On this day in rock history, Phil Lynott played his last show with Thin Lizzy at the Monsters of Rock Festival in Nuremburg, Germany. Lynott passed away nearly two-and-a-half years later, on Jan. 4, 1986.

Two major classic rock events took place during the 1996 MTV Video Music Awards: David Lee Roth appeared with Van Halen on a stage for the first time since 1984. They didn't perform, but they gave out the Best Male Video Award to Beck for "Where It's At." To close out the show, Kiss, then in the midst of the highly successful reunion tour of the original lineup, performed "Rock and Roll All Nite" at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Who met with a cruel irony on Sept. 4, 1965. Wishing to protect their brand-new Vox amplifiers, they sought to procure a guard dog. While they were inside the Battersea Dogs' Home, someone broke into their van and stole the equipment.

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out, the Rolling Stones' second, and best, live album, was released in 1970. Queenryche put out Empire, their triple-platinum LP that featured "Silent Lucidity," in 1990, and Jethro Tull gave us Roots to Branches in 1995.

Today is also the birthday of Martin Chambers. The drummer for the Pretenders was born in Hereford, England, in 1951.

Watch an exciting recap of many of the day’s biggest rock anniversaries above, narrated by our radio host Zach Martin. And learn more about these important events by clicking the links below.

News Anniversaries:
The Who's van gets robbed (1965)
Phil Lynott's last concert with Thin Lizzy (1983)
Van Halen appear with David Lee Roth at the MTV Video Music Awards (1996)
Kiss' original lineup close out the VMAs (1996)

Album Anniversaries:
Rolling Stones, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out! (1970)
Queensryche, Empire (1990)
Jethro Tull, Roots to Branches (1995)

Birthdays:
Martin Chambers (1951)

See Van Halen and Other Rockers in the Top 100 Albums of the '80s

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