1952: What many consider the very first rock & roll concert took place on this day in Cleveland. Legendary DJ Alan Freed stages his Moondog Coronation Ball at the Cleveland Arena. Billy Ward and the Dominoes, Tiny Grimes, and Paul Williams and the Hucklebuckers are the featured attractions.
1957: Elvis Presley closes a huge real estate deal on this day when he purchases the Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He paid $102,500 for the 13-acre estate.
The land was originally purchased by Stephen Toof, owner of a successful printing firm, in the late 19th Century. Toof named the grounds Graceland Farms, after his daughter Grace. The mansion was built in 1939 by Grace’s niece, Ruth Moore and her husband, Dr. Thomas Moore.
Today, it is an Elvis museum that draws more than 600,000 visitors a year, second only to the White House.