– In 1956: Elvis Presley appeared at the 4,000 seated YMCA Gymnasium in Lexington, North Carolina. Also on the bill, Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters, featuring June Carter, Rod Brasfield, Hal and Ginger. Tickets cost $1 for general admission and $1.50 for reserved seats.
– In 1961: The Beatles played their first ever evening show at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, supporting The Swinging Bluegenes, (later to become The Swinging Blue Jeans).
– In 1965: After ‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ had held the No.1 position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at No.1 with ‘She Loves You’.
– In 1972: The Grateful Dead played the first of seven nights at the Academy of Music in New York City, New York.
– In 1976: Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room in Rochester, New York.
– In 1981: REO Speedwagon went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Keep On Loving You’, the group’s first top 40 hit and first No.1, a No.7 hit in the UK.
– In 1984: Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono in memory of her late husband was opened.
– In 1985: Bruce Springsteen kicked off the second leg of his Born in the USA world tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.
– In 1987: U2 scored their third UK No.1 album with ‘The Joshua Tree’, featuring the singles ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, & ‘I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For’. The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US No.1.
– In 1991: Leo Fender, the inventor of The Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars died from Parkinson’s disease. He started mass producing solid body electric guitars in the late 40s and when he sold his guitar company in 1965, sales were in excess of $40 million a year.
– In 1994: Bruce Springsteen won an Oscar for the song ‘Streets of Philadelphia.’
– In 1997: Snoop Doggy Dog was sentenced to three years probation and fined $1,000 (£588) for a firearms violation after a handgun was found in his car when he was stopped for a traffic violation.
– In 2001: Eminem was ordered to pay $476,000 (£280,000) as part of his divorce agreement with his ex-wife Kim. Also as part of the agreement Eminem would keep the US mansion and they would share custody of their five-year-old daughter, Hailie Jade.
– In 2004: Ozzy Osbourne was named the nation’s favourite ambassador to welcome aliens to planet earth. The 55-year-old singer came top of a poll as the face people want to represent them to alien life. The poll of internet users was carried out following the discovery of signs of water on Mars. Ozzy won 26 per cent of the vote, Simon Cowell, came last on the list, with just three per cent of the vote, A spokesman for Yahoo! News said: “As the world waits desperately for signs of alien life, we decided to ask our users who they thought was best suited for this most auspicious of roles. Ozzy is a great choice but I’m not sure what the Martians would make of his individual approach to the English language.”
– In 2008: A five-year legal row over the use of the Beach Boys’ name was settled by two former members of the group. Mike Love had argued he was the only person allowed to perform under the name of the band and sued Al Jardine, whom he claimed was appearing as an unlicensed Beach Boys act. Mr Jardine’s lawyer said “a friendly settlement” had been reached that allowed them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band.’
– In 2009: U2 went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘No Line on the Horizon’, the bands twelfth studio album.
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