| Date |
Event in Ryman History |
Event in American History |
| 1885 |
May 10
Nashville riverboat Captain Thomas Green Ryman (born Oct 12, 1841) is converted by southern evangelist Samuel Porter Jones and decides to build a tabernacle to serve the city's revivals. |
February 18
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is first published. |
June 19
The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York City from France. |
| 1887 |
Architect Hugh C. Thompson is hired to work from Ryman's first sketches of the building. |
March 3
Anne Mansfield Sullivan arrives at the Alabama home of Captain and Mrs. Arthur H. Keller to become the teacher of Helen, their blind and deaf 6-year-old daughter. |
| 1889 |
February 25
A Charter of Incorporation is filed for the creation of the Union Gospel Tabernacle (later to be renamed the Ryman Auditorium). |
February 22
President Cleveland approves statehood for Montana, Washington, North Dakota, and South Dakota. |
| 1890 |
May
The first revival is held within the walls of the yet unfinished Union Gospel Tabernacle. Canvas is used to cover the opening in the roof. |
July 29
Artist Vincent van Gogh dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France, while painting "Wheatfield with Crows." |
| 1892 |
The Union Gospel Tabernacle is completed. The Indiana Church Finishing Company supplies the pews, which remain to this day, at an original cost of $2700. The original seating capacity was 3,755 persons. |
January 1
Ellis Island becomes an immigration receiving station. |
| 1893 |
April 5
Lieutenant Robert Peary lectures on Arctic Exploration. |
June 21
Engineer George Washington Gale Ferris constructs a 254-foot high revolving steel wheel, complete with plush chairs for passengers, for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. |
May
New York Symphony orchestra performs. |
November 7
Colorado voters declare statewide voting rights for women. |
| 1894 |
January 21 - February 11
Rev. Sam Jones holds a revival at the Ryman. |
June 28
Labor Day becomes a national holiday. |
| 1895 |
October 13
Rev. Sam Q. Small, lectures on "The Scarlet Woman" in an afternoon lecture for men only. |
February 8
President Grover Cleveland and banker J.P. Morgan negotiate an arrangement that solves the crisis of low federal gold reserves. |
| 1896 |
February 13
Rev. Dwight L. Moody holds his revival. |
April 6
Athens, Greece hosts the first Olympic Games of the modern era. |
| 1897 |
February
Commencement exercises of Meharry Medical College take place on stage. |
March 4
William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th U.S. President. |
March 10
William Jennings Bryan, lecturer and perennial presidential candidate, speaks. |
June 16
Hawaii and the U.S. agree to terms of Annexation, setting in motion the acquisition of Hawaii by the United States. |
June22
The Confederate Gallery is constructed for the Confederate Veterans Association reunion, increasing the seating capacity of the auditorium to 6,000. |
Tennessee celebrates its Centennial. |
| 1898 |
February 3-4
The Chicago Orchestra performs. |
February 15
The U.S. battleship MAINE is sunk in a Cuban Harbor sparking the beginning of the Spanish-American War. |
| 1899 |
February 20-21
"Jim Key" the famous "educated" horse performs. |
February 6
The Treaty of Paris is approved, ending the Spanish-American War. |
| Construction on the Ryman Auditorium is completed, for a total cost of $100,000. |
February 14
Congress approves the use of voting machines in Federal elections. |
| 1900 |
December 6
Edward Strauss and the Vienna Orchestra perform. |
April 30
Casey Jones sacrifices his life and gains legendary status when he slows his train prior to a collision, sparing his passengers from certain death. |
| 1901 |
September
The Ryman stage is constructed at a cost of $750 for the New York Metropolitan Opera Company's touring productions of Carmen, The Barber of Seville, and Faust, which play in October. |
September 16
President William McKinley is assassinated. A memorial service is held at the Ryman. |
| 1902 |
May 16
Booker T. Washington lectures from the Ryman stage. |
February 1
Legendary African-American poet Langston Hughes is born Joplin, Missouri. |
| 1903 |
January 28
General William Booth, Commander in Chief and founder of the Salvation Army, lectures. |
May 29
Comedian Bob Hope is born Leslie Townes Hope, in London, England. He would later change his first name to Bob. |
| Victor Herbert and the Pittsburgh Symphony perform. |
December 17
Orville and Wilbur Wright successfully fly the first heavier-than-air machine at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. |
| 1904 |
February 14
World famous opera singer Adelina Patti performs. |
March 1
Glenn Miller (d.1944), big band leader of the 1930s and 1940s, is born in Clarinda, Iowa. |
December 23
Captain Thomas Ryman dies. At his funeral ceremony, the Rev. Samuel Jones takes a vote to rename the tabernacle the Ryman Auditorium. He receives a standing ovation response from the audience. |
May 11
Salvador Dali (d.1989), surrealist painter, is born in Figueres, Spain |
| The French Grand Opera Company of New Orleans performs. |
December 6
President Roosevelt presents his Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine to Congress. In it, he states that the U.S. must assume command during disputes concerning nations in the Western Hemisphere. |
| 1905 |
September 26
Ellery's Royal Italian Band performs. |
May
Einstein publishes the theory of relativity. |
| Opera star Madame Nellie Melba (for whom Melba Toast and the Peach Melba are named) performs in concert. |
The Stanford-Binet intelligence test is developed. |
| 1906 |
March 8
Sarah Bernhardt performs in Camille. |
April 18
The great San Francisco earthquake destroys 28,000 buildings. |
October 15
Rev. Samuel Jones dies in his train cabin, on the way back from a revival. A memorial service is held at the Ryman in his honor on October 28th. |
The first known radio broadcast of voice and music is made through a machine engineered by Reginald A. Fessenden. Unlike today's radios, the machine consisted of two room size generators. |
| 1907 |
October 23
President Teddy Roosevelt lectures from the Ryman stage. |
May 12
Actress Katharine Hepburn is born in Hartford, Connecticut. |
November 13
Carrie Nation lectures on temperance. |
September 29
Gene Autry (d.1998), singing cowboy, is born in Tioga, Texas. |
| Maude Adams performs in Peter Pan. |
November 16
Oklahoma is admitted as the 46th state to the Union. |
| 1908 |
March 25
Pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski performs |
Henry Ford introduces his Model T, and competitor General Motors incorporates. |
January 28
John Phillip Sousa and his band perform. |
William Howard Taft elected as the 27th U.S. President. |
| 1909 |
April 19
Emma Eames in concert |
An expedition led by Robert Edwin Peary reaches the North Pole. |
| 1910 |
March 17
American explorer Robert Edwin Peary lectures on his trip to the North Pole. |
June 13
The first Father's Day celebration is held in Spokane, Washington. |
| 1911 |
May
The New York Symphony Orchestra, Walter Damroach conducting, in concert. |
May 29
First Indianapolis 500 is won by Ray Harroun, with a top speed of 74.59 mph. |
May 19-20
Victor Herbert and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra perform. |
February 8
The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated. |
| 1912 |
February 23
Sir Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, lectures on "Scouting in War and Peace". |
January 11
Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen beats Robert Scott to the South Pole by five days. |
|
|
April 15
The Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks, killing 1,513 people. |
| 1913 |
October 2
Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy lecture. |
February 25
The 16th Amendment to the Constitution is approved, establishing an income tax. |
May 13- December 15
The Fisk Jubilee Singers perform. |
October 10
President Wilson officially opens the Panama Canal to traffic. |
| 1914 |
January 30
Opera great Madame Nellie Melba and violinist Jan Kubelik give a joint concert. |
January 5
Henry Ford astounds the world as he announces that he will pay a minimum wage of $5 a day and share with employees $10 million of the previous year's profits. |
March 12
The great Russian dancer Anna Pavlova dances. |
June 7
The first vessel passes through the Panama Canal. |
November 20
Opera singer Alma Gluck in concert. |
August
The Great War, later termed World War I, begins. |
| 1915 |
November 9
The Fisk Jubilee Singers celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fisk University. |
May 7
German submarines sink the British passenger ship Lusitania. More than 1,000 passengers die. |
| 1916 |
March 3
Austrian violinist Fritz Keisler in concert. |
August 25
The National Park Service is established by the Department of Interior. |
October 26
Great Irish tenor John McCormack sings. |
Legendary Mexican outlaw Pancho Villa attacks the town of Columbus, New Mexico. |
| 1917 |
May 30
Tenor singer Paul Ryman, son of Captain Ryman, performs. |
April 6
The United States declares war on Germany, thereby entering WWI. |
| Theatrical and film star Francis X. Bushman appears in support of war bonds. |
May 13
Three peasant children near Fatima, Portugal, report seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary. |
| Legendary dance choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky presents the Ballet Russe. |
May 29
The official flag of the President of the United States is adopted. |
| 1918 |
April 11
Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford speak on behalf of savings bonds. |
January 8
Mississippi becomes the first state to prohibit the sale, manufacture or transportation of liquor. |
| Opera star Ernestine Schumann Heink in concert. |
March 31
Througout the U.S., Daylight Savings Time goes into effect for the first time. |
| 1919 |
April 29
The great Enrico Caruso sings |
January 16
State legislatures ratify the 18th Amendment, and Prohibition begins. |
October 29
Dancer Isadora Duncan performs. |
May 18
Pope John Paul II, [Karol Jozef Wojtyla] 264th Roman Catholic pope, is born. He is to become the first non-Italian Roman Catholic Pope since the Renaissance. |
December 15
Evangelist Billy Sunday holds a revival crusade. |
June 4
Congress approves the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, pending Union approval. |
| A performance of the opera Aida is given. |
June 28
The Treaty of Versailles is signed, ending World War I. World War I began in 1914 and ended on this date. |
| Vaudeville comedian DeWolf Hopper performs. |
August 30
Ted Williams, Hall of Fame outfielder for the Boston Red Sox, the last man to hit .400 in a season, is born. |
| 1920 |
April 6
Amelita Galli-Curci gives a recital. |
January 4
The Negro National League, the first black baseball league, is organized by Rube Foster. |
| American opera star Rosa Ponselle in concert. |
August 26
Women gain the right to vote when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution is ratified. |
| 1921 |
December 9-11
Creatore Grand Opera Company in concert. |
July 2
J. Andrew White announces the Dempsey-Carpentier fight in Jersey City. He is thereby credited with being the first professional radio announcer. |
| 1922 |
January 24
The San Carlo Opera Company presents Madame Butterfly. |
February 8
President Warren Harding has a radio installed in the White House. |
December 6
Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and the Denishawn Dancers appear. Future dance great Martha Graham is in the company. |
April 16
Female sharpshooter Annie Oakley shoots down 100 clay targets in a row, setting a new women's record.
|
| The Walter Hampden Shakespeare Company performs. |
August 28
The first-ever radio commercial airs on station WEAF in New York City. The 10-minute advertisement is for the Queensboro Realty Company, which had paid a fee of $100. |
| 1923 |
June 13
Rudolph Valentino dances. |
August 3
Calvin Coolidge assumes the office of the Presidency of the U.S. after the death of President Harding. |
October 19
Operas La Traviata, and La Boheme are performed. |
September 15
Martial Law is declared in Oklahoma in response to problems with the Ku Klux Klan. |
| Jascha Heifetz, Mischa Elman, and Ignace Paderewski perform. |
The first baseball game is played at Yankee Stadium. |
| 1924 |
November 17
Vladimir de Pachman, considered one of the five greatest pianists in the world performs Chopin in a farewell concert. |
March 4
Happy Birthday to You is published by Claydon Sunny. |
| 1925 |
November 4
Humorist and cowboy singer Will Rogers performs. |
July 10-25
Teacher John Scopes is put on trial in Dayton, Tennessee for teaching evolution in the classroom. |
| Legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz performs. |
November 28
The WSM Barn Dance radio show, later to become the Grand Ole Opry, gets under way in Nashville. Old-time fiddler Uncle Jimmy Thompson is the first to perform. |
| Captain Roald Amundsen, first explorer of the South Pole, gives an illustrated lecture. |
The Great Gatsby is published by F. Scott Fitzgerald. |
| 1926 |
December 13-20
Shakespeare Festival with Robert B. Mantell and Genevieve Hamper in Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, As You Like It, King Lear, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar. |
Germany is admitted to the League of Nations. |
| 1927 |
May 14-16
Old-Time Fiddlers Contest takes place. |
Charles A. Lindbergh becomes the first pilot to cross the Atlantic when his Spirit of St. Louis takes him from New York to Paris. |
| 1928 |
January 5
Vatican Choirs under the direction of Raffael Casmiro Casimiri. |
May 4
Walt Disney's first animation, Steamboat Willie, is released. |
June 8
Two Black Crows (Moran and Mack) with W.C. Fields. |
November 6
Herbert Hoover wins the presidential election. |
| 1929 |
April 9
Tenor James Melton in concert |
January 7
"Tarzan," one of the first adventure comic strips, makes its printed debut. |
February 27
The Isadora Duncan Dancers from Moscow perform. |
October 29
"Black Tuesday" marks the worst day in the history of the New York Stock Exchange, and the beginning of the Great Depression. |
| 1930 |
March 19-22
Presentation of a passion play from Freiberg, Germany. |
March 13
Clyde Tombaugh announces the discovery of the planet Pluto at the Lowell Observatory. |
| 1931 |
January 6
Strange Interlude by Eugene O'Neill. |
March 3
The Star Spangled Banner is named the National Anthem of the United States. |
March 23
The Love Duel with Ethel Barrymore. |
May 1
The Empire State Building opens. |
| 1932 |
January 23
The first dressing room is built when Maude Adams requests one for her performance in The Merchant of Venice. |
March 1
The infant son of Charles Lindbergh is kidnapped. |
February 5
Famed African American singer Marian Anderson performs in concert. |
November 8
Franklin Delano Roosevelt is elected the 32nd U.S. President. |
| 1933 |
April 17
Lily Pons gives a recital. |
February 10
The first singing telegram is introduced by the Postal Telegram Company in New York. |
| The travelling Broadway production Of Thee I Sing, with music by George Gershwin, is performed. |
December 5
Prohibition ends with approval of the 21st Amendment. |
| 1934 |
February 12
The Vienna Boy's Choir, Sol Hurok conducting, in concert. |
February 5
Hank Aaron, American hall of fame baseball player and alltime homerun leader (755), is born in Mobile, Al. |
April 11-12
Basil Rathbone, Orson Welles, and Katharine Cornell star in The Barretts of Wimpole Street. |
July 22
Public Enemy #1, John Dillinger, shot in Chicago, Illinois. |
April 17-21
Aimee Semple McPherson of Foursquare Gospel debates with Charles Lee Smith, President of the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism. |
May 23
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are killed in an early morning police ambush. They were driving a stolen Ford Deluxe along a road in Bienville Parish, near Sailes, LA. |
| Romeo and Juliet takes center stage, starring Katharine Cornell, Maurice Evans, Ralph Richardson, and Tyrone Power. |
August 2
President Paul von Hindenburg of Germany dies. He is succeeded by Adolf Hitler as Reichsfuhrer, an office that combines the duties of president and chancellor. |
| Mary of Scotland, starring Helen Hayes is performed. |
| 1935 |
February 20
The Ziegfield Follies is presented, starring Billie Burke, Fannie Brice, and Eve Arden. |
August 14
President Roosevelt approves the Social Security Act. |
March 13
As Thousands Cheer with Ethel Waters and Dorothy Stone. |
November 5
Parker Brothers launches the immediately successful game of Monopoly. |
| The Paul Whiteman Orchestra in concert. |
Ernest Hemingway writes the novel Green Hills of Africa. |
| 1936 |
Nelson Eddy performs. |
November
Robert Johnson, Mississippi blues guitarist, records his first of 5 sessions. |
| Dodsworth with Walter Huston and Doris Day. |
Gone With the Wind is first published by author Margaret Mitchell. |
| Irish tenor John McCormack in concert. |
American playwright Eugene O'Neill wins the Nobel Prize for literature. |
| Ann Blythe and Paul Lukas star in Watch on the Rhine. |
King Edward VIII abdicates his throne to marry American Mrs. Wallis Simpson. |
| 1937 |
April 21
Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra in concert. |
May 6
A fiery explosion destroys the dirigible Hindenburg in a New Jersey airfield, killing 36 people. |
April 29
Tallulah Bankhead performs in George Kelly's comedy, Reflected Glory. |
July 2
Famous aviatrix Amelia Earheart, disappears while flying over the Pacific Ocean and is never seen or heard from again. |
| 1938 |
January 18
Maurice Evans performs in King Richard II. |
January 22
Thornton Wilder's play Our Town is performed publicly for the first time, in Princeton, N.J |
March 30
Victoria Regina starring Helen Hayes. |
February 17
The first color TV is demonstrated at the Dominion Theatre in London. |
October 4
Nashville Girl Scout Council presents a lecture by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt. |
April 26
Pioneering guitarist Duane Eddy is born in Corning, New York. |
December 1
Ryman manager Lula C. Naff goes to court to get the right to present the provocative play, Tobacco Road. |
July 22
In Germany, the Third Reich issues special identity cards for Jewish Germans. |
| Eddie Bracken and Gary Merrill star in the production of Brother Rat. |
December
George Cukor announces that Vivian Leigh will portray Scarlet O' Hara in the cinema production of Gone With the Wind. |
| 1939 |
February
Golden Gloves Boxing is presented on the Ryman stage. |
June
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth tour the U.S. extensively. |
March 6
Idiot's Delight with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. |
April
Marian Anderson sings before 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial after being denied use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution. |
| My Dear Children directed by Otto Preminger, with John Barrymore and Dorothy McGuire. |
September 1
Germany invades Poland, sparking the beginnings of World War II. |
| 1940 |
Jeanette MacDonald performs. |
Igor Sikorsky's first successful helicopter, the VS-300 takes flight. Sikorsky played a fundamental role in the development of the helicopter. |
| Skylark with Gertrude Lawrence. |
The popularity of the radio continues to grow with more than 30 million in American homes by year's end. |
| 1941 |
Katharine Hepburn performs in The Philadelphia Story, and Tallulah Bankhead performs in Reflected Glory. |
December 7
The Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, launching the U.S. into WWII. |
November 1
Marian Anderson in concert. |
Baseball great Joe DiMaggio has a 56 consecutive game hitting streak. |
| 1942 |
November 20
Watch on the Rhine with Paul Lukas and Anne Blyth. |
April
Major Jimmy Doolittle leads an air raid over 4 Japanese cities. |
| 1943 |
June 5
The Grand Ole Opry moves to the Ryman. |
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is named Supreme Commander of Allied forces for invasion of Europe. |
November 13
Porgy and Bess, by George Gershwin, is performed. |
The musical Oklahoma opens. |
| 1944 |
December 20
The Ryman Auditorium name change is made official by an Amendment to the Charter of Incorporation. |
November 7
FDR is the first President to be elected to a fourth term. Harry Truman serves as Vice President. |
| Guitarist Lester Flatt joins Bill Monroe's band for the first time on stage at the Ryman. |
June 6
The D-Day invasion of Normandy by Allied Forces takes place. |
| Bela Lugosi performs in Arsenic and Old Lace. |
September 16
Glen Miller makes his last recording at the Abbey Road studio in London with an Allied Forces band and singer Dinah Shore. |
| 1945 |
January 10
The Student Prince is performed. |
August 6
The Enola Gay drops an atom bomb over Hiroshima, Japan signaling the end of WW II. |
December 8
Innovative banjo player Earl Scruggs joins Bill Monroe on the Ryman stage for the first time, and the definitive sound of bluegrass music is complete. |
August 9
The 10,000 lb. atomic bomb, "Fat Man", is dropped over Nagasaki. The primary objective of Kokura is passed over, due to visibility problems. |
| 1946 |
January 14
The Ballet Russe of Monte Carlo dances. |
February 1
The world's first computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) is displayed at the University of Pennsylvania. |
January
Cowboy Copas is joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 22
The First U.S. rocket built to leave the earth's atmosphere reaches a 50-mile height after launch from White Sands, New Mexico. |
December 6
Spike Jones Orchestra and his Musical Depreciation Revue, featuring the City Slickers takes the stage. |
May 16
The musical Annie Get Your Gun opens on Broadway. |
| Red Foley first brings young guitarist Chet Atkins to the Grand Ole Opry. |
July 1
The United States test-explodes a 20-kiloton atomic bomb near Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1947 |
January 16
Tennessee Williams presents The Glass Menagerie. |
January 25
American gangster Al Capone dies in Miami Beach, Florida, at the age of 48. |
April 7-9
Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas take place. |
October 14
Air Force Captain Charles Yeager breaks the sound barrier in the Bell X-1. |
| Grandpa Jones joins the Opry. |
The Brooklyn Dodgers sign Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player. |
| 1948 |
March 1
Antoinette Perry directs Harvey, starring Joe E. Brown and Marion Lorne. |
March 20
First live musical broadcast on CBS with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. This production first appeared at the Ryman in 1937. |
September
George Morgan and Jimmy Dickens join the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 22
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Broadway composer, is born. His works include Phantom of the Opera and Cats. |
November 7-9
Oklahoma! comes to the Ryman. |
August 16
Baseball great Babe Ruth dies of cancer. |
| 1949 |
June
Hank Williams Senior joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
September 15
The Lone Ranger starring Clayton Moore premiers on the ABC television network. |
| Bob Hope, Doris Day, and dancer Martha Graham perform on the Ryman stage. |
The permanent headquarters of the United Nations is dedicated in New York City. |
| 1950 |
January 17
Tallulah Bankhead performs in Private Lives. |
April 9
Bob Hope makes his first television appearance in an NBC special. |
| Harpo Marx, Roy Rogers, and Dale Evans perform. |
Sen. Joseph McCarthy begins special investigation of Communists. |
| 1951 |
February
Mae West and Gene Autry perform. |
February 26
The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, is ratified. It was a reaction to the 4 terms of Franklin D. Roosevelt. |
| An article in Colliers magazine by Bill Davidson, entitled Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hillbilly Tunes chronicles the growth in popularity of the Opry and its impact on Nashville. |
The first commercial color television show is broadcast. |
| Spike Jones and his City Slickers liven up the Ryman stage. |
The first atomic-powered generator begins producing electricity in Idaho. |
| 1952 |
October 13
Fall season opens with Victor Borge. |
November 4
Dwight D. Eisenhower wins the presidential election. |
| The Ryman undergoes renovations, including new restrooms, and a new and improved stage for a total cost of $8000. |
New York adopts the use of three color traffic lights. |
| 1953 |
March 18
The Spike Jones Review performs. |
January 1
Country singer Hank Williams dies at age 29 while en route to a concert date in Canton, Ohio. |
August
Madame Butterfly |
| Teddy Wilburn, Bill Carlisle and the Carlisles join the Grand Ole Opry. |
February 11
Walt Disney's film Peter Pan premieres. |
| 1954 |
October 2
Elvis Presley appears on the Grand Ole Opry, shocking the audience with his unique style. |
January 2
US Senator Joseph McCarthy is condemned by Congress for his Communist "witch hunts". |
| Ralston Purina sponsors the first televised show from the Ryman Auditorium. |
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes an interstate highway system for civilian use and atomic defense. |
| 1955 |
October
Jim Reeves and Hawkshaw Hawkins join the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 19
A presidential news conference is filmed for television for the first time, with permission from President Eisenhower. |
November 1
Jean Shepard joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 3
Elvis Presley makes his first television appearance on the Louisiana Hayride. |
| Lula C. Naff retires as general manager of the Ryman. She is replaced by her assistant, Harry Draper. |
June 23
Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp, the first animated feature filmed in CinemaScope, opens in theaters. |
| 1956 |
July
Johnny Cash joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 13
Elvis Presley released his first album, Elvis Presley. |
August
Jimmy C. Newman joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
April 11
Elvis Presley celebrates his first gold record, Heartbreak Hotel. |
November 3
Stonewall Jackson joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
June 1
Doris Day signs a five-year recording contract with Columbia Records worth $1 million. |
| 1957 |
February 23
Porter Wagoner joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 13
The FBI arrests Jimmy Hoffa on bribery charges. |
| Wilma Lee Cooper and the Clinch Mountain Gang join the Grand Ole Opry. |
July 12
The U.S. surgeon general, Leroy E. Burney, reports that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer. |
| 1958 |
May 20
Don Gibson joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 31
Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite, is launched, and the United States enters the Space Age. |
June 13
Roy Drusky joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 24
Elvis Presley is drafted, and enters the Army. |
| 1959 |
February 27
Billy Grammer joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 3
President Eisenhower signs a proclamation admitting Alaska to the Union. |
August 4
Skeeter Davis joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
February 3
A plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, claims the lives of rock- and-roll stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. |
| 1960 |
Patsy Cline, George Hamilton IV, Hank Locklin, and Billy Walker join the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 2
Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. |
| 1961 |
July 15
"Whispering" Bill Anderson joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 3
The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba. |
| 1962 |
September 25
Loretta Lynn joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
February 20
U.S. Marine Lieutenant Colonel John H. Glenn, Jr., becomes the first American to orbit the earth. |
| 1963 |
March 5
Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Jack Anglin, and Randy Hughes die in a fatal plane crash. A silent prayer is held during the Grand Ole Opry on March 9, in tribute to the fallen stars. |
June 1
Governor George Wallace vows to defy an injunction ordering integration of the University of Alabama. |
August 12
Jim Ed Brown joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
June 12
Civil rights leader Medgar Evers is shot and killed in his home in Jackson, Mississippi. |
September 27
National Life Insurance, owners of WSM radio purchase the Ryman Auditorium for $207,500. They change the official name of the building to the "Grand Ole Opry House". |
November 22
President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. |
| 1964 |
March 2
Jim and Jesse McReynolds join the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 18
Plans are disclosed for the World Trade Center in New York. |
March 7
Ernie Ashworth joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
February 15
The album Meet the Beatles! Goes to number 1 where it remains for 11 weeks. |
August 8
The Osborne Brothers join the Grand Ole Opry. |
March 9
The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line. |
| 1965 |
June 13
Connie Smith joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 2
The New York Jets signed University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000. |
| 1966 |
April 30
Ray Pillow joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
October
Consumption and possession of LSD becomes illegal. |
October 14
Del Reeves joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
December 1
Carter Stanley, of the Stanley Brothers bluegrass duo, dies of cancer. |
| 1967 |
June 1
Stu Phillips joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 3
Jack Ruby, the man who shot accused presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, dies in a Dallas hospital. |
August 17
Charlie Walker joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 27
During a launch pad test of the Apollo I mission at Cape Kennedy, a flash fire suddenly breaks out in the vehicle's command module, killing its crew. |
September 16
Jeannie Seely joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
December 23
Jack Green joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
April 14
Some 10,000 people march in protest against the Vietnam war in San Francisco. |
| 1969 |
January 4
George Jones and Dolly Parton join the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 23
NASA unveils a lunar landing craft. |
June 7
The Johnny Cash Show, filmed at the Ryman, makes its television debut. |
July 20
The U.S. wins the race to the moon as the lunar landing module Eagle touches down in the Sea of Tranquility. |
| 1970 |
Director Robert Altman films scenes for Nashville, starring Lily Tomlin and Ned Beatty. The film is nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Picture. |
March 25
The Concorde makes its first supersonic flight. |
| 1971 |
January
Singer/Songwriter Tom T. Hall joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 25
Charles Manson and three female followers are convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate. |
March 27
Jan Howard joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
July 31
Apollo 15 astronauts take a drive on the moon in their land rover. |
| The Ryman Auditorium is placed on the National Historic Register. |
The Beatles disband. |
| 1972 |
July 9
Barbara Mandrell joins the Grand Ole Opry. |
January 5
President Richard Nixon orders development of the space shuttle. |
| 1973 |
July 23
Jeanne Pruett is the last person to become an Opry member on the Ryman stage. |
January 11
The trial of the Watergate burglars begins in Washington, DC. |
| Bill Monroe hosts a "Bluegrass Revival" from the Ryman stage in one of the last large events before the Opry's departure. |
January 16
NBC presented the 440th and final showing of Bonanza. |
| 1974 |
March
The Grand Ole Opry leaves the Ryman for the Opry House at Opryland USA, the only house built specifically for the Grand Ole Opry show. |
April 5
The World Trade Center opens in New York City. |
August 8
President Richard Nixon resigns. |
| 1980 |
Scenes from Coal Miner's Daughter, a chronicle of Loretta Lynn starring Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones, are filmed at the Ryman. |
John Lennon is shot and killed in New York City. |
| 1982 |
A singing Clint Eastwood films scenes for Honky-tonk Man at the Ryman. |
Seven deaths in Chicago from cyanide-laced Tylenol cause nationwide panic, leading to a massive recall of the product. |
| 1985 |
Filming for Sweet Dreams: The Patsy Cline Story starring Jessica Lange and Ed Harris begins in the Ryman. |
March 10
Konstantin U. Chernenko, Soviet leader for just 13 months, dies at age 73. Mikhail Gorbachev is his successor. |
| 1988 |
Dolly Parton returns to the Ryman to tape a televised variety show with Minnie Pearl. |
The Exxon oil tanker Valdez runs aground and spills 10 million gallons of oil into Alaskan water. |
| 1992 |
The Ryman Auditorium celebrates its first centennial. |
William Jefferson Clinton is elected U.S. President. |
| Emmylou Harris and the Nash Ramblers record Live at theRyman from the historic Ryman stage. |
December 8
Americans watch live television coverage of U.S. troops landing on the beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope begins. |
| 1993 |
Gaylord Entertainment begins the $8.5 million renovation of the Ryman. |
One of the worst fires in U.S. history destroys thousands of acres and homes in southern California. |
| 1994 |
Nashville's "Mother Church of Country Music" re-opens in June as a premier performance hall and museum. |
January 21
A jury in Manassas, Va., acquits Lorena Bobbitt of maliciously wounding her husband, John. |
| The first Sam's Place showcases a plethora of contemporary Christian, country, and gospel artists. |
The internet is made available to the general public following the creation of the World Wide Web. |
| Bluegrass Night at the Ryman series debuts with a concert by Bill Monroe and Alison Krauss. The first season features 12 bluegrass shows. |
Tom Hanks stars in Forrest Gump. The film wins an Oscar for Best Picture. |
| Always... Patsy Cline premieres with a 67-show performance schedule. |
American figure skater Nancy Kerrigan is assaulted at the 1994 winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. |
| 1995 |
Michele Lee stars alongside legends Kenny Rogers, Chet Atkins, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, and Loretta Lynn as they film scenes from Big Dreams and Broken Hearts: The Dottie West Story in the Ryman Auditorium. |
168 people die when Timothy McVeigh bombs the Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City. |
| The Ryman debuts the Visa Classical Concert Series solidifying the venue's reputation as the "Carnegie Hall of the South." |
Lewis Farrakhan leads the Nation of Islam in the Million-Man March. |
| 1996 |
A full house of over 2000 attend the Ryman funeral of the legendary "Father of Bluegrass", Bill Monr |