July 14th: On this day

1910
Born on this day in Christian County, Missouri, was Slim Wilson, singer, songwriter, bandleader, and radio and TV personality who was a cornerstone of country music in the Ozarks for more than 50 years. He died on July 15, 1990.

1912
Born on this day in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, was singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie. His best-known song is "This Land Is Your Land." Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress and many Country artists have acknowledged Guthrie as a major influence.

1920
Born on this day was American songwriter Marijohn Wilkin. She was famous in country music for writing a number of hits. Wilkin won numerous awards over the years and was referred to as "The Den Mother of Music Row." Wilkin may be most famous for "One Day at a Time", often considered the biggest gospel song of the 1970s. She wrote the song in 1973 with some assistance from Kris Kristofferson. She died on October 28, 2006.

1932
Born on this day in Sparta, North Carolina, was Del Reeves, singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of the Southern Bell". He is also known for his 1968 trucker's anthem, "Looking At The World Through A Windshield". Reeves died on January 1st 2007.

1942
Born on this day in Cleveland, Ohio, was Rory Bourke, songwriter. His songwriting career took off in the early 1970s and he soon racked up tracks recorded by Charlie Rich, Elvis Presley, Billy Crash Craddock, Lynn Anderson, Olivia Newton-John, and many others. His most successful song was "The Most Beautiful Girl", co-written with Billy Sherrill and Norro Wilson, Rourke's other hit songs include "A Little Good News," (Anne Murray), "You Look So Good in Love" (George Strait), "I Know a Heartache When I See One" (Jennifer Warnes), and "Come Next Monday" (K.T. Oslin).

1956
Elvis Presley started a two week run at #1 on the Country charts with "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You". In this year Elvis also scored 3 more #1's with "I Forgot To Remember To Forget", "Heartbreak Hotel", and "Don't Be Cruel", giving Elvis 26 weeks at the top of the charts in 1956.

1973
Billboard increased the number of positions for its Hot Country Singles chart to 100 (up from 75), which it would keep until January 1990. The expansion came at a time when the number of #1 songs in a given year continued to increase; for the first time in history, there are at least 35 #1 songs in one year.

1973
Bluegrass/country guitarist Clarence White (of The Byrds) died at 29 after being hit by a drunk driver. He was loading equipment into his car after a gig in Palmdale, California, when he was struck.

1975
Born on this day in Enterprise, Alabama, was Jamey Johnson, country music artist. His second album, That Lonesome Song produced two singles, the Top 10 hit "In Color" and "High Cost of Living."

1980
The combustible couple Glen Campbell and Tanya Tucker opened the Republican National Convention in Detroit with a duet of the National Anthem. Campbell later admitted they were "higher than the notes we were singing."

1981
$175,000 worth of sound equipment and instruments was stolen from Merle Haggard prior to a show in Houston. Most of the equipment was recovered the next day when the thief tried to sell it at a local pawn shop.

1990
Garth Brooks was at #1 on the US Country charts with, "The Dance". The song, written by Brooks' friend, Tony Arata, was a key track on his self-titled debut album Garth Brooks and is considered by many to be Brooks' signature song.

1992
Born on this day in Pittsburg, Texas was singer and songwriter Koe Wetzel. 'High Road' gave him a #1 County Airplay hit in 2025. The song was taken rom his sixth studio album 9 Lives

2002
Kenny Chesney's 7th album No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems was at #1 on the Country charts. It produced 5 chart singles between 2002 and 2003: "The Good Stuff" was the biggest hit of Chesney's career at the time, not only spending seven weeks at the top of the country charts, but also becoming Billboard's #1 country single of 2002.

2014
Dwight Yoakam begins appearing in a recurring role as a barber with a fanatical religious bent on CBS-TV's Under The Dome.

2020
What You See Is What You Get the second studio album by Luke Combs was at #1 on the Country album charts. Six singles from the album, "Beer Never Broke My Heart", "Even Though I'm Leaving", "Does to Me", "Lovin' on You", "Better Together", and "Forever After All", reached #1 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.