Ringo Starr is born

Ringo Starr was born Richard Starkey on 7 July 1940, at 9 Madryn Street in the Dingle area of Liverpool.

The boy’s parents split up when he was three years old. His mother Elsie married a man called Harry Graves, whom encouraged the young Ritchie’s passion for music.

Starkey was a sickly child, and suffered at different times pleurisy and a coma caused by appendicitis. As a result he did not perform well at school, and fell behind his peers. He eventually left school at the age of 13.