TODAY IN HISTORY - August 12th
1887 - Thomas A. Edison made the first sound recording when he recited the nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb.
1941 - Born this day, Jennifer Warnes, singer. Biggest hit was a duet with Joe Cocker, “Up where we Belong”.
1949 - Born this day, Mark Knopfler, musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter, Dire Straits, 1985 US No.1 single Money For Nothing, 1986 UK No.2 single Walk Of Life, 1985 world-wide No.1 album Brothers In Arms.
1951 - Born on this day, August Darnell, singer, Kid Creole And The Coconuts, (1982 UK No.2 single 'Annie I'm Not Your Daddy').
1959 - Born this day, Suzanne Vega, musician, folk guitarist, singer, songwriter. Best know for hit songs “Marlene on the Wall” and “Luka”.
1960 - Pete Best auditioned for and became a Beatle. Legend has it that he was too good looking for the band so John Lennon made moves to have him ousted and replaced by the non threatening Ringo Starr.
1964 - The Beatles first film 'A Hard Day's Night' opened in 500 American cinemas to rave reviews.
1966 - The last ever tour for the Beatles began at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago; and John Lennon apologised for boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. London's Catholic Herald said Lennon's comment was "arrogant ... but probably true."
1968 - Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed at a studio in Gerrard Street in London's West End. The first song they played was a version of 'The Train Kept A-Rollin.' They also played 'Smokestack Lightning' and a version of 'I'm Confused' (soon to become 'Dazed And Confused'). The first live dates they played were as The Yardbirds, and it was not until the following month when they started to use the name Led Zeppelin.
1969 - Born on this day, Tanita Tikaram, singer, songwriter, (1988 UK No.10 single 'Good Tradition').
1970 - Janis Joplin performed her final concert, at Harvard University.
1972 - While performing at Scandinavian Hall in Gothenburg, Sweden, Paul McCartney and wife Linda, Denny Seiwell, and a secretary with Wings were arrested by Swedish police. They were held overnight for questioning after marijuana was discovered in a package addressed to the group which was mailed into the country. Paul called the British Consulate for help, and all were released after paying nominal fines.
1972 - Alice Cooper was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'School's Out'. The singers only UK No.1, which was also a No.7 hit on the US chart. Cooper has said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life?". Cooper said: "There's two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, the next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school."
1977 - Henri Padovani guitarist with The Police quit the group after nine months leaving them a trio.
1978 - The Commodores started a two week run at No.1 on Billboard's record charts with Three Times A Lady. It was also a No.1 in the UK and became Motown's biggest British selling single.
1984 - As The Olympic Games came to a close, Lionel Richie performed, 'All Night Long' live from Los Angeles to an estimated television audience of 2.6 billion people around the world.
1985 - In aviation's worst single-plane disaster, as a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into Mount Osutaka, killing all but four of 524 people on board.
1985 - Kyu Sakamoto was killed in a plane crash when JAL Flight 123, a 747, crashed and burned on a thickly wooded mountain about 60 miles northwest of Tokyo. He was 43. He had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Sukiyaki', the first Japanese artist to hit the top of the US singles chart.
1989 - Richard Marx scored his third US No.1 single with Right Here Waiting.
1990 - It was reported that two ex-members of the Swedish rock group Abba were suing their record company, Polar Music International, for cheating them of royalties. The suit claimed that they were owed $27 million in back royalties.
1991 - Bryan Adams started his fourth of sixteen weeks at No.1 on the UK single chart with (Everything I Do), I Do It For You
2000 - Robbie Williams scored his third UK No.1 single with Rock DJ.
2003 - Lee Ryan from Blue was arrested whilst driving a Porsche around central London and was charged with drink driving. Ryan had spent the night knocking back drinks at Browns night-club in Covent Garden with his cousin and a record company executive. After annoying others in the club with rowdiness, and his cousin's throwing up in the VIP area, bouncers threw Lee out. Police pulled the star over just after 4am on Tower Bridge Road and breath tests showed him to be twice over the legal drinking limit.
1887 - Thomas A. Edison made the first sound recording when he recited the nursery rhyme Mary Had A Little Lamb.
1941 - Born this day, Jennifer Warnes, singer. Biggest hit was a duet with Joe Cocker, “Up where we Belong”.
1949 - Born this day, Mark Knopfler, musician, guitarist, singer, songwriter, Dire Straits, 1985 US No.1 single Money For Nothing, 1986 UK No.2 single Walk Of Life, 1985 world-wide No.1 album Brothers In Arms.
1951 - Born on this day, August Darnell, singer, Kid Creole And The Coconuts, (1982 UK No.2 single 'Annie I'm Not Your Daddy').
1959 - Born this day, Suzanne Vega, musician, folk guitarist, singer, songwriter. Best know for hit songs “Marlene on the Wall” and “Luka”.
1960 - Pete Best auditioned for and became a Beatle. Legend has it that he was too good looking for the band so John Lennon made moves to have him ousted and replaced by the non threatening Ringo Starr.
1964 - The Beatles first film 'A Hard Day's Night' opened in 500 American cinemas to rave reviews.
1966 - The last ever tour for the Beatles began at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago; and John Lennon apologised for boasting that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. London's Catholic Herald said Lennon's comment was "arrogant ... but probably true."
1968 - Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham played together for the first time when they rehearsed at a studio in Gerrard Street in London's West End. The first song they played was a version of 'The Train Kept A-Rollin.' They also played 'Smokestack Lightning' and a version of 'I'm Confused' (soon to become 'Dazed And Confused'). The first live dates they played were as The Yardbirds, and it was not until the following month when they started to use the name Led Zeppelin.
1969 - Born on this day, Tanita Tikaram, singer, songwriter, (1988 UK No.10 single 'Good Tradition').
1970 - Janis Joplin performed her final concert, at Harvard University.
1972 - While performing at Scandinavian Hall in Gothenburg, Sweden, Paul McCartney and wife Linda, Denny Seiwell, and a secretary with Wings were arrested by Swedish police. They were held overnight for questioning after marijuana was discovered in a package addressed to the group which was mailed into the country. Paul called the British Consulate for help, and all were released after paying nominal fines.
1972 - Alice Cooper was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'School's Out'. The singers only UK No.1, which was also a No.7 hit on the US chart. Cooper has said he was inspired to write the song when answering the question, "What's the greatest three minutes of your life?". Cooper said: "There's two times during the year. One is Christmas morning, the next one is the last three minutes of the last day of school."
1977 - Henri Padovani guitarist with The Police quit the group after nine months leaving them a trio.
1978 - The Commodores started a two week run at No.1 on Billboard's record charts with Three Times A Lady. It was also a No.1 in the UK and became Motown's biggest British selling single.
1984 - As The Olympic Games came to a close, Lionel Richie performed, 'All Night Long' live from Los Angeles to an estimated television audience of 2.6 billion people around the world.
1985 - In aviation's worst single-plane disaster, as a crippled Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashed into Mount Osutaka, killing all but four of 524 people on board.
1985 - Kyu Sakamoto was killed in a plane crash when JAL Flight 123, a 747, crashed and burned on a thickly wooded mountain about 60 miles northwest of Tokyo. He was 43. He had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.6 single 'Sukiyaki', the first Japanese artist to hit the top of the US singles chart.
1989 - Richard Marx scored his third US No.1 single with Right Here Waiting.
1990 - It was reported that two ex-members of the Swedish rock group Abba were suing their record company, Polar Music International, for cheating them of royalties. The suit claimed that they were owed $27 million in back royalties.
1991 - Bryan Adams started his fourth of sixteen weeks at No.1 on the UK single chart with (Everything I Do), I Do It For You
2000 - Robbie Williams scored his third UK No.1 single with Rock DJ.
2003 - Lee Ryan from Blue was arrested whilst driving a Porsche around central London and was charged with drink driving. Ryan had spent the night knocking back drinks at Browns night-club in Covent Garden with his cousin and a record company executive. After annoying others in the club with rowdiness, and his cousin's throwing up in the VIP area, bouncers threw Lee out. Police pulled the star over just after 4am on Tower Bridge Road and breath tests showed him to be twice over the legal drinking limit.