Q 01/05

Roughly how many viewers watched the Beatles' first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1964?

A) About 41 million

B) About 55 million

C) About 62 million

D) About 73 million

Answer · why

D) About 73 million

It was a US television record at the time, and Sullivan's show had until then been described as a 'comfortable hearth-and-slippers experience'.

Q 02/05

Which song did the Beatles open with on that first Ed Sullivan broadcast?

A) I Want to Hold Your Hand

B) All My Loving

C) Please Please Me

D) Twist and Shout

Answer · why

B) All My Loving

They followed it with 'Till There Was You', during which the caption 'SORRY GIRLS, HE'S MARRIED' appeared under John Lennon.

Q 03/05

Which series finale broke the US TV audience record set by the Beatles' Ed Sullivan debut three years earlier?

A) The Fugitive

B) Bonanza

C) The Andy Griffith Show

D) Perry Mason

Answer · why

A) The Fugitive

The 1967 finale revealed the one-armed man; the Beatles' figure had stood as the record for all of American TV, not just music.

Q 04/05

Two days after the Sullivan show, the Beatles played their first US concert at which venue?

A) Carnegie Hall

B) Shea Stadium

C) Washington Coliseum

D) Hollywood Bowl

Answer · why

C) Washington Coliseum

Two Carnegie Hall shows followed the next day, and then the band flew to Miami Beach.

Q 05/05

With which boxer, then training for his first title fight, did the Beatles pose in Miami Beach in 1964?

A) Cassius Clay

B) Sonny Liston

C) Floyd Patterson

D) Joe Frazier

Answer · why

A) Cassius Clay

He beat Liston a week later and soon took the name Muhammad Ali.