VW – Time Rewind

On This Day March 8

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On this Day July 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Industrialist and Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford

1890 – Baseball Hall of Famer Casey Stengel

1941 – Singer-songwriter Paul Anka

1947 – Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

1961 – Emmy and Tony-winning actor Laurence Fishburne (“Boyz n the Hood,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “The Matrix” trilogy, “Mission: Impossible III”)

1963 – Actress-comedian Lisa Kudrow, best known for her role as Phoebe in the popular sitcom “Friends”

1964 – Actress Vivica Fox (“Days of Our Lives,” “Independence Day,” “Batman & Robin,” “Alias”)

1969 – Actor Simon Baker (“L.A. Confidential,” “Land of the Dead,” “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Mentalist”)

1970 – Director Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Inception,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Interstellar”)

1974 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actress Hilary Swank (“Million Dollar Baby,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Amelia”)

History Highlights

1935 – Literature’s first paperback is introduced by Penguin Books in London. It’s “Ariel” by André Maurois, who traces the life of the poet Shelley.

1945 – A Japanese submarine torpedoes the U.S. Navy cruiser U.S.S. Indianapolis in Pacific waters after it delivers the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima. The ship sinks in just 12 minutes. Of the approximately 1,200 crewmen, 300 go down with the ship. The rest face exposure, dehydration, saltwater poisoning and shark attacks while floating with few lifeboats and almost no food or water.

1956 – Two years after pushing to have the phrase “under God” inserted into the United States’ pledge of allegiance, President Dwight Eisenhower signs a law declaring “In God We Trust” the nation’s official motto.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare bill into law, granting seniors access to affordable healthcare. The bill-signing ceremony takes place at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri, where former President Harry S. Truman is enrolled as Medicare’s first beneficiary and receives the first Medicare card.

2003 – The last of over 21 million Volkswagen Beetles, known as the “Volkswagen Type 1,” rolls off an assembly line in Puebla, Mexico, ending nearly 70 years of production. The baby blue car is sent to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany, where VW is headquartered.

Musical Milestones

1966 – The Beatles own the No. 1 position on the Billboard album chart with “Yesterday…And Today.” The album, released in the U.S. and Canada only, holds the top spot for five weeks. It contains such fan favorites as “Drive My Car,” “Yesterday,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Nowhere Man” and “Day Tripper.”

1966 – The Troggs claim the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Wild Thing.” The track was originally recorded by the American rock band, The Wild Ones, in 1965, but never charted. The Troggs’ version holds at No. 1 for two weeks and reaches No. 2 on the pop chart in their native U.K.

1977 – Andy Gibb kicks off three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart with “I Just Want to Be Your Everything.”

1988 – “Roll With It” by Steve Winwood begins four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – All-4-One wraps up an 11-week domination of the singles chart with “I Swear.”

2003 – Record producer Sam Phillips, who founded the legendary Sun Record Company and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, dies of respiratory failure. He discovered Elvis Presley and worked with other musical greats, including Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, B.B. King and Jerry Lee Lewis.

2005 – Mariah Carey owns the top spot on the singles chart with “We Belong Together,” which holds at No. 1 for 14 non-consecutive weeks.

On this Day July 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1904 – Nobel Prize-winning novelist and short story writer Isaac Bashevis Singer (“The Family Moskat,” “Gimpel, The Fool”) (d. 1991)

1912 – American folk music icon Woody Guthrie (d. 1967)

1913 – Gerald Ford, 38th U.S. president (d. 2006)

1918 – Legendary film director Ingmar Bergman (d. 2007)

1926 – Actor Harry Dean Stanton (“Cool Hand Luke,” “Paris, Texas,” “Repo Man,” “Wild at Heart,” “The Green Mile,” “Big Love”) (d. 2017)

1930 – Emmy-winning actress-singer Polly Bergen (“The Helen Morgan Story,” “Cape Fear,” “The Caretakers”) (d. 2014)

1932 – Former New York Giants defensive lineman-turned-actor-turned-Christian minister Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier

1960 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actress Jane Lynch (“Best In Show,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” “Glee”)

1966 – Actor Matthew Fox (“Lost,” “We Are Marshall,” “Vantage Point,” “Speed Racer”)

1988 – Irish mixed martial arts fighter and professional boxer Conor McGregor

History Highlights

1789 – French revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This dramatic action signals the beginning of the French Revolution. Today, it is observed as France’s national holiday of Bastille Day.

1881 – William H. Bonney, better known as the outlaw Billy the Kid, is shot and killed at the age of 21 by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. The gunfighter, also known as Henry McCarty, had led authorities on a three-month manhunt after escaping from prison where he was awaiting execution on murder charges.

1955 – Already well-established for its Beetle, Volkswagen introduces the iconic, rear-engine Karmann-Ghia coupe in Europe. One year later, VW brings the vehicle to the U.S. auto market, and in 1958, rolls out a convertible model. The Karmann-Ghia remains in production through 1974.

1965 – Mariner 4 takes the first close-up photos of Mars. Its blurry views of craters and bare ground lead some scientists to believe that Mars has an environment that is similar to the moon.

1966 – One of the nation’s most notorious killers, Richard Speck, brutally murders eight student nurses at the home they share on Chicago’s South Side. Authorities conduct a manhunt and capture Speck two days later. He spends the rest of his life in prison until his death from a heart attack in 1991 at age 49.

1968 – Atlanta Braves slugger Henry “Hank” Aaron becomes the seventh major league player to achieve 500 career home runs when he knocks the ball out of the park during a 4-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

1969 – The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve officially remove the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills from circulation.

2016 – A terrorist drives a truck at high speed down a crowded sidewalk in Nice, France during Bastille Day celebrations, killing 86 people, including 10 children. More than 300 other people are injured.

Musical Milestones

1962 – “Roses Are Red (My Love),” by Bobby Vinton, is the No. 1 single.

1973 – Phil Everly smashes his guitar during a concert in California, storms off the stage and announces the breakup of The Everly Brothers. The duo will go nearly 10 years before performing together again.

1973 – Billy Preston enjoys his second and final week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Will It Go Round in Circles.” The track is the first of two No. 1 hits for the man who once performed with The Beatles.

1979 – Donna Summer scores her third No. 1 single with “Bad Girls” while the album of the same name begins a five-week run at No. 1.

1984 – “When Doves Cry,” by Prince, is in the midst of five weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from his “Purple Rain” album.

1990 – New Kids On The Block begin their third and final week on top of the singles chart with “Step By Step.”

2001 – Usher enters his second week on top of the singles chart with “U Remind Me.” The track holds the top spot for four weeks.

2012 – “Call Me Maybe,” by Carly Rae Jepsen, is midway through a nine-week ride atop the Billboard Hot 100.