Sotd

Guy Fawkes attempts to blow up The Houses Of Parliament in London, UK. Mr Fawkes' failed endeavour is still celebrated every year in the UK, and his exploits have inspired several songs. The 1970 track Remember by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, ends with the line 'Remember, Remember the Fifth of November', but perhaps more to the point is 1968's Mr Guy Fawkes by Eire Apparent, which was covered a year later by The Dave Miller Set. There's also Guy Fawkes by The Krewmen [1986], Guy Fawkes Night by Peter Astor And The Holy Road [1993], Song For Guy Fawkes by Wat Tyler [1995] and Guy Fawkes Day by Paul Melancon [2000].

Followers of agrarian communist Gerrard Winstanley begin digging the common land on St. George Hill, Surrey, England, UK. It is their belief that the English Civil Wars had been fought against the king and the great landowners and that land should be made available for the very poor to cultivate. These people will become known as The Diggers. The Billy Bragg song World Turned Upside Down and the Chumbawamba song The Diggers Song will be inspired by the work and beliefs of The Diggers.

A memorable horse race at The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland, is won by an eleven-year-old English gelding, Skewball, winning his owner many thousands of pounds. The race will inspire an enduringly popular folksong, known variously as Skewball or Stewball, which has been recorded by Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, The Hollies, Peter Paul And Mary, The Weavers, Lonnie Donegan and many others, often with significant changes in both the lyric and the melody.

The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion, later to become popularly known as The White House, is laid in Washington, D.C., USA. Given its central role at the heart of American political life, it's no surprise that the building and events surrounding it have inspired numerous songs. Among the earliest was the 1926 recording White House Blues by Charlie Poole [1926]. Later songs have included It Gets Lonely In The White House by Irving Berlin and Paint The White House Black by George Clinton and Parliament. (1792)

Charles Darwin is born at his family's home, The Mount, in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, UK. He will revolutionise thinking about how the development of life on earth with his Theory Of Evolution. An entire LP of songs, The Darwin Song Project, about Darwin and his life's work will be released in 2009. The seventeen songs, including We're All Leaving and We'll Hunt Him Down, will be composed by a group of eight songwriters (Chris Wood, Karine Polwart, Jez Lowe, Mark Erelli, Emily Smith, Rachael McShane, Krista Detor and Stu Hanna) in the space of one week in Henley Farmhouse in Shropshire.

American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeat an invading British Army intent on seizing the town of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The victory will be celebrated in the popular song The Battle Of New Orleans, recorded by Johnny Horton, Jimmy Driftwood, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and others.

William Darby is born in Norwich, England, UK, Europe. Under the name Pablo Fanque he will become the first recorded non-white British circus owner in Britain. He will achieve posthumous fame when his name is mentioned in The Beatles' song Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite! on their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

When Mississippi River paddlewheel steamboat S.S. Sultana, explodes near Memphis, Tennessee, USA, an estimated 1,600 of the vessel's 2,400 passengers are killed, making it the worst maritime disaster in United States history. Jay Farrar of Son Volt will be inspired to write the song Sultana, telling the story of that fateful day. (1865)

Lewis Carroll publishes his fantasy novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book will inspire numerous songwriters, as diverse as Tom Waits, Avril Lavigne and Aerosmith, to compose songs based on its story and characters but the definitive composition is probably White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane from 1967 which more or less tells the story of Alice as if it is an LSD-inspired hallucination.

While attending a bar room fight in the Charles Starkes Saloon, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, police officer James Brady is shot dead. A man named Harry Duncan is arrested. Although protesting his innocence until the end, he will be convicted and hanged on July 27, 1894. It is said that the saloon owner, Charles Starkes confessed on his deathbed that it was he who had killed Brady. The incident will inspire the murder ballad Duncan And Brady, which has been recorded by Lead Belly, Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Judy Henske, Tom Rush, Hoyt Axton, The New Riders of the Purple Sage and others.

Notorious outlaw Ned Kelly is hanged at Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Oceania. His violent life and crimes will inspire, among others, the songs Ned Kelly (1971) by Johnny Cash, The Ballad Of Ned Kelly (1970) by Fotheringay and Blame It On The Kellys by Waylon Jennings.

Outlaw gang leader Jesse James is killed aged 34 in St. Joseph, Missouri, USA, by Robert Ford, a member of the gang living in the James house, hoping to collect the substantial reward on James' head. Numerous songs will tell the story of James' life and death, including Jesse James [1944] by Woody Guthrie; Jesse James [1961] by The Kingston Trio; Frank And Jesse James [1976] by Warren Zevon, and as an analogy in I Feel Like a Bullet [In the Gun of Robert Ford] by Bernie Taupin and Elton John.

Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet, of Ancoats, is born in Burton upon Trent, England, UK, Europe. Mosley's despicable activities as leader of the British Union Of Fascists will inspire Elvis Costello to write a scathing attack on him in the 1977 song Less Than Zero. The title of the song will later be borrowed by Bret Easton Ellis as the title of his first novel.

In one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history, an underground explosion in the No.2 mine at the Coal Creek Colliery, near Fernie in British Columbia, Canada, takes the lives of 128 men. In 2012, inspired by this disaster, The Coal Creek Boys will release the song May 22nd 1902.

Lake View School, Collinwood, Ohio, USA, is destroyed by fire, resulting in the deaths of 172 students, two teachers and a rescuer. The disaster will inspire the 1938 song The Burning Of The Cleveland School for Bluebird Records by J.H. Howell's Carolina Hillbillies.

Construction of The Grand Coulee Dam begins on the Columbia River, Washington, USA, to produce hydro-electric power and provide irrigation for the region. The dam will provide the inspiration for Woody Guthrie's 1941 song, Grand Coulee Dam, written while he was commissioned by the Bonneville Power Administration to write songs as part of a documentary film project about the dam and related projects.

Larry Clinton And His Orchestra, with vocalist Bea Wain, make the first recording of the song Heart And Soul, for RCA Victor Records in the USA. At the same session they record You Go To My Head and Romance In The Dark. Heart And Soul is composed by Hoagy Carmichael and Frank Loesser, and will go on to become a much-covered standard. It will also, in 2016, inspire Train to borrow its melody for their single Play That Song.

Luton Municipal Airport is opened 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Luton town centre in the county of Bedfordshire, England, UK, Europe, by the Secretary of State for Air, Kingsley Wood. The airport will be mentioned in a 1977 television advert for Campari featuring Lorraine Chase, with the punch line "Were you truly wafted here from paradise?" — "Nah, Luton Airport". This advert will be the inspiration for the 1979 UK hit song Luton Airport by Cats UK.

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 atomic bomb, the first fruits of The Manhattan Project, is detonated at The Bombing and Gunnery Range, Alamogordo, New Mexico, USA. This event and the circumstances surrounding it will become the subject of the 1985 song The Manhattan Project, recorded by Rush. The Iron Maiden song Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is also about The Manhattan Project.

William Shockley of Bell Laboratories is granted a patent on the junction transistor in the USA. The device will revolutionise electronics and will lead to the invention of Transistor Radios, which will soon become the teenager's first choice for listening to pop and rock'n'roll music. Several songs will be inspired by Transistors including Transistor Radio (1961) by Benny Hill, Magic Transistor Radio by The Beach Boys, Radio Girl by Rick Nelson and Transistor Sister by Freddy Cannon.

The New York Times reviews the recently-published American edition of the John Wyndham science fiction novel The Chrysalids, declaring that it "will be well noted and long remembered". The 1968 song Crown Of Creation by Jefferson Airplane will be inspired by ideas in Wyndham's influential book.

The Lon Chaney Jr. movie Indestructible Man is released to cinemas in the USA. John Darnielle of Mountain Goats will reveal during a 2012 concert at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, New York City, USA, that his song "Rotten Stinking Mouthpiece" is not only his 'secret favorite song', but that it was inspired by a line spoken by Lon Chaney Jr. in the movie.

American inventor Walter Frederick Morrison sells the marketing rights of his plastic flying disc toy to the Wham-O toy company, who will re-name it The Frisbee and start a global craze. Australian band The Lucksmiths will be inspired to record their song Frisbee (1996) and the website College Humor will record a heavily ironic ditty called Ultimate Frisbee.

Rama Lama Ding Dong by The Edsels enters the Billboard Singles Chart in the USA, where it will peak at No21. This song will inspire the question - "Who put the ram in the rama-lama-ding-dong' - asked by Barry Mann in his hit single Who Put The Bomp?. The answer is, of course, George Jones Jr of The Edsels who composed the song.

Howlin' Wolf releases the album Howlin' Wolf [also known as the Rocking Chair album] on Chess Records in the USA. The album includes the song You'll Be Mine which will 'inspire' Marc Bolan to write his remarkably similar T.Rex hit Jeepster in 1971.

The Kings Of Surf Music, The Beach Boys record I Get Around at Western Recorders, Los Angeles, California, USA. Intriguingly, I Get Around will give the quintet their first Top Ten hit in the UK where surf culture is virtually unheard of but, even more bizzarely, their fascination with cars and driving will inspire Kraftwerk in 1974 to create the first bona fide electronic rock hit, Autobahn, as a German equivalent of Beach Boys pop.

A tractor-trailer carrying fifteen tons of bananas loses control in rush hour traffic on Moosic Street, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA. The vehicle hits cars, houses, and wire poles before crashing into a home. The driver, Eugene P. Sesky is killed and over fifteen others are injured. The incident will serve as the basis for Harry Chapin's 1974 song 30,000 Pounds of Bananas.

Intelsat 1, aka Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA, into a geosynchronous orbit around the Earth. Record producer Joe Meek will compose a celebratory instrumental entitled Early Bird for The Tornados, hoping to repeat their earlier success with Telstar. Instead, it will peak at a disappointing No49 in the Melody Maker charts.

Ronald Biggs, serving a 30 year jail sentence for the 1963 Great Train Robbery, escapes from Wandsworth prison in London, UK, and flees to Brazil, from where authorities cannot extradite him. His escape will inspire the Sex Pistols' 1978 song, No One Is Innocent, featuring the lyric ,"Ronnie Biggs was doing time, until he done a bunk, now he says he's seen the light, and he's sold his soul for punk."

When A Man Loves A Woman by Percy Sledge enters the UK Pop Singles Chart where it will peak at No4 during a seventeen-week run on the chart. After hearing the song, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum will be inspired to write a similarly styled ballad, to words by lyricist Keith Reid, using a Bach organ melody for the backing. The song will be called A Whiter Shade Of Pale.

Creedence Clearwater Revival release their debut album, Creedence Clearwater Revival, in the USA on Fantasy Records. The album is produced by Saul Zaentz who recently bought the record company. As the years progress, Creedence leader John Fogerty will become embroiled in personal and legal disputes with Zaentz which will result in acrimonious lawsuits and will inspire two bitter Fogerty songs, Vanz Kant Danz and Mr. Greed, about Zaentz.

A campaign spearheaded by former beauty queen and country singer Anita Bryant results in the repeal of an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, USA, which had prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Bryant's reactionary views and activities will inspire the 1978 song Fuck Aneta Briant by the ever-controversial country music outlaw David Allen Coe.

Eight soldiers on ceremonial duty are killed in two IRA bomb blasts in central London, England, UK. The first blast, in Hyde Park, kills two soldiers of the Household Cavalry, plus seven horses. 23 other people are injured. The second explosion, less than two hours later, kills six soldiers and injures a further 24 people during a concert by the band of the Royal Green Jackets on a bandstand in Regent's Park. The Pink Floyd song The Gunner's Dream will be written as a comment on these atrocities.

Scottish scientist Ian Wilmut announces that an adult sheep named Dolly has been successfully cloned at The Roslin Institute, near Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, Europe. Dolly was the first mammal to have been successfully cloned from an adult cell. This scientific breakthough will inspire the song Dolly by Shonen Knife.

Five-year-old Elian Gonzalez is found floating in an inner tube off the coast of Florida, USA. A small boat in which he had been fleeing Cuba for asylum in the USA had sunk, killing his mother, Elizabeth Broton, and five others. Elian's story will inspire Manic Street Preachers to write their song Baby Elian.

In the new edition of Seventeen Magazine, published today, Courtney Love criticises Gwen Stefani with the comment, "Being famous is just like being in high school. But I'm not interested in being the cheerleader. I'm not interested in being Gwen Stefani. She's the cheerleader, and I'm out in the smoker's shed." Angered by the insult, Stefani will be inspired to write her song Hollaback Girl as a rejection of Love's criticism.

It is reported that Louis C.K., Rita Ora, the xx and Ghostface Killah are among many artists who have canceled or rescheduled live appearances as Hurricane Sandy arrives on the East Coast of the USA. Riding out the storm in a Brooklyn hotel, singer-songwriter Aimee Mann is inspired to re-write the Barry Manilow hit Mandy as Sandy. Three days later, when she plays a show in Tarrytown Music Hall, Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York State, USA, she debuts the song live, lifting the spirits of the crowd.