1926

Jan 03 George Martin is born, in London

1934

Sep 19 Brian Epstein is born to Queenie and Harry Epstein. in a private nursery house, 4 Rodney Street, Liverpool.

1940

Jun 23 Stuart Sutcliffe is born, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jul 07 Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) is born to Richard and Elsie Starkey.

Oct 09 John Winston Lennon is born to Alfred and Julia Lennon at the Maternity Hospital, Oxford Street, Liverpool.

1942

Jun 18 James Paul McCartney is born to Jim and Mary McCartney.

1943

Feb 25 George Harrison is born to Harold and Louise Harrison.

1957

Mar John Lennon with Pete Shotton form a skiffle group The Quarrymen (after his Grammar school, Quarry Bank), when he was 16 years old.

Jul 6 Paul McCartney, age 15, meets John at a Quarry Men performance at Woolton Parish Church fete. A few days later, John invites him to join the band, impressed with his guitar skills.
Late 1957 Paul introduces George to the Quarry Men at the Morgue Club in Old Roan, Liverpool.

1958

Feb George Harrison, age 15, joins the group.

15 Jun Julia Lennon, John's mother, is ran out by a car while crossing Menlove Ave. in front of Aunt Mimi's house (where John lived) and dies.

Aug 29 Mona Best opens a coffee bar in her cellar, the Casbah Coffee Club in West Derby, Liverpool. Here, John, Paul, George met Pete Best, who’s a drummer for The Blackjacks.

1960

Jan John asks his friend from Liverpool College of Art Stu Sutcliffe to join the Quarry Men as bass guitarist. The band changes its name to Silver Beetles.

May 10 The Beatles acquire their first manager – the Jacaranda Club owner Allan Williams.

Aug 16 Pete Best becomes the “official” Beatles drummer

Aug 17 Performances at the Indra club, a strip joint in the Reeperbahn, in Hamburg, Germany. After the Indra closes they moved to the Kaiserkeller. By the end of seven weeks, Paul and Pete were arrested for trying to burn down the movie theater in which they lived (Bambi Kino), George was deported for being underage, and Stu got engaged to Astrid Kirchherr, a German art student.

Dec 27 The Beatles appear at a local public hall, Litherland Town Hall back in Liverpool, gathering a horde of fans, who at first thought they were German.

1961

Mar 21 The Beatles first performance at the Cavern Club.

Apr Beatles returned to Hamburg to play at the Top Ten Club. They recorded a single as The Beat Brothers, backing Tony Sheridan. The song was "My Bonnie."

Jun Stuart Sutcliffe quits the Beatles to study art in Hamburg and move in with his fiancée Astrid.

Jul Billy Harry started the Mersey Beat newspaper in Liverpool, where John later have his own column, Beatcomber

Jul 3 Beatles returns to Liverpool.

Oct 28 Three teens go to Brian Epstein’s record shop NEMS on that Saturday and ask for “My Bonnie”, by The Beatles

Nov 9 Brian Epstein and Alistair Taylor visit the Cavern to check out The Beatles performing at lunchtime.

Dec 3 The Beatles agree to let Brian manage them. They start to change their image and look for a recording contract.

1962

Jan 01 Beatles audition – unsuccessfully – for Decca Records at West Hampstead. The songs played were: Like Dreamers Do; Money (That's What I Want); Till There Was You; The Sheik of Araby; To Know Her is to Love Her; Take Good Care of My Baby; Memphis, Tennessee; Sure to Fall; Hello Little Girl; Three Cool Cats; Crying Waiting Hoping; Love of the Loved; September in the Rain; Besame Mucho; Searchin'.

Jan 04 “Mersey Beat” front-page title is `Beatles Top Poll!’ the issue is completely dedicated to the Beatles.

Feb 08 Brian goes to HMV's store, 363 Oxford Street, London, to have the acetates cut from tapes of the Decca audition, and meet Bob Boast, disc-cutter Jim Foy, and Sid Coleman, who sends him to George Martin after listening to the tapes.

Mar 07 The Playhouse Theatre, Hulme, Manchester - recording for BBC's Teenager's Turn (Here We Go): Hello Little Girl; Memphis Tennessee; Dream Baby; Please Mister Postman.  It was their 1st BBC session in front of a live audience.

Mar 08 BBC's `Teenager’s Turn (Here We Go)' broadcast of the songs taped the day before.
April 10 Stuart Sutcliffe dies of a brain hemorrhage in Hamburg. The Beatles are back in Germany to play at the Star-Club.

Jun 06 Beatles have an audition with George Martin, producer at EMI Parlophone. He insists that they find a new drummer because Pete isn't good enough. They play Besame Mucho, Love Me Do, P.S. I Love You, Your Feet’s Too Big, Ask Me Why.

Aug 16 Pete Best is sacked from the Beatles.

Aug 17 Last Pete Best performance at the Cavern as a Beatle.

Aug 18 First performance of Ringo Starr as Beatle. He agrees to join permanently after he finishes a tour with Rory Storm. They hire Johnny "Hutch" Hutchinson as a temporary replacement. Angry Pete Best fans protest outside the Cavern Club with signs “Pete is Best”.

Aug 23 John marries Cynthia Powell, a British art student, at the Mount Pleasant Register Office. After they go for a wedding lunch paid by Brian at Reece's Cafeteria, Liverpool. They spend their honeymoon at Brian’s vacant apartment.

Sep 04 Beatles record their first single Love Me Do. George Martin insists on having a session drummer play for Ringo, Andy White.

Sep 11 the Beatles cut their very first single Love Me Do. Andy White plays drums on this version.

Oct 01 Beatles sign a formal 5-year contract with Brian Epstein.

Oct 05 Love Me Do is released in the United Kingdom. It peaks at #17 on the British charts.

Nov 01 Beatles and Brian fly to Hamburg. Start of 4th season in Germany, performing at the Star Club.

1963

Jan 11 Beatles second single, Please Please Me is released in the U.K. It goes to #1 on the British charts on February 22 and stays there for two weeks.

Jan 19 Transmission of performance in `Thank Your Lucky Stars' (recorded on 13 January). First national appearance.

Feb 11 10:00 am, the Beatles entered Abbey Road Studios for a recording session. At 10:00 pm, they left - leaving 10 songs recorded that became their first album Please Please Me.

Mar 22 The album "Please Please Me" is released in the U.K. and once it hits number one, it remains there for 29 weeks. Successive singles all hit number one: "From Me To You," "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand." The same album is released in the USA in July as Introducing the Beatles.

Mar 23 John’s first book “In His Own Words” is published.

Apr 08 John Charles Julian Lennon was born to Cynthia and John.

Apr 15 John travels to Liverpool to visit Cynthia and Julian for the first time at the General Hospital, Sefton. He chooses Brian as godfather.

Apr 28 Brian and John fly to Spain for a 12 days vacation.

Aug 3 The Beatles final performance at the Cavern Club.

Oct 13 Beatles play on ITV's "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" which is broadcast to 15 million viewers

Nov 04 Royal Command Performance. One of the songs performed is "Twist And Shout". John stepped up to the microphone and said, "Would the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry."

Nov 22 The band's second album "With the Beatles" is released in the UK, remaining in the top position for 21 weeks.

Dec 26 With the Beatles is released in the US and spends seven weeks at number one.

1964

Jan 20 The album "Meet the Beatles!" is released by Capitol Records in the US.

Feb Beatlemania crossed the Atlantic. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" hit the top of the American charts. Ed Sullivan signed them for two appearances on his show. Capitol Records distributed millions of "The Beatles Are Coming!" bumper stickers.

Feb 07 Pan Am Flight 101 was scheduled to land at Kennedy Airport bringing The Beatles. 3,000 hysterical fans greeted the plane. Hundreds of fans surround the Plaza Hotel, where the Beatles are staying.

Feb 09 Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. They stay for two weeks. They perform five songs, "All My Loving," "Till There Was You," "She Loves You," "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand."

Feb 11 Beatles first live performance in the US at the Washington Coliseum in Washington, D.C.

Feb 12 Beatles perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City

Feb 16 Beatles perform for the second time on "The Ed Sullivan Show," live from the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. Approximately 70 million people tune in.

Feb 23 Beatles appear for the third time on "The Ed Sullivan Show," with a taped performance of three songs.

Mar 02 Filming commences on the Beatles' first film, "A Hard Day's Night," completed in eight weeks.

Mar 31 The Beatles hold the top five slots on Billboard's chart: #1 Can't Buy Me Love, #2 Twist and Shout, #3 She Loves You, #4 I Want To Hold Your Hand #5 Please Please Me, for the first time ever in the recording industry the same artist holds the 5 top positions.

Apr 04 Beatles hold 14 slots on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

Jun 03 Ringo is taken to the private patients' wing of the University College Hospital, London. Brian and George Martin pick Jimmy Nicol as Ringo's replacement drummer for Holland tour.

Jun 14 Ringo re-joins the Beatles in Melbourne, Australia.

July 06 "A Hard Day's Night" premieres in London and Princess Margaret attends it. It cost $500,000. The film is well received by critics and the public.

Jul 12 While on his way to a concert in Brighton in his E-type Jaguar, George is involved in a car accident in New King's Road, London

Aug 11 "A Hard Day's Night" opens in the US.

Aug 19 Beatles performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, in the first concert of their second USA/Canada tour, which lasts a month.

Aug 28 Beatles appear on the cover of LIFE magazine.

Sep 22 Beatles begin recording songs for Beatles For Sale.

Dec 4 The album "Beatles For Sale" is released in the UK and hits number one.

1965

Feb 11 Ringo marries 18 years old hairdresser Maureen Cox at the Caxton Hall Register Office, London; Brian is the best man, John and George attend.  They go to Brighton, on the wedding trip.

Feb 23 Shooting begins in the Bahamas on the Beatles' second film, "Help!"

May 12 Filming of Help! is completed.

Jun 11 Beatles are named to the MBE order (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for boosting industry and tourism. Many members of the Order returned their medals in protest.

Jun 24 John’s second book “A Spaniard In The Works” is published.

Jul 29 "Help!" opens in London. It opens in the US on August 11. It cost $1.5 million.

Aug 06 The album "Help!" is released in the UK and becomes a number one hit, so as in the US.

Aug 13 Beatles begin their third American tour.

Aug 15 Shea Stadium, Beatles biggest concert ever: 55,000 people, $304,000 in tickets $160,000 to the band.

Aug 27 Beatles meet Elvis Presley, at his Bel Air house

Sep 13 Zak Starkey was born to Ringo and Maureen, at the Queen Charlotte's Maternity Hospital, Hammersmith, London.

Dec 03 The album "Rubber Soul," is released in the U.K. and hits number one there and in the US.

1966

Jan 21 George married model Pattie Boyd (who he’d met when shooting A Hard Days Night), at the Esher Register Office, Surrey. Brian and Paul are best men.

Mar John told Maureen Cleaves from London’s Evening Standard newspaper that the Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”, which was published out of context.

May 01 Performance in the New Musical Express Poll Winner's Concert, Empire Pool, Wembley, which was their last British performance until 1969.

Jun 17 Paul buys a farm in Kintyre, Scotland

Jun 20 The Yesterday and Today album, featuring the original butcher cover, was released then quickly recalled so Capitol Records could replace it with something less shocking. The remaining already sold butcher cover are avid seek by collectors.

Jul 03 Trip to Manila. On arriving, they are taken to a dock and separated from their luggage for half an hour.  

Jul 04 Brian decides that the Beatles should not attend a reception organized by Imelda Marcos, Manila’s First Lady, who took it as an offense, and so do the whole population.  4:00pm and 8:30pm: Concerts at the Araneta Collosseum.

Jul 23 Harold Wilson re-opens the Cavern Club

Jul 31 US `Datebook' magazine publishes John declarations on Christianism.

Aug 04 The government of South Africa establishes a prohibition of radio broadcasting Beatles records, because of John’s declarations. The ban was maintained for several years.

Aug 05 The album “Revolver” is released.

Aug 11 Beatles take off for their fourth and final tour of America. A firecracker went off during one show, and they thought KKK members were shooting them at.

Aug 12 Beatles hold a press conference and John apologizes for his remarks.

Aug 13 Public Beatles' records burning bonfires organized by the North American radio station `Coob'. thousands of teens burn Beatles records and merchandising

Aug 29 Beatles played their last US concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Nov 08 John meets Yoko Ono for the first time at one of her art exhibits at the Indica Gallery, London.

1967

Mar 11 Beatles receive 3 Grammy Awards, for Eleanor Rigby, Michelle, and the Revolver cover. It is reported that Yesterday have 446 different versions recorded so far.

May 15 Paul attends a performance of Georgie Fame and the Blue Fames at the Bag O'Nails, meeting Linda Eastman for the first time.

May 25 John's Rolls Royce receives the famous psychedelic paint.

Jun 01 The album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released, holding the number one slot in the UK for 27 weeks and for 19 in the US. It receives four Grammy Awards, including Best Album.

Jun 25 Beatles star in "Our World," a two-hour satellite television program transmitted live by satellite to five continents and 24 countries. They perform "All You Need is Love." This was the first live television satellite program to air worldwide, having an audience of 400 millions of people.

Aug 19 Jason Starkey was born to Ringo and Maureen.

Aug 27 Brian Epstein is found dead in his apartment in London from an overdose of sleeping pills. The Beatles learn of his death while they are visiting the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Bangor, Wales.

Sep 01 Beatles announce that they are managing themselves from now on and they are forming their own company, Apple.

Nov 08 New York premiere of `How I Won The War', starring John. He said later that he first thought of quitting The Beatles when he was shooting this movie in Spain.

Nov 09 First issue of `Rolling Stone'. John as Private Gripweed is on the cover.

Nov 27 The album "Magical Mystery Tour” is released in the US where it hits number one. It is released in the U.K. eleven days later as an EP disc, without three singles.

Dec 07 Apple opens at 94 Baker Street.

Dec 26 "Magical Mystery Tour," the Beatles' hour-long television special, airs in the UK, where it is seen by approximately 14 million viewers and not liked by critics. The BBC broadcast the full-coloured special in black&white.

1968

Jan 22 Apple Corps was formed. All of the Beatles records after this date were to be released by Apple Records.

Feb 4 First and only fans participation on a recording session invited, by Paul, to contribute for Across the Universe.

15-19 Feb Beatles travel to Rishikesh, India, to attend a seminar hosted by Maharishi at his center. After 12 days, Ringo and Maureen left. The remaining Beatles remain there, until a nasty rumor involving the Maharishi spreads around the compound. They left, and denounced the Maharishi publicly.

Apr 27 John and Paul appear on the cover of Rolling Stone.

May 14 John and Paul appear on "The Tonight Show" (with host Joe Garagiola filling in for Johnny Carson) to announce that their company, Apple, desires to help young unknown artists.

May 31 The recording sessions for The Beatles (White Album) start. Yoko Ono accompanies John everywhere. Paul, George, and Ringo do not appreciate that. The Beatles began to concentrate more on their own solo work, instead of on the group.

Jul 01 John opens his first art exhibit “You Are Here (To Yoko From John Lennon, With Love)”.

Jul 17 "Yellow Submarine," the animated film, premieres in London. It opens in America a few months later.

Jul 20 Jane Asher announces on the BBC the end of her engagement with Paul

Aug 22 Ringo quits the band during the White Album sessions feeling that he’s not good enough and is been left out by the others; after much apologizing by John, Paul and George he returned to Abbey Road to find his drum set covered in flowers.

Aug 30 "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" single is released. It’s considered the highest selling single ever at the time.

Oct 18 John and Yoko are arrested for possession of marijuana in their flat at Montague Square. They are found guilty and have to pay a fine.

Oct 26 The Beatles appear again on Rolling Stone’s cover.

Nov 08 John and Cynthia's divorce is finalized.

Nov 09 Apple releases John and Yoko's Unfinished Music Vol. 1: Two Virgins. It is sold in a brown wrapper, to cover John and Yoko’s naked picture.

Nov 22 The album "The Beatles" ('White Album') is released and went straight to number one in The UK and US.

Nov 23 Lennon and Yoko appear on the Rolling Stone’s cover.

Dec 21 The Beatles appear yet again on the cover of Rolling Stone.

1969

Jan 02 Let It Be filming begins, which supposedly is a documentary on the Beatles recording an album.

Jan 13 The album "Yellow Submarine," is released in the U.S. and reaches number two position as the White Album took number one.

Jan 30 Beatles perform together for the last time live on the roof of Apple's London Saville Row office. The scenes were included in what became the movie Let It Be.

Mar 12 Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman, an American photographer. George and Patti cannot attend, as they’ve arrested for marijuana possession earlier that morning.

Mar 20 John married Yoko in Gibraltar

Mar 21 John and Yoko go to Holland and stay at the Amsterdam Hilton Hotel where they hold a "bed in" for peace.

Apr 22 John changes his middle name from Winston to Ono.

May Let It Be album is finished.

May 26 John and Yoko hold a second "bed in" in Canada.

Jul 06 John and Yoko leave the hospital, after a car crash in Scotland.

Aug 22 Last photo session as a group at John’s house Tittenhurst, in Berkshire

Aug 28 Mary McCartney was born to Paul and Linda.

Sep John decides to leave the Beatles, but they don’t announce it publicly because of contract negotiations.

Sep 26 The album Abbey Road is released.

Oct 12 “Paul Is Dead” rumors are reported on WKNR radio station in Detroit. Groups of fans are formed to figure out clues surrounding Paul's "death" from previous Beatles albums and pictures.

Nov 15 Beatles appear on the cover of the Rolling Stone.

Nov 25 John returns his Member of the British Empire medal to Buckingham Palace as an anti-war protest: “I am returning this MBE in protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon.”

Dec 15 `War Is Over' campaign starts, organized by John and Yoko.  Posters and billboards are displayed in 12 important cities around the world.

1970

Jan 04 Abbey Road Studio 2, 2.30pm-4.00am: last recording session of the Beatles as a band.

Jan 15 John opens "Bag One", an exhibition of some of his lithography and drawings at the London Arts Gallery.

Feb 07 John and Yoko appear on Rolling Stone’s cover.

Apr 03 Ringo's first solo album, Sentimental Journey, is released.

Apr 10 Paul announces publicly the Beatles break up.

Apr 17 Paul's first solo album, McCartney, is released.

Apr 30 Paul appears on the cover of Rolling Stone.

May 8 Beatles last album, "Let It Be" (recorded before "Abbey Road" and having the release delayed for technical reasons), is released in the UK and hits number one.

May 20 The movie "Let It Be," premieres in London. None of the Beatles attend.

Nov 11 Lee Parkin Starkey was born to Ringo and Maureen.

Nov 15 Paul files a lawsuit to officially break up The Beatles.