1957 : Jerry Lee Lewis’ Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On enters the country charts.

1961 : Frankie Avalon begins a 12-day tour of South America, one of the first rock tours to play on the continent.

1963 : Recorded on this day, The Beach Boys – “Surfer Girl”,”Little Deuce Coupe”

1963 : Brenda Lee graduates from the showbiz-friendly high school Hollywood Professional, having already earned 12 top ten records.

1964 : The Beatles arrived in Adelaide, Australia and were greeted by an estimated 250,000 fans, (the biggest welcome the band would ever receive), who lined the ten mile route from the airport to the city centre. The group gave their first four shows in Australia at the Centennial Hall, Adelaide over two nights, playing: I Saw Her Standing There, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving, She Loves You, Till There Was You, Roll Over Beethoven, Can’t Buy Me Love, This Boy, Long Tall Sally and Twist And Shout. Temporary member Jimmy Nicol was standing in for Ringo on drums who was recovering from having his tonsils removed.

1965 : Sonny And Cher make their US television debut, singing “Just You” on ABC-TV’s American Bandstand.

1965 : The Beatles were included in the Queen’s birthday honors list to each receive the MBE. Protests poured into Buckingham Palace, MP Hector Dupuis said ‘British Royalty has put me on the same level as a bunch of vulgar numbskulls’.

1965 : The Supremes scored their fifth consecutive US No.1 single (they were the first American group to accomplish this feat), when ‘Back In My Arms Again’, went to the top of the charts.

1966 : After buying pot from an undercover cop posing as a student at his high school, Steven Tallarico is arrested and charged with drug possession. He is given a year’s probation and labelled a “Youthful Offender,” which later keeps him from getting drafted. Tallarico later becomes Steven Tyler and forms Aerosmith.

1966 : The Dave Clark Five break a record by becoming the first rock band to make 12 appearances on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show.

1966 : Pink Floyd appeared at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London, England. It was at this show that future co-manager Peter Jenner saw the band live for the first time. Floyd went on to sign a management contract with Peter Jenner and Andrew King on 31st Oct of this year.

1967 : Bob Dylan’s album Greatest Hits peaked at No.10 in the US chart. The cover photograph of the album was taken by Rowland Scherman at Dylan’s November 28th, 1965, concert in Washington, D.C., winning the 1967 Grammy award for Best Album Cover, Photography. The original album package also included Milton Glaser’s now-familiar psychedelic poster depicting Dylan.

1968 : Elvis Presley’s 27th film, Speedway, starring Nancy Sinatra, premieres in Charlotte, NC.

1969 : Mick Taylor is introduced to the media as the new guitarist of The Rolling Stones. He replaces Brian Jones.

1972 : Released on this day, John Lennon and Yoko Ono – “Some Time In New York City” album

1973 : Recorded on this day, Grand Funk – “We’re An American Band” album

1976 : The Wurzels scored their only UK No.1 hit with ‘Combine Harvester’ the cider-drinking folkies from the West Country had reworked Melanie’s hit ‘Brand New Key.’

1976 : The Who, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers all appeared at Swansea City Football Club, Swansea, Wales, Tickets cost $7

1978 : Playing live around the UK, Dire Straits at Erics, Liverpool. The Thompson Twins at The Limit in Sheffield and The Jam at King George’s Hall, Blackburn.

1982 : Remember “No Nukes”? It was a big movement in the ’80s during the Cold War, and on this day the largest political rally in US history took place when about 750,000 people went to New York’s Central Park for the Rally for Nuclear Disarmament, which featured performances by Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and Gary “U.S.” Bonds.

1982 : Adam Ant was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Goody Two Shoes’, his third and last No.1.

1989 : The Elvis Presley Autoland Museum opened at Graceland. The museum contained over 30 cars which were owned by Presley including his famous Pink Cadillac, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, Stutz Blackhawks, a 1975 Dino Ferrari, a 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, and the red MG that Elvis drove in the film Blue Hawaii.

1993 : UB40 had their third UK No.1 single with (‘I Can’t Help), Falling In Love With You’, a No.1 hit for Elvis Presley in 1962.

1994 : Cab Calloway suffers a stroke in his hometown of Rochester, NY, the beginning of a series of medical events which will lead to his death a few months later.

1999 : It was reported that Oasis had paid Gary Glitter $340,000 as an out-of-court settlement after being accused of using the Gary Glitter lyric, ‘Hello, hello, it’s good to be back’ in the song ‘Hello’.

2000 : Bruce Springsteen debuts his new song, American Skin (41 Shots), which protests the NYPD killing of unarmed suspect Amadou Diallo, to resounding boos at Madison Square Garden.

2000 : Sinead O’Connor announced that she was a lesbian. The mother of two told the American magazine Curve that she had been in the closet for years saying “I am a lesbian. I haven’t been very open about that, I’ve gone out with blokes because I haven’t necessarily been terribly comfortable about being a lesbian.”

2002 : Clive Calder the man who is credited with discovering Britney Spears sold his record company Zomba to BMG Music for $2 billion. Calder started Zomba in 1975 and had hits with Billy Ocean, Sam Fox and Tight Fit.

2003 : Little Richard, Van Morrison, Queen, and Phil Collins are inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

2004 : Lee Ryan from Blue was found guilty of criminal damage and ordered to pay $850 compensation from charges relating to an incident outside London nightclub 10 Rooms the previous December. Ryan admitted to throwing punches at a photographer after being bombarded by snappers when leaving the club, but argued that he was provoked into doing so. Judge Caroline Tubbs accepted that Lee was acting in self-defence, so dismissed any assault charges.

2005 : Pink Floyd announced they would reunite with former bassist Roger Waters, who left the band in 1985, on July 2 for the Live 8 London concert. This would be the first time the band had played together as a quartet since The Wall tour in 1981.

2006 : Prince received a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his “visionary” use of the Internet; Prince was the first major artist to release an entire album, 1997’s Crystal Ball, exclusively on the internet.

2007 : Canada issues postage stamps honoring Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Anne Murray and Paul Anka.

2008 : Amy Winehouse performed an exclusive gig at a Moscow art gallery for Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich and his girlfriend Dasha Zhukova. It was reported that the singer was paid £1m for the gig at the launch of The Garage gallery, which has been set up by Ms Zhukova.

2009 : At the Bonnaroo festival, Beastie Boys play together for the last time, as Adam Yauch (MCA) would soon be diagnosed with cancer.