I appreciate you coming back to enjoy another day of On This Day in American History!
On this day in American History, February 9, 1964, the Beatles made their American debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
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February 9 – The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Beatles made their first live American appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964.
To do:
1.) Watch The Beatles perform “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on The Ed Sullivan Show at their American debut.
- After watching the performance, write down what you notice. How are the clothes of The Beatles different from the musicians of today? What about their demeanor? The Beatles were known for their “rebellious” long hair styles. Why would their hair style be considered rebellious for that time? Do you think it was?
2.) At 8:00 p.m. on February 9, 1964, 73 million Americans gathered in front of their televisions to watch The Beatles first U.S. performance live on The Ed Sullivan Show. The television show was record setting in that 45% of households that had a television watched the show!
3.) The Beatles performance on The Ed Sullivan Show came at a vital time in American History. Just 2 1/2 months before, America’s 35th president, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, had been assassinated. There was still a heaviness in America a couple of months later, and the performance of The Beatles was a much needed diversion from that tragedy. The Beatles brought a new look, new charm, and new energy to a country coming out of mourning.
- Write the date of President Kennedy’s assassination in your notebook, followed by the date of The Beatles American debut.
If you are new to On This Day in American History
If you are new to On This Day in American History, Welcome!
Each day, I share an interesting event that occurred in our nation’s past. You will learn about famous Americans, interesting inventions and their patents, American art and music, and more.
You will also find suggested activities – labeled “To do” – if you would like to research this during your homeschool’s group time in the morning, or you can assign the activities for your children to work on independently.
If you think you will do more than one day of On This Day in American History, I would encourage you to have your child keep what I call a Notebook of Knowledge. A spiral notebook or sheets of paper stapled together is more than adequate!
Have your child write the day’s event and the date at the top of his paper. If there are writing activities, have him use his best composition, grammar, and penmanship as he completes the answers. After just a few weeks or even a month, he will have an excellent resource to read through!
If you would like to use this resource throughout the month, you might be interested in purchasing the full February Calendar. It contains:
- Access to the webpage with all of the February events listed, including all suggested activities for each daily event.
- A .pdf of the February Calendar, listed in chronological order with all suggested activities
- All necessary downloads to complete the assigned activities. These same downloads are linked on the webpage, however, they are also included here for easy access.
- The answers to any questions asked in the daily activities.
You can purchase that here:
On This Day in American History: February 8 – Roanoke Island Captured in Civil War
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