Violence

Wat Tyler, leader of The Peasants' Revolt against King Richard II of England, is attacked and murdered with no warning, while speaking with the king under a flag of truce, by Sir William Walworth [Lord Mayor of London] and John Cavendish, a member of the king's retinue. This betrayal effectively ended the revolt. The 1985 song Wat Tyler by Fairport Convention tells the sorry tale of Tyler's betrayal and death.

The Pilgrim Fathers, having crossed the Atlantic Ocean in The Mayflower, catch their first sight of the American coast off Cape Cod, New England. Their journey (and its consequences) will inspire the song Charlie Darwin by The Low Anthem.

French forces under Napoleon defeat Russian forces commanded by General Mikhail Kutuzov, with the loss of up to 100,000 soldiers, at The Battle Of Borodino, Borodino, to the west of Moscow. The battle will inspire Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture which depicts the military action in music. The triumphant main theme from the 1812 Overture will, in its turn, inspire the opening guitar riff for the 1966 hit single Night Of Fear by The Move.

Ron Kovic is born in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, USA. He will be shot and paralysed from the chest down during the Vietnam War. Tom Paxton, the folk singer/political activist, will write the song Born On The Fourth Of July in 1977 and Bruce Springsteen will be inspired to write the songs Born In The USA and Shut Out The Light after reading Kovic's memoir [entitled Born On The Fourth Of July].

As part of Operation Crossroads, the United States detonates an atomic bomb underwater in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean. Grace Slick will be inspired by this event to record her 1984 song Bikini Atoll, describing how the atomic blast might have seemed to a pair of lovers on the Atoll.

The Best-Selling record of 1959 according to the year-end poll in Cashbox Magazine in the USA is Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin.

The Louvin Brothers record The Great Atomic Power for Capitol Records in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

US President John F. Kennedy is advised that the CIA has obtained photographic evidence of a build up, by Russia, of medium range ballistic missiles on the island of Cuba. Kennedy convenes a meeting of the nine members of the National Security Council and five other key advisers. The decisions taken by the Council will initiate the Cuban Missile Crisis. Until the resolution of the crisis two weeks later, when Russia agrees to remove its missiles from Cuba, the world will live in fear of imminent nuclear war. The 1964 Phil Ochs song Talking Cuban Crisis depicts the responses of one ordinary American to the crisis.

Bo Diddley plays the first of two nights at The Beach Club, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA. The live album Bo Diddley's Beach Party is recorded during these shows, despite the shows being broken up by local police because black members of Bo's band are seen to be dancing with white teenagers.

Chet Atkins records Mack The Knife, Le Le La, The Song From Moulin Rouge and As Long As He Needs Me, at RCA Victor Studio, 800 17th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Two thousand teenage anti-curfew demonstrators clash with over-zealous police near the Pandora's Box Coffeehouse on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles, California, USA. The incident will inspire The Buffalo Springfield song For What It's Worth, The Monkees song Daily Nightly and The Standells' title track to the movie Riot On Sunset Strip.

UK rock paper Disc and Music Echo reports that drummer Nigel Olsson of Plastic Penny was, "rushed to hospital last week to have stitches inserted in his face following an incident at the Eastcote Clay Pigeon Club. A member of the audience smashed Nigel in the face with a broken bottle during the group's second number, and later in the evening the dance promoter was beaten up."

James Brown flies to riot-torn Washington DC, USA, to advise the youth of the city not to cause further grief in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King.

Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of The Who plead not guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court, New York City, USA, to a charge of kicking a policeman during an on-stage scuffle in a New York concert. They are released on bail.

Clayton Perkins, the brother of Carl Perkins, is found in dead in his bed at the age of 38, having shot himself with a .22 calibre pistol. In the 1950s, Clayton had been a member of the Perkins Brothers, with his brothers Carl and Jay.

Murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by firing squad at Utah State Prison, Draper, Utah, USA. The Adverts will score a UK Top 20 hit with their song Gary Gilmore's Eyes, which speculates about a possible eye donor recipient realizing his new eyes came from the executed murderer. The 1979 Police song Bring On The Night speculates about Gilmore's possible feelings on the evening before his execution.

Tonight's UK debut concert by American shock-rockers The Plasmatics at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, UK, Europe, is cancelled by the Greater London Council (GLC), who are alarmed by the band's tendency to blow up cars on stage.

A race riot takes place after a gig by skinhead band The 4 Skins in Southall, London, England, UK, Europe.

Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly, the brother of Stiff Little Fingers member Jim Reilly, is shot dead shot by a member of the Light Infantry regiment on the Springfield Road in west Belfast, Northern Hreland, UK, Europe. His death will inspire his friends in the band Bananarama to write the 1984 song King Of The Jungle.

A psychiatric report states that Marvin Gaye's father had a brain tumour which might have affected his behaviour when he murdered his son a month earlier.

The R.I.A.A. in the USA unveils a standardized advisory sticker reading 'Parental Advisory. Explicit Lyrics.' for albums containing explicit lyrics. The sticker was developed in response to complaints about offensive lyrics by groups such as 2 Live Crew.

On the second day of the Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, Somerset, England, UK, five festival goers are shot by a crazed gunman.

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard of the Wu Tang Clan is taken to hospital after being shot in the arm and back while trying to prevent a robbery at his cousin's home in Brooklyn, New York City, USA.

Rapper Jay-Z pleads guilty in court to having stabbed record producer, Lance 'Un' Rivera, in an argument about bootlegging.

The first wave of America's "shock and awe" bombing campaign hits Baghdad, Iraq, Western Asia, and the northern Iraqi cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. Pentagon officials stated that the campaign would send 1,500 bombs and missiles over Iraq in the first 24 hours. Deaths are estimated at 6,616. Shock And Awe by Neil Young, Shock And Awe by Teenage Fanclub and Dreaming Of Paris by Van Dyke Parks are among the many songs reflecting on the shock and awe campaign.

Wishbone Ash play at The Stables, Milton Keynes, UK.

Pioneering rock'n'roller Hasil Adkins, known to aficionados as 'The Haze', is deliberately run over in his front yard by a teenager driving an all-terrain vehicle. Adkins will be found dead in his home in Madison, West Virginia, USA, ten days later.

Michael Dahlquist, drummer of Silkworm, John Glick guitarist for The Returnables, and Douglas Meis, drummer for Exo And The Dials, all die in a car crash when a suicidal woman deliberately rams their car at traffic lights in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Bryan Harvey, guitarist of House Of Freaks, is found murdered along with his wife Kathryn, and daughters Stella and Ruby, in their home in Richmond, Virginia, USA.

Amelle Berrabah of The Sugababes is arrested in Aldershot, England, UK, Europe, after allegedly causing criminal damage to a car belong to a neighbour.

Robert Levon Been, bassist of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, throws a water bottle into the audience during a gig at Backstage, Munich, Germany, Europe. In due course, he will be fined 18,500 euros and given a three month suspended sentence, because the bottle injured a fan's eye.

Cadillac, a bulldog belonging to DJ and singer-songwriter Samantha Ronson, attacks and kills a two-year-old Maltese dog named Tiger in her Los Angeles, California, USA, apartment. The incident leads to an investigation by the Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control which could impose a jail term or fine on Ronson.

Mark Chapman, the killer of John Lennon of The Beatles, is denied parole for the sixth time after his parole board interviews him by teleconference at Attica Correctional Facility, New York State, USA. During the interview, Chapman told the parole board that in 1980 he had drawn up a list of people he wanted to kill, which included actress Elizabeth Taylor and talk show host Johnny Carson as well as Lennon.

Photographer Rebecca Smeyne claims that devoutly religious reggae rapper Matisyahu kicked her in the face during a Hanukkah show in Brooklyn, New York City, USA.

Shakira is attacked by an angry sea lion while on holiday in Cape Town, South Africa.

A charge of attempting to procure murder, against Phil Rudd, drummer of AC/DC, is dropped by Tauranga Crown Solicitor Greg Hollister-Jones of Tauranga, New Zealand. Charges of threatening to kill and possession of methamphetamine and cannabis remain to be faced.

During an appearance by Chris Brown at The Fiesta nightclub in San Jose, California, USA, five people are shot and injured. (This incident will lead to his probation being revoked several days later.)

Muse release their seventh album Drones on Warner Bros. Records in Japan, Norway and Sweden.

During her concert in Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany, Europe, Rihanna dedicates her song Diamonds to the memory of those who died in the recent terrorist incident in the city of Nice, France, when Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel drove a lorry into a crowd celebrating the country's national Bastille Day holiday. Rihanna had been in Nice on the day of the attack.

At least 22 people are killed and over 50 injured when a bomb is exploded at a concert by Ariane Grande in Manchester Arena, Manchester, England, UK, Europe.