Musician Birthdays: Nelly Furtado (UK singer/songwriter, born in 1978), Britney Spears (US singer/songwriter, born in 1981)

– In 1963: The Beatles recorded an appearance on the UK TV comedy program The Morecambe and Wise Show. The Beatles played ‘This Boy’, ‘All My Loving’, and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ and also participate in comedy sketches with Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. The program was broadcast on April 18, 1964.

– In 1967: The Monkees album, ‘Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd’ went to number one on the US album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following ‘The Monkees’, ‘More Of The Monkees’ and ‘Headquarters’.

– In 1969: Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

– In 1979: Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand’s ‘You Don’t Bring Me Flowers’ was at No.1 on the US singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil’s version with Barbra’s version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to No.1 in the US and No.5 in the UK.

– In 1983: MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ video for the first time.

– In 1986: Jerry Lee Lewis checked into the Betty Ford Clinic to overcome his addiction to painkillers.

– In 1995: Mariah Carey went to No.1 on the US singles chart with her duet with Boyz II Men ‘One Sweet Day’. It made Carey the first artist in history to have two consecutive single debut at No.1, ‘Fantasy’ being her first.

– In 1997: A man died after falling from a balcony during a Rolling Stones concert at Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan.

– In 1999: It was reported that Stevie Wonder was to undergo an operation to regain his sight. The breakthrough by top eye specialists involved inserting a microchip in the retina.

– In 2000: Thieves broke into the London home Madonna shares with Guy Ritchie. The raiders forced their way in through a basement door then took a set of car keys before loading up Guy Ritchie’s car with some of the couple’s possessions and driving off.

– In 2001: Creed started an eight-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Weathered’.

– In 2002: Oasis singer Liam Gallagher was arrested and charged with assault after he Kung-Fu kicked a police officer. The incident happened at the Bayerischer hotel in Munich, the singer lost his two front teeth in the brawl and an Oasis minder was knocked out cold.

– In 2003: Darkness singer Justin Hawkins was held for two hours at JFK Airport, New York after police mistook him for a wanted man with the same name and looks. The police only agreed to let him go after Justin’s fiance and manager Sue Whitehouse produced a tour schedule to prove that he was in England on July 4th when the crime was committed.

– In 2007: Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne made more than $800,000 (£389,032) for charity after they sold off some of their possessions from their former US home. Items sold included the family’s custom pool table for $11,250 (£5,470) and a pair of Ozzy’s trademark round glasses went for $5,250 (£2,553). The beaded wire model of the Eiffel Tower that adorned the kitchen fetched $10,000 (£4,862), while skull-adorned trainers worn by Ozzy sold for $2,625 (£1,276).