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 16:

The first musical version of Hello, Dolly! opens at New York City's St. James Theatre.

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.

Sunday 09:

The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

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 13:

A young woman, Kitty Genovese is murdered in front of multiple witnesses who all fail to help her, in an incident which shocks the world and prompts investigation into the Bystander effect.

Friday 20:

1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.

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

Thursday 02:

The Saab board started Project Gudmund to develop a new and larger car, later released as Saab 99.

Saturday 04:

The Beatles occupy all of the top five positions on the Billboard singles chart in the United States.

Tuesday 07:

 

IBM announces the System/360

 

 

Friday 17:

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

Sunday 26:

Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.

May 1964

Monday 11:

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

Friday 15:

The Smothers Brothers give their first concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City.

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.

Thursday 28:

The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.

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

Thursday 02:

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law.

Friday 03:

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

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.

Tuesday 15:

The Sun newspaper launches, replacing the Daily Herald.

Monday 21:

Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

Sunday 27:

The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

Tuesday 29:

Argentine cartoonist Quino publishes his first Mafalda comic strip.

October 1964

Saturday 03:

Underdog debuts on CBS.

Monday 12:

The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits

Friday 16:

 

People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon

 

 

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

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

 

 

Wednesday 23:

Beach Boys' bassist/keyboardist Brian Wilson suffers a nervous breakdown on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston, eventually precipitating his retirement.