One Direction
The British boyband has been sued for trademark infringement for using the same name as a small California pop-rock group. Reuters

UK boy band One Direction has made music history, becoming the first group from across the water to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

The group's debut album, Up All Night, sold some 176,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan (via Billboard).

One Direction's groundbreaking debut is a long way from the days of the Spice Girls, when their album Spice debuted at number six on the same chart. That was 15 years ago.

Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry and Louis have been making headlines in the US in the weeks leading up to the much-anticipated release of Up All Night. From an appearance on The Today Show (which attracted Bieber-like crowds), to an autograph signings in malls across the country, the boys (all under 21) are causing quite the stir in America.

For us to have only just come to the States and have people coming out like that is really amazing, Harry Styles, 18, recently told USA Today.

This girl touched my hand and then fainted . . . that was probably the weirdest thing I've ever experienced, added Zayn Malik, 19, after an autograph session in Long Island, NY.

One Direction, which spawned from X Factor in 2010, recently finished a mini tour opening for Big Time Rush, a group with a Nickelodeon series of the same name.

So will the boys of One Direction follow the footsteps of Big Time Rush and work under the Nickelodeon family?

We've just been doing stuff with Nickelodeon. They've been brilliant to us; they've been really good to us. There's no sign of a TV show . . . we haven't heard anything, Niall Horan, 18, told MTV News in a recent interview.

While a TV show is out of the picture, for now, One Direction still has plenty of tube time in the coming weeks. On Mar. 31, the boys will appear on Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, where they are expected to perform their debut single What Makes You Beautiful. All month long, the group has also been playing host to the channel's Saturday-night programming.

Next month, One Direction will serve as musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with host Sofia Vergara (Modern Family).

Scroll down to watch the music video for One Direction's What Makes You Beautiful, which has raked in more than 75 million views on YouTube since debuting in August.

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