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1813--Rubber is patented.

1852--The first edition of "Roget’s Thesaurus" is published.

1913--An improved version of the zipper is patented by Swedish engineer Gideon Sundback.

1916--The Easter Rising in Dublin collapsed as Irish nationalists surrendered to British authorities.

1931--Lonnie Donegan is born Anthony Donegan in Glasgow, Scotland. Lonnie's skiffle sound was an inspiration to many British beat / pop acts including The Beatles, Gerry and The Pacemakers, and Herman's Hermits. You can hear it especially well on I'm Henry The 8th I Am and Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter. His hits include Rock Island Line in 1956, and Does Your Chewing Gum Loose It's Flavor (On the Bed Post Overnight?) in 1961. One of the longest survivors in rock music, Donegan was 70 in 2001.

1942--Klaus Voorman is born in West Berlin. He became a friend and associate of The Beatles during their days in Hamburg, and later played bass with Manfred Mann, George Harrison, and John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. He is probably most well-known, however, for illustrating the cover of The Beatles Revolver LP. Voorman also did the art for the more recent The Beatles Anthology series.

1947--Tommy James (lead singer with his band, the Shondells), is born.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962--The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1964--The Beatles perform at the ABC Cinema in Edinburgh. The first of two very successful nights in Scotland.

1965--The Beatles continue filming at Twickenham Film Studios for the movie "Help!" The bathroom scene where the hot-air hand-drier sucks instead of blows, ripping off George Harrison's shirt and the pulling a sink off the wall, is re-shot, the previous footage having been deemed inadequate. Another scene is shot, showing Ringo Starr restrained on a table with Clang about to remove the sacrificial ring (along with Ringo's finger) with a chain saw. Ahme (Eleanor Bron) comes to his rescue.

1966--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). Recording the vocal overdubs for Eleanor Rigby. Once those are satisfactorily completed, the song is considered finished, and a mono mix is made. However, a further overdub will be made later, requiring a new mix to also be made. After the work on Eleanor Rigby is finished, John Lennon adds the lead vocal to his song I'm Only Sleeping. The Beatles Anthology 2 includes two versions of I'm Only Sleeping: the first is a fragment from a rehearsal from April 27 and the second is an unused take from this session (Disc one, Tracks 22-23).

1967--John Lennon is filmed by Granada Television attending the "14-Hour Technicolor Dream" event (at Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Park, London) for inclusion in a documentary about the “underground” movement flowering in London. One of the performers at this event is Yoko Ono. CLICK HERE TO SEE A SPECIAL PHOTO ALBUM-FEATURE ON THE 14- HOUR TECHNICOLOR DREAM!

1967--The New York Times reports a Munich court has ruled that "beat band music" is subject to taxation as entertainment and it's not comparable to concert music presented to "passive listeners." Tax authorites submitted test results from a recent "pop beat show" registering the band's sound level at 117 decibels and the audience's sound level at 105 decibels.

1968--Frankie Lymon (1950s singer with Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers), dies of a drug overdose at age 25.

1969--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). Ringo Starr records his lead vocal for Octopus's Garden.

1970--After 28 straight days of shouting, screaming, sketching, and eating 28 different colors of ice cream, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Primal Scream therapy sessions with Arthur Janov at this London offices are concluded. He recommends that the Lennons fly out to Los Angeles and resume their treatment at his Primal Institute Clinic in California.

1970--As he announces the forthcoming release of his first solo album, All Things Must Pass, George Harrison says The Beatles will probably eventually reunite.

1971--Bill Graham closes down the Fillmore (in San Francisco) and the Fillmore East (in New York City).

1974--Catching up with old friends in New York, John Lennon drops into the Record Plant and meets up wth Mick Jagger. Totally off-the-cuff, John produces the track Please Don’t Ever Change, with Jagger singing lead vocal.

1975--John Lennon appears on the US television program, the "Today" show.

1977--UK release of Percy "Thrills" Thrillington (Paul McCartney) LP, Thrillington (EMI). Instrumental versions of songs from Paul and Linda McCartney's Ram LP.

1990--Wrecking balls began tearing down the Berlin Wall.

1991--A cyclone strikes Bangladesh, killing 139,000 and leaving 10 million people homeless.

For more day-by-day history go to HistoryUnlimited.net