On February 7, 1964, legendary British rock band the Beatles depart Heathrow Airport with about 4,000 fans waving and screaming as the aircraft took off. Upon landing at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, a roaring crowd of 3,000 fans greet the band as they step of the plane for their first visit to the United States. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison gave their first live U.S. television performance two days later on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by 73 million viewers in more than 23 million households.

According to the Nielsen rating service, it was “the largest audience that had ever been recorded for an American television program”. The next morning, the Beatles wake up to a largely negative critical reception, but a day later at their first US concert, Beatlemania erupted at the Washington Coliseum. Back in New York one day after the concert, the Beatles met with another strong reception during two shows at Carnegie Hall. The group then traveled to Florida and made a second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show for another 70 million viewers. The Beatles returned to the United Kingdom on February 22nd and the British Invasion was born.

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