Indie

Early in the morning, the liner RMS Titanic, believed to be unsinkable, sinks in The Atlantic Ocean, with the loss of over 1,500 lives. The 1932 song Titanic Blues by blues musicians Hi Henry Brown and Charley Jordan will be inspired by the disaster. Other topical songs on the same theme are The Titanic by Ernest V. Stoneman and The Last Scene Of The Titanic by Frank Hutchison. The 1989 song Rest In Pieces (April 15 1912) by San Francisco band Metal Church is also about the sinking of The Titanic.

Katherine Farthing is born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies, Caribbean. She will find international success as Katie of the pop duo Mac And Katie Kissoon.

Ray Charles appeared in The Dinah Shore Show on tv in the USA, along with Liberace, Peter Nero and Big Tiny Little. The contemporary black press will focus on the $15,000 fee Ray earns for the appearance, but the white press the day after the show will highlight the fact that Dinah Shore, a white performer, had put her hand on black star Ray Charles' shoulder during his performance.

Newly appointed as the house band, The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo plays in The Jazz Lounge, Club A-Gogo, Percy Street, Haymarket, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK, Europe. The group will find greater success when it evolves to become The Animals.

House band, The Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo is playing in The Jazz Lounge, Club A-Gogo, Percy Street, Haymarket, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK, Europe. On the same day they also appear at The New Orleans Club and The Downbeat Club, both in Newcastle. The group will find greater success when it evolves to become The Animals.

Antoinette Halliday is born in Parson's Green, London, UK. She will find success as singer Toni Halliday of 80s alternative rock band Curve.

Kimmo Pohjonen is born in Finland, Europe. he will find international acclaim by revolutionizing accordion sounds and performance with his custom-made electrified and modified instrument.

Controversial stand-up comedian Lenny Bruce is injured when he falls, stark naked, forty feet from a window in the Swiss American Hotel, 534 Broadway, San Francisco, California, USA. Ambulance attendants tape his mouth shut after he shouts obscenities at them. The Great Society (with vocalist Grace Slick) will record the song Father Bruce about this incident, and other aspects of Bruce's outrageous life and career.

John Lennon of The Beatles and his wife Cynthia attend a party thrown by EMI staff producer and songwriter Norman Newell in 40 Montague Mansions, London, England, UK, Europe. Meanwhile, Paul McCartney, Jane Asher, George Harrison and Pattie Boyd welcome in 1966 at a New Year's Eve party hosted by EMI executives in London.

The Easybeats, The Herd and The Alan Bown play on the BBC radio show Easy Beat in London, England, UK, Europe.

Singer-songwriter Peter Sarstedt releases a new single, Frozen Orange Juice, in the UK, Europe. On the same day he appears on UK tv show Scene South east.

In Chicago, Illinois, USA, photographer and landlord Nathan Lerner discovers a huge trove of writings and illustrations by his tenant, a hospital janitor named Henry Darger, who dies later the same day. Darger's fantastical and mysterious works will inspire numerous musicians to write songs about him, including The Ballad Of Henry Darger by Natalie Merchant, Vivian Girls by the band Wussy, The Vivian Girls Are Visited in the Night by Saint Dargarius and His Squadron of Benevolent Butterflies by Sufjan Stevens, Segue: In the Realms of the Unreal by ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, The Vivian Girls [1979] by Snakefinger, Vivian Girls by Fucked Up, Lost Girls by Tilly And The Wall, Henry D. by Peter And The Wolf, Vivian Girls by Walker Kong and Just Like Henry Darger [2012] by Get Well Soon. There is also an all-girl indie/punk trio from Brooklyn called The Vivian Girls.

Leon Rene dies aged 80 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He found success as a songwriter during the 30s, 40s and 50s, composing When the Swallows Come Back To Capistrano, Rockin' Robin and When It's Sleepy Time Down South. he also founded and ran several independent record labels.

The Smiths' British tour plays at Loughborough University, Loughborough, England, UK, Europe.

The Smiths play at The Ulster Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK, Europe.

The Fall play at The Hexagon, Reading, England, UK, Europe.

Ride play at Brixton Academy, London, UK.

Sleater-Kinney play at First Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

The Perishers release a new album, Teepee, in the UK on Head Records.

The second day of the first Osheaga Festival takes place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with Ben Harper And The Innocent Criminals, Islands, Wolf Parade, G. Love And Special Sauce and Damian Marley.

A new tv rock biography, Worried About The Boy, is broadcast on BBC2 tv in the UK, documenting the career of Boy George and Culture Club. The film also includes appearances by actors in the roles of David Bowie, Billy idol, Spandau Ballet and Midge Ure.

The Flaming Lips, The Tragically Hip, Eels, Beirut, Cypress Hill, Death Cab For Cutie, Malajube, The Low Anthem and Ellie Goulding play at The Osheaga Festival in Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Dennis Flemion, who was a member of Chicago band The Smashing Pumpkins from 1996 to 1997, drowns, aged 57, in Wind Lake, Racine County, Wisconsin, USA. Flemion was also noted as a founder member of controversial independent rock band The Frogs.

Ed Sheeran plays at The Showbox SoDo, Seattle, Washington, USA.

Franz Ferdinand release their fourth studio album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, on Domino Records in the UK.

Shy Nature play at Nice And Sleazys, Glasgow, Scotland.

Elbow release a music video for their song My Sad Captains.

Elbow play at The Fox Theater, Oakland, California, USA.

Moulettes release their third album, Constellations, on Navigator Records in the UK.

The Vans Warped Tour '14, featuring Enter Shikari, Air Dubai, Anberlin, Less Than Jake, Bowling For Soup, Attila, Antiserum, A Skylit Drive, Bayside, Bad Rabbits, Cute Is What We Aim For, Echosmith and others plays at Canterbury Park, Shakopee, Minnesota, USA.

Hundred Waters play at The Independent, San Francisco, California, USA.

Arcade Fire and Devo play at The United Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Barcelona, The Young Wild and Verre play at The Troubadour, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Big Thief play at Elsewhere, Brooklyn, New York City, USA.

Seafret play at Plaza, Zurich, Switzerland, Europe.

Seafret play at Club Academy, Manchester, England, UK, Europe.

Seafret play at SWX, Bristol, England, UK, Europe.

Touring in support of their album Skin Suit, The Bobby Lees play a socially-distanced/masks mandatory gig at The Outer Limits Lounge, Detroit, Michigan, USA.