Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
Years: 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 - 1964 - 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Events
- January 1 - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
- January 3 - Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President.
- January 7 - A British firm, the Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 busses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba.
- January 8 - In his first State-of-the-Union address, President Lyndon Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
- January 9 - Armed clashes between United States troops and Panamanian mobs in the Canal Zone[?] precipitate a major international crisis and result in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers.
- January 11 - United States Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous for one's health. First such statement from US government.
- January 12 - The predominantly Arab government of Zanzibar is overthrown by African nationalist rebels. A U.S. destroyer evacuates 61 Americans.
- January 16 - Hello Dolly![?] opens in New York City's St. James Theatre.
- January 16 - John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, resigns from the space program and announces the next day that he will seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Ohio.
- January 20 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released
- January 23 - Thirteen years after its proposal and nearly two years after the measure had been passed by the United States Senate 77-16, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
- January 27 - France and Communist China announce their decision to establish diplomatic relations.
- January 27 - Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.), 66, announces her candidacy for the Repubican nomination for President.
- January 28 - A U.S. Air Force jet training plane that strayed into East Germany is shot down by Soviet fighters near Erfurt. All three crew men are killed.
- January 29 - The Soviet Union launches two scientific satellites, Elektron I and II, from a single rocket.
- January 30 - The junta ruling South Vietnam since the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem is itself toppled from power in a bloodless coup led by Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh.
- January 30 - Ranger 6[?] is launched by NASA. Its mission is it to carry television cameras and to crash-land on the moon.
- February 3 - In protests against alleged de facto school segregation, black and Puerto Rican groups in New York City boycott public schools[?].
- February 6 - Cuba cuts off the normal water supply to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay in reprisal for U.S. seizure 4 days earlier of 4 Cuban fishing boats off the coast of Florida.
- February 7 - A jury trying Bryon De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers in June 1963 reports in Jackson, Mississippi that it was unable to agree on a verdict, resulting in a mistrial.
- February 11 - Greeks & Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- February 11 - Taiwan drops diplomatic relations with France because of French recognition of Communist China.
- February 17 - In Wesberry v. Sanders 376 US 1 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
- February 26 - John Glenn slips on a bathroom rug in his Columbus, Ohio apartment and hits his head on the bathtub, injuring his left inner ear, and prompting him (later that week) to withdraw from the race for the Senate nomination.
- February 27 - The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
- February 29 - President Johnson announces that the United States had developed a jet airplane (the A-11), capable of sustained flight at more than 2,000 MPH and of altitutes of more than 70,000 feet.
- March 4 - Jimmy Hoffa, President of the Teamsters[?], is convicted by a Federal jury of tampering with a Federal jury in 1962.
- March 6 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece
- March 8 - Malcolm X, suspended from the Nation of Islam, says in New York City that he was forming a black nationalist party.
- March 9 - In New York Times Co. v Sullivan[?] 376 US 254 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States rules that under the First Amendment, speech criticizing political figures cannot be censored.
- March 9 - The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.
- March 10 - Soviet Union military forces shoot down an unarmed reconnaissance bomber that had strayed into East Germany; the three U.S. flyers parachute to safety.
- March 10 - The New Hampshire primary is won by Henry Cabot Lodge, Ambassador to South Vietnam.
- March 14 - A jury in Dallas, Texas finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.
- March 20 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO[?] (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
- March 26 - Defense Secretary Robert McNamara delivers an address that reiterated the United States determination to give South Vietnam increased military and economic aid in its war against Communist insurgency.
- March 27 - The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage
- March 28 - The first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established.
- April 2 - Mrs. Malcolm Peabody, 72, mother of Governor Endicott Peabody of Massachusetts, is released on $450 bond after spending two days in jail in St. Augustine, Florida, because of her participation in an anti-segregation demonstration there.
- April 5 - Jigme Dorfi, Premier of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is shot dead by an unidentified assassin in Puncholing, near the Indian border.
- April 7 - IBM announces the System/360.
- April 8 - Four of five railroad operating unions strike against the Illinois Central Railroad without warning to bring to a head the five-year dispute over railroad work rules.
- April 9 - The United Nations Security Council adopts by a 9-0 vote a resolution deploring a British air attack on a fort in Yemen 12 days earlier in which 25 persons were reported killed.
- April 11 - The Brazilian Congress elects General Humberto Castelo Branco as President of Brazil.
- April 19 - The coalition government of Laos, headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, is deposed by a right-wing military group led by Brig. Gen. Kouprasith Abhay.
- April 20 - President Lyndon Johnson in New York and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow announce simultaneously plans to cut back production of materials for making nuclear weapons.
- April 26 - Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
- May 2 - Senator Barry Goldwater receives more than 75% of the votes in the Texas Republican Presidential primary.
- May 7 - A Pacific Airlie F-27 crashes near Dublin, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a recorded tape indicated that the pilot had been shot.
- May 9 - South Korean President Chung Hee Park[?] reshuffles his Cabinet after a series of student demostrations against his efforts to restore diplomatic and trade relations with Japan.
- May 19 - The United States State Department says that more than 40 hidden microphones have been found embedded in the walls of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
- May 23 - Mrs. Madeline Dassault, 63, wife of a French plane manufacturer and politician, is kidnapped while leaving her car in front of her Paris home; she is found unharmed the next day in a farmhouse 27 miles from Paris.
- June 2 - Senator Barry Goldwater wins the California Republican Presidential primary, making him the overwhelming favorite for the nomination.
- June 2 - Five million shares of stock in the Communications Satellite Corp. (Comsat) are offered for sale at $20 a share, and the issue is quickly sold out.
- June 3 - South Korean President Chung Hee Park declares martial law in Seoul after 10,000 student demonstrators overpower police.
- June 9 - In Federal Court in Kansas City, Kansas, army deserter George John Gessner, 28, is convicted of passing United States secrets to the Soviet Union.
- June 12 Pennsylvania Governor William Scranton announces his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination, as part of a 'stop-Goldwater' movement.
- June 19 - Senator Edward Kennedy, 32, is seriously injured in a private plane crash at Southampton, Massachusetts; the pilot is killed.
- June 21 - Three civil rights workers, Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney, are murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi, by local segregationist law enforcement officials.
- July 6 - Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
- July 8 - U.S. military personnel announces that U.S. casualties in Vietnam have risen to 1,387, including 399 dead and 17 MIA.
- Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
- September 14 - Opening of third period of Second Vatican Council.
- October 5 - Twenty-three men and 31 women escape to West Berlin through a narrow tunnel under the Berlin Wall.
- October 5 - Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip begin an 8-day visit to Canada.
- October 14-15 - Nikita Khrushchev is deposed as leader of the Soviet Union; Leonid Brezhnev assumes power.
- October 15 - Great Britain's Labor Party wins the nationwide parliamentary elections, ending 13 years of Conservative Party rule.
- October 16 - Communist China explodes an atomic bomb in Sinkiang.
- October 24 - Northern Rhodesia, a former British protectorate, becomes the independent Republic of Zambia, ending 73 years of British rule.
- October 29 - A collection of irreplaceable gems[?], including the 565-carat Star of India, is stolen from the American Museum of Natural History[?] in New York City.
- October 31 - Campaigning at Madison Square Garden, New York, President Lyndon Johnson pledges the creation of the Great Society.
- November 1 - Mortar fire from North Vietnamese forces rains on the USAF base at Bein Hoa, South Vietnam, killing 4 Americans and wounding 72, and destroying five B-57[?] jet bombers and other planes.
- November 3 - Lyndon Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater in the U.S. presidential election
- November 3 - The Bolivian government of President Victor Paz Estenssoro is overthrown by a military rebellion led by General Alfredo Obando Candia, commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
- November 5 - Mariner 3, a U.S. space probe, intended for Mars is launched from Cape Kennedy, but its apparatus failed.
- November 19 - The U.S. Defense Department announced the closing of 95 militiary bases and facilities, including the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and Fort Jay, New York.
- November 21 - Closing of third period of Second Vatican Council
- November 28 - Mariner 4, a U.S. space probe intended to take television pictures of Mars in July 1965, was launched from Cape Kennedy.
- December 14 - The Supreme Court of the United States rules, in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States 379 US 241 1964, that, in accordance with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, establishments providing public accommodations must refrain from racial discrimination.
Art, Culture & Fashion
Births
- January 6 - Henry Maske[?], German boxer
- January 7 - Nicolas Cage, actor
- January 12 - Jeff Bezos, president of amazon.com
- January 13 - Penelope Ann Miller[?], actress
- February 4 - Noodles, guitarist of The Offspring
- February 5 - Laura Linney[?], actress
- February 5 - Duff McKagen[?], Guns N'Roses
- February 15 - Chris Farley, actor, comedian (+ 1997)
- February 18 - Matt Dillon[?], actor
- March 7 - Bret Easton Ellis, ass=er
- March 9 - Juliette Binoche, actress
- March 10 - Edward, Earl of Wessex
- March 17 - Rob Lowe, actor
- March 18 - Irene Cara[?], actress, singer
- March 18 - Bonnie Blair[?], Olympic gold medalist in speed skating
- March 20 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
- March 20 - Tracy Chapman, musician
- March 29 - Elle Macpherson[?], model
- March 30 - Tracy Chapman, singer
- April 7 - Russell Crowe, actor
- May 8 - Melissa Gilbert[?], actress, president of the Screen Actors Guild
- May 12 - Brett Gurewitz, guitarist for Bad Religion
- May 26 - Lenny Kravitz, guitaris, singer
- May 28 - Jeff Fenech, Australian boxer
- May 30 - Wynonna Judd[?], singer
- July 3 - Joanne Harris, author
- July 24 - Barry Bonds, baseball player
- August 25 - Maxim Kontsevich, Russian mathematician
- September 2 - Keanu Reeves, actor
- September 29 - Les Claypool, bassist of Primus
- November 11 - Calista Flockhart (actress: Ally McBeal)
Deaths
- January 15 - Jack Teagarden, musician
- January 17 - T.H. White, author
- January 29 - Alan Ladd[?], actor
- February 25 - Grace Metalious[?], writer
- February 27 - Orry-Kelly[?], costume designer
- March 23 - Peter Lorre, actor
- April 5 - Douglas MacArthur,General of the U.S. Army
- May 27 - Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian politician (*1889)
- June 25 - Gerrit Rietveld, Dutch architect
- July 1 - Pierre Monteux, conductor
- August 28 - Gracie Allen, actress, comedienne
- September 3 - Stewart Holbrook, American author
- September 28 - Harpo Marx, comedian, the Marx Brothers
- October 15 - Cole Porter, American composer
- October 20 - Herbert Hoover, American President
- December 1 - J. B. S. Haldane, British geneticist
Technology
Nobel Prizes