The database currently contains 4349 historical events.
- The prominent Baroque composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber was born.
- Baroque composer Nicola Antonio Porpora was born.
- English composer Maurice Greene was born.
- Composer Antonio Salieri was born.
- French composer Francois de Paule Jacques Raymond de Fossa was born.
- German composer Heinrich August Marschner was born.
- Composer Josef Strauss was born.
- Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli was born.
- 138 singing teachers traveled to Boston, Massachusetts, to attend the first music convention.
- Composer Benjamin Louis Paul Godard was born.
- Composer and pianist Cécile Chaminade was born in Paris, France.
- Composer Achille-Claude Debussy was born.
- French composer Henri-Constant-Gabriel Pierné was born.
- Composer Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was born.
- Composer Reynaldo Hahn was born.
- English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born.
- Richard Wagner's complete Ring Cycle was performed at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
- Thomas Edison invented the phonograph and made the first sound recording.
- Composer John Ireland was born.
- Composer and violinist Clarence Cameron White was born in Clarksville, Tennessee.
- Composer Georges Enesco was born.
- Charles G. Conn obtained a patent for a metal clarinet.
- French composer Jacques Ibert was born.
- English poet and composer Ivor Gurney was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England.
- Composer Marie-Juliette Olga Lili Boulanger was born.
- Leon Theremin, inventor of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Russian inventor Leon Theremin was born in St. Petersburg. He became best known for inventing one of the first electronic musical instruments, the theremin.
- Scott Joplin signed a contract for a royalty of 1% on every copy sold of “The Maple Leaf Rag”, with a minimum selling price of 25 cents.
- Dwight Hamilton Baldwin, piano manufacturer of Baldwin Piano, died in Cincinnati, Ohio, at the age of 78.
- American singer and actress Helen Morgan, best known for her portrayal of Julie La Verne in the musical “Show Boat,” was born on August 2, 1900, in Danville, Illinois.
- Louis Armstrong, jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Composer and lyricist Ned Washington was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He wrote lyrics for the songs “Wild Is The Wind” and “Theme From The Unforgiven”.
- Ray Bloch, arranger and orchestra conductor best known in part for his work on The Ed Sullivan Show, was born in Alsace-Lorraine.
- Austrian musicologist Leopold Nowak was born.
- American jazz pianist, composer, organist and bandleader William James “Count” Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. He became famous as the founder and leader of the Count Basie Orchestra.
- American swing and jazz musician Ernie Fields was born in Nacogdoches, Texas. He grew up in Oklahoma and became known as the bandleader of the Royal Entertainers of Tulsa.
- American Delta blues singer, songwriter and guitarist Arthur „Big Boy“ Crudup was born in Forest, Mississippi. He became known for songs including „That's All Right (Mama)“ and „My Baby Left Me“; „That's All Right (Mama)“ was later made famous by Elvis Presley.
- The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, began manufacturing the Victrola, the first practical home phonograph with an “internal horn”. The hand-operated machine with a cabinet containing a built-in horn sold for $200, while records were purchased separately, usually for $1 to $7. Famous conductor John Philip Sousa warned about “canned music” and predicted that recordings would replace generations of amateur musicians.
- Greta Kraus, who later became a prominent Canadian harpsichordist, was born in Vienna.
- Folk music documentarian Roger Tory Peterson was born.
- Composer and arranger Hugo Winterhalter was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
- American trumpeter, bandleader and arranger Larry Clinton was born in Brooklyn, New York.