There may have been more famous flights in history than Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow to New York – JFK. But not many; and none of those carried the combined star caliber of Paul, Ringo, John and George. Just six days after “I Want to Hold Your Hand” topped the charts, a cheerfully screaming crowd of 3,000 thronged the airport terminals, welcoming the Fab Four.

On this day, February 7, in 1964, the Beatles arrived on the first tour of the United States. They would make their first television appearance two days later on The Ed Sullivan Show, then play to 20,000 in Washington, D.C. Their final concert during that tour, at Carnegie Hall, forced police to close off the neighborhood to contain the hysterical fans.

The year before the Beatles’ arrival, while Beatlemania was raging all over England, American audiences had still not heard of the group. A friend of Dick Clark, host of American Bandstand, was vacationing in England and brought back their single “She Loves You,” already a #1 hit there, and shopped it around to Clark and the major record labels. Neither was enthused, but Clark decided to test the song on his show. He reportedly played it for a panel of teenagers, who likewise gave it low scores. Both Clark and the record executives thought the Beatles would never catch on in America.