1954: Elvis Presley makes his first appearance at the legendary country music venue, The Grand Ole Opry. He bombs. Badly.

On Presley’s way out, the Opry’s talent director, Jim Denny tells Elvis to go back to truck driving.

1956: During a recording session Little Anthony and the Imperials record a Neil Sedaka song called “The Diary.”

Sedaka is so disappointed in the recording that he decides to record the song himself. That recording goes on to become Sedaka’s first chart hit as a singer.

1987: One of the all-time greatest rock shows takes place at the Coconut Grove nightclub in Los Angeles. Roy Orbison completes his comeback with a triumphant concert that features an unrivaled all-star band including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, k. d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, J. D. Souther, Tom Waits, and an entire string section wearing Orbison-style shades.

The event, “Black and White Night,” is filmed (in black and white, of course) for broadcast on HBO. It has also been released to home video and as a live album.

1975: A sad day in rock history. While performing his hit “Lonely Teardrops” as part of a Dick Clark “Good Ol’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Revue” at the Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, Jackie Wilson collapses from a heart attack on stage and slips into a coma.

Wilson never really recovers from the coma, passing away in 1984.

1963: New York disc jockey, Murray the K obtains a copy of a record that has really caught on in Great Britain. For two weeks, he plays “She Loves You” by the Beatles on his show. He gets little in the way of response.

Four months later, when Beatlemania finally overtakes the United States, Murray will be able to claim he was the first American deejay to play the band.

1968: Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder headline a concert in Gary, Indiana. A local group is given the chance to open the show.

That group, the Jackson 5, are so impressive that Knight recommends Motown head Barry Gordy give them a listen. He does and promptly tells the world that Diana Ross “discovered” them.

1975: The film version of cult stage show, The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens at movie theaters.

Starring Susan Sarandon, Tim Curry, and an unknown singer who calls himself Meat Loaf, the film is an instant flop.

It remains a notorious flop until midnight showings in New York City several years later begin to develop a cult following that continues to this day

1965: The Beatles, a Saturday morning kids cartoon show debuts on ABC-TV. The show features the songs of the Fab Four, but not their actual voices.

1988: It began with the singer waving a gun around in an office building. It ended after a one-hour, two-state car chase when police shoot out the two front tires of the singer’s pickup truck.

It was on this day that James Brown, one time “hardest working man in show business,” was carted off to jail and charged with assault, resisting arrest, illegal possession of a firearm and (surprise, surprise) drugs.

1980: Bob Marley makes his final concert appearance, headlining a show at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh.