1976

Elvis Presley records "Moody Blue" in the Jungle Room at Graceland in Memphis

1962

Clint Black is born in Long Branch, New Jersey. Raised in Houston, he earns the Country Music Association's 1989 Horizon award at the outset of a career that includes "A Better Man," "Something That We Do" and "Put Yourself In My Shoes"

1991

Arista releases Diamond Rio's debut single, "Meet In The Middle"

1972

"Gee, I hope it ain't twins again": Loretta Lynn has a #1 country single in Billboard with "One's On The Way"

1938

Roy Acuff makes his Grand Ole Opry debut. By Monday, sacks of mail begin arriving at WSM radio, requesting the boy who sang "Great Speckled Bird" be invited back. Acuff sideman Clell Summey becomes the first to play Dobro on the Opry

1989

Patty Loveless quietly marries record producer Emory Gordy in Gatlinburg

1980

George Jones records "He Stopped Loving Her Today" at the Columbia Recording Studio in Nashville, then bets producer Billy Sherrill that the record won't go to #1

1976

Ronnie Milsap joins the Grand Ole Opry

1971

Dolly Parton scores her first #1 single in Billboard with "Joshua"

1963

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs, who already perform the theme song for "The Beverly Hillbillies," make the first of seven on-screen appearances on the CBS sitcom. They introduce a new song, "Pearl Pearl Pearl," addressed to the show's Pearl Bodine

1963

Patsy Cline has what proves to be the last recording session of her career at Nashville's Columbia Recording Studio, cutting "He Called Me Baby," a future hit for Charlie Rich. Her final song in the studio: "I'll Sail My Ship Alone"

1962

Garth Brooks born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Following his 1989 debut, he sells more than 100 million albums, winning multiple Entertainer of the Year awards from the CMA and ACM, leading the biggest boom in country's history during the early-'90s

1960

Jim Reeves registers a #1 country single in Billboard magazine with "He'll Have To Go"

1948

Dan Seals born in McCamey, Texas. After establishing a pop career as one-half of England Dan & John Ford Coley, he becomes a consistent presence in the 1980s, behind "Bop," "You Still Move Me" and "Big Wheels In The Moonlight"

1980

The Oak Ridge Boys reach the top of the Billboard country chart with the Rodney Crowell-penned "Leaving Louisiana In The Broad Daylight"

1975

Willie Nelson records "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" at Autumn Sound in Garland, Texas

1963

Travis Tritt born in Marietta, Georgia. The soul-tinged singer mixes southern rock and country influences in becoming one of the most consistent acts of the 1990s and early 2000s. He also joins the Grand Ole Opry and takes on several acting roles

1947

Joe Ely born in Amarillo, Texas. Mixing country and rock, he becomes a fixture on the Texas club circuit and gains critical acclaim nationally

1914

Ernest Tubb born near Crisp, Texas. A 1965 inductee into the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry member forms a lengthy career with a rich baritone and ingratiating sincerity, carving his signature "Walkin' The Floor Over You" in 1941

1986

The "Highwayman" album is certified gold for Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson

1979

Eddie Rabbitt begins a three-week stay at #1 on Billboard's country chart with the theme from the Clint Eastwood movie "Every Which Way But Loose"