History offers
a chance
to truly
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.

1806--The Lewis & Clark Expedition reaches the Pacific Coast.

1839--The first recorded use of the term "ok" (oll korrect) is seen in Boston's Morning Post.

1861--London's first tramcars, designed by Mr. Train of New York, go into operation.

1942--The US government moves all those native-born of Japanese ancestry into detention centers.

1962--The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club twice -- at lunchtime and again at night.

1963--The Beatles, touring with Chris Montez and Tommy Roe, perform at City Hall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland.

1964--US release of EP The Beatles: Souvenir of Their Visit to America (VeeJay). Includes the previously-released songs, Misery, A Taste of Honey, Ask Me Why, and Anna. VeeJay, having lost its rights to new Beatles material to Capitol, will issue several re-packagings of the album's worth of songs they still have control over. Eventually, though, they lose rights to those songs as well.

1964--John Lennon's first book, "In His Own Write," is published in London by Johnathan Cape. It is a collection of John’s stories, poems and drawings, some of which go back to his teenage years. John asked old friend and Mersey Beat editor, Bill Harry, to supply copies of the poems and stories he’d sent him since 1961, and filled the rest of the book with more recent scribblings, dashed off on the bus from one gig to the next. The “Lennon style” is one of spontaneous verbal imagery presented in a truly chaotic form. Some of the pieces reveal his obsession with subjects such as violent death, family breakdown, and the crippled. Many of the images in the book have their roots in Lennon’s personal dreams and nightmares.

1964--John Lennon appears on the live BBC television program "Tonight" to promote the publication of his first book, "In His Own Write." John is interviewed by Kenneth Allsop for four minutes, after a few brief extracts from the book are read by Cliff Michelmore, Derek Hart, and Allsop. Allsop offhandedly asks Lennon why he doesn’t use the verbal dexterity and imagination of his stories in his songs, planting a seed that will begin to come to fruition in 1965.

1964--Filming resumes for "A Hard Day's Night" at the Scala Theatre in central London. The Beatles exit a car outside and enter under a canvas. Wilfrid Brambell, having escaped from the police, stands outside trying to weasel his way inside. John, Paul, and George then run out to go get Ringo.

1964--The Beatles attend an awards event at the Empire Ballroom, Leicester Square, London, to receive two Carl-Alan Awards from Prince Philip for "Best Beat Group" and "Best Single" for the year 1963.

1967--At a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles are awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966 (Best-selling British single, Yellow Submarine; most-performed song, Michelle; and next-most-performed song, Yesterday). None of The Beatles attend, although John Lennon and Paul McCartney provide pre-taped acceptance speeches. The winning songs are played by Joe Loss and His Orchestra, and the lead vocal for Michelle is sung by Ross MacManus, whose son will go on to become a professional musician using the name Elvis Costello.

1967--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Completion of Getting Better. The vocals and bongos are successfully overdubbed.

1968--Ringo Starr attends a private screening of the movie "Around the World in 80 Days," hosted by Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, at the Coliseum Cinerama. Afterwards, Ringo attends a supper party at the Dorchester Hotel with Taylor and Burton.

1969--The Rally for Decency in Miami, Florida, attracts 30,000 people, including Jackie Gleason and The Lettermen. The rally protests "longhairs and weird dressers" and later is commended by President Richard Nixon.

1970--Paul McCartney in the recording studio (Studio Three, EMI Studios, London). Making copies of the master tape of his soon-to-be-released solo album, McCartney. Only days away from announcing his split from The Beatles, McCartney had secretly recorded his album using the pseudonym "Billy Martin" to book the studio time.

1970--US release of the Leon Russell LP, on which George Harrison plays guitar and Ringo Starr plays drums.

1970--In Room Four of EMI Studios in London (at the same time that Paul McCartney is making tape copies in Studio 3), Phil Spector begins 're-producing' the "Get Back" tapes into the Let It Be album, at the request of John Lennon. On this day he works on I've Got a Feeling, Dig a Pony, One After 909, I Me Mine, and Across the Universe.

1972--The film “The Concert for Bangladesh” officially opens in New York. It is presented in 70mm with six-track sound.

1973--New York judge Ira Fieldsteel rules that John Lennon must leave the United States within 60 days, but Yoko Ono is granted permanent residency. The US Immigration and Naturalization Bureau had decided that Lennon is "undesirable." While they cite his drug conviction as their chief objection to his remaining in the US, their real concern is his political activism. Lennon's visitor's visa had expired on February 29, 1972. John and Yoko issue a statement that they are "...not prepared to sleep in separate beds."

1983--Beginning today (through March 30), the San Francisco Bay Guardian underground newspaper prints a series of fascinating articles entitled, “John Lennon and the FBI Files,” in which they look at how the US government harassed John in the early 1970s.

1984--UK re-release of the John Lennon / Yoko Ono album, Milk and Honey, as a picture disc (Polydor). Only 2,000 copies were issued.

1985--We Are the World, by USA for Africa, a group of 46 pop stars, enters the music charts for the first time at No. 21.

1990--Mark Lewisohn’s classic reference book, “The Complete Beatles Recordings Sessions,” is published in paperback by Hamlyn Books.

1992--After four years, the US radio series, “The Lost Lennon Tapes,” finally comes to a close. A total of 218 episodes had been aired.

1993--US re-release of the Ringo Starr album Goodnight Vienna on CD (Capitol/Apple/Parlophone). Includes bonus tracks Back Off Boogaloo, Blindman, and Six O'clock (long version previously available on limited formats).

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