1942 Virtuoso violinist/composer Jean-Luc Ponty is born in Avranches, France.
1939 Songwriter Tommy Boyce (Boyce & Hart) is born Sidney Thomas Boyce in Charlottesville, Virginia. Co-wrote the Monkees' "Last Train to Clarksville."
1930 Bing Crosby marries his first wife, Dixie Lee. The couple had 4 sons together before her death in 1952.
1907 Gene Autry, the "singing cowboy," is born Orvon Grover Autry in Tioga, Texas.
The Supremes eschew their elegant dresses and go casual to perform "Love Child" on The Ed Sullivan Show. Diana Ross wears a sweatshirt, which is in line with the character in the song.
Read more2011 Sylvia Robinson, a singer and rap impresario who brought us "Rapper's Delight," dies at age 75.
1991 MTV plays the "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video for the first time, giving most Americans their first look at Nirvana. A little over a month later, the song is #1 on the Hot 100.
1990 Nelson (Rick Nelson's twin sons, Gunnar and Matthew) top the Billboard Hot 100 with "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection," becoming the second generation of Nelsons to top the charts. Their grandfather, Ozzie Nelson, may have been the most popular of the bunch as a band leader in the '30s and '40s.
1984 The English girl group Bananarama has their US breakthrough when "Cruel Summer" peaks at #9 on the pop chart, thanks to the song's appearance in the summer smash The Karate Kid.
1969 Merle Haggard releases "Okie From Muskogee," a song that protests Vietnam war protesters. The single goes on to reach #1 on the Country chart and #43 on the Billboard Hot 100.
1935 Jerry Lee Lewis is born in Ferriday, Louisiana.
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