February 6:
Paul McCartney introduces 15 year old George Harrison to John Lennon at a Quarry Men gig at the Wilson Hall in Liverpool, and John asks George to join the group.

Summer:
The Quarry Men, now consisting of John, Paul, George and two of the original members, Colin Hanton and Duff Lowe, record their very first shellac in Kensington. On the A-side, a rendition of the Buddy Holly hit "That'll Be the Day", with John singing. On the B-side, the first Beatle original, a McCartney-Harrison song "In Spite of All the Danger", with John and Paul doing the vocals and George playing solo guitar. (Duff Lowe somehow appropriated the recording and kept it stashed away, until Paul bought it back from him some 23 years later. An excerpt from it was played in a 1985 TV special about Buddy Holly, which McCartney narrated.)

July 15:
Julia Lennon, John's mother, after visiting his "auntie's" house, is struck and killed by a car while waiting at a bus stop. (The driver, a drunken off-duty policeman, is later acquitted of the drunk driving charge.)