Just a small tube with foil wrapped ’round
Was used first for recording a sound
Then came records; then tapes
CD’s did our way traipse
Nowadays, data’s how music’s bound

Event: Thomas Edison first demonstrates his phonograph
Year: 1877
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonograph

By his enemies, Edward was feared
But his sailors, they say, volunteered
To go lie, cheat, and rob
‘Til a hero named Bob
Brought an end to the mighty Blackbeard

Event: Lieutenant Robert Maynard kills the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard
Year: 1718
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard

“I am tired of all these lampoons
I discovered a number of moons!
Plus I found infrared
But when that planet’s said
You all laugh like a gaggle of loons”

Event: Birth of William Herschel, who discovered Uranus (tee-hee!)
Year: 1738
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Herschel

Not the the first to observe, or appraise
But the first to submit–that’s what stays
Others may have a claim
But Will gave them a name
And some even called them “Röntgen Rays”

Event: Wilhelm Röntgen stumbles upon and begins to study what he would later name X-rays
Year: 1895
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray#Discovery

King George summoned his p’litical champs
“All these protests are giving me cramps!
This colonial fad
Will be driving me mad!
What on earth could they have against stamps?”

Event: Enactment of the Stamp Act
Year: 1765
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamp_Act_1765

Henry said, “You can hold up your chin
Ever after, if we this fight win
They’ve got great cavalry
But we happy few, we
Will be victors, this day of Crispin!”

Event: Henry V’s English longbowmen defeat a larger French force in the Battle of Agincourt
Year: 1415
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Agincourt

Starting out as a playing card co.
They tried numerous ways to make dough
But the key to their fame
Was a new kind of game
Else we’d never have heard: “Nintendo”

Event: The Nintendo Entertainment System (Japanese: Famicom) is released in North America
Year: 1985
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System

Sean and Alex’s ongoing fight
Tina Fey can see Russia, alright
John wields his nihontō
Mr. Bill cries, “Oh no!”
Live from New York: it’s Saturday Night!

Event: Saturday Night Live premieres on NBC
Year: 1975
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_Live
See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihonto

When you say, “This Day,” what does that mean?
Such uncertainty’s nearly obscene
How did they name the date?
How can we keep them straight?
Seems we will e’er be caught in between

Event: Pope Gregory XIII implements the Gregorian Calendar. Thursday, October 4 was the last day under the Julian Calendar (the next day was Friday, October 15).
Year: 1582
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_Calendar

Everywhere you go, you hear BEEP BEEP
Massive highways across the land sweep
Benz invented the car
More important, by far
Was ol’ Henry Ford: he made it cheap

Event: The first Model T rolls out of the Ford plant in Detroit, Michigan
Year: 1908
Learn more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T