70 years ago on this night (1956): 21-year-old singing phenom Elvis Presley performed for the first time in Wichita, at The Forum downtown on S. Main Street.
Tickets must have sold well for the 7:00 p.m. rock & roll show, because his promoters added a 9:30 p.m. show later that night as well.
Among the songs he performed during the 7:00 p.m. show: "I Was The One"; "Blue Suede Shoes"; "Money Honey"; "Heartbreak Hotel"; and "Hound Dog".
Presley presented Marilyn Shirkey, a student and president of the local Elvis fan club, with a pair of well-worn blue suede shoes; some students from Robinson Junior High were also on hand.
Several weeks before he came to Wichita, there'd been a rumor that Presley had been killed in a plane crash. On stage, he told the screaming girls in Wichita, "I just want to clarify that rumor 'bout me being dead."
Multiple sources indicate that Presley stayed the night at the Lassen Hotel downtown at 1st & Market.
