History Highlight:

Today in 1952, Paul Stanley was born. Best known for being the rhythm guitarist and singer of Kiss, Stanley co-wrote many of the band's hits, and adopted The Starchild character for his Kiss persona. Kiss has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

Also, Today In:

1964 - The Beatles' debut U.S. album, Meet The Beatles, was released.

1965 - The Rolling Stones and The Kinks made their first appearance on ABC-TV's "Shindig!".

1968 - Despite his supposed falling out with the New York-Cambridge folk singer circle, Bob Dylan joined Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Odetta, Richie Havens, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and The Band in commemorating the late Woody Guthrie.

1969 - Bruce Springsteen had two of his poems published in the Ocean County College Literary Yearbook Seascapes. Springsteen was in his second semester at the Toms River, New Jersey College.

1979 - Eric Clapton peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart with "Promises" which was Clapton's third top ten single as a solo artist in the U.S.

1980 - Pink Floyd's The Wall began a 15-week run as the No. 1 album on the U.S album chart.

1982 - Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off a bat during a concert at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Des Moines, IA. Osbourne thought it was a rubber bat, so he bit its head off and was taken to a hospital after the concert to undergo a rabies injection.

1983 - Def Leppard released their third album Pyromania which went on to reach No. 2 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart and sell ten million copies in the U.S.

1986 - Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder performed together at a concert in Washington, D.C. commemorating the first Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S.

1988 - The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and The Supremes were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

1994 - Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream was No. 20 on the Billboard album chart. It would go on to sell four million copies.

1997 - Ben and Jerry's introduced 'Phish food', a new flavor of ice cream named after the rock group Phish. The ingredients were chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge.

2000 - Tourism chiefs in Liverpool were banned from putting up motorway signs saying "Liverpool, the Birthplace of The Beatles" because the Highways Agency thought the signs would distract drivers.

2002 - George Harrison had the posthumous U.K. No. 1 single with the re-release of the 1971 former No. 1 "My Sweet Lord".

2006 - American music executive Johnny Bienstock died of complications from heart disease at age 83. Bienstock owned Moss Rose Music, worked with Ernest Tubb, Hank Snow, Elvis Presley, The Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Del Shannon and Meat Loaf.

2012 - Etta James, most often remembered for her signature song "At Last" which reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart, died from complications of leukemia at the age of 73. She also placed nine other songs in the American Top 40, won three Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Birthdays:

Leadbelly (Huddi William Ledbetter), blues musician, who wrote "Goodnight Irene", "The Rock Island Line", and '"The Midnight Special" was born today in 1889.

Ron Townson of The 5th Dimension was born today in 1933.

Billy Powell, singer from The O'Jays, ("Love Train") was born today in 1942.

Ian Hill, bassist for Judas Priest, is 66.

Gary Barlow of Take That is 46.

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