TODAY IN HISTORY - July 23rd
1947 - Born this day, David Essex [Cook], singer, actor, 1974 UK No.1 single Gonna Make You A Star, plus 18 other UK top 40 singles, 1974 US No.5 single Rock On.
1965 - Born this day, Slash, rock musician, guitar, Guns N' Roses, 1988 US No.1 and 1989 UK No.6 single Sweet Child O' Mine, 1991 US and UK No.1 album Use Your Illusion II.
1966 - Frank Sinatra hit the top of the pop album chart with his Strangers in the Night. It was the first No.1 Sinatra LP since 1960. The album's title song had made it to number one on the pop singles chart on 2 July.
1966 - Napoleon XIV released They're Coming to Take Me Away.
1969 - The Rolling Stones started a five week run at No.1 in the UK with the single Honky Tonk Women.
1973 - Born this day, Fran Healy, vocals, guitar, Travis, 1999 UK No.1 album The Man Who, 1999 UK No.10 single Why Does It Always Rain On Me?.
1977 - Barry Manilow went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Looks Like We Made It, his third US No.1. It was not a hit in the UK.
1977 - Donna Summer started a four week run at No.1 in the UK with the single I Feel Love.
1979 - Keyboard player with The Grateful Dead Keith Godchaux died after being involved in a car accident aged 32. He co-wrote songs with Lowell George (of Little Feat) and was a member of The New Riders of the Purple Sage.
1977 - Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and group manager, Peter Grant were charged with assault after a fight broke out backstage during a US concert with employees of the promoter.
1983 - Paul Young had his first UK No.1 single with the Marvin Gaye song Wherever I Lay My Hat.
1983 - The Police went to No.1 on the US album chart with Synchronicity. The album spent a total of seventeen weeks at No.1.
1983 - Yazoo went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their second and final release You And Me Both.
1988 - After forty-nine weeks on the US album chart, 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard went to the No.1 position.
1989 - Ringo Starr kicked off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles with a show in Dallas. His backup band included guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston and Bruce Springsteen's sax man Clarence Clemons.
1995 - Two R.E.M. fans died at Dublin's Slane Castle gig, one drowned in the River Boyne and the other was allegedly pushed from a bridge.
1996 - Rob Collins, keyboard player with The Charlatans died in a car crash, aged 29. Collins had been recording keyboard parts for the Charlatans 5th album ‘Tellin' Stories’ at a studio in Wales. An investigation into the accident showed that Collins had consumed a sizable amount of alcohol and was not wearing a seatbelt. He died from head injuries on the roadside shortly after the accident having been thrown through the windscreen.
2001 - Sir Paul McCartney, the former Beatle who lost his first wife Linda to cancer three years ago, is engaged to be married to Heather Mills, an activist for the disabled. McCartney, 59, proposed during a trip to Britain's Lake District. The two plan to marry some time next year. It will be the first marriage for the 33-year-old Mills, a former swimwear model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after she was run down by a police motorcyclist in 1993. "Paul and Heather said today they would like to thank their relatives and friends for all the great support they have shown them since they met two years ago," said a statement from McCartney's office. McCartney has three grown children and a stepdaughter from his first marriage. He met Mills at a charity function when she appealed for help for her own foundation, The Heather Mills Trust, which provides limbs for victims of war.
2003 - James Brown announced his separation from his fourth wife using an advertisement featuring the Disney character Goofy. The 70-year-old placed the notice in Variety magazine, it featured a picture of himself, his wife Tomi Rae and their two-year-old son, James Joseph Brown II, posing with Goofy at Walt Disney World.
2005 - Queen's 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best rock concert ever by over 7,000 UK Sony Ericsson music fans. Radiohead were voted the best festival act for their 1997 Glastonbury performance and Bob Dylan's 1966 Manchester Free Trade Hall gig won the best ever solo gig.
2006 - George Michael was accused of engaging in anonymous public sex, after being photographed in London's Hampstead Heath with a 58-year-old unemployed van driver. Despite stating that he intended to sue both the News of the World tabloid who photographed the incident and van driver Norman Kirtland for slander, Michael stated that he openly cruised for anonymous sex and that this was not an issue in his relationship with partner Kenny Goss.
2008 - Kid Rock was sentenced to a year on probation and fined $1,000 (£501) for his part in a fight in an Atlanta waffle restaurant in 2007. The 37-year-old, also received 80 hours community service and six hours of anger management counselling. The rapper pleaded no contest to one count of battery. Four other assault charges were dropped. Kid Rock had been performing at a gig in Atlanta before stopping off in his tour bus in the early hours of the morning. The fight took place when an argument broke out with another customer at the restaurant.
2011 - Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained. London Ambulance Service said it had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two vehicles but the woman died. The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her recent musical career.
2013 - Beyonce soldiered through a concert in Montreal, Canada after her hair got tangled in the blades of a fan. The singer was performing 'Halo' from an audience pit when the incident happened. She continued to sing her encore while security guards tried to extract her from the fan, which was mounted on the edge of the stage.
1947 - Born this day, David Essex [Cook], singer, actor, 1974 UK No.1 single Gonna Make You A Star, plus 18 other UK top 40 singles, 1974 US No.5 single Rock On.
1965 - Born this day, Slash, rock musician, guitar, Guns N' Roses, 1988 US No.1 and 1989 UK No.6 single Sweet Child O' Mine, 1991 US and UK No.1 album Use Your Illusion II.
1966 - Frank Sinatra hit the top of the pop album chart with his Strangers in the Night. It was the first No.1 Sinatra LP since 1960. The album's title song had made it to number one on the pop singles chart on 2 July.
1966 - Napoleon XIV released They're Coming to Take Me Away.
1969 - The Rolling Stones started a five week run at No.1 in the UK with the single Honky Tonk Women.
1973 - Born this day, Fran Healy, vocals, guitar, Travis, 1999 UK No.1 album The Man Who, 1999 UK No.10 single Why Does It Always Rain On Me?.
1977 - Barry Manilow went to No.1 on the US singles chart with Looks Like We Made It, his third US No.1. It was not a hit in the UK.
1977 - Donna Summer started a four week run at No.1 in the UK with the single I Feel Love.
1979 - Keyboard player with The Grateful Dead Keith Godchaux died after being involved in a car accident aged 32. He co-wrote songs with Lowell George (of Little Feat) and was a member of The New Riders of the Purple Sage.
1977 - Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and group manager, Peter Grant were charged with assault after a fight broke out backstage during a US concert with employees of the promoter.
1983 - Paul Young had his first UK No.1 single with the Marvin Gaye song Wherever I Lay My Hat.
1983 - The Police went to No.1 on the US album chart with Synchronicity. The album spent a total of seventeen weeks at No.1.
1983 - Yazoo went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their second and final release You And Me Both.
1988 - After forty-nine weeks on the US album chart, 'Hysteria' by Def Leppard went to the No.1 position.
1989 - Ringo Starr kicked off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles with a show in Dallas. His backup band included guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston and Bruce Springsteen's sax man Clarence Clemons.
1995 - Two R.E.M. fans died at Dublin's Slane Castle gig, one drowned in the River Boyne and the other was allegedly pushed from a bridge.
1996 - Rob Collins, keyboard player with The Charlatans died in a car crash, aged 29. Collins had been recording keyboard parts for the Charlatans 5th album ‘Tellin' Stories’ at a studio in Wales. An investigation into the accident showed that Collins had consumed a sizable amount of alcohol and was not wearing a seatbelt. He died from head injuries on the roadside shortly after the accident having been thrown through the windscreen.
2001 - Sir Paul McCartney, the former Beatle who lost his first wife Linda to cancer three years ago, is engaged to be married to Heather Mills, an activist for the disabled. McCartney, 59, proposed during a trip to Britain's Lake District. The two plan to marry some time next year. It will be the first marriage for the 33-year-old Mills, a former swimwear model whose left leg was amputated below the knee after she was run down by a police motorcyclist in 1993. "Paul and Heather said today they would like to thank their relatives and friends for all the great support they have shown them since they met two years ago," said a statement from McCartney's office. McCartney has three grown children and a stepdaughter from his first marriage. He met Mills at a charity function when she appealed for help for her own foundation, The Heather Mills Trust, which provides limbs for victims of war.
2003 - James Brown announced his separation from his fourth wife using an advertisement featuring the Disney character Goofy. The 70-year-old placed the notice in Variety magazine, it featured a picture of himself, his wife Tomi Rae and their two-year-old son, James Joseph Brown II, posing with Goofy at Walt Disney World.
2005 - Queen's 1985 Live Aid performance was voted the best rock concert ever by over 7,000 UK Sony Ericsson music fans. Radiohead were voted the best festival act for their 1997 Glastonbury performance and Bob Dylan's 1966 Manchester Free Trade Hall gig won the best ever solo gig.
2006 - George Michael was accused of engaging in anonymous public sex, after being photographed in London's Hampstead Heath with a 58-year-old unemployed van driver. Despite stating that he intended to sue both the News of the World tabloid who photographed the incident and van driver Norman Kirtland for slander, Michael stated that he openly cruised for anonymous sex and that this was not an issue in his relationship with partner Kenny Goss.
2008 - Kid Rock was sentenced to a year on probation and fined $1,000 (£501) for his part in a fight in an Atlanta waffle restaurant in 2007. The 37-year-old, also received 80 hours community service and six hours of anger management counselling. The rapper pleaded no contest to one count of battery. Four other assault charges were dropped. Kid Rock had been performing at a gig in Atlanta before stopping off in his tour bus in the early hours of the morning. The fight took place when an argument broke out with another customer at the restaurant.
2011 - Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained. London Ambulance Service said it had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two vehicles but the woman died. The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her recent musical career.
2013 - Beyonce soldiered through a concert in Montreal, Canada after her hair got tangled in the blades of a fan. The singer was performing 'Halo' from an audience pit when the incident happened. She continued to sing her encore while security guards tried to extract her from the fan, which was mounted on the edge of the stage.