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1776--The first vote on the Declaration of Independence is taken.

1867--The Dominion of Canada is established under the British North America Act.

1889--The first “Gideon Bible” is placed in a hotel room at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana.

1930--Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Phillippines, infamous for her shoe collection, is born. In what she considered a “snub” by The Beatles in 1966 when they toured the Phillippines, she more or less had them very unpleasantly thrown out of the country. The Beatles would later talk at length about this very nasty experience, which (among other bad travel experiences), ultimately led to the end of their touring days.

1934--The Federal Communications Commission replaces the Federal Radio Commission as the regulator of US broadcasting.

1935--Benny Goodman and his band record King Porter Stomp for Victor Records. Many consider this Goodman classic to be the beginning of the "Swing" era.

1939--Delaney Bramlett is born in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. He would go on to lead the band Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, which featured George Harrison and Eric Clapton among its illustrious players.

1941--The Bulova Watch Company pays $9 for the first ever network television commercial.

1943--”Pay-as-you-go" income tax withholding from paychecks begins.

1946--Freddie Lennon, John Lennon's father, returns to Liverpool and takes the five-year-old John to Blackpool for a holiday. Freddie tries to persuade his young son to leave England with him for New Zealand. John is placed in the position of having to choose between his mother and his father: he chooses to stay with his mother, Julia, but is soon after put under the care of his Aunt Mimi. John Lennon will not see his father again for almost 20 years.

1956--Elvis Presley (wearing a tuxedo) appears on “The Steve Allen Show.” He sings Hound Dog to a real bassett hound. Fans picket NBC-TV the next day with placards reading, "We want the real Elvis!"

1959--Jazz pianist, Dave Brubeck, records his signature tune, Take Five.

1960--For one week in early July, The Silver Beatles provide live musical backing for a stripper named "Janice." Unable to read the sheet music she gave them, The Silver Beatles perform old standards like The Third Man Theme, Summertime, September Song, and Begin the Beguine.

1961--The Beatles perform at the Top Ten Club, Reeperbahn, Hamburg, West Germany. This is the final night of their 92-night stand at this club. The Beatles travel back to Liverpool on July 2 and 3, and take a holiday from July 4 through July 12.

1962--The Beatles perform a night show at the Cavern Club, Liverpool. Also appearing at the Cavern is the great rockabilly artist, Gene Vincent.

1963--The Beatles in the recording studio: Studio Two, EMI Studios, London. The Beatles record the songs for their next single, She Loves You and I'll Get You (under the working title "Get You in the End"). It takes 345 minutes to record the two songs; the number of takes is not documented. EMI will issue She Loves You / I'll Get You on the Parlophone label on August 23. It will go on to become The Beatles' first million-selling single, reaching that milestone on November 27 (or October 11, according to one source). The single also had an unusual chart experience. It was #1 for four weeks, dropped to #2 or #3 for the next seven weeks, then regained the #1 chart position for another two weeks. Since The Beatles' recording schedule had been published in the weekly pop papers, a large crowd gathered outside EMI's Abbey Road Studios, and the police had to be summoned twice. One girl managed to get inside the studio, being intercepted just before she reached John Lennon.

1963--The US Post Office inaugurates its five-digit (Zone Improvement Plan) ZIP codes.

1964--The Beatles fly back from Brisbane, Australia to London, via Sydney, Singapore and Frankfurt.

1965--John Lennon's second book, "A Spaniard In the Works," is published in the US by Simon and Schuster.

1965--The Beatles, on a tour in Europe, fly from Nice, France, to Madrid, Spain.

1966--The Beatles perform two shows at the Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan. The first show is filmed, with The Beatles wearing their light-colored suits.

1967--Scott McKenzie scores his first hit with the single, San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair), which was produced by John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas. The song became an anthem for the Love Generation during the “Summer of Love.” McKenzie also co-wrote the hit Kokomo for The Beach Boys in 1988.

1968--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). Recording of bass track and John Lennon's lead vocal for Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey.

1968--Opening of John Lennon's art exhibition "You Are Here (To Yoko From John Lennon, With Love)" at the Robert Fraser Gallery in London. Mostly, it consists of charity collection boxes, although there is a white canvas with the tiny inscription (in John’s hand): “You Are Here.” The show is launched with the release of 365 balloons with reply cards addressed to Apple. John is surprised when the majority of the cards that are returned are harsh criticisms of his new life style and racist comments about Yoko Ono. Students at Hornsey Art College send John a rusty bicycle with the note, "This exhibit was inadvertently left out." Lennon immediately places it on exhibit.

1968--The United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and 58 other nations sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

1969--After visiting Lennon's aunt in Durness, Sutherland, Scotland, John, his son Julian, Yoko, and her daughter Kyoko, are in an auto accident in Golspie, Scotland. John Lennon, being an inexperienced and nervous driver, somehow runs the car off the road into a ditch. No other vehicles are involved. John requires 17 stitches to close a facial wound; Yoko receives 14 stitches, crushed vertabrae and a concussion; Kyoko needs four stitches; and Julian suffers from shock. The accident causes John to miss the start of the Abbey Road recording sessions, although some of the songs destined for that album have already been recorded to varying degrees of completion. John and Yoko will also be unable to appear at the press conference accompanying the release of Give Peace a Chance, so Ringo Starr and his wife, Maureen, will appear in their place.

1969--The Beatles in the recording studio (Studio Two, EMI Studios, London). George Martin, having agreed to resume acting as The Beatles' producer (on condition that they behave themselves in the studio), rejoins The Beatles in the studio, but only Paul McCartney arrives this day. He records a lead vocal for You Never Give Me Your Money. John Lennon, having been in a serious car accident in Scotland, will miss several days' worth of recording sessions. This day formally begins the recording sessions for Abbey Road (which is unnamed at this point), even though The Beatles have several songs already near completion for the album.

1969--Britain's Prince Charles is invested as the Prince of Wales.

1969--Sam Phillips, the man who first recorded Elvis Presley, sells his label, Sun Records.

1971--John Lennon records demos of his song I'm the Greatest. He will later give the song to Ringo Starr for his album Ringo.

1971--San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge is finally paid in full, but a toll remains in effect to cover future maintenance and repair.

1972--The movie, "Concert for Bangladesh," opens in the UK.

1972--Ms. magazine begins publication.

1973--"Jesus Christ Superstar" closes in New York City after 720 performances on Broadway. The cast album had quickly become a million-seller.

1973--John Lennon begins recording songs for his Mind Games LP at the Record Plant in New York (recording will be completed sometime in August). Yoko Ono announces that John is somewhat apprehensive about the sessions. “He hasn’t been in the studio for a long time,” she reveals, “and I think he’s nervous about it.”

1973--Laurens Hammond, inventor the Hammond organ, dies at age 78.

1974--Bob Marley and the Wailers release their Burnin' LP.

1975--Ringo Starr divorces his wife, Maureen Cox.

1979--Sony introduces the Walkman cassette tape player.

1979--Susan B. Anthony, an activist for the cause of women’s suffrage, is commemorated on a US coin, the Susan B. Anthony dollar. The coin, roughly the size of a quarter, caused confusion for many Americans and the US Treasury Department eventually stopped producing the ill-fated coin.

1980--John Lennon is still in Bermuda. Unable to reach Yoko Ono on the phone, John composes the song I’m Losing You. He also records Dear Yoko for the first time.

1983--R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor-philosopher, dies in Los Angeles at the age of 87. “Bucky” Fuller created the geodesic dome structure and came up with other futurisitc, environmentally-friendly housing concepts that were not allowed to be put into widespread use, due to harsh resistance from the established housing industry.

1987--US release of the CD, The Beatles: The Early Tapes (Polydor). It contains 14 Tony Sheridan recordings.

1987--UK re-release of The Beatles compilation album, The Beatles Box on cassette (EMI). Eight cassettes, each with a four-page booklet, containing a total of 126 Beatles songs. The original release on vinyl LPs, issued in 1980, had gone out of print in 1982.

1991--US re-release of The Beatles' original UK singles as cassette singles. Five of the 22 singles were issued on this date; five more released on August 5, September 3, and October 7. The last two are released on November 4.

1991--Re-release of the John Lennon 4-CD box set, Lennon (Capitol). Technically, this is the first official US release, because the previous release on October 30, 1990, had been of sets imported from Europe.

1991--Court TV is born. The cable TV network broadcasts entire trials, both famous and low profile. It is a unique addition to the already changing climate of TV “infotainment.”

1995--Wolfman Jack collapses and dies of a heart attack at his home in Belvidere, North Carolina. He had just returned from a whirlwind tour promoting his autobiography "Have Mercy!: Confessions of the Original Rock ’n’ Roll Animal." Fans first learned to love the Wolfman in 1963, when he deejayed on the 250,000-watt XERF, which was heard all over North America. He also appeared in the 1973 movie, "American Graffiti," and hosted the TV show “The Midnight Special.”

1996--Premiere of the restored version of “A Hard Day's Night” on AMC (American Movie Classics) cable TV.

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