July 29, 1966: Bob Dylan Breaks Neck, Beatles Bigger Than Jesus

July 29, 1966 was a big deal in rock music for a couple weird reasons.

First, Bob Dylan got into a motorcycle accident near his Woodstock, NY home and broke his neck, ushering in his "recluse period" where he wouldn't play regularly for years. Thing is, no ambulance was called to the scene and there was no record of him being hospitalized anywhere. Years later Dylan said, "I had been in a motorcycle accident and I'd been hurt, but I recovered. Truth was that I wanted to get out of the rat race."

At the same time Dylan was hiding, the Beatles were becoming, according to John Lennon, "bigger than Jesus." His quote saying as much in Datebook magazine infuriated the public, with American Christian organizations arranging Beatles album burning events.