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.

1886--Atlanta pharmacist, John Styth Pemberton, invents Coca Cola. He hit on the now world famous formula when he was formulating a headache and hangover remedy. The syrup ingredients included dried leaves from the South American coca shrub, an extract of kola nuts from Africa, plus fruit syrup.

1911--Blues singer, Robert Johnson, is born.

1945--British Prime Minister Winston Churchill broadcasts to the nation as part of VE (Victory in Europe) Day celebrations. President Truman broadcasts to the American people. World War II is over.

1951--The world's first thermonuclear test is conducted by US nuclear scientists headed by Edward Teller at the mid-Pacific atoll Eniwetok.

1952--Mad magazine debuts.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962--The Beatles perform at the Star-Club, Hamburg, West Germany.

1962--London trolley buses officially go out of service.

1962--At a London HMV record store, The Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein, is recommended by engineer Ted Huntly to send the band's demo to an EMI producer named George Martin. Martin will later sign The Beatles to EMI.

1963--John Lennon and Brian Epstein return from their 12-day holiday in Spain.

1964--UK release of single the One and One is Two by The Strangers with Mike Shannon (Philips). The single will fail to chart and will not be released in the US. The song was written in Paris, the previous January, by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. It was originally meant for Billy J. Kramer. John wasn't happy with the song, saying "Billy J's career is finished when he gets this song." Indeed, Kramer didn't care much for the song, and went on to instead record Little Children, which gave him his third UK #1 and his first Top Ten hit in the US. As for The Strangers, they were destined to be one of the popular Liverpool groups who did not achieve success in the wake of The Beatles' phenomenal accomplishments. The Strangers had occasionally appeared on the same bill with The Beatles in earlier years, and they had been voted #8 in the first poll conducted by Mersey Beat magazine, but the group was unable to expand upon their regional popularity. The Beatles never recorded One and One is Two, but a demo version featuring Paul McCartney is available on various bootlegs.

1965--The British Invasion reaches its zenith as nine of the songs in the Billboard top 10 are by British artists.

1965--Bob Dylan films his promotional film for Subterranean Homesick Blues outside London's Savoy Hotel with Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth.

1967--A NEMS press release announces the imminent disbanding of Gerry and the Pacemakers.

1968--In the US, John Lennon and Paul McCartney are interviewed by Larry Kane. The two Beatles are in America promoting their new business venture, Apple Corps.

1968--It is reported that The Beatles have been warned that they will have to remove the psychedelic paintings on the Apple Boutique's wall. Public outcry about the painting from nearby businesses was quite intense.

1969--John Lennon and Yoko Ono conduct a lengthy interview with David Wigg for the Radio 1 program "Scene and Heard," which is broadcast in two parts, on May 11 and May 18. This is put on record a decade later as part of The Beatles Tapes.

1969--John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr sign a business management contract with Allen Klein and his company ABKCO, but Paul McCartney refuses to sign the agreement. Paul continues to let the Eastmans represent his interests.

1969--Alistair Taylor is fired as Apple's director.

1970--UK release of The Beatles’ LP Let It Be (Apple). Deluxe boxed edition with "Get Back" book. Reissued on November 6 as regular album. The Beatles twelfth and final album, actually recorded before Abbey Road and was originally to be called "Get Back." Songs: Two of Us, I Dig a Pony, Across the Universe, I Me Mine, Dig It, Let It Be, Maggie Mae, I've Got a Feeling, One After 909, The Long and Winding Road, For You Blue, and Get Back. Highest chart position: #1.

1971--John Lennon and Yoko Ono return to London (from Majorca), having secured a court order granting them, and Tony and Melinda Cox, joint custody of Yoko’s daughter, Kyoko.

1972--Billy Preston is the first rock artist to headline at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

1980--The World Health Organization announces that smallpox has been eradicated.

1984--”The Art of The Beatles” exhibition, which portrays three decades of the group in the form of cartoons, paintings, photographs, album covers, lithographs, and sculptures, opens in London.

1989--UK re-release of The Beatles’ singles on three-inch CDs: Paperback Writer / Rain, Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby, Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, and We Can Work It Out / Day Tripper (EMI).

1998--A court in England issues an injunction to stop sales of yet another release of the “Star-Club tapes.” The former Beatles and Yoko Ono had petitioned the court to take the action to prevent Lingasong Music Ltd. from continuing to sell the new CD available in England via mail order. George Harrison had testified the day before on behalf of the group, and the judge rules that Harrison's testimony was thoroughly convincing, while that of Edward “King-Size” Taylor, who recorded The Beatles in concert at the Star-Club on December 31, 1962, was "confused and inconsistent." The judge orders that all copies of the new recording be delivered to The Beatles' lawyers, that the original tape be handed over as well, and that The Beatles be paid legal costs and damages.

1999--The Sun newspaper reports that Yoko Ono has met for the first time, John’s lost sister, the 53-year-old hospital clerk, Ingrid Petersen. After visiting "Strawberry Fields" in New York’s Central Park, a tearful Ingrid says: “I know I’ll never be closer to him than this. I was in tears of sadness and joy. Yoko never left my side and held my hand as we walked. She told me all about him. I feel that at last, after all these years, I am at peace and have reached journey’s end. I thought one day we would be together, but fate conspired to keep us apart. In Yoko, I have found the next best person.”

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