February 3, 1959
Clear Lake, Iowa
The Day the Music Died

Singers Buddy Holley, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper died along with their pilot Roger Peterson, when their plane crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa. The official cause of the crash was declared to be a result of the pilot being unfamiliar with the controls on this particular airplane. All four on board were found to have died instantly for head trauma and damage to the brain.