Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, representing the U.S.
government, sailed into Tokyo Bay, Japan, with a squadron
of four vessels on this day in 1853. For a time, Japanese
officials refused to speak with Perry, but under threat of
attack by the superior American ships they accepted letters
from President Millard Fillmore, making the United States
the first Western nation to establish relations with Japan
since it had been declared closed to foreigners two
centuries before.

Millard Fillmore
(January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874)

On June 17, 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of
friendship from the people of France to the people of America,
arrived in New York Harbor after being shipped across the
Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than
200 cases. The copper and iron statue, which was reassembled
and dedicated the following year in a ceremony presided over
by U.S. President Grover Cleveland, became known around the
world as an enduring symbol of freedom and democracy.

The Statue of Liberty’s face before it was installed.

The Beatles were greeted by the deafening roar of thousands of screaming fans when they arrived in the United States for the
very first time on this day in history, Feb. 7, 1964. 

Pan Am Flight 101, a Boeing 707, touched down with John, Paul,
George and Ringo, the Fab Four still known globally by their
first names, at the recently renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City at 1:20 p.m. ET.

"When the Beatles arrived in America, it was like seeing a new
color for the first time," a fan said years later.