Thursday, April 10

° Emerson, Lake and Palmer is formed on this date in 1970.

° Nat "King" Cole is beaten while onstage at a show in Birmingham, Ala., in 1956 by admitted white supremacists.

° James Brown is declared "South Carolina's Godfather of Soul" by the state's governor in 2002.

° Teen heartthrob Ricky Nelson sings cuts from his first record on his parents' TV show on ABC in 1957.

° Bobby Darin records "Splish Splash" in 1958.

Friday, April 11

° Elton John sings at the funeral of AIDS victim and activist Ryan White on this date in 1990.

° Cher receives the Best Actress Academy Award for her role in "Moonstruck" in 1988.

° Bob Dylan makes his New York City concert debut at Gerdes' Folk City in Greenwich Village on this date in 1961.

° Ringo Starr guests on "The Simpsons" in 1991.

Saturday, April 12

° The Four Tops sing at Aretha Franklin's wedding on this date in 1978.

° Jan Barry of Jan and Dean crashes his car on the fabled "Dead Man's Curve" in 1966, which is the same stretch of road the duo had written a hit song about.

° Sonny Bono is elected mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., on this date in 1988.

° "Louie Louie Day" is held in Olympia, Wash., in 1984. The occasion was marked as an attempt to get the song enlisted as the state's official song.

° Stevie Wonder appears on PBS's "Sesame Street" on this date in 1973.

° Bill Haley records "Rock Around The Clock" in 1954.