October 10

Births

1914: Ivory Joe Hunter (R&B Singer)

1917: Thelonious Monk (Jazz Pianist)

1946: John Prine (Country / Folk Singer-Songwriter)

1953: Midge Ure (Guitarist & Singer / Songwriter)

1954: David Lee Roth (Vocals for Van Halen & Solo)

1958: Tanya Tucker (Country Singer)

1960: Eric Martin (Vocals for Mr Big)

1979: Mya (Mya Marie Harrison) (R&B Singer)

Events

1902: Kalamazoo, MI, mandolin maker Orville Gibson founds the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co, Ltd. In 1936 it would create the first commercially successful electric guitar.

1959: Barry Gordy's first release on the newly established Motown Records, "Bad Girls" by The Miracles, entered the Billboard Pop chart.

1965: The Supremes made their first appearance on the "Ed Sullivan Show."

1970: Neil Diamond went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Cracklin' Rosie', his first No.1 as an artist. Diamond wrote the 1966 No.1 hit 'I'm A Believer' for The Monkees.

1970: The US' Federal Communications Commission (FCC) head, Nicholas Johnson, responds to recent comments made by Vice President Spiro Agnew that attacked radio stations for playing songs that contained "drug culture propaganda in too many of the lyrics the message of the drug culture is purveyed," saying, "If we really want to do something about drugs, let's do something about life... The songwriters are trying to help us understand our plight and deal with it. It's about the only leadership we're getting. They're not really urging you to adopt a heroin distribution program, Mr. Vice President."

1978: At tonight's Aerosmith show in Philadelphia, PA, an audience member tosses a "cherry bomb" firecracker onto the stage, injuring singer Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry. The band performs behind a chain-link fence for the rest of the tour.

1979: Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley declares today "Fleetwood Mac Day" and unveils a star for the band on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6608 Hollywood Blvd.

1979: The film The Rose, a thinly-veiled biopic of Janis Joplin starring Bette Midler, premieres in Hollywood.

1987: Wanda Nicholls made an official complaint that David Bowie raped her and bit her on the legs and back. Bowie dismissed the alleged incident, claiming Nicholls was 'publicity seeking.'

1992: Slash (Guitar for Guns N' Roses) and Renee Suran were married.

1999: Las Vegas' Grand Hotel holds an auction of several hundred thousand dollars' worth of Elvis memorabilia, including the King's wristwatch, cigar box, and his 1956 Lincoln Continental.

2000: Britney Spears made her UK live debut when she played the first of three sold out nights at London's Wembley Arena.

2001: Dennis DeYoung sues Styx, his former band, for touring and singing his songs without him. He'd left the band in 1999 due to chronic fatigue syndrome.

2002: Twelve protesters dressed as monkeys picketed outside the north Wales holiday home of former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown. The demonstrators argued Brown was selling the five-bedroom house, in the small village of Llithfaen on the Llyn Peninsula for an inflated price - $300,000- which local people could not afford. The monkey costumes worn by the anonymous protesters, referred to the name of Brown's recent solo album 'Unfinished Monkey Business.'