Drewsky1211

6/16/2024 50 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +2 49 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street 42 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 35 The Rolling Stones - Miss You -2 35 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 32 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +2 32 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3  32 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind -3 31 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) 19 Frankie Valli - Grease 6 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous -1 I think this might be what @ladyfiona's talking about:

Wernher von Braun died on this day 47 years ago, aged 65. - Von Braun became fascinated by rockets as a teenager- specifically the construction of rocket-powered cars, and he would make his own by strapping fireworks to a toy vehicle. He launched this small car in a crowded sidewalk, causing him to be detained for a short period. - After receiving his doctorate in physics in 1934, Von Braun would join the Nazi Party in 1937 in order to further his rocketeer career. He developed the V2 rocket- the world's first guided ballistic missile, and first object to reach space. It has been reported by Holocaust survivors that Von Braun worked at the Mittlebau-Dora concentration camp in order to receive slave labor for the construction of V2s (Von Braun probably saw it as making an expensive device built with free work). - Von Braun would avoid prosecution after World War II thanks to Operation Paperclip, jokingly calling himself a "prisoner of peace". He would develop rocket weapons for the US Army, most notably the nuclear Redstone missile. - In 1958, Von Braun would be transferred to the newly-established NASA, and became its first director in 1960 (holding the position until 1970). Von Braun notably designed the Saturn V rocket that would eventually send astronauts to the Moon during the Apollo missions: - Von Braun would be diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1973, and would later be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer- the latter did him in. - In 1965, Tom Lehrer would release a song satirizing Von Braun's career: A rumor quickly spread that Von Braun sued Lehrer for libel, but he never did.

Simeon Sakskoburggotski- the former Simeon II of Bulgaria- is 87.

6/15/2024 58 John Newman — Love Me Again 58 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 50 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 49 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky +1 43 Rihanna — Diamonds 43 OneRepublic — Counting Stars 43 Lorde — Royals 39 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum 38 Avicii — Wake Me Up +1 33 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 32 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 27 Jessie J — Domino 24 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +1 24 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 23 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 23 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 20 Coldplay — Paradise +1 19 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 17 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love 12 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing 0 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control -6

6/15/2024 49 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street +1 43 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +1 42 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 39 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +1 34 The Rolling Stones - Miss You -3 33 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind -3 31 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 31 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 28 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 24 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 22 Frankie Valli - Grease 13 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous

James K. Polk died on this day 175 years ago, aged 53. - Polk attended the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and his roommate was also a politician- William Dunn Moseley, who later became the first American governor of Florida during the former's presidency. - Polk was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1823, and would be elected to the US House of Representatives a mere two years later. He was a huge fan of Andrew Jackson (particularly thanks to his war hero status in the War of 1812), and would become one of the biggest critics of the John Quincy Adams administration; Polk advocated for the abolition of the Electoral College (due to Adams' "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay) and would agree with Jackson's anti-National Bank stance. - Polk was elected Speaker of the House in 1835, continuing to advocate for Jacksonianism into the Van Buren presidency. He would then be elected governor of Tennessee in 1839, losing re-election in 1841 by a mere 3,000 votes. - During the 1844 election, former president Martin Van Buren was seen as the frontrunner for the Democrats' nomination, and Polk would try to convince electors to make him Van Buren's running mate. However, slavery expansion advocates in the south detested Van Buren's abolitionist views, and determined Polk would make for a good compromise. Polk would be nominated on the ninth ballot at the Democratic National Convention, and the Polk-Dallas ticket would win 170-105 in the Electoral College. - Polk's presidency was largely about expansion of the United States, as the country went to war with Mexico in 1846. The US won the war, and would gain a very large amount of land from Mexico (that included California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma). Polk would also gain part of the UK's Oregon territory south of the 49th parallel (others wanted "54'40 or fight"). Due to the amount of land gained in such a short amount of time, Polk is often considered one of the most underrated US presidents by historians. - Polk declined to seek reelection, and died just three months after leaving office due to cholera- the shortest post-presidency of any US president who didn't die in office.

Noddy Holder is 78.

6/14/2024 58 John Newman — Love Me Again 58 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 50 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 48 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky +1 43 Rihanna — Diamonds 43 Lorde — Royals 40 OneRepublic — Counting Stars 38 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 37 Avicii — Wake Me Up +1 31 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum 31 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 31 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 30 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 30 Coldplay — Paradise +1 29 Jessie J — Domino  26 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +1 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 21 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 21 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 17 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love -3 17 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing 9 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control -3 6 Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida — Troublemaker

6/14/2024 48 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street 48 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind 47 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +1 38 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +2 37 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 36 The Jam — The Eton Rifles -3 35 The Rolling Stones - Miss You -3 34 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3  28 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 28 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 27 Frankie Valli - Grease 13 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous Not much left to really downvote for me.

Henry Mancini died on this day 30 years ago, aged 70. - Mancini's first instrument was the piccolo, and he would go on to learn the piano. When he was 12, he would write a composition for then-rising big band leader Benny Goodman. - After serving in World War II, Mancini would become a pianist for the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra (minus Glenn Miller), but soon left to become a film composer. Among the movies he made music for included Creature from the Black Lagoon, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Great Race, and most famously The Pink Panther: - Mancini was also known for composing the Peter Gunn theme song: - Mancini would have a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969 with "Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet", which he adapted from Italian composer Nino Rota. It topped the chart for two weeks. - In his later years, Mancini had a cameo in an episode of Frasier as the one-off character Al, and would also compose two of the songs of Disney's 1986 film The Great Mouse Detective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UQg4zb9dsA (embed didn't work but whatever) - Mancini died after battling pancreatic cancer, and was working on the music of the Broadway musical Victor/Victoria at the time.

Boy George is 63.

6/13/2024 58 John Newman — Love Me Again 58 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 46 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 46 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky 43 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 42 Lorde — Royals 40 OneRepublic — Counting Stars 38 Rihanna — Diamonds 36 Avicii — Wake Me Up 36 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 35 Coldplay - Paradise 33 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum 31 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 30 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 28 Jessie J — Domino 26 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 25 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +2 23 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 20 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love 20 Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida — Troublemaker +2 17 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing 16 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control 0 Storm Queen — Look Right Through -6

6/13/2024 49 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +2 48 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind 48 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street 44 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +1 37 The Rolling Stones - Miss You 35 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 32 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3  32 The Jam — The Eton Rifles 28 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 27 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 26 Frankie Valli - Grease  25 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous  14 Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough) -6 08 The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight

Henry Middleton died on this day 240 years ago, aged 67. - Middleton was part of a political family- his father Arthur served as the governor of South Carolina (when it was a colony) from 1725 to 1730. Henry himself would be a longtime member of South Carolina's Commons House of Assembly, and was elected its speaker three times (1747, 1754 and 1755). - Before the American Revolution officially began, Middleton was chosen as one of South Carolina's delegates to the Continental Congress. Middleton opposed American independence, yet he served as the Continental Congress' second president for a mere four days, following Peyton Randolph's resignation. Middleton would resign from the Continental Congress in February of 1776, when the majority of the Congress was agreeing on independence. - Afterwards, Middleton returned home to Charleston, where he accepted being a British subject after the British victory there in 1780. Despite his anti-independence stance, Middleton was supportive of the revolution's cause (the colonies wanting to be represented in Parliament), and as such did not have his estate confiscated by the Continental Army. - Henry's son Arthur was ironically one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Malcolm McDowell is 81.

6/12/2024 57 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 56 John Newman — Love Me Again 47 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 45 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky 43 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 39 Lorde — Royals 37 Coldplay — Paradise 37 Avicii — Wake Me Up +1 37 OneRepublic — Counting Stars +1 36 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 35 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum 35 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 34 Rihanna — Diamonds 32 Jessie J — Domino 31 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 31 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 30 Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida — Troublemaker +1 26 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 23 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +1 20 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love 17 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing 16 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control -1 11 Storm Queen — Look Right Through -3 8 Rudimental ft. Ella Eyre — Waiting All Night -2

6/12/2024 48 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind 44 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street +1 43 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +1 38 The Rolling Stones - Miss You 36 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +1 35 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 34 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 32 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 31 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 27 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 25 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous  22 Frankie Valli - Grease  22 Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough) 18 The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight 13 Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams - Too Much, Too Little, Too Late -3 10 Sad Café - Every Day Hurts -3 07 Marshall Hain - Dancing in the City 

Nicole Brown Simpson died on this day 30 years ago, aged 35. - Brown met OJ Simpson when she was 18, and working as a waitress. OJ would divorce his wife Marguerite in 1979, and the two would date for another 6 years before marrying each other in 1985. They would have two children together. - Throughout her marriage to OJ, Nicole would often be verbally and physically abused by him. A particular beating on New Year's Eve in 1988 led her to call the police on OJ, but she dropped the charges due to her parents encouraging her to reconcile (Brown's father Louis was also financially enabled by OJ). - Brown would finally divorce Simpson in 1992, but would again attempt to reconcile with him. OJ continued to display abusive behavior, particularly stalking her wherever she went. Among the last things she did for OJ was attend the premiere of Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult, which he starred in. - Brown would meet Ron Goldman in April of 1994, and the two quickly became good friends. Brown was also good friends with (the one and only) Kris Jenner, who she planned to discuss her relationship with OJ with before tragedy struck. - Brown and Goldman would be murdered by stabbing, leading to the world's most famous car chase when OJ became the suspect: While OJ was acquitted of the crime, many still believe he indeed murdered her.

John Linnell (lead singer of TMBG) is 65.

6/11/2024 55 John Newman — Love Me Again 54 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 47 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 44 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky 41 Lorde — Royals 41 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 41 Coldplay — Paradise 40 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 39 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 37 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum 35 Avicii — Wake Me Up +1 34 OneRepublic — Counting Stars 34 Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida — Troublemaker +1 33 Rihanna — Diamonds 32 Jessie J — Domino 29 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 28 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 27 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 24 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +2 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 23 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love 17 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing -3 17 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control -3 16 Rudimental ft. Ella Eyre — Waiting All Night 14 Storm Queen — Look Right Through 09 DJ Fresh ft. Rita Ora — Hot Right Now

6/11/2024 42 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street +1 42 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +1 40 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +1 37 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 36 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind  32 The Rolling Stones - Miss You 29 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 27 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 27 Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough) 27 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 26 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 25 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous  23 The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight 22 Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams - Too Much, Too Little, Too Late 19 Frankie Valli - Grease 15 Marshall Hain - Dancing in the City  15 Sad Café - Every Day Hurts 11 Lene Lovich - Lucky Number -6 10 The Sex Pistols - C’mon Everybody 08 Racey - Lay Your Love on Me 

DeForest Kelley died on this day 25 years ago, aged 79. - Kelley went by his middle name- his first name was actually 'Jackson'. His parents gave him his middle name in honor of electronics pioneer Lee de Forest. - Kelley made his film debut in 1940 as an extra in the movie New Moon, and would have his first major role in 1947's Fear in the Night. He would have a string of successful films, such as Variety Girl, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and Warlock. He would often play villains in these roles, and would soon seek roles as heroes to avoid being typecast. - Gene Roddenberry initially wanted Kelley to portray Spock in Star Trek, but Kelley refused, wanting to play Dr. Leonard McCoy. This would largely be the role he would play up until his death, reprising it for the 1973 Star Trek animated series, the first five theatrical films, and a cameo in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. - Kelley was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1997, and died after a two-year battle. He feared that "He's dead, Jim" would be the words engraved as his epitaph, and therefore decided to have his body cremated.

Peter Dinklage is 55.

6/10/2024 53 John Newman — Love Me Again 48 Gotye ft. Kimbra — Somebody That I Used To Know 47 Carly Rae Jepsen — Call Me Maybe 45 Olly Murs ft. Flo Rida — Troublemaker 43 Coldplay — Paradise 43 Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams — Get Lucky 41 Lorde — Royals 39 Florence & The Machine — Spectrum +4 37 David Guetta ft. Sia — Titanium 35 Miley Cyrus — Wrecking Ball 34 Rudimental ft. John Newman — Feel The Love 33 Avicii — Wake Me Up +1 31 Jessie J — Domino 30 OneRepublic — Counting Stars +1 29 Rihanna — Diamonds 27 Duke Dumont ft. A*M*E — Need U (100 Percent) 27 Fun ft. Janelle Monae — We Are Young 27 Avicii Vs. Nicky Romero — I Could Be The One 24 Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa — Payphone +1 23 Katy Perry — Part Of Me 23 Will.I.Am ft. Eva Simons — This Is Love 23 Swedish House Mafia ft. John Martin — Don’t You Worry Child +1 21 DJ Fresh ft. Rita Ora — Hot Right Now 20 Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch — Sweet Nothing 20 Storm Queen — Look Right Through 20 Calvin Harris ft. Alesso & Hurts — Under Control 17 Rudimental ft. Ella Eyre — Waiting All Night -3 10 Labrinth ft. Emeli Sande — Beneath Your Beautiful 04 Lily Allen — Somewhere Only We Know 0 Naughty Boy ft. Sam Smith — La La La -3

6/10/2024 38 Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street  36 Earth, Wind & Fire - September +1 34 Donna Summer - Love’s Unkind  33 Electric Light Orchestra - Don’t Bring Me Down +2 32 Lene Lovich - Lucky Number 30 The Jam - The Eton Rifles 30 The Rolling Stones - Miss You 27 ABBA - Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) +1 27 Michael Jackson - Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough 26 Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand - No More Tears (Enough is Enough) 26 Ian Dury and the Blockheads - Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3 25 ABBA - Angeleyes/Voulez-Vous 25 The Cars - My Best Friend’s Girl 25 Frankie Valli - Grease 23 The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper’s Delight 22 Johnny Mathis and Deniece Williams - Too Much, Too Little, Too Late - 21 Sad Café - Every Day Hurts  21 Marshall Hain - Dancing in the City 14 Racey - Lay Your Love on Me 12 The Sex Pistols - C’mon Everybody 7 David Essex— Oh What A Circus -3 6 A Taste of Honey - Boogie Oogie Oogie -3