1906 : The Victor Talking Machine Company, headquartered in Camden, NJ, begins manufacturing the world’s first mass-market home record player, the Victrola. Price: $200.

1956 : Elvis Presley began working on his first movie, Love Me Tender. In the drama that was set during and just after the Civil War, Elvis played Clint Reno, the youngest of four brothers. The original title for the movie was The Reno Brothers, but was changed to take advantage of the ‘Love Me Tender’ song recorded for the film.

1960 : The Five Satins’ In The Still Of The Nite enters the charts

1960 : Elvis Presley’s It’s Now Or Never, an English-language cover of the Neapolitan standard “O Sole Mio,” finally gets its copyright cleared for release in the UK.

1962 : The first TV appearance of The Beatles was recorded by Manchester based Granada TV, who filmed a lunchtime session at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, (the performance was shown on 17th October 1962).

1963 : Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Bad To Me.’ A song John Lennon wrote for them while on holiday in Spain with Brian Epstein. The track later became the first Lennon–McCartney composition to reach the US Top 40 for an artist other than the Beatles.

1963 : EMI announces a half-million advance orders in Britain for The Beatles’ upcoming single, She Loves You.

1964 : The Supremes started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ the girl group’s first No.1. Holland–Dozier–Holland had originally composed the song for The Marvelettes to record it who rejected the song, thinking it childish.

1964 : Alvin and the Chipmunks’ label, Liberty, reports that their cover album of Beatles songs is moving 25,000 copies a day.

1965 : The Beatles, on tour in North America, performed two shows at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon. Between performances, The Beatles were visited in their dressing-room by Carl Wilson and Mike Love of the Beach Boys.

1965 : Awaiting their favorite group at Granada Television’s Manchester, England studios, over 200 screaming Rolling Stones fans break through security barriers, causing the security guards on duty to turn the fire hoses on them.

1966 : The Beatles’ LP Revolver is certified gold

1966 : New York City teenagers Carol Hopkins and Susan Richmond climbed out onto the ledge on the second floor of a city hotel and threatened to jump unless they could get to meet The Beatles. Police talked then down.

1967 : The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared on the BBC TV Simon Dee show. Kiki Dee and Cat Stevens were also guests on the show.

1968 : Having come home from vacation to find her husband in bed with Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s first wife Cynthia files for divorce — one day before their sixth anniversary.

1968 : Ringo Starr quit The Beatles during the White Album sessions when the constant bickering and tension became too much for him. The news of Ringo’s departure was kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on September 3rd. After Ringo walked out, the remaining Beatles recorded ‘Back In the USSR’, with Paul on drums and John playing bass.

1969 : The Beatles met at John Lennon’s Tittenhurst Park home in England for their final ever photo session. Three shots from this session (by Ethan Russell) formed the front and back covers of the Capitol compilation album Hey Jude. Yoko Ono and a pregnant Linda McCartney (she was to give birth to daughter Mary six days later) appeared in some photographs with The Beatles.

1970 : Derek and the Dominoes begin recording their famous album, Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs. The band features Eric Clapton, who in an attempt to lay low, downplays his involvement in the band.

1970 : Songwriter Elton John signs with Uni, a division of MCA, as a solo act.

1970 : Anne Murray’s Snowbird enters the charts

1970 : Bread went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Make It With You’, the group’s only No.1 hit, which was a No.5 in the UK. Many artists have covered the song including: The Supremes, Aretha Franklin, Earth, Wind & Fire, Dusty Springfield, Andy Williams, and Marc Cohn.

1970 : Creedence Clearwater Revival started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with their fifth studio album ‘Cosmo’s Factory’. The name of the album comes from the warehouse in Berkeley where the band rehearsed. Bandleader John Fogerty was so insistent on practicing (nearly every day) that drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford began referring to the place as “the factory”.

1978 : Sex Pistol Sid Vicious made his last live stage appearance when he appeared with Rat Scabies from The Damned, former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen at London’s Electric Ballroom. In the audience: Elvis Costello, Blondie, Joan Jett , The Slits and Captain Sensible.

1979 : In Through the Out Door was released in the US, Led Zeppelin’s last album while all four members were alive. ‘Fool in the Rain’ was released as a single in the US. In Through The Out Door has now been certified 6 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 6 million copies.

1985 : Rick Nelson and Fats Domino begin filming the PBS-TV special Rockin’ With Rick And Fats, which will turn out to be Nelson’s last television appearance before his untimely death in a plane crash.

1987 : Madonna went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Who’s That Girl’, her sixth US No.1 and also a No.1 in the UK. The track was from the soundtrack album of the motion picture of same name.

1988 : The TV documentary Aretha Franklin: Queen Of Soul airs on PBS.

1992 : Sting and Trudie Styler held their wedding reception, (the couple married on 20th August 1992), after The Troggs had played a set, all three members of The Police got on stage and played a couple of numbers.

1998 : During his show at the Arrowhead Pond (now Honda Center) in Anaheim, CA, Elton John is joined onstage by fan Jim Carrey, who duets with him on a perfectly serious version of Rocket Man. Carrey then sits at the piano and plays it by bashing his head onto the keys.

2003 : Kjell Henning Bjoernestad a Norwegian Elvis Presley impersonator set a world record by singing the rock ‘n’ roll legend’s hits non-stop for over 26 hours. The previous record was set by British Elvis fan Gary Jay who sang for 25 hours 33 minutes and 30 seconds.

2004 : Al Dvorin the announcer who popularized the phrase “Elvis has left the building” died in a car crash, on his way home from an Elvis convention in California. Dvorin aged 81, was in a car driven by Elvis photographer Ed Bonja. Dvorin was never paid for recordings of his words, and was bitter towards the multimillion pound Elvis Presley Enterprises. In the early 1970’s, Colonel Parker asked Dvorin to inform fans at a gig that Presley would not be appearing for an encore. He took the stage and announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building. Thank you and goodnight.”

2005 : 50 Cent was suing a US car dealer for allegedly using his name in an advert without permission. Describing himself in the legal action as a “hugely successful” artist “known for his good looks, ‘gangsta’ image and hard knocks success story”. The rapper was seeking more than $1m from Gary Barbera Enterprises for a Dodge Magnum advert with the line “Just Like 50 Says” alongside a photo of him.

2007 : Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes was arrested on suspicion of racially abusing a member of staff at a Thai restaurant in Soho, London. Hayes was released on bail pending further inquiries.

2009 : Soul singer Johnny Carter, who was a member of doo-wop groups The Dells and The Flamingos, died aged 75. Carter who was famed for his falsetto vocals, was one of the few artists to be inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with two acts.

2011 : Songwriter and producer Jerry Leiber died at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 78 from cardio-pulmonary failure. With Mike Stoller he wrote many hits including: ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘King Creole’, ‘There Goes My Baby’, ‘Searchin’, ‘Yakety Yak’, ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Poison Ivy,’ and ‘Kansas City’.

2011 : Nicholas Ashford, one half of Ashford and Simpson died of complications from throat cancer, in New York. With his wife Valerie Simpson they had the 1979 US No.36 single ‘Found A Cure’, and 1985 UK No. 3 single ‘Solid’. The pair wrote hits such as: ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, ‘You’re All I Need To Get By’, ‘Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing’, and ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)’.

2012 : Rap star LL Cool J hears his alarm go off one night in his Los Angeles home and rushes downstairs to confront an alleged burglar, name of Jonathan Kirby. One broken nose, jaw, and rib later, Cool J has subdued the intruder and police are on their way to take the suspect into custody. No word on whether Cool quoted one of his own songs, “Mama Said Knock You Out,” during the altercation.