Musician Birthdays: Lars Ulrich (drummer for Metallica, born in 1955), Jared Leto (guitarist, singer for 30 Seconds to Mars, film actor, born in 1971), Chris Daughtry (singer/guitarist of his band, Daughtry, famous for American Idol competitor, born in 1979)

– In 1963: Capitol Records, the EMI-affiliated company which rejected the US rights to every Beatles record that they were offered until then, finally released ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ backed with ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. The song was currently topping the UK chart with ‘This Boy’ on the flip side. Within five weeks, the record would rise to number one in the US, where it would stay for seven weeks. The song was recorded the previous October and the hit version was take number 17.

– In 1964: The Beatles started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘I Feel Fine’. It was the group’s 6th No.1 of the year in which they had 30 entries on the chart, giving them a total of 18 weeks at the top of the charts.

– In 1964: The Rolling Stones placed an advertisement in the music paper New Musical Express, wishing starving hairdressers and their families a Happy Christmas.

– In 1966: The Jimi Hendrix Experience played an afternoon show at The Uppercut Club, London. Hendrix also wrote the lyrics to Purple Haze in the dressing room on the same day.

– In 1967: BBC Television broadcast The Beatles’ movie ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ in black and white. The next day, the British press and the viewing public pronounce the film an utter disaster. The negative reaction was so strong that a US television deal for broadcasting the movie was cancelled.

– In 1968: Led Zeppelin started their first North American tour supporting Vanilla Fudge and Spirit at Denver Auditorium, Colorado, tickets for this Sunday night gig cost $5.

– In 1970: George Harrison started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘My Sweet Lord’, making him the first Beatle to score a No.1 US hit. The song was originally intended for Billy Preston.

– In 1976: The Sex Pistols recorded ‘God Save The Queen’ at Wessex Studios London, England.

– In 1979: Pink Floyd’s The Wall was at No.1 on the US album chart. (The album spent a total of 15 weeks at No.1 during a 35-week stay on the chart). The Wall also spent a total of 5 weeks at No.1 on the UK chart.

– In 1981: AC/DC started a three-week run at #1 on the US album chart with ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’ the follow-up to their highly successful album ‘Back In Black’. The name of the album was inspired by a book Angus Young read, entitled ‘For Those About to Die, We Salute You’, about Roman gladiators.

– In 2006: Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit against his former accountants, claiming they withdrew $2.5 million a year from his bank accounts but did not properly pay his bills. Jackson hired the Los Angeles-based firm in 2003 for book-keeping, opening bank accounts and filing personal, corporate and real estate taxes.

– In 2007: Amy Winehouse’s second album ‘Back to Black’ was named as the biggest-selling album of the year. Released at the end of 2006 the album had now sold more than 1.5m copies in the UK, achieving five platinum sales awards, Winehouse was also nominated for six Grammys including song of the year. Leona Lewis’s ‘Spirit’ was the second best seller, Lewis sold 1.27m copies in just five weeks, becoming the fastest-selling debut in UK history and making the former X Factor winner the fastest female million-seller in the UK. Mika’s ‘Life in Cartoon Motion’ were the third best selling album of 2007.