Guns

Joshua Barnes Howell is born in Eatonton, Georgia, USA. He will find fame (after being shot in the leg by a shotgun) as blues guitar pioneer Peg Leg Howell, recording for Columbia Records.

The term 'hillbilly' appears in print for the first time in The New York Journal, and is defined thus - 'A Hill-Billie is a free and untrammeled white citizen of Alabama, who lives in the hills, has no means to speak of, dresses as he can, talks as he pleases, drinks whiskey when he gets it, and fires off his revolver as the fancy takes him.' In due course, the term will also used as a generic descriptor for the country music played by such people.

Jazz vocalist, violinist and actor Russ Columbo is accidentally shot dead by his longtime friend, the photographer Lansing Brown, at Brown's home in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Over 350 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes launch a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, killing 2,402 people and wounding a further 1,282. The attack will lead directly to the American entry into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters. Numerous patriotic songs will be inspired by this attack, notably Remember Pearl Harbour, a major hit for bandleader Sammy Kaye. Country music singer and songwriter Carson Robison recorded two; Remember Pearl Harbour [a different song with the same title] and We're Gonna Have To Slap The Dirty Little Jap, while bluesman Pete 'Doctor' Clayton released Pearl Harbour Blues.

US Army Private Rodger Wilton Young, attacks a Japanese machine-gun nest on the island of New Georgia in the Solomon islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea. Young's heroic action helps his platoon to withdraw under enemy fire. His story will inspire the 1945 Frank Loesser song The Ballad Of Rodger Young, which will become a success in later years with versions by Burl Ives, Nelson Eddy, Jim Reeves, The Four Lads and John Charles Thomas.

The first edition of a new magazine, The Bulletin Of The Atomic Scientists, shows the Doomsday Clock set at seven minutes to midnight. The Doomsday Clock is not a real clock, but it is a symbolic representation of how close the world has come to a man-made global catastrophe. It will inspire such songs as 2 Minutes To Midnight by Iron Maiden (1984) and Doomsday Clock by Smashing Pumpkins

Country music singer and songwriter Jimmie Osborne is found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his trailer home near Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

Jazz bassist Leonard Gaskin records Ghost Riders In The Sky, Deep In The Heart Of Texas, Pistol Packin' Mama and other tracks in Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, for Swingville Records.

Jan And Dean record The Universal Coward, Yesterday and Travelin' Mood for Liberty Records in Western Recorders, 6000 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Sgt. Barry Sadler debuts the patriotic, militaristicsong The Ballad Of The Green Berets on television in The Ed Sullivan Show in New York City, USA.

Wes Montgomery records Road Song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone, The Green Leaves Of Summer and Greensleeves, at Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, USA, for A And M Records.

Dave and Ansell Collins (aka Dave And Ansil Collins) reach No1 in the UK with their single Double Barrel.

Get It On by T.Rex hits No1 in the UK Singles Chart for the first of four weeks.

Twenty-six unarmed civil-rights protesters and bystanders are shot by soldiers of the British Army during a protest in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland. The incident will become known as Bloody Sunday and will be recorded in the U2 song Sunday Bloody Sunday. Others who have written songs on this topic include John Lennon, Roy Harper, Christy Moore, The Wolfetones and Cruachan.

Led Zeppelin play at the Old Refectory, Southampton University, Southampton, Hampshire, UK.

Stringbean, the comedy banjo player from the tv series Hee Haw, is murdered, shot dead by burglars, along with his wife at their rural home in Ridgetop, Tennessee, USA, when they return home after his performance at the Grand Ole Opry.

The Sex Pistols play at Lanchester Polytechnic, Coventry, UK, supported by The Clash.

The Sex Pistols' album Never Mind The Bollocks is released in the USA.

Terry Kath, guitarist/vocalist of the jazz-rock group Chicago, kills himself in Woodland Hills, California, USA, by accidentally discharging a pistol he is holding to his head in a mock game of Russian roulette.

Queen play the second of two nights at New Bingley Hall, Stafford, UK.

Stacy Sutherland, former lead guitarist of psychedelic rock pioneers The 13th Floor Elevators, is accidentally shot dead by his wife Bunny, in Houston, Texas, USA.

As a Christmas present, Marvin Gaye gives his father an unlicensed Smith + Wesson .38 Special pistol with which to protect himself from intruders. A few months later, Gaye Sr. will use it to shoot his son dead.

Beautiful Loser, the eighth album by Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band, is certified as a platinum album by the R.I.A.A. in the USA.

Richard Goodman of 50s hitmakers Buchanan And Goodman dies aged 55 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the home of his son, Jon, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA.

L.A. Guns play at The Barrymore Theatre, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, supported by The London Quireboys.

St. Charles County, Missouri, USA, police hold a press conference to announce that their drug agents recently found and seized several plastic bags of marijuana, an unspecified quantity of hashish, two rifles, a shotgun, $122,000, and pornographic videotapes, slides and books, at Berry Park, a liesure complex owned by Chuck Berry. Unexpectedly, Berry himself turns up at the press conference and denies ever having used cocaine (none of which had been found at Berry Park, although that was what the Drug Agents had been searching for).

Bruce Cockburn records Turn, Turn, Turn, at Grant Avenue Studio, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, for the tribute album Where Have All The Flowers Gone - The Songs Of Pete Seeger.

R.Kelly walks off stage at Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA, claiming that he has seen two people in the audience waving guns at him. Kelly's action brings a dramatic end to his co-starring Best Of Both Worlds tour with rapper Jay-Z.

Rapper Cassidy is charged with murder in court in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The charge relates to an April, 2005 incident in which three men, including Cassidy, armed with .45, .40 and 9mm caliber pistols, and an AK-47 variant rifle, fired on three unarmed men during an argument in the West Oak Lane neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia.

Oasis, Weezer, Kasabian, Yellowcard, The Others, Black Crowes, Public Enemy, Him, Inme, Bullet For My Valentine, Fightstar, The Las, Teenage Fanclub, Bloc Party, Death Cab For Cutie, Roddy Frame, Eighteen Visions, Alexisonfire and others play at the Summer Sonic Festival in Osaka, Japan, Asia.

Bullet For My Valentine release a new single, Fever, in the UK on Columbia Records.

Rapper Renetta 'Magnolia Shorty' Lowe is found shot dead in a car which has crashed into the gates of an apartments complex in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

Gregg Allman plays at The Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, New Jersey, USA.

On their Time Machine tour, Rush play at The Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Rapper Tone-Loc is arrested in Burbank, California, USA, when police, investigating a report of domestic violence, find him in possession of an unregistered Colt AR-15 Sporter - a military-grade assault rifle.

PRS For Music reveals the UK's favourite driving songs, with Thriller by Michael Jackson in fifth position. Don't Stop Me Now by Queen sits in the No1 position, followed by the same band's Bohemian Rhapsody in second place.

Ticket tout Toufique Joseph is shot dead in Cape Town, South Africa. Music promoter David Forbes of H2O EDM Events will later be charged with the murder, which took place during a meeting about the fraudulent sale of festival tickets.

Alejandro "Jano" Fuentes, a singer who appeared on the Mexican version of The Voice in 2011, is shot multiple times in his car in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He will die three days later.

During their Not In This Lieftime tour, Guns N'Roses play at The AT+T Stadium, Arlington, Texas, USA, supported by The Cult. This tour features classic Guns N'Roses line-up members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, playing together for the first time since 1993.

When The Killers play on the Caribbean island of St. Barts for Russian billionaire and Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich, they are unexpectedly joined onstage by Sir Paul McCartney, who plays a song by The Beatles, Helter Skelter, with the Las Vegas quartet, led by Brandon Flowers. The Rolling Stones and Guns N' Roses also perform mini-sets at the same event.

Twenty-eight peope are injured by gunfire during a concert in the 300 capacity Power Ultra Lounge, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA. Rapper Finese 2Tymes is arrested soon after.