Scott Joplin's first ragtime opera (he wrote two), "A Guest of Honor" (1903), is entirely lost to us. The plot revolved around Black educator Booker T. Washington's 1901 visit to the White House to dine with President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1900, the prominent music magazine, "The Etude," denounced ragtime as a "virulent poison" and "malarious epidemic" that was damaging the "brains of the youth to such an extent as to arouse one's suspicions of their sanity.”

Scientists recently examined eight strands of Ludwig van Beethoven’s hair, and found lead at more than 100 times the normal measure. Lead poisoning could explain his constant abdominal distress, irritability, and depression, and may have led to his death. A book has been published called "Beethoven's Hair" which describes the findings from this lock of hair.

Before he died in 1941, Polish prime minister and composer/pianist Ignacy Paderewski asked to be buried in the US until Poland became a free country. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery for 51 years. In June 1992, Paderewski’s body was returned to Poland - except for his heart, which, by his request, remains in the US inside a bronze monument at the Our Lady of Czestochowa shrine in Doylestown, PA.

In 1837, Clara Wieck (later Schumann) was the first person to play Beethoven’s sonatas for a concert audience.

Along with his books of exercises for pianists and organists, C.L. Hanon composed more serious music for all levels of advancement. His piano exercises are what made him famous, however, and he won a silver medal for them in 1878 at the Exposition Universelle. Editions of the work appeared in the USA and Russia in 1900, and today Hanon Exercises are available throughout the world. There are also adaptations available for guitar, accordion, and xylophone!

President Abraham Lincoln requested that the song "Dixie" be played when he received the news of General Lee's surrender on April 10, 1865.

"The St. Louis Blues" once served as the battle hymn of the Ethiopian army, and is also where a professional hockey team got its name.

Peter Carl Goldmark developed the first color television system to be used commercially in 1940. Goldmark also invented the 33 1/3 RPM long-playing phonograph record in 1948.

In 1877, Thomas Edison created a device that recorded sound on tin foil-covered cylinders. He called it a phonograph.

H. Ross Perot wanted to use Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” for his presidential campaign anthem in 1992, but found that Guthrie’s will prohibits the use of the song for political purposes.

A teacher in a suburban Chicago high school had an unusual new way to discipline unruly students. He forced them to listen to Frank Sinatra's recordings in detention!

Willie Nelson started playing guitar in local German and Czech polka bands when he was 10.

The Greek national anthem has 158 verses.

In 1800, New York had about fifty gainfully-employed musicians out of a total population of 60,000. Musicians generally worked at two trades, such as “Musician and Grocer” and “Musician and Hairdresser.”

The first artists to do a commercial stereo recording were The Dukes of Dixieland. The record was released in 1959 by Audio Fidelity. On the flip-side of the LP were stereo railroad sounds.

The only million-selling record featuring bagpipes was “Amazing Grace” recorded by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guard in 1972.

During the time of the American minstrel shows, white performers often blackened their faces. Grease paint was not introduced in the US until 1868, so the so-called “blackface comedians” covered their faces with ham fat before applying the blackening - usually burned cork. In time, the term “hamfat men” was applied to low-rate actors, and was eventually shortened to “ham.”