From left, clockwise: Depiction of Jesus, the central figure in Christianity; The Colosseum, a landmark of the once mighty Roman Empire; Gunpowder is invented during the latter part of the millennium, in China; Chess, a new board game, takes on popularity across the globe; The Roman Empire falls, and then reappears ushering in the Early Middle Ages; The skeletal remains of a young woman, known as the "ring lady", killed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79; Attila the Hun, leader of the Hunnic Empire, which takes most of western Europe. (Background: Reproduction of ancient mural from Teotihuacan located in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.)

The first millennium is a period of time that commenced on January 1, AD 1, and ended on December 31, AD 1000, of the Julian calendar.

World population, which had tripled over the preceding millennium, grew more slowly during the first millennium and may have diminished. One optimistic estimate is that the world's population rose from approximately 170 to 300 million^{[citation needed]}, but other estimates vary; one estimate suggests that the world population actually declined from 400 million people to 250 million people^{[citation needed]}.

In Europe and the Mediterranean, the first millennium was a time of great transition. The 2nd century saw the peak of the Roman Empire, followed by its gradual decline during the period of Late Antiquity, the rise of Christianity and the Great Migrations. The second half of the millennium is characterized as the Early Middle Ages in Europe, and marked by the Viking expansion in the west, the rise of the Byzantine Empire in the east, and by the Islamic conquests throughout the Near East, North Africa and the Iberian peninsula, culminating in the Islamic Golden Age (700–1200 AD).

In Eastern Asia, the first millennium was also a time of great cultural advances, notably the spread of Buddhism to East Asia. In China, the Han Dynasty is replaced by the Jin Dynasty and later the Tang Dynasty until the 10th century sees renewed fragmentation in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. In Japan, a sharp increase in population followed when farmers' use of iron tools increased their productivity and crop yields. The Yamato court was established. The Indian subcontinent was divided among numerous kingdoms throughout the first millennium.

In Mesoamerica, the first millennium was a period of enormous growth known as the Classic Era (200–900 AD). Teotihuacan grew into a metropolis and its empire dominated Mesoamerica. In South America, pre-Incan, coastal cultures flourished, producing impressive metalwork and some of the finest pottery seen in the ancient world. In North America, the Mississippian culture rose at the end of the millennium in the Mississippi and Ohio river valleys. Numerous cities were built; Cahokia, the largest, was based in present-day Illinois, and may have had 30,000 residents at its peak about 1250 AD. The circumference of the 10-story high Monks Mound at Cahokia was larger than that of the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan or the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

Civilizations, kingdoms and dynasties[link]

The civilizations, kingdoms and dynasties in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme

Events[link]

The events in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme

Significant people[link]

The people in this section are organized according to the United Nations geoscheme

Inventions, discoveries, introductions[link]

Centuries and decades[link]

References[link]

George Jones
Jones performing at Harrah's Metropolis in Metropolis, Illinois in June 2002
Background information
Birth name	George Glenn Jones
Also known as	No Show Jones[1] The Possum[1]
Born	(1931-09-12) September 12, 1931 (age 80) Saratoga, Texas, USA
Origin	Vidor, Texas, USA
Genres	Country
Occupations	singer-songwriter
Instruments	acoustic guitar vocals
Years active	1954–present
Labels	Starday Mercury United Artists Musicor Epic MCA Nashville Asylum Bandit
Associated acts	Tammy Wynette, Merle Haggard
Website	www.GeorgeJones.com

George Glenn Jones (born September 12, 1931) is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette.

Over the past 20 years, Jones has frequently been referred to as the greatest living country singer.^[2][3] Country music scholar Bill C. Malone writes, "For the two or three minutes consumed by a song, Jones immerses himself so completely in its lyrics, and in the mood it conveys, that the listener can scarcely avoid becoming similarly involved."

Throughout his long career, Jones made headlines often as much for tales of his drinking, stormy relationships with women, and violent rages as for his prolific career of making records and touring. His wild lifestyle led to Jones missing many performances, earning him the nickname "No Show Jones."^[1] With the help of his fourth wife, Nancy, he has been sober for over 10 years. Jones has had more than 150 hits during his career, both as a solo artist and in duets with other artists. The shape of his nose and facial features have given Jones the nickname "The Possum." Jones said in an interview that he has chosen to tour only about 60 dates a year.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

George Glenn Jones was born on September 12, 1931 in Saratoga, Texas, and was raised in Vidor, Texas, with his brother and five sisters.^[4] When he was seven, his parents bought a radio and he heard country music for the first time. Given a guitar when he was nine, Jones was soon busking for money on the streets of Beaumont.

He left home at 16 and went to Jasper, Texas, where he sang and played on the radio station. He married his first wife Dorothy when he was 19, but they divorced within a year. The Korean War was underway, and he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. He was stationed in California for his entire service. Not long after his discharge, his music career took off.^[5]

Wild years[link]

Jones's identity was closely tied to his alcoholism. One of the best known stories of Jones' drinking days happened when he was married to his second wife, Shirley Corley. Jones recalled Shirley making it physically impossible for him to travel to Beaumont, located 8 miles away, and buy liquor. Because Jones would not walk that far, she would hide the keys to each of their cars they owned before leaving. She, however, did not hide the keys to the lawn mower. Jones recollects being upset at not being able to find any keys before looking out the window and at a light that shone over their property. He then described his thoughts, saying: "There, gleaming in the glow, was that ten-horsepower rotary engine under a seat. A key glistening in the ignition. I imagine the top speed for that old mower was five miles per hour. It might have taken an hour and a half or more for me to get to the liquor store, but get there I did."^[6]

In her 1979 autobiography, former wife Tammy Wynette recalled waking at 1 AM to find her husband gone: "I got into the car and drove to the nearest bar 10 miles away. When I pulled into the parking lot there sat our rider-mower right by the entrance. He'd driven that mower right down a main highway. He looked up and saw me and said, `Well, fellas, here she is now. My little wife, I told you she'd come after me.'"^[7]

Jones later jokingly sang of the lawn mower incident in his 1996 single "Honky Tonk Song", and parodied his arrest in the music video.

In the 1970s, a manager introduced Jones to cocaine before a show, because he was too tired to perform. His self-destructive behavior brought him close to death and he was in an Alabama psychiatric hospital by the end of the decade. Celebrated by some of his fans as the hard-drinkin', fast-livin' spiritual-son of his idol, Hank Williams, Jones missed so many engagements that he gained the nickname of "No-Show Jones." (The song "No-Show Jones" makes fun of Jones and other country singers.) He was often penniless and admits that Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash came to his financial aid during this time.

Poking fun at his past, three country music videos would feature Jones arriving on a riding lawn mower. The first was Hank Williams, Jr's "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" in 1984 while the second was Vince Gill's "One More Last Chance" in 1993. Gill's song mentioned the mower with the lines "She might have took my car keys, but she forgot about my old John Deere." At the end of Gill's video, he is leaving the golf course on a John Deere tractor and greets Jones with "Hey, possum." Jones, arriving at the golf course driving a John Deere riding lawn mower with a set of golf clubs mounted behind him, replies to Gill "Hey, sweet pea." The third is John Rich's "Country Done Come to Town" and shows George mowing grass on the rooftop on a zero turn mower.

The Jones Boys band[link]

George Jones has had many great musicians over the years, with many finding much success in Nashville as session players and singers. These singers include: Hank Singer, Brittany Allyn, Sonny Curtis, Ron Gaddis, Kent Goodson, Bobby Burkhead, Dan Schafer^[8] and Steve Hinson.

Marriages[link]

Jones was married twice before he was 24. His 1950 marriage to Dorothy Bonvillion lasted a year, but they had a daughter, Susan. In 1954, Jones married Shirley Ann Corley. This marriage lasted until 1968 and produced two sons, Jeffrey and Bryan. He married Tammy Wynette in 1969. They stayed married for six years and had a daughter, Tamala Georgette. As Georgette Jones, she is a country singer and has performed on stage with her father. Jones married his current wife, Nancy Sepulvado, on March 4, 1983 in Woodville, Texas. Nancy became his manager. Jones credits his wife Nancy for rescuing him from drinking and cocaine. They now live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Wives[link]

• Dorothy Bonvillion (1950 – 1951) (divorced) 1 daughter
• Shirley Ann Corley (September 14, 1954 – June 11, 1968) (divorced) 2 sons
• Tammy Wynette (February 16, 1969 – March 13, 1975) (divorced) 1 daughter
• Nancy Sepulvado (March 4, 1983 – present)

Awards and honors[link]

Jones has received many honors during his long career, from Most Promising New Country Vocalist in 1956, being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1992, and being named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2008. In 2012 he was presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. At the ceremony his longtime friend Merle Haggard paid tribute to him.^[9]

He served as judge in 2008 for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.^[10]

Number one country hits[link]

1. "White Lightning" (1959)
2. "Tender Years" (1961)
3. "She Thinks I Still Care" (1962)
4. "Walk Through This World with Me" (1967)
5. "We're Gonna Hold On" (with Tammy Wynette) (1973)
6. "The Grand Tour (song)" (1974)
7. "The Door (George Jones song)" (1975)
8. "Golden Ring (song)" (with Tammy Wynette) (1976)
9. "Near You" (with Tammy Wynette) (1977)
10. "He Stopped Loving Her Today" (1980)
11. "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool" (with Barbara Mandrell) (1981)
12. "Still Doin' Time" (1981)
13. "Yesterday's Wine" (with Merle Haggard) (1982)
14. "I Always Get Lucky with You" (1983)

Discography[link]

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	United States Marine Corps portal

• Academy of Country Music
• List of country musicians
• Country Music Association
• List of best-selling music artists
• Inductees of the Country Music Hall of Fame (1992 inductee)

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• I Lived to Tell it All, George Jones with Tom Carter, Dell Publishing, 1997, ISBN 0-440-22373-3
• In The Country of Country: A Journey to the Roots of American Music, Nicholas Dawidoff, Vintage Books, 1998, ISBN 0-375-70082-X
• Country Music U.S.A., Bill C. Malone, University of Texas Press, 1985, ISBN 0-292-71096-8
• Joel Whitburn's Top Country Songs, 1944 to 2005, Record Research, Inc., Menomonee Falls, WS, 2005, ISBN 0-89820-165-9

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: George Jones (musician)

• Official Website
• A Tribute to the Greatest Country Song of All Time
• Official MySpace
• George Jones Country Sausage
• Record Label
• at the Country Music Hall of Fame