The Beatles changed everything. Their arrival in New York City on February 7, 1964, began what has been called the "second British Invasion." Along with new music, this invasion introduced exciting new hairstyles, fashion, attitudes, and language to the United States from cities like Manchester, Liverpool, and London.

More than 5,000 screaming teenagers greeted the Beatles when their plane arrived in New York, and tens of thousands welcomed them in each city and venue they visited while on tour. When the Beatles played "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "She Loves You" on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, more than 73 million Americans were watching. As with the Kennedy assassination only three months before, many Americans remember where they were that night.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Soon after the Beatles' first U.S. visit, a wave of British bands seeking to capture some American turf followed. The Dave Clark Five, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Animals, the Hollies, and others made their way onto the American charts in 1964. The Beatles paved the way for a great expansion of the Invasion, bringing edgier London bands like the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, and the Who to popularity in Europe and the United States alike.

The Beatles also revolutionized rock-and-roll filmmaking with the release of their first two movies, A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965), both directed by Richard Lester. A Hard Day's Night dramatized the phenomenon of Beatlemania and inspired a series of knockoffs like Hold On! (1966) and Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1968), both featuring Herman's Hermits, as well as the Dave Clark Five's Having a Wild Weekend (1965; also known as Catch Us if You Can), and Out of Sight (1966), with Freddie and the Dreamers. These films inspired the creation in 1966 of the made-for-TV American group the Monkees.

But it wasn't just British bands that American teenagers were crazy about; it was all things British. The British Invasion brought Beatles boots, mop-top wigs, Mary Quant's miniskirts, and other Carnaby Street fashions to Main Street, U.S.A.

February 1999 marks the 35th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America, an event that would irrevocably change the course of rock music and popular culture.