date: December 21

text: December 21 – The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark supersonic attack aircraft, developed for the U.S. Air Force, makes its first flight, at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas.


date: December 22

section: Technology & Infrastructure

text: December 22 – The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird makes its first flight at Palmdale, California.

source_section: Events › December


date: January 29

section: Science & Discovery

text: January 29 – Ranger 6 is launched by the US space agency NASA, on a mission to carry television cameras and crash-land on the Moon.

source_section: Events › January


text: January 29 – The Soviet Union launches two scientific satellites, Elektron I and II, from a single rocket.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 8

text: April 8 – The U.S. Gemini 1 is launched, the first unmanned test of the 2-man spacecraft.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 17

text: April 17 – Jerrie Mock completes the first around-the-world airplane flight by a woman. Her solo flight in the Spirit of Columbus, which took 29 1/2 days, took off and landed at the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the Moon (images are 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from Earth-bound telescopes).

source_section: Events › July


date: August 20

text: August 20 – The International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium (Intelsat) began to work.

source_section: Events › August


date: October 12

text: October 12 – The Soviet Union launches Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits. The flight is cut short and lands again on October 13 after 16 orbits.

source_section: Events › October


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Mariner program: Mariner 3 spacecraft is launched from Cape Kennedy but fails.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 space probe from Cape Kennedy toward Mars to take television pictures of that planet in July 1965.


text: Farrington Daniels becomes an early advocate of solar energy in his book Direct Use of the Sun's Energy, published by Yale University Press in the United States.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


text: Spring – First recognition of cosmic microwave background radiation as a detectable phenomenon.


date: January 11

section: Health & Medicine

text: January 11 – United States Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous to one's health (the first such statement from the U.S. government).


date: August 18

text: August 18 – The International Olympic Committee bans South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics on the grounds that its teams are racially segregated.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – Goalkeeper Derek Forster of Sunderland becomes the youngest-ever player to play in the English Football League, aged 15 years and 185 days.


text: Jerome Horwitz synthesizes zidovudine (AZT), an antiviral drug which will later be used in treating HIV.


date: February 25

section: Crime & Justice

text: February 25 – Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) beats Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida, and is crowned the heavyweight champion of the world.

source_section: Events › February


date: April 16

text: April 16 – In the Assize Court at Buckingham, England, sentences totalling 307 years are passed on twelve men who stole £2,600,000 in used bank notes, after holding up the night train from Glasgow to London in August 1963 – a heist that becomes known as the Great Train Robbery.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – British businessman Greville Wynne, imprisoned in Moscow since 1963 for spying, is exchanged for Soviet spy Gordon Lonsdale.


date: April 25

text: April 25 – Thieves steal the head of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark. Although the attack is attributed to Jørgen Nash, the Danish media blame painter Henrik Bruun, who never confesses to the crime.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore, hitchhiking in Meadville, Mississippi, are kidnapped, beaten and murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Their badly decomposed bodies are found by chance in July during the search for missing activists Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 7

text: May 7 – At a mail rockets demonstration by Gerhard Zucker on Hasselkopf Mountain near Braunlage (Lower Saxonia, Germany), three people are killed by a rocket explosion.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – 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 mi km from Paris.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Nelson Mandela and 7 others are sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa, and sent to the Robben Island prison.

source_section: Events › June


date: August 8

text: August 8 – A Rolling Stones gig in Scheveningen gets out of control. Riot police end the gig after about fifteen minutes, upon which spectators start to fight the riot police.


date: August 13

text: August 13 – The last judicial hangings in the United Kingdom take place when murderers Gwynne Owen Evans and Peter Anthony Allen are executed in Manchester and Liverpool respectively.


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Indian Hungry generation poets, including Malay Roy Choudhury, are arrested on charges of conspiracy against the state and obscenity in literature.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 1

text: October 1 – Three thousand student activists at the University of California, Berkeley, surround and block a police car from taking a CORE volunteer arrested for not showing his ID, when he violated a ban on outdoor activist card tables. This protest eventually explodes into the Berkeley Free Speech Movement.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – Eric Edgar Cooke becomes the last man executed in Western Australia, for murdering 8 citizens in Perth between 1959 and 1963.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – A collection of irreplaceable gemstones, including the 565 carat g Star of India, is stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.


date: February 10

section: Disasters & Accidents

text: February 10 – Melbourne–Voyager collision: 82 Australian sailors die when a Royal Australian Navy aircraft carrier and a destroyer collide off New South Wales, Australia.


text: May 2 – Vietnam War: Attack on USNS Card – An explosion caused by Viet Cong commandos causes carrier USNS Card to sink in the port of Saigon.


text: May 7 – Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger.


date: August 2

text: August 2 – Vietnam War: United States destroyer Maddox is attacked in the Gulf of Tonkin. Air support from the carrier USS Ticonderoga sinks one gunboat, while the other two leave the battle.


date: March 27

section: Climate & Environment

text: March 27 (Good Friday) – The Great Alaskan earthquake, the second-most powerful known (and the most powerful earthquake recorded in North American history) at a magnitude of 9.2, strikes Southcentral Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – The Christmas flood of 1964 begins in the United States, affecting the Pacific Northwest and some of Northern California. It will continue until January 7, resulting in 19 deaths, serious damage to buildings, roads and bridges, and the loss of 4,000 head of livestock.


date: December 22

text: December 22 – A cyclone in the Palk Strait destroys the Indian town of Dhanushkodi, killing 1800 people.


date: January 29

section: Culture & Society

text: January 29 – February 9 – The 1964 Winter Olympics are held in Innsbruck, Austria.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Non ho l'età (music by Nicola Salerno, text by Mario Panzeri), sung by Gigliola Cinquetti, wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1964 (staged in Copenhagen) for Italy.


date: April 13

text: April 13 – At the 36th Academy Awards ceremony, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American to win an Academy Award in the category Best Actor in a Leading Role in Lilies of the Field.


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Freedom Summer, a volunteer Civil Rights project in the United States intended to promote voter registration for as many African Americans as possible in Mississippi, begins with orientation sessions for the 300 volunteers at Western College for Women, Oxford, Ohio.


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Judith Graham Pool publishes her discovery of cryoprecipitate, a frozen blood clotting product made from plasma primarily to treat hemophiliacs around the world.


date: August 27

text: August 27 – Walt Disney's Mary Poppins has its world premiere in Los Angeles. It will go on to become Disney's biggest moneymaker, and winner of 5 Academy Awards, including a Best Actress for Julie Andrews. It is the first Disney film to be nominated for Best Picture.


date: September 10

text: September 10 – The African Development Bank (AfDB) is founded.


date: September 14

text: September 14 – The London Daily Herald ceases publication, replaced by The Sun.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – In Athens, King Constantine II of Greece marries Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark, who becomes Europe's youngest Queen at age 18 years, 19 days.


date: October 10

text: October 10–24 – The 1964 Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, Japan, the first in an Asian country.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – The Danish football club Brøndby IF is founded as a merger between the two local clubs Brøndbyøster Idrætsforening and Brøndbyvester Idrætsforening. The club wins the national championship Danish Superliga 10 times, and the Danish Cups six times, after joining the Danish top-flight football league in 1981.


text: December 3 – Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest about 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover of and massive sit-in at the Sproul Hall administration building. The sit-in most directly protested the U.C. Regents' decision to punish student activists for what many thought had been justified civil disobedience earlier in the conflict.


text: Rudi Gernreich designs the original monokini topless swimsuit in the U.S.


date: January 17

section: Births

text: January 17 – Michelle Obama, American attorney and author, former First Lady of the United States

source_section: Births › January


date: January 31

text: January 31 – Jeff Hanneman, American rock guitarist (Slayer) (died 2013)


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, British prince and third son (youngest child) of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

source_section: Births › March


text: April 13 – John Swinney, Scottish politician, First Minister of Scotland

source_section: Births › April


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Tom Morello, American musician and political activist (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, Prophets of Rage)

source_section: Births › May


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2019–2022

source_section: Births › June


date: July 4

text: July 4 – Edi Rama, 33rd Prime Minister of Albania

source_section: Births › July


date: August 8

text: August 8 – Giuseppe Conte, Italian Prime Minister (2018–2021)

source_section: Births › August


date: September 7

text: September 7 – Andy Hug, Swiss Seidokaikan karateka and kickboxer (died 2000)

source_section: Births › September


date: September 15

text: September 15 – Robert Fico, Prime Minister of Slovakia


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Kamala Harris, politician and attorney, 49th vice president of the United States

source_section: Births › October


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Michael Kremer, American development economist, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences

source_section: Births › November


date: December 4

text: December 4 – Sertab Erener, Turkish singer-songwriter, Eurovision Song Contest 2003 winner

source_section: Births › December


date: December 18

text: December 18 – Stone Cold Steve Austin, American professional wrestler and actor


date: January 9

section: Deaths

text: January 9 – Martyrs' Day: Armed clashes between United States troops and Panamanian civilians in the Panama Canal Zone precipitate a major international crisis, resulting in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers.

source_section: Events › January


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Gerald Gardner, English polymath, founder of Wiccan religion (born 1884)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: March 6

text: March 6 – Constantine II becomes King of Greece, upon the death of his father King Paul.

source_section: Events › March


date: April 14

text: April 14 – Rachel Carson, American biologist and environmental writer (born 1907)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: May 2

text: May 2 – Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born British politician (born 1879)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: May 21

text: May 21 – James Franck, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1882)


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Charlie Llewellyn, first non-white South African Test cricketer (born 1876)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: June 9

text: June 9 – Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Canadian-born British newspaper publisher and politician (born 1879)


date: July 15

text: July 15 – Luis Batlle Berres, Uruguayan political figure, 30th President of Uruguay (born 1897)

source_section: Deaths › July


date: July 24

text: July 24 – A minor criticality accident takes place at a United Nuclear Corporation Fuels recovery plant in Wood River Junction, Rhode Island, United States, causing the death of one worker.

source_section: Events › July


date: August 21

text: August 21 – Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party (born 1893)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Alvin York, American hero of World War I (born 1887)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Harpo Marx, American comedian, actor, mime artist, and musician (born 1888)


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Khawaja Nazimuddin, Pakistani political figure, 2nd Prime Minister of Pakistan (born 1894)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: February 18

section: Geopolitics & Diplomacy

text: February 18 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

source_section: Events › January–February


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Suat Hayri Ürgüplü forms the new (interim) government of Turkey (29th government).


date: March 30

text: March 30 – The second ODECA charter, signed by Central American states on December 12, 1962, becomes effective.

source_section: Events › March–April


date: April 9

text: April 9 – The West German parliament extends the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – Bob Askin replaces Jack Renshaw as Premier of New South Wales.

source_section: Events › May–June


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky, head of the South Vietnamese Air Force, was appointed prime minister at the head of the military junta, with General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becoming a figurehead president, ending two years of short-lived military juntas.


date: June 22

text: June 22 – The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed in Tokyo.


text: July 15 – Greek Prime minister Georgios Papandreou and his government are dismissed by King Constantine II.

source_section: Events › July–August


date: July 27

text: July 27 – Edward Heath becomes Leader of the British Conservative Party.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law, outlawing literacy tests and other discriminatory voting practices that have been responsible for widespread disfranchisement of African Americans.


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, recommends the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia following a deterioration of PAP–UMNO relations, negotiating its separation with Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – Proclamation of Singapore: Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognises it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation – a position he holds until 1990.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant negotiates with Pakistan President Ayub Khan.

source_section: Events › September–October


date: September 17

text: September 17 – King Constantine II of Greece forms a new government with Prime Minister Stephanos Stephanopoulos, in an attempt to end a 2-year-old political crisis.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin invites the leaders of India and Pakistan to meet in the Soviet Union to negotiate.


date: September 21

text: September 21 – Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of the Commonwealth of Nations begin negotiations in London.


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Congo President Joseph Kasavubu fires Prime Minister Moise Tshombe and forms a provisional government, with Évariste Kimba in a leading position.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Ludwig Erhard is re-elected Chancellor of West Germany (he had first been elected in 1963).


date: November 11

text: November 11 – In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares de facto independence ('UDI').

source_section: Events › November–December


date: November 22

text: November 22 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is established as a specialized agency of the United Nations.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – Congolese lieutenant general Mobutu ousts Joseph Kasavubu and declares himself president.


date: December 20

text: December 20 – The World Food Programme is made a permanent agency of the United Nations.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Bokassa takes power in the Central African Republic.


date: March 2

section: Conflict & Security

text: March 2 – Vietnam War: Operation Rolling Thunder – The United States Air Force 2nd Air Division, United States Navy and South Vietnamese air force begin a 3-year aerial bombardment campaign against North Vietnam.


date: March 7

text: March 7 – "Bloody Sunday": Some 200 Alabama State Troopers attack 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, as they attempt to march to the state capitol of Montgomery.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Vietnam War: Some 3,500 United States Marines arrive in Da Nang, South Vietnam, becoming the first American ground combat troops in Vietnam.


date: March 9

text: March 9 – The "Turnaround Tuesday" march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., stops at the site of "Bloody Sunday", to hold a prayer service and return to Selma, in obedience to a court restraining order. On the same day, White supremacists attack three white ministers, leaving Unitarian Universalist minister James J. Reeb in a coma.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 begins.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – In the Dominican Republic, officers and civilians loyal to deposed President Juan Bosch mutiny against the right-wing junta running the country, setting up a provisional government. Forces loyal to the deposed military-imposed government stage a countercoup the next day, and civil war breaks out, although the new government retains its hold on power.


text: April 24 – The bodies of Portuguese opposition politician Humberto Delgado and his secretary Arajaryr Moreira de Campos are found in a forest near Villanueva del Fresno, Spain (they were killed February 12).


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Vietnam War – Battle of Dong Xoai: About 1,500 Viet Cong mount a mortar attack on Đồng Xoài, overrunning its military headquarters and the adjoining militia compound.


date: June 19

text: June 19 – Houari Boumediene's Revolutionary Council ousts Ahmed Ben Bella, in a bloodless coup in Algeria.


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Police in Algiers break up demonstrations by people who have taken to the streets chanting slogans in support of deposed President Ahmed Ben Bella.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – Vietnam War: Four F-4C Phantoms escorting a bombing raid at Kang Chi are targeted by antiaircraft missiles, in the first such attack against American planes in the war. One is shot down and the other 3 sustain damage.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Racial rioting in the Los Angeles, California neighborhood of Watts breaks out after an African American motorist, Marquette Frye, is stopped on suspicion of drunken driving. Six days of unrest are quelled by over 14,000 members of the California National Guard. There are 34 deaths and over $40 million in property damage. It is the largest and costliest urban rebellion of the Civil Rights movement.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Vietnam War: Operation Starlite – 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quảng Ngãi Province, in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the U.S. base at Chu Lai.


date: September 2

text: September 2 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 mi km south of the Chu Lai Marine base.


date: September 19

text: September 19 – Pakistani Forces achieve a decisive victory at the Battle of Chawinda, ultimately halting the Indian advance and successfully stabilizing the Sialkot Front; it is the world's largest tank battle since the Battle of Kursk in the Second World War between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.


date: September 20

text: September 20 – Vietnam War: An USAF F-104 Starfighter piloted by Captain Philip Eldon Smith is shot down by a Chinese MiG-19 Farmer. The pilot is held until March 15, 1973.


date: September 22

text: September 22 – Radio Peking announces that Indian troops have dismantled their equipment on the Chinese side of the border.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Indonesian army, led by General Suharto, crushes an alleged communist coup attempt (see Transition to the New Order and 30 September Movement).


date: October 21

text: October 21 – The Organization of African Unity meets in Accra, Ghana.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Vietnam War: Near Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. A sketch of Marine positions is found on the dead body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The United Nations General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary by a vote of 82–9.


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Vietnam War – Operation Hump: The United States Army 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong.


date: November 14

text: November 14 – Vietnam War – Battle of Ia Drang: In the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands in Vietnam, the first major engagement of the war between regular United States and North Vietnamese forces begins.


date: November 27

text: November 27 – Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned major sweep operations to neutralize Viet Cong forces during the next year are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam will have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.


date: October 10

section: Exploration & Expansion

text: October 10 – The first group of Cuban refugees travels to the U.S.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – The Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) is formed.


date: January 30

section: Religion & Belief

text: January 30 – The state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place in London with the largest assembly of dignitaries in the world until the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II.


date: March 7

text: March 7 – Mass in the Catholic Church worldwide is said in local languages (rather than Latin) for the first time.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – Consecration of Saint Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto, Canada.


date: September 14

text: September 14 – The fourth and final period of the Second Vatican Council opens.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Pope Paul VI makes the first papal visit to the United States. He appears for a Mass in Yankee Stadium and makes a speech at the United Nations.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – The 7 Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are adopted at the XX International Conference in Vienna, Austria.


date: October 17

section: Economy & Finance

text: October 17 – The New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, closes. Due to financial losses, some of the projected site park improvements fail to materialize.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith warns that Rhodesia will resist a trade embargo by neighboring countries with force.


text: Hainzl Industriesysteme GmbH company is founded in Austria.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: April 23

text: April 23 – The Pennine Way officially opens.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – Rede Globo is founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.


date: July 16

text: July 16 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel, a highway tunnel between France and Italy, is inaugurated by presidents Charles de Gaulle and Giuseppe Saragat.


date: August 30

text: August 30 – An avalanche buries a dam construction site at Saas-Fee, Switzerland, killing 90 workers.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – British theatre critic Kenneth Tynan says "fuck" during a discussion on BBC satirical programme BBC-3 for what many believed was the first time on British television. The corporation later issues a public apology.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – Trofim Lysenko is removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics at the Academy of Sciences in the Soviet Union. Lysenkoist theories are now treated as pseudoscience.


date: February 15

text: February 15 – The maple leaf is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the Canadian Red Ensign flag.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov leaves his Voskhod 2 spacecraft for 12 minutes, becoming the first person to walk in space.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – Gemini 3: NASA launches the United States' first 2-person crew (Gus Grissom, John Young) into Earth orbit.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – The world's first space nuclear power reactor, SNAP-10A, is launched by the United States from Vandenberg AFB, California. The reactor operates for 43 days and remains in low Earth orbit.


date: April 6

text: April 6 – The Intelsat I ("Early Bird") communications satellite is launched. It becomes operational May 2 and is placed in commercial service in June.


date: June 3

text: June 3 – Launch of Gemini 4, a 4 day mission during which Ed White performs the first space walk by an American astronaut.


date: July 14

text: July 14 – U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 flies by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images from the Red Planet.


date: August 21

text: August 21 – NASA launches Gemini 5 (Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad) on the first 1-week space flight, as well as the first test of fuel cells for electrical power on such a mission.


date: September 18

text: September 18 – Comet Ikeya–Seki is first sighted by Japanese astronomers.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – The largest tanker ship at this time, Tokyo Maru, is launched in Yokohama, Japan.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Comet Ikeya–Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 km mi from the sun.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – An 80-kiloton nuclear device is detonated at Amchitka Island, Alaska, as part of the Vela Uniform program, code-named Project Long Shot.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – U.S. racer Craig Breedlove sets a new land speed record of 600.601 mi/h km/h.


date: November 16

text: November 16 – Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus (on March 1, 1966, it becomes the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet).


date: November 26

text: November 26 – At the Hammaguir launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant A rocket with its first satellite, Astérix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – The Canadian satellite Alouette 2 is launched.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 perform the first controlled rendezvous in Earth orbit.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – The Soviet Union announces that it has shipped rockets to North Vietnam.


text: December 21 – The United Nations adopts the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.


date: April 12

text: April 12 – A historic and extremely destructive tornado outbreak struck the Midwest region of the United States, killing 266.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – War on Poverty: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – The Indonesian government outlaws the Communist Party of Indonesia.


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Malcolm X is gunned down while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – At the conclusion of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, 66 ex-SS personnel receive life sentences, 15 others shorter ones.


date: August 31

text: August 31 – U.S. President Johnson signs a law penalizing the burning of draft cards with up to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.


text: September 18 – In Denmark, Palle Sørensen shoots 4 policemen in pursuit; he is apprehended the same day.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Ian Brady, a 27-year-old stock clerk from Hyde in Cheshire, is arrested for allegedly hacking to death (with a hatchet) 17-year-old apprentice electrician Edward Evans at a house on the Hattersley housing estate. He and his girlfriend Myra Hindley are subsequently identified as the perpetrators of the "Moors murders" of four young people aged from 10 to 16.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966: The Indonesian army instigates the arrest and execution of communists which last until next March.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Vietnam War: The Catholic Worker Movement stages an anti-war protest in Manhattan. One draft card burner is arrested, the first under the new law.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon, after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – A mining accident in Dhanbad, India, kills 268.


date: June 1

text: June 1 – A coal mine explosion in Fukuoka, Japan, kills 237.


date: June 7

text: June 7 – Kakanj mine disaster: A mining accident in Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, results in 128 deaths.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-135 Stratolifter bound for Okinawa crashes just after takeoff at MCAS El Toro in Orange County, California, killing all 85 on board.


date: August 9

text: August 9 – An explosion at an Arkansas missile plant kills 53.


text: August 9 – Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Durban rail accident: At least 150 are killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.


date: November 1

text: November 1 – A trolleybus plunges into the Nile at Cairo, Egypt, killing 74 passengers.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – United Airlines Flight 227 crashes short of the runway and catches fire at Salt Lake City International Airport, killing 43 out of 91 passengers and crew.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – The burns and sinks 60 mi km off Nassau, Bahamas, with the loss of 90 lives.


date: March 28

text: March 28 – At least 400 are killed or missing after an earthquake triggered a series of dam failures in La Ligua, Chile.


date: September 28

text: September 28 – Taal Volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts, killing hundreds.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – Seven Japanese fishing boats are sunk off Guam by Super Typhoon Carmen; 209 are killed.


date: January 14

text: January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – An engagement is announced between Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven, who will become the first commoner and the first Dutchman to marry into the Dutch royal family.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", sung by France Gall (music and lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 (staged in Naples) for Luxembourg.


date: March 23

text: March 23 – The first issue of The Vigilant is published from Khartoum.


date: March 25

text: March 25 – Martin Luther King Jr. and 25,000 civil rights activists successfully end the 4-day march from Selma, Alabama, to the capitol in Montgomery.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – At the 37th Academy Awards, My Fair Lady wins 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Rex Harrison wins an Oscar for Best Actor. Mary Poppins takes home 5 Oscars. Julie Andrews wins an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. Sherman Brothers receives 2 Oscars including Best Song, "Chim Chim Cher-ee".


date: May 9

text: May 9 – Pianist Vladimir Horowitz returns to the stage after a 12-year absence, performing a legendary concert in Carnegie Hall in New York.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first round of their championship rematch with the "Phantom Punch" at the Central Maine Civic Center in Lewiston.


date: May 27

text: May 27 – Internazionale beats Benfica 1–0 at the San Siro, Milan and wins the 1964–65 European Cup in Association football.


date: May 31

text: May 31 – Scottish racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, later this year winning the Formula One world driving championship.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – The classic family sci-fi show Thunderbirds debuts on ITV in the United Kingdom.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – The University of California, Irvine opens its doors.


date: October 30

text: October 30 – English model Jean Shrimpton wears an above-the-knee white shift dress in Orlon to the Victoria Derby at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, causing a global sensation in women's fashion.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – The "Glasnost Meeting" in Moscow becomes the first spontaneous political demonstration, and the first demonstration for civil rights in the Soviet Union.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – The Race Relations Act becomes the first legislation to address racial discrimination in the UK.


date: December 9

text: December 9 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuts on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.


date: December 21

text: December 21 – A new 1-hour German-American production of the ballet The Nutcracker, with an international cast that includes Edward Villella in the title role, makes its U.S. television debut. It is repeated annually by CBS over the next 3 years but after that is virtually forgotten until issued on DVD in 2009 by Warner Archive.


date: December 25

text: December 25 – The Yemeni Nasserist Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Ta'izz.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Adam Jones, American musician, guitarist of metal band Tool

source_section: Births › January


date: January 20

text: January 20 – Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer, manager and club owner

source_section: Births › February


date: February 12

text: February 12 – Brett Kavanaugh, American attorney and Supreme Court Justice


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Aamir Khan, Indian film director, producer, film and scriptwriter and actor

source_section: Births › March


date: March 16

text: March 16 – Mark Carney, Canadian economist and politician, 24th Prime Minister of Canada


date: March 30

text: March 30 – Piers Morgan, British journalist and television personality


date: June 16

text: June 16 – Andrea M. Ghez, American astronomer, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics

source_section: Births › June


date: August 28

text: August 28 – Satoshi Tajiri, Japanese video game designer and Pokémon creator

source_section: Births › August


date: September 14

text: September 14 – Dmitry Medvedev, former President of Russia

source_section: Births › September


date: September 26

text: September 26 – Petro Poroshenko, former President of Ukraine


date: October 6

text: October 6 – Steve Scalise, House Majority Whip and U.S. Representative of Louisiana's 1st district

source_section: Births › October


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Shah Rukh Khan, Indian actor, film/television producer and television presenter

source_section: Births › November


date: November 17

text: November 17 – Pam Bondi, American attorney and politician, 87th U.S. Attorney General


date: January 4

text: January 4 – T. S. Eliot, American-British poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (b. 1903)


date: February 21

text: February 21 – Malcolm X, American civil rights activist (b. 1925)

source_section: Deaths › February


date: March 19

text: March 19 – Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, Romanian communist leader, 47th Prime Minister of Romania (b. 1901)

source_section: Deaths › March


date: April 9

text: April 9 – Sherman Minton, American politician and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (b. 1890)

source_section: Deaths › April


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Sir Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)


text: April 21 – Pedro Albizu Campos, advocate of Puerto Rican independence (b. 1891)


date: August 13

text: August 13 – Hayato Ikeda, Japanese politician, 38th Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › August


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian physician and missionary, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1875)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: October 13

text: October 13 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

source_section: Deaths › October


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Paul Tillich, German American Christian existentialist philosopher and theologian (b. 1886)


date: October 28

text: October 28 – Pope Paul VI promulgates Nostra aetate, a "Declaration on the Relation of the (Roman Catholic) Church with Non-Christian Religions" by the Second Vatican Council which includes a statement that Jews are not collectively responsible for the death of Jesus (Jewish deicide).

source_section: Events › September–October


date: November 12

text: November 12 – Taher Saifuddin, Indian Bohra spiritual leader (b. 1888)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: November 16

text: November 16 – W. T. Cosgrave, Irish politician, president of the Provisional Government and the Executive Council of the Irish Free State (b. 1880)


date: January 21

text: January 21 – Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Britain's Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Around 2,600 political prisoners are released by East Germany, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from West Germany.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a summit in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss the course of the Vietnam War.


date: February 20

text: February 20 – While Soviet author and translator Valery Tarsis is abroad, the Soviet Union negates his citizenship.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.

source_section: Events › March


date: March 11

text: March 11 – Transition to the New Order in Indonesia: President Sukarno gives all executive powers to General Suharto by signing the Supersemar order.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The British Labour Party led by Harold Wilson wins the 1966 United Kingdom general election, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28).


date: May 28

text: May 28 – The Indonesian and Malaysian governments declare that the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation is over (a treaty is signed on August 11).

source_section: Events › May


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Joaquín Balaguer is elected president of the Dominican Republic.

source_section: Events › June


date: June 18

text: June 18 – CIA chief William Raborn resigns; Richard Helms becomes his successor.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Joaquín Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.

source_section: Events › July


date: July 14

text: July 14 – Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history.


date: July 26

text: July 26 – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stating that the House, when acting in a judicial capacity, is not bound to follow its own previous precedent.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – Indonesia and Malaysia issue a joint peace declaration, formally ending the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation which began in 1963.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 30

text: August 30 – France offers independence to French Somaliland (Djibouti from 1977).


date: September 12

text: September 12 – B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.

source_section: Events › September


date: September 30

text: September 30 – The Bechuanaland Protectorate in Africa achieves independence from the United Kingdom as Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first President.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Basutoland becomes independent of the United Kingdom and takes the name Lesotho.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 17

text: October 17 – Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the United Nations.


date: November 10

text: November 10 – Seán Lemass retires as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, to be replaced in the role by fellow Fianna Fáil member Jack Lynch.

source_section: Events › November


date: December 1

text: December 1 – Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of West Germany.

source_section: Events › December


date: December 16

text: December 16 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).


date: December 31

text: December 31 – East German Premier Walter Ulbricht discusses negotiations about German reunification.


date: January 3

text: January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso).


date: January 10

text: January 10 – The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance.


date: January 22

text: January 22 – The military government of Nigeria announces that ex-prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was killed during the coup a week previously.


date: February 23

text: February 23 – 1966 Syrian coup d'état: An intra-party military coup in Syria replaces the previous government of Amin al-Hafiz by one led by Salah Jadid.


date: February 24

text: February 24 – A coup led by the police and military of Ghana raises the National Liberation Council to power while president Kwame Nkrumah is abroad.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held: Leonid Brezhnev demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory.


date: April 5

text: April 5 – During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 7

text: April 7 – The United Kingdom asks the United Nations Security Council for authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violate the embargo against Rhodesia (authority is given April 10).


date: April 21

text: April 21 – Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.


date: May 15

text: May 15 – The South Vietnamese army besieges Da Nang.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – Battle of Mengo Hill: Ugandan army troops arrest Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – No. 9 Squadron RAAF becomes part of the 4,500 strong Australian Task Force assigned to duties in Vietnam, leaving for Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – An Air France personnel strike begins.


date: June 28

text: June 28 – Argentine Revolution: In Argentina, a military junta calling itself Revolución Argentina deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to power.


date: July 23

text: July 23 – Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – A USAF F-4C Phantom #63-7599 is shot down by a North Vietnamese SAM-2 45 mi northeast of Hanoi, the first loss of a U.S. aircraft to a Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in the Vietnam War.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – 1966 Nigerian counter-coup: Army officers from the north of Nigeria execute head of state General Aguiyi-Ironsi and install Yakubu Gowon.


date: August 18

text: August 18 – Vietnam War – Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.


date: September 9

text: September 9 – NATO decides to move Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to Belgium.


date: September 13

text: September 13 – Cultural Revolution in China: Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by TASS in the Soviet Union.


date: October 15

text: October 15 – Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found the Black Panther Party in the United States.


date: November 2

text: November 2 – North Korean commandos ambush a UN command control consisting of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.


date: November 27

text: November 27 – The Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in National Football League history.


date: December 5

text: December 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bond v. Floyd that the Georgia House of Representatives must seat Julian Bond, having violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.


date: January 20

text: January 20 - The Radio Caroline ship Mi Amigo runs aground on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, UK.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – Disappearance of the Beaumont children: Three children disappear on their way to Glenelg, South Australia, never to be seen again. Their fate remains unknown.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – The Asian Development Bank begins operations.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – In an interview with London Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, John Lennon of the Beatles states: "We're more popular than Jesus now."


date: March 24

text: March 24 – Pope Paul VI meets Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring.


date: April 27

text: April 27 – Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union).


date: June 14

text: June 14 – The Vatican abolishes the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.


date: August 11

text: August 11 – the Beatles hold a press conference in Chicago, during which John Lennon apologizes for his "more popular than Jesus" remark, saying, "I didn't mean it as a lousy anti-religious thing."


date: October 5

text: October 5 – UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This event is to be celebrated as World Teachers' Day.


text: The World Buddhist Sangha Council is convened by Theravadins in Sri Lanka, with the hope of bridging differences and working together.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: February 14

text: February 14 – The Australian dollar is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – The British Government announces plans for the decimalisation of the pound sterling (hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (Decimal Day).


date: April 18

text: April 18 – China declares that it will stop economic aid to Indonesia.


date: May 7

text: May 7 – Irish bank workers go on strike.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Closure of Intra Bank begins a crisis in the Lebanese banking system.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – The U.N. General Assembly decides to found the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Uniform daylight saving time is first observed in most parts of North America.


date: May 4

text: May 4 – Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the Soviet Union.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – The Caesars Palace hotel and casino opens in Las Vegas, United States.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – The Salazar Bridge (later the 25 de Abril Bridge) opens in Lisbon, Portugal.


text: October 5 – Spain closes its Gibraltar border to vehicular traffic.


text: October 14 – The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro system.


date: October 27

text: October 27 – Walt Disney records his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for EPCOT, a utopian planned city to be built in Florida.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – In the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup at Vancouver's Empire Stadium 29–14. Saskatchewan are led by quarterback Ron Lancaster.


date: December 18

text: December 18 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, is shown for the first time on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.


text: March 1 – Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.


date: March 16

text: March 16 – NASA spacecraft Gemini 8 (David Scott, Neil Armstrong) conducts the first docking in space, with an Agena target vehicle.


date: March 31

text: March 31 – The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.


date: April 3

text: April 3 – Luna 10 is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued in 2000).


text: May 4 – May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111.


date: May 25

text: May 25 – Explorer program: Satellite Explorer 32 (Atmosphere Explorer-B) is launched from the United States.


date: May 28

text: May 28 – Boat ride It's a Small World opens at Disneyland.


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Gemini 9A: Gene Cernan completes the second U.S. spacewalk (2 hours, 7 minutes).


date: July 18

text: July 18 – Gemini 10 (John Young, Michael Collins) is launched from the United States. After docking with an Agena target vehicle, the astronauts set a world altitude record of 474 miles (763 km).


date: July 24

text: July 24 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant visits Moscow.


date: August 10

text: August 10 – Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the Moon, is launched.


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Gemini 11 (Charles "Pete" Conrad Jr., Richard F. Gordon Jr) is launched from the United States. The crew performed the first direct-ascent (first orbit) rendezvous with an Agena Target Vehicle, docking with it.


date: November 6

text: November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.


date: November 12

text: November 12 – A total solar eclipse occurs, the 20th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 142.


date: November 15

text: November 15 - Gemini 12 (James A. Lovell, Buzz Aldrin) splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 km mi east of the Bahamas.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – A spectacular Leonid meteor shower passes over Arizona, at the rate of 2,300 a minute for 20 minutes.


text: Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital.


date: May 24

text: May 24 – The Nigerian government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – Sniper Charles Whitman kills 15 people and wounds 31 from roof of the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower in the United States, after earlier killing his wife and mother.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – LSD is made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only are possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the country are shut down as well.


date: October 7

text: October 7 – The Soviet Union declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October.


text: In or about this year, one person returning to Haiti from the Congo is thought to have first brought HIV to the Americas.


date: March 20

text: March 20 – Football's FIFA World Cup Trophy is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "Pickles" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden.


date: April 19

text: April 19 – Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965.


date: May 6

text: May 6 – The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.


date: May 19

text: May 19 – Gertrude Baniszewski is found guilty of torturing and murdering 16-year-old Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, United States, and is sentenced to life in prison (she is released on parole in December 1985).


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Four former cabinet ministers including Évariste Kimba are executed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko.


date: June 6

text: June 6 – Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot by a sniper while traversing Mississippi in the March Against Fear.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Miranda v. Arizona: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.


date: July 3

text: July 3 – 31 people are arrested when a demonstration by approximately 4,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters in front of the United States Embassy in London in Grosvenor Square turns violent.


date: July 13

text: July 13 – In Chicago, United States, Richard Speck breaks into a nurses' dormitory and murders eight of the nine student nurses who live there.


date: September 6

text: September 6 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer are released from Spandau Prison in West Berlin.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Aberfan disaster in South Wales (U.K.): 144 (including 116 children) are killed by a collapsing coal spoil tip.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Eight paintings worth millions of pounds are stolen from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, but are recovered locally within a week.


date: January 17

text: January 17 – 1966 Palomares B-52 crash: A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea. Carl Brashear, the first African-American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter, which results in the amputation of his leg.


date: January 24

text: January 24 – Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board, including Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.


date: February 4

text: February 4 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – The Great Fire of Iloilo, Philippines, breaks out in a lumber yard and burns for almost half a day, destroying nearly three-quarters of the City Proper area and causing 50 million pesos in total property damage.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – BOAC Flight 911 crashes in severe clear-air turbulence over Mount Fuji soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board.


date: March 8

text: March 8 – Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, Dublin, is clandestinely blown up by former Irish Republican Army volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.


date: March

text: March – The DKW automobile ceases production in Germany.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – A North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber prototype is destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot. NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross are both killed.


date: July 31

text: July 31 – Loss of MV Darlwyne: a pleasure cruiser disappears off the Cornwall coast of England with the loss of all 31 aboard.


date: August 6

text: August 6 – Braniff International Airways Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, Nebraska, United States, killing all 42 of those on board.


date: September 1

text: September 1 – 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.


date: October 1

text: October 1 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors 5.5 mi km south of Wemme, Oregon, the first loss of a DC-9.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – A fire aboard the US aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – A mine kills three Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.


date: November 24

text: November 24 – TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.


date: December 8

text: December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.


date: March 3

text: March 3 – A F5 tornado strikes Mississippi and Alabama, causing catastrophic damage over its 200 miles, and kills 57 people


date: March 22

text: March 22 – in the Chinese city of Xingtai a magnitude 6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured.


date: April 26

text: April 26 – The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.


text: June 8 – 1966 Topeka tornado: Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, and the campus of Washburn University suffers catastrophic damage.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – The 6.8 Varto earthquake affects the town of Varto in eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing at least 2,394–3,000 and injuring at least 1,420.


date: September 29

text: September 29 – Hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.


date: October 5

text: October 5 – An experimental breeder reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan suffers a partial meltdown when its cooling system fails.


date: November 4

text: November 4 – 1966 flood of the Arno river in Italy hits Florence, flooding it to a maximum depth of 6.7 m ft, leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. In addition, a severe tidal flood hits Venice.


date: March 5

text: March 5 – Merci, Chérie by Udo Jürgens (music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 (staged in Luxembourg) for Austria.


date: March 10

text: March 10 – Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German.


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Buddhists in South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for free elections.


date: April 18

text: April 18 – The 38th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: The Sound of Music wins Best Picture.


date: May 5

text: May 5 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.


date: May 16

text: May 16 – The Chinese Communist Party issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.


text: May 16 – The Beach Boys releases the album Pet Sounds.


date: May 29

text: May 29 – Sports stadium Estadio Azteca officially opens in Mexico City in advance of the 1968 Summer Olympics.


date: June 29

text: June 29 – The strike by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom is called off.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, D.C.


text: June 30 – Australia's semi-decennial census took place.


date: July 11

text: July 11 – The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – La Noche de los Bastones Largos: Junta takes over Argentine universities.


date: July 30

text: July 30 – England beats West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley after extra time.


date: August 5

text: August 5 – the Beatles releases the album Revolver, in the UK.


date: August 22

text: August 22 – The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.


text: August 22 – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is established.


date: August 29

text: August 29 – the Beatles end their U.S. tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last performance as a live touring band.


date: September 16

text: September 16 – In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.


text: September 16 – The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.


date: October 6

text: October 6 – The Love Pageant Rally takes place in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park (a narrow section that projects into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district).


date: November 2

text: November 2 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – Truman Capote's Black and White Ball ("The Party of the Century") is held in New York City.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.


text: June 29 – Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Indonesian politician, governor of Jakarta

source_section: Births › June


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012–2018), Governor of the State of Mexico (2005–2011)

source_section: Births › July


date: August 7

text: August 7 – Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia

source_section: Births › August


date: August 20

text: August 20 – Enrico Letta, 55th Prime Minister of Italy


date: September 8

text: September 8 – Carola Häggkvist, Swedish pop singer, Eurovision Song Contest 1991 winner

source_section: Births › September


date: September 12

text: September 12 – Steve Ells, American entrepreneur and founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill


date: September 27

text: September 27 – Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Member of the US House from Florida


date: October 9

text: October 9 – David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 2010–2016

source_section: Births › October


date: October 22

text: October 22 – Valeria Golino, Italian-Greek film and television actress


date: October 24

text: October 24 – Roman Abramovich, UK-based Russian billionaire businessman


date: October 30

text: October 30 – Zoran Milanović, Croatian politician, President of Croatia


date: November 8

text: November 8 – Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur and television personality

source_section: Births › November


date: December 10

text: December 10 – Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician; United States Senator (D-NY)

source_section: Births › December


date: December 21

text: December 21 – William Samoei Ruto, 5th President of the Republic of Kenya


date: January 10

text: January 10 – Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

source_section: Events › January


date: January 11

text: January 11 – Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian activist, 2nd Prime Minister of India (b. 1904)

source_section: Deaths › January


date: January 14

text: January 14 – Sergei Korolev, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (b. 1907)


date: January 15

text: January 15 – 1966 Nigerian coup d'état: A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.


date: February 1

text: February 1 – Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (b. 1885)

source_section: Deaths › February


text: February 1 – Buster Keaton, American actor and film director (b. 1895)


date: February 15

text: February 15 – Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian socialist and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1929)


date: February 26

text: February 26 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian pro-independence activist, Hindu nationalist (b. 1883)


date: May 15

text: May 15 – Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, 30th President of El Salvador (assassinated) (b. 1882)

source_section: Deaths › May


date: June 20

text: June 20 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (b. 1894)

source_section: Deaths › June


date: September 6

text: September 6 – Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (b. 1879)

source_section: Deaths › September


date: November 2

text: November 2 – Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)

source_section: Deaths › November


date: November 5

text: November 5 – Dietrich von Choltitz, Nazi German military governor of Paris in World War II (b. 1894)


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Nipo T. Strongheart, Native American filmmaker (b. 1891)

source_section: Deaths › December


date: January 23

text: January 23 – Milton Keynes in England is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area encloses three existing towns and twenty one villages. The area to be developed is largely farmland, with evidence of permanent settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – The United States, Soviet Union and United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty (ratified by USSR May 19; comes into force October 10), prohibiting weapons of mass destruction from space.


date: February 10

text: February 10 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution (presidential succession and disability) is ratified.

source_section: Events › February


date: February 22

text: February 22 – Donald Sangster becomes the new prime minister of Jamaica, succeeding Alexander Bustamante.


text: February 22 – Suharto takes power from Sukarno in Indonesia (see Transition to the New Order and Supersemar).


date: February 23

text: February 23 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution is enacted.


date: March 12

text: March 12 – The Indonesian State Assembly takes all presidential powers from Sukarno and names Suharto as acting president (Suharto resigned in 1998).

source_section: Events › March


date: May 6

text: May 6 – Zakir Husain is the first Muslim to become president of India.

source_section: Events › May


date: May 27

text: May 27 – The Australian referendum, 1967 passes with an overwhelming 90% support, removing, from the Australian Constitution, 2 discriminatory sentences referring to Indigenous Australians. It signifies Australia's first step in recognising Indigenous rights.


date: May 30

text: May 30 – Biafra, in eastern Nigeria, announces its independence, which is not recognized.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – Egypt severs diplomatic relations with the United States.

source_section: Events › June


date: July 1

text: July 1 – American Samoa's first constitution becomes effective.

source_section: Events › July


text: July 1 – The EEC joins with the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Community, to form the European Communities (from the 1980s usually known as European Community [EC]).


date: July 4

text: July 4 – The British Parliament decriminalizes homosexuality.


date: July 24

text: July 24 – During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! (Long live free Quebec!). The statement, interpreted as support for Quebec independence, delights many Quebecers but angers the Canadian government and many English Canadians.


date: August 8

text: August 8 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded in Bangkok, Thailand.

source_section: Events › August


date: August 30

text: August 30 – Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as Justice of the United States Supreme Court. He is the first African American to hold the position.


date: October 4

text: October 4 – Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son, His Majesty Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

source_section: Events › October


date: October 14

text: October 14 – Quebec Nationalism: René Lévesque leaves the Liberal Party.


date: October 25

text: October 25 – The Abortion Act 1967 passes in the British Parliament and receives royal assent two days later.


date: November 22

text: November 22 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted by the UN Security Council, establishing a set of principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab–Israeli peace settlement.

source_section: Events › November


date: November 25

text: November 25 – 1967 Australian Senate election: The Liberal/Country Coalition government led by Prime Minister Harold Holt lost two seats, while the Labor Party led by Gough Whitlam failed to make any gains. The Democratic Labor Party won the two seats from the Liberals and gained the sole balance of power in the Senate.


date: November 30

text: November 30 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto founds the Pakistan People's Party and becomes its first chairman. It has gone on to become one of Pakistan's major political parties (alongside the Pakistan Muslim League) that is broken into many factions, bearing the same name under different leaders, such as the Pakistan's Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPPP).


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes the Chairman of the Romanian State Council, making him the de facto leader of Romania.

source_section: Events › December


date: January 25

text: January 25 – South Vietnamese junta leader and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky forces his rival, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Nguyen Huu Co, into exile while overseas on a diplomatic visit.

source_section: Events › January


date: March 11

text: March 11 – The first phase of the Cambodian Civil War begins between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge.


date: April 7

text: April 7 – Six-Day War (approach): Israeli fighters shoot down 7 Syrian MIG-21s.

source_section: Events › April


date: April 15

text: April 15 – Large demonstrations are held against US involvement in the Vietnam War in New York City and San Francisco. The march, organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, from Central Park to the United Nations drew hundreds of thousands of people, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Harry Belafonte, James Bevel, and Dr. Benjamin Spock, who marched and spoke at the event. A simultaneous march in San Francisco is attended by Coretta Scott King.


date: May 2

text: May 2 – The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup. It is their last Stanley Cup and last finals appearance to date. It will turn out to be the last game in the Original Six era. Six more teams will be added in the fall.


date: May 8

text: May 8 – The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.


date: May 17

text: May 17 – President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt demands withdrawal of the peacekeeping UN Emergency Force in the Sinai. U.N. Secretary-General U Thant complies (May 18).


date: May 18

text: May 18 – In Mexico, schoolteacher Lucio Cabañas begins guerrilla warfare in Atoyac de Alvarez, west of Acapulco, in the state of Guerrero.


date: June 5

text: June 5 – Six-Day War begins: Israel launches Operation Focus, an attack on Egyptian Air Force airfields; the allied armies of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Jordan invade Israel. Battle of Ammunition Hill, start of the Jordanian campaign


date: June 7

text: June 7 – East Jerusalem is captured in a battle conducted by Israeli forces, without the use of artillery, in order to avoid damage to the Holy City.


date: June 8

text: June 8 – USS Liberty incident: a United States Navy spy ship is attacked by Israeli forces, allegedly in error, killing 34 crew.


date: June 10

text: June 10 – Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a United Nations-mediated cease-fire.


date: July 5

text: July 5 – Troops of Belgian mercenary commander Jean Schramme revolt against Mobutu Sese Seko, and try to take control of Stanleyville, Congo.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade the secessionist Biafra May 30.


date: July 12

text: July 12 – 1967 Newark riots: After the arrest of an African-American cab driver for allegedly illegally driving around a police car and gunning it down the road, race riots break out in Newark, New Jersey, lasting 5 days and leaving 26 dead.


date: August 19

text: August 19 – West Germany receives 36 East German prisoners it has "purchased" through the border posts of Herleshausen and Wartha.


date: September 4

text: September 4 – Vietnam War – Operation Swift: The United States Marines launch a search and destroy mission in Quảng Nam and Quảng Tín provinces. The ensuing 4-day battle in Que Son Valley kills 114 Americans and 376 North Vietnamese.

source_section: Events › September


date: October 12

text: October 12 – Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of State Dean Rusk states during a news conference that, because of North Vietnam's opposition, proposals by the U.S. Congress for peace initiatives are futile.


date: October 18

text: October 18 – Vietnam War: Students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison protest over recruitment by Dow Chemical on the university campus; 76 are injured in the resulting riot.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – Approximately 70,000 Vietnam War protesters march in Washington, D.C. and rally at the Lincoln Memorial; in a successive march that day, 50,000 people march to the Pentagon, where Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, and Jerry Rubin symbolically chant to "levitate" the building and "exorcise the evil within."


date: November 3

text: November 3 – Vietnam War – Battle of Dak To: Around Đắk Tô (located about 280 miles north of Saigon near the Cambodian border), heavy casualties are suffered on both sides; U.S. troops narrowly win the battle on November 22.


date: November 11

text: November 11 – Vietnam War: In a ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 3 United States prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to American "New Left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden.


date: November 21

text: November 21 – Vietnam War: United States General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."


date: November 30

text: November 30 – U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy announces his candidacy for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, challenging incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson over the Vietnam War.


date: May 1

text: May 1 – GO Transit, Canada's first interregional public transit system, is established.


date: July 20

text: July 20 – Chilean poet Pablo Neruda receives the first Viareggio-Versile prize.


date: September 27

text: September 27 – The arrives in Southampton at the end of her last transatlantic crossing.


text: Lonsdaleite (the rarest allotrope of carbon) is first discovered in the Barringer Crater, Arizona.

source_section: Events › Date unknown


date: March 28

text: March 28 – Pope Paul VI issues the encyclical Populorum progressio.


date: June 13

text: June 13 – Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall is nominated as the first African American justice of the United States Supreme Court.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – Pope Paul VI ordains 27 new cardinals (one of whom is the future Pope John Paul II).


date: October 23

text: October 23 – Charles de Gaulle becomes the first French Co-Prince of Andorra to visit his Andorran subjects. In addition to being President of France, de Gaulle is a joint ruler (along with Spain's Bishop of Urgel) of the tiny nation located in the mountains between France and Spain, pursuant to the 1278 agreement creating the nation.


text: St Christopher's Hospice, the world's first purpose-built secular hospice specialising in palliative care of the terminally ill, is established in South London by Dame Cicely Saunders with the support of Albertine Winner.


text: Albania is officially declared an atheist state by its leader, Enver Hoxha.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – New Zealand decimalises its currency from pound to dollar at £1 to $2 ($1 = 10/-).


date: October 27

text: October 27 – French President Charles de Gaulle vetoes British entry into the European Economic Community for the second time in the decade.


date: November 18

text: November 18 – The UK pound is devalued from £1 = US$2.80 to £1 = US$2.40.


date: November 29

text: November 29 – Vietnam War: U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation to become president of the World Bank. McNamara's resignation follows U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's outright rejection of McNamara's early November recommendations to freeze troop levels, stop the bombing of North Vietnam, and hand over ground fighting to South Vietnam.


date: December 29

text: December 29 – Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai Motor is founded.


text: Warner Bros. becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven Arts Productions, thus becoming Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – The first North Sea gas is pumped ashore at Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire, UK.


date: April 9

text: April 9 – The first Boeing 737 (A-100 series) takes its maiden flight.


date: April 28

text: April 28 – Expo 67 opens to the public, with over 310,000 people attending. Al Carter from Chicago is the first visitor as noted by Expo officials.


text: April 28 – The U.S. aerospace manufacturer McDonnell Douglas is formed through a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft (it becomes part of The Boeing Company three decades later).


date: April 30

text: April 30 – Moscow's 537 m tall TV tower is finished.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – A significant worldwide geomagnetic flare unfolded. Radio emissions coming from the Sun jammed military surveillance radars.


date: June 17

text: June 17 – Project 639: The People's Republic of China tests its first hydrogen bomb.


date: June 27

text: June 27 – The first automatic cash machine (voucher-based) is installed, in the office of Barclays Bank in Enfield, UK.


date: July 1

text: July 1 – Seaboard Air Line Railroad merges with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad to become Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, first step to today's CSX Transportation.


date: August 1

text: August 1 – The UAC TurboTrain makes its first journey.


date: August 15

text: August 15 – The United Kingdom Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal. Radio Caroline defies the act and continues broadcasting.


date: September 30

text: September 30 – In the United Kingdom, BBC Radio completely restructures its national programming: the Light Programme is split between new national pop station Radio 1 (modelled on the successful pirate station Radio London) and Radio 2; the cultural Third Programme is rebranded as Radio 3; and the primarily-talk Home Service becomes Radio 4.


date: October 3

text: October 3 – An X-15 research aircraft with test pilot William J. Knight establishes an unofficial world fixed-wing speed record of Mach 6.7.


date: November 4

text: November 4–5 – In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, mercenaries of Jean Schramme and Jerry Puren withdraw from Bukavu, over the Shangugu Bridge, to Rwanda.


date: November 7

text: November 7 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


date: November 19

text: November 19 – The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.


date: December 15

text: December 15 – The Silver Bridge over the Ohio River in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, collapses, killing 46 people.


text: PAL is first introduced in Germany.


date: January 15

text: January 15 – Louis Leakey announces the discovery of pre-human fossils in Kenya; he names the species Kenyapithecus africanus.


date: January 27

text: January 27 – Apollo 1: U.S. astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed when fire breaks out in their Apollo spacecraft during a launch pad test.


date: February 5

text: February 5 – Italy's first guided missile cruiser, the Vittorio Veneto, is launched.


text: February 5 – NASA launches Lunar Orbiter 3.


date: February 11

text: February 11 – Burgess Ice Rise, lying off the west coast of Alexander Island, Antarctica, is first mapped by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).


date: February 13

text: February 13 – American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.


date: February 25

text: February 25 – Britain's second Polaris missile submarine, HMS Renown, is launched.


date: February 26

text: February 26 – A Soviet nuclear test is conducted at the Semipalatinsk Test Site, Eastern Kazakhstan.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – The first French nuclear submarine, Le Redoutable, is launched.


date: April 20

text: April 20 – The Surveyor 3 probe lands on the Moon.


date: April 29

text: April 29 – Fidel Castro announces that all intellectual property belongs to the people and that Cuba intends to translate and publish technical literature without compensation.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – NASA announces the crew for the Apollo 7 space mission (the first in the Apollo series with a crew): Wally Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham.


date: June 12

text: June 12 – Venera program: Venera 4 is launched by the Soviet Union (the first space probe to analyze another planet's atmosphere and successfully return data).


date: June 14

text: June 14 – Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched toward Venus.


date: June 25

text: June 25 – 400 million viewers watch Our World, the first live, international, satellite television production. It features the live debut of The Beatles' song "All You Need Is Love".


date: October 18

text: October 18 – The Venera 4 probe descends through the Venusian atmosphere.


date: October 19

text: October 19 – The Mariner 5 probe flies by Venus.


date: October 20

text: October 20 – Patterson–Gimlin film: Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin's famous film of an unidentified animate cryptid, thought to be Bigfoot or Sasquatch, is recorded at Bluff Creek, California.


date: November 9

text: November 9 – Apollo program: NASA launches the first Saturn V rocket, successfully carrying the Apollo 4 test spacecraft from Cape Kennedy into Earth orbit.


date: November 13

text: November 13 – The first of its many UFO sightings is made at Pudasjärvi, Finland.


date: November 28

text: November 28 – The first pulsar to be discovered by Earth observers is found in the constellation of Vulpecula by astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish, and is given the name PSR B1919+21.


date: December 11

text: December 11 – Supersonic airliner Concorde is unveiled in Toulouse, France.


date: December 19

text: December 19 – The Rescue Agreement setting forth rights and obligations in outer space is voted into consensus by the United Nations General Assembly.


date: December 26

text: December 26 – The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour receives its world première on BBC Television in the UK.


date: March 14

text: March 14 – Nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal are charged with breaking German drug laws because of thalidomide.


date: April 21

text: April 21 – An outbreak of tornadoes strikes the upper Midwest section of the United States (in particular the Chicago area, including the suburbs of Belvidere and Oak Lawn, Illinois where 33 people are killed and 500 injured).


date: September 1

text: September 1 – The Khmer–Chinese Friendship Association is banned in Cambodia.


date: October 29

text: October 29 – Expo 67 closes in Montreal, after having attracted more than 50 million visitors in six months.


date: November 20

text: November 20 – The "population clock" of the United States Census Bureau records the U.S. population at 200 million people at 11:03 a.m. Washington, D.C. time.


date: December 3

text: December 3 – Christiaan Barnard carries out the world's first heart transplant at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.


date: January 23

text: January 23 – In Munich, the trial begins of Wilhelm Harster, accused of the murder of 82,856 Jews (including Anne Frank) when he led German security police during the German occupation of the Netherlands. He is eventually sentenced to 15 years in prison.


date: February 3

text: February 3 – Ronald Ryan becomes the last man hanged in Australia, for murdering a guard while escaping from prison in December 1965.


date: March 1

text: March 1 – Brazilian police arrest Franz Stangl, ex-commander of Treblinka and Sobibór extermination camps.


date: March 13

text: March 13 – Moise Tshombe, ex-prime minister of Congo, is sentenced to death in absentia.


date: March 21

text: March 21 – Charles Manson is released from Terminal Island. Telling the authorities that prison had become his home, he requested permission to stay. Upon his release, he relocates to San Francisco where he spends the Summer of Love.


date: March 26

text: March 26 – Jim Thompson, co-founder of the Thai Silk Company, disappears from the Cameron Highlands.


date: May 18

text: May 18 – Tennessee Governor Ellington repeals the "Monkey Law" (officially the Butler Act; see the Scopes Trial).


date: June 2

text: June 2 – Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran turn into fights, during which 27-year-old student Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group 2 June Movement.


date: June 26

text: June 26 – The Buffalo Race Riot begins, lasting until July 1, and leads to over 180 arrests.


date: June 30

text: June 30 – Moise Tshombe, former president of Katanga and former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is kidnapped and taken to Algeria.


text: September 1 – Ilse Koch, known as the "Witch of Buchenwald", commits suicide in the Bavarian prison of Aichach.


date: October 8

text: October 8 – Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia; they are executed the following day.


date: October 16

text: October 16 – Thirty-nine people, including singer-activist Joan Baez, are arrested in Oakland, California, for blocking the entrance of that city's military induction center.


date: October 26

text: October 26 – U.S. Navy pilot John McCain is shot down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. His capture is confirmed two days later, and he remains a prisoner of war for more than five years.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – General Georgios Grivas and his 10,000 strong Greek Army division are forced to leave Cyprus, after 24 Turkish Cypriot civilians are killed by the Greek Cypriot National Guard in the villages of Kophinou and Ayios Theodhoros; relations sour between Nicosia and Athens. Turkey flies sorties into Greek territory, and masses troops in Thrace on her border with Greece.


date: November 17

text: November 17 – French author Régis Debray is sentenced to 30 years imprisonment in Bolivia. (He will be released in 1970 after less than three years imprisonment.)


date: December 5

text: December 5 – In New York City, Benjamin Spock and Allen Ginsberg are arrested for protesting against the Vietnam War.


date: December 9

text: December 9 – Jim Morrison is arrested on stage in New Haven, Connecticut for attempting to spark a riot in the audience during a concert.


text: Gunsmoke, after 12 seasons and with declining ratings, almost gets cancelled, but protests from viewers, network affiliates and even members of Congress and especially William S. Paley, the head of the network, lead the network to move the series from its longtime late Saturday time slot to early Mondays for the fall—displacing Gilligan's Island, which initially had been renewed for a fourth season but is cancelled instead. Gunsmoke would remain on CBS until 1975.


date: February 7

text: February 7 – Serious bushfires in southern Tasmania claim 62 lives and destroy 2,642.7 square kilometres (653,025.4 acres) of land.


date: March 18

text: March 18 – Torrey Canyon oil spill: The supertanker runs aground between Land's End and the Scilly Isles off the coast of Britain, causing the biggest oil spill in history up to that point.


date: March 29

text: March 29 – Torrey Canyon oil spill: British Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force aircraft bomb and sink the grounded supertanker .


date: April 20

text: April 20 – A Globe Air Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126 people.


date: April 24

text: April 24 – Soyuz 1: Vladimir Komarov becomes the first Soviet cosmonaut to die, when the parachute of his space capsule fails during re-entry.


date: May 22

text: May 22 – The Innovation department store in the centre of Brussels, Belgium, burns down. It is the most devastating fire in Belgian history, resulting in 323 dead and missing and 150 injured.


date: May 23

text: May 23 – Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, blockading Israel's southern port of Eilat, and Israel's entire Red Sea coastline.


date: June 4

text: June 4 – Stockport air disaster: British Midland flight G-ALHG crashes in Hopes Carr, Stockport, killing 72 passengers and crew.


date: July 6

text: July 6 – Langenweddingen level crossing disaster: A level crossing collision between a train loaded with children and a tanker-truck near Magdeburg, East Germany, kills 94 people, mostly children.


date: July 19

text: July 19 – A race riot breaks out in the North Side of Minneapolis on Plymouth Street during the Minneapolis Aquatennial Parade; businesses are vandalized and fires break out in the area, although the disturbance is quelled within hours. However, the next day a shooting sets off another incident in the same area that leads to 18 fires, 36 arrests, 3 shootings, 2 dozen people injured, and damages totaling 4.2 million. Two more such incidents occur during the following two weeks.


text: July 19 – Eighty-two people are killed in a collision between Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 and a Cessna 310 near Hendersonville, North Carolina, United States.


date: July 23

text: July 23–31 – 12th Street Riot: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city: 43 are killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned.


date: July 29

text: July 29 – An explosion and fire aboard the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin leaves 134 dead.


date: October 21

text: October 21 – An Egyptian surface-to-surface missile sinks the Israeli destroyer Eilat, killing 47 Israeli sailors. Israel retaliates by shelling Egyptian refineries along the Suez Canal.


date: November 15

text: November 15 – Test pilot Michael Adams is killed when his X-15 rocket plane tumbles out of control during atmospheric re-entry and disintegrates.


date: December 1

text: December 1 – The RMS Queen Mary is retired. Her place is taken by the Queen Elizabeth 2.


date: December 31

text: December 31 – Motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel attempts to jump 141 feet over the Caesars Palace Fountains on the Las Vegas Strip in the United States. Knievel crashes on landing and the accident is caught on film.


date: January 26

text: January 26 – The largest-ever blizzard to hit the US city of Chicago begins.


date: June 24

text: June 24 – Flooding kills six cavers in Mossdale Caverns in the United Kingdom, the single deadliest incident in British caving.


date: July 10

text: July 10 – Heavy massive rains and a landslide at Kobe and Kure, Hiroshima, Japan, kill at least 371.


text: July 29 – An earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela leaves 240 dead.


date: November 26

text: November 26 – Major floods hit Lisbon, Portugal, killing 462.


date: December 4

text: December 4 – At 6:50 PM, a volcano erupts on Deception Island in Antarctica.


date: December 17

text: December 17 – Harold Holt, 17th Prime Minister of Australia, disappears when swimming at Cheviot Beach, 60 km from Melbourne. He was briefly replaced as prime minister by John McEwen, until the Liberal Party elected Minister for Education and Science John Gorton as leader.


date: February 6

text: February 6 – Alexei Kosygin arrives in the UK for an 8-day visit. He meets The Queen on February 9.


date: March 4

text: March 4 – Queens Park Rangers become the first 3rd Division side to win the English Football League Cup at Wembley Stadium, defeating West Bromwich Albion 3–2.


date: April 8

text: April 8 – Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw (music and lyrics by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1967 for the United Kingdom.


date: April 10

text: April 10 – The AFTRA strike is settled just in time for the 39th Academy Awards ceremony to be held, hosted by Bob Hope. Best Picture goes to A Man for All Seasons.


date: April 23

text: April 23 – A group of young leftist radicals are expelled from the Nicaraguan Socialist Party (PSN). This group goes on to found the Socialist Workers Party (POS).