1966 Year in Review

Announcer: England’s recording stars, the Beatles, found discord when mop-top John Lennon offended fans by claiming the rock-and-roll group was as popular as Jesus. Lennon said he was misunderstood.

John Lennon: "I want to say in whatever they were saying I was saying, anyway; that's the main thing about it. I wasn't saying the Beatles are better than Jesus or God or Christianity; I was using the name Beatles because I can use them easier, and I was using it, you know, 'cause I can talk about Beatles as a separate thing, where I could've said TV or cinema or anything else that’s possible."

Announcer: Lennon apologized for making the remark, and Birmingham, Alabama disk jockey Tommy Charles, who began a campaign to burn all Beatle records, accepted it.

Tommy Charles: "We accept his apology, and in the manner in which it was offered. We think it's the least we can do. An offhand remark like this is not only dangerous, but it's … it can be very impressionable on the young folks, and we think that they have made a wise decision and we accept their apology."

Announcer: The gala social event of the year took place in August, when the President’s daughter, Lucy Baines Johnson, married Patrick J. Nugent of Waukegan, Illinois.