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Childhood
While out walking along the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later the Missouri Pacific Railroad) where it crosses Big River outside of Irondale (Washington County, Missouri), William Helms finds a five-day-old baby in a suitcase, evidently having been thrown from a passing train. Helms and his wife foster the child, and name him William Moses Gould Helms. Within a few months, The Rev. J.T. Barton will be inspired to write the song Ballad Of The Iron Mountain Baby, telling the story of the child. It will become a popular folk song and a new treatment of the story, entitled Sarah Jane And The Iron Mountain Baby, will be released in 2013 on the LP Love Has Come For You by Steve Martin And Edie Brickell.
Billie Holiday, The Count Basie Orchestra, The John Kirby Orchestra, The Roy Eldridge Orchestra and others perform in a Midnight Benefit Concert at the Apollo Theatre, Harlem, New York City, USA. The concert raises funds for The Harlem Children's Centre. Red Foley records That Silver-haired Daddy Of Mine, Whoopee-Ti-Yi-Yo, Cowboy's Dream, they Cut Down the Old Pine Tree and Little Rosewood Casket, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad is born in the village of Bjørkåsen, in Ballangen near Narvik, Norway, Europe, to a Norwegian mother, Synni Lyngstad, and a German father, Alfred Haase, a sergeant in the Wehrmacht, not long after the end of the Second World War during the German occupation of Norway. She will grow up as one of thousands of children known as Tyskerbarnas (or German children), the result of a bizarre Nazi experiment to 'enrich' the Aryan gene pool. Anni-Frid will find fame as a member of Abba.
Seventh grade student Buddy Holly scores a B in his Social Studies test at Hutchinson Junior High, Lubbock, Texas, USA.Fourteen-year-old Helen Shapiro records her debut single, Please Don't Treat Me Like A Child in EMI's Abbey Road Studios, London, England, UK, Europe.
Babysitter Boogie by Ralf Bendix reaches No1 in the German Popular Singles Chart in Germany, Europe.
Cliff Richard presents awards, and performs Living Doll, at the Methodist Association of Youth Clubs annual event in The Royal Albert Hall, London, England, UK, Europe.
Lightnin' Hopkins records Once Was A Gambler, Going Back To Baden-Baden and Jesus Won't You Come By Here in Houston, Texas, USA, for Arhoolie Records.
On The Edge, a 'radio ballad' about teenagers in England and Scotland, created using music by Ewan MacColl, Charles Parker and Peggy Seeger, has its first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in the UK.
Rag
Doll by The Four Seasons reaches No1 in Cash Box magazine's chart of the best-selling singles in the USA.
Doris Day, with Jimmy Joyce and the Children's Chorus, releases a new album, With A Smile And A Song, on Columbia Records in the USA.
It is announced that 26-year-old bass guitarist Alan Longmuir is leaving teen sensations The Bay City Rollers on the grounds that he is considered too old to remain in the band. He will return to the group in 1978.
The album The Wall by
Paul Hardcastle begins five weeks at No1 in the UK with 19, one of the first hit singles to make extensive use of computer sampling technology.
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Jon Bon Jovi marries his childhood sweetheart Dorothy Hurley on the steps of Graceland Chapel, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Sting and Trudie Styler become the parents of a girl, Eliot Pauline.
Bob Dylan's childhood home, the Zimmerman house in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, is sold to an un-named buyer for an undisclosed amount.
Debbie Rowe divorces Michael Jackson. Rowe, who receives an $8-million settlement and a house in Beverly Hills, California, USA, gives full custody rights of their children to Jackson.
Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees buys his childhood home in Keppel Road, Chorlton, Manchester, England, UK, Europe. Gibb says he intends to clean the house up, put a comemmorative plaque on the wall and rent it out.
Mr. John Ellis lodges a Statement Of Complaint against Cardinal George Pell of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia, Oceania. Ellis accuses him (Pell) of having sexually abused a 12-year-old boy (Ellis) at a Roman Catholic youth camp in 1961. The scandal and investigation which follows will inspire Tim Minchin to write his song Come Home (Cardinal Pell).
Michael Jackson and his attorney fly by XtraJet from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, to Santa Barbara, California, where Jackson is arrested on child abuse charges, and then freed on $3m bail. He immediately returns to Las Vegas, where he is filming a video. An unauthorised videotape of Jackson speaking with his attorney on this flight will subsequently be offered for sale to the highest bidder.
In court in California, USA, for yet another hearing, Michael Jackson's lawyer insists that Michael is innocent of all charges relating to child molestation.
It is announced that actor Corey Feldman has been subpoenaed in the Michael Jackson child molestation case in Santa Maria, California, USA.
Michael Jackson arrives forty minutes late at his child molestation trial in Santa Maria, California, USA, claiming that back pain has delayed him.Antonio Cantu, chief of forensics for the US Secret Service, testifies in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial in Sanata Maria, California, USA. Cantu says it is possible that fingerprints from Jackson's accuser, found on an adult magazine, could have degraded in the year it took police to test the magazine. He says it would have been preferable for the tests to have been done immediately.The Rev Jesse Jackson, spiritual advisor to Michael Jackson, tells reporters outside the Santa Maria, California, USA, courthouse where Jackson's child molestation trial has been heard, that the star is 'anxiously awaiting' the jury’s verdict, but is also 'amazingly optimistic'. 
The fifth instalment of Madonna's series of children's books, Lotsa de Casha, is published in the UK.
It is announced that all of Bob Dylan's international royalties from his forthcoming album, Christmas In The Heart, will be donated to the World Food Programme and Crisis UK in perpetuity. Over the next Christmas period, Dylan's donations will provide 500,000 meals to school children in the developing world and 15,000 meals to homeless people in the United Kingdom through Crisis.
Russian rocker Yury Shevchuk, leader of Russian band DDT, clashes openly with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a charity literary-musical evening for children with cancer and leukemia in St. Petersburg, Russia, Europe.
During a break in her rehersals for the closing FIFA World Cup
cermony, Shakira meets girls from three different African nations on behalf of the 1GOAL Education For All campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It is reported that Kiss has been dropped from the line-up of an upcoming Michael Jackson tribute concert in Cardiff, Wales. The decision was taken in the light of objections from fans and the singer's estate regarding bassist Gene Simmons' remarks stating that he believed the late singer had molested children.
Country music singer Mindy McCready and her young son Zander are found hiding together in a home in Heber Springs, Arkansas, USA. Three days earlier, McCready had removed Zander from her perents' house in Cape Coral, Florida, USA.
An ITV documentary, Exposure - the other side of Jimmy Savile, is broadcast in the UK. The show includes allegations that recently-deceased DJ, TV presenter and charity fundraiser Sir Jimmy Savile had sexually abused teenage girls.
As part of Operation Yew Tree, Police officers arrest former glam-rock star Gary Glitter at his home in London, England, UK, Europe, following allegations made in connection with the ever-expanding Jimmy Savile under-age sex scandal.
It is reported that 
1970s hitmaker Tony Orlando visits the West Bank, Jerusalem, homes of three missing Israeli teenagers believed to have been abducted a few days earlier by the militant group Hamas. Orlando's visit is a gesture of support.
Gary Glitter is found guilty at Southwark Crown Court, London, England, UK, Europe, of a series of child sex offences on three young girls, aged between 8 and 13. His sentence could be up to life imprisonment.
It is revealed that Britney Spears is taking maths lessons in order to help her sons, Sean and Jayden, with their school homework.
It is reported that entertainer and pop hitmaker Rolf Harris has been given the job of creating a mural in Stafford Jail, Stafford, England, UK, where he is serving a sentence for indecently assaulting young girls. The job has angered other prisoners who feel Harris is receiving 'special treatment'.
Jonathan King is arrested at his home in Bayswater, West London, England, UK, by Surrey Police officers, on suspicion of historical child sex offences linked to the Walton Hop Disco in Walton-on-Thames in the 1970s and 1980s.
It is announced that Billy Joel has pledged $1m to help prevent Long Island High School For The Arts from closing, on condition that the education authorities commit to keeping it open for three years.
It is revealed during a hearing at the Crown Court, Leeds, England, UK, Europe, that disgraced former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins hid a three inch long white GTSTAR mobile phone inside his anus so prison officers at HMP Wakefield wouldn't find it. He agreed to give up the phone in order to be allowed to meet with his mother.
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