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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON MARCH 18


Television sets in an appliance store in the early 1950s.1891--Great Britain is linked to the European continent by telephone.

1922--A court in British India sentences Mahatma Gandhi to six years imprisonment for his civil disobedience campaign. He is released after serving two years.

1931--Schick, Inc. (the razor company) displays the first electric shaver in Stamford, Connecticutt.

1948--Philips begins experimental TV broadcasting.

1954--RKO Pictures is sold to billionaire, Howard Hughes, for $23,489,478. It becomes the first motion picture studio to be owned by an individual.

The house that hosted the Casbah Club in Liverpool, England. This was the home of Mona Best and her sons, among them Pete, who was drummer for The Beatles for several years before they reached worldwide fame.1957--Bill Haley and the Comets are back from an eleven week tour of Australia, Europe and the British Isles where they played for a half-million fans.

1962--The Beatles perform at the Casbah Coffee Club, West Derby, Liverpool.

1963--The Beatles perform at the Regal Cinema, Gloucester, Gloucestershire (on the Chris Montez / Tommy Roe tour).

1964--The Beatles continue filming for their first movie, "A Hard Day's Night." Shooting of the "dressing room" scenes, at Twickenham Film Studios. During a lull in the filming, The Beatles tape an interview segment for the BBC radio program "The Public Ear." Fans had requested that advance notice be given of any appearance by The Beatles on the program, so Ringo Starr tapes a promotional bit asking fans to call all their friends so they could tune in and give a listen. The segment is broadcast on March 22.

1965--The Beatles in Austria working on "Help!" Filming at an Olympic ski-jump, on a mountainside, and in a ski-resort cellar.

1965--John Lennon gives friend (and ex-Quarry Man), Pete Shotton, £20,000 to open Hayling Supermarkets Ltd. The first store opens in Hayling Island, Hampshire. Presumably, John makes the transfer through his solicitor, since he is filming in Austria at the time. Over the years, Shotton made the most of John’s generosity, turning this business venture into a multi-million-dollar enterprise.

Picture sleeve for Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever.1965--The Rolling Stones are fined £5 each for the offense of public urination.

1967--Penny Lane becomes the #1 single in the US.

1968--US release of The Beatles' single Lady Madonna / The Inner Light (Capitol). 11 weeks on Billboard chart; highest position #4.

1972--Ringo Starr turns director. He's behind the camera as shooting begins for a T. Rex concert in Wembley, England, for the film, “Born to Boogie.”

John Lennon performing Stand By Me on the Old Grey Whistle Test television show.1975--At the Dakota, John Lennon records his second interview with journalist Jean-Francois Vallee (the first being on December 14, 1971), this time for the inclusion in the French TV show “Ur Jour Future.” His segment, entitled “Once Upon A Time There Was John Lennon,” features John speaking on the phone and being interviewed while sitting on the floor. Among the many topics of conversation: Paul’s admission of taking drugs back in the sixties, The Beatles as world leaders, John’s visit to Paris in 1961, the trademark Beatle haircut and collarless jackets, and his incorporation of raggae into I Call Your Name. At one point, John goes out on the balcony and performs a mock magical trick with a handkerchief, which appears from the bottom of his trousers. He then performs at the piano a version of Lady Marmalade. Broadcast on June 28, the segment has John’s answers dubbed in French by two separate male/female voices. Sections of the interview where John speaks frankly about sex and drugs are not included. Following the French TV interview, John records another transatlantic phone conversation with DJ Nicky Horne for his program “Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It.” Then later in the day, the concluding part of “The Old Grey Whistle Test” show is filmed at the Hit Factory studios in New York, where John and his band perform Slippin’ and Slidin’ and Stand By Me.

Paul McCartney with this father, James, in 1967.1976--Paul McCartney's father, James McCartney, dies of bronchial pheumonia at his home in Gayton, in the Wirral in Merseyside. He was 73. Among the first to hear the sad news is John Lennon, who Paul calls personally in New York.

1978--"Bee Gees mania" begins as the Australian group takes over the top 10 with the disco anthems Night Fever, Stayin' Alive, and How Deep Is Your Love.

1986--Yoko Ono’s world tour makes it way to Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

1986--The US Treasury Department announces that a clear, polyester thread will be woven into paper money in an effort to thwart counterfeiters.

1994--The Rolling Stones announce that bassist Daryl Jones will be the touring replacement for Bill Wyman.

The Beatles Anthology 21996--Release of Beatles double CD The Beatles Anthology 2 in the US (Capitol / Apple / EMI) and the UK (Parlophone / Apple). Tracks: Real Love, Yes It Is, I'm Down, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, If You've Got Trouble, That Means a Lot, Yesterday, It's Only Love, I Feel Fine, Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Help!, Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), I'm Looking Through You, 12-Bar Original, Tomorrow Never Knows, Got to Get You Into My Life, And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman, Eleanor Rigby (Strings Only), I'm Only Sleeping (Rehearsal), I'm Only Sleeping (Take 1), Rock and Roll Music, She's a Woman, Strawberry Fields Forever (Demo Sequence), Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1), Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 & Edit Piece), Penny Lane, A Day in the Life, Good Morning Good Morning, Only a Northern Song, Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Takes 1 & 2), Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Take 7), Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Within You Without You (instrumental), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), I Am the Walrus, The Fool On the Hill (Demo), Your Mother Should Know, The Fool On the Hill (Take 4), Hello Goodbye, Lady Madonna, and Across the Universe. Highest US chart position is #1, and highest UK chart position is #1. [Note: one source gives March 19 as the US release date]. 442,000 copies of the album will be sold in the US during its first week of release.

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

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