1964

January - "I Want to Hold Your Hand" hits #1 in the US and the single sells 500,000 in 10 days. "She Loves You" and "Please Please Me" are also released, along with the LPs Meet the Beatles and Introducing the Beatles; which take the #1 and #2 spots on the US charts.

January 3 - While belittling the Beatles for their long hair, Jack Paar features the boys for the first time on American television, showing a clip of them playing "She Loves You".

February - The Beatles are nominated for the 1964 Grammy for Best New Artist.

February 9 - the Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan Show, which is viewed by approximately 73 million people.

March - the film "A Hard Day's Night" begins filming.

March 16 - The US single "Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That" is released (March 20 in the UK) and immediately hits #1 in both countries.

March 31 - the Beatles do the impossible by capturing the top 5 spots simultaneously on the US Billboard chart with "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".

April 4 - US record companies Capitol and VeeJay settle their legal battle out-of-court. Capitol obtains exclusive rights to manufacture and distribute Beatles records, but VeeJay is permitted to continue releasing Beatles records for a short time. VeeJay essentially has only the songs from the Beatles' first album, which they had released as Introducing The Beatles, at their disposal, so they would end up repackaging these tracks a number of times in an attempt to milk every possible bit of profit from their limited rights.

April 10 - The band's third US album, The Beatles' Second Album, reaches #1, bumping Meet The Beatles.

May - the singles "Do You Want To Know A Secret/Thank You Girl" and "Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You" (released in late March and late April, respectively) reach #2 and #1, respectively.

June 4 - Ringo collapses just before a show in Denmark and Jimmy Nichol replaces him for the next week and a half.

July - the film "A Hard Day's Night" opens in London; world premiere. The single and LP of the same name reach #1 in the UK and US, and the Beatles attain the #1 song, album, and movie in the US and UK; all bearing the same name. The LP Something New is released in the US and reaches #2 behind A Hard Day's Night.

August 19 - the Beatles open up their first US tour at Cow Palace in San Fransisco.

August 28 - the band meets Bob Dylan and smoke marijuana for the first time.

September - the US single "Matchbox/Slow Down" reaches #18.

November 23 - the US single "I Feel Fine/She's A Woman" is released (November 27 in the UK). "I Feel Fine" reaches #1 in the US and UK; the b-side "She's A Woman" hits #4 in the US.

December - the band's fourth UK LP Beatles For Sale replaces A Hard Day's Night at UK #1. The album Beatles '65 is released in the US, reaching #1.