50 years ago tonight on February 9, 1964, 73 million Americans sat in front of their black and white TV sets to watch the Sunday night Ed Sullivan show. Behind the shrieks of teenage girls, four moppy-haired men stood in front of a screaming crowd and tv cameras on a soundstage in New York City.

Only 73 days earlier, America sat in front of their TV’s in tears as news spread regarding the tragic loss of President Kennedy. Until today I never put the two events together. The two events are so polar opposite in the way they affected our country. Did the heartache the country was experiencing with the death of JFK helped launch the Fab Four to superstardom? With John and George on guitar, Ringo on drums and Paul on bass guitar the Liverpool, England lads serenaded the nation with five songs that officially jumpstarted their career as The Beatles.

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