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1908--Edward Teller, the US physicist known as the "father of the hydrogen bomb," is born.

1941-- Captain Beefheart is born Don Van Vliet in Glendale, California.

1943--The Pentagon, the world’s largest office building, is completed, just outside of Washington, D.C., in Arlington, Virginia. The massive structure covers 34 acres of land and has 17 miles of corridors, serving as the headquarters of US military defense.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Casbah Coffee Club, West Derby, Liverpool.

1962--The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club -- a lunchtime show.

1964--The Beatles perform live at the Cinema Cyrano, Versailles, France, before an audience of 2,000. The are preceded by a juggling act. The show is primarily a warm-up for a three-week engagement at the Olympia Theatre that is scheduled to open the next day in Paris. The Beatles are unhappy with their performance and with the French organizers. Earlier in the day, they had strolled through the streets of Paris and were virtually ignored by the local population. The Daily Mail commented: “Either the Champs-Elysees was not in mobbing mood today, or Beatlemania is still, like Britain’s entry into the Common Market, a problem the French prefer to put off for awhile. Only three girls ask them for autographs. One of them is English.” Back at their Paris hotel, they are informed that I Want To Hold Your Hand has reached No. 1 in the US Cashbox charts, after just three weeks in the Hot 100.

1964--VeeJay Records sues Capitol Records and Swan Records in New York over US manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles records. In Chicago, Capitol Records is granted an injunction against VeeJay, which restrains VeeJay from any further manufacture or distribution of Beatles records. VeeJay files a counter-suit against the injunction two days later.

1965--The Beatles put on two performances of "Another Beatles Christmas Show" at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1965--Murray the K, a New York disc jockey known as the self-proclaimed "Fifth Beatle," tells the New Musical Express that "outside of The Beatles, British bands can't carry a show by themselves."

1966--We Can Work It Out is the #1 single in the US for the second week in a row.

1969--George Harrison returns to London and has a five-hour meeting with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr. Although he and Lennon make peace, George makes it clear that he is fully prepared to quit for good if certain conditions of his aren't met. All the talk about live performances must stop, and the sessions must be geared towards recording an album AS AN ALBUM, not as a sideline to a film project. This would allow The Beatles to quit rehearsing at the gloomy and cold Twickenham sound stage and start recording at their own brand-new Apple Studios. The filming could continue as long as it was for the making of a film about The Beatles making an album. The other Beatles accepted George’s conditions; after all, they were getting nowhere with what they were doing, and they certainly didn't want George to leave the group. And so they now embarked upon the making of an album and a film about the making of the album, both the record and the movie to be called "Get Back."

1970--John Lennon exhibits 14 lithographs (some of them erotic), under the title "Bag One," at the London Arts Gallery in New Bond Street. The lithos chronicle the Lennon’s sexual relationship and their wedding / honeymoon. One of the first visitors is Detective Inspector Patrick Luff of Scotland Yard. The next day, eight of the lithographs are seized as being possibly pornographic. The lithographs are later ruled not to be obscene, and they are returned to Lennon on April 27.

1971--UK release of the George Harrison single My Sweet Lord / What Is Life (Apple). Nine weeks on the charts; highest position #1. Around this time George is quoted as saying: “The only purpose for being alive is to get yourself straight. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest that divinity and what I believe in is liberation. That’s what I really want to do, is liberate myself from this chaos and of this body. I want to be free of my body; I want to be God conscious. That’s really my only ambition and everything else is incidental.”

1971--Contrary to earlier claims that The Beatles' finances were in a terrible state, a letter from the bank which handles Apple’s financial accounts, reveals that the group has over £2 million on deposit.

1973--US President, Richard Nixon, orders the termination of all military attacks against North Vietnam after progress in the Paris peace talks.

1981--A political party in San Paulo, Brazil, revokes plans for a square to be named “John Lennon Square.”

1982--Harry Wayne Casey, leader of KC and the Sunshine Band, is seriously injured in a head-on car crash near his Hialeah, Florida, home. He is temporarily paralyzed on the right side of his body and spends the next year recuperating.

1984--While Paul and Linda McCartney are on vacation in Barbados, their bungalow is searched by police and both Paul and Linda are charged with possession of marijuana. The next day they both plead guilty and are fined $200 each.

1991--Sean Lennon's remake of his father's 1969 song, Give Peace A Chance, is released to coincide with the United Nation's midnight deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait. The lyrics are updated to reflect concerns of the 1990s and the song is credited to “The Peace Choir.”

1992--Dee Murray, bass player for the Elton John band, dies of cancer in Nashville.

1994--Singer Harry Nilsson dies of heart disease in Agoura Hills, California. He was 52. Nilsson was known for songs like Everybody's Talkin', Without You and Coconut. Nilsson was a close friend of John Lennon. Being a hard drinker and overall hellraiser (like John), he played a major role in John’s “Lost Weekend” in the mid-70s. After John’s passing, he was sometines seen at Beatlefests and other public functions actively supporting gun control.

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