1816 Gioachino Rossini's opera "The Barber of Seville" premiers in Rome with disastrous results. A guitar string snaps, a cat walks on stage and there are protestations by rival composer Giovanni Paisiello. The audience hiss and jeer throughout the performance.
1991Public Enemy and Sinead O'Connor are nominated for Grammy Awards, but skip the ceremony: PE has beef because the rap award isn't televised; Sinead says they "respect mostly material gain." She wins anyway, taking the trophy for Best Alternative Music Performance for her album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got.
Read more2009 The White Stripes, favorites of the host, play "We're Going To Be Friends" on the final episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. It ends up being the last performance by the group, which splits up two years later.
2003 A fire breaks out at a Great White concert in Rhode Island, killing 100 people, including the band's guitarist, Ty Longley.More
1996 Snoop Doggy Dogg is acquitted of murder, ending an ordeal that started in 1993 when his bodyguard shot and killed a rival gang member from the Jeep Snoop was driving.More
1988 "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" by Pet Shop Boys climbs to #2 in America, behind Tiffany's "Could've Been." The song features Dusty Springfield, marking her first big hit since 1969.
1988 Rihanna is born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados. At 16, she's discovered by Evan Rogers of the group Rythm Syndicate, who brings her to America and helps her land a deal with Jay-Z's label, Def Jam.
1967 Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain is born in Aberdeen, Washington. He gets his first guitar on his 14th birthday and works on mastering Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven."
1941 Singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie is born. According to her birth certificate, she's born Beverly Jean Santamaria in Stoneham, Massachusetts, but she claims to be Native-Canadian, born Beverly Sainte-Marie in Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan and adopted by a couple in Stoneham.More
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