On this day in Beatles History...February 9, 1964

On February 9, 1964, The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Beatlemania went into full swing in the USA.  Legend has it that Mr. Sullivan had originally offered The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein a very substantial amount of money for a Beatles appearance on his show, but Epstein knew what an opportunity this was and countered with an offer to have The Beatles appear three times at a lower price if they could both open and close each show.  This would give the boys much more exposure.  The plan certainly worked.  Allegedly, their February 9th appearance drew a record breaking 73 million viewers!