It was March 20,1969 when John Lennon and Yoko Ono got married "in Gibraltar near Spain" on the advice of Apple employee Peter Brown. John was famously quoted as saying "We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly. We tried everywhere else first. I set out to get married on the car ferry and we would have arrived in France married, but they wouldn't do it. We were no more successful with cruise ships. We tried embassies, but three weeks' residence in Germany or two weeks' in France were required" The couple went directly to the British Consulate Office, where they were married during a 10-minute ceremony. As Gibraltar was a British colony, and Lennon was a British citizen, and they were able to go ahead and get hitched on short notice.
Inspired by the events, John wrote "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and recorded the song during an April 14, 1969 session with Paul McCartney. The Beatles would release the single in the U.K. on May 30, 1969, and the U.S. on June 4, 1969. See the video, above.