. 1770 ~ Anton Reicha, Czech-born, later naturalized French composer of music very much in the German style

. 1802 ~ Victor Hugo, author of Les Miserables and many other works

. 1879 ~ Frank Bridge, English composer, violist and conductor

. 1922 ~ Dancing to jazz music and tango bands was criticized in Paris. It seems that dancing was detracting the French from their postwar reconstruction, according to “La Revue Mondiale”.

. 1928 ~ “Fats” (Antoine) Domino, American rock-and-roll pianist and singer. His works include: Ain’t That a Shame, Goin’ Home, I’m in Love Again, Blue Monday, I’m Walkin’ and Blueberry Hill

. 1930 ~ Lazar Berman, Soviet pianist

. 1932 ~ Johnny Cash was an American country music, singer-songwriter. Although he is known as a country singer his music spanned other styles including rockabilly, rock and roll, blues, folk, and gospel. He had a distinct style both in music and life and partly due to his always wearing dark clothes, but also because of melancholy music was known as “The Man in Black”, his signature line on opening a concert consisted of “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash”. He was known as a heavy drinker and addicted to amphetamines and barbiturates but in 1968 he quit and soon after married his long time sweetheart June Carter who had always refused to marry him till he was clean. His hits during his career included “Folsom Prison Blues”, “I Walk the Line”, “A Boy Named Sue”, “Man in Black”, “Don’t Take Your Guns to Town”, “Ring of Fire” and “Jackson” ( with June Carter ) which won a Grammy Award in 1968. Although he never did Prison time he felt great compassion for prisoners and made two of his most popular albums in front of Prison audiences, Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison (1968) and Johnny Cash at San Quentin (1969).

. 1945 ~ Mitch Ryder (William Levise), Singer with Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels

. 1947 ~ Sandie Shaw (Goodrich), Singer

. 1950 ~ Jonathan Cain, Keyboard with Babys

. 1954 ~ Michael Bolton, Grammy Award-winning singer. Some of his songs are: When a Man Loves a Woman and How Am I Supposed to Live Without You

. 1961 ~ John-Jon (John Andrew Foster), Musician with Bronski Beat

. 1965 ~ Juan Trigos, Mexican composer and conductor

. 1972 ~ Harry Nilsson started his second week at number one with that toe-tapping ditty, Without You. The whiny love song stayed at the top for a total of four weeks.

. 1977 ~ The Eagles’ New Kid in Town landed in the top spot on the pop music charts for one week beginning this day.

. 1981 ~ Howard Hanson died.  He was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music.

. 1983 ~ Charley Pride’s Why Baby Why topped the country charts. The song was written by George Jones (who found national fame with his own version in 1955) and Darrell Edwards. Legend has it that inspiration for the song came when Edwards overheard a couple squabbling in their car in Orange, TX.

. 2003 ~ Otha Turner, 94, who created his own niche in blues music with an ethereal mix of early American colonial drums and West African flute, died in Como, Miss. His recording Everybody Hollerin’ Goat was rated among the Top 10 blues releases in 1997 by Rolling Stone magazine. Members of a Senegalese drum troupe performed with Mr. Turner on the album. Mr. Turner was presented with a National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Award, the Smithsonian Lifetime Achievement Award and the Charlie Patton Lifetime Achievement Award from the Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival.

. 2011 ~ Eugene Fodor, American classical violinist (1974 Tchaikovsky Award), died at the age of 60