A Beatles Timeline, Three Beatles Trivia Quizzes and More

The Beatles. There's no way to deny or diminish the impact of The Beatles. From their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show 51 years ago their flame burned bright, and its afterglow remains to this day.

If you were a teen in the Sixties, you have stories. You probably owned their albums. You certainly remember the songs. They had 17 Number One hits. Has anyone so dominated the pop charts in the history of music?

Here are a few details of note from a website called Beatles by the Numbers:

Total number of Beatles singles sold in the U.S.: 1.6 billion

Beatles albums sold worldwide: 600 million

Number of copies of Sgt. Pepper sold in Britain: 4.5 million

Number of copies of the Beatles Box Set sold in the first five days after release in Britain, North America and Japan: 2.3 million

Number of times Yesterday has been covered: 3,000 (most covered song of all time.)

Number of weeks Beatles albums spent at number one in U.S.: 132

Number of weeks Please Please Me stayed number one on the Billboard album charts: 30

Number of certified multi-platinum albums in the U.S.: 13

You get the picture. These guys knew how to make music people could connect to. No band ever produced more number one hits (20). I doubt that any band ever produced the kind of hysteria they created just by showing up. And I don't believe we'll ever see another band embraced so universally.

Their appearance on the scene came at a time when mass media was consolidated. Even the most watched shows in television today only reach a fraction of the population. The influential radio stations that played Top 40 hits are gone. The music scene is so splintered that there is hardly anything that can be called "the music of our lives." It's the music of my life and his life and her life, but it's all different music.

The Beatles seemed so young, so innocent and cheerful and made music that made you feel good. The American public enjoyed inviting them into their homes. But that youthfulness was deceptive. They were seasoned veterans as performers and no rookies. John Lennon had seven years under his belt by the time he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. A couple months after Lennon assembled his little band he invited Paul McCartney to the group, and as The Quarrymen they began mining the new music of the era.

Here's a timeline that gives a great insight into The Beatles phenomenon.

If you consider yourself something of a Beatles trivia expert, here are three sites where Beatles Trivia has been assembled in Quiz Show form. Test your wits.

Buzzfeed Ultimate Beatles Quiz

Parade Magazine's How Much Do You Know About The Beatles?

And finally, a How Stuff Works Beatles Quiz

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For what it's worth, a group called The Revolution 5 is returning to Duluth in a couple weeks. March 21 to be exact. Here's the Facebook announcement: The Revolution 5 Presents The Beatles' #1 Hits. It's a show we enjoyed immensely.

Do you have a favorite Beatles memory? Feel free to share it here...