History Highlight:

Today in 1956, Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" entered the U.S. chart for a 19 week stay, peaking at No. 1 for 5 weeks. The song was an adaptation from the tune of "Aura Lee" (or "Aura Lea"), a sentimental Civil War ballad.

Also, Today In:

1902 - The Gibson Mandolin guitar company was formed.

1962 - The BBC somehow determined that "Monster Mash," by Bobby "Boris" Pickett was offensive and banned it from their airwaves.

1970 - The Carpenters were at No. 2 on the U.S. singles chart with "We've Only Just Begun." The song was originally written for a TV commercial advertising a bank.

1970 - Neil Diamond went to No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Cracklin' Rosie", his first No.1 as an artist.

1970 - Black Sabbath were at No. 1 on the U.K. chart with their second album Paranoid.

1978 - Joe Perry and Steve Tyler from Aerosmith were injured after a cherry bomb was thrown on stage during a gig in Philadelphia. The group performed behind a safety fence for the rest of the tour.

1979, - The Rose, a film loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin, with Bette Midler portraying the Janis-like title character, was screened for the first time in L.A.

1981 - The Police went to No. 1 on the U.K. album chart with Ghost In The Machine, the band's third No. 1 album.

1987 - Whitesnake went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Here I Go Again", a No. 9 hit in the U.K.

1999 - A charity auction selling Elvis Presley's belongings was held at The Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. A wristwatch sold for $32,500, a cigar box $25,000, an autographed baseball sold for $19,000, and a 1956 Lincoln Continental sold for $250,000.

2002 - Twelve protesters dressed as monkeys picketed outside the north Wales holiday home of former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown. The demonstrators argued Brown was selling the five-bedroom house, in the small village of Llithfaen on the Llyn Peninsula for an inflated price which local people could not afford. The monkey costumes worn by the anonymous protesters referred to the name of Brown's recent solo album Unfinished Monkey Business.

2009 - Pearl Jam went to No. 1 on the U.S. album chart with Backspacer, the group's ninth studio album.

2014 - Taylor Swift was named Billboard's Woman of the Year 2014, making her the first artist to receive the award twice. The award goes to the female artist who "has shaped and inspired the music industry with her success, leadership and innovation" over the last year.

Birthdays:

The jazz great Thelonious Monk was born today in 1917.

John Prine is 70 today.

David Lee Roth is 62.

Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.