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THE FOLLOWING EVENTS TOOK PLACE ON AUGUST 8
940--The Battle of Britain begins as Germany launches air attacks.
1955--A conference is held in Geneva, Switzerland, to discuss peaceful uses of atomic energy.
1961--The Beatles perform at the Cavern Club -- a lunchtime show.
1962--The Beatles perform at the Co-op Ballroom, St. Sepulchre Gate, Doncaster, Yorkshire. The Beatles usually play at the Cavern Club on Wednesday nights, but they are excused so they can make this appearance in Doncaster, which is 86 miles from Liverpool.
1963--The Beatles perform at the Auditorium in St. Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands. The third of five nights playing in the Channel Islands. The first two nights had been on the island of Jersey. This day they travel 30 miles to Guernsey in a 12-seater plane, while their equipment is transported by ferry.
1963--Yoko Ono’s daughter, Kyoko Cox, is born.
1964--A Hard Day’s Night is the #1 single in the US for the second week in a row.
1964--Billboard readers discover from Eric Burdon how The Animals got their name. According to the singer, “It was probably an association with the kind of music that we play, earthy and gutty. It’s sort of an animal sound, and on stage we can be pretty wild.” The Animals also release The House of the Rising Sun, which becomes their first chart-topper.
1965--The Beatles’ album Help! is #1 in the UK charts.
1965--Closing of the 5th National Jazz and Blues Festival at the Richmond Athletic Association Grounds, Richmond, Surrey. John and Cynthia Lennon and George and Pattie Harrison attend. The festival is filmed by Subafilms Limited, in conjunction with Leon Mirrel of Selmur Productions.
1966--US release of The Beatles’ LP Revolver (Capitol). Songs: Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Love You To, Here There and Everywhere, Yellow Submarine, She Said She Said, Good Day Sunshine, For No One, I Want to Tell You, Got to Get You Into My Life, and Tomorrow Never Knows. This is the last Beatles album to contain different songs on the European and American versions. 77 weeks on Billboard chart with its highest position #1.
1966--Beatles records are banned from South Africa’s airwaves, in a punitive response to the “Beatles bigger than Jesus” fiasco.
1966--Release in Sweden of The Beatles’ single Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby (Parlophone). Six weeks in the Swedish charts with its highest position #2.
1967--John Lennon and his son, Julian, pose for fans photographs at Kenwood, their house in Weybridge, Surrey.
1968--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Final mixing for Hey Jude and Revolution, the next Beatles’ single, which will be released in the UK on August 30th. It will sell over eight million copies worldwide. The Beatles then spend the remainder of the 12-hour session working on Not Guilty, going up to take 101. Take 99 is determined to be the best at this point.
1968--Richard M. Nixon is nominated for President at the Republican National Convention in Miami Beach, Florida.
1969--Photographer, Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of Abbey Road, takes photographs of John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison (lined up in that order) walking across the zebra crossing (pedestrian cross-walk) just outside Abbey Road studios. The Beatles cross several times, McMillan taking six shots while a policeman holds up traffic for them. After this, Paul chooses out of the six pictures taken the best one for the LP. Before a scheduled recording session, Paul takes John to his house at Cavendish Avenue, George and Mal go to the London Zoo at Regent’s Park, and Ringo goes shopping.
1969--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studios Two and Three, EMI Studios, London). Recording drums and bass overdubs for The End. Then Ringo Starr adds drums, while John Lennon records an overdub of synthesizer and white-noise onto I Want You (She’s So Heavy). In another studio, Paul McCartney records lead guitar and tambourine overdubs onto Oh! Darling.
1974--President Richard Nixon announces he will resign, following new damaging revelations in the Watergate scandal. He was the first US president ever to do so. The House Judiciary Committee had, with bipartisan support (the Democrats and one-third of the Republican members), voted for three articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress. A week later, one of the White House tapes was finally made public, showing the President’s direct involvement in the Watergate scandal cover-up. He officially left office August 9th, and was fully pardoned one month later by his successor, President Gerald Ford. Asked years later about some of his administration’s questionable activities, Nixon said, "Well, when the president does that, it isn’t illegal.” Wanna bet?
1980--John Lennon “ostentatiously” smokes pot as the band continues sessions for Double Fantasy.
1991--Rock organist Billy Preston (Nothing From Nothing) is charged with exhibiting pornography to a minor. Preston was one of the few musicians the Beatles asked to record with them while they were still a group. He played organ and/or piano on several cuts for the Get Back / Let It Be LP.
2000--Attorneys General in 28 states filed a lawsuit alleging that record companies forced discount stores to raise CD prices in 1995.
For more day-by-day history go to HistoryUnlimited.net
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