writer – Time Rewind

On This Day January 27

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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 August 22

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Celebrity Birthdays

1862 – Classical composer Claude Debussey (d. 1918)

1920 – Award-winning fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery author Ray Bradbury, who wrote “The Martian Chronicles” and “Fahrenheit 451” (d. 2012)

1934 – U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., nicknamed “Stormin’ Norman,” who commanded the American-led forces that crushed Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf War (d. 2012)

1939 – Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski

1939 – Emmy-winning actress Valerie Harper, who played Rhoda Morgenstern on TV’s “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and its spinoff series, “Rhoda” (d. 2019)

1947 – Actress Cindy Williams, who played Shirley in the 70s sitcom “Laverne & Shirley” (d. 2023)

1963 – Singer-songwriter Tori Amos, who released her debut album “Little Earthquakes” in 1992 and whose first five albums went platinum in the U.S.

1967 – Emmy-winning actor Ty Burrell, best known for his role as Phil Dunphy on the ABC comedy series “Modern Family”

1973 – Actress-comedian Kristen Wiig (“Saturday Night Live,” “Knocked Up,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “Bridesmaids,” “Girl Most Likely,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “The Skeleton Twins,” “The Martian,” “Ghostbusters”)

History Highlights

1851 – The yacht America, representing the young New York Yacht Club, wins the first America’s Cup. It would be well over 100 years before it was taken away from New York.

1902 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to ride in an automobile when he sets out from Connecticut on a driving tour of New England.

1906 – Way before the turntable and CD player are invented, the Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey begins to manufacture the Victrola record player. The hand-cranked unit, with horn cabinet, sells for $200.

1950 – The United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) accepts 23-year-old Althea Gibson into its annual championship at Forest Hills, New York, making her the first African-American player to participate in a U.S. national tennis competition.

1973 – President Richard Nixon appoints Henry Kissinger secretary of state. Kissinger helped ease relations with the Soviet Union and China, and negotiated an end to the Vietnam War, but remains a controversial figure for his role in American actions in Cambodia, Latin America and elsewhere.

1989 – The Texas Rangers’ Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher in Major League history to register 5,000 career strikeouts.

Musical Milestones

1960 – Elvis Presley is in the middle of a five-week domination of the singles chart with “It’s Now or Never.”

1964 – “Where Did Our Love Go,” by The Supremes, starts a two-week hold on top of the Billboard Hot 100. It’s the girl group’s first No. 1 hit.

1968 – Bickering among The Beatles while recording “The White Album” prompts Ringo Starr to quit the band. “Back In the USSR” is recorded with Paul McCartney on drums and John Lennon on bass. News of Ringo’s departure is kept secret and he rejoins the band about two weeks later.

1970 – Bread’s “Make It With You” begins one week on top of the Billboard singles survey. It becomes the group’s only No. 1 hit.

1987 – “Who’s That Girl,” the title track of the movie of the same name, boosts Madonna to the top of the Hot 100 chart.

1992 – “End of the Road,” by Boyz II Men,” is in the second of what then was a record-breaking 13 weeks as a No. 1 single. The track goes on to capture two Grammy Awards.

1998 – Brandy & Monica hold the top spot on the pop chart with “The Boy is Mine.”

2009 – The Black Eyed Peas lay claim to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 with “I Gotta Feeling.”