A flight from Europe on this day in 1964 forever changed U.S. pop culture
By Brian Miller
On February 7th, 1964 a Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight from London landed in New York City. The flight out of the U.K. wasn’t anything special. It wasn’t a ground-breaking historical event in the early days of air flight or travel at all. Yet that flight would forever change the pop culture scene in the United States.
What arrived on that plane so many years ago remains a phenomenon 57 years later. On that day in February, The Beatles arrived on U.S. soil. Two days later, they would perform on the Ed Sullivan Show. Beatlemania was born.
To this day, The Beatles remain one of the most iconic and inspirational rock bands of all-time. So much so that even simple stops for mere hours have travelers stopping along their journeys just to say they stood where the “Fab Four” once did.
The Beatles brand is showcased around the world from Russia to Japan, Khazakstan, to rural America. I have talked to complete strangers about travel over the years and am surprised at how many will begin a drive with The Beatles’ first album and play them in chronological order from start to finish while driving. I decided to do that once and managed to find quite a bit of enjoyment to listen to the changing sound of the band through their recorded years.
The Ed Sullivan Theater remains one of the top spots that visitors seek out when in New York City as is Strawberry Fields in Central Park. All because of a plane trip that occurred “All those years ago” in the words of George Harrison.