1958 : Madonna Louise Ciccone is born in Bay City, Michigan. Shortening her name to a mononym, she will become the best-selling female singer of all time.

1962 : Pete Best is fired as drummer for The Beatles, replaced by Ringo Starr. The group’s manager Brian Epstein does the firing by calling Best into his record shop and giving him the bad news.

1977 : The King is dead. Elvis Presley dies at his home in Graceland as a result of an overdose from from prescription drugs.

1983 : Paul Simon marries Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher at his New York duplex. The couple would divorce just two years later.

2003 : The USPS unveils a new commemorative postage stamp of recently-deceased composer Henry Mancini, famous for the Pink Panther theme and several other film works.