TODAY IN MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY

1956- James Brown recorded "Please Please Please" at King Studios in Cincinnati. It would launch the Godfather of Soul's career.

1959- In the words of Don McLean, it was “the day the music died.” A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, claimed the lives of rock 'n' roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

1973- "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Roberta Flack entered the Top 40 chart.

1980- Sammy Davis, Jr. guest-starred on an episode of Archie Bunker's Place.

1983- Michael Jackson released "Beat It."

1988- The Dirty Dancing soundtrack was certified Multi Platinum 4x by the RIAA.

1991- Sinead O'Connor announced she wouldn’t accept any Grammy Awards or attend the ceremony because the show reflected "false and destructive materialistic values." The Irish pop singer had been nominated in four categories; she won for Best Alternative Music Performance.

1993- Gloria Estefan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1994- Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley had their first date. They saw The Temptations perform.

1994- Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme married Darcy Lapier in Bangkok. It was his fourth marriage and they divorced three years later. Van Damme remarried another ex-wife in 1999 and they’re still together.

1998- *NSync released their single "I Want You Back."

2000- The Titanic soundtrack was certified Multi Platinum 11x by the RIAA.

2006- Actor Al Lewis (Grandpa on The Munsters) died in New York at age 82.

TODAY IN HISTORY

1690- The first paper money in America was issued by the colony of Massachusetts.

1865- President Abraham Lincoln met with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens in Virginia to work out a peace deal to end the Civil War, but they failed to come to an agreement. The war finally ended in June of that year.

1924- The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, died in Washington D.C. at age 67.

1943- Liquor was banned from all U.S. Army establishments.

1947- Percival Prattis became the first black news correspondent admitted to the House and Senate press gallery in Washington, DC. He worked for Our World in New York City.

1956- Autherine Juanita Lucy became the first black student at the University of Alabama.

1962- President John F. Kennedy banned all trade with Cuba except for food and drugs.

1964- The Warren Commission, investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, heard its first witness – Lee Harvey Oswald's widow, Marina.

1984- A hospital in Long Beach, California, announced the birth of the world's first baby conceived by embryo transplant.

1998- The state of Texas executed Karla Faye Tucker for the pickax killings of two people in 1983; she was the first woman executed in the United States since 1984.

2009- Eric Holder was sworn in as attorney general. He was the first African-American to hold the post. He still holds the position.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1948- Dick Button became the first world figure skating champion from the U.S.

1972- The first Winter Olympics in Asia were held in Sapporo, Japan.

1980- Larry Bird hit the first three point shot in the history of the NBA All-Star Game, in overtime, to help the Eastern Conference to a 144-136 victory.

1984- A sellout crowd of 18,210 at Madison Square Garden in New York City saw Carl Lewis best his own world record in the long jump by 9-1/4 inches.

1990- Darryl Strawberry entered the Smithers Alcoholism and Treatment Center in New York City. He had been signed and released by many clubs over the years because of drug abuse.

1995- At the O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles, prosecution witness Denise Brown wept on the stand as she described the humiliation and abuse of her sister, Nicole Brown Simpson, at the hands of the former football star.

2002- Super Bowl XXXVI (36) was played at the Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans.  The New England Patriots' beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17. Patriots take on the New York Giants this Sunday.

2003- Former NFL player Alonzo Spellman was sentenced to 18 months in prison for threatening passengers and crew on a Delta Air Lines flight the year before.