Historical eventFebruary 31959

Rock and roll

American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash (wreckage pictured) shortly after takeoff from Mason City Municipal Airport in Iowa.

Everything on February 3Original source

In context

When
Tuesday, February 3 195967 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1950s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1949.

Type: music genre.

What happened

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. The origins of rock and roll are rooted in a blending of African-American musical genres, mainly rhythm and blues, with stylistic influences from gospel, jazz, boogie-woogie, electric blues, jump blues, swing, and folk music. While rock and roll's early elements can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until 1954.

February 3 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1959Rock and roll
  2. 19981998 Cavalese cable car crash
  3. 1998Commutation (law)
  4. 2005Kam Air Flight 904
  5. 2006Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen
  6. 2007February 2007 Al-Saydiya market bombing
  7. 2010L'Homme qui marche I
  8. 20142014 Moscow school shooting
  9. 2014School shooting
  10. 2023East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment
  11. 20262026 Kwara State attacks

Also in 1959

  • September 13Luna 2The Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 (model pictured) struck the Moon, the first spacecraft to reach another celestial body.
  • September 15Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev becomes the first Soviet leader to visit the United States.
  • June 14Disneyland MonorailDisneyland Monorail System, the first daily operating monorail system in the Western Hemisphere, opens to the public in Anaheim, California.
  • August 17Miles DavisAmerican musician Miles Davis released Kind of Blue, which became one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed jazz recordings o…
  • November 21Disc jockeyAmerican disc jockey Alan Freed (pictured), who popularized the term rock and roll, was fired from WABC-AM for his role in the payola sca…
  • November 16The Sound of MusicThe Sound of Music, a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein based on The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, opened on Broadway at the Lunt-F…
  • November 16National Airlines Flight 967National Airlines Flight 967 explodes in mid-air over the Gulf of Mexico, killing all 42 aboard.
  • March 181959 Tibetan uprisingTibetan uprising: After the 14th Dalai Lama sought refuge at Sera Monastery in Lhasa, Tibet, Chinese forces bombarded the monastery, infl…

Everything we record for 1959 →

Sources

Cite this page

“Rock and roll”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/rock-and-roll-1959-february-3, accessed October 24, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did Rock and roll happen?

February 3 1959 — 67 years ago, on a Tuesday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

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