Mariah Carey is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Carey made her debut in 1990 under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola and became the first recording act to have her first five singles top the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of subsequent hit records established her position as Columbia's highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. Carey took full creative control over her image and music following her separation from Mottola in 1997, and she introduced elements of hip hop into her album material. Her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001, and she was dropped by Virgin Records the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown and the poor reception of Glitter, her film and soundtrack project. Carey later signed with Island/Def Jam and, after an unsuccessful period, returned to the forefront of popular music in 2005. In 2000 the World Music Awards named Carey the best-selling female artist of all time, and she has recorded the most U.S. number-one singles for a female artist.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

533: Belisarius and his legions defeated Gelimer and the Vandals at the Battle of Ad Decimum near Carthage, and began the "Reconquest of the West" under Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ad_Decimum)

1814: The bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner," which later became the national anthem of the United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baltimore)

1847: Mexican-American War: Six teenagers known as Los Niños Héroes fought to their death defending the military academy at Castillo de Chapultepec in Mexico City during the Battle of Chapultepec. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ni%C3%B1os_H%C3%A9roes)

1987: Goiânia accident: A radioactive item was stolen from an abandoned hospital in Goiânia, Brazil, contaminating hundreds of people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident)

1993: After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin formally signed the Oslo Peace Accords. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

What I need is a good defense 'Cause I'm feeling like a criminal And I need to be redeemed To the one I've sinned against Because he's all I ever knew of love. -- Fiona Apple (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Fiona_Apple)