History offers
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understand
how the past
impacts the now.

Follow our
daily timelime
of historical
events to
discover the
role The Beatles
played in changing
the modern world.

1889--The tabulating machine is patented by Dr. Herman Hollerith.

1931--Rock promoter, Bill Graham, is born in Germany.

1934--British actor, Roy Kinnear, is born in Lancashire, England.

1935--"The King," Elvis Aron Presley, is born in Tupelo, Mississippi.

1937--Singer Shirley Bassey, who sang the theme to Goldfinger, is born in Tiger Bay, Wales.

1940--Britain's first World War II rationing begins with limits on bacon, butter and sugar.

1947--David Bowie is born David Jones in Brixton, England.

1956--Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog single goes to #1 and stays in that position for a record 11 weeks.

1957--On his 22nd birthday, Elvis Presley takes the army pre-induction exam in Memphis and passes. John Lennon would later comment on his former idol’s death, “Elvis died when he went into the Army.”

1963--The Beatles are at Scottish Television, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, to appear on a live television broadcast of the children's magazine program "Roundup." The Beatles lip-sync to their about-to-be-released second single, Please Please Me.

1964--The Beatles perform at the Astoria Cinema, Finsbury Park, London. Appearing in two performances of "The Beatles' Christmas Show."

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

1966--We Can Work It Out becomes the #1 single in the US.

1966--The Beatles' album Rubber Soul is #1 in the US. It remains at #1 for six weeks and stays on the charts for 56 weeks. Rubber Soul is the seventh Beatles LP to reach #1 in the US (the other six are Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles '65, Beatles VI, and Help!).

1966--John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr attend a party thrown by Mick Jagger at his London townhouse.

1966--The final episode of "Shindig!" featuring The Kinks and The Who is broadcast on ABC-TV. The show had premiered in September 1964, and from 1965 had aired twice weekly, on Thursday and Saturday evenings. The Beatles appeared on the show in 1965, although their segment was filmed in England.

1969--The Beatles spend another day at Twickenham Film Studios trying to "Get Back," but once again their hearts aren't in it and they flounder about without any real purpose. The Beatles are too good as musicians not to have a few good moments, but for the most part they're wasting their time. John Lennon constantly maligns George Harrison’s songwriting, but shows little enthusiasm for contributing anything substantial of his own.

1970--George Harrison attends a mixing session with Glyn Johns for the "Get Back" tapes. George adds a vocal overdub to For You Blue, and Johns re-mixes that song and Let It Be (the single version).

1973--Yoko Ono releases Approximately Infinite Universe, whose highlights include songs like I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window. It is a two-record set because Yoko says, "I figured if George Harrison can put out a triple album, then I can put out a double album." Although the disc doesn't do especially well, it's generally better accepted than her earlier avant-garde work. Despite that fact, it only makes it to #193 on the charts.

1974--The Beatles' US Capitol Records LP, The Early Beatles, turns gold nine years after its release. This album is essentially the same (but with fewer songs) as The Beatles' first Parlophone LP, Please Please Me (released in the UK) and the VeeJay album Introducing the Beatles (released in the US).

1982--The Johnny Cash Parkway opens in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

1989--The Soviet Union promises to eliminate stockpiles of chemical weapons.

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