“Texarkana Baby” by Eddy Arnold (above) was the world’s first commercially
released 45 RPM record in 1949. At first each genre of music had it’s own
color of vinyl, Popular releases on standard black, Country were on green,
Children’s records were on yellow, R&B and Gospel were released on
orange vinyl and Classical singles used red vinyl. Eventually, RCA
soon ended it’s colored vinyl lines due to the production cost.

The Kit-Cat clock was born in Portland, Oregon in the 1930s, during
the Great Depression. While it’s had some minor modifications over
the years, it’s pretty much the same clock today. 

Lee Arnold Petty (March 14, 1914 – April 5, 2000)

The 1959 First Annual 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes at Daytona,
(now known as the inaugural Daytona 500) was the second race of the 1959
NASCAR Grand National (now Sprint Cup) season. It was held on February 22,
1959, in front of 41,921 spectators. It was the first race held at the 2.5-mile 
Daytona International Speedway. The race lasted 3:41:22, with an average
speed of 135.521 mph. In the end, with the help of photographs and newsreel
footage, Lee Petty, father of racing legend Richard Petty, was officially declared
the winner.

Johnny Beauchamp, front, and Lee Petty were neck and neck on the final
lap of the inaugural Daytona 500.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) –  Elvis Presley was born 80 years ago today and
eighteen years after his birth, in 1953, Presley walked into Sun Records
in Memphis and recorded the song "My Happiness” for $4. The 78 RPM 
acetate record was his first recording, a gift for his mother Gladys. 

But, as the story goes, Presley stopped by a friend’s house to listen to the
recording and left it there. The Presley family did not have a record player,
according to Elvis Presley Enterprises, which operates Graceland.

The record has remained in his friend’s safe for decades and today, it will
be auctioned off at Graceland, the late singer’s longtime Memphis home,
along with other Presley-related memorabilia on what would have been
‘the King’s’ 80th birthday. The acetate is in original condition and it is
playable.

                           
                             Elvis Presley at eighteen

.

The comic strip Dick Tracy made its debut in the Detroit Mirror on
Sunday, October 4, 1931 as Plainclothes Tracy. It was created by
Chester Gould who wrote and drew the popular strip until 1977.

Cartoonist Chester Gould (November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985)