1919
Born on this day in Bristol, Tennessee, was Ernest Jennings Ford better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford. The television host scored an unexpected hit in 1955 with his rendition of Merle Travis’ “Sixteen Tons”. Ford died on October 17, 1991 exactly 36 years after “Sixteen Tons” was released, and one day shy of the first anniversary of his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.