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The origin of blues music is rooted in slavery and the music carried over from Africa.
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This marked the beginning of the terrible Jim Crow laws that segregated races and inspired a lot of blues music.
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The phonograph is invented by Thomas Edison, allowing music to be recorded and distributed.
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Scott Joplin, a major ragtime artist, publishes "Maple Leaf Rag" and establishes Blues and Tin Pan Ally as popular music.
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First copyrighted and published blues song.
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The Great Migration was the mass wave of African Americans moving from the rural South to cities in the north. This lead to the "Chicago Blues" genre.
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B.B. King, one of the most influential blues artists of all time is born.
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The stock market crashes and sends the country into depression, fueling many blues artists to create music.
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Blue Bird records was one of the first major record labels to produce blues music, specifically Chicago blues.
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Considered to be the first published Delta Blues son, "Milk Cow Blues" is released by Kokomo Arnold.
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One of the first big blues hits in America is released to the public.
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Les Paul creates one of the earliest electric guitars that is used and improved upon and serves as the foundation of many blues songs.
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Elvis Presley begins his musical career with his first blues recordings.
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Bands like the Rolling Stones create a new type of Blues called blues rock that is more accessible to mass audiences.
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One of the most influential blues songs of time by B.B. king is released.