The Beatles Perform Live on "The Ed Sullivan Show"

Fifty six years ago, on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1964, over 73 million Americans gathered around television sets to watch The Beatles perform live on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York City.

For weeks before, the American radio stations had been saturating the airwaves with Beatles music, which led to sales of millions of Beatles singles and albums. For the weeks leading up, it was announced that "The Beatles Are Coming!" The American press picked up on the story, with several magazines and newspapers running feature stories on the group. Two days earlier, CBS and ABC showed film of The Beatles' arrival in America at New York's Kennedy Airport on their evening news shows. However, the big event was The Beatles' first live appearance on American television. Here is a promotional bumper for the Beatles performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The excitement began shortly after 8 p.m. EST when Sullivan gave his famous introduction.

Here is a color edited Ed Sullivan introducing the Beatles for the first time to America on a live broadcast.

The Beatles performing "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to a screaming audience of adoring girl fans.

The Beatles performing Twist and Shout, visibly working the audience into a frenzy.

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