Historic moments from pop culture and beyond — one day at a time.
On October 5, 1984, Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 7:03 a.m. on the STS-41-G mission, carrying the largest crew ever flown at that point — seven astronauts, including the first two women to fly together in space and the first Canadian ever to leave Earth. Six days later, mission specialist…
On October 4, 1990, Fox aired the pilot of Beverly Hills, 90210, the teen drama that turned a zip code into a 1990s cultural phenomenon.
On October 3, 1995, O.J. Simpson was acquitted of murder in a verdict watched live by 150 million Americans. Here’s the full story of the Trial of the Century.
On October 2, 1985, Rock Hudson died at his Beverly Hills home at age 59, becoming the first major American celebrity to die of AIDS-related complications. His death came ten weeks after his publicist confirmed the diagnosis from a hospital in Paris, and it instantly turned a disease the country had been ignoring into front-page…
Cartoon Network launched at 12 p.m. ET on October 1, 1992, when Turner Broadcasting flipped the switch on the first 24-hour cable channel built entirely around animation. It ran on Ted Turner’s newly acquired Hanna-Barbera library plus the Warner Bros., MGM, and Popeye cartoons he controlled, reaching just 233 cable systems on day one. Betty…
Cheers premiered on NBC on September 30, 1982, and finished dead last in the Nielsen ratings that first season. A surprise Emmy win for the pilot’s writing convinced NBC to renew it anyway, and by its third season it was a top-20 hit. The Cheers premiere eventually grew into an eleven-season run, 28 Emmy Awards,…
On September 29, 1988, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center on mission STS-26, sending Americans back into orbit for the first time since the Challenger disaster 32 months earlier. Five veteran astronauts flew the redesigned orbiter to deploy a tracking satellite and prove NASA’s fixes actually worked, landing safely at Edwards Air…
Miles Davis died on September 28, 1991, at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, at age 65. A stroke triggered by a furious reaction to a doctor’s suggestion that he get a tracheal tube put him into a coma he never woke from, following years of pneumonia, diabetes, and a hip wrecked by sickle…
On September 27, 1998, Mark McGwire hit his 69th and 70th home runs in the Cardinals’ regular-season finale against the Montreal Expos at Busch Stadium, closing out the wildest single season in baseball history. The 70th came in the seventh inning off rookie Carl Pavano, a line drive that cleared the left-field wall and put…
On September 26, 1981, Nolan Ryan no-hit the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-0 at the Astrodome, becoming the first pitcher in major-league history to throw five career no-hitters. Ryan walked three and struck out 11 while fighting his own control for most of the night, and the win kept Houston’s playoff hopes alive during that year’s…
John Bonham, Led Zeppelin’s drummer, died on September 25, 1980, at Jimmy Page’s home in Windsor, England, at age 32. He had spent the previous day drinking heavily during rehearsals for the band’s planned North American tour, choked in his sleep, and never woke up. Led Zeppelin disbanded less than three months later, unwilling to…
On September 24, 1991, the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their fifth album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, produced by Rick Rubin inside a Laurel Canyon house the band believed was haunted by Harry Houdini’s widow. It sold more than 13 million copies worldwide on the strength of “Under the Bridge” and “Give It Away,” turning…
