Well, not really. One can trace its roots back earlier. And even the artist whose recording I commemorate had already done "Shake, Rattle and Roll." But on this day in 1954, Bill Haley and the Comets released their version of a song first written in 1952, and in a sense we tend to mark the start of Rock with that release, of "Rock Around the Clock." A 1956 movie of the same name helped establish the idea that Rock began then.
Let's not quibble of when, and who did it. Since today is an anniversary, perhaps we can just enjoy?
Peace