28 June 1846: Antoine-Joseph "Adolfe" Sax patents the saxophone. Sax felt an instrument needed to balance the three sections of a band: Woodwinds, Brass, and strings.
His answer to the problem was a horn with the body of a brass instrument and the mouthpiece of a woodwind instrument. When he combined these two elements, the saxophone was born.
Bonus video on the history & making of the saxophone:
Previous doses of music history for 28 June:
1902: Composer Richard Rodgers was in Arverne, New York, USA.
1965: Keyboardist John Medeski was born in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
Personality shows up in music…The way you play music is a tonal biography of yourself, your thoughts and feelings. ~ Oscar Peterson