1963
Feb. 11: In a whirlwind 10-hour session, the Beatles record 10 songs for their first album, "Please Please Me."
Aug. 3: The Beatles play their last gig at the Cavern Club. None of them would perform at the club individually until Paul McCartney performed a solo show in late 1999.
Oct. 13: The Beatles appear on the popular British TV show “Sunday Night at the London Paladium.” The hysterical audience reaction is considered the beginning of Beatlemania.
Oct. 17: The group records the first of what would be seven annual Christmas messages for their fans, to be distributed through their fan club. The messages were later compiled into an album, again just for club members.
Nov. 4: The Beatles perform at the Royal Variety Show in London before an audience that includes the royal family. Lennon makes quite an impression when, before ending their set with “Twist and Shout,” he extols those in the cheaper seats to clap their hands while others can “rattle your jewelry.”
Dec. 13: A press release issued by CBS:

THE BEATLES OF LONDON TO MAKE U.S. TELEVISION DEBUT ON SULLIVAN SHOW
The Beatles, wildly popular quartet of English recording stars, will make their first trip to the United States Feb. 7 for their American television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show," Sundays, Feb. 9 and 16 (8:00-9:00 PM, PST) on the CBS Television Network. Their first appearance will be done at Studio 50 in New York, and their second at the Hotel Deauville in Miami Beach, Fla.
The fantastic popularity of the Beatles in England has received considerable attention not only in British newspapers but also in the American press. Their first record release is scheduled for January.
The Beatles count among their fans Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret, who saw them in a Royal Command Performance. The mass hysteria surrounding their personal appearances has brought a new word to the British vocabulary, Beatlemania.
The Beatles range in age from 21 to 23 and write their own songs, which sold two and a half million records in England this year. They are George Harrison, who sings and plays the lead guitar; John Lennon, who sings and plays the rhythm guitar and the harmonica; Paul McCartney, who sings and plays the bass guitar, and Ringo Starr, who plays drums and occasionally sings.

Dec. 23: As part of an intensive campaign, a Capitol Records memo orders sales and promotion people to wear Beatle wigs and plaster stickers that say “The Beatles Are Coming” “on any friendly surface as they walk down the street or call on radio or retail accounts.”