Today in 1706 was, at least by the old calendar, Benjamin Franklin's birthday. Here's the story of how he once invented his own musical instrument, one for which great composers wrote music.
Today in 1966, the Beatles were trying to make one great take of their new song “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and with help from producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick, they ended up making that one great take out of two half takes.
Today in 1868, at least on paper, Scott Joplin was born, though his actual birth date is probably a different day. He's best known for his groundbreaking ragtime works like "Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer," but Joplin also wrote two operas.
The famous cover of The Clash's landmark album "London Calling" was taken on September 21, 1979, according to the liner notes. Except that Dave Marin, a concertgoer who was there when the photo was taken, has a concert stub that says September 20th. And he's spent decades trying to get the world to notice that the album credits are a day off.
Apollo 8 brought the first human astronauts to lunar orbit in late 1968, but a few months beforehand, the Soviet Zond 5 mission sent two tortoises (and a few other living things) for a trip around the moon.
Today in 1911, a very strange thing happened in a baseball game: a guy on second base ran backwards and stole first base, the base he'd just been on. Here's his very unusual story.
It's National Ice Cream Day, so it's a good day to tell the story of Agnes B. Marshall. The "Queen of Ices" helped make this frozen treat the icon that it is today.
Today in 1977, Marvel Comics publishes a KISS Super Special - and what was really unusual was that the band members had each added a little of their blood into the ink.
It was this week in 1965 that Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards got up in his sleep, started up a portable tape recorder, and recorded a guitar riff and an opening line that would soon be iconic: "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction." Here's more of how the song came together.
The earliest guitar-like instrument we've been able to find appears to have belonged to Har-Mose, who played for Queen Hatshepsut 3500 years ago in ancient Egypt.
