The Monkees – Time Rewind

On This Day February 29

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On This Day March 8

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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”)

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 The showdown marks Ali’s return to the ring three and a-half years after his boxing license was revoked over his refusal to fight in the Vietnam War.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.

1973 – Terrorists affiliated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) set off two powerful car bombs in London, killing one person and injuring 243 others. Most of the suspects are arrested trying to leave Heathrow Airport. The blasts cause chaos not seen since World War II.

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.

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.

On This Day February 13

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Celebrity Birthdays

1923 – Retired U.S. Air Force General Chuck Yaeger, the first pilot to break the sound barrier

1933 – Actress Kim Novak (“Vertigo,” “The Man With the Golden Arm,” “Bell, Book and Candle”)

1934 – Golden Globe-winning actor George Segal (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “A Touch of Class,” “Just Shoot Me,” “The Goldbergs”)

1942 – Singer-songwriter Peter Tork, best known as keyboardist and bass guitarist of The Monkees (d. 2019)

1944 – Talk show host and former Cincinnati Mayor Jerry Springer

1944 – Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Stockard Channing (“Grease,” “Six Degrees of Separation,” “The West Wing”)

1950 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and former Genesis front man Peter Gabriel (“Solsbury Hill,” “Shock the Money,” “Sledgehammer,” “Don’t Give Up,” “Big Time,” “In Your Eyes,” “Red Rain”)

1979 – Actress Mena Suvari (“American Beauty,” “American Pie,” “Six Feet Under”)

History Highlights

1861 – Colonel Bernard Irwin becomes the first person awarded the new U.S. Medal of Honor for leading his troops in a battle against the Chiricahua Apaches during a rescue mission.

1945 – Allied firebombing raids begin against Dresden, reducing the eastern German city to rubble and flames, and causing around 25,000 deaths. The assault becomes the single most destructive bombing of World War II — including Hiroshima and Nagasaki — and has been considered controversial because Dresden was neither significant to German wartime production nor an industrial center.

1965 – Sixteen-year-old Peggy Fleming wins the ladies senior figure skating title at the U.S. Figure Skating championships in Lake Placid, New York. Fleming goes on to win Olympic gold.

1974 – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union.

2001 – “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” by director Ang Lee, earns 10 Oscar nominations, becoming the first Asian film and only the seventh foreign-language production to get a nod for Best Picture.

Musical Milestones

1914 – The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is established to protect the copyrighted musical compositions of its members.

1961 – “Calcutta,” by American bandleader and television host Lawrence Welk, begins two weeks as the No. 1 single. It becomes the most successful chart hit of Welk’s career.

1961 – Frank Sinatra launches Reprise Records in order to have more artistic freedom for his own recordings — a move that garners him the nickname “The Chairman of the Board.” Reprise later becomes the home of many influential acts, such as Neil Young, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman and The Beach Boys.

1967 – The Beatles release the double A-sided single “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane” on Capitol Records in the U.S.

1971 – “One Bad Apple,” by The Osmonds, latches on to the No. 1 spot on the singles chart for five weeks.

1982 – The J. Geils Band is in the midst of a six-week stretch at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Centerfold.”

1993 – “I Will Always Love You,” by Whitney Houston, is in the midst of a 14-week ride atop the singles chart.

1999 – Monica begins a four-week hold at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “Angel of Mine.”

On This Day February 11

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Celebrity Birthdays

1847 – Inventor Thomas Edison (d. 1931)

1926 – Actor-comedian Leslie Nielsen (“Forbidden Planet,” “The Poseidon Adventure,” “Airplane,” “The Naked Gun”) (d. 2010)

1936 – Golden Globe-winning actor Burt Reynolds (“Deliverance,” “The Longest Yard,” “Smokey and the Bandit,” “Evening Shade,” “Boogie Nights”) (d. 2018)

1941 – Grammy-winning Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes

1962 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow (“If It Makes You Happy,” “Everyday Is a Winding Road”)

1969 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress Jennifer Aniston, who has appeared in many movies, but is best known for playing Rachel in the NBC sitcom “Friends”

1971 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor Damian Lewis (“Band of Brothers,” “Life,” “Homeland,” “Billions”)

1979 – Grammy-winning singer-actress Brandy, born Brandy Rayana Norwood (“The Boy is Mine,” “Moesha”)

History Highlights

1805 – Sacagawea, the Shoshone interpreter and guide to the Lewis and Clark expedition, gives birth to her first child, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau.

1932 – The Ford Motor Company introduces the flathead V8 engine, giving the world affordable, mass-produced V8 power. It becomes the darling of hot-rodders, road racers and stock car racers for more than two decades.

1945 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin wrap up the Yalta Conference following a week of intensive talks over the progress of World War II and the post-war world.

1963 – Chef Julia Child’s show, “The French Chef,” premieres on public television (NET, which later became PBS).

1968 – New York City’s 20,000-seat Madison Square Garden officially opens between 7th and 8th Avenues in Manhattan, becoming the fourth version of that arena. The showplace for sports and entertainment opens with a gala hosted by Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

1970 – Japan’s first satellite (Ohsumi) is successfully launched into an orbit around Earth, making Japan the world’s fourth space power — after the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States in 1958, and France in 1965.

1990 – Anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela, a political prisoner for more than 27 years, is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa. Four years later, he is elected South Africa’s president.

Musical Milestones

1964 – The Beatles play their first U.S. concert at the Washington Coliseum. More than 350 police officers surround the stage to keep some 8,000 screaming fans under control. The set includes “I Saw Her Standing There,” “This Boy”, “All My Loving,” “I Wanna Be Your Man”,” Please Please Me”, “Till There Was You”, “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Twist and Shout” and much more.

1967 – The Monkees begin their seventh and final week on top of the pop chart with “I’m a Believer.”

1978 – The Bee Gees stay on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “Stayin’ Alive,” from the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack. The single remains at No. 1 for a total of four weeks.

1984 – Culture Club is midway through a three-week ride on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon.”

1989 – Paula Abdul starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Straight Up.”

2012 – Six-time Grammy-winning pop sensation Whitney Houston is found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel at the age of 48. Cause of death is determined to be drowning, with complications from cocaine use and heart disease.

On This Day February 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1913 – Civil rights crusader Rosa Parks, who helped pave the way for desegregation in the U.S. when she refused to give up her seat aboard a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama (d. 2005)

1936 – Standup comedian David Brenner (d. 2014)

1940 – Horror film director-screenwriter George A. Romero, the master behind the cult classic “Night of the Living Dead” as well as “Dawn of the Dead,” “Land of the Dead” and “Creepshow” (d. 2017)

1948 – Rock And Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Alice Cooper, considered “The Godfather of Shock Rock” (“Schools Out,” “Eighteen”, “Poison”, “No More Mr Nice Guy”)

1962 – Country music singer-songwriter Clint Black (“A Better Man,” “Nothing’s News,” “Walking Away,” “Nobody’s Home,” “Killin’ Time”)

1973 – Retired professional boxer and Olympic gold medalist Oscar De La Hoya

1977 – Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw (“I Don’t Want to Be,” “Chariot,” “Follow Through”)

History Highlights

1789 – George Washington — commander of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War — is unanimously elected the first president of the United States, garnering all 69 electoral votes. No other American president since has come into office with a universal mandate to lead.

1922 – The Ford Motor Company acquires the bankrupt Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million, giving Ford a luxury division to compete against Cadillac, Packard and Auburn.

1938 – Disney releases “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” the first full-length animated feature (83 minutes in length) in color and with sound, and a pioneering classic tale in film history.

1945 – President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin meet at the Yalta Conference to discuss the Allied war effort against Germany and Japan.

1957 – Smith Corona Manufacturing of New York begins selling portable electric typewriters. The first machine, known as the model 5TE, weighs 19 pounds.

1974 – The radical group Symbionese Liberation Army kidnaps Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, from her California apartment.

2004 – Nineteen-year-old Harvard University sophomore Mark Zuckerberg launches “TheFacebook.com,” an online directory designed to connect fellow Harvard students with one another. By the next day, more than a thousand people had registered. The service sparks a social media revolution, with billions now using Facebook each day.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees maintain their grip on the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m a Believer.” In all, the track remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.

1968 – The Beatles record “Across The Universe” at London’s Abbey Road Studios with backup vocals from two teenage fans who were among the groupies (“Apple scruffs”) that routinely gathered outside the facility on recording days.

1975 – Known as “The King of the Jukebox,” American jazz, blues and rhythm & blues musician, songwriter and bandleader Louis Jordan dies at the age of 66.

1977 – Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album, “Rumours,” is released, introducing fans to the Top 10 hits “Go Your Own Way,” “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” and “You Make Loving Fun.”

1978 – The Bee Gees have a No. 1 single with “Stayin’ Alive,” while another single of theirs, “Night Fever,” debuts on the pop chart, later staking its own claim to the top spot for eight weeks. Both songs are from the Grammy-winning “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

1982 – “Centerfold,” by the J. Geils Band, reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains there for six weeks.

1983 – Heart failure caused by chronic anorexia nervosa claims the life of 32-year-old singer Karen Carpenter of the acclaimed 1970s brother-sister pop duet, Carpenters.

1984 – Culture Club begins a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Karma Chameleon,” the band’s fifth Top 10 hit.

1995 – “Creep,” by TLC, is midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the trio’s first chart-topper.

2006 – “Check On It,” by Beyoncé, featuring Bun B and Slim Thug, kicks off five weeks on top of the singles chart.

On This Day January 28

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Celebrity Birthdays

1912 – Abstract expressionist artist Jackson Pollock (d. 1956)

1936 – Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor-director Alan Alda (“M*A*S*H,” “Same Time, Next Year,” “The Four Seasons,” “Everyone Says I Love You,” “The West Wing,” “The Aviator”)

1959 – Director Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Green Mile,” “The Mist”)

1968 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (“Building a Mystery,” “Angel,” “Fallen”)

1977 – Singer, actor and TV personality Joey Fatone, former member of NSYNC, one of the most popular boy bands of all time

1981 – Actor-producer Elijah Wood (“Avalon,” “The Ice Storm,” “Deep Impact,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Sin City,” “Happy Feet”)

History Highlights

1915 – The American merchant ship William P. Frye becomes the first casualty of World War I as a German cruiser opens fire and sinks the vessel. Despite apologies from the German government, the attack sparks outrage in the U.S.

1922 – Ninety-eight guests are killed, 133 others are injured when the roof of Washington, D.C.’s Knickerbocker Theatre collapses under the weight of a heavy snowfall. The disaster ranks as one of Washington’s worst, and the “Knickerbocker Snowstorm,” as it is known, still holds the record for Washington’s single greatest snowfall.

1958 – The interlocking stud-and-tube plastic Lego brick is patented by Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, whose father founded the Lego toy company (“Lego,” from the Danish term “leg godt,” meaning “play well”). The colorful bricks have covered playroom floors for generations. In fact, it’s estimated that Lego has since produced the equivalent of 62 bricks for every human being on the planet.

1964 – The State Department accuses the Soviet Union of shooting down an unarmed Air Force trainer jet over East Germany, killing its three occupants.

1986 – A nation watches in horror as Space Shuttle Challenger (STS-51-L) explodes 73 seconds into flight, killing teacher Christa McAuliffe — who was to have been the first civilian in space — and fellow crew members Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnick, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair and Gregory Jarvis.

1997 – Four apartheid-era police officers, appearing before a tribunal in South Africa, admit to the 1977 killing of Stephen Biko, a leader of the South African “Black consciousness” movement.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees are in the middle of a seven-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “I’m a Believer,” a song written by Neil Diamond.

1978 – “Baby Come Back,” by Player, begins its third and final week as a No. 1 single.

1984 – “Owner of a Lonely Heart,” off Yes’ “90125” album, rules the Billboard Hot 100 for a second and final week.

1985 – Forty-five of the world’s top recording artists gather in a Los Angeles studio to record “We Are the World” to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief. The song, written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and produced by Quincy Jones, reaches No. 1 on the singles chart three months later.

1995 – TLC marks the first of four weeks as Billboard singles chart-toppers with “Creep.”

2006 – “Grillz,” by Nelly featuring fellow rappers Paul Wall, Ali & Gipp, is the No. 1 single.

On This Day January 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1875 – Physician/humanitarian Albert Schweitzer, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his “Reverence for Life” philosophy (d. 1965)

1919 – Radio-TV writer and “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney (d. 2011)

1938 – Grammy-winning pop singer Jack Jones (“The Love Boat” theme)

1941 – Academy Award-winning actress Faye Dunaway (“Bonnie and Clyde,” “Chinatown,” “Network”)

1963 – Director Steven Soderbergh (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Traffic,” “Ocean’s 11”)

1967 – Actress Emily Watson (“Breaking the Waves,” “War Horse”)

1968 – Hip-hop star and actor LL Cool J, born James Todd Smith

1969 – Actor Jason Bateman (“Arrested Development,” “Juno,” “Horrible Bosses,” “Up in the Air,” “Identity Thief,” “Zootopia”)

History Highlights

1784 – The Continental Congress ratifies the Treaty of Paris, formally ending the Revolutionary War with Great Britain and establishing the United States of America as a free sovereign nation.

1943 – Franklin D. Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to travel on official business by airplane. Crossing the Atlantic aboard a Boeing 314 flying boat named the Dixie Clipper, Roosevelt heads to a World War II strategy meeting with European leaders Winston Churchill and Charles DeGaulle at Casablanca in North Africa.

1952 – NBC’s long-running morning news program, “Today,” premieres with host Dave Garroway, who calls it “a new kind of television.”

1954 – America’s “power couple”—baseball legend Joe DiMaggio and screen sensation Marilyn Monroe—tie the knot. However, the marriage ends nine months later.

1957 – Oscar-winning actor Humphrey Bogart, best known for his roles in such film classics as “Casablanca,” “The African Queen” and “The Maltese Falcon,” dies of esophageal cancer at the age of 57.

1972 – Another NBC-TV premiere: the sitcom “Sanford and Son,” starring comedian Redd Foxx. The show runs for five seasons.

1978 – “De plane! De plane!” “Fantasy Island,” starring Ricardo Montalban as Mr. Rourke, premieres on ABC.

2006 – Academy Award-winning actress Shelley Winters (“The Diary of Anne Frank,” “A Patch of Blue,” “The Poseidon Adventure”) dies of heart failure at the age of 85.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees cling to the top of the Billboard singles chart with “I’m a Believer, which first reached No. 1 the week of December 31, 1966 and remains there for seven weeks.

1970 – Diana Ross makes her final appearance with The Supremes at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. During the show, Diana introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell, who goes on to lead the group to seven more Top 40 hits.

1978 – Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” — which contains the hits “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop” and “Go Your Own Way,” among other now-classic tracks — enters its 31st and final week on top of the U.S. album chart. It goes on to capture a Grammy for Album of the Year.

1978 – One-hit-wonder Player starts a three-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Baby Come Back.”

1984 – The Paul McCartney-Michael Jackson duet, ” Say, Say, Say,” begins its sixth and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1989 – The hottest single on the radio is “My Prerogative” by Bobby Brown.

1995 – “On Bended Knee” by Boyz II Men is in the midst of a six-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart.

2006 – Atlanta-based hip hop group D4L has the No. 1 single with “Laffy Taffy.”

On This Day January 7

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Celebrity Birthdays

1800 – 13th U.S. President Millard Fillmore (d. 1874)

1948 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Kenny Loggins (“Danny’s Song,” “This is It,” “I’m Alright,” “Footloose”)

1956 – Golden Globe-winning actor David Caruso (“Hill Street Blues,” “NYPD Blue,” “CSI: Miami”)

1957 – TV journalist and former “Today” show co-host and “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric

1964 – Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage (“Raising Arizona,” “Moonstruck,” “Wild at Heart,” “The Rock,” “Face/Off,” “City of Angels,” “Adaptation,” “National Treasure,” “Ghost Rider”, “The Croods”, “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-verse”)

1971 – Actor Jeremy Renner (“Dahmer,” “North Country,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Town,” “Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol,” “The Avengers,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “American Hustle,” “Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation,” “Captain America: Civil War”)

History Highlights

1789 – America’s first presidential election is held and George Washington emerges as the winner. The Virginia landowner who led the patriotic forces in the war against the British is sworn in to office about three months later.

1927 – The first official transatlantic telephone call is made when Walter Gifford, president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (known today as AT&T), calls Sir Evelyn Murray, secretary of the General Post Office of Great Britain. Speaking into a phone on his desk in New York, Gifford’s first words are, “How’s the weather over in London? “

1953 – During his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, President Harry Truman discusses U.S. development of the hydrogen bomb.

1985 – General Motors (GM) launches Saturn Corporation as a wholly owned independent subsidiary in response to growing Japanese automobile imports in the U.S. The company markets itself as a “different kind of car company.”

1999 – The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, formally charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice, begins in the U.S. Senate.

Musical Milestones

1956 – “Memories Are Made of This” puts Dean Martin on top of Billboard’s Most Played by [Disc] Jockeys chart (precursor to the Hot 100) for six weeks. The track becomes a Gold record and “Dino’s” biggest hit as well as his only No. 1 recording in the U.K.

1967 – The Monkees maintain their grip on the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for a second week with “I’m A Believer,” which holds at No. 1 for a total of seven weeks.

1978 – The Bee Gees mark their third and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “How Deep is Your Love.”

1986 – Lionel Richie’s “Say You, Say Me,” from the movie “White Nights,” starring Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, is No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1992 – Pop sensation Debbie Gibson makes her Broadway debut playing Eponine in “Les Misérables.”

1995 – “On Bended Knee,” by Boyz II Men, is in the middle of a four-week run on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

2006 – Mariah Carey begins her second and final week on top of the pop chart with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2012 – “Sexy and I Know It,” by LMFAO, begins two weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. LMFAO consists of Stephen Gordy (a.k.a. Redfoo) and Skyler Gordy (a.k.a. Sky Blu) — son and grandson of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy.

On This Day December 31

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Celebrity Birthdays

1869 – Artist Henri Matisse (d. 1954)

1925 – Actor Peter Sellers, best known for his comedic roles in the “Pink Panther” series and “Dr. Strangelove” (d. 1980)

1932 – Country music singer Patsy Cline (“Crazy,” “Walking After Midnight”) (d. 1963)

1937 – Oscar-winning actor-director-producer Sir Anthony Hopkins (“The Silence of the Lambs,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Nixon,” “Thor,” “Westworld”)

1942 – Singer-guitarist and The Police band member Andy Summers

1943 – Country-folk singer-songwriter, actor and environmentalist John Denver (d. 1997)

1943 – Oscar-winning actor Sir Ben Kingsley (“Gandhi,” “Bugsy, “Schindler’s List”)

1948 – Disco superstar Donna Summer (d. 2012)

1959 – Actor Val Kilmer (“Top Gun,” “The Doors,” “Batman Forever,” “Conspiracy,” “Double Identity”)

1977 – Singer-rapper PSY, born Park Jae-sang, best known for his 2012 smash single “Gangnam Style”

History Highlights

1781 – The first bank in the U.S. opens under the name The Bank of North America.

1862 – Nine months after engaging in the most famous naval battles in American history, the ironclad warship USS Monitor sinks in a storm off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Sixteen crewmen are killed. The Monitor had dueled to a standstill with another ironclad, the CSS Virginia (originally the CSS Merrimack), off Hampton Roads, Virginia on March 9, 1862.

1879 – Inventor Thomas Edison demonstrates his incandescent light bulb to the public for the first time.

1904 – The first New Year’s Eve celebration is held in New York’s Times Square — known then as Longacre Square — at the intersection of 7th Avenue, Broadway and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Three years later, in 1907, the tradition of the dropping ball is introduced.

1946 – President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.

1984 – Bernhard Goetz, the white man known as the “subway vigilante” after he shot four young black men on a New York City subway train, turns himself in to authorities in New Hampshire.

1999 – Days after Mikhail Gorbachev is re-elected head of the Soviet Communist Party, Boris Yeltsin, president of the Republic of Russia, stuns his country and the world by announcing his resignation six months before the end of his term. He turns control over to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, undercutting Gorbachev’s efforts to keep the struggling Soviet Union together.

1999 – The United States officially turns control of the Panama Canal over to Panamanian authorities for the first time.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Monkees swing to the top of the singles chart with “I’m a Believer” and hold on for seven weeks, finally yielding to The Buckinghams’ “Kind of a Drag” in mid-February.

1970 – Eight months after the The Beatles’ breakup and subsequent release of their last album, “Let It Be,” Paul McCartney files suit against bandmates John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr to officially dissolve their partnership.

1972 – Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” concert is broadcast on ABC-TV, featuring performances by Three Dog Night and Al Green. Clark hosts the annual event for the next 32 years before turning the reins over to Ryan Seacrest.

1977 – “How Deep Is Your Love,” by the Bee Gees, is in the middle of three weeks as the No. 1 single. The song is part of the “Saturday Night Fever” movie soundtrack.

1983 – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson are in the middle of a six-week domination of the pop chart with “Say Say Say.”

1985 – Former teen idol Ricky Nelson and six others are killed when their chartered plane crashes in Texas.

1988 – “Every Rose Has Its Thorn,” by Poison, is in the midst of a three-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard single chart.

2005 – Mariah Carey begins a two-week hold on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Don’t Forget About Us.”

2015 – Grammy-winning R&B singer-songwriter Natalie Cole (“This Will Be,” “I’ve Got Love On My Mind,” “Miss You Like Crazy,” “Unforgettable”), daughter of legendary crooner and jazz pianist Nat King Cole, dies of congestive heart failure at the age of 65.

On This Day December 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1935 – Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax

1942 – Singer-songwriter Michael Nesmith of The Monkees

1945 – Singer-songwriter and The Monkees band member Davy Jones (d. 2012)

1946 – Singer-songwriter Patti Smith, known as the “Godmother of Punk”

1953 – Emmy-winning journalist and TV host Meredith Vieira (“The View,” “The Today Show,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”)

1957 – Former TV journalist and NBC “Today” co-host Matt Lauer, who was fired from his network job in November 2017 for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace

1975 – Pro golf champion Tiger Woods, born Eldrick Tont Woods

1984 – NBA superstar LeBron James, who played for the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers before signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018

1986 – Pop star Ellie Goulding (“Starry Eyed,” “Your Song,” “Anything Could Happen,” “On My Mind,” “Love Me like You Do”)

History Highlights

1922 – The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established as a new communist state following the era of the Russian Empire. It becomes the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

1936 – Known as “the strike heard round the world,” auto workers at General Motors’ Fisher Body Plant No. 1 in Flint, Michigan stage one of the first sit-down strikes in U.S. history. The workers were seeking safer assembly line conditions, better pay and recognition of the United Auto Workers (UAW) as the sole bargaining agent for GM employees. The strike lasts 44 days.

1940 – California opens its first freeway — the Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of only three “federal scenic byways” in California, and designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a historical engineering landmark.

1963 – The game show “Let’s Make a Deal” debuts, hosted by Monty Hall.

1972 – President Richard Nixon orders a halt to the heavy bombing of North Vietnam.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Beatles say “hello” to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Hello, Goodbye,” the band’s 15th chart topper.

1968 – Peter Tork quits the pop-rock band The Monkees.

1978 – Chic rules the singles chart with disco anthem “Le Freak.”

1978 – Rock and Roll supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP) officially announce their break-up.

1989 – “Another Day in Paradise,” Phil Collins’ song about homelessness, becomes the last No. 1 single of the 80s and first No. 1 single of the 90s. It goes on to capture Record of the Year honors at the 33rd Annual Grammy Awards.

1995 – Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men are in the middle of a 16-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day” — the longest-running No. 1 song in the chart’s history at that time.

1999 – George Harrison suffers stab wounds to the chest and a punctured lung when a 33-year-old man breaks into his home in Oxfordshire, England and attacks the former Beatle and his wife, Olivia.

2000 – Destiny’s Child (featuring Beyoncé) is in the midst of an 11-week ride at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Independent Women Part 1,” from the “Charlie’s Angels” movie soundtrack.