• 1879 ~ New York’s Madison Square Garden displayed a real floating ship in a gigantic water tank as Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta, H.M.S. Pinafore, was performed.

• 1902 ~ Stefan Wolpe, German-born American composer

• 1909 ~ Ruby (Ethel Hilda) Keeler, Dancer, actress

• 1913 ~ Bob Crosby, Bandleader with The Bob Cats, brother of Bing Crosby

   1918 ~ Leonard Bernstein, American conductor, composer and pianist
Read quotes by and about Bernstein
Links to more information about Bernstein
Grammy winner

• 1939 ~ Dorothy embarked on a journey down the yellow brick road with a lion, a tin man and a scarecrow in the classic film “The Wizard of Oz.”

• 1941 ~ Skinnay Ennis and his orchestra recorded the tune Don’t Let Julia Fool Ya.

• 1942 ~ Walter Williams, Singer with The O’Jays

• 1955 ~ Elvis Costello (Declan McManus), Musician, songwriter

• 1961 ~ Billy Ray Cyrus, Singer

• 1964 ~ The Beatles received a gold record for their hit single A Hard Day’s Night. It was the third gold record for the Fab Four. They would collect 18 more through 1970.

• 1971 ~ Ted Lewis passed away.  He was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician.

• 1982 ~ The group, Fleetwood Mac, received a gold record for the album Mirage.

• 2001 ~ Aaliyah died at the age of 22. She was a R&B singer and budding actress who made her film debut in “Romeo Must Die” and was killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas.

• 2001 ~ Jazz musician John Nelson, the father of pop star Prince, died at the age of 85. Nelson was the model for a character in the 1984 Prince movie “Purple Rain.” He also co-wrote songs on several of his son’s hit albums.
In the 1950s, Nelson was a pianist in the jazz group Prince Rogers Trio featuring singer Mattie Shaw. Shaw and Nelson married, and they named their son Prince Roger Nelson.
Nelson left the household when Prince was about 10 and his sister Tyka was 8. The father and son reconciled after Prince began his climb to fame.
Nelson co-wrote Computer Blue on the Purple Rain album, The Ladder on Around the World in a Day; Christopher Tracy’s Parade and Under the Cherry Moon on Parade and Scandalous on the Batman soundtrack.

• 2008 ~ Josef Tal, Israel composer (Israeli art music), died at the age of 97