What happened on October 20
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196264 yrs ago
"Monster Mash" hits No. 1 just in time for Halloween
Bobby "Boris" Pickett's novelty tune got its spooky sounds from homemade effects, like a rusty nail pulled from a board for a creaking coffin. It has come back to the charts again and again, as recently as 2021.
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197353 yrs ago
Queen Elizabeth II opens the Sydney Opera House
The formal opening of Jørn Utzon's harbourside landmark was celebrated with fireworks and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The building later became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.
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199234 yrs ago
Madonna releases Erotica in the United States
Her fifth album arrived alongside her provocative book Sex and was the first release on her own Maverick label. Made with "Vogue" collaborator Shep Pettibone, it yielded top-ten hits in "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper."
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200323 yrs ago
Amy Winehouse debuts with Frank in the UK
Released on Island Records when she was about 19, the jazz-soaked debut was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize and won her an Ivor Novello Award. It eventually went quadruple platinum in Britain.
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20233 yrs ago
The Rolling Stones release Hackney Diamonds
It was the band's first album of original songs since 2005's A Bigger Bang, with guests including Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and Elton John. It went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Album.
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1874152 yrs ago
Maverick composer Charles Ives born in Danbury, Connecticut
Ives composed while running a successful insurance agency, and when his Third Symphony won the 1947 Pulitzer he gave the prize money away, quipping that prizes are for boys.
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195076 yrs ago
Tom Petty born in Gainesville, Florida
Meeting Elvis Presley on a film set at age ten hooked him on rock and roll. He later led the Heartbreakers and joined the Traveling Wilburys with Harrison, Dylan, Orbison and Lynne.
Play on Spotify Source: Tom Petty - Wikipedia -
197155 yrs ago
Snoop Dogg born Calvin Broadus Jr. in Long Beach
His mother nicknamed him "Snoopy" after the Peanuts beagle. His Dr. Dre-produced debut Doggystyle opened at No. 1 with 806,000 copies sold in its first week.
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197749 yrs ago
Ronnie Van Zant killed in Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash
The band's plane ran out of fuel near Gillsburg, Mississippi, while flying between shows, killing the 29-year-old singer shortly after Street Survivors came out.
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198343 yrs ago
Guitar innovator Merle Travis dies at 65
His thumb-and-finger "Travis picking" shaped country guitar, he wrote "Sixteen Tons," and the solid-body guitar Paul Bigsby built to his design influenced Leo Fender's Telecaster.
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