Monday February the 25th
On This Day in 1913                                                                                            
                                                                                                      
actor Jim Backus was born in Cleveland.  Although best remembered for his role in Mr. Magoo movies, plus the Gilligan's Island & I Married Joan TV shows, he was previously active in bigtime radio, on the Alan Young Show, the Penny Singleton Show, and The Sad Sack.  He died of pneumonia July 3, 1989 at age 76.

On this day in 1928, the Federal Radio Commission issued the first U.S. television license to Charles Jenkins Laboratories in Washington, DC. The first commercial TV license was issued in 1941.

On this day in 1932, country singer Faron Young was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Young's recording career took off after he joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1953. Four years later he gave budding songwriter Willie Nelson a big boost by taking "Hello, Walls'' to the top of the country charts.  He died December 10th, 1996, one day after shooting himself in the head at his Nashville home.  He was 64.

On this day in 1940, the first televised hockey game was broadcast. The New York Rangers whipped the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 at Madison Square Garden on W2XBS-TV in New York City.

This day in 1945 saw the official opening of the CBC's international short wave service, Radio Canada International.

                  
On this day in 1950, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca debuted their comedy program Your Show of Shows on NBC. The writing staff included Mel Brooks, Neil Simon and Woody Allen.

On this day in 1956, the instrumental "Lisbon Antigua" by Nelson Riddle topped the charts and stayed there for 4 weeks.

On this day in 1957, Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded "That'll Be the Day'' at Norman Petty's studio in Clovis, New Mexico, after weeks of rehearsal. The record, released under the Crickets' name, was Holly's first million-seller, topping both North American and British charts.

On this day in 1961, Elvis Presley played a charity concert in Memphis, his first performance since being discharged from the U-S Army almost a year earlier.

On this day in 1963, Please Please Me was the second record released in the U.S. by The Beatles. At the time, the single went unnoticed by the record-buying public. Some labels carried a famous misprint, making it an instant, and valuable, collector's item. The label listed the group as The Beattles.

                                                                                                        
On this day in 1966, Nancy Sinatra was high-stepping with a gold record award for the hit, These Boots are Made for Walkin'.

This day in 1978 was declared "Earth Day" as Jefferson Starship released their new album, "Earth". It was premiered 2 days later.
    
On this day in 1981, singer Christopher Cross won five Grammy Awards, including best album for his self-titled debut L-P, and best record and best song for "Sailing.''

On this day in 1982, the final episode of "The Lawrence Welk Show" aired.  But PBS kept re-airing the tapes for another 25 years.

On this day in 1983, Marvin Gaye won two Grammys for "Sexual Healing,'' Best Male Vocal R&B Performance and Best Instrumental R&B Performance.

                                                              
On this day in 1984, "Jump" by Van Halen topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

On this day in 1985, director Peter Bogdanovich sued Universal Studios for 19 million dollars in an unsuccessful effort to get Bruce Springsteen's songs back into the score of "Mask.'' Bogdanovich had cut the picture to fit Springsteen's music, which Universal did not want to pay for the right to use.  The studio had Bob Seger do replacement songs, which Bogdanovich called inappropriate.
    
On this day in 1986, "We Are the World,'' the charity anthem by an all-star rock choir, won four Grammy Awards, including song and record of the year.  Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson wrote the song, which was recorded by 45 celebrities. The record raised more than 33 million dollars for African famine relief.
    
On this day in 1987, Frank Sinatra's guest appearance on "Magnum P-I'' gave the TV show its highest rating ever.

                  
On this day in 1987, actor James Coco died at 58 after a heart attack. The rotund, balding Coco starred in two unsuccessful TV series, Calucci's Dept. and The Dumplings, and made guest appearances on many shows, including St. Elsewhere, which won him an Emmy.  One of his last TV assignments was a recurring role on the sitcom Who's The Boss?.

On this day in 1988, Bruce Springsteen opened his "Tunnel of Love'' tour in Worcester, Mass.

On this day in 1990, rock star Stevie Nicks broke down during a BBC taped interview, saying she will never have children & no man can stand her for long.

On this day in 1992, Natalie Cole's single and album "Unforgettable" captured seven Grammy awards, including best album, best record and best song. Victoria native David Foster was named producer of the year for the album and single.
    
                                                                      
Also at the 1992 Grammys, Vancouver rocker Bryan Adams won for best song written specifically for a motion picture or television -- for "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" from "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."
    
On this day in 1993, Prince was jostled and audience members stole two microphones when he invited people on stage at a taping of "The Arsenio Hall Show" in Los Angeles. Prince was not hurt and the microphones were soon returned.

Also this date in 1993, Troy Caldwell, who formed the Marshall Tucker Band with his brother Tommy in 1971, was found dead in his home in Moore, South Carolina.  He was 45.  

Again in 1993, actor Dick Van Dyke got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But at the star's unveiling, Van Dyke was shocked to see that his last name had been engraved as one word instead of two.
                                      
                                                                                                                          
On this day in 1995, Madonna's Take a Bow became the #1 single in the U.S. The smash hit stayed at the top of the charts for seven weeks.  

Also this day in 1995, Lyle Lovett broke his collarbone riding a motorcycle in Mexico.

On this day in 1998,  Bob Dylan won his first Best Album Grammy for "Time Out of Mind," his 42nd album. His performance was interrupted by a dancing man with "Soy Bomb" written on his chest. At that same ceremony, singer Shawn Colvin's acceptance speech was interrupted by rapper O-D-B, who upstaged her with a rant about his clothes.
    
On this day in 1998, Ladysmith BC's Pamela Anderson had her husband Tommy Lee arrested on domestiic battery charges.

On this day in 1999, The Artist Formerly Known as Prince filed a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit against nine Web sites, with allegations that include selling bootlegged recordings and offering unauthorized song downloads.

On this day in 2004, The Howard Stern Show was removed from 6 Clear Channel radio stations over indecency concerns expressed by the FCC.

On this day in 2005, Edward Patten, a member of the Grammy-winning group Gladys Knight and The Pips, died at a hospital in Michigan, from a stroke he had suffered a few days before. He was 65.  

                              
On this day in 2006, actor Darren McGavin died in Los Angeles at age 83. He had starred in four TV series, Mike Hammer, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Riverboat & Crime Photographer. He also won an Emmy in the role of the father of Murphy Brown.

On this day in 2007, the 79th Academy Awards telecast was hosted by Ellen Degeneres. Martin Scorsese won his first Oscar, for directing the Best Picture, "The Departed." Lead acting honours went to Helen Mirren & Forest Whitaker.
              

Today's Birthdays:

Country singer Ralph Stanley is 81.

Writer/producer Larry Gelbart (MASH, Your Show of Shows) is 80.

Musician Tommy Newsom (sub. bandleader on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show) is 79.

Actress Linda Cristal (High Chaparral, General Hospital) is 74.

Radio/TV talk show host Sally Jessy Raphael is 73.

CBS newsman Bob Schieffer is 71.

Actress Diane Baker (House, Woman of Substance, Dr. Kildare) is 70.

Actor/director Jud Taylor (The Fugitive, Dr. Kildare) is 68.

Actress Karen Grassle (Little House on the Prairie) is 64.

Actress Jean Bruce Scott (Port Charles, Magnum PI, Airwolf) is 5?.

Singer-guitarist Mike Peters of The Alarm is 49.

Actress Veronica Webb (Real Life Divas, Clueless) is 43.

Actor Alexis Denisof (Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is 42.

Actress Tea Leoni (Naked Truth, Santa Barbara) is 42.

Comedian Carrot Top is 41. Actress Lesley Boone (Ed) is 40.

Actor Sean Astin (24, Into the West, Jeremiah) is 37.

Singer Daniel Powter is 37.

Actor Anson Mount (Conviction, The Mount) is 35.

Singer Justin Jeffre of 98 Degrees is 35.

Actress Rashida Jones (The Office, Wanted, Boston Public) is 32.

Actor Justin Berfield (Malcolm in the Middle, Unhappily Ever After) is 22.
  

Chart Toppers

February 25

1944
Besame Mucho - The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra (vocal: Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen
My Heart Tells Me - The Glen Gray Orchestra (vocal: Eugenie Baird)
Shoo, Shoo, Baby - The Andrews Sisters
Ration Blues - Louis Jordan

1952
Cry - Johnnie Ray
Slowpoke - Pee Wee King
Anytime - Eddie Fisher
Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses) - Lefty Frizzell

1960
The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith
Handy Man - Jimmy Jones
What in the World’s Come Over You - Jack Scott
He’ll Have to Go - Jim Reeves

1968
Love is Blue - Paul Mauriat
(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls - Dionne Warwick
(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay - Otis Redding
Skip a Rope - Henson Cargill

1976
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon
Theme from S.W.A.T. - Rhythm Heritage
Love Machine (Part 1) - The Miracles
Good Hearted Woman - Waylon & Willie

1984
Jump - Van Halen
99 Luftballons - Nena
Girls Just Want to Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
Stay Young - Don Williams