June 8th

Exactly one week after its release in Great Britain, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" moves into the #1 spot on the UK Album Charts, where it will remain for the next 27 weeks.  (It will begin its run at the top of the US Chart for 15 weeks in the days to come)  A landmark recording in so many ways, it took over 700 hours of studio time to produce, at a cost of about $45,000 (about $325,000 in today's money), then unheard of sums in the music industry.  It was a legendary release in every aspect.

Besides the incredible music contained within the sleeve, the album cover was also considered quite revolutionary.  Perhaps best known for its unusual montage of photos on the front cover, it was also the first album in history to print the lyrics on the back album cover.  

The United States was indirectly involved with the six day war currently raging between Israel and its Arab neighbors when Israeli airplanes attacked the USS Liberty in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 34 US Navy crewmen.  Israel later apologized, calling the incident "a tragic mistake" due to their misidentification of the ship.