1964 - What happened in 1964 ?

January 1964

Wednesday 01:

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.

Thursday 09:

Several Panamanian youths put up the Panamanian flag, and are fired on from the Canal Zone, setting off four days of anti-imperialist insurrection around the country.

Monday 20:

Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released.

Wednesday 29:

1964 Winter Olympic Games open in Innsbruck, Austria.

Thursday 30:

Ranger 6 is launched by NASA. Its mission is to carry television cameras and to crash-land on the moon.

February 1964

Friday 07:

The Beatles arrived on their first visit to the United States.

Wednesday 19:

Paul Simon writes "The Sounds of Silence," the song which, in a year and a half, will catapult him and Art Garfunkel to stardom as Simon & Garfunkel.

Tuesday 25:

Ali versus Liston: Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida, and was crowned the heavyweight champion of the world.

Thursday 27:

The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.

Saturday 29:

In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).

March 1964

Friday 06:

Tom O'Hara sets a new world record for the indoor mile run by completing it in 3 minutes, 56.4 seconds.

Monday 09:

The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line at Ford Motor Company.

Saturday 28:

The first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established.

Monday 30:

The game show Jeopardy! debuts on television.

Tuesday 31:

The Dictatorship in Brazil, under the aegis of general Castello Branco, begins.

April 1964

Tuesday 07:

IBM announces the System/360

Tuesday 14:

A Delta rocket's third-stage motor prematurely ignites in an assembly room at Canaveral, killing 3.

Friday 17:

1964 - Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.

Wednesday 22:

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.

Sunday 26:

Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.

May 1964

Saturday 02:

Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship.

Monday 11:

Terence Conran opened the first Habitat store on London's Fulham Road.

Tuesday 19:

Vietnam War: The United States Air Force begins Operation Yankee Team.

Friday 22:

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an "end to poverty and racial injustice" in America.

Wednesday 27:

Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru dies in office.

June 1964

Saturday 06:

Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany, are terminated, though they never resume.

Thursday 11:

World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.

Sunday 21:

Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Friday 26:

The Beatles release the album A Hard Day's Night.

Sunday 28:

Malcom X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.

July 1964

Friday 03:

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits segregation in public places.

Monday 06:

Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.

Sunday 19:

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

Monday 27:

Vietnam War: 5,000 more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

Friday 31:

Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes).

August 1964

Sunday 02:

North Vietnam allegedly fires on a US destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident.

Wednesday 05:

American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes attacked US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.

Friday 07:

Vietnam War: The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving US President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.

Sunday 16:

Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Duong Van Minh with General Nguyen Khanh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.

Friday 28:

The Philadelphia race riot began.

September 1964

Friday 04:

Scotland's Forth Road Bridge, near Edinburgh, officially opens.

Monday 14:

The opening of the third period of the Second Vatican Council.

Tuesday 15:

The Sun newspaper launches, replacing the Daily Herald.

Monday 21:

Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Tuesday 29:

Argentine cartoonist Quino publishes his first Mafalda comic strip.

October 1964

Thursday 01:

Japanese Shinkansen (or, "bullet trains") begin high-speed rail service from Tokyo to Osaka.

Friday 16:

People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon

Sunday 18:

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.

Saturday 24:

Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)

Thursday 29:

A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

November 1964

Monday 02:

King Saud of Saudi Arabia was deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.

Tuesday 03:

U.S. presidential election, 1964: Incumbent US President Lyndon B. Johnson defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater, Sr with over 60 percent of the popular vote.

Saturday 21:

Second Vatican Council: The third period of the Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.

Saturday 28:

Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that US President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.

December 1964

Tuesday 01:

Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.

Thursday 03:

Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and massive sit-in at the administration building protesting the UC Regents' decision to forbid Vietnam War protests on UC property.

Saturday 05:

Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.

Monday 14:

Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States 379 US 241 1964 decided by U.S. Supreme Court

Tuesday 22:

Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity