1962 - Jimi Hendrix was honorably discharged from the 101st Airborne Paratroopers after breaking his ankle during his 26th and final parachute jump. The reason for his discharge is "unsuitability," as his superiors agree he will never be a good soldier, in part because he's more interested in his guitar than his rifle.
1979 -Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years, Sony sold more than 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital-file versions. Sony led the market until the arrival of Apple's iPod and other new digital devices. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)
1982 - Harmonica player DeFord Bailey died at age 82. A cast member at the Grand Ole Opry throughout the 1930s, he was the first African American inducted into the institution. In 2005, he entered the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1991 - In his first acting role, Ice Cube stars alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. in the acclaimed drama Boyz N the Hood. Writer/director John Singleton wrote the role of troubled gangster Darrin "Doughboy" Baker specifically for the ex-N.W.A rapper.
1991 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers release Into The Great Wide Open. Rolling Stone critic Parke Puterbaugh called the album a cross between Full Moon Fever and Damn the Torpedoes. While it doesn't have the knock out punch of those, there are a number of minor gems -- "Learning to Fly," "Kings Highway," "Into the Great Wide Open". At the end of the cassette format of Side One, there is a brief spoken interlude by Tom Petty. It is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the "Hello CD Listeners" interlude from Full Moon Fever, this time instructing cassette listeners on how to properly flip over their tape and prepare it for side 2.
2005 - Pink Floyd perform "Comfortably Numb" at the Live 8 London concert, re-forming with band members Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright for the first time since 1981, when Waters left the band. It's the last time the four play together, as Wright dies in 2008.
Birthdays:
Paul Williams of The Temptations was born today in 1939. He passed away in 1973.
Keyboardist Roy Bittan of the E Street Band is 72.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Song Facts, Allmusic, and Wikipedia.