59. The Beatles play Shea Stadium

August 15, 1965, saw what was effectively the world's first stadium rock concert. Amid thick police cordons, the ear-splitting shrieks of teenage girls and a thousand flashbulbs, four bemused Scousers in beige jackets wandered onto the field and launched into 'Twist And Shout'. Since the PA was merely the New York baseball stadium's regular one, no one could hear them. And nobody cared. Overcome by the absurdity of it all, John Lennon seems to have had some sort of delirious breakdown onstage, chattering to himself in cod-Latino and wellying the keyboard with his elbow.

Soon after, he made his crack about The Beatles being bigger than Jesus and US ardour towards the Fab Four cooled a tad, especially among the Bible-bashing inbreeds of the Midwest. Futile experiences such as Shea Stadium eventually persuaded The Beatles to stop playing live altogether. Pity some of their mega-ilk today don't follow their example.