During a
solar eclipse, an extremely rare
grand conjunction of the
classical planets occurred, for the first time since
1821. It included all 5 of the
naked-eye planets plus the Sun and Moon), all of them within 16° of one another on the
ecliptic. Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus were on one side of the Sun, while Mercury and Earth were on the opposite side. When the Moon crossed between the Earth and the Sun, the eclipse was visible over India, where predictions of the world's end had been made.
Hours before the
Beatles were scheduled to play at the Cavern Club, drummer
Pete Best told his fellow musicians that he was ill and would be unable to appear. Determined not to cancel the show, the group called around for a replacement and
Ringo Starr, whose group had the day off, appeared in Best's place.