall and John Oates begin their third and final week as chart-toppers with “Kiss On My List.”

1987 – U2 begin a nine-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “The Joshua Tree,” which packs chart-topping tracks including “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.” It goes on to capture Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

1990 – The Fender Stratocaster that rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival is auctioned off for a record $330,000. His two-hour set at the 1969 rock festival included a rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.”

1992 – “Jump,” by hip hop duo Kris Kross, grabs the top spot on the singles chart and remains there for eight weeks.

1998 – Next has the No. 1 single with “Too Close.” The track remains on top of the pop chart for five weeks.

2007 – Leukemia claims the life of 69-year-old Bobby “Boris” Pickett, best known for his hit novelty song “Monster Mash,” which still gets radio airplay every Halloween.

History Highlights

1901 – The first license plate is affixed to an automobile, as New York becomes the first state to require tags.

1945 – A milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe is achieved when U.S. and Russian troops meet in Torgau along the River Elbe, cutting Nazi Germany in two.

1980 – President Jimmy Carter informs the nation that eight U.S. servicemen were killed in the collision of two military aircraft to be used to rescue 52 Americans held hostage in Iran. Those hostages are finally freed the following January, on the day Ronald Reagan is inaugurated president.

1983 – Soviet leader Yuri Andropov personally invites American fifth-grader Samantha Smith of Maine to visit his country after reading her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. She makes the trip that summer and becomes an honorary ambassador for peace at a time when U.S.-Soviet relations were strained during the Cold War. Sadly, Smith dies in a plane crash two years later.

1990 – The crew of Space Shuttle Discovery places the Hubble Space Telescope, a long-term space-based observatory, into a low orbit around Earth. Hubble — named after astronomer Edwin Hubble — continues to provide astronomers with an unparalleled view of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe.

1995 – Oscar-winning entertainer Ginger Rogers, best known for her films with dance partner Fred Astaire, dies at the age of 83.

Celebrity Birthdays

1874 – Nobel Prize-winning radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi (d. 1937)

1908 – Pioneering broadcast journalist and longtime CBS correspondent Edward R. Murrow (d. 1965)

1917 – Legendary Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as “The First Lady of Song” (d. 1996)

1932 – Basketball Hall of Famer and former Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon, born Meadow Lemon III (d. 2015)

1940 – Oscar, Tony and Emmy-winning actor Al Pacino (“The Godfather” movie series, “Serpico,” “Dog Day Afternoon,” ” …And Justice for All,” “Scarface,” “Scent of a Woman,” “Carlito’s Way,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “The Insider,” “Oceans Thrteen,” “Danny Collins,” “The Irishman,” “Hunters”)

1946 – Actress Talia Shire, best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” films and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” series

1964 – Emmy-winning actor-producer-comedian Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons,” “The Birdcage,” “Mystery Men,” “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” “The Smurfs,” “Brockmire”)

1969 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Renée Zellweger (“Jerry McGuire,” “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Me Myself and Irene,” “Chicago,” “Cold Mountain,” “Cinderella Man”)

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ABC

Jackson 5

The Joshua Tree

U2

A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety

Jimmy Carter

Shall We Dance

Starring Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire and Edward Everett Horton, and directed by Mark Sandrich

Edward R. Murrow and the Birth of Broadcast Journalism

Bob Edwards

Dog Day Afternoon

Starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick and Charles Durning, and directed by Sidney Lumet

On This Day April 14

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares starts its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1979 – The Doobie Brothers rule the singles chart with “What a Fool Believes.” The song goes on to capture Song of the Year and Record of the Year Grammys.

1984 – Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose,” from the movie of the same name, wraps up three weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song , but loses to Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” from the movie “The Woman in Red.”

1990 – One-hit-wonder Tommy Page begins a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’ll Be Your Everything.” The song spends 13 weeks in the Top 40 and is certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

2001 – “All for You,” by Janet Jackson, begins seven weeks on top of the U.S. pop chart and goes on to win a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording. It becomes the longest-reigning single of 2001.

History Highlights

1865 – Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shoots President Abraham Lincoln during a performance at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Lincoln dies the next day.

1912 – RMS Titanic strikes an iceberg in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic just before midnight during its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. More than 1,500 people perish when the luxury liner sinks less than three hours later.

1918 – During World War I, two pilots from the U.S. Army Air Service’s 94th Aero Squadron engage in America’s first aerial dogfight with enemy aircraft over Europe’s Western Front. In a battle above Toul, France, aviators Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow shoot down a pair of German two-seaters. Campbell is honored as America’s first “flying ace” about a month later after taking out his fifth enemy plane.

1969 – For the first time in Academy Awards history, there’s a tie for the Best Actress Oscar. The award is shared by Barbra Streisand (“Funny Girl”) and Katharine Hepburn (“The Lion in Winter”).

1988 – The Soviet Union withdraws its military forces from Afghanistan.

Celebrity Birthdays

1932 – Country music legend Loretta Lynn

1941 – Retired Major League Baseball slugger Pete Rose, a 17-time MLB All-Star and 1973 National League MVP

1960 – Emmy-winning actor and stand-up comedian Brad Garrett, best known for his role as Ray Romano’s sad-sack brother Robert in the sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”

1968 – Actor Anthony Michael Hall (“Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Weird Science,” “Edward Scissorhands”)

1973 – Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody (“The Thin Red Line,” “The Pianist,” “The Village,” “Midnight in Paris,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Houdini”)

1977 – Emmy-winning actress Sarah Michelle Gellar (“All My Children,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Cruel Intentions, “Scooby-Doo,” “The Grudge”)

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The Very Best of The Doobie Brothers

The Doobie Brothers

All For You

Janet Jackson

Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase to Catch Lincoln's Killer

James L. Swanson

Titanic 1912: The original news reporting of the sinking of the Titanic

Ken Rossignol

Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner's Daughter

Loretta Lynn

Sixteen Candles

Starring Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, and directed by John Hughes

On This Day March 20

Musical Milestones

1961 – Elvis Presley is King of the Billboard pop chart with “Surrender.” The track holds the top spot for two weeks and is among six No. 1 hits Elvis enjoys that decade.

1964 – The Temptations release their debut album, “Meet the Temptations,” on the Gordy (Motown) label.

1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono tie the knot at the British Embassy in Gibraltar.

1971 – Five months after her death from a drug overdose, Janis Joplin dominates the singles chart for a second and final week with “Me and Bobby McGee,” off her “Pearl” album.

1982 – Joan Jett and the Blackhearts begin a seven-week run on top of the singles chart with “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.”

1993 – The reggae-rap single “Informer,” by Snow, is in its second week at No. 1 on the pop chart. It remains there for another five weeks.

1999 – “Believe,” by Cher, is mid-way through a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2004 – “Yeah!,” by Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris, maintains its hold on the summit of the singles chart.

History Highlights

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his “General Theory of Relativity.”

1953 – Two weeks after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev is among five men named by the Soviet government to the new office of Secretariat of the Communist Party. Khrushchev eventually leads the Soviet Union through some of the tensest periods of Cold War relations with the U.S.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson places the Alabama National Guard under federal control to protect a civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Governor George Wallace had assured Johnson that the National Guard would protect marchers. But Wallace, a segregationist, reneged and demanded that federal troops be sent instead.

1987 – A major medical breakthrough is achieved as the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) approves the anti-HIV/AIDS drug Zidovudine, better known as AZT.

1995 – A nerve gas attack in the Tokyo subway system by members of a religious cult kills 13 people and injures thousands of others. The incident sparks global worries about terrorist groups obtaining chemical weapons.

Celebrity Birthdays

1906 – Bandleader, actor and director Ozzie Nelson (“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet”) (d. 1975)

1922 – Emmy and Grammy-winning actor-comedian-writer-director-producer Carl Reiner (“Your Show of Shows,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “2000 Year Old Man,” “The Jerk”)

1928 – Fred Rogers, minister and host of the beloved PBS children’s show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” (d. 2003)

1931 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor-singer Hal Linden, best known for his role as an NYPD police captain in the 1970s sitcom “Barney Miller”

1950 – Oscar-winning actor William Hurt (“Altered States,” “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” “Children of a Lesser God,” “Broadcast News,” “The Accidental Tourist,” “The Doctor,” “The Challenger Disaster,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

1957 – Emmy and Peabody-winning director-producer and actor Spike Lee (“She’s Gotta Have It,” “Do The Right Thing,” “Mo’ Better Blues,” “Jungle Fever,” “Malcolm X,” “Crooklyn,” “Clockers,” “Summer of Sam,” “The Original Kings of Comedy”, “BlacKkKlansman”)

1958 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Holly Hunter (“Raising Arizona,” “Broadcast News,” “Always,” “The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom,” “The Piano,” “The Firm,” “The Incredibles,” “Saving Grace”)

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Pearl

Janis Joplin

I Love Rock N' Roll

Joan Jett & The Blackhearts

Cold War Roadshow

Directed by Robert Stone and Tim B. Toidze

Selma 1965: The March That Changed The South

Charles Fager

Into the Wild

Starring Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden and William Hurt, and directed by Sean Penn

Do the Right Thing

Starring Ossie Davis, Danny Aiello and Giancarlo Esposito, and directed by Spike Lee

On This Day March 14

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.

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.

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

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Greatest Hits

Huey Lewis & The News

Greatest Hits

Will Smith

The World As I See It

Albert Einstein

Master Chronology of JFK Assassination Appendix XIII: Jack Ruby

Walt Brown Ph.D

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Starring Michael Caine, Barbara Harris and Glenne Headly, and directed by Frank Oz

When Harry Met Sally...

Starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, and directed by Rob Reiner

On This Day March 11

Musical Milestones

1967 – “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone,” by the Supremes, begins one week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 and becomes the Motown trio’s ninth No. 1 single. The track is from the “The Supremes Sing Holland–Dozier–Holland” album.

1972 – Harry Nilsson’s “Without You” begins its fourth and final week on top of the singles chart. The track garners Nilsson a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

1989 – Debbie Gibson conquers the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with Lost in Your Eyes.” It remains at No. 1 for a total of three weeks.

1995 – “Take a Bow,” by Madonna, is in the midst of a seven-week ride atop the pop chart. The track is from her “Bedtime Stories” album.

1997 – Former Beatle Paul McCartney is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II during a Buckingham Palace ceremony honoring his “services to music.”

2000 – Country music conquers the Billboard Hot 100 as Lonestar scores a No. 1 hit with “Amazed.” It’s the last country song to do so until Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” rockets to No. 1 on September 1, 2012.

2006 – “You’re Beautiful,” by British singer-songwriter James Blunt reaches the top of the pop chart and holds there for a week.

History Highlights

1888 – One of the worst blizzards in U.S. history strikes the Northeast, killing more than 400 people and dumping 55 inches of snow in some areas. “The Great White Hurricane,” as it comes to be known, paralyzes the East coast for days from the Chesapeake Bay to Maine.

1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Lend-Lease” program, which provides money and materials for U.S. allies in World War II, takes effect.

1985 – Mikhail Gorbachev becomes head of the Soviet Union following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. At 54, he is the youngest member of the ruling Politburo.

1989 – One of the first reality TV shows premieres on Fox Television. It’s “COPS,” which is shot documentary style as cameras follow police officers pursuing suspects and making arrests.

2011 – The most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan and resulting tsunami kill more than 18,000 people in Japan, triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Celebrity Birthdays

1903 – Bandleader and accordion player Lawrence Welk (“The Lawrence Welk Show”), known as the creator and king of so-called “champagne music” (d. 1992)

1931 – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who founded News Corporation and FOX Broadcasting

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 smash, “Don’t Worry Be Happy”

1963 – Actress Alex Kingston (“ER,” “Doctor Who,” “Arrow”)

1969 – Actor and singer-songwriter Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow,” “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” “Crash,” “The Brave One,” “Iron Man,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” “Empire”)

1971 – Comedic actor Johnny Knoxville of MTV’s “Jackass” series

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The #1's

Diana Ross & The Supremes

Paul McCartney: A Life

Peter Ames Carlin

Blizzard!! The Great White Hurricane

Timothy R. Minnich

Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended

Jack F. Matlock, Jr.

The Best Of Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin

Lee Daniels' The Butler

Starring Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard, and directed by Lee Daniels

On This Day March 8

Musical Milestones

1965 – Bob Dylan releases “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” which becomes his first Top 40 single, peaking at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track, from his “Bringing it All Back Home” album, is used in one of the first modern promotional film clips ever produced — a precursor to the music video.

1969 – “Everyday People,” by Sly & the Family Stone, enters its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single. The track is the band’s first chart-topper.

1975 – Olivia Newton-John’s “Have You Never Been Mellow” is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her second consecutive U.S. chart-topper.

1980 – Queen is in the midst of a four-week ride atop the singles chart with “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” — the band’s first U.S. No. 1.

1986 – “Kyrie,” by Mr. Mister, marks its second and final week as a No. 1 single.

1997 – The Spice Girls are mid-way through a four-week domination of the pop chart with “Wannabe.”

2003 – 50 Cent kicks off nine weeks on top of the pop chart with “In da Club” — his first No. 1 single.

History Highlights

1950 – The Volkswagen microbus (also known as the VW Type 2) goes into production, becoming an icon of America’s counter-culture movement as the vehicle of choice for hippies during the 1960s.

1971 – Boxing titans Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier meet for the “Fight of the Century” before a crowd of more than 20,000 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The showdown marks Ali’s return to the ring three and a-half years after his boxing license was revoked over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War. Frazier wins by unanimous decision, retaining his heavyweight champion title and delivering Ali the first loss of his career.

1983 – Addressing the National Association of Evangelicals convention in Florida, President Ronald Reagan publicly refers to the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” for the second time in his political career.

1993 – MTV airs the first episode of the animated series “Beavis and Butthead,” which goes on to become the network’s highest-rated series up to that point.

1999 – Baseball legend and cultural icon Joe DiMaggio (“The Yankee Clipper”), who devoted his entire 13-year Major League Baseball career as a New York Yankees center fielder, dies at the age of 84.

2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, loses contact with air traffic control less than an hour after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur then veers off course and vanishes. Most of the Boeing 777, and everyone on board, are never seen again.

Celebrity Birthdays

1921 – Actor Alan Hale, Jr., best remembered as the “Skipper” in the popular 1960s sitcom, “Gilligan’s Island” (d. 1990)

1945 – Micky Dolenz, drummer and lead vocalist for the 1960s rock band The Monkees

1958 – Musician Gary Numan (“Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” and “Cars”)

1959 – Actor Aidan Quinn (“Desperately Seeking Susan,” “Benny and Joon,” “Legends of the Fall,” “Blink,” “Michael Collins,” “Elementary”)

1959 – TV journalist Lester Holt, anchor of “NBC Nightly News” and “Dateline NBC”

1976 – Actor Freddie Prinze, Jr. (“I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,” “She’s All That,” “Summer Catch,” “Scooby-Doo,” “24”)

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Bringing It All Back Home

Bob Dylan

Welcome to the Real World

Mr. Mister

The Volkswagen Bus Book

Malcolm Bobbitt

The Fight of the Century: Ali vs. Frazier March 8, 1971

Michael Arkush

I'm a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness

Micky Dolenz

Boys and Girls

Starring Freddie Prinze Jr., Claire Forlani and Jason Biggs, and directed by Robert Iscove

On This Day March 5

Musical Milestones

1963 – Country music star Patsy Cline, known for hits like “Crazy” and “Walking After Midnight,” is killed in a Tennessee plane crash at the age of 30. Ten years later, she becomes the first female solo artist inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

1966 – “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” by U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, starts a five-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1977 – Barbra Streisand claims the No. 1 spot on the singles chart for the second time in her career. This time it’s with “Evergreen (Love Theme From A Star Is Born),” which holds the top spot for three weeks. The track captures an Oscar for Best Original Song as well as Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year (which it shares with “You Light Up My Life”), and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

1983 – Michael Jackson begins a seven-week hold on the top spot on the singles chart with “Billie Jean,” off his Grammy-winning “Thriller” album.

1994 – Céline Dion enjoys her fourth and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “The Power of Love.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, kicks off nine weeks on top of the singles chart and receives a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Song.

History Highlights

1770 – The Boston Massacre takes begins as a skirmish between British troops and a crowd and ends with those troops killing five men and injuring six others. Crispus Attucks, one of the dead, is thought to be a runaway slave. Word of the bloody clash sparks growing resentment toward the British regime in America and eventually leads to the American Revolution.

1946 – Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill introduces the term “iron curtain” during a speech in which he condemns the Soviet Union’s policies in Europe. His remarks are considered one of the opening volleys announcing the beginning of the Cold War.

1963 – Wham-O Company co-founders Arthur “Spud” Melin and Richard Knerr patent the Hula Hoop, the hip-swiveling toy that goes on to become one of America’s greatest fads. An estimated 25 million Hula-Hoops sell during the first four months of production alone.

1982 – Comedic actor and singer John Belushi dies of a drug overdose at the age of 33. Belushi was best known as one of the original “Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”) cast members and for starring roles in “National Lampoon’s Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers.”

Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Oscar, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actor Rex Harrison (“Cleopatra,” “My Fair Lady,” “Doctor Doolittle”) (d. 1990)

1936 – Actor Dean Stockwell, most remembered as Rear Admiral Al Calavicci in the NBC television series “Quantum Leap”

1955 – Emmy-winning magician, illusionist, comedian and author Penn Jillette, of the Penn & Teller team

1958 – Pop singer Andy Gibb (“I Just Want to Be Your Everything,” “(Love Is) Thicker Than Water,” “Shadow Dancing”) (d. 1988)

1963 – Televangelist pastor and author Joel Osteen

1974 – Actress Eva Mendes (“Training Day,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Stuck on You,” “Hitch,” “Ghost Rider,” “The Other Guys,” “Fast Five,” “Girl in Progress,” “Lost River”)

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The Definitive Collection

Patsy Cline

Thriller

Michael Jackson

The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill

William Manchester and Paul Reid

The Blues Brothers

Starring John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Carrie Fisher and John Candy, and directed by John Landis

My Fair Lady

Starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, and directed by George Cukor

Next Level Thinking: 10 Powerful Thoughts for a Successful and Abundant Life

Joel Osteen

On This Day February 20

Musical Milestones

1959 – Legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix is 16 years old when he makes his stage debut during a performance at Temple De Hirsch Sinai synagogue in Seattle. He is fired before the second set begins.

1965 – “This Diamond Ring,” by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, begins a two-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

1970 – The single “Instant Karma! (We All Shine On),” by John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band, is released in the U.S. Lennon wrote, recorded and mixed the track all in one day, on January 27, 1970, with producer Phil Spector, at the Abbey Road Studios in London.

1982 – The J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” is midway through a six-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first single from the band’s “Freeze Frame” album. The music video becomes an early staple of MTV programming.

1988 – “Seasons Change,” by one-hit wonder Exposé, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week.

1991 – Actor Jack Nicholson presents Bob Dylan with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammys.

1993 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, enters its 13th week as a No. 1 single. Written by Dolly Parton, the song is from the soundtrack to the movie, “The Bodyguard,” starring Houston and Kevin Costner.

1999 – Monica is in the middle of a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Angel of Mine.”

2010 – Kesha dominates the pop chart with “Tik Tok,” which enters its eighth week at No. 1.

History Highlights

1792 – President George Washington signs the Postal Act, creating the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

1895 – American journalist, orator and anti-slavery leader Frederick Douglass dies at the age of 78.

1962 – John Glenn launches into space from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard NASA’s Mercury capsule, named Friendship 7, on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut. He completes three Earth orbits in just under five hours, ushering in a new era of spaceflight for the United States.

1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission to photograph possible landing sites for the Apollo program.

1986 – The Soviet Union launches the first components of the Mir space station, which orbits Earth more than 86,000 times before falling harmlessly into the South Pacific near Fiji in March 2001.

1998 – American Tara Lipinski is 15 when she wins the Gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, becoming the youngest gold medalist in her sport.

2003 – One hundred people are killed, 230 others are injured when pyrotechnics during a Great White concert at The Station nightclub in Warwick, Rhode Island ignite flammable foam installed as soundproofing. The club burns to the ground in less than three minutes.

Celebrity Birthdays

1902 – Pioneering photographer and preservationist Ansel Adams (d. 1984)

1927 – Oscar-winning actor-director Sidney Poitier (“Lilies of the Field,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “To Sir, With Love,” “Sneakers,” “The Jackal”)

1946 – Singer-songwriter and guitarist John Warren Geils, Jr., known professionally as J. Geils, frontman for the 80s rockers The J. Geils Band. (d. 2017)

1963 – Retired basketball star Charles Barkley, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History

1966 – Fashion icon, supermodel and entrepreneur Cindy Crawford

1967 – Legendary grunge music pioneer Kurt Cobain, lead singer-songwriter-guitarist of the band Nirvana (d. 1994)

1988 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty (“Umbrella,” “We Found Love,” “The Monster”)

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Experience Hendrix: The Best of Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix

Power To The People - The Hits

John Lennon

The Postal Age: The Emergence of Modern Communications in Nineteenth-Century America

David M. M. Henkin

Friendship 7: The Epic Orbital Flight of John H. Glenn, Jr.

Colin Burgess

Ansel Adams: 400 Photographs

Ansel Adams

To Sir, With Love

Starring Sidney Poitier, Christian Roberts and Judy Geeson, and directed by James Clavell