Musician Birthdays: Meg White (drummer for the White Stripes, born in 1974)

– In 1949: Fats Domino recorded his first tracks for Imperial Records. One of those songs was called ‘The Fat Man’, which later became his nickname.

– In 1959: The four male members of The Platters were acquitted of charges of aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness and assignation after an incident on August 10th in Cincinnati. Despite the outcome of the trial, the scandal would severely damage the group’s career.

– In 1961: The Beatles appeared at Hambleton Hall, Huyton in Liverpool after returning to Liverpool from their first live performances in south England and London. The Beatles arrived so late for their appearance in Huyton that they only had time to play for 15 minutes. The promoters, having to pay The Beatles their full £15 were very unhappy.

– In 1966: The Beach Boys went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Good Vibrations’, the group’s third US No.1. Also No.1 in the UK.

– In 1967: American soul singer, songwriter Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash, aged 26. Redding and his band had made an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio on the local ‘Upbeat’ television show the previous day. The plane carrying Otis Redding and his band crashed at 3.28.pm into icy waters of Lake Monoma near Madison. Redding was killed in the crash along with members from the The Bar-Kays, Jimmy King, Ron Caldwell, Phalin Jones and Carl Cunningham. Trumpet player Ben Cauley was the only person to survive the crash.

– In 1967: The Byrds played the first of an 8 night run at the Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood, California.

– In 1973: The CBGB Club opened in the lower eastside of New York City; it became the home of new bands such as Blondie, Television, Patti Smith and The Ramones.

– In 1976: Billy Idol’s new band Generation X made their live debut at The Central College Of Art, London.

– In 1983: Rolling Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards married 27-year old Patti Hansen on his 40th birthday.

– In 1998: Bruce Springsteen won a £2 million court battle to ban an album of his early songs. The case revolved around a dispute over copyright ownership between Bruce and a former manager.

– In 2000: Eminem went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Stan’. The rappers second No.1, the female singing on the track was by Dido.

– In 2003: Coldplay singer Chris Martin married actress Gwyneth Paltrow in Santa Barbara, California. The couple also announced that Paltrow was pregnant and the baby was due next summer.

– In 2005: Queen overtook The Beatles to become the third most successful act of all time. Sales in 2005 showed that Queen had now overtaken The Beatles to make it into third place, spending 1,755 weeks on the British singles and album charts. The Beatles slipped to fourth place, with 1,749 weeks. Elvis had spent 2,574 weeks on the singles and album charts, making him number one in the Top 100 most successful acts of all time. Sir Cliff Richard remained in second place, clinching 1,982 weeks.

– In 2007: Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London’s 02 arena. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 20,000 tickets available for the show.

– In 2010: The original hand-written lyrics to Bob Dylan’s ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ sold at a New York auction for $422,500 (£267,400). Adam Sender, a hedge fund manager and art collector, outbid five others, placing telephone bids. The song, one of Dylan’s most politically charged, was the title track of his 1964 album.

Musician Birthdays: Junior Wells (US blues singer, born in 1932), Donny Osmond (singer of the Osmonds, born in 1957), Jakob Dylan (singer/songwriter, also known as the son of Bob Dylan, born in 1969), Tre Cool (drummer for Green Day, born in 1972)

– In 1955: Johnny Cash played two shows at Arkansas High School, in Swifton, Elvis Presley opened the show.

– In 1967: The Doors appeared at the New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut. Before the show a policeman found singer Jim Morrison making out with an 18 year-old girl in a backstage shower and after an argument the policeman sprays mace in Morrison’s face. Once on stage Morrison tells the story of the backstage episode and starts taunting the police who drag him off the stage and arrest him. The crowd riots leaving the venue in disarray and many are arrested. Later over 100 protestors gathered at the police station in demonstration and more arrests were made.

– In 1972: The Moody Blues started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Seventh Sojourn’.

– In 1978: Chic started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Le Freak’, a No.7 hit in the UK.

– In 1988: According to a poll released in the US, the music of Neil Diamond was favoured as the best background music for sex, Beethoven was the second choice and Luther Vandross was voted third.

– In 1989: Billy Joel started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, a No.7 hit in the UK.

– In 1991: During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of three nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.

– In 1995: Darren Robinson, founder member of The Fat Boys died of a heart attack, weighing 450lb (204kg) at the time of his death. Also known as Buffy, The Human Beat Box, and DJ Doctor Nice.

– In 1995: Michael Jackson scored his 6th solo UK No.1 single when ‘Earth Song’ started a 6-week run at the top of the charts. It gave Jackson the UK Christmas No.1 of 1995 and his best-selling UK single ever. The song kept the first single released by The Beatles in 25 years, ‘Free as a Bird’, off the No.1 position.

– In 2000: Sharon Corr of The Corrs called for the legalisation of cannabis, claiming that the drug has medicinal properties. Sharon said, ‘Some people with certain conditions can get a brief reprieve from their symptoms through cannabis’.

– In 2000: U2 made their first-ever appearance on the long-running NBC program ‘Saturday Night Live.’ The band played ‘Beautiful Day’ and ‘Elevation.’

– In 2001: Channel 4 TV apologised to viewers after Madonna said ‘motherfucker’ during live UK TV coverage at The Tate Gallery, London. Madonna was presenting a prize to artist Martin Creed. A TV spokesman said that did have a bleeper system but they missed the offending word.

– In 2003: Ozzy Osbourne was admitted to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire after being injured in a quad bike accident at his UK home. The 55 year-old singer broke his collarbone, eight ribs and a vertebra in his neck. News of Osbourne’s accident reached the House of Commons, where the government sent a goodwill message.

– In 2006: Mariah Carey threatened legal action against porn star Mary Carey in an attempt to stop her trademarking her similar-sounding stage name. The singer believed fans could get the two performers confused if the adult film actress Mary Carey’s trademark application was successful.

– In 2010: Eric Clapton announced he was to sell off part of his extensive guitar collection to raise money for his Crossroads rehab Centre in Antigua. Highlights of the sale would include a guitar Clapton played at the Cream reunion shows in 2005, estimated to sell for more than £13,000. The sale to be held by Bonhams in New York would also feature a vast collection of amps and speakers, including a pair of Marshall speaker cabinets.