Today’s history highlights the creation of an iconic album cover, a dangerous mountain fall for a country star, and major chart-topping milestones.

Notable Births

• 1857: Composer Cecile Chaminade was born.

🎵 Major Events & Releases (On-This-Day)

• 1960: 25,000 copies of “Tell Laura I Love Her” were destroyed by Decca Records because the song was considered “too tasteless and vulgar for English sensibility”.
• 1969: The Beatles shot the photo for their Abbey Road album cover at the crosswalk outside Abbey Road studios.
• 1970: Janis Joplin wrote the song “Mercedes Benz” at a bar before her concert at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. On the same day, Joplin also purchased a headstone for the grave of her idol, blues singer Bessie Smith.
• 1975: Hank Williams Jr. fell 500 feet down Ajax Mountain in Montana. He survived the fall, but suffered facial scars that he would later often cover with a hat, beard, and sunglasses.
• 1987: U2 landed their second American #1 hit as “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” went to the top of the charts.
• 1992: A near-riot broke out at Olympic Stadium in Montreal during a concert. James Hetfield of Metallica was injured by pyrotechnics, and Guns N’ Roses cut their subsequent set short when Axl Rose left the stage.
• 2020: Taylor Swift became the first artist to debut at #1 on both the Hot 100 and US albums chart simultaneously when Folklore and its lead single, “Cardigan,” both went to the top.