1951 : Tony Bennett’s Cold, Cold Heart hits #1

1956 : Elvis Presley’s Love Me Tender hits #1

1957 : Sun Records released ‘Great Balls Of Fire’, by Jerry Lee Lewis. The single went on to sell over five million copies worldwide, and was a No.1 hit in the UK and No.2 in the US.

1957 : CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show accidentally cuts off Sam Cooke mid-song when You Send Me isn’t given enough time at the end of tonight’s show. Sullivan invites the singer back the next month to make up for it.

1958 : Elvis Presley went on maneuvers for the first time with the US Army’s 32nd Tank Regiment near the German, Czech border.

1960 : Elvis Presley had his fifth UK No.1 single with ‘It’s Now Or Never’, it stayed at No.1 for eight weeks. The song which was based on the Italian song, ‘O Sole Mio’, gave Presley his first post-army No.1.

1962 : The Crystals started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘He’s A Rebel’, it made No.19 on the UK chart.

1962 : Billboard magazine drops the “Western” from its “Country and Western” chart title.

1963 : The Beatles, The Brook Brothers, Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers, The Vernons Girls and The Kestrals all appeared at The Odeon, Leeds, England, tickets, 5/6.

1963 : The last night of a 30 date UK tour featuring The Everly Brothers, Bo Diddley, The Rolling Stones, Mickie Most and The Flintstones took place at The Hammersmith Odeon, London. All the acts had played two shows every night.

1964 : During a Rolling Stones North American tour a 17 year-old Rolling Stones fan fell from the balcony during a gig in Cleveland, Ohio. The Mayor of Ohio banned all future pop concerts, saying; “Such group’s do not add to the community’s culture or entertainment.”

1967 : The filming for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour was completed finishing with a sequence at Ringo’s country house in Weybridge, Surrey, BBC television bought the rights to broadcast the film twice, the first broadcast, in black-and-white was scheduled for December 26, 1967. The second showing, on the color channel BBC2, was not yet available to all Britons, was set for January 5, 1968.

1969 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Wedding Bell Blues by The 5th Dimension

1972 : James Taylor and Carly Simon were married by a judge in Simon’s Manhattan apartment, beginning their eleven year marriage. That evening, Simon joined him on stage at New York’s Radio City Music Hall and announced their union to a cheering audience.

1973 : Neil Young supported by The Eagles appeared at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, England.

1973 : David Bowie scored his second UK No.1 album when ‘Pinups’ started a five-week run at the top of the charts. The set contained Bowie covering his favourite 60’s songs; his version of The Mersey’s ‘Sorrow’ made No.3 on the UK singles chart.

1977 : During a concert at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, Elton John announced his retirement from live performances. He would return to the music business within a year and a half.

1979 : The Eagles LP The Long Run hits #1

1979 : One hit wonder M went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Pop Muzik’. M was Robin Scott who scored one other UK top 40 hit, ‘Pop Muzik’ made No.2 in the UK.

1979, The Eagles started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘The Long Run’, the group’s fourth US No.1 album.

1983 : RCA records signed Latin teen sensations Menudo for $30m. The line up of five young boys all had to sign a contract agreeing to leave the group when they reached 16, (when too old for the group).

1984 : Billy Ocean started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Caribbean Queen’. The song was originally called ‘European Queen’.

1984 : Paul McCartney went to No.1 on the UK album chart with the film soundtrack to ‘Give My Regards To Broad Street’, featuring the UK No.2 single ‘No More Lonely Nights.’

1987 : David Bowie played the first of eight sold out nights at The Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia. The shows were part of the 1987-date Glass Spider world tour.

1990 : 25 years after their version was recorded, The Righteous Brothers went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Unchained Melody.’ The track had been featured in the Patrick Swayze film ‘Ghost.’ Written by Alex North and Hy Zaret, ‘Unchained Melody is one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, with over 500 versions in hundreds of different languages.

1990 : ‘Ice Ice Baby’, by Vanilla Ice became the first rap record to top the US singles chart, (and later also a UK No.1 single). The track was initially released as the B-side to the rapper’s cover of ‘Play That Funky Music’, and became the A-side after US DJ’s started playing the track.

1991 : More than 300,000 people attend a free concert in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park in memory of rock promoter Bill Graham who was killed in a helicopter crash the week before.. Among the acts performing are the Grateful Dead; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Joan Baez; Santana; and Journey (which reunited for the event).

1992 : Grateful Dead tell stunned fans that they will not play their traditional New Year’s Eve concert in San Francisco.

1992 : Bon Jovi released their fifth studio album, Keep The Faith, which spent a total of 49 weeks on the US chart. The album produced three Top 40 hits: ‘Keep The Faith’, ‘Bed of Roses’ and ‘In These Arms’.

1993 : Russian inventor Leon Theremin died. Most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He first performed the theremin with the New York Philharmonic in 1928.

1995 : Hootie and the Blowfish reached an out of court settlement with Bob Dylan for the group’s unauthorized use of Dylan’s lyrics in their song ‘Only Want To Be With You’.

1997 : Metallica came to a out of court agreement with a fan who claimed he lost his sense of smell after being dropped on his head by fans at one of their shows four years earlier.

1998 : In one of the last years for major album sales, several highly anticipated releases come out on this day, including Alanis Morissette’s followup to Jagged Little Pill, Beck’s Mutations, Celine Dion’s These Are Special Times, U2’s Greatest Hits set, and John Lennon’s boxed set.

1999 : Britain’s first museum of pop music ‘The National Centre for Popular Music’ was saved from bankruptcy after creditors agreed on a deal. The museum based in Sheffield had run up debts of over a £1 million.

2000 : EMI Records announced they had dropped Simple Minds. The Scottish band had sold over 30m albums during the 1980’s.

2000 : Bon Jovi kicked of the North American leg of their Crush Tour at the Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.

2002 : Lonnie Donegan, died mid-way through a UK tour and shortly before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with The Rolling Stones. He was aged 71. Donegan who launched the skiffle craze in the UK had the 1959 hit ‘Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour’, the 1960 UK No.1 single ‘My Old Man’s A Dustman’, ‘Rock Island Line’, plus over 30 other UK Top 40 singles.

2003 : P Diddy ran in the New York City Marathon and raised $2,000,000 for the educational system for the children of New York. He finished the marathon in four hours and eighteen minutes.

2004 : Eric Clapton is made a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Princess Anne at Buckingham Palace.

2005 : Winners at this years MTV Europe awards included Coldplay who won best UK act and best song for ‘Speed Of Sound’, Green Day won best rock act and best album, Alicia Keys was named best R&B act, System of a Down won best alternative act, The Black Eyed Peas won the best pop award and for the first time, the awards included a category for best African act, won by 2 Face. Madonna, in her first live TV performance since a riding accident, launched the show by emerging from a giant disco ball. Madonna also presented MTV’s ‘Free Your Mind’ humanitarian award to Live 8 organiser Bob Geldof.

2006 : Donny Osmond guest stars on ABC’s soap opera All My Children.