The number one album today in 1967 was the Monkees’ “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd.,” the group’s fourth million-selling album:

The number one single today in 1978:

Today in 1984, MTV carried the entire 14 minutes of “Thriller” for the first time:

Today in 2012, Led Zeppelin was honored at the annual Kennedy Center Honors. And the honor they got from the group Heart is, I’m sure you’ll agree, unprecedented:

The first birthday to note is Dr. Peter Carl Goldmark, inventor of the long-playing multigroove record in 1945 — first in 78s, then in 33⅓ albums,  then in 45-rpm singles.

Tom McGuinness of Manfred Mann:

Ted Bluechel Jr. played drums for The Association:

Rick Savage played bass for Def Leppard:

Nelly Furtado:

One death of note, today in 2006: Mariska Veres, the lead singer of the Shocking Blue: