1951
Hank Williams made his first national TV appearance, on CBS-TV's The Perry Como Show, performing "Hey, Good Lookin'". The following week, Perry Como opened his show by doing his own version of "Hey Good Lookin'" and then apologized to Hank for doing so.

1957
Born on this day in Bronxville, New York, was Gretchen Peters, singer and songwriter. She moved to Nashville in the late 1980s and there, she found work as a songwriter, composing hits for Martina McBride, Etta James, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, George Strait, Anne Murray and others. Peters has released studio albums of her own, the title track of her 1996 debut album The Secret of Life was recorded by Faith Hill in 1999.

1964
Born on this day in Statesville, North Carolina, was Rockie Lynne country music artist. His self-titled debut album released in 2006 produced three singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, including the top 30 hit "Lipstick".

1966
Loretta Lynn was at #1 on the US Country chart with You Ain't Woman Enough. The lead single, and title track became Lynn's biggest hit up to that point peaking at #2. Martina McBride covered the song for her 2005 album Timeless.

1970
Merle Haggard was at #1 on the country music album chart with The Fightin' Side of Me. The title track (like the song "Okie from Muskogee") became a success and gave Haggard a #1 hit single.

1972
Born on this day in Franklin, Tennessee, was Will Hoge, a Grammy nominated American singer, songwriter and musician. Hoge co-wrote "Even If It Breaks Your Heart" the #1 hit for the Eli Young Band.

1996
Mel McDaniel had a near-fatal fall into an orchestra pit while he was performing at the Heymann Performing Arts Center in Lafayette, Louisiana. The accident ended his touring career and he underwent several surgeries thereafter. He scored the 1985 #1 "Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On".

2001
CBS-TV aired Garth Brooks: Coast To Coast Live from the Los Angeles' Great Western Forum. This was the first of three consecutive Wednesday-night concert specials, the show also featured Keb' Mo' and Trisha Yearwood. Brooks would see his latest album Scarecrow top the Country charts the following month.

2009
Taylor Swift set a record for the most songs on the Billboard Hot 100 by a female artist at the same time with eight singles from the re-release of her 2008 album Fearless.

2016
Country music artist Holly Dunn died of ovarian cancer aged 59. She first found fame with her 1986 Top-10 hit "Daddy's Hands" from her self-titled debut album. Dunn charted more than a dozen country singles, two of which ("Are You Ever Gonna Love Me", "You Really Had Me Going") reaching the #1 spot.

2017
Blake Shelton became the first country artist to be named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive, and is the second musician to receive the honor (the first being fellow The Voice coach Adam Levine.

2018
The 52nd Annual Country Music Association Awards were held at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, hosted for the eleventh and final time by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood. Winners included: Chris Stapleton who won Male Vocalist of the Year, Song of The Year and Single of the Year for "Broken Halos". Album of the Year went to Kacey Musgraves for Golden Hour. Keith Urban won Entertainer of the Year, Carrie Underwood won Female Vocalist of the Year, Old Dominion won Vocal Group of the Year and Brothers Osborne won Vocal Duo of the Year. Music Video of the Year went to Thomas Rhett for "Marry Me" and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" by David Lee Murphy and Kenny Chesney won Musical Event of the Year.