American singer and pianist Nat King Cole died of lung cancer. In a profile of the late Cole, Louie Robinson describes him as “an excellent jazz pianist, a master balladeer, a radio television and motion picture star, a slick showman, husband, father and baseball devotee. It was a full life for any man whose span on earth numbered a mere 45 years.” He later looks at the legend of where the middle name of King came from:

“Legend persists that a night club patron planted a crown atop the piano player’s head one evening and dubbed him King Cole, But the entertainer once confided to a friend that the incident never happened. “But it sounds good, so I just let it ride,” Nat told him.”