History Highlight:

George Harrison would have been 72 today. Born in 1943 in Liverpool, Harrison served as the Beatles' lead guitarist, but as a songwriter, he remained the constant underdog — overshadowed by the massive juggernaut that was the Lennon-McCartney partnership. The youngest Beatle was also dubbed the "quiet" one, who in the later years of the band would also become its most spiritual, embracing not only Hinduism but the music of India as well — and possibly helping to facilitate Indian music's widespread introduction to the West during the 1960s. Harrison died in November of 2001 from lung cancer.

Also, Today In:

1957 - Buddy Holly and The Crickets taped "That'll Be The Day" at their first session with producer Norman Petty at his studio in the eastern New Mexico town of Clovis. It would become Holly's biggest hit, rising to No. 2 on the singles chart.

1972 - Led Zeppelin appeared in front of more than 25,000 fans at the Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, the group's first ever gig in New Zealand (and the largest crowd ever to attend a concert on the island). News reviews the next day reported the band could be heard more than five miles from the stadium.

1984 - "Jump" by Van Halen started a five-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart.

1985 - U2 launched their first full-scale arena tour of North America, starting at the Dallas Reunion Arena in Texas.

1995 - At a private party for 1,200 select guests on the closing night of the Frank Sinatra Desert Classic golf tournament, Frank Sinatra sang before a live audience for the very last time. His closing song was "The Best is Yet to Come."

1998 - Bob Dylan won three Grammys, including one for Best Album for Time Out Of Mind. During Dylan's performance of the song "Love Sick," Michael Portnoy, hired as a background dancer, ripped his shirt off and jumped in among the band, revealing the words "Soy Bomb" painted on his chest.

2007 - Kaiser Chiefs went to No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with "Ruby", taken from their second album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob.

2009 - At a ceremony at the White House, President Barack Obama honored Stevie Wonder, his musical hero, with America's highest award for pop music, the Library of Congress' Gershwin Prize.

Birthdays:

Stewart Wood of the Bay City Rollers is 58.

Mike Peters of The Alarm is 56.