Pan Am flight 101 was greeted by over 5,000 Beatles fans as it arrived at New York’s JFK airport, bringing The Beatles to the US for the first time and causing riotous scenes as they touched down. On top of the 5,000 fans were 200 members of the press all trying to grab the fab four’s attention. In The Beatle’s AnthologyPaul McCartney describes the flight into JFK.

“There were millions of kids at the airport, which nobody had expected. We heard about it in mid-air. There were journalists on the plane, and the pilot had rang ahead and said, ‘Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.’ We thought, ‘Wow! God, we have really made it.’”