On this day in 1966, The Beatles arrived at O’Hare Airport in Chicago ahead of their last tour of the US

The tour, consisting of 17 US shows and 2 Canadian, the tour would prove to be a deciding factor in the bands decision to quit touring and shift their focus to producing albums.

The tour was overshadowed by the controversy caused by Lennon’s controversial comment regarding The Beatles “being more popular than Jesus”, a comment that incited protests and threats against the band, especially throughout the Bible Belt in the south. Upon their arrival in Chicago, Lennon appeared at his first in a series of press conferences to explain and apologise for the remark.

The band were also dissatisfied with noise levels at many of the shows, as well as the usual issues with security and crowd control. On top of this, the band would cause further controversy when they spoke out against the Vietnam War. By the end of the month their retirement from touring had been decided on, with their last paid concert taking place on the 29^th August in San Francisco, California.