Sotd

Mary Queen Of Scots is beheaded for treason at Fotheringhay Castle, near Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England, UK. The story of Mary's 20 years of imprisonment before her death will inspire the 1969 song Fotheringay by English folk-rock band Fairport Convention.

Railway engineer George Stephenson's steam-powered engine The Rocket wins The Rainhill Trials in Liverpool, UK. In 2008, Stephenson's achievement will inspire UK band O Titus! to write Stephenson's Rocket, and a year later singer-songwriter John Standring will release his tribute song Rocket.

Five members of a disreputable family known locally as The Black Donnellys is murdered by a vigilante-style mob in Biddulph Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada. The killers are never brought to justice. The song Justice In Ontario by Steve Earle tells the story of how the Donnellys died.

Notorious outlaw Billy The Kid, aged 21, is shot dead by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Fort Sumner, New Mexico Territory, USA. The tales of Billy's life and death will inspire several songs, including Billy The Kid [1944] by Woody Guthrie, Billy The Kid [1959] by Marty Robbins and The Ballad Of Billy The Kid [1976] by Billy Joel.

Margaret Emma Henley is born in England, UK, Europe. She will die at the age of five, but will first be befriended by the author J.M. Barrie, whom she will nickname 'fwendy'. When Barrie goes on to write the play Peter Pan in 1904, he will adapt 'fwendy' to Wendy as the name of Peter Pan's friend. In time, the name will become popular as a name for girls. Songs such as The Beach Boys' composition, Wendy, would never have been written if not for Margaret Emma Henley.

After losing 50,000 francs on roulette in the Monte Carlo casino, Charles Deville Wells, switches briefly to cards and wins back his losses. He then returns to the roulette tables and wins half a million francs, breaking the bank in the process. His exploit will inspire the popular music hall song, The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo.

The first Ferris Wheel is opened to the public at The World's Colombian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The giant wheel will inspire the 1964 song The Ferris Wheel by The Everly Brothers

A gas and coal dust explosion at The Fraterville Mine near Coal Creek, Tennessee, USA, kills 184 miners and other workers. This horrific incident will inspire the compositions Coal Creek March and Last Pay Day At Coal Creek, best-known in versions by noted banjo picker Pete Steele. Another song dealing with the same incident is Shut Up In Coal Creek Mine, recorded in 1929 by Green Bailey.

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.

The Cadillac Automobile Company is founded in Detroit, Michigan, USA. Cadillac cars will inspire dozens of songwriters to write songs, including Cadillac Assembly Line by Albert King, Maybellene by Chuck Berry and Cadillac Walk by Moon Martin - to name just a few.

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits the town of San Francisco, California, USA, causing widespread devastation in which over 3,000 people die. The 1967 song, 1906 by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band will be inspired by this horrific event, and tells the story from the perspective of a dog.

The Chevrolet Motor Car Company is founded in Detroit, Michigan, USA, and will become a serious competitor to the Ford Model T in the automobile market in the USA. Quickly nicknamed Chevy, the company's vehicles will become much-loved by drivers, and will inspire numerous references in song lyrics, perhaps most notably, "Drove my Chevy to the levee" in Don McLean's 1971 hit American Pie.

Private William McBride of the Inniskilling Fusiliers is killed during the First World War in the trenches near Authuille, France, Europe. His death will inspire folk songwriter Eric Bogle to write the song No Man's Land aka The Green Fields Of France which has been recorded by, among others, The Fureys, The Dropkick Murphys and Joss Stone And Jeff Beck.

Sgt. Alvin York of the United States Army shoots dead six German soldiers attacking him and his men near Hill 223 (49.28558°N 4.95242°E) along the Decauville rail-line north of Chatel-Chéhéry, France, Europe. He also leads an assault which cleans out a German machine-gun nest. His bravery will earn him the Medal Of Honour, make him a national hero in the USA, and will inspire the song Sergeant York by country singer Archie Campbell in 1961.

At two and a half minutes before midnight, St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon, about 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Los Angeles, California, USA, bursts and the resulting flood kills up to 600 people. Frank Black And The Catholics will be inspired to write the 2000 song St. Francis Dam Disaster.

Popular actress Marie Prevost dies of acute alcoholism in Los Angeles, California, USA, at the age of 38. Her body will not be discovered until January 23, after neighbors complain about her dog's incessant barking. In her room, police will find several empty liquor bottles and a promissory note to Joan Crawford for $110. Nick Lowe will be inspired to chronicle Prevost's life and death in his song Marie Provost in 1978.

The House Committee on Un-American Activities is established in Washington DC, USA, as a special investigating committee, looking into alleged disloyalty and subversive activities on the part of private citizens, public employees, and those organizations suspected of having communist or fascist ties. By the 1950s, the committee will have seriously overstepped its remit and will incur the wrath of many actors, artists, singers and other performers accused of 'disloyalty'. The 1965 song House Un-American Blues Activity Dream by Mimi and Richard Farina will be inspired by the actions of this committee.

The musical Something For The Boys, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, opens at The Alvin Theatre, Broadway, New York City, USA, where it will run for one year, notching up 422 performances. The show includes the song Hey, Good Lookin' which will 'inspire' Hank Williams to write his song Hey Good Lookin' in 1951, with remarkably similar words and melody.

The Kon-Tiki raft and its six man crew arrive in French Polynesia in the South Pacific, having travelled 4,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean in 101 days from Peru, South America. Inspired by tales of this epic journey, songwriter Michael Carr will compose the instrumental Kon-Tiki which British guitar instrumental band The Shadows will take to No1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1961.

Notoriously racist American politician Theodore Bilbo dies aged 69 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. His passing will be commemorated by the heavily ironic blues song Bilbo Is Dead, recorded by Andrew Tibbs for Aristocrat Records of Chicago, Illinois, USA.

The government of the USA revokes the passport of politically-active singer Paul Robeson, beginning an eight-year legal battle to have it restored. Robeson's struggle against censorship and racism will inspire The Manic Street Preachers to write their 2001 song Let Robeson Sing.

J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher In The Rye is first published by Little, Brown And Company in the USA. In 2008, Guns N'Roses will release a song called Catcher In The Rye, in which the song's writer Axl Rose, seems to be questioning why angst-ridden youths, such as Mark Chapman, the murderer of John Lennon, appear to be motivated by Catcher's anti-hero Holden Caulfield. Other songs which clearly relate to the book include If You Really Want To Hear About It by The Ataris, We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel, Who Wrote Holden Caulfield? by Green Day and Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie by Belle And Sebastian.

Montana, USA, newspaper The Billings Gazette reports that a destructive epidemic of black stem rust, which damages wheat crops, has spread to most counties in North Dakota, USA. Bob Dylan was a young teenage boy, living in neighbouring Minnesota, when this ecological disaster took place. His song The Ballad Of Hollis Brown is about a [fictional] farmer who, driven to distraction by the loss of his livelihood to black stem rust, kills himself and all of his family.

24-year-old movie star and rebel without a clue James Dean dies when his Porsche collides with another vehicle at a crossroads on Route 466 in California, USA. His legend will inspire mentions in popular songs by The Eagles, Taylor Swift, Don McLean, Madonna, David Essex, R.E.M. and more.

Members of the Lumbee Native American tribe break up a rally of racist KKK (Ku Klux Klan) members at Maxton Field, North Carolina, USA. Later in the year, this clash of cultures will inspire the song The Battle Of Maxton Field by prolific songwriter Malvina Reynolds.

Serial killer Charles Starkweather is executed in the electric chair at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. Starkweather's crimes will become the subject matter of the song Nebraska by Bruce Springsteen.

Two young men from East Berlin become the first to be killed while trying to cross The Berlin Wall from East to West Germany, Europe. During the history of the Berlin Wall (1961 to 1989), nearly 80 people will be killed trying to escape. The song In Memory Of The Martyrs by Barclay James Harvest is about the sacrifice made by those people.

The Great Train Robbery takes place near Cheddington, England, UK. The robbers stop a Glasgow to London mail train and escape with £2.6m in used bank notes - a record haul at the time. Heavy rock band Mountain will record the song The Great Train Robbery on their 1971 album Nantucket Sleighride.
In 1985, Paul Hardcastle will release a song, Just For Money, about the robbery.
In 2005, Alabama 3, will record a tribute to Bruce Reynolds, who masterminded the robbery, Have You Seen Bruce Richard Reynolds, which was previously recorded by Nigel Denver on his 1967 album Rebellion!. It's worth noting that Alabama 3 harmonica player, Nick Reynolds, is the son of Bruce Reynolds.

Controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce is injured when he falls, stark naked, forty feet from a window in the Swiss American Hotel, 534 Broadway, San Francisco, California, USA. Ambulance attendants tape his mouth shut after he shouts obscenities at them. The Great Society (with vocalist Grace Slick) will record the song Father Bruce about this incident, and other aspects of Bruce's outrageous life and career.

Trigger (real name Golden Cloud), the celebrated horse of movie singing cowboy Roy Rogers, dies aged 30 in Los Angeles, California, USA. The horse is stuffed by Everett Wilkensen of Bischoff's Taxidermy, and will be displayed in the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Apple Valley, California, USA. Trigger's death will inspire the tribute song, The Day That Trigger Died, by Australian singer-songwriter Leighton B. Watts.

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.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles reaches No1 on the Billboard Albums chart in the USA. This album includes the song Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, whose title will be misheard by John Fred Gourrier as Lucy In Disguise With Diamonds, which will inspire him him to write the song Judy In Disguise With Glasses - a major hit single later in the year for John Fred And The Playboy Band.

The tv film Song Of Summer by Ken Russell has its first broadcast by the BBC's Omnibus arts programme in the UK. The film will inspire Kate Bush to write her 1980 song Delius (Song Of Summer).

Operation Intercept, an anti-drug measure initiated by US President Richard Nixon, begins for a twenty day period. It will result in a near shutdown of border crossings between Mexico and the United States, and will inspire Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane to write the song Mexico, which will be released in May 1970.

Robert Emmet Chambers, Jr., later nicknamed the 'Preppie Killer', murders 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in Central Park, New York City, USA. The murder and subsequent events will provoke a huge media circus, and will become the subject matter for such songs as Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine by The Killers and Eliminator Jr. by Sonic Youth.

Rachel Corrie, a 23 year old member of the International Solidarity Movement [ISM] is killed by a bulldozer while acting as a human shield in the Gaza Strip, Israel, Europe. She had been attempting to impede Israeli bulldozers from destroying a house. Just days later, Billy Bragg will adapt Bob Dylan's 1963 protest song The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, to tell Rachel Corrie's story in his song The Lonesome Death Of Rachel Corrie.

A Brazilian man, Jean Charles de Menezes, is shot and killed by Metropolitan Police officers at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground. He had been misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts. The 2010 song One Bell Ringing by Elvis Costello is about this incident.

A series of wildfires begin burning across Southern California. Seventeen fires burn from Santa Barbara to the US-Mexico border, killing nine people and injuring 85, many of whom are firefighters. 3,200 buildings are destroyed along with 522,000 acres of land and forest. The song Grapevine Fires by Death Cab For Cutie is about those fires.

The book Predators: The CIA's Drone War on al Qaeda by Brian Glyn Williams is published by Potomac Books in the USA and UK. When Matt Bellamy of Muse reads this book, he will be inspired to write the songs for the band's concept album Drones.