I'm sure The Beatles were pushed on the actual Ed Sullivan program but how would I, as an American in 1964, know to tune in to watch? Were they already hugely popular on the radio here before? Was it like a massive ad campaign, like we see now with blockbuster movies? Maybe I picture 1964 as a much simpler time for the arts, but it's mind-boggling to think how they could get 74 million people to tune in.

In my opinion, The Beatles changed the world of music forever and have influenced everything that came after them, but how did the average American KNOW to tune in or care to TUNE in to such a monumental occasion?

I don't know if this is the right sub reddit for this question but idk where else to ask.

Fiction. Non-fiction. Artists. Intellectuals. Dancers. Drinkers. All of it please.

Don't misinterpret this question as the middle school 'why should I bother with this', or looking for 'Because those who ignore the past are destined to repeat it'. This subreddit is AskHistorians and I would love to know how fields people work in tangibly affect our lives.

EDIT: someone high up in the US government or military

What was Europe like after Rome fell and before the rise of feudalism? I always picture people just trying to survive and reverting to basic instincts. This time period (500-800) AD has always interested me but it seems that there is little information available. I understand these were the "dark ages" just curious.

Thanks!!

I'm reading Peter Robb's A History of India, and on page 35 he says

A summary in Digha Nikaya [of the Arthava Veda] offers the following... a belief in fate not works, an atheistic materialism, a theory of physical elements (easily preceding Greek speculations on atoms), and a virtually 'post-modern' scepticism...

So what was the Arthava Veda's theory of physical elements? When was it written? It's not hard to imagine it being earlier than Lucretius, but also the pre-Socratics?

Secondary questions: I'm also interested in the atheistic materialism. I might want to read the Arthava Veda itself, or a book on it. Any suggestions on translations or books about it? Also, does anyone have a familiarity with this book I'm reading? Any criticism of it? It's a little short on dates and specifics, at least in the early stages, but that's not the worst.

I know that there were already a lot of tensions between states considering westward expansion, vastly different lifestyles, and differentiating values, but how did all of this come together to create a schism between a country that was less than a hundred years old? There must be a few factors that they just don't teach you in school.