Today in 1961, this was the first country song to sell more than $1 million:

The number one single today in 1962:

The number one single today in 1970:

The number one album today in 1975 was “Chicago IX,” which was actually “Chicago’s Greatest Hits”:

The number one album today in 1980 was “Kenny Rogers Greatest Hits”:

I’m not going to say the number one British single today in 1997. If you want to know what it was, click on this.

Birthdays start with Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers, a renowned expert in … missile defense:

Born the same day as Baxter was Ted Nugent:

Berton Averre of The Knack:

Nick McCarthy of Franz Ferdinand:

Amy Lee of Evanescence:

One death of note today in 2002: Zal Yanovsky of the Lovin’ Spoonful:

• Music