Good News in History, January 1

60 years ago today, Johnny Cash played a free concert for the inmates of San Quentin prison. In the audience was a 19-year-old guy named Merle Haggard, who was serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery. Haggard was released on parole the following year after joining the prison’s country band, inspired by Cash.

The singer–songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler went on to score 38 number-one hits on the country charts between the 1960s and the 80s. (1959)

MORE Good News on this Date:

The importation of slaves into the United States was banned (1808)
President Abraham Lincoln signed an Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in US Confederate rebel states and leading to new attitudes about slavery (1863)
The Commonwealth of Australia was formed (1901)
The United Nations Declaration was signed by 26 nations (1942)
Haiti became the first independent country in the West Indies (1804); Spanish rule ended in Cuba (1899); Italy…