According to the AP, on February 1:
- In 1950, RCA introduced the 45 RPM record player.
- In 1954, Big Joe Turner recorded "Shake, Rattle and Roll."
- In 1964, the governor of Indiana declared the song "Louie, Louie" by The Kingsmen to be pornographic, even though the average listener wasn't able to decipher the lyrics. The governor asked a state broadcasters' association to ban the record.
- In 1965, James Brown recorded "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- In 1968, Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie, was born.
- In 1978, the Bob Dylan film "Renaldo and Clara" premiered in Los Angeles. It mainly was a documentary of Dylan's "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour.
- In 1982, "Late Night with David Letterman" premiered on NBC.
- In 1986, Diana Ross married Arne Naess in Geneva, Switzerland. They later split up.
- In 1988, The Cars announced their breakup.
- In 1993, TV personality Regis Philbin returned to his morning talk show after undergoing heart surgery to have a blocked artery cleared.
- In 2004, Justin Timberlake ripped Janet Jackson's top during the Super Bowl halftime show and exposed her breast. During that same show, Kid Rock wrapped himself in a poncho made of an American flag.
Today's birthdays:
- Actor Stuart Whitman is 85.
- Actor-comedian Garrett Morris is 76.
- Singer Don Everly of The Everly Brothers is 76.
- Singer Ray Sawyer of Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show is 76.
- Jazz pianist Joe Sample is 74.
- Bluegrass singer Del McCoury is 74.
- Actor-writer-director Terry Jones (Monty Python) is 71.
- Guitarist Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is 63.
- Actor-writer-producer Billy Mumy ("Lost in Space") is 59.
- Singer Exene Cervenka of X is 57.
- Keyboardist Dwayne Dupuy of Ricochet is 48.
- Actress Sherilyn Fenn is 48.
- Singer Lisa Marie Presley is 45.
- Comedian Pauly Shore is 45.
- Drummer Patrick Wilson of Weezer is 44.
- Actor Michael C. Hall ("Dexter," ''Six Feet Under") is 42.
- Rapper Big Boi of Outkast is 38.
- Singer Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT is 30.
- TV personality Lauren Conrad ("The Hills," ''Laguna Beach") is 27.
- Singer Harry Styles of One Direction is 19.
