Technology

The first safety elevator (i.e. one in which the elevator will not fall if the cable breaks) is installed at 488 Broadway in New York City, USA. Such elevators have inspired many songwriters to compose songs, including Love In An Elevator (1989) by Aerosmith, Elevators by Outkast (1996), Life's An Elevator by T. Rex (1976) and Elevator by Grapefruit (1968).

Thomas Edison is granted patent No. 423,029 in connection with his invention of a phonograph for dolls or other toys.

Thomas Edison applies for patent No. 484,583 in connection with his invention of a phonograph cutting tool.

Albert Leech of Arlington, New Jersey, USA, files a patent application for his invention of an improved type of whistle which, he claims, will "improve the tone quality and convert a single-tone whistle into an instrument having a range of two or more octaves, and, furthermore, to construct the same so that it may be mastered by unskilled persons, without practice, to reproduce any familiar air or melody".

The first West-East transatlantic radio transmission takes place between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Poldhu, Cornwall, England, UK, Europe, at a frequency around 182 kHz.

Topsy, a 28-year-old elephant belonging to The Forepaugh Circus at Luna Park, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, USA, is executed by electrocution because she has killed three men in as many years, including an abusive trainer who attempted to feed her a lit cigarette. Inventor Thomas Edison organised, supervised and filmed the exceution, as a demonstration of the effectiveness of his direct current electric system. Topsy's tragic story will inspire several songs, including The Kid Who Collected Crimes! by The Residents [2006], Persist by All India Radio [2009], Coney Island Funeral by Pinataland .

Joseph Wieser of Brooklyn, New York City, USA, is granted Patent No.US719926A for his invention of a pedal mechanism for self-playing attachments for pianos.

U.S. Patent Application No. 730,565, filed by J.D. Philipps, is granted. The patent relates to a new type of Pneumatic Action for Musical Instruments such as the Wurlitzer Style 17 PianOrchestra.

David Sarnoff, manager of the Wireless Station of the Wanamaker Department Store in New York City, USA, writes to Edward J. Nally, general manager of the American Marconi company, telling him, "I have in mind a plan of development that would make radio a 'household utility' in the same sense as the piano or phonograph. The idea is to bring music into the house by wireless." It would be another six years before Sarnoff would see his vision begin to be realised.

The stage play R.U.R. [Rossum's Universal Robots], written by Karel Capek, has its first performance, a production by the amateur theatrical society Klicpera in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, Europe. The play is memorable mostly because it marks the first time the word robot is ever used, having been coined by Capek's brother Josef. The word catches on and will inspire others writers, film-makers and song-writers. Memorable songs inspired by robots include Robot Man by Connie Francis [1960], The Robots by Kraftwerk [1978], Are Friends Electric by Gary Numan[1979].

Société des Phonographes Automatiques Bussoz Frères & de Vère in Paris, France, applies for a patent for a coin-operated phonograph known as a Bussophone.

George Eisenberg of Brooklyn, New York, USA, files patent application Serial No. 351,874. with the US Patent office for an electrical amplification device to be fitted to a violin, "so that the resultant volume is equal to that of several stringed instruments instead of to one".

Vocalist Helen Humes, with Pete Brown and his Band, including Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet, records Gonna Buy Me A Telephone for Decca Records in New York City, USA.

Jimmy Murphy records Electricity, Mother Where Is Your Daughter, Big Mama Blues and We Live A Long Long Time, at Brown Radio Productions, 240 1/2 4th Avenue North, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

Mockin' Bird Hill by Les Paul And Mary Ford is the current No1 single in the UK.

A US patent is granted to Leo Fender for his "new, original and ornamental design for a guitar", which is essentially his electric Spanish guitar model The Telecaster.

RCA engineer Herbert Belar and his boss Harry F. Olson demonstrate one of the first experimental models of an electronic music synthesiser to RCA officials in New York City, USA, having it perform renditions of Home Sweet Home and Blue Skies.

C.E. Wetzler of Long Island, New York City, USA, is granted US Patent No.2,595,316 for his invention of a new and improved type of reed-operated musical instrument, such as a harmonica, offering improved tonal quality and increased loudness.

Billboard magazine in the USA reviews a new novelty release, There's A New Sound by Tony Burrello, declaring it to be "a studied attempt to be as screwy as possible." The track is an example of early experimentation with new recording techniques such as reversing, speeding up and slowing down of tapes, sometimes called 'noise and sound' recordings.

The Elektrons, with The Bird Electric Organ, play at McIlroy's Ballroom, Swindon, Wiltshire, England, UK, Europe.

The 2000 Pound Bee by The Ventures on Dolton Records becomes the first song ever using a fuzztone device on the guitar to enter the Billboard Singles Chart in the USA.

Bill Evans records Round Midnight, How About You?, Stella By Starlight, Hey There and other tracks for his Verve Records LP Conversations With Myself, in New York City, USA. The album uses what was then a controversial method of recording, by overdubbing three different yet corresponding piano tracks for each song.

A new medium for audio storage, the Compact Cassette, is introduced by Philips at the Berlin Radio Show, Berlin, Germany, Europe.

Music trade magaine Cashbox in the USA reveals that Columbia Records is planning to release 34 albums in October, of which 14 are to be pop LPS, 8 re-channeled for stereo, two Latin American and 10 Masterworks. The pop albums will include The Andy Williams Christmas Album, Christmas With The New Christy Minstrels, Return Of The Gunfighter by Marty Robbins and Misty Guitar by Harold Bradley.

John Lennon of The Beatles has his first opportunity to try out a new musical instrument, a Mellotron, at IBC Studios, Portland Place, London, UK. Highly impressed, he declares, 'I must have one of these.'

Kenny Rogers And The First Edition play at Lamar State College Of Technology, Beaumont, Texas, USA.

From this date, Atlantic Records in the USA stops accepting returns of monaural discs from dealers. They had ceased production of mono records several months earlier.

Guitarist Robert Fripp performs a live Frippertronics concert at The Kitchen, New York City, USA.

Chris Wright, Chairman of the British Phonographic Industry, predicts that cassettes hold the future for the music industry.

An estimated 35m people worldwide watch a live satellite transmission of a Rod Stewart concert at The Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA, with Tina Turner and Kim Carnes. It is the first broadcast of its kind since Elvis Presley's Aloha from Hawaii special in 1973.

Linda Ronstadt's concert at Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas, USA, is broadcast live by satellite on NBC's The Source radio network.

Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, rules that rapper Biz Markie had breached copyright by using a sample from the Gilbert O'Sullivan song Alone Again Naturally in his song I Need A Haircut. As a result, the sound of hip-hop music is forced to change. Records including several samples are no longer possible because every sample must to be cleared to avoid legal action.

Vocalist Marky Chavez of Adema attends the launch of the videogame Mortal Kombat - Deadly Alliance in New York City, USA. Adema have provided the title track for the game.

After the entire album has been leaked online, rapper Eminem rush-releases his new album, Encore. Within two days it will sell over 700,000 copies.

When The Decemberists play at The TLA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, the show is recorded and is released as an 'Instant Live' live LP, available at the venue immediately after the show.

The UK's Official Charts Company agrees to let free downloads of the new Elton John single Electricity count towards its chart position. Every entrant to an Elton John competition had received a PIN number giving access to a free download of the song. The decision will embroil Sir Elton in a storm of protest from many who feel the freebies are an unethical strategy for hyping a song into the charts.

It is announced that a newly-discovered species of tropical plant has been named the Green Day moon-gentian in honour of the pop-punk band Green Day.

It is reported that former AC/DC vocalist Broan Johnson is hopeful that new in-ear technology will enable him to return to live performing.

Miley Cyrus posts a photograph on Instagram of herself kissing Liam Hemsworth to welcome in the New Year. It will quickly reach over 2m likes on Instagram, making it her most liked picture ever.

An obsessive Miley Cyrus fan from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, is taken into police custody in Los Angeles, California, after having written disturbing Facebook posts about the singer, stating that he knew her address and how to get into her property and couldn't wait to finally be together with her. He had travelled from Milwaukee to Los Angeles in search of Miley.

Wiley begins a Twitter feud with Stormzy by posting the following message, "I’m old but you was tryna work with jay z who Ed brought in the room Cos if it wasn’t for Ed that session would not of happened lol your not with us your with them #Pagan I am 10 years younger than jay z and I will merc you everyday of the week #YourEasy #TooEasy (sic).” The message is a criticism of Stormzy for having bteamed up with Ed Sheeran on their recent track Own It.

It is reported in Science magazine that scientists at MIT have translated the structure of the famous Coronavirus spike protein into music, so that it is possible to 'hear' what the virus might sound like. The resulting piece of music is an audible representation of the amino acid sequence and structure of the spike protein of the pathogen of COVID-19, 2019-nCoV.