This day in 1952, Hank Williams Sr. his first wife, Audrey, (the mother of Hank Williams Jr.) finally divorced. Married since 1944, their union was marked by his drug and alcohol addiction and infidelity. The couple’s tumultuous relationship found them separating and reconciling a number of times…until this divorce. She was awarded the house and their child as well as half of her ex-husband’s future royalties on the condition that she never remarry. She never did.

This day in 1967, Barbara Mandrell married Ken Dudney. Barbara met Ken when he was hired by her family’s band, The Mandrells, as a drummer. They were married shortly after Ken received his wings as a Navy pilot.

This day in 2004, Toby Keith’s first annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic took place at Belmar Golf Course in Norman, Oklahoma. The tournament benefit Ally’s House Charity, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to assist the families of Oklahoma children with cancer. And as you might expect, plenty of Toby’s famous friends got into the spirit of the event – though they weren’t able to be there in person. Instead, celebs like Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Lonestar, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Shania Twain, Wynonna, Jewel, Charles Barkley,Mookie Blaylock, Sammy Hagar, Ashley Judd, Tommy Lasorda, Justin Timberlake, Dallas Cowboy Roy Williams and many others donated special, autographed items to go on the auction block. For more information, visit Ally’s House on the web at allyshouse.net.

Today in 1980, the single, “Bar Room Buddies,” Merle Haggard and actor/director Clint Eastwood debuted on the charts. The song would become Clint’s first and only #1 and Merle’s 25th of 38 number ones.

It was written by Milton Brown, Cliff Crofford, Steve Dorff and Snuff Garrett, and was featured on the soundtrack for the film Bronco Billy starring Eastwood. The single stayed at number one for one week and spent a total of thirteen weeks on the Billboard country charts.

This day in 1986, Johnny Paycheck was found guilty of shooting and wounding a man after an argument in an Ohio bar.

Paycheck walked into the North High Lounge in Hillsboro, Ohio. The bar was less than 20 miles from his hometown of Greenfield, and the country singer was planning on heading back home to his childhood stomping grounds to visit his mother for the holidays. Before completing the drive, though, he wanted to grab a drink.

Also in the bar that night was Larry Wise, a Greenfield native and country music fan who recognized Paycheck. Although the exact details of their conversation remain unknown, Wise began talking to the singer, who asked to be left alone. The dialogue escalated, with Wise — either as some sort of peacemaking gesture, or a clever dig at Paycheck’s small-town roots — offering to take Paycheck back home and feed him a home-cooked meal of deer meat and turtle soup. That’s when Paycheck — who, coincidentally enough, scored one of his earliest hits with a song called “Pardon Me, I’ve Got Someone to Kill” — reached around his hip in search of his .22-caliber pistol.

”I never seen the gun, and I never heard the shot,” Wise testified during a hearing that occurred eight days later, claiming he began backing away as soon as Paycheck roared, ‘Do you see me as some kind of country hick?’ Although Wise ultimately ran from the bar, he wasn’t fast enough to avoid a bullet from Paycheck’s gun, which grazed his scalp and left him bleeding above the right eye. ”He blowed my hat off,” Wise told the court room. “I guess he took it as a personal insult.”

Paycheck was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison, but was released in 1991.