Paul McCartney resigned from the Beatles today in 1970, and the Fab Four were no more (the Thrilling Three weren't meant to be). But their work lives on, boy does it live on. Among the more prominent musicians who claim that the Beatles were a major musical influence:
Carly Simon, Sid Vicious, Stephen Foster, Ludwig von Beethoven (He includes the cryptic lyric "Ich begrub Paul" in the Baritone part of his Ninth Symphony), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (his last words before expiring: "Turn me on, dead man....").
Lew Wallace born today in 1827. He was a major general in the American Civil War, an enormously pivotal event which has spawned numerous musical works and songs; and he is the author of Ben-Hur, an enormously popular event which has, surprisingly, spawned no musical works and songs to date. If you like to write songs, how about a song about Ben? The field is wide open.