When Pan Am Flight 101 touched down at New York’s newly renamed JFK Airport on February 7, 1964, four young men from Liverpool stepped into a wall of screaming fans. Beatlemania had officially crossed the Atlantic.
73 Million Watching
Two days later, the Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. An estimated 73 million Americans — nearly half the country — tuned in. It remains one of the most-watched broadcasts in television history. Crime rates reportedly dipped that night; even teenagers who normally roamed the streets stayed home to watch.
The British Invasion Begins
Within weeks the Beatles held the top five spots on the Billboard Hot 100, a feat never matched before or since. Their success flung open the door for the Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Who and a wave of British bands who reshaped American pop culture.
For a country still grieving the assassination of President Kennedy only weeks earlier, the joyful noise of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” felt like sunlight breaking through. The Swinging Sixties had begun, and the Beatles were leading the parade.