1949 - RCA Victor introduced the 45 RPM single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with the long-playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78 RPM record that was currently in use.
1958 - Chuck Berry's rock 'n' roll classic "Johnny B. Goode" single was released. With it, Berry created the ultimate rock-and-roll folk hero in just a few snappy verses. The song’s opening riff is a clarion call—perhaps the greatest intro in rock-and-roll history.
1967 - Jimi Hendrix set fire to his guitar live on stage for the first time when he was appearing at The Astoria in London. The Fender Stratocaster burned on stage by Hendrix sold for £280,000 (about $500,000) at a 2008 London auction of rock memorabilia.
1974 - Tom Petty marries his first wife, Jane Benyo. The couple met when they were both 17, which provides the title for the Stevie Nicks song "Edge Of Seventeen." As the story goes, Nicks asked her when they met, Jane said, "At the age of seventeen," but she had a very strong southern accent and Stevie thought she said "the edge of seventeen," which makes a great song title. (Photo by Gaye Gerard/Getty Images)
1976 - Led Zeppelin released Presence. Created at a time of intense turmoil for Led Zeppelin...drugs, alcohol -- they scrapped a planned international tour in the wake of Robert Plant's car accident in Greece in August 1975 -- Presence is a strange, misshapen beast of a record that pulls upon its own tension. With Plant somewhat on the sidelines -- he recorded many of the vocals while in a wheelchair -- Jimmy Page reasserted himself as the primary creative force in the band, recording the album in 18 days, helping steer Presence toward a guitar-heavy complexity, perched halfway between a return to roots and unfettered prog.
2000 - The movie High Fidelity, starring John Cusack and Jack Black as record store clerks, and featuring a cameo by Bruce Springsteen, opens in theaters. Springsteen, making his first appearance in a feature film, shows up in a dream sequence, acting as Cusack's subconscious guide. Springsteen wasn't the first choice for this role: Bob Dylan got first crack at it, but he turned it down.
Birthdays:
Shirley Jones, known for her roles in Oklahoma! as well as on The Partridge Family, is 88.
Trumpeter Herb Alpert is 87.
Guitarist Mick Ralphs, founding member of Mott The Hoople and Bad Company, is 78.
AC/DC guitarist Angus Young is 67.
Jack Antonoff of Fun. and Bleachers is 38.
On this Day In Music History is sourced from Guitar World, Allmusic, Loudersound, This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.