Cooperstown gets its Goose

July 27: Goose Gossage headlines a class of six slated for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Known for his unmistakable mustache as well as his nearly un-hittable fastball, Gossage was one of baseball's true closers. He'll be enshrined along with legendary commissioner Bowie Kuhn, former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, and four others.

Chambers-Hiss anniversary

August 3: On this day 60 years ago, Time senior editor and former Communist Whittaker Chambers fingered federal bureaucrat Alger Hiss as an underground Communist organizer during a session before the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Two years later, Hiss was convicted of perjury and served 44 months in prison. Chambers' testimony helped launch the careers of two important 20th-century senators: Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon.

Happy Birthday Mr. Obama

August 4: Don't expect to see Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama go on Access Hollywood to celebrate his 47th birthday near the beginning of August. Obama chose to allow daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, to be interviewed by the entertainment channel in July for the elder daughter's birthday. Obama had previously set his daughters as "off limits" to reporters.

New TV season

August 6: The 2008 television season trickles out of the gate when Discovery Channel launches Season 3 of Man vs. Wild. But the real network heavyweights will wait until September to come back with their top shows.

Opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics

August 8: When the opening ceremonies kick off the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, NBC will only begin to focus its camera lenses. Over the 17-day summer games, NBC will broadcast 3,600 hours of Olympic programming across NBC and other network channels MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, and Oxygen.

Sesame Street

August 11: The pioneer in educational programming for the preschool set begins its 39th season and at the same time launches a new $14 million website (sesamestreet.org) that's been kept under wraps like a Harry Potter novel.