Africa

The Grand Opera House opens in Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK, with a charity gala in aid of British soldiers fighting the Boer War in South Africa.

Popular Irish singing star Ruby Murray flies out of Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England, UK, early in the morning on the first lap of a four-week tour to entertain service personnel in the Middle East, Malta and North Africa.

The Kingston Trio record Wimoweh, Zombie Jamboree, Sloop John B, Hard, Ain't It Hard, Scarlet Ribbons, Tom Dooley, When The Saints Go Marching In and other tracks in a live recording session for Guard Records at the Hungry i in San Francisco, California, USA. The tracks will appear on the album Live From The Hungry i. Wimoweh will become a huge hit for The Tokens under the name The Lion Sleeps Tonight, with a new set of lyrics in English.

A protest meeting takes place in Wellington Town Hall, Wellington, New Zealand, Oceania, against an upcoming international rugby test match between New Zealand's All Blacks and South Africa because South Africa has banned Maoris from playing in the New Zealand team. This racist action inspires New Zealand's all-Maori Howard Morrison Quartet to write and record the sardonic protest song, My Old Man's An All Black (based on the Lonnie Donegan hit My Old Man's A Dustman).

Miriam Makeba plays the seventh night of a four week season at the Village Vanguard, Greenwich Village, New York City, USA.

Theo Bikel, The Weavers, Odetta, Olatunji and The Clancy Brothers And Tommy Makem play in the Festival Of Folk Music, Cobo Convention Arena, Detroit, Michigan, USA.

The Tokens relinquish their copyright in their hit song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, to Folkways Records, owners of the song Wimoweh, on which The Lion Sleeps Tonight is based.

Henri Mancini records The Theme From Hatari and The Sounds Of Hatari for RCA Victor Records in the USA. The tracks will appear on the soundtrack of the Howard Hawks' film Hatari!

A recently recorded live performance by The Beatles is broadcast in the UK on BBC radio show The Talent Spot. Also featured in the show are Patsy Ann Noble, Col. James, Roger Whittaker and The Ted Taylor Four.

The Mann-Hugg Blues Band [later to become Manfred Mann] plays at Ealing Jazz Club, London, England, UK, Europe.

The Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, later to become Manfred Mann, play at The Marquee Club, Soho, London, England, UK, Europe.

Manfred Mann play at The Marquee Club, Oxford Street, London, England, UK, Europe.

Manfred Mann play at The Ealing Jazz Club, London, England, UK, Europe.

Manfred Mann and Bill Haley And His Comets play at The City Hall, Sheffield, UK.

Sha La La by Manfred Mann enters the Billboard Singles Chart in the USA where it will peak at No12.

Today's edition of tv pop show Shindig in the USA features Chubby Checker, Willie Nelson, The Righteous Brothers, Manfred Mann, The Dixie Cups and Tommy Quickly.

The Kinks, Manfred Mann, The Honeycombs and Tony Sheveton play the second of two nights at The Royal Festival Hall, Melbourne, Australia.

Lord Burgess and Olatunji play at The Cafe Au Go Go, Greenwich Village, New York City, USA.

Manfred Mann arrive in the USA to begin an eighteen-day tour of colleges.

Manfred Mann play at The Marquee Club, Soho, London, England, UK.

Manfred Mann play at The Marquee, Soho, London, England, UK, Europe, supported by The Mark Leeman Five.

The Marquee Show, featuring Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez And Charlie Foxx, Paul And Barry Ryan, Gary Farr And The T-Bones, the Mark Leeman Five and The Scaffold, plays at The ABC, Chesterfield, UK, Europe.

The Marquee Show, featuring Manfred Mann, The Yardbirds, Inez And Charlie Foxx, Paul And Barry Ryan, Gary Farr And The T-Bones, The Mark Leeman Five and The Scaffold, plays at The Guildhall, Portsmouth, England, UK, Europe.

Manfred Mann release a new single, Just Like A Woman, in the UK. This Bob Dylan cover is their first single to feature new vocalist Mike D'Abo.

Oumou Sangaré is born in Bamako, Mali, Africa. She will find success as a Wassoulou musician and recording artist, sometimes referred to as The Songbird of Wassoulou.

Manfred Mann, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, P.P. Arnold, Tony Rivers and The Washington DCs play at the Brighton Arts Festival Ball, Brighton, England, UK, Europe.

The new No1 single in the Billboard magazine chart in the USA is Grazing In The Grass by Hugh Masekela.

Burundi Black by Burundi-Steiphenson-Black enters the UK singles chart where it will peak at No31 during a fourteen-week run on the chart. Burundi-Steiphenson-Black is, however, a psuedonym for French musical arranger and filmscore composer Michel Bernholc, who has simply grafted a rock arrangement over the top of a field recording of Burundi Drummers of the Ingoma tribe made in East Africa. The same rhythm will subsequently be sampled for tracks by Joni Mitchell, Adam And The Ants, Bow Wow Wow, The Beastie Boys and others.

Mongo Santamaria and the Hugh Masekela Band play the seventh of thirteen nights at The Village Gate, Greenwich Village, New York City, USA.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight by Tight Fit reaches No1 in the UK pop singles chart. The song is an English-language version of the Zulu folk song Wimoweh.

Fela Kuti plays at Brixton Academy, London, England, UK.

Malopoets release the LP Malopoets on EMI America in the UK.

Barcelona, a duet by Freddie Mercury of Queen and opera diva Montserrat Caballe, peaks at No8 in the UK singles chart.

As part of their Vault tour, Def Leppard play three gigs in three continents - Africa, Europe and North America - on one day. They start in Tangier, Morocco, fly to London, and end the day in Vancouver, Canada.

Michael Jackson announces, during a press conference at Sun City, South Africa, that he intends to play five concerts in the UK, but no details are given.

Bono of U2 begins a twelve day fact-finding mission in Africa, during which he will visit Ghana, South Africa, Ethiopia and Uganda, as a guest of US Treasury Secretary, Paul O'Neill.

Fran Healey of Travis is in Malual Kon, Sudan, Africa, on a visit on behalf of the Save The Children fund, intended to help raise awareness internationally of the problems faced by Sudanese children.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo play at The Crest Theatre, Sacramento, California, USA.

The movie Burlesque starring Cher and Christina Aguilera opens in Colombia, Kenya and Nigeria.

The Dave Matthews Band plays at The United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Max Hole becomes Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group International.

Taylor Swift unexpectedly turns up at the wedding of fans Max Singer and Kenya Smith, at the Brant Beach Yacht Club in Brant Beach, New Jersey, USA, where she performs a stripped down version of their favourite song, Blank Space.