John Lennon

Born during a German air raid on Liverpool. His mother Julia names him John Winston, after Churchill. His father Alf, a merchant seaman, vanishes when John is a toddler. Julia is overwhelmed and gives John to her sister Mimi to raise. He grows up believing his parents abandoned him.

Hears Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" on the radio. Forms a skiffle band called the Quarrymen. He is 15, already sharp-tongued and confrontational. His Aunt Mimi tells him the guitar is fine but he'll never make a living at it.

Meets Paul McCartney at a church garden fete in Woolton, Liverpool. Lennon is playing with the Quarrymen. McCartney, 15, watches the set, then shows Lennon he can tune a guitar and play "Twenty Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran. Lennon invites him to join the band. It takes him a week to decide. He's worried McCartney might be better than him.

Beatlemania. The Beatles arrive at JFK Airport on February 7. Three thousand fans are waiting. They perform on The Ed Sullivan Show three days later. 73 million viewers. In that single year, they hold the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously. No one has done it before or since.

Tells a journalist the Beatles are "more popular than Jesus now." In Britain, the quote passes without much reaction. In the American South, radio stations organize record burnings. The Ku Klux Klan nails Beatles albums to crosses. Lennon holds a press conference and apologizes. Sort of.

The Beatles travel to Rishikesh, India, to study Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They write most of the White Album there. Lennon leaves after two months amid rumors the Maharishi made advances toward Mia Farrow.

Records 'Plastic Ono Band' with just bass, drums, and guitar. Primal scream therapy sessions with Arthur Janov influence every track. He screams 'Mother' over and over. The album sells poorly compared to McCartney's debut. Critics later call it one of the greatest albums ever made.

Shot four times in the back at point-blank range outside the Dakota by Mark David Chapman, a 25-year-old from Honolulu who had asked for his autograph six hours earlier and been holding a copy of The Catcher in the Rye. Lennon is rushed to Roosevelt Hospital in the back of a police car. He is pronounced dead on arrival. He is 40. Yoko is beside him. Outside the Dakota, crowds gather and sing his songs through the night.