CalendarZ

  1. Home
  2. On This Day
  3. August
  4. 5
  5. American Bandstand

Events on August 5 in history

1957Aug, 5

American Bandstand, a show dedicated to the teenage "baby-boomers" by playing the songs and showing popular dances of the time, debuts on the ABC television network.

American Bandstand, abbreviated AB, is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the program's producer. It featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run–D.M.C.—usually appeared in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles. Freddy Cannon holds the record for most appearances, at 110.

The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and British series Top of the Pops. Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.

References

Choose Another Date

Events on 1957

  • 9Jan

    Suez Crisis

    British Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden resigns from office following his failure to retake the Suez Canal from Egyptian sovereignty.
  • 8Mar

    Suez Crisis

    Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis.
  • 24Jun

    First Amendment to the United States Constitution

    In Roth v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment.
  • 6Jul

    Paul McCartney

    John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time, as teenagers at Woolton Fete, three years before forming the Beatles.
  • 24Sep

    101st Airborne Division

    President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.