terrorism – Time Rewind

On This Day March 8

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On This Day December 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Former TV talk show host Phil Donahue (“The Phil Donohue Show,” later simply called “Donohue”)

1937 – Oscar-winning actress and 1980s fitness guru Jane Fonda (“Barefoot in the Park,” “Klute,” “Coming Home,” “The Newsroom”)

1948 – Actor-producer Samuel L. Jackson (“Jurassic Park,” “Pulp Fiction,” “Jackie Brown,” “The Incredibles,” “Snakes on a Plane,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Django Unchained,” and several of the Marvel Studios “Avengers” movies)

1954 – Retired U.S. tennis star Chris Evert

1957 – Emmy-winning actor, writer and comedian Ray Romano, best known for the CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”

1966 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor and singer-songwriter Kiefer Sutherland (“Stand by Me,” “The Lost Boys,” “Young Guns,” “Flatliners,” A Few Good Men,” “The Three Musketeers,” “24,” “Designated Survivor”)

History Highlights

1913 – The first crossword puzzle is compiled by journalist Arthur Wynne and published in the New York World newspaper. It was originally called “Word-Cross” and ran as a feature in the paper’s “Fun” section.

1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel officially opens, allowing motorists to drive between New Jersey and Manhattan beneath the Hudson River.

1968 – NASA successfully launches Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard.

1980 – Socialite Martha “Sunny” von Bulow is found comatose on the bathroom floor of her Newport, Rhode Island mansion — the result of what appeared to be an insulin overdose. Her husband stands trial for attempted murder in what becomes one of the most sensational high society court dramas of all time.

1988 – Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York explodes in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland. All 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard the 747 are killed along with 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground. A bomb hidden inside an audio cassette player detonates in the cargo hold when the plane reaches an altitude of 31,000 feet.

Musical Milestones

1968 – “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” by Marvin Gaye, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week and remains a chart-topper all through January 1969.

1969 – The Supremes make their final TV appearance together with Diana Ross on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” singing a medley of their hits.

1970 – Elvis Presley arrives unannounced at The White House for a meeting with President Richard Nixon to offer his services in the administration’s war on drugs.

1974 – “Cat’s in the Cradle” becomes Harry Chapin’s first and only No. 1 single. The track receives a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

1985 – Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” album passes Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” to become the second longest-lasting LP on the Billboard Top 10, holding there for 79 weeks. Only “The Sound of Music,” with Julie Andrews, lasted longer at 109 weeks.

2002 – Eminem rules the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lose Yourself,” whcih remains a chart-topper for 12 weeks.

2012 – “Gangnam Style,” by Korean rapper Psy, becomes the first YouTube video to garner one billion views.

On This Day October 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1931 – Anti-apartheid hero, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu (d. 2021)

1951 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter John Mellencamp (“Ain’t Even Done With the Night,” “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Crumblin’ Down,” “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” “Cherry Bomb”)

1955 -Internationally acclaimed, Grammy-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma

1959 – TV producer, executive and celebrity judge Simon Cowell (“American Idol, “The X Factor,” “America’s Got Talent”)

1967 – Grammy-winning soul-R&B singer and actress Toni Braxton, best known for her 1996 hit “Un-Break My Heart” and for playing Belle in the Broadway production of “Beauty and the Beast”

History Highlights

1913 – The moving assembly line is introduced at Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park factory outside Detroit. Henry Ford’s invention allowed workers to build a Model T from scratch in 84 steps, cutting production time from 12.5 hours to six hours, and a year later to just 93 minutes.

1968 – The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopts its film rating system. Movies are rated G for general audiences, M (which later becomes PG), R or X (for adults only).

1982 – “Cats” opens, becoming the longest-running production in Broadway history. The musical is based the T.S. Eliot’s 1939 collection of poems, “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” and features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1985 – Four Palestinian terrorists hijack the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro in the Mediterranean Sea. They kill a disabled American tourist, 69-year-old Leon Klinghoffer, and order his body thrown overboard with his wheelchair.

2001 – President George W. Bush announces that a U.S.-led coalition has begun attacks on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan with an intense bombing campaign by American and British forces. The campaign, in retaliation for terror attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. three weeks earlier (9/11), is known as Operation Enduring Freedom.

2003 – “Terminator” actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is elected governor of California, replacing Gray Davis — the first U.S. governor to be recalled by the public since 1921. Affectionately called “The Governator,” he is reelected in 2006.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Mamas & the Papas’ British tour is cancelled when Mama Cass Elliot is arrested and charged with stealing items from a hotel.

1967 – The Box Tops are mid-way through a four-week ride at No. 1 on the pop chart with “The Letter.”

1977 – Queen releases the single “We Will Rock You,” with “We Are the Champions” on the B-side, and many radio stations eventually play the tracks back to back. The songs continue getting airplay today on classic rock stations and serve as a motivational anthem at sporting events around the world.

1978 – Exile tops the Billboard Hot 100 with “Kiss You All Over.”

1989 – “Miss You Much,” by Janet Jackson, begins a four-week run as a chart-topping single.

1995 – Alanis Morissette rules the Billboard album chart with “Jagged Little Pill,” becoming the first Canadian female artist to reach No. 1 in the U.S. The album sells more than 30 million copies and goes on to capture four Grammy Awards.

2000 – “Music,” by Madonna, enters its fourth and final week as a No. 1 single.

2006 – Justin Timberlake is mid-way through a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “SexyBack.”

On This Day September 16

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Celebrity Birthdays

1924 – Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Lauren Bacall, born Betty Joan Perske (“To Have and have Not,” “The Big Sleep,” “Key Largo,” “How to Marry a Millionaire, “Designing Woman,” “The Mirror Has Two Faces”) (d. 2014)

1925 – Legendary blues artist B.B. King (d. 2015)

1949 – Actor Ed Begley, Jr. (“St. Elsewhere,” “Best in Show,” “A Mighty Wind,” “Six Feet Under”)

1952 – Golden Globe-winning actor Mickey Rourke (“Diner,” “Angel Heart,” “Sin City,” “The Wrestler”)

1953 – Grammy-winning jazz fusion guitarist Earl Klugh

1956 – Illusionist David Copperfield

1968 – Singer-songwriter Marc Anthony

1971 – Actress, comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Amy Poehler

1992 – Pop singer-songwriter and actor Nick Jonas (Jonas Brothers)

History Highlights

1908 – Auto giant General Motors (GM) is founded By William “Billy” Durant, a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages in Flint, Michigan.

1919 – The American Legion is incorporated by an act of Congress. It was established to support and assist veterans returning from World War I, but has since grown to support veterans of all wars and veterans of peacetime as well.

1920 – A bombing in New York’s financial district kills 38 people and injures nearly 200 others, becoming the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history until the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. While those responsible were never found, the so-called “Wall Street Bombing” was thought to be the work of communist agitators associated with the Bolshevik Revolution.

1932 – Civil rights crusader Mohandas Gandhi begins a six-day hunger strike in his Bombay, India prison cell to protest the British government’s decision to separate India’s electoral system by caste.

1940 – President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Selective Service and Training Act, which requires all male citizens between 26 and 35 to register for the military draft.

1981 – Sugar Ray Leonard beats Thomas Hearns in their first of two epic boxing bouts.

1993 – “Cheers” spin-off “Frasier,” starring Kelsey Grammer, premieres on NBC.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Bobbie Gentry wraps up four weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with her Grammy-winning “Ode to Billie Joe.”

1972 – “Black and White,” by Three Dog Night, is No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart. The song was originally recorded by Pete Seeger in 1956 and a year later by Sammy Davis, Jr.

1978 – A Taste of Honey is in the middle of a three-week ride atop the singles chart with “Boogie Oogie Oogie.”

1979 – “Rapper’s Delight,” by The Sugarhill Gang, is released. While it is not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be responsible for introducing hip hop music to audiences around the world. The track reaches No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2011, The Library of Congress preserved it in the National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

1989 – “Don’t Wanna Lose You,” by Gloria Estefan, is the No. 1 single.

1995 – “Gangsta’s Paradise,” by Coolio featuring L.V., is in the middle of three weeks as a No. 1 single.

2000 – Madonna is queen of the pop chart as “Music” kicks off three weeks at No. 1.

2006 – Justin Timberlake owns the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “SexyBack.” The single remains at No. 1 for seven weeks.

On This Day September 5

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Celebrity Birthdays

1847 – Outlaw Jesse James (d. 1882)

1929 – Comedian-actor Bob Newhart (“The Bob Newhart Show,” “Newhart”)

1939 – Actor William Devane (“The Missiles of October,” “Knot’s Landing,” “Space Cowboys,” “24”)

1940 – Actress and 1960s-70s sex symbol Raquel Welch (d. 2023)

1945 – Singer-songwriter Al Stewart, best known for his 70s hits “Year of the Cat” and “Time Passages”

1946 – Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara (d. 1991)

1951 – Golden Globe-winning actor Michael Keaton, born Michael John Douglas (“Mr. Mom,” “Beetlejuice,” “Batman Returns,” “Pacific Heights,” “My Life,” “The Paper,” “Birdman, “Spotlight”)

History Highlights

1836 – Sam Houston is elected president of the Republic of Texas, which earned its independence from Mexico in a successful military rebellion. He serves as president until 1838, then again from 1841 to 1844. Despite plans for retirement, Houston helps Texas win admission to the United States in 1845 and is elected as one of the state’s first two senators.

1958 – Boris Pasternak’s romantic novel, “Doctor Zhivago,” is published in the United States. The book was banned in the Soviet Union, but goes on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 and is the basis of the Oscar-winning 1965 movie starring Omar Sharif and Julie Christie.

1966 – The Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Telethon debuts. The live fundraiser was hosted every Labor Day weekend through 2011 by comedian Jerry Lewis.

1972 – The world watches in horror as news unfolds about a massacre at the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, where Palestinian terrorists murder 11 Israeli athletes. Many cite this tragedy as ushering in the modern age of terrorism.

1975 – An assassination attempt against President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California is thwarted by a Secret Service agent who wrests a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol from Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson. Fromme is paroled in 2009 after 34 years in prison.

1986 – A Pan Am flight from Bombay, India to New York (Pan Am Flight 73) is hijacked by four armed Palestinian men during a scheduled stop in Karachi, Pakistan. Twenty people are killed aboard the 747 jumbo jet — among them, flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who is posthumously honored with India’s highest peacetime award for bravery for protecting many of the 360 survivors.

2006 – Katie Couric debuts as the first female solo anchor of a weekday network evening news broadcast, the “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,” and draws an audience of 13.6 million viewers. Couric, who served as co-host of NBC’s “Today” show from 1991 to 2006, succeeded longtime anchor Dan Rather.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley surprises his mother with a gift of a pink Cadillac. The car remains in the Presley family for years, and eventually goes on display at Graceland.

1964 – The Animals begin a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “House of the Rising Sun.” The track also soars to the top of the U.K. singles chart.

1966 – Taking a break from nearly four years of touring with The Beatles, John Lennon begins acting duties as Private Gripweed in the movie “How I Won The War.” The black comedy, directed by Richard Lester (director of The Beatles’ movies “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!”), was filmed in Germany and Spain.

1981 – Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks finds solo success, soaring to No. 1 on the Billboard album chart with “Bella Donna.” The album features the tracks “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (the Tom Petty duet), “Leather and Lace” (a duet with Don Henley) and “Edge of Seventeen.”

1992 – Boyz II Men is in the midst of a 13-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100 with “End of the Road.”

1998 – Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” from the movie “Armageddon,” debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and holds there for four weeks. It is band’s only chart-topping single to date.

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas continue their domination of the singles chart with “I Gotta Feeling,” which is in the midst of 14 weeks at No. 1.