Over the course of his career, David Brinkley received ten Emmy Awards,
three George Foster Peabody Awards, and the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. He wrote three books, including the critically acclaimed 1988
bestseller Washington Goes to War, about how World War II transformed
the nation’s capital.

June 12, 2003

         Chet Huntley and David Brinkley

“Ode To Billie Joe” became a number one hit on August 26, 1967. The
song is ranked #412 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs
of All Time. The recording generated eight Grammy nominations, which
resulted in three wins for Bobbie Gentry and one for arranger Jimmie
Haskell. It sold over 3 million copies world-wide.

Tossin’ and Turnin’ was named Billboard’s number-one single for 1961,
after spending seven consecutive weeks at the top. It was featured on
the soundtrack for the 1978 film, Animal House. In 2008, Billboard
magazine ranked the song as the 27th biggest song of all time that
charted on the Hot 100, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the
chart.

The Telstar 1 AT&T Communications Satellite was launched on top of a Thor-
Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the first
television pictures, telephone calls, fax images and provided the first live
transatlantic television feed.  

The instrumental “Telstar" by The Tornados was the first single by
a British band to reach number on the the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It
was released on August 17, 1962, five weeks after the launch of the
Telstar satellite.