On this day

1959 - Ray Charles recorded 'What I Say,' in New York City.
The song had evolved in a concert as a call-and-response between Charles and his female back-up singers.
It became Charles' biggest hit to date,reaching No.1 on the R&B chart and No.6 on the POP charts.

1962 - On weekend leave from marine training,The Everly Brothers appeared on the US Ed Sullivan show in full uniform and with regulation cropped hair singing their new single 'Crying In The Rain.'

1966 - Beach Boy Brian Wilson recorded future classic song 'Good Vibrations,' which went on to become the bands third US No.1 hit.
As a child,his mother told him that dogs could pick up "Vibrations" from people,so that the dog would bark at "Bad Vibrations" Wilson turned this into the general idea for the song.

1969 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Royal Albert Hall,London.

1972 - On their first Australian tour,Led Zeppelin rescheduled to the following night their concert at the Memorial Drive,Adelaide,after heavy rain left the stage and equipment unsafe.
Zeppelin had brought to Adelaide the largest PA system seen in Australia to produce what was expected to be the loudest rock show ever heard.

1980 - During an interview Rolling Stone Bill Wyman said that he intended to leave the band in 1982 on the group's 20th anniversary.
Wyman quit the band in 1993.

1987 - An impostor claiming to be Madness vocalist Suggs caused havoc when he phoned Radio 1 and asked them to advertise a one-off gig in Newcastle,it also came to light that the man had been calling local radio stations and UK gig promoters.

1990 - Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music,held at the Dominion Theatre,London,England.

2000 - An American court ordered the release of FBI files relating to John Lennon's interests and activities Including his support for the Irish Republican cause and the Workers Revolutionary Party.
The British Government told the US that it wanted the files to remain secret.
MI5 also had files on Lennon,which they had passed on to the FBI during the 70's.

Source: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com

1957 - Buddy Holly recorded a new version of 'That'll Be The Day' the title being taken from a phrase used by John Wayne in the film 'The Searchers.'

1963 - The Rolling Stones started a Sunday night residency at The Station Hotel,Richmond,Surrey.
The Stones were paid £24 ($41) for the gig and played on the first night to a total of 66 people.
£24 from 1963 would be worth £392,adjusted for inflation.

1973 - Roberta Flack had her second US No.1 when 'Killing Me Softly With His Song' started a five-week run at the top.
The song was written about US singer/songwriter Don McLean.

1975 - Led Zeppelin released their sixth album 'Physical Graffiti' in the UK.
Recording sessions had been disrupted when bassist & keyboard player John Paul Jones had proposed quitting the band,supposedly to become a choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral,England,although in reality he just needed time to rest after Zeppelin's demanding tour schedule.
The group decided on a double album so they could feature songs left over from their previous albums,'Led Zeppelin III,Led Zeppelin IV and Houses Of Holly.'

1976 - The Eagles 'Greatest Hits' became the first album to be certified platinum by R.I.A.A.
New certification's represented sales of 1 million copies for albums and two million for singles.

1979 - A new UK TV show started on BBC2 called 'Seven To One,' the title referring to the format of seven teenagers questioning a star guest,the first weeks guest was the singer from The Boom Town Rats,Bob Geldolf.

1992 - Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love in Waikiki,Hawaii.
The press reported that the couple were expecting a baby on Sept 10th of that year.

2005 - Former Orange Juice singer,guitarist and producer Edwyn Collins was rushed to hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

Source: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com

303 - 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued.

1208 - St Francis of Assisi,26,received his vocation in Portiuncula Italy.

1387 - King Charles lll of Naples and Hungary is assassinated at Bhuda.

1496 - England's Henry Vll ends commercial dispute with Flanders.

1510 - Pope Julius ll excommunicates the republic of Venice.

1525 - Battle of Pavia: Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's troops beat the French.

1779 - George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes (Ind) from British.

1793 - French troops conquer Breda.

1804 - London's Drury Lane Theatre burns to the ground.

1807 - 17 die & 15 wounded in a crush to witness execution of Holloway,Heggerty & Elizabeth Godfrey in England.

1821 - Mexico gains independence from Spain.

1895 - Cuban war for independence begins.

1923 - Flying Scotsman goes into service.

1924 - Mahatma Ghandi released from jail.

1942 - The "Battle of Los Angeles" takes place,lasting until the next day.

1948 - Communist Party seizes complete control of Czechoslovakia.

1949 - Israel & Egypt sign an Armistice agreement.

1955 Pact of Bhagdad between Iraq & Turkey signed.

1968 - US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam.

1979 - War between North & South Yemen begins.

1981 - Britain's Prince Charles announces engagement to Lady Diana Spencer.

Source: http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php

Plee: Will the fella's who do the History post,please resume,I'm sticking to Music events,their's far to much bloody Historical events going on for me to handle
I have even more respect for what you guys do.

1284 - The Statute of Rhuddlan incorporates the principality of Wales in to England.

1585 - In Vicenza, Italy, the Teatro Olimpico (Olympic Theatre) is inaugrated.

1845 - Florida becomes the 27th state to be admitted in to the USA.

1857 - France and the United Kingdom declare war on China as part of the Second Opium War.

1885 - The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) is incorporated in New York City.

1923 - TIME Magazine is published for the first time.

1938 - Oil is discovered in Saudi Arabia.

1945 - World War II - Armia Krajowa, a resistance group in Poland, massacres 150 Ukrainian civilians in Pawlokoma.

1969 - NASA launches Apollo 9 to test the Lunar Module.

1985 - A magnitude 8.3 earthquake struck the Valparaíso Region of Chile, killing 177 and leaving nearly a million people homeless.

1991 - An amateur video captures the beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers.

2002 - Citizens of Switzerland vote, narrowly, for the country to join the United Nations.

2005 - Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly an airplane around the World solely, without refueling.

1461 - During the War of the Roses in England, Lancastrian King Henry VI is deposed by his House of York cousin. Edward IV becomes king.

1519 - Hernan Cortes arrives in Mexico in search of the Aztec civilization and their wealth.

1794 - Vermont becomes the 14th state of the United States of America.

1814 - The Americans defeat the British at the Battle of Longwoods. The site is modern day Wardsville, Ontario, Canada.

1890 - The Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland is opened by the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.

1899 - Cyclone Mahina strikes Bathurst Bay, North Queensland, Australia. Over 400 people are wiped out in the costliest natural disaster in Australia's history.

1918 - The USS Cyclops disappears after leaving Barbados, never to be seen again. Presumably it is lost with all hands in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle.

1933 - Frances Perkins becomes U.S. Secretary of Labor. She is the first female member of the U.S. Cabinet.

1974 - American magazine People is published for the first time.

1975 - Silent film star Charlie Chaplin becomes a knight.

1977 - The Vrancea Earthquake strikes in Romania, killing 1,578 and injuring a further 11,300. The quake measures 7.2 on the Richter Scale.

1980 - Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union party is elected to head the country's first government.

1986 - The Soviet space probe Vega 1 begins returning images of Halley's Comet, including shots of the comet's nucleus.

1994 - Canadian actor and comedian John Candy, known for lead roles in the films Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Cool Runnings, dies of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 43.

2007 - Fourteen year old schoolgirl Charlotte Shaw drowned in Dartmoor. She sadly became the first person to die in connection with the annually held Ten Tors hike.

1955 - Elvis Presley made his TV debut when he appeared on the weekend show 'Louisiana Hayride' on KWKH TV,broadcast from Shreveport Auditorium in Shreveport,Louisiana.

1963 - Country singers Patsy Cline,Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins were killed in a plane crash near Camden,Tennessee.
They were traveling to Nashville after appearing at a benefit concert for the widow of Kansas City disk jockey 'Cactus' Jack Call,who had died in a car crash.
On the 7th of March,country singer Jack Anglin was killed in a car crash on his way to Cline's funeral.

1965 - The Mannish Boys released their debut single 'I Pity The Fool,' featuring a young David Bowie.

1971 - Led Zeppelin started a 12-date 'Thank You' tour for British fans,appearing at the clubs from their early days and charging the same addmission prices as 1968.
The first show was at The Ulster Hall,Belfast,Northern Ireland where they played songs from their upcoming forth album,including the first public performance of 'Black Dog,Stairway To Heaven,Going To California and Rock And Roll.'

1973 - The former US manager of Jimi Hendrix,Michael Jeffrey was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France.
Jeffrey was en-route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.

1975 - Rod Stewart met Swedish actress,Britt Ekland at a party in Los Angeles,the couple went on to have a high profile love affair.

1982 - Actor & singer John Belushi died from an overdose of cocaine and heroin.
Belushi was one of the original cast members on US TV's Saturday Night Live,played Joliet 'Jake' Blues in The Blues Brothers and also appeared in the film Animal House.
His tombstone reads, "I may be gone,but rock n roll lives on."

1983 - Michael Jackson started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Billie Jean', his forth solo US No.1,also No.1 in the UK.
Also on this day Jackson's album 'Thriller,' went to No.1 for the first time on the UK album chart,it went on to become the biggest album of all time with sales over 50 million.

Born On This Day

1948 - Eddy Grant,singer with The Equals who had the 1968 UK No.1 single 'Baby Come Back,' and as a solo artist scored the 1982 UK No.1 single 'I Don't Wanna To Dance.'

1951 - Elaine Page,UK singer who had the 1985 UK No.1 single 'I Know Him So Well.'

1952 - Alan Clark,keyboard player with Dire Straits who had the 1985 US No.1 single ' Money For Nothing,' and the UK No.2 single 'Walk Of Life.'

1958 - Andy Gibb,younger brother The Bee Gees.
He had a 1978 UK No.10 single with 'An Everlasting Love,' and a 1978 US No.1 single with 'Shadow Dancing', which spent seven weeks at the top,plus two other US No.1 singles.
Gibb died on March 10th 1998.

1962 - Identical twin brothers,Craig and Charlie Reid from Scottish band The Proclaimers,who had the 1987 UK No.3 single 'Letter From America'.

Source: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com

March 7th 1939 - Auld Lang Syne is recorded.

Although the original poem that it is based on goes back to Robert Burns in 1788 (and the first recorded use of the phrase "Auld Lang Syne" can be traced back to the early 1600s), the "modern" version and tune that we drunkenly recognise are from as recently as 1939.

It was recorded in New York by the popular Canadian-American bandleader Guy Lombardo. Lombardo became famous for his New Year's Eve Specials which ran first on radio and from 1956 on tv in North America for almost 50 years

He became known as "Mr New Year's Eve" on American television and auld lang syne became his signature tune. Lombardo died of a massive heart attack in 1977 at the age of 75, but even after his death, his band's New Year's specials continued for two more years on CBS, and their recording of the song still plays as the first song of the new year in Times Square.

And whereas most people wouldn't even know that there is more than one verse to "God Save the Queen", I doubt if many could sing any of the other four verses of "Auld Land Syne" either.

Altogether now......

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I'll be mine,
And we'll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou'd the gowans fine,
But we've wander'd monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd in the burn
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar'd
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie's a hand o thine,
And we'll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne

321 AD - Constantine I declared that Sunday, the day allocated to honour the Sun God Sol Invictus, would be the Roman rest day.

1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte captures Jaffa, Palestine. His troops execute more than 2000 Albanian captives.

1862 - American Civil War - Union forces engaged the Confederate at Pea Ridge, Arkansas. The sides fought for a day that eventually cemented the Union army's control of Missouri.

1871 - José Paranhos, Viscount of Rio Branco, becomes Prime Minister of the Empire of Brazil. It begins a four year rule, then the longest in the country's history.

1900 - The German liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse becomes the first ship to send wireless signals to shore.

1902 - Second Boer War - Boer commandoes led by Koos de la Rey inflict the biggest defeat on the British army since the war began at the Battle of Tweebosch.

1945 - World War II - American forces capture Ludendorff Bridge over the Rhine river at Remagen, Germany.

1965 - 600 civil rights workers are forcefully broken up during a march in Selma, Alabama. The event became known as Bloody Sunday.

1968 - Vietnam War - The United States and South Vietnam began Operation Truong Cong Dinh to sweep the area surrounding the Mekong Delta town of My Tho to root out Viet Cong forces in the area.

1985 - The charity song "We Are The World" by supergroup USA For Africa receives international release. Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie wrote the song which sold over 20 million copies.

1989 - The United Kingdom and Iran break diplomatic relations over a dispute about Salman Rushdie and the controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.

1999 - Film director Stanley Kubrick, born in New York, USA but made a lot of his films while living as an expat in the UK, dies at the age of 70 at his home in Hertfordshire. During his lifetime he received Academy Award nominations for his films Lolita, Dr Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon and Full Metal Jacket.

2007 - The British House of Commons votes to make the upper chamber of the House of Lords 100% elected.

2009 - The Kepler Space Observatory is launched.

1963 - Tommy Roe,Chris Montez and The Beatles (who were bottom of the bill) appeared at the East Ham Granada in London.

1964 - Capitol Records releases a song called 'Letter To The Beatles' by The Four Preps.
The lyrics describe a boy lamenting the fact that he's lost his girlfriend to the Fab Four.
On It's first day,the record shot to No.85 on the charts and looked like The Preps were going to have another hit on their hands.
Unfortunately they had included a few bars from 'I Want To Hold Your Hand' without permission and Capitol was forced to withdraw the single to avoid a lawsuit.

1966 - The Beach Boys started recording 'God Only Knows.'
It became a UK No.2 single in 1966 and the B-side of 'Wouldn't It Be Nice' in the US.

1967 - Pink Floyd and The Thoughts appeared at the Marquee,London,England.
The Marquee club has often been defined as 'the most important venue in the history of pop music,' not only for having been the scene of development of modern music culture in London,but also for having been an essential meeting point for some of the most important artists in rock music.

1970 - Having recently changed their name from Earth to Black Sabbath,Ozzy Osbourne,Tony Iommi,Geezer Butler and Bill Ward made their concert debut at The Roundhouse,London.(Great venue )

1975 - Actor Telly Savalas was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with his version of the David Gates (from Bread) song 'If.'
Savalas was currently high in the TV ratings playing the policeman Kojak.

1977 - The Jacksons CBS show was aired for the last time on US TV finishing at the bottom of the ratings.

1981 - Robert Plant played a secret gig at Keele University,England with his new band The Honey Drippers.

1985 - Mick Jagger released his solo single 'Just Another Night' a No.12 hit in the US and No.32 on the UK charts.

1991 - 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go' gave The Clash their only UK No.1 single after the track was used for a Levi's advertisement.
The track was first released in 1982 from their album,Combat Rock Album.

1997 - Notorious BIG (Rap Legend) was gunned down and killed as he left a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Born Christopher Wallace the rapper was pronounced dead on arrival at Ceders Sinai Hospital,he was 24 years old.


Source: http://www.thisdayinmusic.com

1955: Farewell to scientist who discovered penicillin
Sir Alexander Fleming - the man who first discovered the life-saving drug penicillin - has died of a heart attack. He was 73.
Sir Alexander died suddenly at his home in London. He was married only two years ago to Dr Amalia Coutsouris, from Athens, who worked at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington. His first wife, with whom he had a son, died in 1949.

For many years, Sir Alexander was Professor of Bacteriology in the University of London and until last year was head of the Wright-Fleming Institute of Micro-Biology at St Mary's hospital, Paddington.

The young scientist served in a battlefield hospital laboratory in France during World War I. When he saw how many soldiers were dying from infections he became determined to find a cure.

His first notable discovery was lysozyme in 1922. It is a naturally-occurring antibacterial substance, found in tears and other body fluids.

Knighthood

But his biggest discovery - penicillin - was made by chance in 1929. During some routine research, he noticed a mould had developed on a culture plate left forgotten under a microscope. Where the new mould had grown the bacteria around it had faded away.

Further tests showed the fluid in which the mould had grown was strongly antibacterial - but non-toxic to animals and human beings. It was crude penicillin.

The discovery prompted further research but it was scientists at Oxford who managed to harness its full potential as a life-saving drug and penicillin was ready for commercial use by 1940.

Honours were heaped upon him. He was knighted in 1944 and the following year he shared the Nobel prize for medicine with Sir Howard Florey and Dr Ernst Chain, the two Oxford scientists who did most to develop the drug.

In a BBC radio programme broadcast in 1945, Sir Alexander spoke of his discovery: "Penicillin is not a cure-all, while it has the most remarkable action on many common microbes which infect us, it has no effect on many others, like tuberculosis, typhoid fever, dysentery, influenza, measles and many others."

He also foresaw the problems which would arise once certain bacteria developed an immunity to the drug.


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Alexander Fleming pictured during a 1947 interview at the BBC






In Context
Sir Alexander Fleming's funeral took place on Friday 18 March 1955 at St Paul's Cathedral. The Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was represented by his son Randolph. His ashes were buried in the vault.
The discovery of penicillin transformed the world of medicine. It was the first antibiotic drug. Without it, many illnesses would be incurable and life expectancy would be lower.

Main production of the drug moved to the States in 1941, to protect it from the bombs pounding England. Other strains were discovered, including one on a cantaloupe melon which had gone mouldy.

Millions of soldiers were able to benefit during World War II from increased production of the drug.

In recent years, the use of penicillin has declined slightly because some bacteria are developing a resistance to it and also because some people are allergic to it.


Stories From 11 Mar
2004: Many die as bombs destroy Madrid trains
1985: Gorbachev becomes Soviet leader
1955: Farewell to scientist who discovered penicillin
1977: Roman Polanski charged with rape
1974: 'Anti-IRA spies' break out of jail
2001: Big rise in new cases of foot-and-mouth