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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON FEBRUARY 14


St. Valentine269--St. Valentine, a Roman priest, is martyred during the persecution of the Christians by Emperor Claudius II.
John Lennon shows the vintage circus poster that inspired his colorful song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite on the Sgt. Pepper album.
1843--According to the poster from which John Lennon took the lyrics, tonight's performance is indeed for the benefit of Mr. Kite. The erstwhile performer is expected to vault over men and horses, hoops and garters, lastly through a hogshead of real fire.

1922--Italian scientist, Guglielmo Marconi, begins the first regular radio broadcasting transmission from England.

1946--An electronic brain, or computer, begins working at the University of Pennsylvania taking seconds to do calculations which normally takes hours. It is called ENIAC or Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer.

A poster advertising a Valentine's Day Rock Ball at the Cassanova Club in Liverpool.1961--The Beatles perform at the Cassanova Club, Liverpool, and at Litherland Town Hall, Liverpool. Advertisements for the Cassanova Club appearance credited The Beatles as the originators of a foot-stomping dance called "The Atom Beat." At Litherland Town Hall, while The Beatles are presenting a Valentine's Day show, Paul McCartney sings Elvis Presley's, Wooden Heart, and he is wearing an honest-to-god wooden heart pinned to his coat, covered with satin and embroidered with the names John, Paul, George, and Pete. The heart is raffled off, and the winner will also get a kiss from Paul. When the winning girl goes on stage to get her prize and kiss, dozens of other girls follow her, squealing in an early display of "Beatlemania." John Lennon is knocked to the floor and the club's bouncers close the curtain and stop the show until order has been restored.

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

1963--The Beatles perform at the Locarno Ballroom, Liverpool.

1964--The Beatles rehearse for their second live appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

1967--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Recording overdubs for Only a Northern Song, including two George Harrison lead vocals.

1970--According to a headline in Billboard, the Recording Industry Association of America is "Mounting Total War Against Tape Pirating of Pre-recorded Music."

Louis Nye, Yoko Ono and John Lennon on The Mike Douglas Show, February 1972.1972--John Lennon and Yoko Ono serve as guest hosts for "The Mike Douglas Show" (a US daytime television talk show) for the week of February 14-18. Outside the studio, fans wait to see John, Buy John Lennon and Yoko Ono on The Mike Douglas Showshouting out “Beatles.” “Don’t they know The Beatles are over?” John asks a friend. Louis Nye, Ralph Nader, and The Chambers Brothers are the day’s guests; the Lennons (along with the Plastic Ono/Elephant’s Memory Band) perform It’s So Hard; and host Mike Douglas sings Michelle (of which John good-naturedly informs him that he only wrote the “middle eight”). John went on to say, “Normally they play Yesterday which was Paul’s song.” Yoko starts “Mend Piece,” an event which will over the course of the week mend a china cup. John, Yoko, and the guests also call people at random to say “I love you.”

1974--After 39 shows in 21 cities, the Bob Dylan / The Band tour comes to an end at the Forum in Los Angeles. Many celebrities like Carole King, Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson turn out for the final performance. Afterwards Ringo says, "It was bloody fantastic. The best concert I've ever been to."

The cover of the George Harrison LP.1979--George Harrison's 10th album, simply entitled, George Harrison, is released. It would stay on the charts for 18 weeks reaching #14.

1981--John Lennon recordings in the US Top 20 include the LP Double Fantasy at #1 and two singles: #7 Starting Over (previously #1) and #14 Woman.

1981--John Lennon recordings in the UK Top 20 include the LPs Double Fantasy at #1, Imagine at #9, and Shaved Fish at #12. UK singles: #1 Woman and #6 Imagine (previously #1).

1986--UK release of a one-hour videocassette called "British Rock: the First Wave." It includes footage of The Beatles in Manchester in November 1963; in Sweden in October 1963; at the 1964 and 1965 New Musical Express Poll Winners Concerts; in Washington D.C. in 1964; John Lennon's "apology" on Aug. 11, 1966; and the premiere of the movie "Yellow Submarine."

The Troubadour nightclub in Santa Monica, California played host to an amazing array of musical performers in the 1970s and 1980s. John Lennon and Harry Nilsson were thrown out of the club for behaving badly one night, garnering Lennon front page new stories around the world.1996--The Beatles’ second “new” single, Real Love, is beamed to UK radio stations, via satellite, for broadcast at 8:10 a.m. on Valentine’s Day.

1999--Doug Weston, who operated the Los Angeles (actually, Santa Monica) club, the Troubadour, dies in a local hospital after a bout of pneumonia at the age of 72. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Troubadour was one of the city's prime talent showcases.

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

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