On July 12, as an angry reaction to the popularity of disco music, the Chicago White Sox held the “Disco Demolition Night” promotion, in which a crate of disco records was blown up on the field between games of a double-header; the ensuing riot and damage to the field caused the White Sox to forfeit the second game.

On this date

1862: During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill authorizing the Army Medal of Honor.

1962: The Rolling Stones played their first show, at the Marquee Club in London.

1967: Rioting erupted in Newark, New Jersey, over the police beating of a Black taxi driver; 26 people were killed in the five days of violence that followed.

1994: President Bill Clinton, visiting Germany, went to the eastern sector of Berlin, the first U.S. president to do so since Harry Truman.

2022: Twitter sued Elon Musk to force him to complete the $44 billion acquisition of the social media company after Musk said he was backing off his agreement to buy the company. (He would eventually become Twitter’s owner three months later.)

Today’s birthdays

Writer Delia Ephron is 81. Singer Walter Egan is 77. Writer-producer Brian Grazer is 74. Actor Cheryl Ladd is 74. Actor Mel Harris is 69. Boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez is 63. Rock singer Robin Wilson (Gin Blossoms) is 60. Actor Lisa Nicole Carson is 56. Olympic gold medal figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi is 54. Actor Anna Friel is 49. R&B singer Tracie Spencer is 49. Actor Topher Grace is 47. Actor Michelle Rodriguez is 47. Country singer-musician Kimberly Perry (The Band Perry) is 42. Actor Natalie Martinez is 41.