Births
1857: Milton Hershey (Founder of Hershey Chocolate)
1911: Bill Monroe (Bluegrass Musician)
1922: Yma Sumac (Peruvian Singer)
1925: Mel Torme (Singer)
1941: David Clayton-Thomas (Lead Singer for Blood,
Sweat and Tears)
1944: Peter Cetera (Singer for Chicago & Solo)
1948: Nell Carter (Singer / Actress)
1949: Fred "Sonic" Smith (Guitarist for
MC5)
1952: Randy Jones (Cowboy in The Village People)
1952: Don Was (Singer in Was, Now Was &
Producer)
1954: Steve Kilbey (Lead singer / songwriter &
Bass for The Church & Solo)
1956: Joni Sledge (Singer in Sister Sledge)
1957: Vinny Appice (Drummer for Black Sabbath &
DIO)
1961: Dave Mustaine (Lead Singer & Guitarist
for Megadeth and one time member of Metallica)
1967: Stephen Perkins (Drummer for Jane's Addiction
& Porno For Pyros)
1967: Timothy “Ripper” Owens (Singer for Judas
Priest & Iced Earth)
1977: Fiona Apple (Singer / Songwriter)
1979: Geike Arnaert (Singer for Hooverphonic)
1980: Teppei Teranishi (Guitar & Keyboards for
Thrice)
1993: Niall Horan (Singer in One Direction)
Events
1959: While he is stationed in the US Army in
Germany, Elvis Presley's friend, airman Currie Grant, brings Priscilla Ann
Beaulieu to a party at his apartment after meeting her in the nearby Eagles
Club, a popular hangout for officers and their families. Wearing a sailor dress
for the occasion, Priscilla says "It's a pleasure to meet you" and
remarks that it's a shame the Army has taken his sideburns. He plays her a few
songs on guitar. Elvis and "Cilla" are immediately smitten with each
other, with the singer describing her to friends as smart, saying that she
treats him like an ordinary guy, and dubbing her "the woman I've been
looking for my whole life."
1960: A movement to ban Ray Peterson's new single
"Tell Laura I Love Her" begins in the UK when it is feared that the
song's powerful story of a stock-car driver who dies young while racing for his
girl's love will inspire a "death cult" amongst teens.
1960: The FCC bans "payola," the
controversial practice of paying DJs for playing songs, as a result of the
scandal involving, among others, Dick Clark and Alan Freed.
1963: The Hollies' Graham Nash (later of CSNY)
falls out of his touring van after a Scottish gig, leaning on an unlocked door
and tumbling out at 40 mph. 36 years later to the day, the singer breaks both
legs in a boat accident off the coast of Hawaii.
1963: Barbra Streisand marries her first husband,
actor Elliot Gould, in New York. The two would divorce in 1971.
1964: To prevent the spate of stage-rushing going
on at recent frenzied Rolling Stones concerts, Liverpool's Empire Club hires
two dozen rugby players to act as a human shield; the crowd of 5,000 washes
right over them.
1965: Ringo Starr and wife Maureen become the proud
parents of their first child, Zak Starkey (who also became a drummer). Six
years later to the day, Paul and Linda McCartney celebrate the arrival of their
second child, Stella.
1965: The Beatles win their first Grammys, for Best
New Artist and Best Album (for A Hard Day's Night) at the awards
ceremony in New York.
1969: John Lennon debuts the Plastic Ono Band at
the Rock and Roll Revival Show in Toronto. So named because of the flexible
"plastic" nature of the members, this lineup included Eric Clapton,
longtime Beatles associate Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White, all of whom
rehearsed for the first time on the plane trip over from England. The concert,
mainly a mix of simple rock and roll oldies and stabs at "Give Peace A
Chance," "Yer Blues," and John's forthcoming single "Cold Turkey,"
will later be released as Live Peace In Toronto 1969.
1977: Symphonic conductor Leopold Stokowski died at
the age of 95.
1980: Jackson Browne scored his only US No.1 album
with 'Hold Out'.
1982: David Bowie reports to the Cook Islands to
begin filming his role in the movie Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence.
1985: Sting began his first solo tour in San Diego.
The tour was to support the album "Dream Of The Blue Turtles."
1991: Geffen Records threw a party to launch
Nirvana’s single ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ The band ended up being thrown out
of their own party after starting a food fight.
1993: Max Weinberg, drummer with Bruce
Springsteen's E Street Band, begins his new job as bandleader for NBC-TV's new
show Late Night With Conan O'Brien.
1994: The debut album "Ready to Die" was
released by The Notorious Big.
1996: American rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur died after
being shot six days earlier when he was driving through Las Vegas. 13 bullets
were fired into his BMW. The incident was blamed on East and West Coast Gang
wars. Shakur was a convicted sex offender, guilty of sexual abuse. After
serving eleven months of his sentence he was released from prison on an appeal
financed by Marion "Suge" Knight, the CEO of Death Row Records.
1998: Lauryn Hill started a five week run at No.1
on the US album chart with 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.'
1998: Mel B (Spice Girls) and Jimmy Gulzarof were
married.
2000: Elton John storms out of the Estoril Casino
in Portugal just before his planned gig there and flies back to England, fuming
that the supposedly sell-out crowd had only half arrived. Turns out they were
merely lingering at a VIP dinner given just before the show.
2003: US stores Wal-Mart were refusing to stock
'Permission To Land' the Number 1 album by UK rock group The Darkness because
the sleeve featured a woman's bottom.
2005: Jimi Hendrix' boyhood home in Seattle is
saved from destruction after his estate and the city agree to renovate the
building and turn it into a community center.
2009: Taylor Swift's "You
Belong With Me" wins Best Female Video during the MTV Video Music Awards.
Rapper Kanye West interrupts her acceptance speech at New York's Radio City
Music Hall to insist that Beyonce should have won.
