The Beatles met Elvis Presley at his mansion on Perugia Way in Bel Air on this date in 1965.

The meeting between two of the biggest acts in show business came about after negotiations between Beatles manager Brian Epstein and Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker. When the Beatles came to America in February 1964 to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, Sullivan read a telegram to the band: “Congratulations on your appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show and your visit to America. We hope your engagement will be a successful one and your visit pleasant. Give our best to Mr. Sullivan. Sincerely, Elvis & the Colonel.”

It was decided that with Elvis as the older performer (just four years older than John Lennon and Ringo Starr but famous for a decade by 1965), the Beatles would visit him at home while they were performing in Los Angeles instead of bring him to the home that had been rented for them or bring him backstage after they had performed.

Thus, there were no photographers present at 10:00 p.m. that night when the Beatles arrived at Elvis Presley’s mansion, and no tape recorders were turned on. All present say that an informal jam session took place, but no one wrote down what was played. Elvis played bass.

A few photographs exist, taken by fans outside Presley’s mansion gates who possibly did not know what they were witnessing or could not believe it. One is above; you can make out John Lennon walking toward a limo with Elvis and his girlfriend (later wife) Priscilla in the doorway on the left. In another photo, one of Elvis’ neighbors appears to be walking past, oblivious.
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Vulnerable. Reporters are vulnerable. The camera lens and a notepad do not stop bullets. One year ago today a local television news reporter and a cameraman for WDBJ7, a CBS affiliate in Virginia, were shot and killed live on the air.

The reporter was named Alison Parker; she was 24 years old and had recently gotten engaged to be married to another young WDBJ reporter. The cameraman, Adam Ward, was 27. He was engaged to be married as well and today was to be his last day at WDBJ; his fiancee was in the production studio doing her job when she watched her boyfriend get shot.

The shooter ran away and then was shot and killed by authorities himself later the same day.
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The National Park Service Organic Act was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on this date 100 years ago.

It created the National Park Service and established its jurisdiction in the Department of the Interior. The NPS was mandated “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” In the 1930s, historic sites such as the battlefield at Gettysburg and presidential homes were added to its mandate.
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