Today marks the 48th anniversary of the most important day in heavy metal, the day Black Sabbath released their debut self-titled record. Originally known as Earth, Black Sabbath began as a much bluesier project than the metal gods we all know and love today, but a freak accident on Tony Iommi's last day of work at his factory job left the tips of two fingers chopped off and for a moment, his dreams were shattered. However, he remedied the situation by melting plastic prosthetics onto his finger nubs and tuned his guitar lower, effectively creating the deep, heavy guitar playing that would eventually give birth to an entire new genre in heavy metal.