Watergate – Time Rewind

On This Day April 22

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On This Day April 29

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Celebrity Birthdays

1863 – Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst (d. 1951)

1899 – Jazz composer-pianist-bandleader Duke Ellington (d. 1974)

1917 – Actress Celeste Holm (“Oklahoma!” “Gentleman’s Agreement”) (d. 2012)

1933 – Iconic Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and activist Willie Nelson

1954 – Comedian-producer-actor Jerry Seinfeld, best known for his long-running NBC comedy series “Seinfeld”

1957 – Oscar and Golden Globe-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis (“My Left Foot,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Gangs of New York,” “Lincoln”)

1958 – Actress Michelle Pfeiffer (“Scarface,” “The Fabulous Baker Boys,” “Batman Returns,” “Hairspray”,”Ant-Man and The Wasp”)

1970 – Retired tennis star Andre Agassi

1970 – Golden Globe-winning actress Uma Thurman (“Pulp Fiction,” “Gattaca,” “Kill Bill”)

History Highlights

1854 – Originally established as The Ashmun Institute, Lincoln University receives its charter from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, becoming the first degree-granting college in the U.S. founded solely for African-American students.

1945 – U.S. military forces liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany. More than 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945, and more than 28,000 died in the camp and its sub-camps.

1974 – President Richard Nixon announces that he will release edited transcripts of taped White House conversations in response to a subpoena in the Watergate scandal. The House Judiciary committee insists that he also turn over the tapes.

1986 – Pitching for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Roger Clemens sets a Major League Baseball record with 20 strikeouts in nine innings against the Seattle Mariners.

1992 – Riots erupt across Los Angeles after four LAPD officers are acquitted in the beating of unarmed African American motorist Rodney King. Protesters in south-central L.A. block freeway traffic, wreck and loot shops and set more than 100 fires. The rioting continues for five days and sparks a national conversation about racial and economic disparities and police brutality — a debate still raging today.

2004 – The National World War II Memorial opens in Washington, D.C. It honors the 16 million people who served as part of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II, including more than 400,000 who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

2004 – General Motors’ last Oldsmobile rolls off a Lansing, Michigan assembly line, marking the end of America’s oldest automotive brand. The final model is an Alero GLS sedan, which factory workers signed under the hood.

2011 – Great Britain’s Prince William marries his longtime girlfriend, Catherine “Kate” Middleton, at Westminster Abbey in London. An estimated two billion people around the world watch the ceremony on television.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Frank Sinatra and daughter Nancy maintain their hold on No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart with “Somethin’ Stupid.” The duet remains a chart-topper for four weeks.

1969 – On his 70th birthday, jazz legend Duke Ellington receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Richard Nixon in the East Room of the White House. Nixon concludes the presentation by playing the piano and singing.

1970 – George Harrison tells reporters that The Beatles will reunite eventually and announces plans for his first post-Beatles solo album.

1976 – Bruce Springsteen wraps up a concert performance in Memphis as part of his “Born to Run” tour and he and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt decide to pay their idol, Elvis Presley, a visit at his Graceland estate. Security guards escort Springsteen off the grounds after he jumps the gate and runs toward the front door. The King was not home at the time.

1978 – Topping the singles chart for the seventh consecutive week: The Bee Gees’ “Night Fever” from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

1989 – Madonna has the No. 1 single with “Like a Prayer,” from her album of the same name.

1993 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Barry White appears in the “Whacking Day” episode of the animated series “The Simpsons.” As White sings, Bart and Lisa place loudspeakers on the ground to lure snakes away from Springfield residents trying to kill them as part of Whacking Day tradition.

1995 – “This Is How We Do It,” by Montell Jordan, is in the midst of a seven-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100.

2000 – “Maria Maria,” by Santana featuring The Product G&B, is in the middle of a 10-week domination of the singles chart.

2006 – Daniel Powter owns the top spot on the pop chart with “Bad Day.”

On This Day February 14

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Celebrity Birthdays

1818 – Former slave-turned-civil rights activist Frederick Douglass (d. 1895)

1894 – Legendary comedian Jack Benny, born Benjamin Kubelsky (d. 1974)

1913 – American labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances (d. 1975)

1921 – Retired Emmy-winning TV anchor-host Hugh Downs (“Today” show, “20/20”)

1934 – Actress Florence Henderson, best remembered for playing Carol Brady on the sitcom “The Brady Bunch” (d. 2016)

1942 – Businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg

1944 – Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former “Washington Post” reporter Carl Bernstein, who, along with colleague Bob Woodward, broke the Watergate story that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon

1960 – Golden Globe-winning actress Meg Tilly (“The Big Chill,” “Agnes of God”)

1970 – Actor Simon Pegg (“Shaun of the Dead,” “Hot Fuzz,” “The World’s End,” “Spaced,” “Star Trek,” “Star Trek Into Darkness,” “Mission: Impossible”)

1972 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and Matchbox Twenty frontman Rob Thomas

History Highlights

1849 – James Polk becomes the first American president to be photographed while in office.

1920 – The League of Women Voters is established as a “political experiment” designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. It encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy.

1924 – International technology giant IBM (International Business Machines Corp.) is founded and eventually becomes known as “Big Blue.”

1929 – Seven rivals of mobster Al Capone are gunned down in a Chicago garage during the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1962 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gives Americans an intimate, televised tour of The White House, hosted by CBS News correspondent Charles Collingwood. Although produced by CBS, the special airs on all three major TV networks the same week and is eventually broadcast in other countries, reaching an estimated global audience of some 80 million viewers.

1988 – U.S. speed skater Dan Jansen, a favorite to win the gold medal in the 500-meter race at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, falls during competition, only hours after learning his sister had died of cancer.

1989 – Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini calls on Muslims to kill “The Satanic Verses” author Salman Rushdie because his book mocked or at least contained mocking references to the Prophet Muhammad and other aspects of Islam.

2018 – An expelled student enters Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and opens fire, killing 17 people and wounding 17 others, in what becomes the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

Musical Milestones

1967 – Aretha Franklin records the soul single, “Respect,” at the Atlantic Records studio in New York. The now-classic track, which was written by Otis Redding, climbs to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 that June.

1970 – ”Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin),” by Sly & the Family Stone, is the hottest song on the radio.

1972 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono serve as co-hosts of “The Mike Douglas Show” for an entire week.

1981 – “Celebration,” by Kool & the Gang, begins its second and final week as the No. 1 single.

1987 – Bon Jovi grabs hold of the top spot on the Billboard singles chart for four weeks with “Livin’ on a Prayer,” off the “Slippery When Wet” album.

1998 – Usher has his first No. 1 single with “Nice & Slow.” The track remains a Billboard chart-topper for two weeks.

2004 – “The Way You Move,” by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown, is the No. 1 single.

2015 – “Uptown Funk,” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, is in the midst of a 14-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On This Day January 4

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Celebrity Birthdays

1643 – Scientist Sir Isaac Newton, credited with developing the principles of modern physics (d. 1727)

1809 – Scientist Louis Braille, who created a touch-based reading system for the blind (d. 1852)

1930 – Pro Football Hall of Famer Retired Miami Dolphins coach and Don Shula

1937 – Actress Dyan Cannon (“Honeysuckle Rose,” “Deathtrap,” “That Darn Cat,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “The Practice,” “Ally McBeal”)

1957 – Grammy-winning country music singer and Grand Ole Opry member Patty Loveless (“Timber I’m Falling in Love,” “Chains,” “You Can Feel Better”)

1960 -Rock singer-songwriter and former R.E.M. front man Michael Stipe (“Orange Crush,” “Losing My Religion,” “Everybody Hurts”)

1965 – Emmy-winning actress Julia Ormond (“Legends of the Fall,” “First Knight,” “Sabrina,” “The Barber of Siberia,” “Temple Grandin,” “My Week With Marilyn”)

History Highlights

1958 – Sputnik 1, the Soviet satellite responsible for triggering the Space Race between the superpowers, burns up while re-entering Earth’s atmosphere after three months in orbit.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson uses his State of the Union address to outline ambitious plans for a “Great Society,” which include knocking down racial barriers and freeing Americans from what he calls the “crushing weight of poverty.”

1974 – President Richard Nixon refuses to hand over tape recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee.

1995 – The 104th Congress becomes the first held entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era some 40 years earlier.

1996 – General Motors (GM) takes the wraps off a prototype of its EV1 electric car, which the automaker only makes available in Arizona and California — and exclusively for lease — as GM considered the development of electric vehicle technology to be ongoing.

1999 – Europe is united with a common currency when the euro is introduced as a financial unit in corporate and investment markets. Eleven European Union (EU) nations adopt the currency in hopes of increasing European integration and economic growth.

2007 – Representative Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, becomes the first female elected as Speaker of the U.S. House.

Musical Milestones

1936 – Billboard magazine publishes its first list of best-selling pop records covering the week that ended December 30, 1935. Big band violinist Joe Venuti and his Orchestra have the first No. 1 with “Stop Look and Listen.”

1964 – Bobby Vinton begins a four-week run at No. 1 on the singles chart with “There! I’ve Said It Again.”

1975 – Elton John rules the U.S. pop chart with his version of The Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

1986 – Lionel Richie is mid-way through a four-week run at No. 1 on the pop chart with “Say You, Say Me,” from his “Dancing on the Ceiling” album.

1997 – Toni Braxton has the first No. 1 single of 1997 with “Un-Break My Heart,” which remains a Billboard chart-topper for 11 weeks. The song goes on to capture a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – “Lose Yourself,” by Eminem, maintains its grip on the No. 1 position on the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from the movie “8 Mile,” in which Eminem stars.

On This Day November 26

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (d. 2000)

1933 – Grammy, Tony and Emmy-winning singer-actor Robert Goulet (d. 2007)

1938 – Impressionist-comedian Rich Little, known as “the man of a thousand voices”

1939 – Grammy-winning rock singer-songwriter Tina Turner, born Anna Mae Bullock and dubbed the “Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll” (“River Deep – Mountain High,” “Proud Mary,” “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” “Better Be Good to Me,” “Private Dancer,” “Typical Male”)

1981 – British pop star Natasha Bedingfield (“Unwritten,” “Soulmate,” “I Wanna Have Your Babies”)

History Highlights

1789 – November 26 is the day that President George Washington officially proclaims as Thanksgiving Day after Congress asks him to recommend “a day of public thanksgiving and prayer.” It is next proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 for the last Thursday in November. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt moves Thanksgiving to the next to last Thursday in November, but facing criticism for the move, he signs a bill in 1941 officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

1922 – British archaeologists Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter King Tutankhamen’s tomb in more than 3,000 years. The sealed burial chambers in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings are found intact along with a collection of several thousand priceless objects, including a gold coffin containing the mummy of the teenage king.

1956 – TV’s longest-running game show, “The Price is Right,” premieres with Bill Cullen as host and Don Pardo as announcer.

1973 – Rose Mary Woods, President Richard Nixon’s personal secretary, tells a federal court that she accidentally erased 18 minutes from a key Watergate tape.

1975 – A federal jury finds Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme guilty of the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. Fromme receives a life sentence and manages to escape from prison in 1987. However, she was captured and returned to prison until her 2009 release.

Musical Milestones

1958 – Johnny Cash debuts on the country music chart when “Cry! Cry! Cry!” makes it to No. 14. His next seven singles would all make the country Top 10, with “I Walk the Line” and “There You Go” both reaching No. 1.

1962 – Four lads from Liverpool, England enter Abbey Road Studios for their first recording session as The Beatles, laying down “Please Please Me” and “Ask Me Why.”

1968 – The British rock band Cream, featuring guitarist-vocalist Eric Clapton, plays its farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Considered rock music’s first “super-group,” Cream is most remembered for the 1968 hits “Sunshine of Your Love” (Billboard No. 5) and “White Room” (Billboard No. 6).

1977 – Debby Boone maintains her 10-week hold on the No, 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “You Light Up My Life.”

1983 – “All Night Long (All Night),” by Lionel Richie, is in the middle of four weeks as a No. 1 single.

1994 – “I’ll Make Love to You,” by Boyz II Men, begins its 14th and final week on top of the pop chart.

1994 – The Eagles kick off two weeks on top of the Billboard album chart with “Hell Freezes Over,” the band’s second live album.

On This Day November 17

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Actor and 1950s-60s leading man Rock Hudson (“Magnificent Obsession,” “All That Heaven Allows,” “Giant,” “Pillow Talk,” “McMillan & Wife”) (d. 1985)

1938 – Singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot, the talent behind some of the biggest pop-folk hits of the 1970s (“If You Could Read My Mind,” “Sundown,” “Carefree Highway,” “Rainy Day People,” “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”)

1942 – Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy and Grammy-winning director-producer Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “The Irishman”)

1944 – Golden Globe and Emmy-winning actor-director-producer Danny DeVito (“Taxi,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Ruthless People,” “Tin Men,” “Throw Momma from the Train,” “Get Shorty,” “L.A. Confidential”)

1944 – “Saturday Night Live” creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels

1960 – Drag queen, singer and actor RuPaul, born RuPaul Andre Charles

1978 – Actress Rachel McAdams (“Mean Girls,” “The Notebook,” “Wedding Crashers,” “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Midnight in Paris,” “The Vow,” “Spotlight,” “Doctor Strange”)

History Highlights

1869 – The Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas, formally opens. The 100-mile-long waterway shortens the sea route from Europe to India by about 4,000 miles.

1962 – President John F. Kennedy and former President Dwight D. Eisenhower dedicate Dulles International Airport, serving the Washington, D.C. region.

1968 – The Oakland Raiders score two touchdowns in nine seconds at home to defeat the New York Jets, but television viewers never see the win. With just over a minute left in the game, NBC cuts to the previously scheduled made-for-TV movie “Heidi” — based on the book about a young girl and her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. The network apologizes after being bombarded by complaints in what comes to be called “The Heidi Game.”

1973 – In the midst of the Watergate scandal that eventually destroys his presidency, President Richard Nixon tells a room full of newspaper editors, “I’m not a crook.”

2003 – Actor and former bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as the 38th governor of California at the State Capitol in Sacramento.

2003 – Ex-soldier John Allen Muhammad is found guilty of one of a series of sniper shootings that terrorized the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area and dominated national headlines for three weeks in the fall of 2002. The shootings left 10 people dead.

Musical Milestones

1839 – Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi’s first opera, “Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio,” debuts in Milan.

1958 – “Tom Dooley,” by The Kingston Trio, is No. 1 on the pop chart. The single goes on to sell over three million copies and puts the band at the forefront of the pop-folk boom that continued through the 1960s.

1962 – The Four Seasons park themselves on top of the singles chart for five weeks with “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”

1970 – Elton John’s music career is in its infancy when he performs a concert to a small audience at A&R Studios in New York that is broadcast live on local radio station WABC-FM. A recording of the session is packaged as his first live album, “11-17-70” (U.S. version) and “17-11-70” (U.K. version) and released in April 1971.

1979 – The Commodores top the Billboard Hot 100 with “Still.”

1984 – “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” by Wham!, begins three weeks as a Billboard No. 1 single.

1990 – “Love Takes Time,” by Mariah Carey, is in the middle of three weeks as a Billboard chart-topper.

2001 – Mary J. Blige is queen of the pop chart with “Family Affair.”

On This Day October 23

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – NBC “The Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson (d. 2005)

1940 – Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento (d. 2022)

1942 – Doctor-turned-author and producer Michael Crichton (“The Andromeda Strain,” “Jurassic Park,” “ER”) (d. 2008)

1954 – Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (“Crouching Tiger,” “Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Life of Pi”)

1956 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter and actor Dwight Yoakam

1959 – The Grammy-winning master of the musical parody, “Weird Al” Yankovic

1962 – Former NFL and Canadian Football League star quarterback Doug Flutie

1976 – Actor Ryan Reynolds (“X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Proposal,” “Buried,” “The Green Lantern,” “The Change-Up,” “Mississippi Grind,” “Deadpool”)

History Highlights

1973 – President Richard Nixon agrees to turn over subpoenaed audio tapes of his Oval Office conversations about the Watergate scandal.

1983 – A suicide bomber drives a truck into the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 military personnel.

1989 – Thunderous explosions rock the Phillips 66 refinery in Pasadena, Texas, outside Houston, killing 23 employees and injuring more than 130 others. The blasts pack the force of a 3.5-magnitude earthquake. The ensuing fires take nearly 10 hours to extinguish.

1998 – Dr. Barnett Slepian is shot to death inside his home near Buffalo, New York by an anti-abortion radical, marking the fifth straight year that a doctor who was willing to perform abortions in upstate New York and Canada was targeted by a sniper.

2002 – Chechen rebels storm a Moscow theater and take close to a thousand people hostage during the sold-out performance of a popular musical. By the time the siege ends, the attackers and 130 hostages are dead.

Musical Milestones

1961 – Dion kicks off a two-week run atop the pop chart with “Runaround Sue.”

1962 – Little Stevie Wonder is 12 years old when he records his first single for Motown: “Thank You (For Loving Me All the Way).”

1965 – The Beatles are midway through a four-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Yesterday,” off the “Help!” album.

1971 – “Maggie May,” by Rod Stewart, is in the middle of of five weeks as a No. 1 single.

1976 – Chicago scores its first No. 1 single with “If You Leave Me Now,” off the band’s “Chicago X” album.” The track remains a chart-topper for two weeks and goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1982 – Performing under the name “John Cougar” because of a contractual agreement with his record label, John Mellencamp enters his fourth and final week on top of the singles chart with “Jack & Diane.”

1987 – Madonna lands on the big screen, as the comedy “Who’s That Girl” opens in London.

1999 – “Smooth,” by Santana featuring Rob Thomas, begins 12 weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The single goes on to capture Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals Grammys.

2006 – Amy Winehouse releases her autobiographical song, “Rehab,” from her second and final studio album, “Back to Black.” The track wins Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

On This Day October 20

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Celebrity Birthdays

1882 – Actor Bela Lugosi, who played Count Dracula and starred in other early black and white horror films (d. 1956)

1927 – Psychologist-advice columnist Dr. Joyce Brothers (d. 2013)

1935 – Actor Jerry Orbach (“Dirty Dancing,” “Law & Order,” “Beauty and the Beast”) (d. 2004)

1950 – Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers fame (“Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin”) (d. 2017)

1956 – Director and screenwriter Danny Boyle (“Slumdog Millionaire,” “Trainspotting,” “28 Days Later,” “Steve Jobs”)

1958 – Actor Viggo Mortensen (“Witness,” “The Lord of the Rings,” “28 Days,” “A History of Violence,” “Eastern Promises”)

1971 – Legendary rapper, producer and actor Snoop Dogg, born Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. (“What’s My Name?” “Gin & Juice”)

1979 – Actor-director John Krasinski (“The Office,” “Away We Go,” “Leatherheads,” “License to Wed,” “Big Miracle,” “Something Borrowed,” “It’s Complicated,” “Promised Land,” “Aloha,” “A Quiet Place”)

History Highlights

1947 – In what comes to be known as the “Red Scare,” the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) opens hearings in Washington designed to expose communists in Hollywood. Many screenwriters, actors and directors are arrested and blacklisted by studio executives. Some would never work in Hollywood again.

1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis five years after the assassination of her husband, President John F. Kennedy.

1973 – As part of the so-called “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to dismiss Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox.

1973 – Queen Elizabeth II travels to Australia to dedicate the Sydney Opera House.

1973 – “The Six Million Dollar Man” premieres on TV, starring Lee Majors as astronaut Steve Austin, who was “rebuilt” with bionic arms, legs and an eye after an accident that nearly killed him.

1994 – Oscar-winning Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster (“Elmer Gantry,” “Birdman of Alcatraz,” “Airport,” “Atlantic City,” “Field of Dreams”) dies at the age of 80.

Musical Milestones

1958 – “It’s All in the Game,” by Tommy Edwards, is in the No. 1 single and goes on to become a million-seller. Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to a wordless 1911 composition titled “Melody in A Major,” written by Charles Dawes, who was Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is the only No. 1 single in the U.S. to have been co-written by an American VP or a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (Dawes was both).

1962 – Bobby “Boris” Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers kick off two weeks on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Monster Mash,” still considered a staple of Halloween party playlists today.

1977 – A twin-engine plane carrying southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd (“Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird”) crashes in a Mississippi swamp, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines, backup singer Cassie Gaines, a tour manager and both pilots.

1979 – “In Through the Out Door,” Led Zeppelin’s eighth and final studio album, is in the middle of a seven-week run at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart.

1983 – Country singer-songwriter Merle Travis, considered one of the most influential American guitarists of the 20th century, dies of a heart attack at the age of 65.

1984 – Stevie Wonder sits on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Just Called to Say I Love You.”

1990 – “I Don’t Have the Heart,” by James Ingram, tops the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. The track garners him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.

2003 – Amy Winehouse releases her debut album, “Frank,” named after her idol, legendary crooner Frank Sinatra.

On this Day August 8

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Celebrity Birthdays

1932 – Country Music Hall of Famer Mel Tillis (“I Ain’t Never,” “Good Woman Blues,” “Coca-Cola Cowboy”) (d. 2017)

1937 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actor Dustin Hoffman (“The Graduate,” “Midnight Cowboy,” Kramer vs. Kramer,” “Tootsie,” “Rain Man,” “Hook,” “Outbreak,” “Wag The Dog,” “Runaway Jury,” “Meet the Fockers”)

1938 – Actress-singer Connie Stevens (“Hawaiian Eye,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Wendy and Me”)

1952 – Radio host and former Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers

1953 – Actor Don Most (Ralph from TV’s “Happy Days”)

1958 – Emmy-winning “Inside Edition” host Deborah Norville

1961 – U2 guitarist Dave “The Edge” Evans

1981 – International tennis champion Roger Federer

History Highlights

1942 – Six German saboteurs who secretly entered the U.S. by submarine on a mission to attack its civil infrastructure are executed for spying. Two others who disclosed the plot to the FBI and assisted U.S. authorities in the manhunt for their collaborators are imprisoned.

1945 – With World War II drawing to a close, President Harry S. Truman signs the United Nations Charter and the United States becomes the first nation to join the new international organization. Truman said the move “substantially advances the cause of world peace.”

1974 – In a prime-time address to Americans, President Richard Nixon announces his resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal, becoming the first and only U.S. president to resign. The following day, Vice President Gerald Ford is sworn in as president.

1986 – Actor, writer and director Spike Lee’s first feature-length movie, “She’s Gotta Have It,” about a free-spirited African-American woman in Brooklyn and her three suitors, opens in U.S. theaters.

1988 – The lights are turned on at Chicago’s Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium equipped to host night games. However, rain cancels the game after four innings, postponing it to the next day.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Summer swimwear is the theme as “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini,” by Brian Hyland, checks in as the hottest single.

1966 – The Beatles release their seventh studio album, “Revolver,” in the U.S. three days after its U.K. release. The album contains “Eleanor Rigby,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Good Day Sunshine” and other classics.

1969 – The Beatles’ iconic “Abbey Road” album cover is photographed by Iain Macmillan outside the namesake studio in London, with the Fab Four marching single file through the crosswalk. Macmillan had 10 minutes to complete the shoot and snapped six photos of The Beatles crossing in either direction.

1981 – Rick Springfield begins his second and final week with “Jessie’s Girl” as the No. 1 single.

1987 – U2 claims the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” off “The Joshua Tree” album. The track holds at No. 1 for two weeks.

1992 – “This Used to Be My Playground,” by Madonna, lands on top of the pop chart for a week. The track is from the movie “A League of Their Own,” starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis and Madonna, and directed by Penny Marshall. It picks up a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas dominate the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Gotta Feeling.”

2017 – Grammy-winning country music singer-songwriter-guitarist Glen Campbell (“Wichita Lineman,” “Gentle on My Mind,” “Galveston,” “Rhinestone Cowboy”) dies of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 81.

On this Day July 27

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Celebrity Birthdays

1922 – Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV writer-producer Norman Lear (“All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons,” “Maude,” “Good Times”)

1944 – Singer Bobbie Gentry, who claimed Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance honors for the 1967 hit “Ode to Billie Joe”

1948 – Olympic gold medal figure skater Peggy Fleming

1949 – Singer Maureen McGovern, the talent behind the 1973 hit “The Morning After” from the movie “The Poseidon Adventure”

1972 – Comedian-actress and “SNL” alum Maya Rudolph (“50 First Dates,” “Grown-ups,” “Bridesmaids”)

1977 – Golden Globe-winning actor Jonathan Rhys Myers (“Prozac Nation,” “Bend It Like Beckham,” “Match Point,” “Elvis”)

History Highlights

1940 – Bugs Bunny makes his debut in the Merrie Melodies cartoon “A Wild Hare,” and remains an American cultural icon all these decades later.

1953 – After three years of combat, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea agree to an armistice, bringing the Korean War to an end.

1965 – President Lyndon Johnson signs the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act into law, requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on every pack of smokes.

1974 – The Watergate scandal boils over as the House Judiciary Committee recommends that President Richard Nixon be impeached and removed from office for obstruction of justice.

2003 – Entertainer Bob Hope—known for his decades of overseas tours to perform for American troops and who hosted 18 Oscar ceremonies and received five honorary awards from the Academy—dies at the age of 100.

Musical Milestones

1940 – “Billboard” magazine publishes its first music popularity chart. The No. 1 song for the week ending July 27, 1940 is “I’ll Never Smile Again” by Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra with vocals provided by Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers.

1959 – Paul Anka is in the middle of four weeks at No. 1 on the singles chart with “Lonely Boy.”

1963 – Jan & Dean ride the tide through a second week on top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Surf City.” It’s the first surf song to become a national chart-topper.

1974 – “Annie’s Song,” a tribute to his wife, propels John Denver to the top of the singles chart.

1976 – Nearly four years after U.S. immigration officials threaten to deport him, John Lennon acquires his green card. It allows Lennon to settle in the U.S., where he lived, raised a son and remained until his tragic death on December 8, 1980.

1991 – “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You” by Bryan Adams kicks off seven weeks on top of the Billboard Hot 100. The track appears on the “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” movie soundtrack as well as on Adams’ sixth studio album, “Waking Up the Neighbours.”

1996 – The No. 1 song in the U.S. is “You’re Makin’ Me High”/”Let It Flow,” by Toni Braxton. The track holds the top spot for a week.

2002 – Rap sensation Nelly rules the Billboard pop chart with “Hot in Herre,” which remains a chart-topper for seven weeks.