1960 : A 17-year-old Barry White completes his four-month prison term for stealing 300 tires from a Cadillac dealership. Having heard Elvis sing “It’s Now Or Never” in prison, he leaves determined to make music his life.

1961 : Joe Dowell went to No.1 on the US singles chart with his version of ‘Wooden Heart’. The song is best known for its use in the 1960 Elvis Presley film G.I. Blues, which gave Elvis a No.1 hit in the United Kingdom.

1961 : Tamla Records released the Marvelettes first single, ‘Please Mr. Postman’. The song went on to sell over a million copies and become the group’s biggest hit, reaching the top of both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. The song is notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart.

1963 : Martin Luther King delivers his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. The music connection: Peter, Paul and Mary play their hit version of Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ In The Wind before King speaks.

1964 : The Beatles smoke pot for the first time, which is supplied by Bob Dylan, who joins the band after one of their concerts in New York state. Dylan is surprised they haven’t tried it before, as he thought they sang “I get high” in their song I Want To Hold Your Hand, when it was really, “I can’t hide.”

1965 : The Beach Boys ‘California Girls’ was at No.3 on the US singles chart, the single peaked at No.26 in the UK. The music for the song came from Brian Wilson’s first LSD experience.

1965 : The Rolling Stones announced that Allen Klein, who they had met three days earlier, would co-manage the group along with Andrew Long Oldham. At the same time, The Stones signed a five-year recording deal with Decca Records.

1965 : Bob Dylan played the first night of a 40 date North American tour at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York City. Dylan played the first set solo and was backed by a band consisting of Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Harvey Brooks and Al Kooper in the second set. This format, one acoustic and one electric set was kept through-out the tour.

1966 : Nearing the end of their final tour of America, The Beatles performed one show at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California, before a crowd of 45,000. The Beatles’ attempt to escape from the stadium in an armored truck is thwarted when the main gate was found to be locked, and The Beatles have to spend two hours in the back of the truck before they can leave the stadium.

1968 : The Doors’ Hello I Love You is certified gold

1968 : Simon and Garfunkel started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Bookends’. The duo’s fourth studio album featured ‘America’, ‘Mrs. Robinson’ and ‘A Hazy Shade of Winter’.

1968 : The Beach Boys were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Do It Again’, the group’s second and final UK No.1.

1968 : Working at Trident Studios, London, The Beatles started recording a new John Lennon song ‘Dear Prudence’. They built the song instrument by instrument, utilizing the 8-track equipment at Trident. John and George played guitars, while Paul plays drums to compensate for Ringo, who had quit The Beatles on August 22.

1970 : During a four-week engagement at The International Hotel in Las Vegas, a security guard at the hotel received a phone call in which he was told Elvis Presley would be shot during his last show. The person demanded $50,000 to reveal the name of the potential killer. Later that day a menu was found in Elvis’ mail at the hotel on which Elvis’ face was destroyed and a gun had been drawn pointing to his heart. The threats were taken very seriously. Elvis played his last show without any incident.

1972 : Alice Cooper was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘School’s Out’. Cooper has said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, “What’s the greatest three minutes of your life?”. Cooper said: “There’s two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, the next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school.”

1973 : Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water is certified gold

1981 : Producer Guy Stevens died at the age of 38 years old, having overdosed on prescription drugs he was taking to reduce his alcohol dependency. Worked with Mott The Hoople, Free and The Clash. He was the president of the Chuck Berry Appreciation Society and it was Stevens who brought Berry to the UK for his first tour. He gave Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople their distinctive names.

1984 : The Jacksons’ Victory Tour broke the record for concert ticket sales after they surpassed the 1.1 million mark in two months.

1986 : Tina Turner receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1993 : Billy Joel started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘River Of Dreams.’ Joel claimed most of the music came to him in his sleep, hence the title. The singers second wife, one time model Christie Brinkley, painted the album cover which was later voted worst album cover of the year.

1996 : Issac Hayes, who co-wrote the Sam and Dave’s classic ‘Soul Man’, sent a protest letter to presidential candidate Bob Dole, requesting Dole to stop using his song, which supporters had changed to ‘I’m A Dole Man.’

1998 : The Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall In Love opens in theaters. Named after Lymon’s famous song, the film stars Larenz Tate, Halle Berry and Vivica A. Fox.

1998 : The movie Studio 54, about the legendary New York Disco, opens starring Ryan Phillippe and Mike Myers and the club’s owners.

2003 : Britney Spears and Madonna share a big, juicy kiss during the opening performance of the MTV Video Music Awards. Madonna then plants one on Christina Aguilera, but we only get a glimpse of it because the director cuts to a shot of a thunderstruck Justin Timberlake in the audience.

2004 : Lou Rawls is awarded an honorary doctorate in from Ohio’s Wilberforce University in recognition of his charity work with the United Negro College Fund and his “lifelong service to the education of historically disadvantaged populations.”

2005 : Green Day cleaned up at this years MTV awards held in Miami winning seven awards including, Video of the Year for ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams’ and the Viewer’s Choice Award. Best Male Video went to Kanye West for ‘Jesus Walks’, Best Choreography went to Gwen Stefani for ‘Hollaback Girl’ and Breakthrough Video went to Gorillaz for ‘Feel Good Inc.’ The awards went ahead despite concerns over Hurricane Katrina, which hit Florida last week, and after a shooting at a pre-awards party. Record boss Suge Knight was shot in the leg during at a party for Kanye West.

2005 : Art Garfunkel was charged by police for possession after a marijuana cigarette was allegedly found in the ashtray of his car. Garfunkel had pleaded guilty the previous year to possession of marijuana in upstate New York.

2005 : Oasis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘The Importance Of Being Idle’ their 8th No.1 single taken from their 6th album Don’t Believe the Truth.

2009 : Noel Gallagher quit Oasis, saying he could no longer work with his brother Liam. Noel, the group’s lead guitarist and chief songwriter, had recently been involved in a series of rows with front man Liam, and admitted he and his brother rarely spoke, did not travel together and only saw each other on stage. The guitarist said: “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you that I quit Oasis tonight. The band were due to play the Rock en Seine festival in Paris but cancelled at the last minute. When the support band said Oasis would not be performing, many fans thought it was a joke, but then screens at either side of the stage showed the message: “As a result of an altercation within the band, the Oasis gig has been cancelled.”

2009 : Three days before the release of their 2nd studio album The First Days of Spring, Noah and the Whale lead singer Charlie Fink’s brother Doug announces that he will leave the band to pursue a career in medicine. In a 2011 interview, Charlie says that Doug is still the one “he consults first on matters concerning the band. ‘He can always see where I’m going, even when something is embryonic and sounds like madness.’”