January 3:
NBC's "Jack Paar Show" telecasts the Beatles' Bournemouth performance of "She Loves You", filmed on 16 November 1963.
"I Want To Hold Your Hand" goes to #1 on the Australian music charts.

January 13:
Capitol Records releases "I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"I Saw Her Standing There" single.
"I Want To Hold Your Hand" becomes the fastest selling British single in America selling 500,000 records within the first 10 days.

January 15:
The Beatles travel to France and perform for three weeks at the Paris Olympia.

January 20:
"Meet The Beatles" LP. (Capitol Records) is released in the U.S.  It hits the #1 spot on Billboard chart and stays for eleven weeks.)

January 27:
MGM Records releases "My Bonnie"/"The Saints" single. 

January 30:
Vee Jay Records re-releases "Please Please Me"/"From Me to You" in the US.

February 1:
"I Want To Hold Your Hand" makes #1 on the U.S. charts selling 2,000,000 records. "She Loves You" sells 1,000,000 copies in the U.S.

February 3:
MGM Records releases "The Beatles with Tony Sheridan" LP (recorded for Bert Kaempfert in Germany and originally marketed as "Die Beat Brothers und Tony Sheridan"!)

February 5:
The Beatles return from Paris.

February 7:
The Beatles arrive at Kennedy Airport in New York, aboard Pan Am's Yankee Clipper, flight 101, greeted by some 3,000 screaming fans. New York pop radio stations play Beatles records practically around the clock for days and disk jockeys such as Murray the "K" do interviews with the boys and heavily promote the band. Fans surround the Plaza Hotel, where the boys are staying.  Beatlemania has come to the United States!

February 9:
The Beatles make their first appearance on CBS television's "Ed Sullivan Show" in New York. The network claims some 50,000 applied for 728 available studio seats.
The boys open with "All my Loving", followed by "Till there was You"and "She Loves You" and close with "I Saw her Standing There" and "I Want to Hold your Hand".

February 10:
Overnight Nielsen ratings report an estimated 73 million viewers (or apprx. 23,240,000 households) watched the previous night's television event. 

February 11:
The Beatles make their first live concert appearance in the US at the Coliseum in Washington, DC., drawing an audience of 20,000 fans.

February 12:
The band gives two concert performances at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

February 16:
The Beatles make their second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, performing "She Loves You", "All My Loving", "This Boy", "I Saw her Standing There", "From Me to You" and "I Want to Hold your Hand".

February 17:
Overnight Neilsen ratings: 70 million estimated viewers (apprx. 22,445,000 households).

February 22:
The Beatles return to England.

February 23:
CBS airs the Beatles 3rd "Ed Sullivan Show", taped earlier in New York. The band does "Twist and Shout", Please Please Me" and "I Want to Hold your Hand".

February 26:
Vee Jay Records releases LP "Jolly What! Beatles and Frank Ifield".

March 2:
The Beatles begin work on their first movie, "A Hard Day's Night", directed by Richard Lester, on a budget of $500,000 and an 8 week shooting schedule.
Tollie Records releases single "Twist and Shout"/"There's a Place".

March 13:
CASHBOX CHARTS lists Beatles songs in the top four slots:

March 14:
"Meet The Beatles" LP surpasses 3,600,000 records sold and "Can't Buy Me Love" racks up 1,700,000 copies in advance sales in the U.S.

March 17:
Britain reports advance sales of 1,000,000 records of "Can't Buy Me Love single.

March 23:
Jonathan Cape publishes John Lennon's first humorous book "In His Own Write". The Times praises the book as being "worth the attention of anyone who fears for the impoverishment of the English language and the British imagination." (The book sold 100,000 copies in its first printing.)

Vee Jay Records releases "Do You Want to Know a Secret"/"Thank You Girl" single.

March 27:
MGM Records releases "Why"/"Cry for a Shadow" single.

March 30:
Capitol Records releases "Can't Buy Me Love"/"You Can't Do That" single.

APRIL 6:
BILLBOARD puts the Beatles in the top five slots:

April 10:
Capitol Record releases "The Beatles Second Album" LP

April 27:
Tollie Records releases "Love Me Do"/"P.S. I Love You" single.
Swan Records releases "Sie Liebt Dich"/I'll Get You" single.

June 1:
Atco Records releases "Sweet Georgia Brown"/"Take Some Insurance Out on Me" single.

June 3:
Ringo Starr is taken ill with Tonsillitis and Pharyngitis and is hospitalized in London.
Jimmy Nicol, a session player from London, becomes substitute drummer, as the band travels to Holland to perform in Amsterdam's Blokker Auction Hall.

June 8:
The band flies to Hong Kong.

June 10:
The Beatles perform two concerts in Hong Kong.

June 12:
The band begins its Australian tour in Adelaide, where a crowd estimated at 300,000 people along the motorcade route cheers as the boys drive by.

June 14: Ringo catches up with the tour in Melbourne after recovering somewhat from his throat problems.

June 26:
United Artists Records releases "A Hard Day's Night" LP.

July 6:
The Beatles first motion picture "A Hard Day's Night" opens in London to good reviews.

July 10:
"A Hard Day's Night" premieres in Liverpool with a civic reception and an estimated 100,000 crowd the streets to see the Beatles arrive.

July 13:
Capitol Records releases "A Hard Day's Night"/"I Should Have Known Better" single.

July 20:
Capitol Records releases "Something New" LP.
"I'll Cry Instead"/"I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" single
and "And I Love Her"/"If I Fell" single.

August 10:
Capitol Records releases a series of 45's on their "Oldies" label: 

August 11:
Atco Records releases "Ain't She Sweet"/"Nobody's Child" single.
"A Hard Day's Night" opens in theaters in the United States and earns 1.3 million dollars in its first week.

August 19:
The Beatles' first North American tour begins at the Cow Palace in San Francisco and continues through the following venues:

Las Vegas (August 20)  Seattle (August 21)  Vancouver (August 22)  Los Angeles (August 23) Denver (August 26)  Cincinnati (August 27)  New York (August 28) Atlantic City (August 30) Philadelphia (September 2)  Indianapolis (September 3)  Milwaukee (September 4)  Chicago (September 5)  Detroit (September 6)  Toronto (September 7)  Montreal (September 8)  Jacksonville (September 11)  Boston (September 12)  Baltimore (September 13)  Pittsburgh (September 14)  Cleveland (September 15)  New Orleans (September 16)  Kansas City (September 17)  Dallas (September 18)  New York (September 20)

August 24:
Capitol Records releases "Matchbox"/"Slow Down" single.

September 20:
"Ed Sullivan Show" airs rerun of the Beatles February 16th Sullivan appearance

October 1:
BEATLES V.S. THE FOUR SEASONS (lp) is released. (Vee Jay Records)
"A Cellar Full of Noise" by Brian Epstein, released on Souvenir Press.

October 5:
AIN'T SHE SWEET (lp) is released. (Atco Records)

October 12:
SONGS, PICTURES AND STORIES OF THE FABULOUS BEATLES (lp) is released. (Vee Jay Records)

November 23:
THE BEATLES STORY (double lp) is released. (Capitol Records)
I FEEL FINE / SHE'S A WOMAN (single) is released. (Capitol Records)

December 1:
Ringo Starr has his tonsils removed at London's University College Hospital and BBC announcer Roy Williams causes chaos among Ringo fans when he mistakenly announces "Ringo Starr's TOENAILS were successfully removed this morning." Williams apologizes in a follow-up broadcast, saying: "I misread the item. It happens to all of us and I bet Ringo is glad I'm not his surgeon."

And a London paper reported:
FANS DRIVE NEIGHBOURS CRAZY! RINGO'S NEIGHBOURS FILE PETITION TO LANDLORD.
Lathom Gedge, neighbour to Ringo Starr, claimed that "Ringo's tonsil operation has given us our first peace for months. Teenage girls scream and shriek all day long. They get hysterical, fight and kick each other and chase every car that arrives in case Ringo is inside".

December 4:
"Beatles For Sale" album is released in U.K. and goes to #1 on charts.

December 15:
BEATLES '65 (lp) is released (Capitol Records)

December 18:
"ANOTHER BEATLES CHRISTMAS RECORD" is issued to fan club members.

7th Annual GRAMMY AWARDS - 1964

Best New Artists:
The Beatles

Best Performance by a Vocal Group:
The Beatles "A Hard Day's Night"
George Martin, producer.

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