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John Lennon forms a band with several of his friends from his school, Quarry Bank.
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John Lennon and Paul McCartney become friends and Paul joins the band.
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Although 14-year old George Harrison was originally considered too young, he impressed McCartney and Lennon with his guitar skills enough to join.
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Stuart Sutclfife buys a guitar and joins the band.
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After several different names (Johnny and the Moondogs, The Beatals, The Silver Beetles, The Silver Beatles) they finally choose to be called The Beatles.
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The band's unofficial manage hires Pete Best to become the fifth member of the band.
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The five-person band travelled to Hamburg, Germany with their unofficial agent and performed and wrote songs (staying in hotels) there for two years.
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Stuart Sutcliffe, the bass player, leaves the band to continue his art studies. Paul McCartney takes up bass instead.
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Brian Epstein, who owned a nearby record shop, heard one of their performances and decided to help them find a record label to work with.
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Stuart Sutcliffe, having been gone from the band for almost a year, is found dead with what would be determined to be a brain hemorrage.
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The band is signed on to their first record label, EMI Parlophone with the help of producer George Martin.
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Dissatisfied by Pete Best's drumming, the band replaces him with Ringo Starr.
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They record as a band for the first time at EMI Parlophone studios, yielding the hit "Love Me Do".
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"Love Me Do" is released and is number 17 on the Record Retailer chart.
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Recorded in one day, their debut album, Please Please Me, is released. It reached number one on almost every chart of London. And that was just the beginning...