Births
1915: Edith Piaf (French Singer)
1918: Professor Longhair (New Orleand Blues Singer & Harmonica Player)
1920: Little Jimmy Dickens (Country Singer)
1940: Phil Ochs (Folk Singer)
1941: Maurice White (Singer for Earth, Wind and Fire)
1944: Alvin Lee (Guitar & Vocals for Ten Years After)
1944: Zal Yanovsky (Lead Guitar for The Lovin' Spoonful)
1947: Jimmy Bain (Bass for Rainbow & Dio)
1958: Limahl (Chris Hamill) (Singer for Kajagoogoo)
1972: Alyssa Milano (Just Because)
Events
1955: Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" at the Sun Recording Studios, in Memphis.
1956: Elvis Presley singles hold 10 chart positions on Billboard's Hot 100 chart today, a record for a single artist which will stand until the Beatles up the ante to 14 simultaneous chart hits in 1964.
1957: Elvis Presley had his draft notice served on him for the US Army. He went on to join the 32nd Tank Battalion third Armor Corps based in Germany.
1962: With his romantic indecision having forced girlfriend Anita Wood to leave him this August, Elvis Presley makes his decision and invites Priscilla Beaulieu, a girl he met in Germany, to visit him in Memphis. Elvis meets Priscilla at his father Vernon's house, where she has driven in from New York City with Vernon and stepmother Dee. Priscilla is nervous, and Elvis prescribes some sleeping pills which leave her asleep for the better part of two days.
1970: Elton John's first US hit, ‘Your Song’ entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it went on to reach number eight. The Hollies had been offered the song and Three Dog Night had already recorded a version which was included on their ‘It Ain't Easy’ album.
1978: ABC-TV airs the seasonal variety special The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait, also starring Gene Kelly, Georgia Engel, and Kristy & Jimmy McNichol.
1979: Dr. George "Dr. Nick" Nichopoulos, Elvis Presley's personal physician, is charged with prescribing over 12,000 doses of amphetamines, barbiturates, and painkillers for the King in the two years leading up to his death in August 1977. Though Nichopoulos was actually instrumental in trying to wean Elvis off of his pharmaceutical addiction, and acquitted on this charge, he was nonetheless eventually stripped of his license in 1995, after three more Presley-related lawsuits.
1988: Johnny Cash has open heart surgery at Nashville's Baptist Hospital, one week after Waylon Jennings had similar surgery at the same location.
1993: Michael Clarke (Drummer for The Byrds) died at age 47, from liver failure, a direct result of more than three decades of heavy alcohol consumption.
1996: Buddy Holly's hometown of Lubbock, TX, renames Avenue H as Buddy Holly Avenue in honor of its native son.
2000: Pops Staples (Singer / Songwriter & Guitarist for The Staple Singers) died after suffering a concussion in a fall at his home, just a few days short of his 86th birthday.
2000: 10,000 Maniacs guitarist Robert Buck died of liver failure aged 42.
2000: Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol Dirty Bastard was returned to New York from Philadelphia in police custody, in order to face outstanding drug charges for possessing crack cocaine.
2001: Scott Weiland (Singer for Stone Temple Pilots) pled guilty to domestic battery case that arose after fighting with his wife at a Hard Rock hotel on November 19. The judge approved a plea bargain in which the case would be dismissed if Weiland had no more problems for the next six months and he completed 26 counseling sessions.
2005: Elton John turns down an offer of nearly six million dollars for the rights to broadcast his civil union to David Furnish on a US television station.
