Browsing: Music

A Brief History On March 3, 1951, music history was made when the first song deemed to be “rock and roll” was recorded.  Called “Rocket 88,” the lively song was recorded by Chess Records at Sam Phillip’s studio in Memphis and is credited to Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats who were actually Ike Turners’s band, the Kings of Rhythm.  In fact, the song was written by Brenston and Turner, though Turner was not originally credited.  As we know, the Rock and Roll genre of music has taken off ever since then, especially with the gyrations of Elvis Presley bringing…

A Brief History On January 30, 1969, the Fab Four, sometimes referred to as “The Beatles,” conducted their last public concert when they played for 42 minutes from the roof of Apple Corps headquarters on Savile Row, London, England (no connection to Apple the computer company, but perhaps better known as Apple Records).  Along with Billy Preston, songwriter, keyboardist and vocalist rocker, the Beatles conducted an impromptu event with no prior notice to the public or authorities.  In a lucky break for posterity, the event was filmed and later appeared in the 1970 documentary film Let It Be.  Audio of…

A Brief History On January 7, 0000, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem in what is now Israel, or perhaps more precisely, on the West Bank of the Jordan River in Palestine.  “What?”  you might ask.  “I thought Christmas Day was December 25th.”  Well, for most Americans December 25th is Christmas Day, but not for everyone.  We discussed this fact in our article “ Is January 6th The Real Christmas?” and explained that Armenians use January 6th and Eastern Orthodox faiths as well as Ukrainian and Greek Catholics use January 7th as Christmas Day.  It seems there is no real…

A Brief History On January 4, 1999, former professional wrestler and actor Jesse Ventura was sworn in as the Governor of Minnesota.  A veteran of at least 11 movies prior to his inauguration, Ventura had previously served in the US Navy in the U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Team during the Vietnam War, an assignment similar to that of Navy SEALS.  Other people from the world of entertainment, sports, singing, acting and other forms, have also enjoyed success in being elected or appointed to high office.  Today, we list 10 of those such persons. Digging Deeper 1. Jesse Ventura, pro wrestler,…

A Brief History On December 25, AD 1, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, in what is now Israel.  (It was Israel then, too.) Or so the story goes.  Historians find some problems with the Biblical and common interpretation of the birth of Christ, including even the date, meaning the day as well as the year.  The Ukrainian side of this author’s family celebrated Christmas on January 7 each year, which coincidentally is this author’s birthday!  Yes, that makes this author the first person mentioned (besides Jesus) as being born on Christmas.  Today we take a look at 10 famous…