World’s Fair – Time Rewind

On This Day April 17

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On This Day April 21

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Celebrity Birthdays

1816 – Novelist and poet Charlotte Brontë, the eldest of the three sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels, including “Jane Eyre,” became classics of English literature (d. 1855)

1828 – Naturalist-conservationist John Muir (d. 1914)

1915 – Oscar-winning actor Anthony Quinn (“Viva Zapata!,” “Lust for Life,” “Zorba the Greek”) (d. 2001)

1926 – Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, one of the longest reigning monarchs in British history (d.2022)

1935 – Actor-comedian Charles Grodin (“The Heartbreak Kid,” “Beethoven,” “Dave,” “Midnight Run”)

1947 – Punk rock pioneer Iggy Pop, born James Newell Osterberg, Jr.

1951 – Professional boxer-turned-actor Tony Danza (“Taxi,” “Who’s The Boss?”)

1958 – Actress-model Andie MacDowell (“Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” “Groundhog Day,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Michael,” “Multiplicity,” “Cedar Cove”)

History Highlights

1836 – Republic of Texas forces (the Texians), led by General Sam Houston, defeat Mexican troops under the command of General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Battle of San Jacinto, waged just south of present-day Houston. It takes only 18 minutes for the Texians to seize control of the Mexican camp.

1918 – Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German World War I flying ace known as “The Red Baron,” is taken out in a hail of Allied gunfire over France.

1952 – The first Secretary’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. Decades later, it is renamed Administrative Professionals’ Day.

1962 – The Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens, featuring the iconic Space Needle as its centerpiece. The event is the nation’s first World’s Fair since World War II.

1965 – The New York World’s Fair opens for its second and final season in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens with a theme of “Peace Through Understanding.” The fair showcases mid-20th Century American culture and technology in 140 pavilions across nearly 650 acres.

1980 – Twenty-six-year-old Rosie Ruiz is crowned the winner in the women’s division of the 84th Boston Marathon only to be stripped of the honor eight days later when officials determine that she cheated by entering the race a mile from the finish line.

Musical Milestones

1956 – Elvis Presley scores his first No. 1 single with “Heartbreak Hotel.” The song remains on top of Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart for eight weeks.

1962 – Elvis returns to the top of the singles chart with “Good Luck Charm.”

1973 – Tony Orlando and Dawn begin a four-week run on top of the singles chart with “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree,” which becomes the hottest-selling single of the year.

1984 – Phil Collins has the most popular single on the radio with the title track from the movie “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now).” The song spends three weeks at No. 1.

1990 – Paul McCartney sets a new world record for the largest concert audience for a solo artist. A total of 184,000 people attend the final show of his tour at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

1990 – “Nothing Compares 2 U” lands Sinéad O’Connor on top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The song was written by Prince.

2008 – Soul singer-songwriter Al Wilson (“The Snake,” “Show and Tell”) dies of kidney failure at the age of 68.

2016 – Pop megastar Prince dies of an accidental opioid overdose at his Paisley Park compound in suburban Minneapolis. He is just 57 years old, and news of his death sends shockwaves among millions of fans around the world. More than 150 million of the Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe winner’s records have sold internationally, ranking Prince among the best-selling musicians of all time.

On This Day April 30

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Celebrity Birthdays

1908 – Actress Eve Arden (“Our Miss Brooks,” “Grease,” “Grease 2”) (d. 1990)

1923 – Actor Al Lewis, born Albert Meister, best known for his portrayal of Grandpa in the 1960s sitcom “The Munsters” and Officer Leo Schnauser in another 60s sitcom, “Car 54, Where Are You?” (d. 2006)

1926 – Oscar and Emmy-winning actress Cloris Leachman (“The Last Picture Show,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Young Frankenstein”)

1943 – Pop music singer and 1960s teen idol Bobby Vee, born Robert Thomas Velline (“Take Good Care of My Baby,” “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes”)

1944 – Actress Jill Clayburgh (“An Unmarried Woman,” “Starting Over”) (d. 2010)

1961 – Basketball Hall of Famer and 12-time NBA All-Star Isiah Thomas (a.k.a. “Zeke”), who played point guard for the Detroit Pistons

1975 – Actor Johnny Galecki (“Roseanne,” “The Big Bang Theory”)

1982 – Actress Kirsten Dunst (“Interview With the Vampire,”,”Devil’s Arithmetic”,”The Bonfire of the Vanities,” “Spider-Man” trilogy, “Marie Antoinette,” “The Virgin Suicides,” “Melancholia,” “Fargo”)

1992 – Rapper-producer Travis Scott, born Jacques Berman Webster II

History Highlights

1789 – George Washington, the great military leader of the American Revolution, is inaugurated as the first president of the United States during a ceremony at Federal Hall in New York City — then the nation’s capital.

1939 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) becomes the first U.S. president to appear on television when he officially opens the New York World’s Fair. He does so on the 150th anniversary of George Washington’s presidential inauguration.

1945 – With Soviet forces closing in on him, German dictator Adolf Hitler and his companion, Eva Braun, commit suicide in his underground bunker in Berlin.

1975 – Saigon falls, as the president of South Vietnam announces his country’s unconditional surrender to the Viet Cong. Communist troops move into Saigon and a thousand Americans are hastily evacuated.

1993 – Four years after its development by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, the Word Wide Web truly goes global when its owners, Cern, make the software free for anyone to use.

1993 – A knife-wielding man lunges from the stands during a tennis match in Hamburg, Germany and stabs then-world No. 1-ranked Monica Seles in the back. Spectators subdue the assailant, a fan of German tennis great Steffi Graf, who apparently hoped that by injuring Seles, Graf would be able to regain her No. 1 ranking. Seles recovers, but takes a two-year hiatus from the game.

1997 – Ellen DeGeneres’ TV character, Ellen Morgan, comes out as lesbian on the ABC sitcom “Ellen.” The introduction of the first-ever gay lead character on television becomes a breakthrough moment for the LGBTQ community. Forty-four million viewers tune in to “The Puppy Episode,” which captures an Emmy and Peabody Award.

Musical Milestones

1957 – Elvis Presley records “Jailhouse Rock,” which is first released as a single and later featured in the movie of the same name. It goes on to top the pop chart for seven weeks.

1966 – “Good Lovin’,” by The Young Rascals, tops the Billboard Hot 100.

1977 – Glen Campbell lands on top of the Billboard singles chart with “Southern Nights,” his second No. 1 hit.

1983 – Acclaimed blues artist Muddy Waters — best known for “I Just Want To Make Love To You,” “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Got My Mojo Working” — dies of a heart attack at the age of 68.

1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album delivers yet another chart-topper. “Beat It” rises to the top of the Billboard singles chart, just one week after “Billie Jean” ends its seven-week run at No. 1.

1988 – “Where Do Broken Hearts Go,” by Whitney Houston, begins its second and final week as a chart-topper.

1994 – R. Kelly begins his fourth and final week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bump ‘N Grind.”

2005 – “Candy Shop,” by 50 Cent featuring Olivia, enters its ninth and final week as a chart-topper.

2015 – Legendary R&B singer Ben E. King, who performed with The Drifters before launching a solo career, dies at the age of 76. In 1960, the Drifters had a No. 1 single with “Save The Last Dance For Me,” and King had the Top 10 hit “Stand By Me” in 1961 and again in 1986 when it was used in the movie of the same name.