1942 : Bandleader Glenn Miller makes his last radio broadcast on CBS’ Moonlight Serenade program before leaving to enlist in the Army.

1955 : Judy Garland makes her television debut on CBS’ variety show Ford Star Jubilee, breaking all previous ratings records.

1957 : The movie Mister Rock And Roll starring the famous disc jockey Alan Freed, debuts in America. In the film, Freed tells the story of Rock and Roll, with performances by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Frankie Lymon and Brook Benton.

1958 : The Donna Reed Show (with Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen) debuts on ABC-TV (it runs for seven seasons)

1958 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: Tommy Edwards’ It’s All In The Game

1961 : John Leyton was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Johnny Remember Me.’ The UK singers only UK No.1 and producer, Joe Meek’s first No.1 hit.

1962 : Elvis Presley received an invitation to appear at the Royal Variety Performance in the UK which is attended by members of the British Royal Family. Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker graciously declined, citing motion picture commitments. The real reason was that Parker was an illegal Dutch immigrant living in the United States who feared he might not be allowed to return if he left the country.

1965 : The Rolling Stones kicked of a 24-date UK tour at The Astoria, London with The Spencer Davis Group, Unit Four + 1 and The Checkmates. Tickets 12/6.

1966 : Jimi Hendrix arrived in London with manager Chas chandler on a flight from New York City. With only the clothes he was wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to pay a hotel bill in New York. One of the first things he does after arriving in England is to legally change his name from James to Jimi.

1966 : The Association started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Cherish’. The New Christy Minstrels almost recorded the track but Association member and songwriter, Terry Kirkman, held onto ‘Cherish’ instead of selling it for $1000. The finished recording played for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, but the single’s label listed the time as 3:00 so that DJs wouldn’t be discouraged from playing a ‘long song.’

1967 : Traffic made their live debut when they appeared at Saville Theatre in London, featuring Steve Winwood.

1967 : Filming continued for The Beatles ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ at West Malling Air Station, Maidstone, Kent with the shooting of the ‘Your Mother Should Know’ ballroom finale. With The Beatles all dressed in white suits and shoes, gliding down a glittery staircase as 160 members of Peggy Spencer’s dance team swirled round about.

1968 : Recorded on this day, The Beatles – “Happiness Is A Warm Gun”

1968 : No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit: The Beatles’ Hey Jude

1975 : Rod Stewart was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Sailing’. The song became a hit after it was used in a TV documentary series.

1977 : Barely a month after his untimely death, the first national Elvis Presley convention takes place in Memphis.

1980 : The mixing of the forthcoming John and Yoko album Double Fantasy moved from the Hit Factory in New York City to Record Plant East. During this session, John Lennon gave one of last ever interviews to Lisa Robinson from 97-FM in Buffalo.

1983 : Billy Joel went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Tell Her About It’, the former boxers second US No.1, a No.4 hit in the UK.

1984 : Culture Club had their second UK No.1 single with ‘Karma Chameleon’, which stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and became the best-selling single of 1983. The harmonica part was played by Judd Lander, who had been a member of Merseybeat group The Hideaways in the 1960s.

1988 : Bobby McFerrin started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’, the first a-cappella record to be a No.1. It made No.2 in the UK. ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy, was also included in the movie, Cocktail. The song would go on to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1988 : Graham Parker opens a solo acoustic tour at the University of Rhode Island.

1988 : The Hollies were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother’ after the song was used on a UK TV beer commercial, the song was originally a hit in 1969 and featured a young Elton John on piano.

1988 : James Brown leads police on an hour-long, two-state car chase starting in Augusta, Georgia. Brown is arrested and eventually serves 2 years for a variety of charges.

1989 : Bob Dylan plays flute and recorder at the “L’Chaim – To Life!” telethon, backing up the band Chopped Liver with his son-in-law Peter Himmelman, who is married to Dylan’s daughter Maria.

1990 : AC/DC released ‘The Razors Edge’ their 11th internationally released studio album. The only studio album to feature drummer Chris Slade, reached #2 on the US chart and #4 in the UK.

1991 : Nirvana’s album ‘Nevermind’ was released in America, entering the chart at No. 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at No. 1 in January 1992 has now sold over 30m copies world wide. The idea for the now iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.

1993 : Guns N’ Roses founding member Steven Adler agrees to a $2.5 million settlement in a lawsuit brought against the band and their managers. Adler signed away his interest in the band when he left in 1990, but claimed he was seriously impaired at the time and was taken advantage of.

1993 : John Denver agrees to give a benefit concert as punishment for driving while impaired.

1995 : The Charlatans were arrested by 24-armed police after a flight to New York. The band were accused of trying to disrupt the planes flight path, passengers complained of the group being drunk, spitting and interfering with in flight TV sets.

1997 : Barry Loukaitis was convicted of shooting and killing two pupils and a teacher at a school in Washington. His defence team claimed he had copied scenes from Pearl Jam’s video ‘Jeremy’.

1997 : In his second cross-genre appearance of the year, Sting performs I’m So Happy I Can’t Stop Crying with country singer, Toby Keith at the 31st annual Country Music Association Awards. Earlier in the year, Sting performed the song I’ll Be Missing You with rapper Puff Daddy at the MTV Video Music Awards.

1998 : Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, 33, is sentenced to 150 days in jail for beating two women he dated and for violating his probation from an earlier domestic violence conviction.

1998 : The film SLC Punk! premieres. Set in the unlikely location of Salt Lake City, Utah, the film documents the ’80s punk movement in the western US through the eyes of a narrator. The film becomes a favorite in punk culture for being one of the accurate, if stylized, portrayals of the genre. The soundtrack includes songs by the Ramones, Blondie, The Velvet Underground, Dead Kennedys, and Generation X.

1999 : Hank Williams is the subject of the first-ever country music symposium at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. “A Tribute To Hank Williams” begins with Lucinda Williams, Kim Richey, Kathy Mattea, and Steve Earle performing the works of the late country music godfather.

2000 : Madonna started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Music’, the singers seventh UK No.1 album.

2003 : Gordon Lightfoot is inducted into the Canadian Songwriter Hall of Fame.

2003 : The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band’s largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.

2004 : The Strat Pack: Live in Concert was held at Wembley Arena in London marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The concert featured Ronnie Wood, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin and many more.

2009 : Leonard Cohen performs a controversial concert at Ramat Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, Israel. After announcing all proceeds from the concert will go to a charitable fund organized through Amnesty International, the group withdraws all involvement and Cohen is forced to make other arrangements. He dubs the performance “A Concert for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace” and creates a new charity of the same name, run by both Israelis and Palestinians, to distribute all profits to groups focused on coexistence in Israel.