1 January – Top of the Pops, the BBC's long-running weekly pop music show, is broadcast for the first time.
7 February – The Beatles arrive in the United States and are greeted by thousands of screaming fans at New York's Kennedy Airport.
9 February – The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show; their appearance breaks US television ratings records.
28 February – Peter and Gordon release their first single, "A World Without Love", a Paul McCartney song that McCartney had decided was "not good enough" for The Beatles.[1] The song ultimately tops the charts in both the UK and the USA.
24 March – John Lennon's first book, In His Own Write is published.
27 March – The Beatles occupy the top six spots on the Australian pop chart.
28 March – Wax likenesses of The Beatles are put on display in London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. The Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum.
4 April – The Beatles occupy all five top positions on Billboard's Hot 100 with their singles "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".
11 April – The Beatles hold 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine by Elvis Presley, December 19, 1956.
16 April – The Rolling Stones release their eponymous début album.
2 May – In the United States, The Beatles' Second Album climbs to the #1 spot on the LP charts in only its second week of release.
June – During a performance at the Railway, Pete Townshend of The Who accidentally broke the head of his guitar on the low ceiling above the stage. This incident marks the start of auto-destructive art by destroying guitars and drums on stage.
5 June – The Rolling Stones start their first US tour.
3 July – With their new manager Peter Meaden, The Who release their first single "Zoot Suit"/"I'm the Face" under the name The High Numbers in an attempt to appeal to a mod audience. It failed to reach the top 50 and the band reverted to calling themselves the Who.
19 September – The programme for the Last Night of the Proms includes Alan Rawsthorne's Piano Concerto no 1, played by Malcolm Binns.[7]
24 October – The Rolling Stones start their second US tour.
25 October – The Rolling Stones perform on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time.
7 December – George Harrison's new publishing company, Mornyork Ltd, changes its name to Harrisongs.[8]
December - Sir John Barbirolli records Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with Janet Baker as the Angel. The first stereophonic recording of the work, it has remained in the catalogues continuously since its first release.[9]
^Sheff, David (2000). All We Are Saying. St Martin's Griffin. ISBN0-312-25464-4.
^Reed, Philip; Cooke, Mervyn, eds. (2010). Letters From A Life: The Selected Letters of Benjamin Britten, Vol. 5 1958–1965. Boydell Press. ISBN978-1-84383-591-2., p. 570