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Flashback calendar

2017

Midfielder Kaká retires from football

Kaká announced his retirement after turning down offers from former clubs São Paulo and Milan. He also expressed interest in working as a director, confirming that his former club Milan had offered him a role. The former Sao Paulo, AC Milan and Real Madrid star is one of 11 World Cup winners and one of just three Ballon d’Or winners to play in MLS.

Bitcoin hits its record high

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, a form of electronic cash. Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software. Prices started at $998 in 2017 and rose to $13,412.44 in 2018. Later that year bitcoin's price reached an all-time high of $19,666.

Revival of 'Noises Off' opens on Broadway

Noises Off is a comedy play written by Michael Frayn. He got the base idea in 1970 and finished the play several years later. Over the years, Fray had rewritten it over and over again. The revival of the play after its last revision transferred from Piccadilly Theatre to Brooks Atkinson Theatre on Broadway.

FBI arrest pharma CEO Martin Shkreli

A pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli was arrested by the FBI after being charged with securities fraud. Consequently, he resigned as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals. Shkreli became infamous after raising the price of an HIV-related drug by 5,000 percent.

2015

José Mourinho is sacked as manager of Chelsea

After Chelsea lost 9 of 16 Premier League matches, José Mourinho was sacked as manager of the club. A few months later, Mourinho was confirmed as the new manager of Manchester United. In 2015, he was also named Portuguese Coach of the Century by the Portuguese Football Federation.

Putin tries to buy Ukraine's loyalty with gas discounts

The Ukrainian–Russian action plan is a defunct proposed agreement between the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Vladimir Putin whereby Russia would buy $15 billion of Ukrainian Eurobonds to be issued by Ukraine and that the cost of Russian natural gas supplied to Ukraine would be lowered to $268 per 1,000 cubic meters.

PlayStation Vita is released

The PlayStation Vita is a handheld game console developed and released by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to the PlayStation Portable as part of the PlayStation brand of gaming devices. It was released in Japan with releases in North America, Europe, and other worldwide regions. It primarily competes with the Nintendo 3DS as part of the 8th generation of video game consoles.

2003

NFL Quarterback Otto Graham dies

Graham overcame colon cancer in 1977 but was later plagued by heart ailments and other health problems. He was diagnosed as being in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease later in life and died of a heart aneurysm in Sarasota, Florida. In 2014, a new gymnasium at Waterford Country School was dedicated to Otto Graham's memory.

2000

Terrell Owens sets a record of 20 receptions in a single game

Owens had a record-breaking day with 20 catches for 283 yards in 17-0 49ers win over the Chicago Bears. The record-breaking 20 receptions surpassed a 50-year-old mark held by Tom Fears. Owens finished the year with 1,451 receiving yards and thirteen touchdowns.

Saxophonist Grover Washington Jr. dies

Grover Washington Jr. is considered to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He collapsed while waiting in the green room after performing four songs for The Saturday Early Show. He was immediately taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Céline Dion weds her manager Rene Angelil

Dion first met her husband and manager, René Angélil, in 1980, when she was 12 and he was 38, after her brother, Michel Dondalinger Dion, sent him a demonstration recording of "Ce n'était qu'un rêve" a song she, her mother, and her brother Jacques Dion had jointly written and composed. Dion and Angélil married at Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Quebec. In 2000, the couple renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas.

Ini Kamoze is at #1 on the US singles chart

"Here Comes the Hotstepper" is a song co-written and recorded by Jamaican dancehall artist Ini Kamoze. It was released as the lead single from his album "Here Comes the Hotstepper" as well as the soundtrack to the film Prêt-à-Porter. It is best known for its "na na na na na..." chorus sampled from the Cannibal & the Headhunters cover of "Land of a Thousand Dances". The song was Kamoze's only song to reach the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 in the US.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti’s first free election

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. He won the Haitian general election with 67% of the vote and was briefly president of Haiti, until a September 1991 military coup. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force.

'The Simpsons' premieres on Fox

The half-hour series premiered with "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". "Some Enchanted Evening" was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.

'Amadeus' opens on Broadway

Amadeus is a play by Peter Shaffer, which gives a highly fictionalized account of the lives of the composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. After being presented successfully at the Royal National Theatre in London, the play moved to the West End followed by Broadway.

Slade are at #1 on the UK singles chart

"Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's 6th and final #1 single in the UK.

'Goldfinger' premieres in London

Goldfinger is a British spy film and the third installment in the James Bond series to be produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Goldfinger was premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London with general release in the United Kingdom the following day.

Niterói circus fire killed more than 500 people

The Niterói circus fire was a fire disaster which occurred in the city of Niterói, Brazil. With 3000 people present, and twenty minutes until the end of the show, a trapeze artist noticed the fire. In a little over five minutes, the circus was completely devoured by the flames. 372 people died immediately, with the total reaching 500 dead.

Nuclear fission

German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann performed the nuclear fission for the first time in history. They were helped by Lise Meitner. She later with her nephew Otto Robert Frisch theoretically explained the reaction. Nuclear fission can be used both for the production of electricity and driving nuclear weapons.

First flight

The maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets.

Vogue magazine debuts

Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine covering many topics including fashion, beauty, culture, living, and runway. Vogue began as a weekly newspaper in the US, before becoming a monthly publication years later. The British Vogue was the 1st international edition launched in 1916, while the Italian version has been called the top fashion magazine in the world. As of today, there are 23 international editions.

Schubert's 'Unfinished Symphony' premieres

Symphony No. 8 by Franz Schubert is sometimes called the 1st Romantic symphony due to its emphasis on the lyrical impulse within the dramatic structure of Classical sonata form. Unfortunately, Schubert left the composition with only two movements. The symphony was used in popular culture many times.

Discovery of the Aztec calendar stone

The Aztec calendar stone is a late post-classic Mexica sculpture housed in the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City and is perhaps the most famous work of Aztec sculpture. It was rediscovered during repairs on the Mexico City Cathedral. Following its rediscovery, the calendar stone was mounted on an exterior wall of the Cathedral.

Anniversaries of the (in)famous