If you have an extra bounce in your step today and you don’t know why, it’s probably because it’s Justin Bieber’s 19th birthday. Expect some Lohanian missteps any day now.

For sure the world totally changed forever today in 1973 when Pink Floyd released “The Dark Side of the Moon.” At over 50 million copies sold, it’s among the biggest selling albums of all time and it was on the top 100 chart from 1973 until 1988. I’ll cop to just not getting it. But I don’t do acid and light shows are only cool to me for about a minute and a half.

I will cop to liking the Cranberries, “Everybody Else is Doing It, So Why Can’t We?” which was released today in 1993. It had the hits, “Dreams,” “Linger” and “Sunday.” It sold much less than Pink Floyd, because more people like to take drugs than admit to liking girlie music. Somewhere in between was Beck’s “Mellow Gold,” which hit shelves today in 1994. It had the hits “Loser,” and “Beercan.” 

Nirvana gave their final concert tonight in Munich in 1994. Kurt Cobain’s long descent began picking up steam.

If you think you’ve had a bad day, just remember that today in 1692, three women were brought before magistrates in Massachusetts, thus beginning “The Salem Witch Trials.”

Happy Birthday to Opie! Ron Howard turns 59 years old today. His top 10 (director):

1. Apollo 13
2. Cinderella Man
3. Night Shift
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Willow
6. Splash
7. Far and Away
8. Frost/Nixon
9. Cocoon
10. Backdraft

— Bill Hubbell

“Max, can you earmuff for me? We are going to get so much ass here, it’s going to be sick. I’m talking like crazy boy band ass.”– Vince Vaughn 

There’s not a lot of things better than sitting in a theatre and realizing you’re watching a classic. “Old School” hit screens 10 years ago today. It’s Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell’s movie, but Luke Wilson, Seann William Scott, Jeremy Piven and even Craig Kilborn have their moments.

“The New Yorker” published it’s first issue today in 1925. The highbrow magazine tackles everything from reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry.

In a different part of the country and slightly less highbrow, NASCAR was incorporated today in 1948.

Malcolm X was shot to death today in 1965 at the Audubon Theatre in New York City. 21 gun shot wounds were found after he was ambushed in a theatre by members of the Nation of Islam. One of the most influential African Americans ever, he was dead at just 39 years old.

Tonight in 1990 at the Grammy Awards, Milli Vanilli won the prize for Best New Artist. The award was later taken away when it turned out neither guy sang, not just in concert, but ever. For the record, they beat out The Indigo Girls, Tone Loc, Neneh Cherry and Soul II Soul.

1983 might not have been the hippest time for music, but some of us felt pretty cool when we listened to Bow Wow Wow’s, “When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going,” which came out today. The lead singer was a pretty woman with a mohawk and the music was great. “Do You Wanna Hold Me,” “Aphrodisiac,” and “What’s the Time (Hey Buddy)” were all great songs.

— Bill Hubbell

Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door – that way Lumbergh can’t see me, heh heh – and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I’m working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I’d say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

It turned out a lot of people could sympathize. Though it didn’t do much at the box office, “Office Space,” released today in 1999, went on to become a cult classic. If you’ve worked in an office building over the last decade, you’ve heard this movie quoted.

Today in 1945 30,000 U.S. Marines landed on the island of Iwo Jima, beginning a month long battle that was among the bloodiest in the Pacific during World War II. On the fifth day of the battle, AP’s Joseph Rosenthal snapped this iconic photo:

He got 48 “likes” on his Facebook page.

Bon Scott was found dead today in 1980. ACDC’s lead singer died of acute alcohol poisoning after a night on the town. He was just 33. Scott sang lead on the hits “TNT,” “It’s a Long Way To the Top (If You Wanna Rock N’ Roll),” “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap,” and “Highway to Hell.”

Today in 1995 Tommy Lee married Pamela Anderson on a beach in Cancun.

— Bill Hubbell

Speaking of Claire, THE teenager of the 1980’s, Molly Ringwald, turns 45 years old today, and the person who made her that, John Hughes, was born today in 1950. Ringwald starred in three straight smash hits about high school in 1984, ’85 and ’86. “Sixteen Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” and “Pretty in Pink” made her the Michael Cera of her time. Her career fizzled after that because, quite frankly, she wasn’t pretty enough to continue as a Hollywood lead. She got to have birthday cake on a table with Jake Ryan though, and that’s all any girl I went to high school with ever wanted.

In another harmonic convergence, also born today, both in 1954, were The Church of Scientology and John Travolta. L. Ron Hubbard’s church of the bizarre is headquartered in Los Angeles and, if nothing else, you have to give them credit for keeping their secrets. Will Travolta and/or Cruise ever come clean about anything? If this is the last thing I ever write, someone please investigate it.

Dale Earnhardt died today in 2001 after a crash in the Daytona 500.

Bob Stinson, the lead guitarist of The Replacements, died today in 1995 at his Uptown apartment. He was 35.

Today in 1978 in Oahu, Hawaii, Gordon Haller won the first ever Ironman competition. Haller, a US Navy communications specialist, defeated US Navy Seal John Dunbar. Dunbar led after two legs, but he ran out of water during the marathon portion of the race. His crew began giving him beer instead of water to hydrate with.

Along with Rinwald, Hughes and Travolta, happy birthdays go out to Matt Dillon (49), Dennis DeYoung (66) and Regina Spektor (33). Their top fives:

Dillon

1. Beautiful Girls
2. The Outsiders
3. Drugstore Cowboy
4. Singles
5. The Flamingo Kid

DeYoung

1. Come Sail Away
2. Babe
3. Renegade
4. Mr. Roboto
5. The Best of Times

Spektor

1. Us
2. Fidelity
3. Better
4. On the Radio
5. Samson

— Bill Hubbell

Perhaps the most iconic rap album of the ’90s hit shelves today, Tupac Shakur’s double disc, “All Eyez on Me.” It was critically acclaimed and zoomed off the shelves. Both “How Do You Want It” and “California Love” hit number one on the Billboard singles charts. Shakur would be killed just seven months later.

It was tonight in 1976 that everyone in America fell in love with 19-year old Dorothy Hamill, who won the gold medal in the Women’s Figure Skating competition at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. If you were old enough, 12 girls in your class had her hair cut in the next week.

It was this afternoon in 1983 when Marvin Gaye out-shined the NBA All-Stars with his classic rendition of the National Anthem. Dr. J won the game MVP award, scoring 25 points.

In other hoop news, it was tonight in 1954 that Furman’s Frank Selvy became the only DI player to ever score 100 points in a game. It was senior night for Furman and the coach had deemed it, “Frank Selvy” night, hoping to get Selvy as many points as possible. Selvy hit a buzzer beater from just past half-court to hit the magic number. The future internet was outraged.

The debut album by The Black Crowes, “Shake Your Money Maker” hit stores today in 1990. The album was hip and it spawned the hits, “Hard to Handle” and “She Talks to Angels.”

“Gee, you know that information… really would’ve been more useful to me *yesterday.*”

In the, “where in hell does the time go?” category…. “The Wedding Singer” came out 15 years ago today.

Happy Birthdays to Peter Gabriel (63) and Randy Moss (36).

Gabriel’s Top Five:

1. In Your Eyes
2. The Book of Love (cover of a Magnetic Fields song)
3. Solsbury Hill
4. Red Rain
5. Don’t Give Up

— Bill Hubbell