Pick a Day

Yoko Ono is born in Tokyo, Japan. She becomes an artist in New York City's downtown scene and meets future husband John Lennon at one of her exhibits in the mid-'60s.

John Winston Lennon is born in Liverpool, England. The "Winston" comes from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill - John would later add "Ono" to his middle name in honor of Yoko.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon meet for the first time at the Village Fete in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton, where Lennon's group, the Quarrymen, are performing. When they meet again, Lennon asks McCartney to join his band.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon perform together for the first time after Paul joins John's band the Quarrymen. The show takes place at New Clubmoor Hall in their hometown of Liverpool, and Paul plays guitar.

The Quarrymen perform at the Wilson Hall in the Garston section of Liverpool, England. Afterwards, member Paul McCartney introduces his friend George Harrison to John Lennon.

John Lennon's mother, Julia, is killed when she's hit by a car driven by an off-duty police officer. Lennon, 17 at the time, later writes the songs "Julia" and "Mother" about her.

While attending a class at the Liverpool College of Art, John Lennon meets student Cynthia Powell, later to become his first wife.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon perform as "the Nerk Twins" at the Fox and Hounds pub in Reading, England. The pub is owned by McCartney's cousin and her husband. The duo play another set the next day.

The Beatles, with a lineup of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, bass player Stuart Sutcliffe and drummer Pete Best, play the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time, earning £5 for the lunchtime gig. They become regulars at the club, where they end up doing 291 more shows.

Julian Lennon is born John Charles Julian Lennon, the first child of John Lennon and his first wife, Cynthia. Imbued with many of his father's talents for music, he releases his debut album, Valotte, in 1984 with the hit "Too Late for Goodbyes"

John Lennon and Paul McCartney compose "She Loves You" in a hotel room in Newcastle, England, while on tour there.

When The Beatles play The Royal Variety Performance in London in front of an audience that includes the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, John Lennon says, "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands. All the rest of you, rattle your jewelry."

London's Sunday Times names Paul McCartney and John Lennon the Outstanding Composers of 1963.

John Lennon's book In His Own Write is published.

John Lennon's first book of prose and poetry, In His Own Write, is published in the US.

After a long day of filming their first movie, Ringo Starr tells the other Beatles it's been "a hard day's night." John Lennon turns the phrase into a song, and the movie title is changed from Beatlemania! to A Hard Day's Night.

John Lennon's second book of drawings and nonsense rhymes, A Spaniard In The Works, is published.

The Beatles are awarded Members of the British Empire (MBE) medals from Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony held at Buckingham Palace. John Lennon claims they smoked marijuana in the bathroom before receiving the awards, although George Harrison said it was just tobacco. Harrison and Paul McCartney put the awards on their jackets for the Sgt. Pepper album cover; Lennon sends his back in 1969.

Alf Lennon, John's estranged father, releases "That's My Life (My Love And My Home)," a single designed to ride the coattails of John's success and his recent song "In My Life." John Lennon instructs manager Brian Epstein to make sure it is blackballed in the UK.

John Lennon is quoted in the London Evening Standard saying, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now." The remark goes mostly unnoticed, but causes a big stink when it is reprinted in a US publication four months later.

At a Beatles press conference in Chicago to promote their American tour, the big topic is John Lennon's quote, "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity." Lennon, clearly shaken by the controversy, explains: "I was pointing out that fact in reference to England - that we meant more to kids than Jesus did, or religion, at that time. I wasn't knocking it or putting it down, I was just saying it as a fact."

John Lennon flies to Germany for his role in the movie How I Won the War - the only major non-documentary film he ever appears in. His character wears glasses that he would use as the basis for his distinctive eyewear.

John Lennon visits London's Indica Gallery to see the exhibit Unfinished Paintings and Objects and meets the artist behind the showing, Yoko Ono. She presents him with a card that simply says, "Breathe," and he responds by panting. He attempts to hammer a nail into one of her interactive artworks, which invites viewers to do just that; since the exhibit does not open to the public till the next day, however, Ono refuses, leading the gallery's owner to beg her to reconsider due to John's fame. Ono still refuses, claiming to have never heard of The Beatles, but says he can hammer one in for five shillings. John responds that he'll let her have an imaginary five shillings if he can hammer in an imaginary nail. Two years later, the two meet again and quickly fall in love.

The Richard Lester movie How I Won The War, an antiwar satire featuring John Lennon in the role of Pvt. Gripweed, opens at London's Premiere Theatre, with all four Beatles attending.

The first issue of Rolling Stone magazine is published, with a photo of John Lennon on the cover and items about David Crosby, The Who and Country Joe McDonald (of Country Joe & the Fish).More

John Lennon makes the first contact with his estranged father, Alf, in years: After hearing that he's taken ill, John sends him a get well note and a car so that he can visit his famous son.

Promoting their avante-garde album Two Virgins, famous for the cover photo of the couple naked, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, again nude.More

John Lennon and Yoko Ono release the album Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins with a cover photo of the pair naked. Many record stores stock it in a brown paper wrapper.More

John Lennon's wife, Cynthia, is granted a divorce on grounds of his adultery with Yoko Ono, who is carrying his child. Yoko suffers a miscarriage a few weeks later.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold a press conference in Vienna where they announce their "Bagism" project, giving the entire press conference from inside a white bag.