A (not-so) brief journey through time with the Fab Four

From Amazon.co.uk:

–Pre-History–
7/7/40 Richard Starkey is born at 9 Madryn Street, Dingle, Liverpool.
10/9/40 John Lennon is born in Oxford Street Maternity Hospital, Liverpool.
6/18/42 Paul McCartney is born in Walton Hospital, Rice Lane, Liverpool.
2/24/43 George Harrison is born at 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool.
7/6/57 Paul McCartney meets John Lennon when Lennon's group the Quarrymen play at the Garden Fete, St. Peter's Church, in Woolton, Liverpool.
10/18/57 Paul McCartney makes his debut with the Quarrymen at New Clubmoor Hall, Norris Green, Liverpool.
2/6/58 George Harrison meets the Quarrymen during their gig at Wilson Hall, Garson, Liverpool.

-1960–62–
8/17/60 Now renamed the Beatles, the band begins a three-month engagement at the Indra Club, Hamburg, Germany.
2/9/61 The Beatles play their debut gig at the Cavern, Liverpool.
12/6/61 At a meeting with the Beatles, Liverpudlian businessman Brian Epstein offers to become their manager. Lennon accepts on behalf of the group.
1/1/62 The Beatles are auditioned by Decca A&R man Dick Rowe in West Hampstead, London. Rowe enters the history books with his famous utterance: "Go back to Liverpool, Mr. Epstein. Groups with guitars are out."
6/6/62 The Beatles audition for producer George Martin at EMI, Abbey Road, London.

George Harrison: I nearly got killed by the rest of the band on that first trip to Abbey Road, when George Martin recorded us. Afterwards, he played it back, and he said, "Is there anything that you don't like?" I just looked at him and said, "Well, I don't like your tie for a kickoff." And the others were like, "Ohhhh no! We're trying to get a record deal here." But he also had a sense of humor.

8/18/62 Ringo Starr joins the Beatles, playing with them at the Horticultural Society Dance in Birkenhead, Lancashire.
9/11/62 The Beatles record "Love Me Do," with session drummer Andy White standing in for Ringo.

Norman Smith (engineer): Ringo had only just joined the group when we attempted "Love Me Do," so we brought in a session drummer. After that, it was always Ringo.

10/5/62 "Love Me Do" is released as the first Beatles single.
12/27/62 "Love Me Do" peaks at No. 17 on the U.K. chart.

–1963–
A second single, "Please Please Me," is released.
1/17/63 "Please Please Me" stalls at No. 2 on the U.K. chart.
2/11/63 The Beatles record their debut album, Please Please Me, at Abbey Road.
2/25/63 The Beatles' first U.S. release is "Please Please Me" on Vee-Jay Records. On the record label the group's name is spelled "Beattles."
3/22/63 The debut album, Please Please Me, is released in the U.K.
4/12/63 A new single, "From Me to You," is released.

George Martin: "Please Please Me" was the first time they showed they could write a great song. I wasn't convinced they could do it again. "From Me to You" changed my mind. It was a super song.

5/2/63 The Beatles finally score a No. 1 single in the U.K., with "From Me to You."
5/11/63 The debut album, Please Please Me, hits the U.K. No. 1 spot.
6/29/63 The first Lennon and McCartney song to hit the U.S. chart is Del Shannon's cover version of "From Me to You."
7/18/63 The Beatles begin recording tracks for their second album, With the Beatles.
7/22/63 Introducing the Beatles is released as their first album in the U.S.
8/23/63 The fourth single, "She Loves You," is released in the U.K.
9/12/63 "She Loves You" becomes the Beatles' second U.K. No. 1 single.
9/16/63 "She Loves You" is released in the U.S.
11/4/63 During the Royal Variety Command Performance, at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, Lennon delivers his celebrated intro: "On the next number would those in the cheap seats clap their hands? The rest of you, rattle your jewelry."

John Lennon: That show's a bad gig.... Everybody's very nervous and uptight, and nobody performs well. The time we did it, I cracked a joke on stage. I was fantastically nervous, but I wanted to say something, just to rebel a bit, and that was the best I could do.

11/22/63 The second album, With the Beatles, is released in the U.K.
11/29/63 A new single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," is released in the U.K.

George Martin: This was the first single that had advance orders of over a million. It entered the charts when "She Loves You" was No. 1 and deposed it. This led to the American release, which was where the big stuff began.

12/2/63 It is announced that "I Want to Hold Your Hand" has already sold 3 million copies.
12/14/63 The Beatles become the first act ever to knock themselves off the top of the U.K. singles chart when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" replaces "She Loves You."
12/26/63 In America, having refused to release the Beatles' previous singles, Capitol Records issues "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

–1964–
2/1/64 In their suite at the Hotel George V in Paris, Brian Epstein informs the Beatles that they have secured their first U.S. No. 1 with "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Dezo Hoffman (photographer): The Beatles couldn't even speak. Not even John Lennon. They just sat on the floor like kittens at Brian's feet.

2/9/64 Seventy-three million Americans tune in for the Beatles' first U.S. TV performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Ed Sullivan: I have never seen any scenes to compare with the bedlam that was occasioned by their debut. Broadway was jammed with people for almost eight blocks. They screamed, yelled, and stopped traffic. It was indescribable. There has never been anything like it in show business, and the New York City police were very happy it didn't and wouldn't happen again.

2/15/64 On the day Meet the Beatles begins an 11-week run at the top of the U.S. album chart, Billboard magazine reveals that the Beatles have five songs climbing the U.S. Hot Hundred and three LPs on the albums charts.
2/29/64 Introducing the Beatles peaks at No. 2 on the U.S. album chart, held off the top only by Meet the Beatles.
3/2/64 The Beatles set off from Paddington Station, London, to begin filming their first, as yet untitled, movie.
4/4/64 Billboard magazine reports the Beatles now hold the top five positions on the American singles chart, with "Can't Buy Me Love" at No. 1.
7/10/64 The album A Hard Day's Night is released in the U.K. Selling 1.5 million copies in nine days, it becomes the fastest-selling album in U.K. history.
7/23/64 "A Hard Day's Night" hits the No. 1 single slot in the U.K.

George Martin: The song opened the Beatles' first film, and you only have to hear one guitar chord to recognize it. The title came from Ringo. After a particularly strenuous session, he said, "Oh, it's been a hard day." Then he looked at the clock and saw it was midnight. He said, "It's been a hard day's night."

7/30/64 The album A Hard Day's Night is simultaneously the U.S. and U.K.'s No. 1 album.
8/1/64 The Beatles reach No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "A Hard Day's Night."
9/4/64 The Indonesian government bans Beatle haircuts.
12/4/64 New album Beatles for Sale is released.
12/19/64 Beatles for Sale reaches No. 1 in the U.K., displacing A Hard Day's Night.

–1965–
1/9/65 U.S.-only album Beatles '65 begins a nine-week run atop the American chart.
2/22/65 In the Bahamas, the Beatles begin filming a second movie, Help!
4/13/65 At the seventh annual Grammy Awards, the Beatles win Best New Artist of 1964, while "A Hard Day's Night" wins Best Performance by a Vocal Group.
6/14/65 "Yesterday" is recorded at Abbey Road.

Paul McCartney: I had a piano at my bedside, and I must have dreamed it, because I tumbled out of bed and put my hands on the piano keys, and I had a tune in my head. It was just all there, a complete thing. It came too easy....

7/10/65 U.S.-only album Beatles VI tops the U.S. chart.
8/7/65 The Beatles' new single, "Help!," hits No. 1 in the U.K.

John Lennon: I meant it--it's real. The lyric is as good now as it was then. It is no different, and it makes me feel secure to know that I was that aware of myself then. It was just me singing "Help!," and I meant it.

8/14/65 The album Help! tops the U.K. chart.

8/15/65 The largest crowd so far for a rock show, 56,000 fans, sees the Beatles play live at Shea Stadium, New York, starting their third U.S. tour.

Bob Whitaker (photgrapher): The journey to Shea had to be organized like a military operation. We flew by helicopter from the top of the Pan-Am building in Manhattan and transferred to an armored Wells Fargo truck near the stadium. It had no windows, and the kids were hammering on the outside and rocking it. The noise was deafening, the screaming and screeching was really terrifying. At one stage we thought the truck was going to tip over and we were all going to get dragged out and torn to pieces.

8/27/65 The Beatles meet Elvis Presley at his house on Perugia Way, Hollywood.

Paul McCartney: Elvis wasn't a disappointment, because when we met him it was a great period--we didn't meet him in the later period, when he'd lost it a bit. He met us at the door. The thing that always sticks out in my mind is that he had the first remote switcher for a telly I'd ever seen. And he was switching channels! We were like, "How are you doing that?"

9/11/65 The soundtrack album Help! starts a nine-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.
9/12/65 "Yesterday" is released in the U.S. as the new Beatles single.
9/25/65 The Beatles' Saturday morning cartoon show begins in the U.S.
12/11/65 The new album, Rubber Soul, enters the U.K. album chart.
12/18/65 The double A-side "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out" is the latest Beatles U.K. No. 1.

John Lennon: It is just a rock & roll song. Day trippers are people who go on a day trip, right? Usually on a ferryboat or something. But the song was kind of ... you're just a weekend hippie. Get it?

Paul did the first half [of "We Can Work It Out"]. I did the middle eight. But you've got Paul writing, "We can work it out"--real optimistic, y'know--and me, impatient: "Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting my friend."

–1966–
1/3/66 Rubber Soul becomes the No. 1 album in the U.S.
1/21/66 George Harrison marries model Patti Boyd in Epsom.
3/4/66 The London Evening Standard publishes an interview in which John Lennon declares: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and sink. I needn't argue about that. I'm right and will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus Christ right now."
3/25/66 The controversial "Butcher" album cover is shot by photographer Robert Whitaker, showing the band dressed as butchers holding meat cleavers, surrounded by headless dolls and strips of meat.
6/24/66 The Beatles' final world tour begins at Circus-Krone-Bau, Munich, Germany.
6/25/66 The Beatles reach No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K. simultaneously with "Paperback Writer."
7/30/66 U.S.-only album Yesterday...and Today hits No. 1 in the U.S., but is immediately withdrawn because of its gruesome "Butcher" cover artwork.
7/31/66 News of John Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" statement (back in March) reaches America, and DJs begin organizing public bonfires to burn Beatles records.
8/3/66 Following anti-Beatles demonstrations in America, South Africa bans sales of their records.
8/5/66 The Beatles release their new album, Revolver, in the U.K.
8/10/66 A side effect of the banning of Beatles records is seen on the stock market, when the price of shares in their U.S. label, Capitol Records, drops sharply.
8/11/66 As the band arrives in the U.S., a Beatles press conference is hastily convened in Chicago. John Lennon attempts to explain that his observation about the Beatles now being more popular than Jesus was taken out of context.
8/12/66 The Beatles' fourth and final U.S. tour begins at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

Paul McCartney: I remember being frightened many times. As we waited for an armored car to take us to our guarded hotel rooms, I would say to myself, "I really don't want to go through this any longer."

8/13/66 Revolver tops the U.K. album chart.
8/29/66 The Beatles play their last live gig ever at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

George Harrison: There was a certain amount of relief after that Candlestick Park concert. Before one of the last numbers, we actually set up this camera--I think it had a fisheye, a very wide-angle lens. We set it up on the amplifier and Ringo came off the drums, and we stood with our backs to the audience and posed for a photograph, because we knew that was the last show.

11/9/66 John Lennon meets avant-garde artist Yoko Ono at the Indica Art Gallery in London, where her exhibits include a fresh apple and a plank of wood.
11/24/66 Recording of the Sgt. Pepper album begins at Abbey Road.

–1967–
2/6/67 The Beatles sign a new nine-year contract with EMI Records, who reveal that the group has sold 180 million records in fewer than five years.
3/11/67 It is revealed that Lennon and McCartney's "Yesterday" has become the most covered song ever, with 446 recordings by different artists.
3/30/67 Artist Peter Blake's living collage of Beatles heroes, assembled for the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album, is photographed by Michael Cooper in Chelsea, London.

Wendy Hanson (personal assistant to Brian Epstein): I spent many hours and pounds on calls to the States. Fred Astaire was very sweet; Shirley Temple wanted to hear the record first; I got on famously with Marlon Brando, but Mae West wanted to know what she would be doing in a Lonely Hearts Club.

5/15/67 In a London nightclub, Paul McCartney meets U.S. photographer Linda Eastman for the first time. "I saw this blonde across the room, and I fancied her," recalled Paul later. They leave together.
6/1/67 The new album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is released.
6/3/67 Sgt. Pepper starts a 22-week run at No. 1 on the U.K. album chart.
7/22/67 "All You Need Is Love" hits No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.
7/24/67 The Times runs a full-page ad advocating the legalization of marijuana, signed by all four Beatles and many other celebrities.
8/27/67 Brian Epstein dies of a drug overdose at home in Chapel Street, Belgravia, London.
11/27/67 The Magical Mystery Tour EP is released in the U.K. It later appears as an album in the U.S. with the addition of "Hello Goodbye," "Penny Lane," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Baby You're a Rich Man," and "All You Need Is Love."
12/30/67 "Hello Goodbye" reaches No. 1 in the U.S. singles chart.

–1968–
2/10/68 The Beatles move all their business affairs from Brian Epstein's company, NEMS, to their own newly formed company, Apple.

Alistair Taylor (Apple executive): Apple was set up purely and simply as a tax-saving project. Instead of paying 19 shillings and 6 pence in the pound, we only paid 16 shillings.

Derek Taylor (Beatles PR): We never made a note. Rolled joints all day, for our guests and urselves ... and we had hundreds of people through our room.... Ken Kesey wanted to recite. Or a Joe Smith or Mo Ostin from Warner Bros. wanted to say hi. "Put them in the back room, Ringo. Roll them a joint." Lauren Bacall's downstairs, wants to meet them. It was crowd-pleasing on a grand scale.

2/29/68 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band wins four Grammys.
5/30/68 Recording begins for what will become the double album, The Beatles, better known as the "White Album."
7/1/68 John Lennon publicly declares his love for Yoko Ono at the opening of his first art exhibition in London.
7/30/68 When the Beatles close their unsuccessful Apple Boutique, giving everything away to passers-by, the last item to go is a naked female dummy labeled, "For the attention of John Lennon."
8/22/68 John Lennon is sued for divorce by Cynthia on the grounds of adultery. She had returned home from a holiday to find Yoko Ono living in their London home.
8/30/68 Apple Records releases its first batch of four singles, including "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.
9/11/68 At seven minutes and ten seconds, "Hey Jude" becomes the longest-ever U.K. No. 1 single.
11/1/68 George Harrison releases Wonderwall, the first Beatles solo album and future inspiration for an Oasis song title.
11/8/68 Cynthia Lennon is granted a divorce from John.
11/11/68 John Lennon and Yoko Ono release the album Two Virgins, the cover of which shows them naked.
11/21/68 The Beatles release their eponymous numbered-edition double LP, popularly known as the " White Album."
11/25/68 The "White Album" is released in the U.S.
12/9/68 Newsweek reports that after only five days on sale, the Beatles' "White Album" has sold 1.1 million copies in America.

–1969–
1/2/69 While police in Newark, New Jersey, are confiscating a shipment of the "pornographic" Lennon/Ono album Two Virgins, filming for Let It Be begins at Twickenham Film Studios.
1/10/69 During a lunch break at Twickenham Film Studios, George Harrison quits the Beatles. The same night he relents.
1/17/69 The Yellow Submarine soundtrack album is released.
1/30/69 The Beatles make their final public appearance--a free lunchtime concert on the roof of Apple Records in London.

Alan Parsons (sound engineer): To see the Beatles playing together and getting an instant feedback from the people around them, five cameras on the roof, cameras across the road, in the road, it was just unbelievable ... a magic, magic day.

Paul McCartney: Our roadie, Mal, came creeping, trying to keep out the camera and say, "The police are complaining. You've got to stop." We said, "We're not stopping! Keep going." And he came up and said, "The police are going to arrest you." "Good end to the film, let 'em do it!" Great, you know?

Jean Nisbet: It was all very friendly, and despite the groans from the screaming girls, it all came to a halt--and the West End went back to work. None of us realized we'd just seen the last of the Beatles.

2/3/69 American entrepreneur Allen Klein, against the wishes of Paul McCartney, assumes control of the Beatles' finances.
2/4/69 In response to the hiring of Klein, McCartney appoints Eastman and Eastman as general counsel to Apple Records. The firm is owned by the father of McCartney's girlfriend, Linda Eastman.
3/12/69 Paul McCartney marries Linda Eastman at Marylebone Registry Office.
3/20/69 John Lennon marries Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
5/26/69 John and Yoko start a 10-day bed-in for world peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal.
5/30/69 The Beatles release Lennon's autobiographical single, "The Ballad of John and Yoko."
5/31/69 On the last day of the Montreal bed-in, John and Yoko record "Give Peace a Chance."
7/12/69 "The Ballad of John and Yoko" is banned by half the top 40 AM radio stations in America, because the line "Christ, you know it ain't easy," is deemed blasphemous.
9/13/69 On the plane to Toronto, where the Plastic Ono Band is to play in the Rock 'n' Roll Revival Concert, John Lennon makes a startling announcement.

John Lennon: I told Eric Clapton and Klaus [Voorman] that I was leaving [the Beatles] then, but that I would probably like to use them as a group. I hadn't decided how to do it--to have a permanent new group or what....

9/22/69 The Illinois University newspaper Northern Star publishes a rumor that Paul McCartney is dead, listing clues on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper album and the words "I buried Paul" in the fade-out of "Strawberry Fields Forever."
9/26/69 When Abbey Road is released, the cover shot of Paul, barefoot and in black, sparks further rumors of his demise.
10/4/69 Abbey Road begins an 11-week run at No. 1 in the U.K.
10/6/69 The Beatles release a double-A-sided single, "Something"/"Come Together." This is the first time a George Harrison song has been the A-side of a Beatles single.
10/20/69 John and Yoko release The Wedding Album.
10/22/69 Paul McCartney publicly denies rumors that he is dead.
11/1/69 The Beatles' Abbey Road album hits No. 1 in the U.S. and stays there for 11 weeks.
11/29/69 "Something"/"Come Together" ascends to the U.S. No. 1 single slot.

–1970–
1/26/70 John Lennon writes and records "Instant Karma" with producer Phil Spector in one day.
2/6/70 John Lennon releases his new single, "Instant Karma," in the U.K.
3/14/70 The final Beatles single, "Let It Be," enters the U.K. chart.
3/21/70 "Let It Be" becomes the highest first-week entry of all time when it hits the U.S. singles chart at No. 6. 4/10/70 Paul McCartney's press release about his solo debut album is interpreted by the press to mean that he is quitting the Beatles.

Paul McCartney: I never intended the statement to mean I'd quit. It was all a misunderstanding. When I saw the headlines, I just thought, Christ, what have I done? Now we're in for it. I didn't leave the Beatles--the Beatles had left the Beatles, but no one wants to be the one to say the party's over.

4/17/70 Paul McCartney releases his solo debut album, McCartney.
5/8/70 The Beatles release the album Let It Be in the U.K.
5/23/70 Let It Be tops the U.K. album chart.
11/27/70 George Harrison releases his triple-album box set, All Things Must Pass.
12/26/70 George Harrison becomes the first Beatle to have a solo No. 1 hit when "My Sweet Lord" reaches No. 1 in the U.S.
12/31/70 Paul McCartney instigates proceedings to bring the Beatles to an end.

Paul McCartney: I had to take the other Beatles to court. And I got a lot of guilt off that. But you tell me what you would have done if the entire earnings that you'd made--and it was something like the Beatles' entire earnings, a big figure, everything we'd ever done up to somewhere round about "Hey Jude"--was about to disappear into someone's pocket. The guy I'm talking about, Allen Klein, had £5 million the first year he managed the Beatles. So I smelled a rat and thought, £5 million in one year? How long is it going to take him to get rid of it all?

And I said, "Well, I want out of this. I want to sue this guy Klein." They said, "You can't, because he's not party to any of the agreements." So it became clear that I had to sue the Beatles.

Ringo Starr: Yes, I was in the Beatles. Yes, we made some great records together. Yes, I love those boys. But that's the end of the story.