It will be 50 years this Sunday that John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their famous Bed-In for peace at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which is marking the anniversary with a series of events starting today.
The bed-in attracted dozens of reporters, celebrities and curiosity-seekers, including ex-CJAD 800 host Tommy Schnurmacher.
"You could tell that they were, despite how public the whole thing was, you could tell that they were very much in love with each other," said Schnurmacher.
Lennon and Ono used their honeymoon to launch two bed-ins calling for peace, one in Montreal and one in Amsterdam.
"I heard about it on the radio so I went down with a friend to try to see if I could catch a glimpse of John Lennon," said Schnurmacher.
"All kinds of celebrities who showed up - Tommy Smothers, Petula Clarke, Al Capp the cartoonist."
A scrappy teenager at the time, Schnurmacher was ready to bluff his way in with a fake press pass.
"As I was about to be thrown out by the security guard, Yoko Ono opened the door and said, Would you like to meet John?" Schnurmacher recounted to CJAD 800.
Schnurmacher ended up taking part the whole week, interviewing Lennon and volunteering some his time taking care of and entertaining the couple's young daughter Kyoko.
The iconic song, Give Peace a Chance was recorded in Suite 1742 where Lennon and Ono stayed for a week starting on May 26, 1969.
"The recording took forever and ever and ever to get going because it was delayed and delayed and delayed," said Schnurmacher.
"But finally, it did get going with a lot of Hare Krishna people, with the lyrics written on these boards and people would just read what was on the boards and that was quite exciting."
And while the bed-in didn't stop any wars...
"Symbolically, as an inspiration to a generation it certainly worked," said Schnurmacher.
"I think the fact that people are so riveted half a century later to one week of what happened at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel indicates that the message reverberated through time."
The hotel is presenting until October 9 a free exhibition of a photo series by photographer Gerry Deiter who was covering the story for LIFE Magazine.
It's also unveiling vintage photos and a new design for the hall and door of Suite 1742.
The Royal Canadian Mint is issuing a silver commemorative coin featuring Ivor Sharp's iconic black and white photo of the smiling couple sitting cross-legged on the bed, each holding a single flower.
The hotel is holding a benefit concert for Amnistie Internationale Canada Francophone on May 30 at 7 p.m.