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October 17, 1919 — The Radio Corporation of America, soon to be known as simply RCA, is founded by General Electric (GE) to acquire the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (incorporated in 1899), a subsidiary of the British firm Marconi Wireless. GE takes it over with help from the U.S. Navy Department, which is eager to keep the company's wireless technology in American hands. In 1926, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is set up to carry on the company’s radio activities.
                      1960 — Dion and The Belmonts' breakup becomes official when it is reported in Billboard. Lead singer Dion DiMucci claims the group isn't bluesy enough. The Belmonts claim Dion just wants solo fame.
                      1962 — The Beatles make their first television appearance almost two weeks after the release of their first record, "Love Me Do." The occasion is the program "People and Places," shown only in the north of England from the Manchester studios of Grenada TV. Their first national television appearance would come six months later on the BBC.

October 18, 1922 — The BBC is founded as the British Broadcasting Company, a private monopoly of leading wireless manufacturers, including Marconi. The government issues the single broadcasting license to avoid a chaotic public scramble for radio frequencies, as occurred in the United States. Daily ad-free programing begins one month later from London, supported by royalties on the sale of private radios. Fee enforcement is inadequate, however, and the company loses money, so the government takes the BBC over in 1927 as the British Broadcasting Corporation with enhanced royalty enforcement, becoming the world's first national broadcasting agency.
                      1957 — John Lennon and Paul McCartney perform together for the first time after Paul joins John's band the Quarrymen. The show takes place in Liverpool.
                               — Specialty Records, upon hearing of Little Richard's announcement the previous week that he will abandon rock for the Christian ministry, holds a quick eight-song recording session before he enters a seminary. None of the sides charts.
                               — Peggy Sue Gerron first hears the song named for her when she sees Buddy Holly and The Crickets perform "Peggy Sue" in concert in Sacramento, California. The tune, originally named "Cindy Lou" after Holly's niece, is retitled at the request of Holly's drummer, Jerry Allison, to woo Ms. Gerron back after a breakup. They later marry, but divorce in 1964, whereupon she moves to California to attend Pasadena Junior College. She remarries there, according to her website, has two children, helps her husband set up a plumbing company, and claims to have become the first licensed woman plumber in California.
                      1963 — Chuck Berry receives a 37th birthday gift from the U.S. government: He is released from a federal prison in Springfield, Missouri, after serving 20 months of a five-year sentence on charges of violating the Mann Act (transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes). He used his time behind bars to study business and write several songs that would later become hits, including "Nadine" (#23 pop, #7 R&B, 1964) and “No Particular Place to Go” (#10 pop, #2 R&B, 1964). Once free, Berry enjoys a career resurgence because many British invasion bands, notably the Beatles and Rolling Stones, cover his songs.October 21, 1908 — Columbia Records offers first two-sided 78 r.p.m records for sale in an ad in the Saturday Evening Post. The ad exclaims "Two records at a single price" of 65 cents and adds that it fits any machine that will spin a flat disc record. Executives at Victor  Records are furious and counter-advertise, complaining the Columbia is disrupting the business and consumers don't want two-sided records. History proves them wrong.                      1958 — Buddy Holly's last recording session takes place in New York City, yielding "True Love Ways," "It Doesn't Matter Any More," "Moondreams," and "Raining In My Heart."
                      1962 — The influential American Folk Blues Festival concludes its first European tour at Manchester, England, featuring Willie Dixon, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, and others. In the audience, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, and Jimmy Page get their first glimpse of the artists who will influence their music. It is a treat enjoyed by other up and coming British rock and R&B legends when more U.S. blues performers join the European tour in subsequent years.

October 22, 1966 — The Supremes become the first girl group with a #1 album in the U.S. when The Supremes A' Go-Go bumps the Beatles' Revolver from the top spot.

October 23, 2002 — Johnnie Johnson, Chuck Berry's longtime pianist and the "Johnny" in "Johnny B. Goode," loses his lawsuit against Berry in which he claims he co-wrote many of the rock pioneer's hits and is due half of the royalties. A federal district court judge in St. Louis rules that the statute of limitations has expired.

Sources:
Eight Days a Week (Ron Smith)
Eight Days a Week (Kenneth Best)
On This Day in Black Music History (Jay Warner)
Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000 (Frank Hoffman)
calendar.songfacts.com
onthisday.com/music