Chronography of events from 1 January 1960 to 31 December 1969
Page last
modified 8/11/2021
(+9999) = Day count from end of World War Two in Europe. Easter Sundays derived from https://www.staff.science.uu.nl/~gent0113/easter/easter_text2b.htm
For dates from
1/1/1970 click here
===================================================================================
18/12/1969, Thursday
(+8,990) The death penalty for
murder was formally abolished in Britain.
15/12/1969, Monday (+8,987)
(1) Dubcek was made Czechoslovak Ambassador to
Turkey. He was expelled from the Czech Communist party on 26/6/1970.
(2) Swansea received City Status.
10/12/1969, Wednesday
(+8,982) A Nobel Prize was added for
Economics.
9/12/1969, Tuesday
(+8,981) Bixente Lizarazu, French footballer, was born
6/12/1969, Saturday (+8,978)
A free concert given by the Rolling Stones, at Altamont, California, ended
in tragedy when Hell�s Angels stabbed a man to death.
======================================================================================
30/11/1969, Sunday (+8,972)
Catherine McKiernan, athlete, was born.
28/11/1969, Friday
(+8,970) Sonia O�Sullivan, athlete (running), was born.
25/11/1969, Tuesday
(+8,967) John Lennon returned his
MBE to Buckingham Palace, in protest at British involvement in the Biafra civil
war in Nigeria.
20/11/1969, Thursday
(+8,962) Sir George Oswald, cricketer, died (born 31/7/1902).
19/11/1969, Wednesday
(+8,961) Second landing on the Moon. See 20/7/1969.
17/11/1969, Monday
(+8,959)
15/11/1969, Saturday (+8,957)
(1) The first colour TV advert went on British
television � for Birds Eye peas.
(2) Huge anti Vietnam War demonstration in Washington.
14/11/1969, Friday (+8,956)
(1) Gadhafi
nationalised all foreign banks in Libya.
(2) The US launched Apollo 12,
crewed by Charles Conrad, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean.� Conrad and Bean made the 2nd Moon
landing.
13/11/1969, Thursday
(+8,955) In London, a woman had
quintuplets after fertility drug treatment.
12/11/1969, Wednesday
(+8,954) (USA)
News of the My Lai massacre (see 16/3/1968) of civilians, by US troops in
Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, was finally broken to a news reporter, Sy
Hersh. The news helped raise further anti-war sentiment in the USA.
11/11/1969, Tuesday
(+8,953) The owners of the Torrey
Canyon agreed to pay �1.5 million compensation to Britain and France.
8/11/1969, Saturday
(+8,950) Henry Mallin, boxer, was born (died 8/11/1969).
5/11/1969, Wednesday
(+8,947) Anti-Apartheid
demonstrators invaded the pitch at Twickenham, during a game by the touring
South African Springboks.
====================================================================================
30/10/1959, Thursday
(+8,941) Saxophonists Ronnie Scott and Pete King opened Ronnie Scott�s Jazz
Club in Gerrard Street, Soho, London.
29/10/1959, Wednesday
(+8,940) The Arpanet went live.
21/10/1969, Tuesday
(+8,932) Willy Brandt was elected Chancellor of West Germany.
15/10/1969, Wednesday
(+8,926) The biggest
anti-Vietnam-War demonstration to date took place in America. The war so far
had cost the USA the lives of 40,000 servicemen, over 8 years.
14/10/1969, Tuesday
(+8,925) The 7-sided 50p coin came into circulation in Britain,
replacing the 10-shilling note.
10/10/1969, Friday (+8,921)
(1) The Hunt Commission on Northern Ireland
recommended disarming the police and disbanding the �B Specials�.
(2) Concorde 001 broke the sound barrier
for the first time during a test flight over Paris.
5/10/1969, Sunday (+8,916)
Monty Python was first screened.
1/10/1969, Wednesday
(+8,912) The first line of the
Beijing Metro, 24 km long, opened. Construction had been approved in 1965.
====================================================================================
28/9/1969, Sunday (+8,909) Police in Belfast erected a
�peace wall� between Protestant and Catholic communities.
27/9/1969, Saturday
(+8,908) Purge of reformers in Czechoslovak Government.
25/9/1969, Thursday (+8,906) Heavy rains began in Tunisia. Flooding
killed 700 and left 200,000 homeless.
22/9/1969, Monday (+8,903) Robert Kelly, footballer, died (born
16/11/1893).
17/9/1969, Wednesday (+8,898) A week of violence between Hindus and
Muslims broke out in Gujarat.
16/9/1969, Tuesday
(+8,897) President Nixon announced the withdrawal of a further 36,000
troops from Vietnam by mid-December.
14/9/1969, Sunday (+8,895)
Denis Betts, rugby player, was born.
12/9/1969, Friday (+8,893)
President Nixon continued B52 bombing
raids on Vietnam.
3/9/1969, Wednesday
(+8,884) Ho Chi Minh,
President of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, died of a heart attack aged
79.
2/9/1969, Tuesday
(+8,883) ITV began broadcasting
in colour.
1/9/1969, Monday (+8,882)
(1) Portsmouth
Polytechnic was established, one of the first under the UK�s 1966 White Paper,
A Plan for Polytechnics and Other Colleges.
(2) President Ghaddaffi
ousted King Idris of Libya in a military coup.
====================================================================================
31/8/1969, Sunday (+8,881)
Bob Dylan starred in a pop festival on the Isle of Wight, drawing in 150,000
fans.
29/8/1969, Friday (+8,879) Arab guerrillas hijacked a TWA
aircraft en route from Rome to Tel Aviv and forced it to land in Damascus.
26/8/1969, Tuesday (+8,872) Robert Fulford, croquet champion, was born.
19/8/1969, Tuesday (+8,869) The British Army took over security
and policing in Northern Ireland.
18/8/1969, Monday (+8,868) Hurricane Camille hit areas of Mississippi,
Louisiana and Alabama, with 190 mph winds. 200 were killed, and a further 74 in
Virginia died through flooding.
17/8/1969, Sunday (+8,867) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect, died.
16/8/1969, Saturday (+8,866)
15/8/1969, Friday (+8,865) The famous American rock festival,
Woodstock, began. It was attended by 400,000.
14/8/1969, Thursday (+8,864)
British troops moved into Londonderry to stop rioting between Catholics and
Protestants. This was known as �The Troubles�, and the police were initially
welcomed by Catholics, hoping for protection from extremist Protestants.
However the Catholics were to come to see the police themselves as oppressors.
10/8/1969, Sunday (+8,860)
9/8/1969, Saturday (+8,859)
The Royal Ulster Constabulary used tear gas for the first time in its
history. Thus followed nine hours of rioting by the Roman Catholics in Bogside,
Londonderry. Eighty police were injured in these riots.
8/8/1969, Friday (+8,858)
The French Franc was devalued by 11.1%, and Sterling came under pressure.
4/8/1969, Monday (+8,854)
1/8/1969, Friday (+8,851)
The British pre-decimal halfpenny ceased to be legal tender.
====================================================================================
29/7/1959, Tuesday
(+8,848) Lilias Gower,� croquet
champion, died.
24/7/1969, Thursday
(+8,843) The Apollo 11 astronauts
returned successfully to earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
23/7/1969, Wednesday
(+8,842) The Open University was established at Milton Keynes. See
11/1/1973.
22/7/1969, Tuesday
(+8,841) (1) Apollo 11 left the Moon.
(2) Spanish dictator General Franco
named Juan Carlos, grandson of King Alfonso XIII, as his heir apparent.
21/7/1969, Monday
(+8,840)
20/7/1969, Sunday (+8,839) (Space Exploration) Neil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon. He said, as he emerged from
the Eagle lunar module, �One small step for man, one giant leap for
mankind�.� The Eagle had separated
from the Apollo 11 spacecraft.�� See 7/10/1968 and 19/11/1969. The
mission had launched from Cape Canaveral on 16/7/1969, and the astronauts
returned to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific, on 24/7/1969.
19/7/1969, Saturday
(+8,838) John Fairfax became the first person to row the Atlantic when he
arrived at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after 180 days at sea.
18/7/1969, Friday (+8,837)
Senator Edward Kennedy crashed his car into the Chappaquidick River on the
east coast of the USA. Kennedy escaped but his companion Mary Jo Kopechne
drowned. Kennedy didn�t report the incident for ten hours and was found guilty
of leaving the scene of an accident.
16/7/1969, Wednesday
(+8,835) The US launched Apollo 11, crewed by Neil Armstrong,
Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
14/7/1969, Monday
(+8,833) Outbreak of the �Football War� between El Salvador and Honduras;
hostilities lasted until 18/7/1969, and a ceasefire was negotiated on 20/7/1969
by the Organisation of American States. In 1969 wealthy landowners controlled
most of the land in El Salvador, which resulted in the migration of many poor
El Salvadoran labourers into Honduras, causing social tensions there. In 1969
Honduras decided to distribute land to its own poor, thereby evicting the
Salvadoran migrants. El Salvador became concerned that the returning peasants
would spark demands for land reform there too, Tensions between the two
countries rose during the qualifying matches for the 1970 FIFA World Cup,
Salvadoran troops attacked into Honduras. The troops were withdrawn in early
August 1969, but a full peace treaty was not signed between the two combatants
until 30/10.1980. The border essentially remained where it had been before the
war. Both sides suffered around 2,000 casualties each.
12/7/1969, Saturday
(+8,826) William Ivy, motor cycle racing champion, died (born 27/8/1942).
5/7/1969, Saturday (+8,824) (1)
Tom Mboya, leader of the campaign for Kenyan independence from Britain, was
assassinated in Nairobi.
(2) Sir Walter Gropius, architect,
founder of the Bauhaus school of design, died.
4//7/1969, Friday (+8,823)
Franco offered Gibraltarians Spanish citizenship.
3/7/1969, Thursday
(+8,822)
2/7/1969, Wednesday (+8,821)
Brian Jones, member of the Rolling Stones rock group, died.
1/7/1969, Tuesday
(+8,820) Prince Charles was formally invested as Prince of Wales at
Caernarfon Castle.
This event was watched by a TV audience of some 200 million worldwide. The Daily Mail cost 5d (2p).
====================================================================================
30/6/1969, Monday (+8,819) (1) Spain returned the enclave of
Ifni to Morocco; however the towns of Ceuta and Melilla were retained.
(2) The Nigerian Government seized
control of all relief for Biafra.
29/6/1969, Sunday (+8,818) Tshombe died of a heart
attack, in an Algerian prison.
28/6/1969, Saturday
(+8,817) (Homosexuality)
A riot began when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a venue frequented by
homosexuals, in Greenwich Village, New York City.
24/6/1969, Tuesday
(+8,813) The 20 year old Prince Charles tackled the �awfully difficult�
question of his future marriage. �You have to chose somebody very carefully, I
think� said the Prince.
17/6/1969, Tuesday
(+8,806) Boris Spassky became world chess champion when he beat Tigran
Petrosian.
16/6/1969, Monday (+8,805) Earl Alexander of Tunis,
British military commander who led the invasion of Italy in WW2, died.
15/6/1969, Sunday (+8,804) Pompidou became President
of France, see 28/4/1969.
14/6/1969, Saturday (+8,803) Steffi Graf, tennis champion,
was born.
13/6/1969, Friday (+8,802) In the UK, the Divorce Reform
Bill received its third reading. It provided for a divorce after 2 years
separation with mutual consent, or after five years without this consent.
12/6/1969, Thursday
(+8,801) Alexander
Deyneka: Ukrainian artist (born 1899), died.
11/6/1969, Wednesday
(+8,800) John Llewellyn Lewis, US Trades Union leader (born 2/12/1880 in
Lucas, Iowa), died.
10/6/1969, Tuesday
(+8.799) James Earl Ray was sentenced to 99 years in Memphis, Tennessee,
for the murder of Martin Luther King in April 1968.
9/6/1969, Monday (+8,798) Enoch
Powell proposed voluntary repatriation of immigrants, causing a storm of
protest.
8/6/1969, Sunday (+8,797) President
Nixon announced that 25,000 US troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam by the
end of August.
====================================================================================
30/5/1969, Friday (+8,788)
Rioting over low wages and unemployment broke out in Curacao. Shops were looted
and burnt. From 1955 the oil refineries had begun to replace labour with
automation, and began to contract out services such as cleaning and
construction, and contractors paid lower wages than the refinery had done.
26/5/1969, Monday (+8,784) John Lennon and Yoko Ono began a �bed
� in� at a Montreal hotel in aid of world peace. See 8/12/1980.
25/5/1969, Sunday (+8,783) The
Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl set sail with seven crew from the Moroccan port of
Safi in a reed boat in order to prove that The ancient Egyptians could have
reached America, accounting for the Pyramids in central America. He used 12
tons of papyrus reeds, and traditional boat builders from Chad made the vessel.
The boat did not sink, and Heyerdahl completed the voyage; in 1948 he successfully
completed a voyage from Polynesia to Peru to prove that Pacific Islanders could
have settled South America.
24/5/1969, Saturday (+8,782)
The Black and White Minstrel Show at London�s Victoria Palace closed after
4,354 performances over seven years. It was the longest running musical show in
Britain.
21/5/1969, Wednesday
(+8,779) Martin Harris, swimming
champion, was born.
18/5/1969, Sunday (+8,776)
Apollo 10 was launched, crewed by Thomas Stafford, John Young, and Eugene
Cernan.
17/5/1969, Saturday (+8,775)
Dubliner Tom McLean completed the first solo transatlantic crossing by
rowing boat, from Newfoundland to Ireland.
16/5/1969, Friday (+8,774)
The Russian spacecraft Venus 5 touched down on Venus.
15/5/1969, Thursday
(+8,773) Violence in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between Malays and Chinese.
14/5/1969, Wednesday
(+8,772)
12/5/1969, Monday (+8,770)
The voting age in Britain was
lowered to 18 from 21. See
2/7/1928, 13/3/1970.
11/5/1969, Sunday (+8,769)
The Vietcong launched ground and rocket attacks throughout South Vietnam.
10/5/1969, Saturday
(+8,768) In the UK, local elections left Labour in control of only 28 of
342 borough councils in England and Wales.
8/5/1969, Thursday
(+8,766) Jonathan Searle, champion rower, was born.
2/5/1969, Friday (+8,760)
The Queen Elizabeth II sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage.
1/5/1969, Thursday
(+8,759) Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Ordnance Survey offices in
Southampton.
====================================================================================
28/4/1969, Monday (8,756)
General De Gaulle, 79 years old,
resigned as Prime Minister of France. President Pompidou, who became
French President on 15/6/1969, succeeded him.�
De Gaulle lost a referendum on changes to French regional
institutions.� De Gaulle was resented for
high taxation to pay for the French military, whilst health, education, and social
services were neglected, leading to French student riots in spring 1968.� De Gaulle retired to Colombey.� See 9/11/1970.
24/4/1969, Thursday
(+8,752) Ernest Blenkinsop, footballer, died (born 20/4/1902).
22/4/1969, Tuesday
(+8,750) IRA bombs hit
the main post office and bus station in Belfast.
18/4/1969, Friday (+8,746) Bernadette Devlin became
Britain�s youngest MP for nearly 200 years when she was elected for Mid-Ulster,
6 days before her 22nd birthday.
17/4/1969, Thursday
(+8,745) Alexander Dubcek was replaced as First Secretary of the Czech
Communist Party.
16/4/1969, Wednesday
(+8,744) Desmond Dekker became the first Jamaican artist to top the UK
charts with The Israelites.
15/4/1969, Tuesday
(+8,743) The Woodstock music
festival began in Bethel, New York.
12/4/1969, Saturday
(+8,740)
10/4/1969, Thursday
(+8,738) Johnny Bannerman, rugby player, died (born 1/9/1901).
9/4/1969, Wednesday
(+8,737) (1) Sikh bus drivers in Wolverhampton won the right to wear turbans.
(2) Concord�s
first trial flight from Bristol to Fairford. See 21/1/1976. The French Concorde
made its first flight on 2/3/1969. The Concorde project had begun in 1962
between the British and French governments to develop a supersonic aircraft.
Sceptics doubted that it was possible to build a passenger aircraft with over
100 seats that travelled as fast as a military fighter. However Concorde halved
flight times across the Atlantic.
8/4/1969, Tuesday
(+8,736) Arab guerrillas attacked Eilat. In retaliation, Israeli jets
attacked Aqaba, Jordan.
6/4/1969, Sunday (+8,734)
Easter Sunday.
2/4/1969, Wednesday
(+8,730) Jim Morrison, of pop group
�The Doors� was arrested in the USA.
1/4/1969, Tuesday
(+8,729) France formally left NATO.
=================================================================================
31/3/1969, Monday (+8,728) An airline pilots strike
grounded all BOAC flights.
29/3/1969, Saturday
(+8,726)
28/3/1969, Friday (+8,725)
Dwight D Eisenhower,
American Army Commander and Republican 34th President 1953 to 1961,
died in Washington.
27/3/1969, Thursday
(+8,724) Harold Wilson arrived in Nigeria for talks with General Gowon.
25/3/1969, Tuesday
(+8,722) Amidst increasing separatist tension in East Pakistan, Ayub
resigned, handing power to General Yahya Khan. Khan promised elections for
7/12/1970, and that 162 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly would be
reserved for East Bengalis. Given the popularity of the Awami League in East
Pakistan, this appeared to invite further problems of governance.
22/3/1969, Saturday (+8,719)
Soccer hooligans ran riot on the London Underground, causing thousands of
pounds of damage.
20/3/1969, Thursday
(+8,717) Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
19/3/1969, Wednesday (+8,716)
British forces landed on the Caribbean
island of Anguilla. The rebel government set up self-appointed President Ronald
Webster offered no resistance. Many of the 6,000 islanders welcomed the British
invasion force, whose arrival had already been announced by the BBC.
18/3/1969, Tuesday
(+8,715) The US began heavily bombing Cambodia, the aim being to cut the Ho
Chi Minh trail and thereby disrupt supplies to the Communist Vietcong. The
operation was not publicised to the West, because that would have revealed
Sihanouk�s complicity in the bombing of his own country. Sihanouk was pro-US
because he perceived Pol Pot to be allied to Hanoi. In fact the bombing
destabilised Cambodia so that within a year Sihanouk was deposed by his own
ministers. The new Cambodian leader, Lon Nol, insisted that all Vietnamese
troops leave Cambodian soil to the delight of the US. However Lon Nol was weak and
his rule facilitated the advance of Pol Pot�s forces into rural areas, forcing
Lon Nol�s troops back into the cities.
14/3/1969, Friday (+8,711) Ben Shahn, painter, died in
New York aged 70.
12/3/1969, Wednesday
(+8,709) Beatle Paul McCartney married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Registry
Office, London.
11/3/1969, Tuesday
(+8,708) (1) Golda Meir, aged 70, became Prime
Minister of Israel after the death of Levi Eshkol. Mrs Meir remained Prime
Minister until her resignation in 1974.
(2) The author John Wyndham died.
10/3/1969, Monday (+8,707) James Ray Earl pleaded guilty
to the murder of civil rights leader Martin Luther King. He was sentenced to 99
years.
5/3/1969, Wednesday
(+8,702) The gangland twins Ronald and Roger Kray, 35, were found guilty
of murder at the Old Bailey and given life sentences. The judge said they
should not be released for 30 years.
3/3/1969, Monday (+8,700)
Apollo 9 was launched, manned by James McDivitt, David Scott, and Russell
Schweickart.
2/3/1969, Sunday (+8,699)
(1) (Aviation) The
French built Concorde made its maiden flight from Toulouse Airport. See
9/1/1969.� It was piloted by Andre
Turcat, chief test pilot of Sud Aviation; he got the plane to 300 mph.
(2) (China,
Russia)
Soviet and Chinese troops clashed on their border. Chinese troops attempted to
occupy Damiansky island, one of the Ussuri river islands ceded by China to
Tsarist Russia in 1860. China now maintained that the concession had been
unfairly extracted and revoked it. Russia drove off the Chinese invasion.
1/3/1969, Saturday
(+8,698) In Laos, the Pathet Lao opposition rejected the government�s offer
of talks to end the civil war.
====================================================================================
28/2/1969, Friday (+8,697) Dwight D Eisenhower, US
statesman, died aged 78.
27/2/1969, Thursday
(+8,696)
26/2/1969, Wednesday
(+8,695) Levi Eshkol, Prime Minister
of Israel, died.
25/2/1969, Tuesday
(+8,,694) Mariner 6 was launched from Cape Canaveral, to fly by
Mars.
24/2/1969, Monday
(+8,693)
23/2/1969, Sunday (+8,692)
President Nixon of the USA began a tour of European capitals.
22/2/1969, Saturday (+8,691)
President Nixon arrived in Britain for talks with Prime Minister Harold
Wilson.
On TV a wheelchair bound detective called Ironside battled San Francisco�s crooks.
Films on release included 2001: A Space
Odyssey.
18/2/1969, Tuesday
(+8,687) At Zurich an Israeli aircraft was attacked by four Arabs,
injuring 6 passengers; one Arab was killed.
13/2/1969, Thursday
(+8,682) Scientists in Cambridge announced the first successful in-vitro
fertilisation of a human being.
12/2/1969, Wednesday
(+8,681) Ndabaningi Sithole, leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union,
was convicted of incitement to murder Ian Smith.
11/2/1969, Tuesday
(+8,680) In the UK, female workers at the Ford car plant won equal pay with
male workers.
9/2/1969, Sunday (+8,678)
The Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet made its maiden flight. See 21/1/1970.
7/2/1969, Friday
(+8,676) Marvin Gaye�s I Heard It
Through The Grapevine was released.
5/2/1969, Wednesday
(+8,674) The Governor of California, Ronald Reagan, declared a state of
�extreme emergency� at the university campus at Berkeley after violent
struggles there between students and police. On BBC1 All Gas and Gaiters was a comedy about a young Church of England
priest, Derek Nimmo.
3/2/1969, Monday (+8,672)
In Cairo, Yasser Arafat
became leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the PLO.
1/2/1969, Saturday
(+8,670) Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinean footballer, was born.
====================================================================================
30/1/1969, Thursday
(+8,668) The Beatles performed together for the last time.
27/1/1969, Monday (+8,665)
In Northern Ireland, Protestant leader Ian Paisley was jailed.
24/1/1969, Friday
(+8,662) General Franco imposed martial law in Spain.
23/1/1969, Thursday
(+8,661) The British Government
rejected proposals to cut penalties for smoking cannabis.
21/1/1969, Tuesday
(+8,659)
20/1/1969, Monday (+8,658)
President Nixon was sworn in
as US President.
19/1/1969, Sunday (+8,657) 21-year-old student Jan
Palach, set himself on fire in Wenceslas Square, Prague, in protest at the
Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
18/1/1969, Saturday
(+8,656) Dave Bautista, US professional wrestler, was born.
17/1/1969, Friday
(+8,655) Samuel Irving, footballer, died (born 28/8/1893).
161/1969, Thursday
(+8,654) Norman Williamson, champion jockey, was born.
15/1/1969, Wednesday (+8,653)
14/1/1969, Tuesday (+8,652)
Matt Busby resigned as head of the very successful football club Manchester United.
13/1/1969, Monday
(+8,651) Stephen Hendry, snooker champion, was born.
11/1/1969, Saturday (+8,649)
10/1/1969, Friday
(+8,648) Sweden became the first European country to recognise North
Vietnam.
9/1/1969, Thursday
(+8,647) (Aviation)
Concorde made its first trial flight from Bristol.
8/1/1969, Wednesday
(+8,646) Albert Hill, athlete, died.
6/1/1969, Monday (+8,644)
2/1/1969, Thursday
(+8,640) A civil rights march from
Belfast to London ended in violence.
1/1/1969, Wednesday
(+8,639) Sir Learie
Constantine became Britain�s first Black peer.
===================================================================================
31/12/1968, Tuesday
(+8,638) (1) Russia�s TU144 flew, becoming the
world�s first supersonic aircraft.
(2) The �lion� ceased to be stamped on
British eggs.� The practice began on
30/6/1957.
30/12/1968, Monday (+8,637)
Trygve Lie, Norwegian ambassador and Secretary-General to the UN, 1946 to 1952,
died.
29/12/1968, Sunday (+8,636)
Austin Farrer, English theological writer, died (born 1904)
28/12/1968, Saturday (+8,635)
Israeli commandos in helicopters raided Beirut Airport, destroying 13
Lebanese aircraft.� This was in
retaliation for alleged Lebanese toleration of guerrilla raids into northern
Israel.
27/12/1968, Friday
(+8,634) E.C Stoner, 69, English theoretical physicist known for his
discoveries in ferromagnetism, died aged 69.
26/12/1968, Thursday
(+8,633) Two Arab gunmen, killing one passenger, attacked an Israeli
Boeing 707 in Athens.
24/12/1968, Tuesday
(+8,631)
22/12/1968, Sunday (+8,629)
The captain and crew of the Pueblo were released by the North Koreans at
Panmunjom.
21/12/1968, Saturday (+8,628)
The first flight of a man around the Moon, when Apollo 8 was launched.� It
was crewed by Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders.
20/12/1968, Friday (+8,627)
(1) Franco banished Prince Carlos from Spain.
(2) John Steinbeck, American author who
wrote The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, Nobel Prize Winner in
1962, died in New York City.
19/12/1968, Thursday
(+8,626) John Jarvis, horse racing champion, died (born 28/12/1887).
17/12/1968, Tuesday
(+8,624)
16/12/1968, Monday
(+8,623) World premiere of the film Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang.
15/12/1968, Sunday (+8,622)
Colin Sturgess, champion cyclist, was born.
12/12/1968, Thursday
(+8,619) Walter Robins, cricketer, died (born 3/6/1906)
4/12/1968, Wednesday
(+8,611) On TV Bill and Ben the
Flowerpot Men still entertained children 16 years after their initial
appearance. The weak willed pair still lived in fear of the gardener and were
mercilessly bullied by Weed.
===================================================================================
30/11/1968, Saturday (+8,607)
The Trades Descriptions Act came into force.
29/11/1968, Friday
(+8,606) (1) Arab guerrillas attacked a
potash plant on the Dead Sea. Israeli jets retaliated by blowing up two bridges
in Jordan.
(2) In Britain, Telford new town was
designated.
28/11/1968, Thursday (+8,605) Enid Blyton,
creator of Noddy and Big Ears, died. She was born on 11/8/1897 in East Dulwich.
In the mid 1930s she began writing her stories, which featured Noddy, the
Famous Five, and the Secret Seven.
26/11/1968, Tuesday
(+8,603) In Britain the Race
Relations Act came into force, banning racial discrimination at work.
15/11/1968, Friday (+8,592)
Cunard�s flagship liner the Queen
Elizabeth docked at Southampton for the last time. Launched in September
1938, she was used during the War as a troopship based in Sydney, Australia.
Her first commercial voyage was from Southampton in 1946. She was replaced by
the Queen Elizabeth II.
12/11/1968, Tuesday
(+8,589) One thousand people attended the first public meeting of the
Greater London Council. Ideas discussed included a monorail down Oxford Street
by 1972 and an �end to the architecture of totalitarianism�. The Milton Keynes
Development Corporation announced that the first blueprint for the new city
would be available by February 1969. On TV Z
Cars patrolled Merseyside whilst Trumpton
kept watch at the Fire Station.
5/11/1968, Tuesday
(+8,582) (1) Richard Milhous
Nixon, born 9/1/1913, won the 37th Presidency of the USA by a narrow
majority.� He had stood for
election in 1960 but was defeated by John F Kennedy. J F Kennedy was born on
29/5/1917.
(2) The first Black woman was elected to
the US House of Representatives.
3/11/1968, Sunday (+8,580)
Severe storms and floods in northern Italy killed over 100 people.
1/11/1968, Friday (+8,578) Georgios Papandreou, Prime
Minister of Greece, died.
=====================================================================================
31/10/1968, Thursday
(+8,577) President Johnson of the USA ordered a total halt to US bombing
of North Vietnam.
27/10/1968, Sunday (+8,573) Violent
anti-Vietnam war protests outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London.
16/10/1968, Wednesday (+8,562) (1)
In Britain, the Foreign and Commonwealth Offices merged.
(2) The Czechoslovak Government signed,
under duress, an agreement that Warsaw Pact troops would remain in the country
indefinitely.
15/10/1968, Tuesday (+8,561)
Craig Chalmers, rugby player, was born in Galashiels, Scotland.
14/10/1968, Monday (+8,560) (Railways)
The new Euston Station in London was opened by the Queen.� Work had begun in 1963.
13/10/1968, Sunday (+8,559) The Chinese Cultural
Revolution ended when President Liu was dismissed from his posts in the Party
and the Republic.� The Cultural
Revolution (see 3/9/1965), encouraging a return to basic Maoist principles, but
also public criticism of all party members, had been too disruptive to China�s
government and economy.
12/10/1968, Saturday (+8,558) (1)
Equatorial Guinea became independent.
(2) The 19th Olympic Games opened in Mexico
City.
11/10/1968, Friday (+8,557)
The USA�s Apollo 7 spacecraft was launched flawlessly by its 700 ton Saturn 1B
rocket and began 10 days and 21 hours in space.�
It was crewed by Walter Schirra, Don Eiselle and Walter Cunningham.
10/10/1968, Thursday (+8,556) Enoch
Powell warned that immigration might �change the character of England�
9/10/1968, Wednesday (+8,555)
Harold Wilson, British PM, met Ian Smith for further talks about Rhodesian
independence aboard HMS Fearless moored off Gibraltar.� The talks failed to resolve the situation.
8/10/1968, Tuesday (+8,554)
Emily Procter, actress, was born
7/10/1968, Monday (+8,553) Rhodesia�s
leader Ian Smith announced that there would be no majority rule in Rhodesia in
his lifetime. He continued with talks between himself and Prime Minister Harold
Wilson; but Mr Smith said that �ordinary Africans were incapable of answering
the simplest question regarding a constitution�.
Films on release included 2001:
A Space Odyssey.
6/10/1968, Sunday (+8,552) Phyllis
Nicolson, English mathematician, died.
5/10/1968, Saturday (+8,551) Police in Londonderry broke up a Protestant civil
rights march using water cannon and batons.
3/10/1968, Thursday
(+8,549)
2/10/1968, Wednesday
(+8,548) Large
demonstration by tens of thousands, mostly students, in Tlatelolco Plaza,
Mexico City, against police brutality, political corruption and economic
hardship. The army responded with force, shooting at least 300 civilians. This
was ten days before the Olympic games began in Mexico City; athletes and
visitors could see tanks deployed on the city streets.
1/10/1968, Tuesday
(+8,547) The University of Ulster,
at Coleraine, opened.
====================================================================================
29/9/1968, Sunday (+8,545)
5Paul Radmilovic, swimming champion, died (born 5/3/1886).
27/9/1968, Friday (+8,543)
(1) The French again vetoed UK membership of the EEC.
(2) Antonio Salazar resigned as Prime
Minister of Portugal, after holding the office for 36 years and 84 days, the
longest term of office of any politician.
(3) The Rock musical Hair with 13 naked actors opened at the
Shaftesbury Theatre, London, the day after the Theatres Act lifted censorship
of it.
26/9/1968, Thursday
(+8,542) (Morals)
In the UK, the Theatres Act was passed, ended the role of Lord Chancellor as
censor of plays, giving theatres much more freedom in what they could put on.
24/8/1968, Tuesday
(+8,540)
19/9/1968, Thursday
(+8,535) (1) Death of Chester Carlson, US inventor of the Xerox photocopier.
(2) The TV Times, a weekly magazine for British
independent TV, was first published.
18/9/1968, Wednesday
(+8,534) (Indonesia,
Malaysia)
Indonesia claimed sovereignty over most of Sabah. On 19/9/1968 Malaysia
withdrew its diplomats from Manila.
17/9/1968, Tuesday
(+8,533) Marie-Chantal,
Crown Princess of Greece, was born
16/9/1968, Monday (+8,532)
Britain adopted a two tier postal system, stamps cost 5d or 4d.
15/9/1968, Sunday (+8,531)
Severe flooding in south east England, the worst since 1953.
14/9/1968, Saturday
(+8,530) (Space
exploration) The USSR launched the Zond-5 spacecraft, which carried
animals around the Moon.
13/9/1968, Friday (+8,529) (1)
British banks announced plans to cease Saturday opening.
(2)
Press censorship was re-imposed in Czechoslovakia.
12/9/1968, Thursday (+8,528) Albania was ejected from the Warsaw Pact.
Foreign travel from Albania was banned, and many killed in political purges.
9/9/1968, Monday
(+8,525)
7/9/1968, Saturday (+8,523) Protests by the New York Radical Women
(NYRW) Group disrupted the Miss World competition in New York.��������������������������������������������
6/9/1968, Friday (+8,522)
Swaziland became independent from Britain.
3/9/1968, Tuesday
(+8,519) (Brazil)
Student riots in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, inspired by similar riots in France and Mexico. They were protesting
against the military dictatorship that had ruled Brazil since 1964.
====================================================================================
31/8/1968, Saturday (+8,516)
(Earthquake,
Iran) A
major earthquake in Iran killed over 20,000 people.
30/8/1968, Friday
(+8,515) The single Hey Jude was
released by The Beatles.
29/8/1968, Thursday
(+8,514)
27/8/1968, Tuesday
(+8,512) Russian patrols watched the streets of Prague after a failed
anti � Communist uprising. Tanks had first entered Czechoslovakia on 20/8/1968.
The Soviets overthrow President Dubcek, and 175,000 troops, mostly Russian,
occupied the major cities of Czechoslovakia. Prague was put under curfew. 20
people were reported dead and at least 200 injured, many of them students,
after the anti-Soviet protests.
26/8/1968, Monday
(+8,511) Byron Lawson, Canadian actor, was born.
25/8/1968, Sunday (+8,510) The French exploded their
first Hydrogen Bomb.
24/8/1968, Saturday
(+8,509) James Toney, US boxer, was born.
23/8/1968, Friday (+8,508) (Computing)
Computer Aided Tomography was patented by Godfrey Hounsfield for EMI in London, UK.
22/8/1968, Thursday
(+8,507) Soviet tanks entered
Prague.
21/8/1968, Wednesday (+8,506)
President Dubcek was arrested and taken to Moscow. He returned to
Czechoslovakia on 27/8/1968, having agreed to Soviet demands.
20/8/1968, Tuesday (+8,505) Russia sent tanks into
Czechoslovakia. Dubcek had said on 18/7/1968 he would not go back on his progressive
policies, see 5/4/1968.
19/8/1968, Monday (+8,504) (Science)
George Gamow, Russian-US physicist, died in Boulder, Colorado.
18/8/1968, Sunday (+8.,503)
14/8/1968, Wednesday (+8,499)
Heavy rain in India caused severe flooding, killing over 1,000.
13/8/1968, Tuesday (+8,498) Tony Jarrett, English sprinter, was born.
12/8/1968, Monday (+8,497) Race riots in Watts, Los Angeles.
11/8/1968, Sunday (+8,496) The
last main line passenger steam train ran on British Railways. Called the
Fifteen Guinea Special, it ran from Manchester to Carlisle.
8/8/1968, Thursday (+8,493)
5/8/1968, Monday (+8,490) Collin McRae, rally driver, was born.
4/8/1968, Sunday (+8,489) Israeli aircraft bombed Palestinian bases in
Jordan.
3/8/1968, Saturday (+8,488) (1) The last scheduled normal service steam train ran
on British Railways. It ran from Preston to Liverpool.
(2) The Countryside Act
allowed local authorities to designate National Parks.
2/8/1968, Friday (+8,487) Michael Stanco, American professional
wrestler, was born (died 2014).
1/8/1968, Thursday (+8,486) The Princess Margaret
inaugurated the hovercraft service between Dover and Boulogne.
=====================================================================================
31/7/1968, Wednesday (+8,485)
29/7/1968, Monday (+8,483) (1) The Pope
condemned all forms of birth control.
(2)
President Dubcek met with Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in the village of
Cierna nad Tisou (on the Czech-USSR border). Brezhnev agreed that
Czechoslovakia could follow �its own road to Socialism� and Dubcek promised
�Socialist solidarity�. The meeting closed on 1/8/1968.
28/7/1968, Sunday (+8,482) (Chemistry)
Otto Hahn, German physical chemist, died in Gottingen.
26/7/1967, Friday (+8,480)
24/7/1968, Wednesday (+8,478) A conference of Spanish bishops asserted
the right of Spanish workers right to strike and form independent trades
unions.
23/7/1968, Tuesday (+8,477) An Israeli Boeing 707, flying from
Rome to Tel Aviv, was hijacked and flown to Algeria.
21/7/1968, Sunday (+8,475) Ernest Barry, rower, died.
18/7/1968, Thursday (+8,472)
Dubcek said he would not go back on his progressive policies, see 20/8/1968.
16/7/1968, Tuesday (+8,470) Other Warsaw Pact leaders, from East
Germany, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria, declared the Czechoslovak reforms
unacceptable.
14/7/1968, Sunday (+8,468) Soviet troops failed to leave Czechoslovakia
after Warsaw Pact exercises.
9/7/1968, Tuesday (+8,463) Czechoslovakia rejected a demand by Russia
for a meeting of Communist Party leaders.
2/7/1968, Tuesday (+8,456) Britain offered famine relief to both
Nigeria and Biafra. Biafra refused it whilst the Uk was still supplying arms to
Nigeria.
1/7/1968, Monday (+8,455) The USA and the USSR signed the
Non-Proliferation treaty regarding nuclear weapons (see 5/8/1963). This bound
its signatories not to transfer nuclear weapons or knowledge to non-nuclear
countries. This was a recognition that both the USA and the USSR had interests
in not assisting China to become nuclear.
====================================================================================
30/6/1968, Sunday (+8,454) De
Gaulle won massive support in French elections.
28/6/1968, Friday (+8,452)
27/6/1968, Thursday (+8,451) The Czechoslovak National Assembly passed
laws abolishing censorship and rehabilitating political prisoners.
26/6/1968, Wednesday (+8,.450) Earl Warren announced his resignation as
Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.
25/6/1968, Tuesday (+8,449) Comedian Tony Hancock killed himself
in a hotel bathroom in Sydney, Australia.
20/6/1968, Thursday (+8,444) Total US war deaths in Vietnam now
exceeded 25,000.
12/6/1968, Wednesday (+8,436) The French Government banned
demonstrations and dissolved 11 student organisations,
11/6/1968, Tuesday (+8,435) East Germany began requiring visas for West
Germans to cross its territory.
10/6/1968, Monday (+8,434)
NHS prescription charges were reintroduced. See 1/2/1965.
8/6/1968, Saturday (+8,432)
Bermuda achieved internal self-government.
5/6/1968, Wednesday
(+8,429) A Jordanian-Arab called Sirhan Bishara Sirhan shot Robert
Kennedy, US Senator (born 1925), in the Hotel Ambassador, Los Angeles. Kennedy,
younger brother of President Kennedy, died 25 hours later. Sirhan was arrested.
He was protesting against Kennedy�s outspoken support for Israel, on the first
anniversary of the Six Day War.
1/6/1968, Saturday
(+8,425) Helen Keller, US author, died aged 87.
====================================================================================
31/5/1968, Friday
(+8,424) Nigerian � Biafran peace talks in Kampala, Uganda, broke down.
30/5/1968, Thursday
(+8,423) French President De Gaulle
announced he would not resign, and called a General Election.
27/5/1968, Monday (+8,420) The trial of the executives of the Chemie-Grunenthal
company, responsible for the Thalidomide
disaster that killed 80,000 babies and maimed 20,000 more, opened in
Alsdorf, near Aachen. The trail was expected to last at least three years, but
was shut down on 18/12/1970. All defendants were granted immunity from
prosecution. The German Government and Grunenthal agreed a compensation scheme
that many parents regarded as inadequate. Thalidomide
was launched as a wonder cure for morning sickness on 1/10/1957; it was
withdrawn on 27/11/1961. It was sold as Distaval in the UK, as Contergan in
Germany. It emerged that no tests were done for effects on embryos; the
executives claimed nobody in the 1950s realised that drugs taken by the mother
could affect the foetus, which claim was untrue even then. Adults who took
thalidomide as a sedative in 1959 had suffered serious nerve damage.
25/5/1968, Saturday (+8,418)
Riots continued in Paris. Demonstrators erected barricades and students
stormed the Bourse and set fire to the interior. In London a demonstration of
support for the rioters was made outside the French Embassy; the police moved
in and arrests were made, resulting in fines totalling �145 for 17 people. In
north London, students at Hornsey College of Art continued a sit in of the main
building, demanding �a change to the college�s educational system�.
24/5/1968, Friday
(+8,417) The Rolling Stones hit, Jumpin�
Jack Flash was released.
22/5/1968, Wednesday
(+8,415) Striking French
workers now numbered 9 million.
19/5/1968, Sunday (+8,412)
(1)
Nigerian forces captured Port Harcourt in the civil war against the breakaway
region of Biafra.
(2) Two
million workers in France were on strike.
17/5/1968, Friday (+8,410)
French president Georges Pompidou appealed to ordinary Parisians to help
stop the anarchy as student riots continued in Paris. However the Cannes Film
Festival collapsed in chaos as striking technicians and directors caused film
screenings to be cancelled, and three days later the number of striking French
workers had risen to about six million. Three people died in east London when
22 floors of a block of flats collapsed at Ronan Point, Newham, following a gas
explosion. Council officials met with solid resistance when they suggested that
the 80 families evacuated after the disaster should return to their flats. The
director of the Transport studies centre predicted that in the future people
would be �piped� in high speed pneumatic trains like oil and gas. TV viewers
could watch The Saint, Danger Man, or
The Avengers.
16/5/1968, Thursday
(+8,409) The Ronan Point block of flats collapsed in London�s East End.� Three died when the 22-storey flats in
Butcher�s Road, Plaistow, were brought down by a gas explosion in a flat on the
18th floor. The pre-fabricated �system building� technique used to
construct the flats meant that every flat on that corner then collapsed.
15/5/1968, Wednesday
(+8,408)
14/5/1968, Tuesday
(+8,407) French workers called a
one-day strike to support the students. The French Franc plummeted.
13/5/1968, Monday
(+8,406) US and North Vietnamese negotiators began peace talks in Paris.
10/5/1968, Friday (+8,403) (1)
Student clashes with police continued in Paris, with 30,000 people involved
in a day and a night of violence. Students at The Sorbonne were locked out of
campus, causing further unrest; the demonstrations were against the Vietnam
War.
(2) Peace talks began between the USA
and North Vietnam in Paris. The talks failed because North Vietnam wanted the
country unified under the Vietcong, whilst the United States wanted North Vietnam
to withdraw from the South which would remain an independent state. Eventually
the North agreed to Southern independence and the US agreed not to demand the
withdrawal of Communist forces from the North. However the North was to invade
the South two years later as US forces withdrew from the South.
6/5/1968, Monday (+8,399) (1)
An opinion poll suggested 74% of Britons supported Enoch Powell�s views on
immigration. Enoch Powell made his famous �Rivers of Blood� speech, see
20/4/1968.
(2) The Vietnam War continued with house
to house fighting in Saigon. The Kray Twins were charged with ten offences
including two of conspiracy to murder. The Home Secretary James Callaghan told
the Ministry of Public Building and Works that he had no power to deport Tariq
Ali back to his native Pakistan. Mr Ali was a member of the Vietnam Solidarity
campaign in Britain. Ironside �was on TV, and the films 2001: A Space Odyssey and
Planet of the Apes were showing.
(3) Spain closed its border with
Gibraltar to all but Spaniards.
3/5/1968, Friday (+8,396) (1)
French police evicted striking students from campus, sparking large street
demonstrations.
(2) Britain�s
first heart transplant.
2/5/1968, Thursday
(+8,395) Students rioted in Paris.
1/5/1968, Wednesday (+8,394) Legoland
Family Park, the Danish toy maker�s answer to Disneyland, opened at Billund in
Denmark.
=====================================================================================
30/4/1968, Tuesday
(+8,393) Frankie Lymon, US pop star,
died of a heroin overdose.
27/4/1968, Saturday (+8,390) Abortion was legalised in
Britain, as the 1967 Abortion Act became Law. The Liberal MP David Steel had
introduced the Abortion Act to Parliament.
23/4/1968, Tuesday
(+8,386) First decimal coins, the 5p
and 10p coins, appeared in Britain, see 15/2/1971.� On 14/10/1969, 50 pence pieces replaced ten
shilling notes; these notes ceased to be legal tender on 21/11/1970.
21/4/1968, Sunday (+8,384)
Pierre Trudeau succeeded Lester Pearson as Prime Minister of Canada.
20/4/1968, Saturday (+8,383)
Enoch Powell, Conservative MP for south-west Wolverhampton, made his famous
�Rivers of Blood� speech about the dangers of immigration at a hotel in
Birmingham. See 6/5/1968.
19/4/1968, Friday
(+8,382) (1) (Vietnam) The
USA began Operation Delaware to oust the North Vietnamese from the A Shau
Valley, 50 km SW of Hue, which they had occupied in March 1968 and made into a
logistics base to support the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The US succeeded in taking the
Valley, but with heavy casualties. However they could not hold it whilst large
forces were tied up defending the Vietnamese Lowlands against the North.
(2) Josef Smirnovsky, chairman of the
Czechoslovak National Assembly, promised freedom of press, assembly and
religion.
18/4/1968, Thursday
(+8,381) London Bridge was sold for
�1million to oil tycoon Robert McCullough.�
He had it rebuilt at Lake Havasu in the USA. It was rumoured that he
thought he was buying Tower Bridge.
14/4/1968, Sunday (+8,377)
Easter Sunday.
9/4/1968, Tuesday
(+8,372) In Britain, the Race Relations Bill was published.
8/4/1968, Monday
(+8,371) New Czechoslovak government took office, under Oldrich Cernik.
7/4/1968, Sunday (+8,370) US President Johnson ordered a
slowdown in the bombing of North Vietnam.
6/4/1968, Saturday (+8,369) In East Germany, 94.5% of voters approved the new
socialist constitution.
5/4/1968, Friday (+8,368) In Czechoslovakia, Dubcek
began a programme of reform which was to lead to a measure of political democracy
and restoration of personal freedoms, see 5/1/1968 and 20/8/1968.
4/4/1968,
Thursday (+8,367) Martin Luther King, 39, was assassinated, shot dead by James Earl Ray
on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. He was on a trip to
support striking sanitation workers in Memphis. The funeral was attended by
Jacqueline Kennedy. White and Black were
briefly united in anger, and there were riots in hundreds of towns across
America. Martin Luther King had campaigned on civil rights for Black people,
and was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1964.
3/4/1968, Wednesday
(+8,366) The US and North Vietnam agreed to establish direct contact as a
first step towards peace.
2/4/1968, Tuesday
(+8,365) Two West German terrorists, Baader and Ensslin, firebombed a
Frankfurt department store, in protest against the bombs being dropped by the
US on Vietnam.
1/4/1968, Monday (+8,364) Speculation in the gold
market; gold was US$ 38 in London.
====================================================================================
27/3/1968, Wednesday
(+8,359) (1)
The UK foreign secretary said the Falklands will stay British.
(2) Yuri Gagarin, the first
man in space in 1961, was killed in a plane crash near Moscow, on a routine
training flight.
23/3/1968, Saturday (+8,355) President Dubcek was summoned
to an emergency Warsaw Pact meeting to try and stop his liberal policies in
Czechoslovakia.
21/3/1968, Thursday
(+8.353) (1)
In Britain, road deaths fell 23% in the three months after introduction of
breath tests. See 8/10/1967.
(2) Students at Nanterre
University, Paris, began a sit-in, which soon spread to other French
universities.
20/3/1968, Wednesday
(+8,352) Six French students were
arrested in Paris during an anti-Vietnam War demonstration.
19/3/1968, Tuesday
(+8,351)
17/3/1968, Sunday (+8,349) (Britain,
USA, Vietnam) Violent
anti-Vietnam War demonstrations outside the US Embassy in London. 25,000
Vietnam Solidarity Campaign (VSC) marchers fought with police. The VSC, which
wanted a victory for North Vietnam, had been organised by the Trotskyist
International Marxist Group, whose members included Pat Jordan, Tariq Ali and
David Horowitz.
16/3/1968, Saturday (+8,348) The My Lai massacre; US soldiers massacred 700 Vietnamese civilians in
a raid on hamlets in Son My district, where Communist Vietcong rebels were
suspected to be hiding out. US forces believed that 250 Vietcong guerrillas
were hiding in My Lai and that all civilians would have left for market. As the
30 US troops went in under the command of Lieutenant William Calley they threw
grenades and deployed flamethrowers on the thatched roof huts; it was soon
clear that only women, children and the elderly were present. There was no
counter fire. However a �contagion of slaughter� had set in and the rape and murder
continued. Senior US army officials turned a blind eye to the event; only five
people were ever court-martialled, with just one, Lieutenant Calley, found
guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but served 3 � years before
release on parole. This event turned many civilians within the US against
the Vietnam War. See 12/11/1969 (USA).
15/3/1968, Friday (+8,347)
13/3/1968, Wednesday (+8,345)
Dubcek abolished press censorship in
Czechoslovakia.
12/3/1968, Tuesday (+8,344)
Mauritius, a volcanic island in
the Indian Ocean, became independent from the UK, and joined the Commonwealth.
It had been a British colony since 1810.
8/3/1968, Friday (+8,340) Student unrest in Poland
intensified. On 30/1/1968 a play by Mickiewicz, Dziady (The Forefathers) was shown at the Warsaw National Theatre
for the last time; the authorities were concerned that the play provoked
anti-Soviet sentiments in its audience. On the occasion of its last showing,
Warsaw University students staged a street demonstration. The organisers of the
demonstration were arrested; meanwhile the Warsaw branch of the Writers Union,
supported by well-known personalities such as Slonimski, Jastrun, Andrzejewksi,
Kolakowski and Jasienica protested the decision to close Dziady as Party censorship
curtailing creativity. On 8/3/1968 a student protest meeting was brutally
broken up by police and paramilitaries. Unrest spread onto the streets of
Warsaw and to other Polish universities. The intelligentsia supported the
students but the workers, influenced by official propaganda, opposed them.
Around 1,200 students were arrested but only a small number were tried and
received jail terms. Some were temporarily suspended from their university,
Some academics also lost their posts, entire university departments were
closed, new academic appointments were made on political grounds not ability,
and overall, academic freedom was replaced by repression and suspicion, at
least while Gomulka held power in Poland.
===================================================================================
24/2/1968, Saturday
(+8,327) Allison Fisher, snooker champion, was born.
23/2/1968, Friday
(+8,326) Tom Jones released his song Delilah.
22/2/1968, Thursday
(+8,325) The UK Government was
concerned at the level of immigration of Asians from East Africa.
21/2/1968, Wednesday
(+8,324) Lord Florey,
Australian-born British pathologist who made possible the large-scale
production of penicillin, died.
20/2/1968, Tuesday
(+8,323) In Britain, the provision
of free school milk at secondary schools ceased.
16/2/1968, Friday
(+8,319) (USA)
The first 911 emergency phone service was inaugurated in the USA, at
Haleyville, Alabama. It was free; other phone calls cost 10 cents.
4/2/1968, Sunday (+8,307) (Maritime) The
world�s largest hovercraft, 165 tonnes, was launched at Cowes.
=====================================================================================
31/1/1968, Wednesday
(+8,303) Nauru became independent
from Britain.
30/1/1968, Tuesday
(+8,302) The Vietcong launched the great
Tet Offensive against South Vietnam, named after the Tet holiday of January 31, when south
Vietnamese soldiers would be off-guard. Militarily the
Tet offensive was disastrous for the North; they held none of the towns they
captured.
The last town, Hue, was recaptured by US Marines three weeks after the Tet
Offensive began. However the North won
the propaganda war, with massive damage inflicted on the South during the
Offensive, much of it by US forces whilst evicting the Communists. Martial law
was proclaimed in Vietnam. US casualties now amounted to 1,000 per day. Questions were asked why the US and South
were suffering so many losses without obvious success in the war.
26/1/1968, Friday (+8,298) The two British banks, the
National Provincial and the Westminster, merged to form the National
Westminster Bank.
23/1/1968, Tuesday (+8,295)
The USS Pueblo, an intelligence ship, and its 89 man crew was seized by the
North Koreans in the Sea of Japan.
21/1/1968, Sunday (+8,293) North Korean commandos made an
assassination attempt upon President Park of South Korea, getting within 300
metres of the Presidential Palace.
16/1/1968, Tuesday
(+8,288) The UK government announced
public expenditure cuts of �700 million. This included postponing a rise in the
school-leaving age, and re-imposing prescription charges. There would also be a
withdrawal of the military from all bases east of Suez, except for Hong Kong.
12/1/1968, Friday
(+8,284) Soviet dissidents Yuri Galanskov and Alexander Ginsburg were
sentenced in Moscow to hard labour.
11/1/1968, Thursday
(+8,283) Emigration from Britain
exceeded immigration by 30,000 in the second quarter on 1967. The world�s fifth
heart transplant was performed in New York. A new magazine, Student, hit Britain�s newsstands. Its
publisher, Richard Branson, hoped the new magazine would become the voice of
Britain�s youth.
Children were entertained on TV by The Magic Roundabout and Blue
Peter.
10/1/1968, Wednesday
(+8,282) (Australia)
John Grey Gorton became 20th Prime Minister of Australia.
9/1/1968, Tuesday
(+8,281) (Space
exploration) The space probe Surveyor
VII landed near the lunar crater Tycho.
8/1/1968, Monday
(+8,280)
5/1/1968, Friday (+8, 277) Alexander Dubcek became the Czech leader, replacing Novotny.� Czech discontent at oppressive government
from Prague and economic exploitation by the USSR led to criticism of the
Communist leader of Czechoslovakia, Novotny (see 25/2/1948), at a Workers Union
Congress in June 1967, and to student demonstrations in October 1967.� See 5/4/1968.
4/1/1968, Thursday (+8,276)
The US now had 486,000 troops in Vietnam.
3/1/1968, Wednesday
(+8,275) Kent Carlsson, Swedish tennis champion, was born.
2/1/1968, Tuesday
(+8,274) Christiaan Barnard
performed a second heart transplant; the recipient Philip Blaiberg survived 594
days, proving the technique was feasible.
1/1/1968, Monday
(+8,273) Colour TV began in The Netherlands.
====================================================================================
31/12/1967, Sunday (+8,272) Hippies embraced love, flower
power, LSD and the Rolling Stones as a cure for the world�s ills.
30/12/1967, Saturday (+8,271)
Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, died aged 80.
29/12/1967, Friday
(+8,270) Paul Whiteman, US composer, died aged 77.
26/12/1967, Tuesday
(+8,267) Sidney Barnes, cricketer, died (born 19/4/1873)
21/12/1967, Thursday
(+8,262) Mikheil Saakashvili,
President of Georgia, was born.
19/12/1967, Tuesday
(+8,260) Second French veto by De
Gaulle on British membership of the E.E.C. The pound was devalued, and Harold
Wilson made his �pound in your pocket� television speech.
13/12/1967, Wednesday
(+8,254) King Constantine II fled
Greece after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the military junta, see
21/4/1967, and 1/6/1973.
11/12/1967, Monday (+8,252) The prototype of the world�s
first supersonic airliner, Concorde, was revealed in Toulouse, France. It first
flew from Bristol on 9/1/1969.
10/12/1967, Sunday (+8,251)
Otis Redding, US singer, died.
9/12/1967, Saturday (+8,250) Nicolae Ceausescu became President of Romania.
7/12/1967, Thursday
(+8,258)
5/12/1967, Tuesday (+8,246) The Beatles opened their Apple
store on Baker Street.
4/12/1967, Monday (+8,245) Bert
Lahr, US stage and film actor, died aged 72.
3/12/1967, Sunday (+8,244) Professor Christian Barnard,
born 1923, performed the world�s first heart transplant in Cape Town. The
recipient, a 53-year old grocer called Waskansky, who received the heart of a
25 year old traffic casualty, died 18 days later of pneumonia. The drugs given
to suppress rejection compromised Waskansky�s immune system. A second heart
transplant patient (see 2/1/1968) survived much longer.
2/12/1967, Saturday (+8,243) Phyllis
Johnson, figure skating champion, died.
1/12/1967, Friday (+8.,242)
Nestor Carbonell, TV actor, was born.
====================================================================================
30/11/1967, Thursday (+8,241) The British withdraw from Aden, and the Republic of South Yemen was formed.
29/11/1967, Wednesday (+8,240) Roy Jenkins succeeded James
Callaghan as Chancellor.
28/11/1967, Tuesday (+8,239) (1) Horseracing was suspended in Britain because of an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease.
(2) The first pulsar was discovered by radio astronomers at
Cambridge, England. The regular radio pulses were initially thought to be
signals from intelligent aliens.
27/11/1967, Monday (+8,238) De Gaulle vetoed Britain�s
entry into the EEC.
26/11/1967, Sunday (+8,237) Ridley
Jacobs, West Indian cricketer, was born.
25/11/1967, Saturday (+8,236) Heavy
rain in Lisbon, Portugal flooded 350 square miles and killed 475.
24/11/1967, Friday (+8,235) Salli
Richardson, actress, was born.
23/11/1967, Thursday (+8,234) The
UK government was about to ban meat imports from Europe because of the outbreak
of Foot and Mouth Disease there. TV shows included a debate on The Roman Catholic Church has no place in
the 20th Century and The
Man from UNCLE.
22/11/1967, Wednesday (+8,233)
The UN passed the famous Resolution
242. It promised secure Israeli borders in exchange for an Israeli
withdrawal from the occupied territories, and stated the need for a solution to
the Palestinian refugee problem. However no timetable was given for achieving
these aims.
18/11/1967. Saturday (+8,229)
Devaluation of Sterling. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr James
Callaghan, announced a 14.3% devaluation, from $2.80 to $2.40 to the pound. He
resigned the Chancellorship eleven days later.
13/11/1967, Monday (+8,224) George Beamish, rugby player, was born.
10/11/1967, Friday
(+8,221) The Moody Blue�s single, Nights
in White Satin was released.
9/11/1967, Thursday
(+8,220) (Space
exploration) US space probe Surveyor VI soft-landed on the Moon.
8/11/1967, Wednesday
(+8,219) The first local radio station in the UK, Radio Leicester, went
on the air.� It was opened by the
Postmaster-General, Edward Short.
5/11/1967, Sunday (+8,216) 49 people were killed at a
rail crash at Hither Green, south London.
2/11/1967, Thursday
(+8,213) The first Scottish
Nationalist Party candidate took their seat at Westminster. In the by-election
at Hamilton, Winifred Ewing took the seat for the SNP, a party formed in 1934.
1/11/1967, Wednesday
(+8,212) Rolling Stone Magazine
started publication, the first Rock�n�Roll periodical in the USA.
===================================================================================
31/10/1967, Tuesday
(+8,211) The Expo �67 exhibition in Montreal closed; it had opened on
27/4/1967.
30/10/1967, Monday (+8,210)
Statistics showed that the number of Britain�s drug addicts under 20 rose
from 145 in 1965 to 329 in 1966. Captain
Scarlet merchandise hit the shops. TV showed Bewitched, Dr Finlays Casebook, The Saint, and Z Cars.
29/10/1967, Sunday (+8,209)
27/10/1967, Friday (+8,207) The UK�s Abortion Act received
Royal Assent.
26/10/1967, Thursday
(+8,206) The Shah of Iran
and his wife were crowned in Tehran.
25/10/1967, Wednesday
(+8,205) UK Parliament passed the Abortion Act, decriminalising
abortion.
24/10/1967, Tuesday
(+8,204) Israeli artillery destroyed a petrol refinery at Port Suez.
21/10/1967, Saturday (+8,201)
The Israeli destroyer Eilat was
sunk by Egyptian missiles
18/10/1967, Wednesday (+8,198)
The Soviet space probe Venera 4 made the first soft landing on Venus.
15/10/1967, Sunday (+8,195)
Henry Pu Yi, the last emperor of China from the age of 2, died in Peking
aged 61. The Guardian offered its readers �the first binary computer kit�
called Digi-Comp 1, for �3 10 shillings. Meanwhile in Tokyo the Nippon Electric
Co was offering the world�s first commercial television telephone. TV viewers saw
Steptoe and Son, whilst Patrick
McGoohan was unable to accept his lot in North Wales as The Prisoner. Ironside
the wheelchair bound detective propelled himself around the streets of San
Francisco.
9/10/1967, Monday (+8,189)
The revolutionary Marxist leader
Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia and shot. Bolivian troops killed
Ernesto �Che� Guevara and six other guerrillas they had cornered in the village
of La Higuera near Vallegrande. The Argentine born hero of Latin American
revolutionaries, Guevara was a prominent figure in Fidel Castro�s successful
Cuban Revolution of the 1950s and 60s. Guevara then decided to join other
struggles of �liberation�. Guevara came from a middle class family and his
travels convinced him that only violent revolution would solve the economic,
political, and poverty problems facing many Latin American countries. The
French philosopher Jean Paul Satre described him as �the most complete human
being of our age�.
8/10/1967, Sunday (+8,188)
(1) A motorist in Flax Bourton, Somerset became the
first person to be breathalysed in Britain. See 21/3/1968.
(2) Clement Atlee, British Prime Minister 1945-51, died aged 84.
7/10/1967, Saturday
(+8,187) Norman Angell, English author and politician, died aged 92.
5/10/1967, Thursday
(+8,185) The first majority verdict was recorded in a UK court, 10 to 2,
at Brighton Quarter Sessions.
3/10/1967, Tuesday (+8,183)
US Air Force pilot Major Peter Knight flew a rocket-powered research aircraft
at 4,534 mph (7,254 kph).
===================================================================================
30/9/1967, Saturday (+8,180)
BBC Radio was reorganised. BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, and 4 began broadcasting,
with Tony Blackburn introducing The Breakfast Show. His first record was
Flowers In The Rain by The Move.
27/9/1967, Wednesday
(+8,177) The liner Queen Mary arrived at Southampton, at the end
of her last transatlantic voyage.
20/9/1967, Wednesday
(+8,170) The Queen launched the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth II,
at Clydebank, Scotland.
18/9/1967, Monday (+8,168)
Sir John Cockroft, British scientist who along with Ernest Walton split the
atom, died.
12/9/1967, Tuesday
(+8,162) Governor Reagan called for an escalation of the Vietnam War.
10/9/1967, Sunday (+8,160) Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly to
stay British. 12,318 voted for Britain, and 44 for Spanish rule. In 2002 the
British government was considering sharing sovereignty with Spain but the
Gibraltarian governor was to hold an unauthorised referendum, which he believed
would show the majority wished to stay British.
8/9/1967, Friday (+8,158)
Uganda became a republic, with Milton Obote as the first President.
5/9/1967, Tuesday
(+8,155) Janet Sixsmith, champion hockey player, was born.
3/9/1967, Sunday (+8,153)
(1) Sweden switched over from driving on the
left to driving on the right. All traffic was banned from Sweden�s roads
between 1.am. and 6.am. that day. This reduced accidents since neighbouring
Norway and Denmark already drove on the right. An earlier referendum, in 1955,
had rejected the switchover but the Swedish Government finally approved the
change in 1963.
(2) General Nguyen Van Thieu was elected
President of South Vietnam.
1/9/1967, Friday (+8,151) At a meeting in Khartoum, the
Arabs decided to lift the oil embargo that had been imposed on the West since
the Six Day War.
====================================================================================
31/8/1967, Thursday
(+8,150) Ilya Ehrenburg, Soviet author, died aged 75.
29/8/1967, Tuesday
(+8,148)
28/8/1967, Monday (+8,147) Death of Charles Darrow, US
inventor of the board game Monopoly.
27/8/1967, Sunday (+8,146)
Brian Epstein, who managed The Beatles rise to rock stardom, died in a swimming
pool accident.
25/8/1967, Friday
(+8,144)
23/8/1967, Wednesday
(+8,142) Race riots in Detroit.
22/8/1967, Tuesday
(+8,141) Red Guards set fire to the British Embassy in Beijing.
15/8/1967, Tuesday
(+8,134) The Marine Broadcasting Act came into force in the UK,
outlawing pop pirate radio stations.
9/8/1967, Wednesday
(+8,128) Joe Orton, English author and playwright, died aged 34.
8/8/1967, Tuesday
(+8,127) ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) was founded. The
original members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand. Brunei joined in 1984, Vietnam in 1995, Laos and Myanmar in
1997,� and Cambodia in 1999. East Timor
attempted to join, post-independence, but was blocked by Indonesia.
6/8/1967, Sunday (+8,125)
4/8/1967, Friday
(+8,123) The Tagus Road Bridge at Lisbon opened.
3/8/1967, Thursday
(+8,122) Siegfried Sassoon, British poet, died.
2/8/1967, Wednesday
(+8,121) The second Blackwall road tunnel, London, opened (first tunnel
opened 22/5/1897).
1/8/1967, Tuesday
(+8,120) (Education-University)
The University of Dundee received its Charter. For 70 years before this, it was
linked to the University of St Andrews, as University College Dundee, founded
1881.
====================================================================================
30/7/1967, Sunday (+8,118)
29/7/1967, Saturday
(+8,117) An earthquake in Caracas, Venezuela killed 240.
28/7/1967, Friday (+8,116)
The UK steel industry was
nationalised.
27/7/1967, Thursday
(+8,115) (1) In the UK, the Sexual Offences Act partially decriminalised
homosexuality. Two men could have sex together if they were above the age of
21.
(2) Robin Scott, the man in charge of
the brand new Radio One, announced that should pop music prove to be a passing
fad, he would devote the station�s output to �sweet music�.
26/7/1967, Wednesday
(+8,114)
25/7/1967, Tuesday
(+8,113) (1) In the UK, the Sexual Offences
Act partially decriminalised homosexuality. Two men could have sex together if
they were above the age of 21.
(2) During a State visit to Canada,
General Charles de Gaulle of France encouraged French-speaking Quebec citizens
to break away; he was rebuked for this breach of etiquette by the Canadian
Prime Minister and returned to France.
24/7/1967, Monday (+8,112)
Graham Greene, Francis Crick, and The Beatles were among those who signed a
full-page advertisement in The Times,
saying the law against marijuana was �immoral in principle and unworkable in
practice�.
23/7/1967, Sunday (+8,111)
Riots broke out in Detroit after police raided a �blind pig�, an unlicensed
bar, in the 12th street area of Detroit. In 5 days of disorder, 43
people were killed and 467 injured. 7,200 were arrested and almost 3,000
buildings burnt or looted. The US Army had to go in with tanks and machine
guns. The root cause of the riots was credit discrimination by banks against
addresses in districts that were mainly Black.
22/7/1967, Saturday
(+8,110) The US poet Carl Sandburg died in North Carolina.
21/7/1967, Friday (+8,109) Majority verdicts were now
allowed in UK courts.
18/7/1967, Tuesday
(+8,106) British forces were to
withdraw from areas east of Suez by the mid-1970s,
15/7/1967, Saturday
(+8,103) Israel said it would not comply with the UN request to withdraw
from east Jerusalem (4/7/1967) and also would not give up the
strategically-important Golan Heights.
14/7/1967, Friday (+8,102)
Parliament in the UK voted to legalise abortion. This was after a record 64
hour debate. This was
after a record 64 hour debate. The 1967 Abortion Act allowed for the legal
termination of pregnancy if two registered doctors believed that continuation
of the pregnancy could damage the physical or mental health of the woman, or of
members of her family, or where there was substantial risk of the baby being born
with physical or mental abnormalities.
13/7/1967, Thursday
(+8,101) Thomas Simpson, champion cyclist, died (born 30/11/1937).
10/7/1967, Monday
(+8,098)
8/7/1967, Saturday (+8,096) Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani
politician, died.
7/7/1967, Friday (+8,095) (1) Nigerian troops invaded the breakaway region
of Biafra, see 30/5/1967. The Biafrans had, initially, the main oil
reserves and the refinery at Port Harcourt, so were able to secure help and
weapons from abroad. However they faced an overwhelmingly larger Federal
Nigerian Army. The ruler of Nigeria, Gowon, faced the threat of regional
secession and was determined to
maintain the unity of his country.
(2) Using Sir Francis Drake�s sword, the
Queen knighted Sir Francis Chichester, who had sailed solo around the world in
Gypsy Moth IV.
6/7/1967, Thursday
(+8,094)
4/7/1967, Tuesday
(+8,092) The United Nations asked Israel to withdraw from Arab East
Jerusalem.
3/7/1967, Monday (+8,091) In Britain, ITV launched News at Ten.
2/7/1967, Sunday (+8,090)
1/7/1967, Saturday (+8,089)
BBC 2 began colour broadcasting in
Britain. Wimbledon was covered in colour for the first time.
====================================================================================
30/6/1967, Friday
(+8,088) Moise Tshombe, former President of Katanga and former prime
minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was kidnapped to Algeria.
29/6/1967, Thursday
(+8,087) The American child psychologist Dr Benjamin Spock led a march
of nearly 5,000 people in London in protest against the Vietnam War. Eighteen
people were arrested as the march headed towards the US Embassy in Grosvenor
Square. The Magic Roundabout
continued on TV, as did The Man from
UNCLE as he battled with the evil THRUSH organisation.
28/6/1967, Wednesday
(+8,086) Israel declared the annexation of East Jerusalem.
27/6/1967, Tuesday
(+8,085) Barclay�s Bank, in Enfield, north London, opened Britain�s
first cash dispenser.
25/6/1967, Sunday (+8,083)
The first worldwide TV show was broadcast; via satellite link it reached 26
countries. The programme, Our World,
had an estimated audience of 400 million. It concluded with a live Beatles
performance of All You Need is Love.
17/6/1967, Saturday (+8,075)
China exploded its first hydrogen bomb. This raised tensions between China
and the USSR.
15/6/1967, Thursday
(+8,073) (1)
Race riots shook New Jersey, USA, following the arrest of a black taxi driver
for a traffic offence. The riots lasted for four nights 1,600 people were
arrested, 1,100 were injured, and 22 died.
(2) In Britain the Latey Commission
reported that the voting age should be lowered to 18. Films included The Further Perils of Laurel and Hardy.
The Guardian TV critic complained that �with the basically green and white
Wimbledon being followed by Late Night
Line Up with everyone wearing basically black and white� people paying
nearly �2 a week to rent the colour sets should be getting �the occasional
dazzle�. Whickers World and Till Death do
us Part formed part of the TV schedules.
14/6/1967, Wednesday
(+8,072) At a telecommunications conference in London, the Postmaster
General predicted shopping by picture television and news reports by computer
before the end of the century. He went on to discuss the imminent arrival of
household robots. Australian and New Zealand woolgrowers expressed concern over
the effects of the mini skirt on wool
prices, which were down 6d a pound on the last season. On TV, �Games
without Frontiers� was on. It�s a
Knockout and The Likely Lads was
also on.
12/6/1967, Monday
(+8,070)
11/6/1967, Sunday (+8,069) (Medical)
Wolfgang Kohler, Russian-German-US psychologist, died in Enfield, New
Hampshire, USA.
10/6/1967, Saturday (+8,068) The
White House, Washington, received a threat from the USSR over the �hotline�
that Russia would get involved in the Israel-Arab conflict to prevent a total
Israeli victory. Moscow, ally of Egypt, had moved naval forces from the Black
Sea into the Mediterranean and was planning an invasion of Israel from the coast.
The world was in danger of a new World War between the USSR and USA, Israel�s
ally. Russia�s ultimate failure to intervene caused it to lose some credibility
with its other allies such as Cuba. This day Moscow severed diplomatic
relations with Israel.
9/6/1967, Friday (+8,067) As Egypt was heavily defeated
in the Six Day War, Nasser resigned.
8/6/1967, Thursday (+8,066) The
Israeli Air Force, during the Six-Day War, attacked and severely damaged a US
research ship, the USS Liberty. Israel maintained that the attack was an
accident, the ship having been mistaken for an Egyptian one.
7/6/1967, Wednesday (+8,065)
Israeli forces captured Arab East Jerusalem.
6/6/1967, Tuesday (+8,064) Paul
Giamatti, US actor, was born.
5/6/1967, Monday (+8,063) 8.00 am local time; The Six Day War began between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. Israel routed the armies of
three Arab nations and occupied an area larger than the entire State of Israel
in just six days. The war began after Colonel Nasser, having formed a pact with
Syria and Jordan, moved his forces into Sinai and closed the Straits of Tiran
to Israeli shipping. Early on the morning of 5/6/1967 Israel made lightning
strikes against Arab airbases, and within 24 hours the Egyptian and other Arab
air forces were destroyed. Three Israeli tank divisions moved into the Sinai
Desert. The Sinai capital El Arish fell on 6/6/1967 and by then the Egyptian
army was in total disarray. By 7/6/1967 King Hussein's Jordanian forces were
also routed and most of the West bank, including the Old City of Jerusalem, was
in Israeli hands. On 9/6/1967, amid calls for a ceasefire, Israeli forces
pressed on to the Suez Canal. Israel also launched an attack on the Golan
Heights and by 10/6/12967 had taken these from Syria.
4/6/1967, Sunday (+8,062) British
Midland flight G-ALHG crashed in Hopes Carr, Stockport, Manchester, killing 72
passengers and crew.
3/6/1967, Saturday (+8,061)
2/6/1967, Friday (+8,060)
Rioting in West Berlin against the visit of the Shah of Iran, in which Benno
Ohnesorg was killed by a police officer. His death resulted in the founding of
the terrorist group Movement 2 June.
1/6/1967, Thursday (+8,059) Moshe Dayan appointed the Israeli
Defence Minister.
====================================================================================
31/5/1967, Wednesday (+8,058)
The President of Iraq stated, �The existence of Israel is an error that
must be rectified. This is our opportunity to wipe out the ignominy that has
been with us since 1948. Our goal is clear � to wipe Israel off the map�.
30/5/1967, Tuesday (+8,057) Biafra, 44,000 square miles, seceded from Nigeria under the military
commander of the Eastern Ibo region, Odumegwu Ojukwu, starting a civil war. See 7/7/1967, 19/5/1968, and
12/1/1970. �Nigeria at independence in
1960 had a population of around 50 million, consisting mainly of Muslim Hausa
and Fulani in the north, Catholic Ibos in the east, and Muslim Yorubas in the
west. There was considerable enmity between the Ibos and the Muslims. �In January 1966 a coup by Major-General
Johnson Ironsi, an Ibo, replaced the civilian post-independence government,
This coup provoked a massacre of Ibos in the northern Muslim regions. At end
July 1966 a second coup, by northern Army officers, deposed Ironsi, who was
then tortured and murdered. General Yakubu Gowon, a Christian from a minority
tribe, now came to power. He tried to reassure the Ibos but hundreds of
thousands of them fled to the eastern Ibo region for safety. Gowon planned to
institute a 12-region federal structure for Nigeria, but the military Governor
of the eastern region, Colonel Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, refused to accept this.
Ojukwu was a wealthy Ibo, Oxford-educated, who declared the oil-rich Eastern Region
independent on 30/5/1967 as Biafra, hoping for support from the oil
multinationals. However Nigerian troops overran Biafra, over an extended time
period, making Biafra a byword for mass starvation.
Biafran-controlled
territory shrank, by September 1968, to a landlocked enclave 100km by 50 km.
Ojukwu hired a Swiss public relations firm, Markpress, to plead his cause to
the world. Markpress played the religious factor, painting (to the West) Ojukwu
as a Christian under Muslim threat; Gowon countered that many on the Nigerian
side, including Gowon himself, were also Christian. From August 1968 aid
agencies began sending food aid to the starving Biafrans. France backed the
Biafran side and sent military aid via Gabon and Cote D�Ivoire. Britain and
Russia both backed the Nigerian side. Mercenaries under Colonel Rolf Steiner
arrived to bolster the Biafran forces; this held back the Nogerian forces,
however only prolonging the suffering of the Biafran people. Nigeria, unable to
overcome Steiner�s men, settled upon bombing raids and blockade. Gowon blocked
food aid, arguing it was being used as a cover for arms shipments.
29/5/1967, Monday (+8,056)
Geronimo Baqueiro Foster, composer,
died aged 69.
28/5/1967, Sunday (+8,055) Sir
Francis Chichester arrived in Plymouth after a solo voyage around the world in
his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV.� See 27/8/1966.
27/5/1967, Saturday (+8,054) President
Nasser, nine days before the Six Day War began, declared, �Our objective will
be the destruction of Israel�.
22/5/1967, Monday
(+8,049) (Israel)
Egypt began to blockade the Straits of Tiran, the only sea access to the
Israeli port of Elat.
19/5/1967, Friday
(+8,046) (Israel)
The UN began to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the Gaza Strip, at the
request of Egypt.
15/5/1967, Monday (+8,042) In the village of Naxalbari,
West Bengal, peasants rebelled against landowners. This was the start of the
Maoist rebel Naxalite movement in eastern India.
14/5/1967, Sunday (+8,041)
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King was consecrated.
12/5/1967, Friday
(+8,039) The British Government chose Stansted as the site for London�s
third airport. Protestors won another enquiry, scheduled for February 1968.
=====================================================================================
27/4/1967, Thursday
(+8,024) The Expo �67 exhibition opened in Montreal. It closed on
31/10/1967.
26/4/1967, Wednesday
(+8,023) William Davies, rugby player, died (born 21/6/1890).
25/4/1967, Tuesday
(+8,022) Colorado became the first US State to liberalise its abortion
laws. Abortion was now permissible in the case of rape or incest, where the
woman�s physical or mental health was in danger, or was likely to result in a
child with severe mental or physical issues. The abortion had to be performed
in a licenced hospital with the approval of three physicians.
24/4/1967, Monday (+8,021)
The first space casualty occurred when Vladimir Komarov was killed as the
Russian spacecraft Soyuz I crashed to earth after leaving orbit.
It came to earth on the Steppes of Orenburg.
22/4/1967, Saturday
(+8,019)
21/4/1967, Friday (+8,018)
Colonels in Greece under Papadopolous took power in a military
coup; parliamentary democracy was suspended. King Constantine II
initially collaborated with the colonels until 13/12/1967 �but then unsuccessfully attempted a counter
coup.� He later fled to Rome.
20/4/1967, Thursday
(+8,017) A Swiss Global Air Britannia airliner was hit by lightning and
crashed at Nicosia Airport, Cyprus, killing 126.
19/4/1967, Wednesday
(+8,016) Konrad Adenauer, West German Chancellor from 1949 to 1963,
died.
15/4/1967, Saturday (+8,012)
100,000 protested against the Vietnam
War in New York.
12/4/1967, Wednesday
(+8,009) The UK� reached parity with the US$.
5/4/1967, Wednesday
(+8,002) Mischa Elman, Russian-US violinist, died in New York (born
20/1/1891 in Talnoye, Russia).
4/4/1967, Tuesday
(+8,001) Martin Luther King
denounced the Vietnam War.
3/4/1967, Monday
(+8,000)
1/4/1967, Saturday (+7,998)
(1) The Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserves
formed.
(2) Britain�s first
Ombudsman was created, Sir Edmund Compton.
(3) Front seat seatbelts
became compulsory on all UK cars registered from this date.
==================================================================================
31/3/1967, Friday
(+7,997) The Supreme Headquarters of NATO moved from France to Casteau,
Belgium.
30/3/1967, Thursday
(+7,996) The Torrey Canyon
was finally destroyed by RAF bombing.
28/3/1967, Tuesday
(+7,994)
27/3/1967, Monday
(+7,993) (Chemistry)
Jaroslav Heyrovsky, physical chemist, died in Prague.
26/3/1967, Sunday (+7,992)
Easter Sunday. 10,000
hippies held a rally in New York's Central Park.
21/3/1967, Tuesday
(+7,987)
19/3/1967, Sunday (+7,985)
French Somaliland (now Djibouti) rejected independence in a� referendum.
18/3/1967, Saturday (+7,984)
The Torrey Canyon ran aground on the Seven Stones reef off Lands End. The 975 foot tanker spilled
117,000 tons of Kuwaiti crude oil that was bound for Milford Haven. Within six
days 30,000 tons of oil had escaped producing a 260 square mile slick.
Thousands of gallons of detergent were dumped on the slick, but two days later
the tanker broke her back during a salvage attempt, releasing a further 30,000
tons of oil. On 28 and 29 March the RAF took emergency action, and tried to
burn off the oil. They dumped aviation fuel, high explosive bombs, rockets, and
napalm onto the slick. The six hour bombardment was a success but by then the
oil had fouled 100 miles of Cornish coastline.
15/3/1967, Wednesday
(+7,981)
12/3/1967, Sunday (+7,978)
Mrs Ghandi re-elected Prime Minister of India.
11/3/1967, Saturday
(+7,977) Geraldine Farrar, US opera singer, died in Ridgefield, Connecticut
(born in Melrose, Massachusetts, 28/2/1882).
10/3/1967, Friday (+7.976)
The US bombed industrial targets in North Vietnam.
9/3/1967, Thursday
(+7,975) Svetlana Alliluyeva,
daughter of Joseph Stalin, defected to the West, requesting political asylum at
the US Embassy in India.
7/3/1967, Tuesday
(+7,973) The first North Sea gas was brought ashore in Britain.
1/3/1967, Wednesday (+7,967) The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London (conference
centre) opened.
===================================================================================
26/2/1967, Sunday (+7,964) The US stepped up the Vietnam
war with an attack on the Vietcong HQ.
22/2/1967, Wednesday
(+7,960) Suharto replaced Sukarno as
President of Indonesia.
18/2/1967, Saturday (+7,956)
Robert Oppenheiner, American scientist who developed the US atom bomb, died
in Princeton, New Jersey.
17/2/1967, Friday
(+7,955) The Beatles� hit, Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single was
released.
14/2/1967, Tuesday
(+7,952) 100 Labour MPs in
Westminster condemned the US bombing of Vietnam. On 26/2/1967 the US
stepped up the war by attacking the Vietcong's HQ.
13/2/1967, Monday
(+7,951) The Kirkham to Blackpool South (direct) railway closed.
7/2/1967, Tuesday
(+7,945) In Britain the Far Right anti-immigration National Front party was
formed. It was founded by AK Chesterton, cousin of the famous
author.
====================================================================================
29/1/1967, Sunday (+7,936)
President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania issued the Arusha Declaration. It set out
principles of �African Socialism� which proved to be politically popular but
economically disastrous.
27/1/1967, Friday (+7,934)
Fire broke out on the spacecraft Apollo I during ground tests at Cape
Kennedy. Virgil Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee were killed. Normally
fire-resistant plastics ignited in the pure oxygen used by the astronauts.
26/1/1967, Thursday
(+7,933) Red Guards besieged the Soviet Embassy in Beijing, alleging
mistreatment of Chinese students in Moscow.
24/1/1967, Tuesday
(+7,931)
23/1/1967, Monday (+7,930) (Britain)
Milton Keynes was inaugurated as a New Town.
22/1/1967, Sunday (+7,929) Nicholas Gillingham, champion swimmer, was
born.
18/1/1967, Wednesday
(+7,925) Jeremy Thorpe, born on 29/4/1929, became leader of the Liberal Party, replacing Joe Grimond. Thorpe
resigned on 10/5/1976.
12/1/1967, Thursday
(+7,919) Plans were announced for a
new city at Milton Keynes.
11/1/1967, Wednesday (+7,018) In Britain, the Society for the
Protection of Unborn Children was formed.
10/1/1967, Tuesday (+7,917)
9/1/1967, Monday (+7,916) Claudio Cabiggia, Argentinean footballer,
was born.
8/1/1967, Sunday (+7,915) Rioting in Shanghai, China, as
workers went on strike.
6/1/1967, Friday (+7,914)
5/1/1967, Thursday
(+7,911) The BBC TV show Gardener�s World was firs broadcast.
4/1/1967, Wednesday
(+7,911) Donald Campbell died attempting to break his own water speed
record of 276.33 mph on Coniston Water in the Lake District. He had made one
run, then turned for another run too soon, and his boat hit its own wake and
catapulted out of the water. His boat was called Bluebird K 7.
3/1/1967, Tuesday
(+7,910) Jack Ruby, who shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of
President Kennedy, died of natural causes at a Dallas hospital. Mr Ruby was
awaiting the retrial of his murder case.
2/1/1967, Monday (+7,909)
Groombridge to Three Bridges railway closed. Stopping services withdrawn
Ipswich to Norwich via Stowmarket.
1/1/1967, Sunday (+7,908)
Maurice Leyland, cricketer, died (born 20/7/1900).
=====================================================================================
31/12/1966, Saturday
(+7,907)
29/12/1966, Thursday
(+7,905) Martin Offiah, rugby player, was born.
28/12/1966, Wednesday
(+7,904) Westminster Abbey celebrated its 900th anniversary.
25/12/1955, Sunday (+7,901)
23/12/1966, Friday
(+7,899) Heimito von Doderer, Austrian novelist (born 5/11/1896 in Vienna)
died in Vienna.
22/12/1966, Thursday
(+7,898) Rhodesia left the
Commonwealth.
15/12/1966, Thursday
(+7,891) Walt Disney, US film producer and leader in animation, died.
6/12/1966, Tuesday
(+7,882) Ian Smith of Rhodesia
refused UK government proposals to end UDI. Rhodesia left the Commonwealth on
22/12/1966.
2/12/1966, Friday (+7,878)
British Prime Minister Harold Wilson met Ian Smith on HMS Tiger off
Gibraltar, for talks on the independence of Rhodesia.
1/12/1966, Thursday
(+7,877) Britain�s Post Offices issued the first Christmas Stamps.
====================================================================================
30/11/1966, Wednesday
(+7,876) Barbados proclaimed full independence.
29/11/1966, Tuesday
(+7,875)
27/11/1966, Sunday (+7,873)
Richard Corsie, bowls champion, was born.
26/11/1966, Saturday (+7,872)
Charles De Gaulle in Brittany opened the world�s first tidal power
station.� It was in the Rance Estuary, in
the Golfe de St Malo. The station, first planned in 1955, cost French Francs
420 million (UK� 42 million) to build.
19/11/1966, Saturday (+7.,865) Ivan Lawler, canoeing champion, was born.
11/11/1966, Friday
(+7,857) (Space
exploration) Final mission of the Gemini series. James A Lovell and
Edwin E Aldrin completed 5 hours of extra-vehicular activity.
10/11/1966, Thursday
(+7,856) The UK held discussions about entry to the EEC.
9/11/1966, Wednesday
(+7,855) Severe flooding hit Florence, ruining many art treasures. The
River Arno burst its banks after heavy rain upstream from the city which was
situated in a narrow valley, and 100 people died.
8/11/1966, Tuesday
(+7,854) Edward Brooke became the USA�s first black senator.
4/11/1966, Friday
(+7,850) Gary Havelock, speedway champion, was born.
====================================================================================
31/10/1966, Monday
(+7,846)
26/10/1966, Wednesday
(+7,841) US President Johnson visited US troops in Vietnam.
25/10/1966, Tuesday
(+7,840) A military court in Jakarta sentenced Indonesia's ex-foreign
minister Subandrio to death, on charges of being involved in the 30 September
Movement. The sentence was reduced to life imprisonment on the intervention of
the British government.
24/10/1966, Monday
(+7,839) Sam Hardy, footballer, died (born 26/8/1883).
23/10/1966, Sunday (+7,838)
BP announced the discovery of large gas fields in the North Sea.
22/10/1966, Saturday (+7,837)
KGB master spy George Blake escaped from Wormwood Scrubs, using a home-made
rope ladder to scale the high perimeter wall,�
He had been serving a 42-year sentence for espionage meted out in 1962,
one year for each of the lives his treachery was estimated to have cost. On
20/11/1966 he arrived in East Berlin.
21/10/1966, Friday (+7,836) The Aberfan disaster. A coal waste tip
collapsed at 9.30am, burying a school in the Welsh Valleys, shortly after the
children had arrived for morning assembly. It was a half day and by midday
the schools would have been empty again for the half term holiday. 2 million
tons of rock and sludge engulfed both the infants and junior schools. Also
engulfed were a row of cottages and a farm; 147 people, 116 of them children,
were killed. Aberfan was a close-knit community, and now had just five
surviving children. The National Coal Board was blamed for siting the colliery
waste tip on top of a natural spring; heavy rain had further destabilised the
waste heap.
20/10/1966, Thursday
(+7,835)
18/10/1966, Tuesday
(+7,833) (1) Death of the cosmetic
company founder, Elizabeth Arden.
(2) The hanged Timothy Evans
won a posthumous Royal Pardon, see 15/7/1953.
17/10/1966, Monday (+7,832)
Shaun Edwards, rugby player, was born in Wigan.
15/10/1966, Saturday (+7,830)
In the USA, the Endangered Species Preservation Act came into force. Initially,
78 species in danger were listed. By April 1999, some species, such as the bald
eagle and the black footed ferret, have come off the critical list but a
further 925 species remained listed.
13/10/1966, Thursday
(+7,828) John Regis, athlete (sprinting), was born.
10/10/1966, Monday
(+7,825) Tony Adams, captain of Arsenal football team, was born.
9/10/1966, Sunday (+7,824) David Cameron, UK Conservative Prime Minister
2010 - 2016, was born in Marylebone, London.
8/10/1966, Saturday (+7,823) Kevin Fleming O'Brien, US writer, was born.
7/10/1966, Friday
(+7,822) The USSR expelled all Chinese students.
6/10/1966, Thursday
(+7,821) (1) The EEC published an adverse
report on the UK economy; the UK was trying to join the EEC.
(2) California made possession of LSD
illegal.
5/10/1966, Wednesday
(+7,820) Spain closed the frontier with Gibraltar to all but pedestrian
traffic.
4/10/1966, Tuesday
(+7,819) Lesotho became independent. It had been formerly known as
Basutoland, and had been a British Protectorate since 1868.
3/10/1966, Monday
(+7,818)
1/10/1966, Saturday
(+7,716) George Weah, Liberian footballer, was born.
====================================================================================
30/9/1966, Friday (+7,815)
Botswana became independent. It had formerly been called Bechuanaland.� Sir Setese Khama was its first President.
29/9/1966, Thursday
(+7,814) Argentina raided the Falkland Islands.
28/9/1966, Wednesday
(+7,813) Andre Breton, French poet, died.
26/9/1966, Monday
(+7,811)
23/9/1966, Friday (+7,808)
USA planes dropped tons of herbicides on Vietnam turning the demilitarised
zone between North and South Vietnam into a barren wasteland.
Mr Joe Kagan, raincoat maker to Mr Harold Wilson, suggested
that by the 1980s men would be wearing something like a mini skirt with a toga
over it in cold weather. On TV Emergency
Ward Ten was on as Patrick Mc Goohan�s
Danger Man was about to give way to The
Prisoner.
22/9/1966, Thursday
(+7,887) (Science)
Vladimir Iosofovich, Soviet physicist, died in Moscow.
19?9/1966, Monday
(+7,804)
16/9/1966, Friday (+7,801)
Britain�s first Polaris nuclear submarine, the Resolution, was launched
by the Queen Mother.
15/9/1966, Thursday
(+7,800) Dejan Savicevic, Yugoslav footballer, was born.
13/9/1966, Tuesday
(+7,798)
12/9/1966, Monday
(+7,797) In Mississippi, USA, White parents rioted, attacking Black
schoolchildren who were attending racially-integrated schools.
11/9/1966, Sunday (+7,796)
Race riots in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
10/9/1966, Saturday (+7,795)
(1)
Ireland said it would introduce free post-primary education from 1967.
(2) Sir Seretse Khama became President of the new Republic of
Ghana.
9/9/1966, Friday
(+7,794) (1) (Universities)
The University of Surrey, Guildford, was founded.
(2) In the USA, the sci-fi drama Star
Trek premiered on NBC TV.
8/9/1966, Thursday (+7,793) (1) Queen Elizabeth II opened the Severn Bridge. The
career of ferryman Enoch Williams, who had carried passengers and cars across
the Severn estuary since starting his business on the first day of the General
Strike 1926, ended.
(2) Star
Trek was first broadcast.
7/9/1966, Wednesday
(+7,792) Toby Jones, English film actor, was born in Hammersmith, London
6/9/1966, Tuesday
(+7,791) South African Prime
Minister Dr Hendrik Voerwoerd, aged 65, was assassinated, stabbed four times in
the chest by a White Parliamentary messenger, with a stiletto, because �his
Government didn�t do enough for Whites�. Voerwoerd had, since 1950, created
semi-independent and poverty stricken �homelands� for South Africa�s 73% Black
majority, covering just 13% of South African territory; effectively creating a
White majority in the remainder of the country.
5/9/1966, Monday
(+7,790) Antony Ringer, shooting champion, was born.
3/9/1966, Saturday (+7,788)
Captain Ridgeway and Sergeant Blyth became the first Britons to row across the
Atlantic.� The journey, in English
Rose III, took 91 days.
===================================================================================
29/8/1966, Monday (+7,783)
The Beatles gave their last live concert performance in Candlestick Park,
San Francisco.
27/8/1966, Saturday (+7,781)
Francis Chichester left Plymouth on his solo round the world voyage in the
yacht Gypsy Moth IV.� He arrived back in
Plymouth on 28/5/1967.
26/8/1966, Friday
(+7,780) Michael McTigue, boxer, died.
23/8/1966, Tuesday
(+7,777) The Cotswolds were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty.
19/8/1966, Friday
(+7,773) Earthquake in eastern Turkey killed 2,000.
18/8/1966, Thursday
(+7,772) The Queen Mother opened the Tay Road Bridge.
13/8/1966. Saturday (+7,767)
Chairman Mao of China announced a 'cultural revolution'. On 18/8/1966 Mao appeared on
the gallery of the Tiananmen Gate in Peking to a crowd of over a million Red
Guards. Then the student Red Guards spread out into China to radicalise the
towns and countryside.
11/8/1966, Thursday (+7,765) Malaysia and Indonesia ended a 3
year war.
10/8/1966, Wednesday (+7,764) America�s first Moon satellite, Orbiter
1, was launched.
8/8/1966, Monday (+7,762) Christopher Eubank, boxer, was born in
Dulwich, London.
4/8/1966, Thursday (+7,758)
John Lennon suggested that The Beatles were �more popular than Jesus�. Within
days US radio stations had banned their music and there were public bonfires of
their records.
3/8/1966, Wednesday (+7,757) US nightclub comedian Lenny Bruce was
found dead at his Hollywood house.
2/8/1966, Tuesday
(+7,756) Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer, was born.
1/8/1966, Monday (+7,755)
===================================================================================
31/7/1966, Sunday (+7,754) In
the US, there were race riots in Chicago, New York, and Cleveland.
30/7/1966, Saturday (+7,753) England beat West Germany 4 � 2 in
extra time (towards the end of normal time England were 2-1 ahead, but Germany
secured a last-minute equaliser) to win the World Cup at Wembley Stadium,
London.
29/7/1966, Friday (+7,752) General Yakubu Gowon succeeded General
Ironsi as ruler of Nigeria, after an army mutiny.
28/7/1966, Thursday (+7,751)
Florence Nagle, 70,� became the first
woman racecourse trainer.
23/7/1966, Saturday (+7,746)
21/7/1966, Thursday (+7,744)
The first Welsh Nationalist MP, Gwynfor Evans, took his seat in Parliament
after a by-election.
20/7/1966, Wednesday
(+7,743) (1) Harold Wilson imposed a wages freeze in the UK. Inflation was
high.
(2) Racial
unrest continued in Brooklyn, New York, resulting in the fatal stabbing of an
11 year old boy. There were other racial tensions across the USA.
(3)
Reverend Ian Paisley was jailed for breaching the peace at a church assembly in
June.
18/7/1966, Monday (+7,741) The US launched the Gemini 10
spacecraft, crewed by John Young and Michael Collins.
16/7/1966, Saturday (+7,739)
Race riots in Chicago caused Governor Kerner to call out 3,000 men from the
Illinois National Guard who supplemented 900 police facing 5,000 rioters.
The Home Secretary Roy Jenkins decided that the drug LSD-25
should be controlled under the Drugs (Prevention of Misuse) Act, following a
rise in use of the drug by young people.
Doctor Who continued to entertain on TV, and
scare kids into hiding behind the sofa so the Daleks wouldn�t get them.
14/7/1966, Thursday
(+7,737) The Welsh Nationalists won
their first by-election, at Carmarthen
5/7/1966, Tuesday
(+7,728) Dozens of captured USA airmen in the Vietnam War were paraded
through the streets of Hanoi to shouts of �death to the American air pirates�.
3/7/1966, Sunday (+7,726)
Anti-Vietnam war protests
outside the US Embassy, London.
1/7/1966, Friday (+7,724)
(1) In
the UK, the average wage for teachers was �1,400 per year (152% of average
pay). A top league footballer earned �5,200, and a manual worker was on �1,040
a year, 112% of average. A GP earned �2,964, 320% of average. A train driver
earned �884, 95% of average pay. Average pay in 1966 was �1,220 for men, and
�630 for women. The average annual wage was �926. A pint of beer cost 2
shillings (10p). A two bedroom terraced house in Northampton cost �1,150. A
gallon of petrol cost 5s 3d (26p). An off-the-peg Burton�s suit cost �15.
(2) France withdrew its
armed forces from NATO.
=====================================================================================
29/6/1966, Wednesday
(+7,722) Barclaycard, the first
British credit card, was introduced.
18/6/1966, Saturday
(+7,711) Sharon Rendle, judo champion, was born.
17/6/1966, Friday
(+7.710) Jean Arp, painter, died in Basel aged 78.
10/6/1966, Friday
(+7,703) David Platt, footballer, was born.
7/6/1966, Tuesday
(+7,700) Demonstrations in East Pakistan, demanding greater autonomy.
6/6/1966, Monday (+7,699) (1)
Britain outlawed the Ulster Volunteer Force.
(2) On British TV the first
episode of Til Death Us Do Part was
showing, with Warren Mitchell as Alf Garnett.
4/6/1966, Saturday
(+7,697)
3/6/1966, Friday
(+7,696) Gemini 9 was launched, with 2 astronauts on board.
2/6/1966, Thursday
(+7,695) (1) Eamon de Valera was re-elected
president of Eire, now aged 83.
(2) The US unmanned spacecraft
Surveyor made the first soft landing on the Moon.
(3) Philips Petroleum found
a large gas field off the Humber estuary.
1/6/1966, Wednesday
(+7,694) Folk music fans at the Albert Hall booed Bob Dylan for
performing with an electric guitar.
====================================================================================
26/5/1966, Thursday
(+7,688) Guyana became independent, under President Burnham. It was
formerly known as British Guyana.
24/5/1966, Tuesday (+7,666) Eric Cantona, French footballer, was born,
23/5/1966, Monday (+7,685) In Britain, a State of
Emergency was declared in response to the Seamen�s strike.
22/5/1966, Sunday (+7,684)
Thomas Goddard, cricketer, died.
20/5/1966, Friday
(+7,682)
17/5/1966, Tuesday
(+7,679) Randolph Turpin, boxer, died.
16/5/1966, Monday (+7,678) Post Office Tower, London, opened to
the public.
10/5/1966, Tuesday
(+7,672) Jonathan Edwards, triple jump athlete, was born.
8/5/1966, Sunday (+7,670) Claudio Andre Mergen Taffarel, Brazilian
footballer, was born.
6/5/1966, Friday (+7,668)
The Moors murderers Ian Brady, 28, and Myra Hindley, 24, were found guilty
of murder at Chester Crown Court and jailed for life.
2/5/1966, Monday
(+7,664) The Times carried news headlines on its front� page instead of advertising for the first
time.
====================================================================================
30/4/1966, Saturday (+7,662)
A regular hovercraft service began across the English Channel between
Calais and Ramsgate.
24/4/1966, Sunday (+7,656) Alessandro Costacurta, Italian footballer, was
born.
21/4/1966, Thursday
(+7,653) The opening of the UK Parliament was televised for the first
time.
19/4/1966, Tuesday
(+7,651) (Education,
University) Loughborough University of Technology became Britain�s
first technological university.
16/4/1966, Saturday
(+7,648) General Abdul Rahman Arif succeeded his brother as President of
Iraq.
15/4/1966, Friday (+7,647) Time Magazine declared London
�the city of the decade�, for its fashion, and opportunities for young people.
14/4/1966, Thursday
(+7,646) The South Downs was designated an Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty.
12/4/1966, Tuesday
(+7,644)
10/4/1966, Sunday (+7,642) Easter Sunday.
9/4/1966, Saturday (+7,641) The UN
authorised Britain to seize by force any oil being shipped to Rhodesia.
8/4/1966, Friday (+7,640) Mazinho,
Brazilian footballer, was born.
7/4/1966, Thursday (+7,639) The US recovered an atom bomb that had been
accidentally dropped into the Atlantic ocean after a mid-air collision.
6/4/1966, Wednesday (+7,638)
Increased ferry tolls sparked riots in Hong Kong.
5/4/1966, Tuesday (+7.637) Shell
announced the discovery of oil off Great Yarmouth.
4/4/1966, Monday (+7,636) Soviet
spacecraft orbited the Moon.
3/4/1966, Sunday (+7,635) Miina
Tominaga, Japanese actress, was born in Hiroshima, Japan.
2/4/1966, Saturday (+7,634) Protests in Saigon as
demonstrators demanded an end to military rule.
1/4/1966, Friday (+7,633) The newly-created British
Airports Authority took responsibility for London�s� Gatwick and Heathrow
Airports.
=====================================================================================
31/3/1966, Thursday (+7,632) General
Election in the UK. Labour under Harold
Wilson won a landslide victory, gaining a majority of 66. Labour won 363
seats, the Conservatives won 253 seats, and the Liberals won 12.
30/3/1966, Wednesday (+7,631) In
South Africa, the National Party won a large majority in elections.
27/3/1966, Sunday (+7,628)
The football World Cup, which had been stolen a few days earlier, was
discovered in a south London garden by a sniffer dog.
23/3/1966, Wednesday
(+7,624) (1) In Rome the first official meeting for 400 years between the heads of
the Catholic and Anglican Churches took place, Pope Paul VI met with Dr Michael
Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury.
(2) In New York, 20,000 people marched down Fifth Avenue
demanding an end to the Vietnam War.
17/3/1966, Thursday (+7,618) US
astronauts docked in space.
16/3/1966, Wednesday (+7,617) Anti-communist
demonstrations in Indonesia.
15/3/1966, Tuesday (+7,616) The
US spacecraft Gemini 8 was launched, with Neil Armstrong and David Scott.
14/3/1966, Monday (+7,615) Britain�s first Asian
policeman, Muhammad Yusuf, was sworn in to the Coventry force.
13/3/1966, Sunday (+7,614) (Sports)
Akira Nogami, wrestler, was
born.
12/3/1966, Saturday (+7,613) (Indonesia) General Suharto assumed power in an army coup
in Indonesia. He forced Sukarno, held under armed guard in the Presidential
Palace, to sign an order giving him executive authority Suharto swiftly moved
to annihilate the Communist Party, resulting in a massacre of between 250,000
and 500,000 people.
11/3/1966, Friday (+7,612) De
Gaulle announced that France was to withdraw from NATO and that NATO must
remove its bases from France by the end of 1966.
10/3/1966, Thursday (+7,611) (Science)
Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist, died in Naarden.
9/3/1966, Wednesday (+7,610)
Tony Lockett, Australian footballer, was born.
8/3/1966, Tuesday (+7,609)
Australia tripled its force in Vietnam to 4,500 troops.
7/3/1966, Monday (+7,608) Joy
Tanner, US actress, was born.
6/3/1966, Sunday (+7,607) Food
riots in West Bengal, India, spreading to Kolkata and Delhi.
5/3/1966, Saturday (+7,606) The IRA destroyed the Nelson Column in Dublin
by a bomb.
4/3/1966, Friday (+7,605) John
Lennon asserted that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ. In
response, Beatles records were burnt in the US Bible Belt.
3/3/1966, Thursday (+7,604)
Fernando Colunga, actor, was
born.
2/3/1966, Wednesday (+7,603)
Britain protested to Portugal about oil supplies reaching Rhodesia via
Mozambique.
1/3/1966, Tuesday (+7,602) The
Russian spacecraft Venus III became the first man-made object to land on
another planet when it made a hard landing on Venus. It had been launched on
16/11/1965.
==================================================================================
28/2/1966, Monday (+7,601) The Cavern Club, where The
Beatles first played, went into liquidation.
27/2/1966, Sunday (+7,600) Donal
Logue, Canadian actor, was born
26/2/1966, Saturday (+7,599) The
last scheduled steam train left Scunthorpe railway depot. It was a freight
train to west Yorkshire. All subsequent scheduled trains were diesel hauled,
although some steam services from the Yorkshire area ran to Scunthorpe until
Spring 1967.
25/2/1966, Friday (+7,598)
Alexis Denisof, US actor, was born.
24/2/1966, Thursday (+7,597) Kwame
Nkrumah, President of Ghana since its independence in 1957, was overthrown by
an army coup and went into exile
in Guinea.
23/2/1966, Wednesday (+7,596) A
military junta seized power in Syria.
22/2/1966, Tuesday (+7,595)
Rachel Dratch, US actress, was
born
21/2/1966, Monday (+7,594) Bronwen
Booth, English actress, was born.
20/2/1966, Sunday (+7,593) Chester
Nimitz, American General and Pacific Fleet Commander in World War II, died in
San Francisco, four days before his 81st birthday.
19/2/1966, Saturday (+7,592) A
26 year old man was gassed as he attempted to cook a dinner for his wife. He
had failed to realise that you had to ignite the gas. Lord Silkin�s Bill to
legalise abortion ran into difficulties in the House of Lords. The Ministry of
Public Works revealed plans to build an underground cafe, ticket office, and
sales room, beneath Stonehenge. Statistics in the Ministry of Labour Gazette
revealed the weekly average income for a British household as �24 2s 11d.
TV shows included Bewitched
and Dixon of Dock Green. Thunderbirds was on at 6pm, and The Morecambe and Wise Show at 9.20 pm.
18/2/1966, Friday (+7,591) Dean
Rusk stated that the USA had exhausted all possibilities for bringing peace to
Vietnam.
17/2/1966, Thursday (+7,590) The
UK protested to South Africa about petrol supplies to Rhodesia.
14/2/1966, Monday
(+7,587)
9/2/1966, Wednesday
(+7.582) Sophie Tucker, last of the
�red hot mamas�, died.
8/2/1966, Tuesday
(+7,581) (Aviation)
Freddie Laker formed a cut-price transatlantic airline.
6/2/1966, Sunday (+7,579)
4/2/1966, Friday
(+7,577) A Japanese airliner crashed into Tokyo Bay, killing 133 people.
3/2/1966, Thursday
(+7,576) (Space
exploration) The Soviet unmanned spacecraft, Luna IX, made the
first soft landing on the Moon.
2/2/1966, Wednesday
(+7,575)
1/2/1966, Tuesday
(+7,574) The silent film comedian Buster Keaton died.
===================================================================================
31/1/1966, Monday
(+7,573) Britain banned all trade with Rhodesia.
30/1/1966, Sunday (+7,572)
29/1/1966, Saturday
(+7,571) Romario da Souza Paria, Brazilian footballer, was born.
28/1/1966, Friday
(+7,570) Joseph Binks, athletics champion who set a record 4 mins 15.8
seconds time for running a mile in 1902, died.
26/1/1966, Wednesday
(+7,568)
25/1/1966, Tuesday
(+7,567) Harold Holt became Prime Minister of Australia, succeeding Robert
Menzies.
24/1/1966, Monday
(+7,566) An Air India Boeing 707 crashed into Mont Blanc, killing all 117
passengers on board.
23/1/1966, Sunday (+7,565)
Haywoode Workman, US basketball player, was born.
22/1/1966, Saturday (+7,564) Martin Luther King moved to a
tenement flat in a deprived part of Chicago to draw attention to Black urban
poverty.
21/1/1966, Friday
(+7,563) General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi proclaimed himself the President of
Nigeria.
20/1/1966, Thursday
(+7,562) Robert Menzies retired as Prime Minister of Australia.
19/1/1966, Wednesday
(+7,561) Indira Ghandi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi) became prime
Minister of India. She succeeded her father Jawaharlal Nehru. She had been
leader of the National Congress Party since 1959.
18/1/1966, Tuesday
(+7,560) Kathleen Norris,
US writer, died (born 1880)
17/1/1966, Monday
(+7,569) A US bomber aircraft on exercises was attempting to refuel mid-air
over Spain when an error resulted in the fuel boom from the other aircraft
clipping the bomber�s wing. The bomber crashed in flames; its crew parachuted
to safety. However the bomber was carrying four Hydrogen Bombs. The Bombs were
not armed so the electrical sequence necessary to detonate the fission bomb
that would have set off the Hydrogen bomb never initiated. In other fortunate
events, the parachutes on the bombs failed so they buried themselves deep in
the soil, limiting radiation dispersal, and a breeze carried much of the
radiation out to sea as flaming bits of aircraft rained down in the area.
11/1/1966, Tuesday (+7,553) Barclays announced plans to go into the credit card
business with its Barclaycard,
available free to both customers and non-customers of the bank. The card would
have a limit of �25, and higher amounts could be spent following a telephone
check. Hoteliers objected vigorously since promoters make their profit by
taking a discount from the amount charged to the card, typically 5% to 10%.
Barclays announced that the discount would be 3% to 5%.
8/1/1966, Saturday
(+7,550) US launched biggest offensive to date in Vietnam.
5/1/1966, Wednesday
(+7,547) George Duckworth, cricketer, was born.
1/1/1966, Saturday (+7,543)
Bokassa took over as leader of the Central African Republic. In 1977 he
organised a lavish coronation ceremony., appointing himself �emperor�, which cost
US$20million, a quarter of his country�s annual income.
====================================================================================
31/12/1965, Friday
(+7,542) The executives of the European Economic Community, Euratom, and
the European Coal and Steel Community were merged into one executive authority.
30/12/1965, Thursday
(+7,541) In the Philippines,
Ferdinand E Marcos became President.
29/12/1965, Wednesday
(+7,540) North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh rejected US peace talks.
28/12/1965, Tuesday
(+7,539) (1) A British magistrate who was also
a rally driver said he would refuse to sit on the bench when motorists were
charged with exceeding the speed limit unless injury or damage was also alleged.
(2) On TV, Phil Silvers starred in Sergeant Bilko.
27/12/1965, Monday (+7,538)
The North Sea oilrig Sea Gem collapsed into the sea, killing 13 people.
24/12/1965, Friday
(+7,535) A cluster of meteorites fell in the Barwell, Leicestershire, UK
area after a brilliant fireball. The original meteorite is estimated to have
weighed around 200 lbs.
22/12/1965, Wednesday
(+7,533) (Road Traffic)The
UK introduced a national 70mph speed limit. See 24/11/1965. This was brought in for an initial
experimental period of four months by Transport Minister Tom Fraser. The 70mph
limit was made permanent by Fraser�s successor, Barbara Castle, in July 1967.
20/12/1965, Monday
(+7,531) (TV
broadcasts) The Belmont TV transmitter, Lincolnshire, began operations,
19/12/1965, Sunday (+7,530)
De Gaulle was re-elected president
of France.
18/12/1965, Saturday
(+7,529) Nine African States broke off relations with the UK for not using
force against Rhodesia.
17/12/1965, Friday
(+7,528) Britain imposed an oil embargo on Rhodesia.
16/12/1965, Thursday
(+7,527) Somerset Maugham, author, died this day.
15/12/1965, Wednesday
(+7,526) US astronauts achieved the
first rendezvous of two vehicles in space. Gemini 6, crewed by Walter P Shirra
and Thomas P Stafford, met alongside Gemini 7, crewed by Frank Borman and James
A Lovell. The two craft then orbited together, about 3 metres apart, completing
two earth orbits at an altitude of 315 kilometres. This exercise was vital in
planning the manned lunar programme, where a lunar module would detach from the
command ship to land on the Moon, then rejoin the main ship to return to Earth.
12/12/1965, Sunday (+7,523)
Will Carling, rugby player, was born.
7/12/1965, Tuesday
(+7,518)
6/12/1965, Monday (+7,517)
The Redundancy Payments Act came into force; it was described as a major
step in the modernisation of British industry. General De Gaulle failed to win
the French presidential Election outright, necessitating a second ballot
between him and Monsieur Mitterand. The Governor of California received a
report on the necessity of stimulating employment and education among the Black
population as a means of avoiding race riots.
5/12/1965, Sunday (+7,516)
(Medical)
Joseph Erlanger, US physiologist, died in St Louis, Missouri.
4/12/1965, Saturday (+7,515) The US spacecraft Gemini 7
was launched, crewed by Frank Borman and James Lovell.
====================================================================================
29/11/1965, Monday (+7,510)
Mary Whitehouse began her clean up campaign concerning TV broadcasts, by
setting up the National Viewers and Listeners Association to tackle �bad taste
and irresponsibility�.
26/11/1965, Friday
(+7,507) (Space
exploration) France launched a satellite, A-1 Asterix.
25/11/1965, Thursday
(+7,506) In the Congo Republic (Zaire), General Sese Sese Mobuto deposed
President Kasavubu.
24/11/1965, Wednesday
(+7,505) (Road Traffic)The UK government imposed an experimental 70mph speed limit on the
motorways (see
22/12/1965). UK motorways, the first of which was a stretch of the M6 known
then as the Preston by-pass, had had no speed limits since their inception in
1958. However early one morning in June 1964 the makers of the AC Cobra sports
car decided to take their Le Mans contender out for a spin on the M1 and got it
up to 185 mph. This led to questions in Parliament and the 70 mph national
speed limit. There were also issues of pile ups on motorways in snow, ice or
foggy conditions, and a 30mph limit was considered for motorways in these
conditions. The 30mph limit was not implemented but the 70mph limit became
permanent in 1967.
19/11/1965, Friday
(+7,500) Laurent Blanc, French footballer, was born.
16/11/1965, Tuesday
(+7,497) The Russians launched Venus III on a voyage to Venus, see
1/3/1966.
15/11/1965, Monday (+7,496) In the USA, Craig Breedlove
set a new land speed record of 613 mph at Bonneville salt flats.
13/11/1965, Saturday
(+7,494)
11/11/1965, Thursday
(+7,492) Rhodesia declared UDI
from Britain under Ian Smith, the Prime Minister. The opposition leaders
Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe were in jail. The British Prime Minister Harold
Wilson imposed trade sanctions and an oil embargo. However South Africa, and
the neighbouring Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola, assisted Mr
Smith in overcoming sanctions, and large multinationals evaded them anyway.
However the end of Portuguese rule in Angola and Mozambique in 1975 undermined
Mr Smith�s regime and assisted the transfer to Black majority rule there.
10/11/1965, Wednesday
(+7,491) Robert Jones, rugby player, was born.
9/11/1965, Tuesday
(+7,490) (1) A transmission relay in New York City failed, sparking a domino effect
that led to a blackout across New York State, Connecticut,
Massachusetts, New England, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and parts of
Pennsylvania and Ontario.
(2) The
Act legally abolishing capital punishment in the UK came into force. This Act
was largely due to the efforts of Sidney Silverman MP.
8/11/1965, Monday (+7,489)
In Canadian elections, the Liberals under Lester B Pearson became the largest
Party with 131 seats, but without an overall majority. The Progressive
Conservatives secured 97 seats, Others won 37 seats.
====================================================================================
31/10/1965, Sunday (+7,481)
Denis Irwin, Irish footballer, was born.
28/10/1965, Thursday (+7,478) The Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, were
charged with murdering a 13-year old girl, Lesley Ann Downey, whose body had
been found on the moors� on 15/10/1965.
26/10/1965, Tuesday (+7,476) The Beatles went to Buckingham
Palace to be presented with their MBE�s.
25/10/1965, Monday (+7,475)
Harold Wilson went to Rhodesia for
talks with Ian Smith. But see 11/11/1965.
19/10/1965, Tuesday
(+7,469) In the USA, the Un-American Activities Committee of the House of
Representatives began a public hearing on the Klu Klux Klan.
17/10/1965, Sunday (+7,467)
Anti-Vietnam War protests in
the UK and USA.
12/10/1965, Tuesday
(+7,462) Paul Muller, the Swiss chemist who formulated the insecticide
DDT in 1939, died in Basle.
8/10/1965, Friday (+7,458)
(1) Edward
Heath said he would take Britain into the European Community.
(2) The Prime Minister Harold Wilson
made the first telephone call as the �2 million, 620 foot tall, Post Office
Tower in London�s Tottenham Court Road opened.
7/10/1965, Thursday (+7,457) Ian Smith met Harold Wilson for
talks at 10 Downing Street; the talks failed to avert UDI by Rhodesia on
11/11/1965.
6/10/1965, Wednesday
(+7,456) Jurgen Kohler, West German footballer, was born.
4/10/1965, Monday (+7,454) Pope Paul VI visited New York City;
the first Papal visit to America.
1/10/1965, Friday (+7,451) (Indonesia) General
Suharto quickly took control of the insurrection and now proclaimed the
Communist Party (which Sukarno had relied on as a counterweight to the Army) as
guilty for the rebellion. Within a few weeks the extermination of the PKI
(Communists) had begun. The PKI had been the largest Communist Party in the
world outside Russia and China, with 3 million members.
=====================================================================================
30/9/1965, Thursday (+7,450) (1) (Indonesia) A group
of middle-ranking Army officers in Indonesia seized power, led by
Lieutenant-Colonel Untung of Sukarno�s Presidential Guard. They killed several
top Generals and took President Sukarno to an airbase near Jakarta where they
proclaimed a Revolutionary Council.
(2) The
first episode of Thunderbirds was broadcast in the UK.
(3)�
(Women�s Rights) Elizabeth Lane was sown in as Britain�s first female High Court Judge.
29/9/1965, Wednesday (+7,449) The USSR admitted supplying weapons to
North Vietnam.
25/9/1965, Friday (+7,444)
22/9/1965, Wednesday (+7,442) India and Pakistan halted fighting
in Kashmir.
21/9/1965, Tuesday (+7,441) BP (British Petroleum) became the first company to discover oil in the
North Sea.
20/9/1965, Monday (+7,440) (Geology)
Arthur Holmes, English geologist, died in London.
18/9/1965, Saturday (+7,438)
15/9/1965, Wednesday (+7,435) Dyan Castillejo-Garcia, professional
tennis player, was born.
14/9/1965, Tuesday (+7,434) The comprehensive school in Market
Drayton, Shropshire, opened, replacing the town�s old secondary modern and
grammar schools.
12/9/1965, Sunday (+7,432)
11/9/1965, Saturday
(+7,431) Douglas Graeme Obree, champion cyclist, was born.
10/9/1965, Friday (+7,430) (USA) Yale
University published a map showing that the Vikings discovered America in the
11th century.
9/9/1965, Thursday (+7,429) (USA) The
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was established
8/9/1965, Wednesday (+7,428) (Chemistry)
Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, died in Freiburg am Breisgau.
7/9/1965, Tuesday (+7,427) John
Polson, actor, was born.
6/9/1965, Monday (+7,426) India invaded West Pakistan. A three-pronged
attack threatened the Pakistani city of Lahore. Pakistan parachuted troops in
behind Indian lines. The conflict in Kashmir escalated.
5/9/1965, Sunday (+7,425) The word
"hippie" first appeared in print, in an article in the San Francisco
Examiner by reporter Michael Fallon, who was writing a series about the
Haight-Ashbury neighbourhood. "Five untroubled young 'hippies',"
Fallon began, "sprawled on floor mattresses and slouched in an armchair
retrieved from a debris box, flipped cigarette ashes at a seatbelt in their
Waller Street flat and pondered their next move."
4/9/1965, Saturday (+7,424) Albert
Schweitzer, French medical missionary, died aged 90 in Lambarene, Gabon, in the
village where he had opened his hospital for natives in 1913.� He was aged 90, and won the Nobel Prize in
1952.
3/9/1965, Friday (+7,423) The Cultural Revolution began
in China.� A reassertion of Maoist
principles, it began with a speech by Marshal Lin Piao urging pupils in schools
and colleges to return to the basics of the Chinese Revolution and to purge
liberal and Kruschevian trends in the Chinese Communist Party.� See 13/10/1968.
2/9/1965, Thursday (+7,422) Tahir
Yahya was forced to resign as Prime Minister of Iraq. The vacancy was filled
four days later by Arif Abd ar-Razzaq, who fled the country on September 17
after only 10 days in office
1/9/1965, Wednesday (+7,421)
Pakistani troops crossed into
Kashmir over the cease-fire line.
====================================================================================
31/8/1965, Tuesday (+7,420) (Sport)
Willie Watson, New Zealand cricketer, was born.
27/8/1965, Friday (+7,416)
The Swiss architect Le Corbusier died.
21/8/1965, Saturday (+7,410)
The US launched the spacecraft Gemini 5, crewed by Gordon Cooper and
Charles Conrad. It orbited the Earth for 8 days before a safe splashdown in the
Atlantic.
13/8/1965, Friday (+7,402) Ikeda Hayato, Prime Minister
of Japan, died.
12/8/1965, Thursday
(+7,401) 19 days after the US learned that North Vietnam had bases around
its capital from which to fire surface-to-air missiles, the North Vietnamese
revealed that they had mobile missile units that could be taken to any
location, shooting down a U.S. Navy A-4 Skyhawk attack jet flying 50 miles
southwest of Hanoi. Lieutenant Donald H. Brown of the USS Coral Sea was killed
in the crash, becoming the first U.S. Navy flier to be downed by a SAM missile.
11/8/1965, Wednesday
(+7,400) Race riots in the
Watts area of Los Angeles, USA. A local Black woman, Marquette Fry, was
arrested by White police officers on suspicion of drunk-driving and then beaten
up. Over the next two nights rioting in the predominantly Black area spread to
involve some 130 square kilometres, with cars and shops being looted and burnt.
On 13/8/1965 2,000 national Guardsmen arrived to support the thousands of
police in enforcing an 8.pm curfew for the next three nights. The riots saw the
deaths of 34 people, mostly Black civilians shot by National Guards or police.
10/8/1965, Tuesday
(+7,399) The agreement between the United States and the Philippines on
U.S. military bases was formally amended, returning exclusive jurisdiction over
the Port of Manila and the city of Olongapo to the Philippines, and ceding more
than 1,200 km2 of territory back to the Philippine government.
9/8/1965, Monday (+7,398)
Singapore seceded from the Federation of Malaysia.� It became an independent Republic within the
Commonwealth.
8/8/1965, Sunday (+7,397)
Angus Fraser, cricketer, was born.
7/8/1965, Saturday
(+7,396) The Singapore Agreement was signed by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the
Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Lee Kuan Yew, who had continued to lead
Singapore since its merger with Malaya and other nations to create the
Federation of Malaysia. The parties agreed that "Singapore shall cease to
be a State of Malaysia on the 9th day of August 1965, and shall become an
independent and sovereign State separate from and independent of
Malaysia".
6/8/1965, Friday (+7,395) US Congress passed the Voting
Rights Act of 1965, outlawing racial discrimination in voting
procedures.
4/8/1965, Wednesday
(+7,393)
2/8/1965, Monday (+7,391) A UK White Paper limited
immigration from the Commonwealth.
1/8/1965, Sunday (+7,390) General
Lo Jui-ching, the Chief of Joint Staff of the armed forces of the People's
Republic of China, declared that the Chinese were ready to fight the United
States again, as they had in the Korean War.
8/1965, Singapore independent. Race riots in Watts, Los
Angeles. Le Corbusier died.
====================================================================================
7/1965, Maldives independent. Edward Heath UK
Conservative leader. Last TV cigarette advert in UK.
31/7/1965, Saturday (+7,389) (1) The
last advert for cigarettes appeared on British TV.
(2) J
K Rowling, British author of the Harry Potter series, was born.
30/7/1965, Friday (+7,388) Coronation Street was the top
TV show
29/7/1965, Thursday (+7,387) The governments of Algeria and France signed an
agreement which allowed French petroleum companies to retain their concessions
for the right to drill for oil in Algeria, but required also that they
cooperate with Algeria's government-owned oil and gas consortium.
28/7/1965, Wednesday (+7,386)
(1) US
President Lyndon Johnson sent a further 50,000 ground troops to Vietnam.
The US now had 175,000 troops in Vietnam.
(2) Edward
Heath, born 9/7/1916, became leader of the Conservative Party. Sir Alec Douglas
Home had resigned as leader on 22/5/1965.�
Heath was leader until 1975 when Mrs Thatcher became Party leader
(11/2/1975). Heath received 155 votes against 133 for Reginald Maudling and 15
for Enoch Powell. At 49 Heath was the youngest leader of the Conservative Party
for a century.
27/7/1965, Tuesday
(+7,385) The Maldives Islands became independent, having been a British
Protectorate since 1887.
26/7/1965, Monday (+7,384) The Post Office announced that
in future UK telephone numbers would not include letters.
25/7/1965, Sunday (+7,383)
Frederick Mills, boxer, died (born 26/6/1919).
23/7/1965, Friday (+7,381)
20/7/1965, Tuesday (+7,378) (Innovation)
The McLaren baby buggy was patented by Owen Findlay, Banbury, UK. It replaced
much more cumbersome and heavier prams, and its easy folding made it very easy
to take on board public transport.
19/7/1965, Monday (+7,377)
Syngman Rhee, first President of the Republic of Korea (1948-60) died in
Hawaii.
18/7/1965, Sunday (+7,376)
16/7/1965, Friday (+7,374) The seven-mile Mont Blanc road tunnel opened, linking France with
Italy. This road tunnel had first been proposed by French engineer Lepiney back
in 1870. The tunnel took 6 years to build.
15/7/1965, Thursday (+7,373) Mariner 4 flew by Mars, returning images of
the planet�s surface. It revealed that Mars was covered with impact craters,
demonstrating a lack of geological activity. A measurement of the changes in
radio transmissions as the signals passed through the Martian atmosphere also
showed that surface pressure was 94% less than had been predicted, showing that
it was mostly carbon dioxide and that the Martian ice caps were actually frozen
CO2.
14/7/1965, Wednesday (+7,372) US politician Adlai Ewing Stevenson, born
5/2/1900 in Los Angeles, California, died suddenly.
7/7/1965, Wednesday (+7,365) Jeremy Guscott, rugby player, was born in
Bath.
1/7/1965, Thursday (+7,359) Carl Fogarty, motorcycle racing champion,
was born.
====================================================================================
30/6/1965, Wednesday (+7,358)
India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire.
29/6/1965, Tuesday (+7,357)
The first US military ground action began in Vietnam.
27/6/1965, Sunday (+7,355)
24/6/1965, Thursday (+7,352)
South Vietnam severed relations with France.
23/6/1965, Wednesday (+7,351)
The USSR rejected a Vietnam peace initiative proposed by Harold Wilson.
22/6/1965, Tuesday (+7,350) The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan
and the Republic of Korea was signed in Tokyo, almost twenty years after South
Korea had been liberated from the Japanese Empire.
21/6/1965, Monday (+7,349)
The UK government announced that the Broad Street to Richmond railway service,
earmarked for closure by Beeching, would be reprieved.
20/6/1965, Sunday (+7,348) Police in Algiers broke up demonstrations by
people who had taken to the streets chanting slogans in support of deposed
President Ben Bella.
19/6/1965, Saturday (+7,347)
The President of Algeria, Ben Bella, was overthrown in a military coup by his
Minister of Defence, Colonel Houari Boumedienne.
18/6/1965, Friday (+7,346)
An alcohol limit was to be set for UK drivers.
16/6/1965, Wednesday (+7,344)
13/6/1965, Sunday (+7,341) Martin Buber, Austrian-born Israeli Jewish
philosopher, died aged 87.
12/6/1965, Saturday (+7,340) The Beatles were made MBEs in the
Queen�s birthday honours.� A number of
other holders of the medal returned theirs in disgust.
11/6/1965, Friday (+7,339) President Johnson declared that the
promotion of learning the English language should be a major policy in American
foreign aid, and directed the Peace Corps, the United States Agency for
International Development and other organizations to encourage the such study,
in what was viewed as elevating "the status of English as an international
language.
10/6/1965, Thursday (+7,338)
A British European Airways De Havilland jet airliner flying from Paris to
London made the first landing by automatic control.
7/6/1965, Monday (+7,335)
3/6/1965, Thursday
(+7,331) Gemini IV was launched, crewed by James McDivitt and Edward
White. During the flight, Edward H White�
became the first man to walk in space, for 20 minutes.
2/6/1965, Wednesday
(+7,330) The second of two cyclones (first one on 11/5/1965) hit eastern
Pakistan, killing 45,000 people.
1/6/1965, Tuesday
(+7,329) Nigel Short, chess champion, was born.
===================================================================================
31/5/1965, Monday (+7,328)
Major US air strikes in Vietnam
saved the South Vietnamese forces from annihilation, reported The Guardian.
Within a day of moving into a semi-detached house on a
Staffordshire housing estate a Jamaican family was approached by the resident�
association with an offer to buy them out. �We are not against coloured people�
said the chairman, �but we are concerned about maintaining the value of our
house�.
Duty free cigarettes went on sale at Heathrow Airport at �1
for 200. A spokesman for Tetley�s, Britain�s biggest teabag manufacturer, said
they would have 25% of the market by 1975.
28/5/1965, Friday
(+7,325)
24/5/1965, Monday (+7,321) Westminster
announced that Britain was to switch to metric measurements.
23/5/1965, Sunday (+7,320)
David Smith, US sculptor, died aged 59.
21/5/1965, Friday (+7,318) Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, British
aircraft designer who was knighted n 1944, died in Stanmore, Middlesex.
12/5/1965, Wednesday (+7,309) West Germany established
diplomatic relations with Israel.
3/5/1965, Monday (+7,300) Major
earthquake hit San Salvador City, El Salvador.
2/5/1965, Sunday (+7,299) The British satellite, Early Bird,
began transmitting TV programmes to 300 million viewers in 24 countries.
1/5/1965, Saturday (+7,298)
=====================================================================================
29/4/1965, Thursday (+7,296) Australia began contributing troops to the
US war effort in Vietnam.
28/4/1965, Wednesday (+7,295)
US forces invaded the Dominican Republic. This country had been in political
turmoil since the death of the longstanding dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1961.
Free elections in December 1962 brought the mildly left-wing Juan Bosch to
power, but he was quickly deposed in a military coup. This right-wing military
junta was itself deposed in a further coup led by Colonel Francisco Caama, and
Bosch was invited to return from exile and restore democracy. However the US
was extremely wary, after Cuba, of any more leftist regimes being established
in the Caribbean. On 28/4 US troops occupied the western half of the capital,
Santo Domingo, whilst in the east right-wing generals took over the San Isidro
air base, which was then opened to US military flights. However the US did not
want to undertake a permanent occupation of the Dominican Republic; US troops
were replaced by a Pan-American force under Brazilian command, and free
elections organised in 1966, won by President Joaquin Balaguer.
26/4/1965, Monday (+7,293)
25/4/1965, Sunday (+7,292) the military regime in the Dominican republic
that took power in 9/1963 was overthrown by pro-Bosch military officers.
24/4/1965, Saturday (+7,291) Louise Dresser, actress, died aged 86.
23/4/1965, Friday (+7,290) (1) Heavy US air raids on North Vietnam.
(2) The
Pennine Way, 250 miles from Edale in Derbyshire to Kirk Yetholm in
Roxburghshire, opened. This was the first
long distance footpath in Britain.
19/4/1965, Monday
(+7,286) Westinghouse Broadcasting WINS, New York�s first all-news radio
station began broadcasting. It was soon copied by other stations across the
USA.
17/4/1965, Saturday (+7,284) US
students protested against US bombing in Vietnam.
9/4/1965, Friday (+7,276) (India region)
Border clashes between India and Pakistan.
8/4/1965, Thursday (+7,275) (European
Union) Members of the European Coal and Steel Community, the Economic
Community and Euratom signed a treaty providing for the merger of these
institutions� functions into a single Commission and Council of Ministers.
6/4/1965, Tuesday (+7,273) (Space
exploration) The US launched Early Bird, a weather satellite,
4/4/1965, Sunday (+7,271) (Vietnam) US
jets shot down by North Vietnam.
1/4/1965, Thursday (+7,268)
(London) Greater London was created, from the
City of London and 32 boroughs.
=====================================================================================
31/3/1965, Wednesday
(+7,267) An Iberia airliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea as it was
approaching Tangier, Morocco on a flight from Malaga. 50 of the 53 people on
board were killed, but three passengers were rescued.
30/3/1965, Tuesday
(+7,266) John Hatfield, champion swimmer, died (born 15/8/1893).
29/3/1965, Monday
(+7,265) Eric Brook, footballer, died (born 27/11/1907).
28/3/1965, Sunday (+7,264)
(Earthquakes)
Major earthquake in Chile.
27/3/1965, Saturday
(+7,263) 14 people who had
been convicting of plotting to overthrow King Hassan II were executed in Rabat,
Morocco.
26/3/1965, Friday
(+7,262) Kirill Mazurov became the new First Deputy Premier of the Soviet
Union, second in governmental rank to Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin.
25/3/1965, Thursday
(+7,261) (Sri
Lanka) In elections in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Mrs Srimavo Bandaranaike
lost to Dudley Senanayake.
24/3/1965, Wednesday
(+7,260) (Britain)
David Steel became Britain�s
youngest MP at the age of 26.
23/3/1965, Tuesday
(+7,259) (Space
exploration) US spacecraft Gemini I was launched, crewed by
Virgil Grissom and John Young.
18/3/1965, Thursday (+7,254) (1) The first walk in space, lasting about 10 minutes, was made
by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, from the spaceship Voskhod 2.
(2) Farouk
I, King of Egypt from 1936 to 1952, died in exile in Italy.
15/3/1965, Monday (+7,251)
Doctor Martin Luther King led a Freedom March in Selma, Alabama, in
defiance of a court ban. State police stopped the procession with tear gas.
14/3/1965, Sunday (+7,250)
The Israeli Cabinet formally approved the setting up of diplomatic relations
with West Germany.
11/3/1965, Thursday
(+7,247)
8/3/1965, Monday (+7,244) (1)
The US stepped up military action in Vietnam. 3,500 American Marines, the first
combat troops to arrive in Vietnam, landed, welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. By July 1965 there were
75,000 US troops in Vietnam, by end-1965 184,000, and by early 1968, 510,000.
7/3/1965, Sunday (+7,243) US State Troopers and police
attacked some 600 Civil Rights marchers with clubs, whips, and tear gas on the
Selma Freedom March from Selma, Alabama, to the State capital, Alabama. 17
marchers were hospitalised and scores more injured.
6/3/1965, Saturday
(+7,242) (Britain)
Herbert Morrison, UK Labour politician, died aged 77.
5/3/1965, Friday
(+7,241) (London)
The new Hornsey Central Library, London, was opened by Princess Alexandra.
4/3/1965, Thursday
(+7,240)
3/3/1965, Wednesday
(+7,239) Bechuanaland (now Botswana) became self-governing, with Seretse
Khama as Prime Minister.
2/3/1965, Tuesday
(+7,238) (1)
(Vietnam)
In response to the 6/2/1965 attack at Pleiku, and to another attack a few days
later on US soldiers at Qui Nhon, the US launched Operation Rolling Thunder, a
saturation bombing campaign against North Vietnam combined with the first
deployment of US ground forces against the North Vietnamese.
(2) The Sound of Music went on release
in the USA. It was an instant hit.
=====================================================================================
25/2/1965, Thursday
(+7,233)
24/2/1965, Wednesday (+7,232)
The UK Government rejected the Robbins Commission�s recommendation for creating
more new universities.
23/2/1965, Tuesday (+7,231) Stan Laurel, English-born American
film comedian along with Oliver Hardy, died aged 74.
22/2/1965, Monday (+7,230) Steve
Hallard, archery champion, was born in Rugby.
21/2/1965, Sunday (+7,229) American Black leader Malcolm X
was shot dead whilst addressing a meeting in New York. He was shot 15 times at
point-blank range by three gunmen, and was dead on arrival at hospital. Born on
19/5/1925 in Nebraska, Malcolm X was the son of a Baptist minister, Earl
Little, who was a supporter of the Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey.
Little received death threats and in 1931 his body was found, mutilated.
Malcolm dropped out of school and by 1942 was involved in the criminal gangs of
Harlem, New York. He was imprisoned for burglary in 1946 and in the same year
converted to an Islamic sect led by Elijah Mohammed. Malcolm changed his surname
to X because he viewed Little as a slave name. Out on parole in 1952, Malcolm
preached for the sect, supporting Black separatism and violence. He made a
pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 and then changed his views to supporting all races.
He founded the Organisation of Afro-American Unity and toured many countries
before he was assassinated.
20/2/1965, In Australia, Freedom Ride participants, including Charles
Perkins, were ejected from the municipal swimming baths at Moree, New South
Wales, after protesting against its segregationist policy of not admitting
indigenous Australians.
19/2/1965, Friday (+7,227)
Andrew Jameson, swimming champion, was born.
18/2/1965, Thursday (+7,226) The
Gambia, the smallest country in Africa, became an independent monarchy. It had
been a British colony since 1843.
17/2/1965, Wednesday (+7,225) Lunar
probe Ranger 8 was launched from Cape Canaveral. The photographs it transmitted
would help select landing sites for future Apollo missions.
16/2/1965, Tuesday (+7,224) British Rail published plans, based on
Beeching�s, to halve the rail network.
15/2/1965, Monday (+7,223)
Canada flew the newly-adopted Maple Leaf Flag for the first time.
12/2/1965, Friday
(+7,220)
8/2/1965, Monday (+7,216) The
British Government, Health Minister Kenneth Robinson, announced a ban on
cigarette advertising on TV, to take
effect on 31/7/1965.
7/2/1965, Sunday (+7,215) US
aircraft bombed North Vietnam. The US hoped that by relying on a sustained air
bombing campaign, US casualties would be minimised.
6/2/1965, Saturday (+7,214) (Vietnam)
The Vietcong attacked a US barracks at Pleiku, killing 9 US soldiers. In
retaliation, President Johnson authorised Operation Flaming Dart, bombing raids
on North Vietnam.
5/2/1965, Friday (+7,213) Jeff
Harding, Australian boxer, was born.
3/2/1965, Wednesday (+7,211) Spain began a blockade of
Gibraltar.
2/2/1965, Tuesday (+7,210) In
the UK, PM Harold Wilson announced the cancellation of three expensive defence
projects. Two were for aircraft capable of vertical takeoffs and landing, the
Armstrong Whitworth AW.681 was a large military transport plane, and the Hawker
Siddeley P.1154 was supersonic fighter aircraft. The third, the British
Aircraft Corporation TSR-2 was a high-speed attack and reconnaissance jet.
Wilson said that the cost of the research and development for the TSR-2 alone
had already reached �750 million, more than eight times the original forecast,
and that each of the 150 planned TSR-2s would cost �4 million each.
1/2/1965, Monday (+7,209) In
the UK, NHS prescription charges were removed. They were re-introduced on
10/6/1968.
====================================================================================
31/1/1965, Sunday (+7,208) The
Yugoslavian cargo ship SS Rascisce sank in the Ionian Sea, but all 30 crew were
rescued
30/1/1965, Saturday (+7,207) State funeral of Sir Winston
Churchill, see 24/1/1965.
29/1/1965, Friday (+7,206) (Malaysia)
An attempt by the Pan Malayan Islamic Party to overthrow the Malaysian
Government was thwarted.
28/1/1965, Thursday (+7,205) Alfred
Freeman, cricketer, died(born 17/5/1888).
26/1/1965, Tuesday
(+7,203)
24/1/1965, Sunday (+7,201)� Sir Winston Churchill died, aged 90, exactly 70 years after
his father died. He was buried in Bladon churchyard, within sight of Blenheim
Palace, his birthplace. He was born, on 30/11/1874, a descendant of the Duke of
Marlborough, in Blenheim Palace. His funeral was on 30/1/1965, when Big Ben was
silenced.
23/1/1965, Saturday
(+7,200) Rioters in Hue, South Vietnam, burned down the U.S. Information
Agency after South Vietnam's Prime Minister Tran Van Hương increased
the Army draft to fight the Viet Cong.
22/1/1965, Friday
(+7,199) Dorothy Steel, croquet champion, died (born 21/4/1884).
21/1/1965, Thursday
(+7,198) Hassan Ali Mansur, 41-year old Prime Minister of Iran, was fatally
shot as he stepped out of his limousine to walk into the parliament building in
Tehran. Mohammed Bokhara'i, a 19-year-old student, fired five shots and struck
Mansur twice; he was a member of the Islamic radical group Fada'iyan-e Islam,
affiliated with Muslim clerics close to the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini.
20/1/1965, Wednesday
(+7,197) (1)
LB Johnson was inaugurated as US President.
(2) American disc jockey Alan Freed died
in California. He created the phrase �Rock�n�Roll�.
19/1/1965, Tuesday
(+7,196) The unmanned Gemini 2 was launched on a suborbital test of various
spacecraft systems, in preparation for the first US mission to send two
astronauts into space.
13/1/1965, Wednesday
(+7,190)
8/1/1965, Friday
(+7,185) Further Indonesian attacks on Malaysian territory.
7/1/1965, Thursday
(+7,184) Indonesia left the United Nations, under President Sukarno.
4/1/1965, Monday (+7,181)
(1) The poet and playwright T S Eliot died.
He was born on 26/9/1888 in Saint Loius, Missouri. After studying at Harvard
University he went to Paris in 1910 to teach French literature and philosophy
at the Sorbonne. Later, after the start of World War One, he went to Merton
College, Oxford, to read Greek Philosophy. In 1915 he married Vivien Haigh-Wood
and in 1919 became a British citizen. His first volume of poetry, Prufrock and other Observations, was
published in 1917 followed by Poems
in 1919. In 1922 The Waste Land,
regarded as his greatest poem, reflected the discontent that followed the
trauma of the Great War. In 1948 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
2/1/1965, Saturday
(+7,179) In Pakistani presidential elections, President Ayub Khan gained a
clear majority over Miss Fatimah Jinnah.
1/1/1965,�
Friday (+7,178) Vinnie Jones, footballer, was
born.
=====================================================================================
30/12/1964, Wednesday
(+7,176) 500 were arrested in India on suspicion of spying for China.
23/12/1964, Wednesday
(+7,169) The Greek liner Lakonia caught fire whilst cruising 300 miles off
Madeira with 1,020 people on board. She was taken in tow by two tugs, but then
keeled over and sank. 132 lives were lost.
21/12/1964, Monday (+7,167)
The UK Commons voted to end capital
punishment.
15/12/1964, Tuesday (+7,161) (Canada) The
Canadian Parliament voted in favour of a single maple leaf design for the
Canadian Flag.
14/12/1964, Monday (+7,160) In
elections in British Guiana, Cheddi Jagan�s Progressive People�s Party lost its
majority. Forbes Burnham of the People�s National Congress became the new Prime
Minister.
13/12/1964, Sunday (+7,159) Ernesto
Almirante, Italian actor, died aged 87.
12/12/1964, Saturday (+7,158) Kenya
became a republic in the Commonwealth.�
Kenyatta continued as head of state, see 12/12/1963.
11/12/1964, Friday (+7,157) Ayelet
Waldman, novelist, was born in Jerusalem
10/12/1964, Thursday (+7,156)
Dorothy Hodgkin became the first British woman to win a Nobel Prize. She
researched the structure of proteins such as insulin.
9/12/1964, Wednesday (+7,155) English poet Dame Edith
Sitwell died, aged 77.
8/12/1964, Tuesday (+7,154)
Simon Marks, successful retailer in conjunction with Thomas Spencer, knighted
in 1944, and made a peer in 1961, died in London at his head office.
7/12/1964, Monday (+7,153) The US
Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional, a Florida law that prohibited
cohabitation between a white man and a black woman, or a black man and a white
woman, noting that Florida did not prohibit cohabitation between the same
conduct by persons of the same race. The case of McLaughlin v. Florida arose
when Dewey McLaughlin, a black man, and Connie Hoffman, a white woman, had been
sentenced to 30 days in jail after living together in Miami. The Court avoided
commenting on state laws prohibiting interracial marriage.
6/12/1964, Sunday (+7,152) Antonio
Segni, Italian Prime Minister resigned for health reasons. He was succeeded on
28/12/1964 by Guiseppe Saragat.
5/12/1964, Saturday (+7,151) Remy
Angenot, Flemish actor, died aged 70
4/12/1964, Friday (+7,150) Scott
Hastings, rugby player, was born.
1/12/1964, Tuesday
(+7,147) Salvatore Schilllaci, Italian footballer, was born.
====================================================================================
28/11/1964,
Saturday (+7,144) Mariner 4 was launched; 228 days later
it passed within 9,700 kilometres of Mars.
23/11/1964, Monday (+7,139)
(1)
In an attempt to avert a Sterling
Crisis, the Bank of England raised rates from 5% to 7%. This was merely
seen by the markets as a sign of panic and the next day, a massive sell off of
Sterling began.� On 26/10/1964 a
temporary 15% charge was placed on imports to the UK to rectify the balance of
trade deficit. On 2/12/1964 the UK was forced to draw US$ 1 billion from
the IMF. Further IMF funds were drawn during 1965. The import charge was
reduced to 10% on 22/2/1965.
(2) The first British commercial radio
station, Radio Manx, began broadcasting.
21/11/1964, Saturday (+7,137)
The Verrazano Narrows suspension bridge, across the entrance to New York
Harbour, opened to traffic.
19/11/1964, Thursday
(+7,135) Major offensive by
South Vietnam against the North began.
17/11/1964, Tuesday
(+7,133) The UK imposed an arms embargo on South Africa because of its
apartheid policy.
11/11/1964, Wednesday
(+7,127) In the UK, the new Labour Chancellor introduced a mildly
deflationary budget. Measures included 6d a gallon more tax on petrol.
10/11/1964, Tuesday
(+7,126) Kenya became a one-party State after the Kenya African Democratic
Union Party merged with the Kenyan Africa National Union Party.
8/11/1964, Sunday (+7,124)
7/11/1964, Saturday (+7,123) Helen
Troke, badminton champion, was born.
6/11/1964, Friday (+7,122) Hans
von Euler-Chelpin, German-born chemist, died aged 91.
5/11/1964, Thursday (+7,121)
Zhou Enlai, Prime Minister of China, visited the USSR for a summit meeting of
Communist States.
4/11/1964, Wednesday (+7,120)
Lyndon B Johnson was elected 36th US President.
3/11/1964, Tuesday (+7,119)
Eduardo Montalva was
inaugurated for a 6-year term as the 29th President of Chile.
2/11/1964, Monday (+7,118) (1) King Faisal became King of Saudi Arabia,
succeeding his brother.
(2) First showing of the TV serial Crossroads.
1/11/1964, Sunday (+7,119) (Vietnam)
North Vietnamese attack on the airfield at Bien Hoa. Four US servicemen were
killed and a large number of US aircraft damaged. This prompted the US to
escalate its involvement in Vietnam. The airfield was expanded into a large US
military base.
=====================================================================================
31/10/1964, Saturday (+7,114) Marco
van Basten, Dutch footballer, was born.
30/10/1964, Friday (+7,115)
Tran Van Huong became Prime
Minister of South Vietnam
29/10/1964, Thursday (+7,114)
The name of Tanzania was officially adopted, for the union this day of
Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
28/10/1964, Wednesday (+7,113) Rioting in Catholic areas of
Belfast after a Republican flag was removed by the police.
27/10/1964, Tuesday (+7,112) (1) Wilson warned Rhodesia that a declaration of
UDI would be treason.
(2) In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini
delivered a speech attacking the extent of US involvement in Iran, saying that
Iran was virtually a �colony of America�. Following this he was deported and
took up residence in the Shiite city of Najaf, Iraq.
24/10/1964, Saturday (+7,109)
Northern Rhodesia became the independent Republic of Zambia.� Kenneth Kaunda was the first President.� This ended 75 years of British rule.
22/10/1964, Thursday (+7,107)
Michael Hill, athletics (javelin), was born.
20/10/1964, Tuesday
(+7,105) Herbert Hoover, American Republican and 31st
President from 1929 to 1933, died in New York City aged 90.
16/10/1964, Friday (+7,101) China exploded a nuclear
weapon at Lop Nor.
15/10/1964, Thursday
(+7,100) (1) (Britain)
Labour won the UK General Election with a majority of 4. Labour had 317 seats
(12,205,814 votes, 44.1%), the Conservatives 304 (12,001,396 votes, 43.4%), and
the Liberals 9 (3,092,878 votes, 11.2%). Harold Wilson was the new Prime Minister, succeeding Alec Douglas
Home. He inherited a balance of payments deficit of nearly �700 million. James
Callaghan became Chancellor of the Exchequer.
(2) Nikita Khrushchev was replaced, in
the USSR, as First Secretary of the Communist Party by Leonid Brezhnev and as
Prime Minister by Alexei Kosygin.
14/10/1964, Wednesday (+7,099) Martin Luther King received the
Nobel Peace Prize.
12/10/1964, Monday (+7,097) Russia launched the first three man space ship.
10/10/1964, Saturday (+7,095) (Olympic
Games) The 18th Olympic Games opened in Tokyo.
9/10/1964, Friday (+7,094) (South Africa)
A planned tour by the Rolling Stones to South Africa was cancelled due to
the British Musician�s Union�s anti-apartheid embargo.
7/10/1964, Wednesday (+7,092)
6/10/1964, Tuesday (+7,091) (Broadcasting)
The first episode of Stingray aired in UK TV. The puppet caste included Captain
Troy, Tempest, Phones, and the green-haired Marina, aboard their atomic-powered
submarine.
5/10/1964, Monday
(+7,090) 57 people escaped from East to West Berlin through a 98 metre
tunnel under the Berlin Wall.
4/10/1964, Sunday (+7,089) (London
Underground) Services on the Moorgate to Finsbury Park line, north
London, were cut back to Drayton Park to allow for Victoria Line trains at
Finsbury Park, see 1/9/1968.
1/10/1964, Thursday (+7,086) (Railways)
The �Bullet Train� was inaugurated between Tokyo and Osaka. It averaged 163
km/hr (101 mph). The Otowayama
Tunnel, Japan, 5.045 km long, opened on the Tokyo-Osaka line.
====================================================================================
28/9/1964, Monday (+7,083) Harpo Marx, the silent one who chased
girls and played the harp, died aged 75.
27/9/1964, Sunday (+7,082) The Warren Report was published, stating that
Lee Harvey Oswald alone was responsible for the assassination of President
Kennedy. Conspiracy theorists were not satisfied.
25/9/1964, Friday (+7,080)
22/9/1964, Tuesday (+7,077) The James Bond film Goldfinger premiered in
Leicester� Square, London.
21/9/1964, Monday (+7,076) Malta became independent of Britain,
after 164 years of British rule.
19/9/1964, Saturday (+7,074)
17/9/1964, Thursday (+7,072) Karen Dixon, equestrian champion, was
born.
16/9/1964, Wednesday (+7,071) Rossy de Palma, Spanish actress, was
born.
15/9/1964, Tuesday
(+7,070) The Sun was first published.
14/9/1964, Monday (+7,069)
The British daily newspaper, The Herald, closed and was replaced by The
Sun.
6/9/1964, Sunday (+7,061)
Ian Smith arrived in the UK for talks on independence.
4//9/1964, Friday (+7,059)
Queen Elizabeth II opened the Forth Road Bridge.� It was 6,156 feet long, with a centre span of
3,300 feet. Construction began 21/11/1958.
3/9/1964, Thursday
(+7,058) Britain agreed to support
Malaysia against threats from Indonesia.
2/9/1964, Wednesday
(+7,057) Indonesian army units landed on Malaysian territory at Labis.
1/9/1964, Tuesday
(+7,056)
====================================================================================
22/8/1964, Saturday (+7,046) BBC2 first broadcast Match of
the Day; Arsenal played Liverpool at their Anfield ground, watched by a TV
audience of 20,000 in black and white. Over 40,000 actually attended the
ground. In 2014 BBC1�s Match of the Day has a TV audience of 3.6 million. In
1964 each of the Football League Clubs made �136 from the TV programme; in 2014
each Club made �3 million from the show.
21/8/1964, Friday (+7,045) In London, three women were
found guilty of indecency for wearing �topless� dresses.
20/8/1964, Thursday (+7,044) South Africa was banned from the
Olympics because of its apartheid policy.
17/8/1964, Monday (+7,041)
Greece withdrew its forces from NATO because of tension with Turkey over
Cyprus.
14/8/1964, Friday (+7,038) Geoffrey Parsons, athlete (high jump), was
born.
13/8/1964, Thursday (+7,037) The last hangings in Britain took place � the murderers
Peter Anthony Allen at Walton Prison, Liverpool, and John Robson Walby at
Strangeways Prison, Manchester.
12/8/1964, Wednesday
(+7,036) (1)
Ian Fleming, British author and creator of James Bond, died aged 56.
(2) Great train robber Charlie Wilson
escaped from Winson Green prison, Birmingham. He was recaptured four years
later in Canada.
11/8/1964, Tuesday
(+7,035) A Christian-sectarian based rebellion in Zambia led by Alice
Lenshina ended.
10/8/1964, Monday (+7,034)
An emergency casualty station had to be set up in Brighton to deal with a
constant stream of hysterical girls overcome during a performance of the Rolling Stones.
9/8/1964, Sunday (+7,033)
The United Nations ordered a ceasefire in Cyprus.
8/8/1964, Saturday (+7,032) Turkish planes attacked Cyprus.
7/8/1964, Friday (+7,031) In South Vietnam, General Nguyen Khanh
proclaimed a State of Emergency and ousted President Duong Vanh Minh.
2/8/1964, Sunday (+7,026)
(1) North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the
US destroyer Maddox, which was
patrolling 16 km off the North Vietnamese coast. One Vietnamese boat was
sunk, another badly damaged; the Maddox
was undamaged and continued her patrol. On the stormy night of 4-5/8/1964 the
radar allegedly spotted five Vietnamese boats in �attack formation�; in fact
these boats almost certainly did not exist. Either the radar image was
misinterpreted, or were fabricated to justify further US actions in Vietnam. US President Johnson got the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution passed through Congress; authorising �any necessary measures� to
repel attacks on US forces or US allies, including South Vietnam. This resolution justified a large
escalation in US activity in Vietnam from 1965 onwards.
(2) US Congress passed the Civil Rights
Act 1964.
====================================================================================
31/7/1964, Friday (+7,024) NASA succeeded in landing the
Ranger 7 probe on the Moon.
30/7/1964, Thursday
(+7,023) Jurgen Klinsmann, German footballer, was born.
28/7/1964, Tuesday
(+7,021)
27/7/1964, Monday (+7,020)
Sir Winston Churchill last appeared in the House of Commons. He died on
24/1/1965.
26/7/1964, Sunday (+7,019)
Sugar workers strike in British Guiana was called off.
22/7/1964, Wednesday
(+7,015)
18/7/1964, Saturday
(+7,011) Race riots in Harlem, New York; start of the �ghetto revolts�.
17/7/1964, Friday (+7,010)
Donald Campbell set a world land speed record of 403mph. He was driving a
car called Bluebird, on the salt flats at Lake Eyre, South Australia.
16/7/1964, Thursday
(+7,009) (1)
In the UK, the abolition of Resale Price Maintenance on most goods facilitated
the subsequent growth of the supermarkets.
(2) The Rolling Stones had
their first UK No.1 hit� with It�s All Over Now.
15/7/1964, Wednesday
(+7,008) Anastas Mikoyan succeeded Leonid Brezhnev as President of the
USSR.
9/7/1964, Thursday (+6,702) Gianluca Vialli, Italian footballer, was
born.
6/7/1964, Monday (+6,999)
(1) Malawi,
formerly Nyasaland, became independent.�
It had been a British Protectorate since 1891. Scottish explorer David Livingstone named the lake,
Lake Nyasa, after being told that was its name by the locals; however nyasa meant �mass of waters�. So Lake
Nyasa meant �lake-lake�. On independence the name Malawi was chosen, from the
former 16th century Kingdom of Maravi, believed to have ruled over
the Zambesi river as far as Mombasa.
(2) �Magnitude 7.4
earthquake struck Guerrero, Mexico, killing 78.
2/7/1964, Thursday
(+6,995) President Johnson of the USA signed the Civil Rights Bill
prohibiting racial discrimination.
1/7/1964, Wednesday
(+6,994) Roscoe Pound, US legal scholar, died aged 93.
====================================================================================
30/6/1964, Tuesday
(+6,993) UN troops ceased fighting
in the Congo.
23/6/1964, Tuesday (+6,986)
The first snowfall in Johannesburg, South Africa, since records began.
21/6/1964, Sunday (+6,984)
Dean Saunders, footballer, was born.
16/6/1964, Tuesday
(+6,979) Julian Snow, real tennis champion, was born.
15/6/1964, Monday
(+6,978) Michael Laudrup, Danish footballer, was born.
14/6/1964, Sunday (+6,977)
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Robben
Island, seven miles off Cape Town. There were international protests. See
27/1/1963.
12/6/1964, Friday
(+6,675)
11/6/1964, Thursday
(+6,674) Henry Stevenson, billiards champion, died.
10/6/1964, Wednesday
(+6,973) The U.S. Senate voted closure of the Civil Rights Bill after a
75-day filibuster.
9/6/1964, Tuesday (+6,972) British newspaper tycoon Lord
Beaverbrook died, aged 85.
7/6/1964, Sunday (+6,970)
5/6/1964, Friday (+6,968) The first British space flight, as
the Blue Streak rocket took off from
Woomera in Australia.
4/6/1964, Thursday (+6,967) The United Nations Security Council passed
Resolution 189, condemning military incursions into Cambodia.
3/6/1964, Wednesday (+6,966)
The Rolling Stones began their first US tour.
2/6/1964, Tuesday (+6,965) The PLO was created in Jerusalem.
====================================================================================
30/5/1964, Saturday (+6,962)
27/5/1964, Wednesday
(+6,959) The Indian statesman 'Pandit' Nehru died, aged 74, having been
the first Prime Minister of India since independence in 1947. He
was succeeded by Lal Shastri.
26/5/1964,
Tuesday (+6,958) Caitl�n R. Kiernan, Irish-born
US science fiction and fantasy author, was born in Dublin
25/5/1964,
Monday (+6,957) Adrian Moorhouse, champion
swimmer, was born.
24/5/1964,
Sunday (+6,956) Football stadium riot in Lima, Peru, as Peru
played Argentina; 300 died.
23/5/1964,
Saturday (+6,955) Staci Greason, actress, was born in Denver,
Colorado.
22/5/1964,
Friday (+6,954) UK troops flown to British
Guiana as a state of emergency was proclaimed as unrest grew.
21/5/1964,
Thursday (+6,953) (Science)
James Franck, German-US physicist, died in Gottingen.
20/5/1964,
Wednesday (+6,952) Joseph :Lawson, horse
racing champion, died.
19/5/1964,
Tuesday (+6,951) The US lodged a complaint
with Russia over microphones found at its Moscow Embassy.
18/5/1964, Monday (+6,950)
Mods and Rockers clashed at UK south coast resorts.
17/5/1964, Sunday (+6,949) Bob Dylan made his first major
London appearance, at the Royal Albert Hall.
14/5/1964, Thursday (+6,946) Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser opened the first stage of the Aswan Dam in Egypt. The Nile had been
diverted four years earlier to build the dam, which will create a lake 6 miles
wide and 350 miles long, displacing 100,000 people but irrigating a million
acres of desert for farmland. Many of Egypt�s historic sites were also flooded,
but the buildings were moved to safe locations.
11/5/1964, Monday (+6,943) John Parrott, snooker champion, was born.
6/5/1964, Wednesday (+6,938) In South Africa the Bantu Laws Amendment
Act was passed. This attempted to control the informal settlement of Black
Africans on the periphery of urban areas.
3/5/1964, Sunday (+6,935) In the Lebanese general election, Independent
candidates won the majority of seats, on a voter turnout of 53.0%.
2/5/1964, Saturday (+6,934) Nancy, Lady Astor, the first woman to
sit in the House of Commons in 1919, died aged 84.
=====================================================================================
28/4/1964, Tuesday (+6,930)
27/4/1964, Monday (+6,929) Greville Wynne, British businessman
sentenced in Moscow in 1963 for spying, was exchanged at the Berlin border for
Gordon Lonsdale, KGB agent sentenced in London for espionage in 1961.
26/4/1964, Sunday (+6,928) Tanganyika and Zanzibar united as
Tanzania. Julius Nyerere was the first President.
25/4/1964, Saturday (+6,927) The head of the Little Mermaid statue in
Copenhagen Harbour was hacked off and stolen. The statue was in honour of the
children�s� author, Hans Christian Anderson.
24/4/1964, Friday (+6,926) Gerhard Domagk, German pathologist (born
30/10/1895 in Brandenburg) died in Burgberg.
Martin Lopez-Zubero, Spanish swimmer, was born
23/4/1964, Thursday (+6,295) Gianandrea Noseda, Italian pianist, was
born.
22/4/1964, Wednesday (+6,924)
British businesswoman Greville Wynne who had been imprisoned in the USSR for a
year on spying charges was exchanged for the Soviet agent Gordon Lonsdale.
21/4/1964, Tuesday (+6,923) BBC2 began transmission. The first programme was Play School.
19/4/1964, Sunday (+6,921)
17/4/1964, Friday (+6,919)
The Rolling Stones released their first LP.
16/4/1964, Thursday (+6,918) Twelve members of the Great Train
Robbers were sentenced to a total of 307 years in jail.
13/4/1964, Monday (+6,915) Ian Smith became Prime Minister of
Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He succeeded Winston Field, who had resigned.
11/4/1964, Saturday (+6,913) Marshal Humberto Castello Branco became
President of Brazil,
9/4/1964, Thursday (+6,911) The first driverless trains ran on
the London Underground. They were first trialled on the Central Line between
Woodford and Hainault.
5/4/1964, Sunday (+6,907) Douglas
MacArthur, American General and commander in the Pacific during World
War Two, died in Washington DC aged 84.
4/4/1964, Saturday (-6,906) Archbishop Makarios rejected the 1960
treaty; fighting broke out in Cyprus.
2/4/1964, Thursday (+6,904)
1/4/1964, Wednesday (+6,903)
President Goulart of Brazil was overthrown in a military coup. President
Johnson of the USA feared a socialist takeover.
=====================================================================================
31/3/1964, Tuesday
(+6,902) Oleksandr Turchynov, Ukrainian politician, economist, was born.
30/3/1964, Monday (+6,901)
Mods and Rockers clashed on the seafront at Clacton.
29/3/1964, Sunday (+6,900)
Easter Sunday.
28/3/1964, Saturday (+6,899)
(1) Radio Caroline, Britain�s first private
radio broadcasting station, began broadcasting from The Channel outside British
waters.
27/3/1964, Friday (+6,898)
(1) A UN peace force took over in Cyprus.
(2) (Earthquake,
USA) Powerful
earthquake, magnitude 9.2, hit Alaska, 139 died.
26/3/1964, Thursday
(+6,897) You Only Live Twice, Ian Fleming's 12th James Bond novel was
released by Jonathan Cape in the UK.
25/3/1964, Wednesday
(+6,896) Unrest in British Guiana as a strike by sugar workers continued
(strike ended 26/7/1964).
24/3/1964, Tuesday
(+6,895) (Aviation)
Stanstead, Essex, was provisionally chosen as the site of London�s third
airport.
23/3/1964, Monday
(+6,894) The first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) opened at Geneva.
22/3/1964, Sunday (+6,893)
Anti-Muslim violence broke out in India.
21/3/1964, Saturday
(+6,892) Ieuan Evans, rugby player, was born Carmarthenshire, Wales.
20/3/1964, Friday (+6,891) Irish playwright Brendan Behan
died.
19/3/1964, Thursday
(+6,890) Harold Wilson presented each of The Beatles with a silver heart
as joint winners of the Show Business Personality of 1963 award.
18/3/1964, Wednesday
(+6,889) (Innovations,
Light) The Lava Lamp was patented by David George Smith for Crestworth
Ltd, Poole, UK.
17/3/1964, Tuesday (+6,888)
15/3/1964, Sunday (+6,886) Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married in
Montreal.
14/3/1964, Saturday (+6,885) Jack Ruby, aged 52, was found guilty
in Dallas of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, alleged assassin of President Kennedy
(see 22/11/1963). He was sentenced to death but died of a blood clot on the
lung in 1967.
12/3/1964, Thursday (+6,883)
11/3/1964, Wednesday (+6,882)
South Africa left the International Labour Organisation
10/3/1964, Tuesday
(+6,881) Prince Edward (Edward Antony
Richard Louis) was born in Buckingham Palace, the third son of Elizabeth II.
9/3/1964, Monday (+6,882) Fighting in Ktima, Cyprus.
6/3/1964, Friday (+6,877) Constantine II became king of the
Hellenes, succeeding his father Paul I.
======================================================================================
21/2/1964, Friday (-6,863) �10 notes were issued for the first
time since World War Two.
16/2/1964, Sunday (+6,858) Jose Roberto Gama de Oliveira,
Brazilian footballer, was born.
11/2/1964, Tuesday (+6,853) Fighting broke out at Limassol, Cyprus, between Greeks and Turks.
8/2/1964, Saturday (+6,850)
The Beatles began their first US tour.
7/2/1964, Friday (+6,849)
25,000 fans gathered at Kennedy Airport to greet the Beatles on their first
visit to America.
6/2/1964, Thursday
(+6,848) Britain and France reaffirmed agreement to build a Channel
Tunnel.
3/2/1964, Monday (+6,845)
China challenged the USSR for
leadership of the Communist world.
1/2/1964, Saturday (+6,843)
The mayor of Notasulga, Alabama, turned away six black pupils from an all
white school.
EMI�s
managing director announced that The Beatles were making over �500,000 a month.
The Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain called for unauthorised possession
of amphetamines to be made an offence.
====================================================================================
30/1/1964, Thursday
(+6,841) Coup in South Vietnam; General Duong Van Minh was replaced by
General Nguyen Kanh. However Minh remained as nominal head of state.
27/1/1964, Monday (+6,,838)
France recognised Communist China.
22/1/1964, Wednesday (+6,833)
Kenneth Kaunda, leader of the United National Independence Party, became the
first President of Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
21/1/1964, Tuesday (+6,832)
Joseph Schildkraut, Austrian-born American stage and film actor, died aged 67.
20/1/1964, Monday (+6,831) In
the UK, the trial of the Great Train Robbers began.
19/1/1964, Sunday (+6,830) Firmin
Lambot, Belgian racing cyclist, died aged 77.
18/1/1964, Saturday (+6,829) Richard
Dunwoody, champion horse racer, was born.
17/1/1964, Friday (+6,828) The top UK TV programme was Steptoe and Son.
16/1/1964, Thursday (+6,827)
Arab leaders announced a plan to divert the headwaters of the River Jordan away
from Israel. Israel had previously announced its National Water Carrier Plan to
make greater use of the Jordan waters. The issue threatened another
Arab-Israeli war., until the Arabs dropped their diversion plan in May 1964.
15/1/1964, Wednesday (+6,826) George
Duncan, golfer, died (born 16/9/1883).
14/1/1964, Tuesday (+6,825) In China,
the nuclear processing facility at Lanzhou made its first delivery of enriched
uranium, 90% uranium-235; China exploded its first atom bomb, 22-kilotons, on 16/10/1964.
13/1/1964, Monday (+6,824) (1) In Calcutta, 200 died in Muslim-Hindu riots.
(2) The Beatles entered the
US Charts at no. 45 with I Wanna Hold
Your Hand.
12/1/1964, Sunday (+6,823) (Africa)
Zanzibar was proclaimed a republic. The Arab Sultan of Zanzibar was banished
from the country, and an African-led government took control.
11/1/1964, Saturday (+6,822) (Medical) Health
experts in America published the first warnings that cigarettes could be
dangerous for your health.
9/1/1964, Thursday
(+6,820)
8/1/1964, Wednesday
(+6,819) (USA)
In the US, President Johnson proposed a reduction in defence spending.
7/1/1964, Tuesday
(+6,818) In a drive to improve trade
links with Europe, Cuba ordered 400 British buses.
6/1/1964, Monday (+6,817)
Pope Paul VI finished a three-day tour of the Holy Land, the first Pope to
visit there since Christianity began. He was also the first Pope to leave Italy
for over 150 years. On 5/1/1964 Pope Paul VI met the Ecumenical Patriarch of
Constantinople in Jerusalem, the first meeting between the heads of the Roman
Catholic and Orthodox Churches for 500 years.
5/1/1964, Sunday (+6,816)
(London
Underground) The first automatic ticket barrier on the London
Underground was installed, at Stamford Brook station.
4/1/1964, Saturday
(+6,815) (Jewish)
Michael Brenner, German-Jewish historian, was born.
1/1/1964, Wednesday
(+6,812) The first Top of the Pops was broadcast, with Jimmy Savile as
its presenter.
====================================================================================
22/12/1963, Sunday (+6.802) Violent clashes between Greeks
and Turks in Cyprus; UN Peace Forces intervened.
21/12/1963, Saturday (+6,801)
Leeds Rugby Club, the first with undersoil heating, used it during a game with
Dewsbury.
15/12/1963, Sunday (+6,795) In the UK, the CEGB's 400 kV Supergrid was first
tested when High Marnham Power Station was connected to Monk Fryston substation,
near Selby.
12/12/1963, Thursday
(+6,792) Kenya became
independent, with Kenyatta as President.
11/12/1963, Wednesday
(+6,791) In Los Angeles, Frank
Sinatra Jr was set free after his father paid kidnappers a US$ 240,000 ransom.
10/12/1963, Tuesday
(+6,790) Zanzibar became
independent.� It had been a
British Protectorate since 1890.
9/12/1963, Monday
(+6,789) Royal Jordanian Airlines was established, on decree by King
Hussein,
8/12/1963, Sunday (+6,788) Sarit Dhanarajata, Prime
Minister of Thailand, died.
1/12/1963, Sunday (+6,781)
===================================================================================
26/11/1963, Tuesday
(+6,776) Joe Lydon, rugby player, was born.
25/11/1963, Monday (+6,775) State funeral of President
Kennedy.
24/11/1963, Sunday (+6,774)
Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of President Kennedy, was himself shot dead by Jack
Ruby.
23/11/1963, Saturday (+6,773)
The BBC screened the first episode of Dr
Who. The doctor was played by William Hartnell.
22/11/1963, Friday (+6,772) John F Kennedy was assassinated, in
Dallas, Texas, during the run up to the 1964 USA presidential election. He had
become President of the USA in 1960, defeating Richard M Nixon. Lee Harvey
Oswald, the man charged with the killing, was shot on 24/11/1963 by club owner
Jack Ruby at Dallas Police headquarters. Vice President Lyndon Johnson
completed the remainder of his term. See 14/3/1964.
20/11/1963, Wednesday
(+6,770)
19/11/1963, Tuesday
(+6,769) John Potter, hockey champion, was born.
18/11/1963, Monday (+6,768)
(1) The Dartford Tunnel was opened. Initial
construction works had begun in 1936, when a pilot tunnel was dug (completed
1938). However further works were delayed due to World War Two, and further
tunnel works only resumed in 1959.
(2) The push button phone was
introduced.
14/11/1963, Thursday
(+6,764) The island of Surtsey, off Iceland, was born as an undersea
volcano erupted.
7/11/1963, Thursday
(+6,757) John Barnes, footballer, was born.
5/11/1963, Tuesday
(+6,755) Jean-Pierre Papin, French footballer, was born.
3/11/1963, Sunday (+6.753)
Ian Wright, footballer, was born.
2/11/1963, Saturday (+6,752) The first President of
Vietnam, Ngo Dinh Diem, was assassinated, along with his brother, in a military
coup encouraged by the CIA.
1/11/1963, Friday
(+6,751) In South Vietnam, a coup organised by General Duong Van Minh
overthrew President Ngo Dinh Diem.
=====================================================================================
31/10/1963, Thursday
(+6,750) Britain suspended aid to Indonesia.
30/10/1963, Wednesday
(+6,749) Brendan Mullin, rugby player, was born.
26/10/1963, Saturday
(+6,745) Khrushchev said the USSR would not race the US to get a man on the
Moon.
19/10/1963, Saturday (+6,738)
Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Conservative, became Prime Minister.� Harold Macmillan resigned as Prime Minister
on 18/10/1963.�
17/10/1963, Thursday
(+7,736) Sergio Javier Goycochea, Argentinean footballer, was born.
11/10/1963, Friday
(+6,730) Jean Cocteau, French artist (born 1889) died.
10/10/1963, Thursday
(+6,729) Harold Macmillan announced
he would resign as Prime Minister, due to ill-health and the Profumo Affair;
see 5/6/1963 and 19/10/1963.
9/10/1963, Wednesday
(+6,728) Three thousand were killed
as the Vaijont Dam burst in the Italian Alps. Despite warnings that the valley
sides were being destabilised as the dam filled, work continued until a rock
slide hit the site.
5/10/1963, Saturday
(+6,724) Laura Davies, golf champion, was born.
1/10/1963, Tuesday
(+6,720) Nigeria became a republic within the Commonwealth.
====================================================================================
26/9/1963, Thursday
(+6,715) Lord Denning�s report on the Profumo affair was published. He said
there was no breach of security and government ministers were not involved in
promiscuous behaviour.
24/9/1963, Tuesday
(+6,713) Peter Craven, speedway driver, died (born 21/6/1934).
21/9/1963, Saturday
(+6,710) Vilian Siroky, Czechoslovak Prime Minister, was dismissed. Jozef
Lenart became Prime Minister. Lenart was a pragmatic reformer who succeeded in
boosting the Czechoslovak economy. However he became less in favour of
political reform and was dismissed when the 1968 Prague Spring began.
20/9/1963, Friday (+6,709) The first pre-natal blood
transfusion was performed at the National Women�s hospital in Auckland, New
Zealand, by Professor George Green, on a child born to Mrs E McLeod.
19/9/1963, Thursday
(+6,708) France and Britain agreed
to build a Channel Tunnel.
18/9/1963, Wednesday
(+6,707) The UN Special Committee on Apartheid in South Africa called for
prohibition of arms and petroleum traffic with South Africa.
17/9/1963, Tuesday
(+6,706) Rami Saari,
Israeli poet, was born.
16/9/1963, Monday (+6,705)
Malaysia became independent from Britain; a mob of over 100,000 burned down
the British Embassy.� The name Malaysia
was adopted, from the previous name, Federation of Malaya, when joined by
Singapore and Sarawak.
15/9/1963, Sunday (+6,704)
During race violence in the US, an African-American church in Birmingham,
Alabama, was blown up.
14/9/1963, Saturday
(+6,703) The first issue of The Hornet, boy�s comic, was published.
13/9/1963, Friday
(+6.702) Robin Smith, cricketer, was born.
12/9/1963, Thursday
(+6,701)
10/9/1963, Tuesday
(+6,699) The people of Gibraltar voted overwhelmingly to remain under
British rule.
9/9/1963, Monday
(+6,698) Roberto Donadoni, Italian footballer, was born
8/9/1963, Sunday (+6,697)
A new Constitution in Algeria established Ben Bella as President.
6/9/1963, Friday (+6,695)
5/9/1963, Thursday
(+6,694) Christine Keeler, one of the girls at the centre of the Profumo
scandal, was arrested and charged with perjury. She was sentenced to nine
months on 6/12/1963. See 5/6/1963.
4/9/1963, Wednesday
(+6,693) (1)
Desegregation riots in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
(2) Robert Schuman, French Prime
Minister, died.
2/9/1963, Monday (+6,691)
George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, halted integration of Black and White
students by surrounding Tuskegee High School with state troopers. See 15/5/1972.
1/9/1963, Sunday (+6,690)
About 100,000 people in two Japanese cities demonstrated against the presence
of American nuclear submarines.
=====================================================================================
31/8/1963, Saturday (+6,689)
The �hot line�, linking the Kremlin and the White House, went into operation.
30/8/1963, Friday (+6,688) Guy Burgess, Cambridge spy who
worked for the Soviet Union, died.
29/8/1963, Thursday (+6,687) Gulzarilal
Nanda replaced Lal Bahadur Shastri as Indian Minister for Home Affairs.
28/8/1963, Wednesday
(+6,686) Black civil rights leader Martin
Luther King made his famous speech, �I have a dream�� to a rally of 200,000
people in Washington DC, demonstrating for civil rights for Blacks. On 4/9/1963
there were desegregation riots at Birmingham, Alabama.
27/8/1963, Tuesday
(+6,685) Du Bois, fighter for Black equality (born in Great Barrington,
Massachusetts, 23/2/1868), died in Accra, Ghana. He founded the Niagara
Movement, an association of Black intellectuals, in 1905, which became part of
the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in
1909. Du Bois also participated on the conferences that led to the founding of
the United Nations, moving to Ghana in 1961.
25/8/1963, Sunday (+6,683)
24/8/1963, Saturday
(+6,682) Jonathan Webb, rugby player, was born.
23/8/1963, Friday
(+6,681) The Beatles single She Loves You was released.
22/8/1963, Thursday
(+6,680) Lord Nuffield, founder of
Morris Motors, died, aged 84.
21/8/1963, Wednesday
(+6,679) Martial law was declared in
South Vietnam.
15/8/1963, Thursday
(+6,673) Lisa Opie, squash champion, was born.
9/8/1963, Friday
(+6,667) Whitney Houston, US singer, was born.
8/8/1963, Thursday
(+6,666) The Great Train Robbery took place at Sear�s Crossing,
Mentmore, near Cheddington, Bletchley, Buckinghamshire. A gang of 15 men stole
over �2.5million. Their haul was �2.5 million in banknotes scheduled for
destruction.� The robbery was well
planned. They used batteries and a light to simulate a red stop signal for the
Glasgow to London mail train. When the train stopped they coshed the driver,
Jack Mills, decoupled the engine and some of the carriages, and drove them to
Bridego bridge further up the line. Here the loot was loaded onto a lorry and taken
to a farm nearby, which the police quickly found. Charlie Wilson, the first of
the robbers, was arrested and charged later the same month. The train driver
was coshed on the head and died six years later, never fully regaining his
health.
5/8/1963, Monday (+6,663) President Kennedy signed a Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty in Washington. This treaty forbade testing in the atmosphere,
outer space, or underwater, and was aimed at preventing other nations than the
USA or USSR developing nuclear weapons. However to allow America and Russia to
develop their nuclear weapons, underground testing was allowed under this
treaty (see 1/7/1968).
3/8/1963, Saturday (+6,661) The Beatles played in The Cavern,
Liverpool, for the last time.
1/8/1963, Thursday
(+6,659) The minimum age for prison in the UK was raised to 17 by the
Criminal Justice Act.
=================================================================================
31/7/1963, Wednesday
(+6,658) In Britain, Mr A N Wedgwood Benn, who had become 2nd
Viscount Stansgate, renounced his peerage as he was now allowed to do under the
Peerage Act 1963. This made them eligible to become MPs in the House of
Commons. He changed his name to Tony Benn in 1972.
30/7/1963, Tuesday
(+6,657) The �third man�, Kim Philby, turned up in Moscow after escaping
arrest in Britain for spying. He had defected to Russia on 23/1/1963.
26/7/1963, Friday (+6,653)
Big earthquake hit Skopje, Yugoslavia, killing 1,100. 150,000 were left
homeless.
22/7/1963, Monday (+6,649) In Britain, a commission into
slum housing was set up.
21/7/1963, Sunday (+6,748)
In Britain, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan appointed Lord Denning to
investigate the security aspects of the Profumo affair.
11/7/1963, Thursday
(+6,638) Dean Richards, rugby player, was born.
8/7/1963, Monday
(+6,635) The Fred Bassett cartoon
first appeared in The Daily Mail.
3/7/1963, Wednesday
(+6,630) The Clyde Road Tunnel,
Glasgow, opened; construction began in 1957.
2/7/1963, Tuesday
(+6,629) (Astronomy)
Seth Barnes Nicholson, US astronomer, died in Los Angeles, California.
1/7/1963, Monday (+6,628) Kim Philby, British spy, was
revealed as the �third man�.
=====================================================================================
30/6/1963, Sunday (+6,627)
Coronation of Giovanni Batista Montini as Pope Paul VI.
28/6/1963, Friday
(+6,625)
26/6/1963, Wednesday (+6,623)
President Kennedy made his famous �Ich bin ein Berliner� speech. He meant
to say �I am a Berliner�, to indicate US support for the freedom of West
Germany. However what he actually said translated as �I am a doughnut�.
25/6/1963, Tuesday
(+6,622) George Michael, British pop musician, was born.
24/6/1963, Monday
(+6,621)
23/6/1963, Sunday (+6,620) US President
Kennedy began a five-day tour of West Germany, including West Berlin. He
promised, �we shall risk our cities to defend yours�.
22/6/1963, Saturday (+6,619) Maria
Tanase, Romanian folk singer, died aged 49.
21/6/1963, Friday (+6,618) (1) France
withdrew its navy from NATO.
(2) Giovanni Battista Montini was elected as Pope Paul VI.
20/6/1963, Thursday (+6,617) The
White House and the Kremlin agreed to set up a �hot line�.
19/6/1963, Wednesday (+6,616) Rory
Underwood, rugby player, was born.
18/6/1963, Tuesday (+6,615) Pedro Armendariz, Mexican actor, died aged 51.
17/6/1963, Monday (+6,614) The USSR achieved the first
link-up of two spacecraft in space. Valentina Tereshkova (26) aboard the Vostok
6 rocket met with Valery Bykovsky (28) who had been orbiting Earth aboard Vostok
5 for two days. Crowds celebrated in the streets of Moscow.
16/6/1963, Sunday (+6,613) (1) Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became
the first woman to travel into space. She was born to a peasant family in
Maslennikovo, Russia, in 1937, and made her first parachute jump aged 22 with a
local aviation club. Her enthusiasm for skydiving brought her to the attention
of the soviet space programme, which wanted a woman in space in the early
1960s. Tereshkova was launched into space on 16/6/1993 from Tyaturum aboard
Vostok 6, guided by an automatic control system. After just under 3 days in
space, and 48 Earth orbits, Vostok 6 re-entered the atmosphere and Tereshkova
successfully parachuted to Earth after ejecting at 20,000 feet. She later
received the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union awards.
(2) Ben Gurion, Israeli Prime Minister,
resigned aged 76. He was replaced by Levi Eshkol.
15/6/1963, Saturday (+6,612) The
French retailing chain Carrefour opened the first hypermarket in Europe. With
2,500 square meters of floor space for a grocery store and department store,
parking space for 350 cars, and its own gasoline station, the first Carrefour
hypermarket was opened at the Paris suburb of Sainte-Genevi�ve-des-Bois,
Essonne.
14/6/1963, Friday (+6,611) Carl Skottsberg, Swedish Antarctic explorer, died aged
82.
13/6/1963, Thursday (+6,610)
Edward Sturing, Dutch footballer, was born in Apeldoorn, Netherlands
12/6/1963, Wednesday (+6,609) Civil Rights lawyer Medgar
Evers was murdered by White�
segregationists in Mississippi.
11/6/1963, Tuesday (+6,608) George C Wallace, Governor of
Alabama, barred the path of two Black students, James A Hood and Vivian J
Malone, who were attempting to enrol at the University of Alabama.
10/6/1963, Monday (+6,607) (Women�s Rights)
The USA passed the Equal Pay Act, forcing employers to pay the same rate to men
and women doing the same-skilled job for the same number of hours.
8/6/1963, Saturday (+6,605)
5/6/1963. Wednesday
(+6,602) (Britain)
War Minister John Profumo resigned, admitting he misled the Commons about
his relationship with a call girl called Christine Keeler, who had links to a
Russian diplomat. See 5/9/1963.
4/6/1963, Tuesday
(+6,601) (Food) At the
World Food Congress, John F Kennedy said �The war against hunger is truly
mankind�s war of liberation�.
3/6/1963, Monday (+6,600)
(Christian)
Pope John XXIII, Angelo Guiseppe Roncalli, died.
1/6/1963, Saturday (+6,598) Jomo Kenyatta became the first
Prime Minister of a self-governing Kenya.
=====================================================================================
28/5/1963, Tuesday
(+6,594) Chris Camden, English footballer, was born.
25/5/1963, Saturday
(+6,591) The OAU (Organisation of African Unity) was founded at Addis
Ababa.
15/5/1963, Wednesday
(+6,581) (Space
exploration) US astronaut Gordon Cooper, launched in an Atlas rocket,
made 22 orbits of the Earth.
14/5/1963, Tuesday
(+6,580) Kuwait was admitted to the
United Nations.
13/5/1963, Monday
(+6,579) Penny Lumley, real tennis champion, was born.,
11/5/1963, Saturday
(+6,577)
10/5/1963, Friday (+6,576) African-Americans were finally
allowed to use the shops and public services in Birmingham, Alabama, after the
�Birmingham Campaign� led by Martin Luther King.
9/5/1963, Thursday
(+6,575) A state of emergency was proclaimed in British Guiana but her
governor, at the request of Prime Minister Cheddi Jagan.
2/5/1963, Thursday
(+6,568) Jack Crawford,� cricketer,
died (born 1/12/1886).
=====================================================================================
28/4/1963, Sunday (+6,564) Cuban President Fidel Castro visited the
USSR.
25/4/1963, Thursday (+6,651) (Chemistry)
Kevlar, a very strong substance termed liquid crystalline polymers, that can
make bullet-proof vests, was patented by Du Pont, USA.
22/4/1963, Monday (+6,558) A
general strike began in British Guiana (Guyana), with rioting and terrorism.
The strike lasted until 8/7/1963.
18/4/1963, Thursday (+6,554) The
first human nerve transplant was carried out by Dr James Campbell at New York
University Medical Centre.
17/4/1963, Wednesday (+6,553)
The Royal Navy�s first nuclear powered submarine, Dreadnought, was commissioned.
16/4/1963, Tuesday (+6,552)
Jimmy Osmond, US singer, was
born.
15/4/1963, Monday (+6,551) In
Britain, disorder broke out during the last stages of the Aldermaston March,
organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).
14/4/1963, Sunday (+6,550) Easter
Sunday.
13/4/1963, Saturday (+6,549) Gary
Kasparov, Russian world chess champion, was born.
12/4/1963, Friday (+6,548)
Indonesian forces attacked Malaysia.
11/4/1963, Thursday (+6,547)
Nigel Pulsford, English
guitarist, was born.
10/4/1963, Wednesday (+6,546)
The nuclear-powered submarine USS
Thresher sank in the Atlantic with the loss of all 129 men on board.
9/4/1963, Tuesday (+6,545) Winston Churchill was given
honorary US citizenship.
8/4/1963, Monday (+6,544)
General election in Canada was won by the Liberals with 129 seats. The
Progressive Conservatives won 95 seats, Others won 41 seats.
7/4/1963, Sunday (+6,543) (Football)
Bernard Lama, French Guianese
footballer, was born.
6/4/1963, Saturday (+6,542) Anglo-US Polaris weapons
agreement signed.
5/4/1963, Friday (+6,541) Bradwell
nuclear power station opened in the UK.
2/4/1963, Tuesday
(+6,538) A Black Civil Rights
campaign began in the USA.
=====================================================================================
27/3/1963, Wednesday
(+6,532) Beeching published his report, recommending extensive
cuts to the UK rail network. He proposed closing a quarter of the rail network,
closing 2,128 stations, scrapping 8,000 rail coaches, and axing 67,700 jobs.
There would be no rail service north of Inverness, and most branch lines in
north and central Wales and the West Country would close.
25/3/1963, Monday (+6,530) The Co-op on Frodingham Road,
Scunthorpe, converted from counter service to self service. Now 24 of the 35
Co-ops in the area were self-service, and just three remained offering counter
service in Scunthorpe itself.
23/3/1963, Saturday
(+6,528) Jose Miguel Gonzalez Maria del Campo, Spanish footballer, was
born.
22/3/1963, Friday
(+6,527) In the British House of Commons, John Profumo, Secretary of State
for War, denied that he had sexual relations with Miss Christine Keeler, an attach�
of the Soviet Embassy in London.
21/3/1963, Thursday
(+6,526) (1) Alcatraz, the notorious
prison in San Francisco Bay, was closed.
It had been a maximum-security prison since 1934.
(2) Aden joined the South Arabian
Federation.
19/3/1963, Tuesday
(+6,524)
18/3/1963, Monday
(+6,523) In the USA, in Gideon v Wainwright, the Supreme Court required the
State to appoint defence counsel if the defendant could not afford a private
lawyer.
17/3/1963, Sunday (+6,522)
(1) A volcano erupted in Bali, killing 11,000.
(2) The first of the Tristan da Cunha
islanders returned home from Britain.
16/3/1963, Saturday (+6,521)
Lord Beveridge, founder of the Welfare State, died.
12/3/1963, Tuesday
(+6,517) Arthur Grimsdell, footballer, died (born 23/3/1894).
6/3/1963, Wednesday (+6,511) Britain had its first frost-free night since December,
after a very cold winter.
3/3/1963, Sunday (+6,508)
Steve Moore, water skiing champion, was born.
=====================================================================================
27/2/1963, Wednesday
(+6,504) Juan Bosch, Dominican Revolutionary Party, winner of the elections
of the elections of December 1962 (first free elections there for over 30
years), was inaugurated as President.
22/2/1963, Friday
(+6,499) Devon Malcolm, cricketer, was born.
19/2/1963, Tuesday
(+6,496) The USSR agreed to withdraw troops from Cuba.
18/2/1963, Monday
(+6,495) Rob Andrew, English rugby player, was born.
14/2/1963, Thursday
(+6,491) Harold Wilson became leader of the Labour Party, see 18/1/1963.
Other candidates were James Callaghan and George Brown. See 18/1/1963.
10/2/1963, Sunday (+6,487)
John Taylor, golfer, died.
9/2/1963, Saturday
(+6,486) In Russia, the former head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and
Archbishop of Lvov, was released after 18 years imprisonment, which began when
the Ukrainian Catholic Church was forcibly united with the Russian orthodox
Church.
8/2/1963, Friday
(+6,485) The Beatles were asked to leave the Carlisle Golf Club because
they were wearing leather jackets.
7/2/1963, Thursday
(+6,484) Arthur Carr, cricketer, died (born 21/5/1893).
6/2/1963, Wednesday
(+6,483) Mohammed
ibn al-Chattabi Abd el-Krim, Morocco opposition leader, died.
5/2/1963, Tuesday
(+6,482) Maarten Schmidt identified
red shifts in quasars.
4/2/1963, Monday (+6,481)
In the UK, a learner-driver was fined for driving on after the instructor
had jumped out of the car for fear of his life.
1/2/1963, Friday (+6,478)
Nyasaland became independent, later to be called Malawi.
=====================================================================================
30/1/1963, Wednesday
(+6,476) Pelham Warner, cricketer, died (born 2/10/1873).
27/1/1963, Sunday (+6,473)
Mrs Winnie Mandela was served with an injunction preventing her seeing her
imprisoned husband Mandela. See 14/6/1964. Films on release included Cape Fear.
26/1/1963, Saturday
(+6,472) Jose Mourinho, footballer, was born.
24/1/1963, Thursday
(+6,470)
23/1/1963, Wednesday
(+6,469) (1)
The Volta River Project, Ghana, to dam the Rover Volta, was inaugurated by Dr
Nkrumah.
(2) Kim Philby was officially reported
as �missing� after failing to meet his wife at a dinner party in Beirut.
Formerly a high-ranking British intelligence officer, he had been accused of
spying for the USSR in 1955 but had been exonerated by Prime Minister Harold
MacMillan. Philby�s accomplices Guy Burgess and Donald McClean had fled to
Moscow in 1951; MacMillan insisted there was no �third man�.
22/1/1963, Tuesday
(+6,468) (1) UK unemployment was it its
highest since World War Two, at 814,632. TV showed The Flintstones at the prime slot of 7pm. TV closed down around
midnight. On 19/1/1963 snow and ice meant only 9 out of 63 League Cup Football
matches were played, and two of those were abandoned.
(2) (France-Germany) German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
(1876-1967) signed a Treaty of Friendship with French President Charles de
Gaulle, marking �the end of a century of hostility and suspicion between the
two nations�.
18/1/1963, Friday (+6,464)
Hugh Gaitskell, former UK Labour Party leader from 1955 to 1963, died
unexpectedly. See 14/2/1963.
15/1/1963, Tuesday
(+6,461) The BBC ended its ban on mentioning politics, royalty,
religion, and sex in comedy shows.
14/1/1963, Monday (+6,460)
(1) De Gaulle vetoed Britain�s membership of
the EEC. He said the UK was too close to the Commonwealth and the USA, and not
�sufficiently European�.
(2) The secession of Katanga
from the Congo ended, see 11/7/1960.� The
province was renamed Shaba, and its capital town, formerly Elizabethville, was
renamed Lubumbashi.�
11/1/1963, Friday (+6,457)
The world�s first disco, called Whisky a Go Go, opened in Los
Angeles.
9/1/1963, Wednesday
(+6,455) Karen Brown, hockey champion, was born.
2/1/1963, Wednesday
(+6,448) (Vietnam)
End of the Battle of Ap Bac. This was a turning point in the Vietnam War. In
late December 1962 a contingent of 2,000 South Vietnamese soldiers (ARVN, Army
of the Republic of Vietnam) encountered 300-400 People�s Liberation Armed Force
(PLAF) fighters near a canal close to Ap Bac. Despite US assistance, advice,
and the presence of US planes, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, the
ARVN suffered 165 casualties and lost 5 helicopters, whilst the PLAF� lost less than a dozen fighters. This battle
forced the USA to reconsider whether advice and material assistance alone was
enough to help South Vietnam win against the Communist North.
1/1/1963, Tuesday (+6,447) In the UK, the BBC relaxed a ban on
mentioning sex, religion, politics and royalty on comedy shows.
======================================================================================
31/12/1962, Monday (+6,446)
29/12/1962, Saturday
(+6,444) UN troops occupied Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi).
28/12/1962, Friday
(+6,443) UN troops engaged in heavy fighting in Katanga Province, Congo
Republic.
27/12/1962, Thursday
(+6,442) India and Pakistan reopened talks on Kashmir,
26/12/1962, Wednesday
(+6,441) The worst winter in Britain since 1740 began with a �big
freeze� that lasted well into January 1963�
Base rates in Britain were 4%, the Chancellor, Reginald Maudling,
announced that rates were to fall. The Beatles, an obscure group from
Liverpool, just made no.17 in the charts with their single Love Me Do.
21/12/1962, Friday (+6,436) The US agreed to sell Polaris
missiles to the UK.
18/12/1962, Tuesday
(+6,433) PM Harold MacMillan of the
UK and President Kennedy of the USA concluded the Nassau Agreement, at Nassau,
Bahamas.� This allowed the US navy to
provide Polaris missiles for the Royal Navy, normally operating under NATO
command.� This Anglo-US collaboration was
resented by general De Gaulle of France, who saw it as proof that Britain was
not sufficiently European. �Within a
month De Gaulle had vetoed UK membership of the EEC, see 14/1/1963.
17/12/1962, Monday
(+6,432) In the UK, a committee on the reform of the House of Lords
recommended that an heir should be allowed to disclaim his peerage.
14/12/1962, Friday (+6,429)
Mariner II sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Venus.
11/12/1962, Tuesday
(+6,426) In West Germany, a coalition government of Christian Democrats,
Christian Socialist and Free Democrats was formed.
10/12/1962, Monday (+6,425) Crick and Watson received the
Nobel prize for their work on DNA.
9/12/1962, Sunday (++6,424)
Tanzania became a Republic within the Commonwealth, with Julius Nyerere as
first President.
8/12/1962, Saturday (+6,423) Revolt in Brunei suppressed
with British help.
7/12/1962, Friday
(+6,422) Kirsten Flagstad, Norwegian opera singer, died aged 67.
6/12/1962, Thursday
(+6,421) Janine Turner, US actress, was born.
5/12/1962, Wednesday (+6,420)
(1) Britain exploded a thermonuclear device
underground in Nevada.
(2) US diplomat Dean Acheson said
Britain was 'played out'.
4/12/1962, Tuesday
(+6,419) (Italy)
Pietro Tomasi Della Torretta, Italian politician and diplomat, died aged 89.
1/12/1962, Saturday
(+6,416)
=====================================================================================
29/11/1962, Thursday
(+6,414) (Aviation)
France and Britain agreed to develop the �Concorde� airliner.
28/11/1962, Wednesday
(+6,413) (Netherlands)
Wilhelmina, Queen of The Netherlands from 1890 to 1948, died.
27/11/1962, Tuesday
(+6,412) Britain agreed to supply arms to India in case of further Chinese
military action.
24/11/1962, Saturday
(+6,409) Andrea Lynch, athlete, was born.
22/11/1962, Thursday
(+6,407) Stuart Barnes, rugby
player, was born.
21/11/1962, Wednesday
(+6,406) Ceasefire in the
India-China border dispute.
20/11/1962, Tuesday
(+6,405) President Kennedy lifted
the blockade of Cuba, having verified that Soviet nuclear missiles had been
removed.
19/11/1962, Monday
(+6,404) The Newfoundland general election was won by the Liberal Party of
Newfoundland and Labrador, led by Joey Smallwood.
18/11/1962, Sunday (+6,403) As blizzards and snowstorms hit Britain (see
26/12/1962), the House of Lords expressed concern at Britain�s 7,000 road
deaths a year. The Birmingham Corporation revoked a ban on turbaned Sikhs
working as bus conductors and drivers. President
Kennedy told a press conference that Nikita Khrushchev had told him all Soviet jet bombers would be withdrawn
from Cuba within ten days. Bishop
Ambrose Reeves encouraged Oxford students to write to their MPs urging them to
repeal the laws on homosexuality. The first James Bond film, Dr No, was released.
16/11/1962, Friday
(+6,401)
14/11/1962, Wednesday
(+6,399) Britain resumed negotiations to join the EEC. Macmillan and De
Gaulle talked at Rambouillet on 15-16/12/1962. However De Gaulle was intransigent, fearing the UK would import US
influence into Europe. De Gaulle resigned in May 1969.
13/11/1962, Tuesday
(+6,398) UK doctors estimated that 40,000 Britons were taking pep pills.
America launched its biggest rocket yet, the Saturn booster, in its effort to
reach the Moon. Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, warned the US reconnaissance
planes would be shot down if they continued to fly over Cuba. Kenneth Adam,
Director of BBC TV, announced that a second channel would be launched in 1964.
The new channel would show very little repeated programmes and not have much
American material.
11/11/1962, Sunday (+6,396)
Kendra Slawinski, netball champion, was born.
7/11/1962, Wednesday
(+6,392) In South Africa, Nelson Mandela was jailed for seven years.
6/11/1962, Tuesday
(+6,391) In his first meeting with his cabinet, Saudi Arabia's Prime
Minister Faisal (later the King) announced his plans to abolish slavery within
the Kingdom and to have the government pay owners for the manumission of their slaves.
5/11/1962, Monday
(+6,390) In the US, elections left Democrats in control of both Houses.
4/11/1962, Sunday (+6,389)
The first Mexican Grand Prix was won by Jim Clark and Trevor Taylor.
3/11/1962, Saturday
(+6,388) Andrew Mapple, water skiing champion, was born.,
2/11/1962, Friday (+6,387) Tangynika elected Nyerere as
president.
1/11/1962, Wednesday
(+6,386) Sharron Davies, champion swimmer, was born in Plymouth, UK.
===================================================================================
30/10/1962, Tuesday
(+6384)
28/10/1962, Sunday (+6,382) (1) Khrushchev began to dismantle
Soviet missile bases in Cuba, so ending the Cuba Missile Crisis; the Soviet Union simply
ignored its earlier demand regarding Turkey. President Kennedy was leader of
the USA at the time; on Saturday 27/10/1962 he was just about to order US air
strikes on the missile bases, when on Sunday the news came that the USSR had
agreed to withdraw the missiles. The USSR attempted to leverage the removal of
NATO missiles from Turkey but did not achieve this. The USA had to achieve this
result, for political, not military, reasons, or else how could USA support be
relied upon further from home. In fact the danger from the Cuban missiles was
not much greater than if the same intercontinental ballistic missiles had been
launched from 5,000 miles away in the USSR. Actually the 40 or so missiles on
Cuba would have reached the USA before any USSR-launched missiles, so acting as
an early warning for the USA to launch its 1,685 missiles against the USSR. The
USA did not know, however, that only a fraction of the USSR-based missiles were
operational, so the 40 Cuban missiles did amount to a substantial increase in
Soviet firepower against the USA.
(2) The US pledged to send
arms to India in its dispute with China.
27/10/1962, Saturday
(+6,381) USAF Major Rudolf Anderson became the only combatant fatality of
the Cuban Missile Crisis when his U-2 airplane was shot down by a
surface-to-air missile while he was flying over Cuba
26/10/1962, Friday (+6,380) The USSR offered to remove
nuclear missiles from Cuba if NATO missiles were removed from Turkey; the US
rejected this idea. In fact the US had been planning to remove these missiles
anyway, seeing them as obsolete; however a removal now might be seen as a
victory for the Soviet Union.
25/10/1962, Thursday
(+6,379) Uganda was admitted to the United Nations, as the 110th member.
24/10/1962, Wednesday
(+6,378) The USA began to blockade Cuba over the Cuban Missile Crisis. At 10.15am, 500 miles from the Cuban
coastline, two Soviet merchant vessels, the Gargarin and the Komiles,
encountered American warships. The Essex had orders to sink the
accompanying Soviet submarines should they refuse to surface when challenged.
23/10/1962,
Tuesday (+6,377)
Christo van Rensburg, South African tennis champion, was born.
22/10/1962,
Monday (+6,376)
(1) Nelson Mandela, leader of the African
National Congress, went on trial charged with treason; he pleaded not guilty.
(2) President Kennedy ordered a
blockade of Cuba after Soviet missile sites were found there.
21/10/1962,
Sunday (+6,375) David
Campese, Australian rugby player, was born..
20/10/1962,
Saturday (+6,374)
Chinese troops attacked Indian border positions.
16/10/1962,
Tuesday (+6,370)
President Kennedy saw aerial photos of Cuba which appeared to show
nuclear-armed missiles being installed in Cuba.
11/10/1962,
Thursday
(+6,365) Hugh Foot resigned as British representative at the UN in protest
at the British Government�s support for the regime in Southern Rhodesia (now
Zimbabwe).
10/10/1962,
Wednesday (+6,364)
Ceasefire in the Congo civil war.
9/10/1962, Tuesday (+6,363) Uganda became independent, after 62 years of British rule. Milton Obote was the
first Prime Minister.� See 25/1/1971.
8/10/1962, Monday (+6,362) Judge Elizabeth Lane became
the first female judge to sit in the High Court.
4/10/1962, Thursday
(+6,358) The TV Series, The Saint, starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar,
first broadcast this day.
1/10/1962, Monday (+6,355)
The first Black student attended classes at Mississippi University, and 200
were arrested in subsequent riots. James Howard Meredith arrived at university
with a large guard of 170 federal marshals. After White rioting, gunfire
erupted in the evening, with two killed and over 50 injured, including a French
journalist. Under armed guard for his entire period of study, Meredith obtained
his degree. However four years later he was shot dead by an armed White man in
ambush, in June 1966 on a civil rights march in Mississippi.
====================================================================================
30/9/1962, Sunday (+6,354)
The National Farm Workers of America, which would later merge with the
Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee to form the United Farm Workers of
America, was founded in Fresno, California by Cesar Chavez.
29/9/1962, Saturday (+6,353)
Canada launched its first satellite, the Alouette.
28/9/1962, Friday
(+6,352) Fred Merkel, US motorcycle racing champion, was born in Stockton,
California
27/9/1962, Thursday
(+6,351) (Environment)
Rachel Carson published �Silent Spring�. She was very concerned about the issue
of pesticides in the environment. By December, half a million copies had been
printed, and even US President John F Kennedy was influenced.
26/9/1962, Wednesday
(+6,350) Ahmed ben Bella was elected Prime Minister of Algeria.
25/9/1962, Tuesday
(+6,349) Ferhat Abbas was elected the President of Algeria by the new
Constitutional Assembly.
24/9/1962, Monday
(+6,348) Alistair McCoist, footballer, was born.
21/9/1962, Friday (+6,345)
The British TV quiz programme University Challenge conducted by Bamber
Gascoigne was first transmitted.
15/9/1962, Saturday
(+6.339) (Science)
William Weber Coblentz, US physicist, died in Washington DC.
14/9/1962, Friday (+6,338) Distillers Company agreed to
pay �14 million to the victims of thalidomide.
11/9/1962, Tuesday
(+6,335)
9/9/1962, Sunday (+6,333)
President Kennedy called for the USA to launch a full speed drive for the
Moon and first place in space over Russia, so that space will be an area of
peace and not a terrifying theatre of war.
TV showed another episode of Steptoe and Son, and The
Morecambe and Wise Show.
8/9/1962, Saturday (+6,332)
(India)
China-India border dispute
escalated. China crossed the 14,000 ft high Tangla Ridge and attacked
Indian border posts on 20/10/1962. On 28/10/1962 the USA pledged to send arms
to India.
7/9/1962, Friday
(+6,231) Isak Dinesen, Danish writer, died (born 17/4/1885).
4/9/1962, Tuesday
(+6,328)
3/9/1962, Monday (+6,327)
The Trans-Canada highway, 4,800 miles from St John�s Newfoundland to
Victoria, British Columbia, was opened.
2/9/1962, Sunday (+6,326)
The USSR agreed to supply weapons to Cuba.�
This started the Cuban Missile
Crisis.
1/9/1962, Saturday (+6,325) Severe earthquake hit Iran,
killing 20,000.
=====================================================================================
31/8/1962, Friday (+6,324) Trinidad and Tobago became
independent.� It had been a British colony since 1802.
29/8/1962, Wednesday
(+6,322) American spy planes took pictures of Soviet technicians
constructing missile launch pads in Cuba.
27/8/1962, Monday (+6,320) The US spacecraft Mariner II
was launched, on the first interplanetary space mission, to Venus.
22/8/1962, Wednesday
(+6,315) President De Gaulle of
France escaped an assassination attempt by the OAS, a terrorist organisation of
White Algerian settlers opposed to De Gaulle�s policies there.
21/8/1962, Tuesday
(+6,314) Savannah, the world�s first nuclear-powered merchant
ship, began her maiden voyage.
15/8/1962, Wednesday
(+6,308)
9/8/1962, Thursday
(+6,302) The National Theatre was
established in London, with Sir Lawrence Olivier as director.
8/8/1962, Wednesday
(+6,301) Archie Compston, golfer, died.
7/8/1962, Tuesday
(+6,300) Egypt agreed terms with the UK for compensating British subjects
whose property was seized after the Suez Crisis of 1956.
6/8/1962,
�Monday (+6,299) Jamaica
became independent, after being a colony of Britain for over 300 years.
5/8/1962, Sunday (+6,298)
Marilyn Monroe, US film actress, died in Los Angeles aged 36, of a
barbiturates overdose.
======================================================================================
30/7/1962, Monday (+6,292)
22/7/1962, Sunday (+6,284)
The Mariner 1 spacecraft flew erratically several minutes after launch and had
to be destroyed after less than five minutes, at a cost of $4,000,000 for the
satellite and $8,000,000 for the rocket. The $12 million dollar loss was later
traced to the omission of an overbar in the handwritten text from which the
computer programming for the rocket guidance system was drawn.
21/7/1962, Saturday (+6,283)
The Rolling Stones made their first appearance at the Marquee Club in
London.
20/7/1962, Friday (+6,282)
The world�s first regular hovercraft service began, on the Dee estuary between
Wallasey and Rhyl.
10/7/1962,
�(+6,272) (1) Telstar I, the world�s first
television telecommunications satellite, was launched in America. The following
day it transmitted a special television inaugural programme to mark the first
communications satellite.
(2) The first motorway in Ireland
opened, running from Belfast to Lisburn.
7/7/1962, Saturday
(+6,269) (Myanmar)
The Burmese Army attacked a student demonstration at Rangoon University, killing
130 � see 2/3/1962.
6/7/1962, Friday
(+6,268) William Faulkner, US novelist, died.
3/7/1962, Tuesday
(+6,265) (Algeria)
France recognised Algerian independence, after a referendum. The referendum
result was 2,605,293 in favour of independence and a tiny 6,732 to stay with
France. In many voting districts not a single non-independence vote was cast. Algeria
had been under French rule for 132 years. French property was taken over by Algerians.� Ben Bella was the first Prime Minister of
Algeria.� De Gaulle had begun peace talks
with the FLN on 30/3/1961 and peace was concluded mostly on the FLN�s terms on
18/3/1962.
1/7/1962, Sunday (+6,263)
(1) Rwanda and Burundi became
independent.� They had formerly been part
of the Belgian administration of Ruanda-Urundi.
(2) Referendum on independence in
Algeria. The result was decisive; 5,993,754 voted for independence, and 16,748
opposed it.
Most Europeans opposed to independence did not vote. Initially both Muslim
Algerians and Europeans celebrated, but within a few days there was violence
between fundamentalist Muslims and resentful Europeans in Oran.
====================================================================================
19/6/1962, Monday
(+6,251) Michael Jeremy Bates, tennis champion, was born.
15/6/1962, Friday (+6,247) Berkeley
nuclear power station in Gloucestershire began operating.
14/6/1962, Thursday
(+6,246) The European Space Research
Organisation was formed in Paris.
10/6/1962, Sunday (+6,242)
(Rail
Tunnels) The Hokuriku tunnel, 13.87 km long, Japan, opened on the
Maibara-Fukui line.
7/6/1962, Thursday
(+6,239) William Faulkner, US writer (born 25/9/1897 in New Albany,
Mississippi) died in Oxford, Mississippi.
4/6/1962, Monday
(+6,236) (Biology)
Charles William Beebe, US naturalist, died at Simla Research Station, Trinidad.
3/6/1962, Sunday (+6,235) An Air France Boeing 707,
flying from Orly, Paris to Atlanta, Georgia, crashed on take-off, killing 130.
2/6/1962, Saturday (+6,234) Vita Sackville-West, British
novelist, died.
1/6/1962, Friday
(+6,233) The Soviet
Union raised the price of consumer goods by more than 25 percent in order to
cover higher operating expenses for the USSR's collective farm program. Butter
was up 25%, and pork and beef by 30%. In protest, workers walked off of the job
at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Factory and the strike soon turned
into an uprising.
====================================================================================
31/5/1962, Thursday
(+6,232) Adolf Eichmann
was executed inside Ramleh Prison, Tel Aviv, for his part in the mass killing
of millions of Jews during World War Two.
30/5/1962, Wednesday
(+6,231) Coventry�s new Cathedral
was inaugurated. The original mediaeval building had been destroyed by German
bombers in November 1940.
25/5/1962, Friday (+6,226)
(Britain)
Coventry�s new cathedral,
designed by Sir Basil Spence, was consecrated.
18/5/1962, Friday
(+6,219) In Canada, the Progressive Conservatives lost their majority in
the elections; however John Deifenbaker remained as Prime Minister. The
Progressive Conservatives won 116 seats, the Liberals won 100, others 49.
17/5/1962, Thursday
(+6,218) Hong Kong built a wall to
keep out Chinese migrants.
14/5/1962, Monday
(+6,215)
13/5/1962, Sunday (+6,214) Franz
Kline, painter, died in New York, USA, aged 52.
12/5/1962, Saturday (+6,213) (South Africa)
The South African General Law Amendment Bill imposed the death penalty for
sabotage. A few months later it was made a criminal offence to publish anything
said by a Black or White journalist whose works had been banned. In October
1962 those banned from speaking or writing publically could be put under house
arrest for 5 years; they could not receive visitors or use the telephone, or
communicate with any other banned person. By the end of 1962 18 such orders had
been issued.
11/5/1962, Friday (+6,212) President
Kennedy ordered US naval, air, and land forces into the Indo China area, to
prevent Laos from falling under Communist control. TV showed Emergency Ward Ten.
10/5/1962, Thursday (+6,211)
John Ngugi, Kenyan athlete
(runner) was born in Kigumo, Muranga District.
9/5/1962, Wednesday (+6,210)
The Beatles signed a recording contract with
EMI�s Parlophone label.
8/5/1962. Tuesday
(+6,209) Trolley buses ran
for the last time in London.
7/5/1962, Monday (+6,208)
Negotiations began in Laos between the three warring parties.
6/5/1962, Sunday (+6,207) In Italy,
Antonio Segni was elected President on the 9th ballot.
5/5/1962, Saturday (+6,206) Eleven
elderly East Berliners escaped to the West through a tunnel. They had dug the
tunnel six feet high so the women wouldn�t have to crawl.
2/5/1962, Wednesday
(+6,203) James White, snooker champion, was born.
=================================================================================
26/4/1962, Thursday (+6,197) Britain�s first
satellite, Ariel, was launched from
Cape Canaveral.
24/4/1962, Tuesday
(+6,195) Stuart Pearce, footballer, was born.
23/4/1962, Monday (+6,194) 150,000 people gathered in
Hyde Park, London, for the biggest-ever Ban the Bomb demonstration.
22/4/1962, Sunday (+6,193)
Easter Sunday.
17/4/1962, Tuesday
(+6,188)
12/4/1962, Thursday
(+6,183) Ronald Flockhart, motor racing champion, died (born 16/6/1923).
11/4/1962, Wednesday
(+6,182) In Jamaica, Alexander Bustamante, Labour, formed a government.,
10/4/1962, Tuesday
(+6,181) The Dodger Stadium, major league baseball�s modern showpiece,
opened in Los Angeles, USA.
9/4/1962, Monday (+6,180)
The Budget dominated much of the day�s TV. Measures included abolition of
tax on sugar, coffee, tea, and cocoa. But a 15% Purchase Tax was placed on ice
cream, sweets, and soft drinks. A Picasso fetched �80,000, the highest price
ever paid for the work of a living artist. Scotland Yard announced that
visitors from abroad who illegally parked in meter zones would be given a
polite cautionary leaflet instead of the �2 parking ticket.
8/4/1962, Sunday (+6,179)
In Cuba, over 1,000 Bay of Pigs
invaders were sentenced to 30 years in jail. See 17/4/1961.
5/4/1962, Thursday
(+6,176) Richard Gough, footballer, was born.
3/4/1962, Tuesday
(+6,174) Peter Haining, champion rower, was born.
2/4/1962, Monday (+6,173) (1)
The first push-button panda road crossings were installed.
(2) Prince Charles arrived as a new
pupil at Gordonstoun School, near Elgin, Scotland, the school his father Prince
Philip attended.
====================================================================================
26/3/1962, Monday (+6,166)
The French Army launched an offensive to crush an armed uprising in
Algeria. See 3/7/1962.
24/3/1962, Saturday
(+6,164) Amanda Jones, champion cyclist, was born.
23/3/1962, Friday
(+6,163) Steven Redgrave, champion rower, was born.
15/3/1962, Thursday
(+6,155) John Hall, rugby player, was born.
2/3/1962, Friday (+6,142)
(1) (Myanmar) General Ne Win staged a military coup (see
1960). Ne Win now suppressed all democracy, and renamed the country Myanmar in
1989. On 7/7/1962 the Army intervened to halt a student protest at Rangoon
University; they dynamited the Student Union building, killing 130 students.
All universities across the country were then closed until September 1964. Ne
Win established �The Burmese Way to Socialism� Under his regime, mining and
other industries were nationalised, as the country�s New Order policy of
Buddhist Socialism isolated the nation politically. Free trade was suppressed.
Hundreds of political opponents were imprisoned without trial, and Myanmar went
from being one of the most prosperous regions of south east Asia in 1960 to one
of the 10 poorest nations on Earth by the time Ne Win retired in 1988.
(2) The UK applied to join the European
Coal and Steel Community. On 5/3/1962 the UK applied to join the European
Atomic Energy Community.
1/3/1962, Thursday
(+6,141) Uganda achieved full self-government, with Benedicto Kiwanuka as
Prime Minister.
=====================================================================================
26/2/1962, Monday (+6,138) The IRA announced a ceasefire
after a 5-year campaign of violence.
20/2/1962, Tuesday
(+6,132) Astronaut John Glenn
made three orbits of the Earth in his spacecraft Mercury VI, the first American
in orbit. Bad weather on 26/1/1962 at Cape Canaveral had delayed his launch. On
27/1/1962 an unmanned US craft passed within 20,000 miles of the moon.
19/2/1962, Monday
(+6,131) Stewart Matthews, trampoline champion, was born.
10/2/1962, Saturday (+6,122)
The USA exchanged a Soviet spy for the captured pilot Gary Powers. The exchange took place
in the middle of a bridge linking the American and Soviet sectors of Berlin.
4/2/1962, Sunday (+6,116)
The Sunday Times became the first paper to issue a colour supplement. The
idea was expected to fail.
3/2/1962, Saturday
(+6,115) President Kennedy of the USA banned all trade with Cuba. Cigar
smokers were badly hit.
=====================================================================================
29/1/1962, Monday
(+6,110) The USA enacted a positive discrimination law, that firms with
large government contracts must have a 15% Black workforce. The proportion of
the US population that was Black was then 11%.
27/1/1962, Saturday
(+6,108) (Space)
An unmanned US craft passed within 20,000 miles of the moon.
22/1/1962, Monday (+6,103)
The �A6 murder� trial began. It was to be the longest murder trial in
British legal history, lasting until 17/2/1962, and ended with the hanging of James Hanratty. He had murdered
Michael Gregston in a lay-by on the A6.
21/1/1962, Sunday (+6,102)
(week commencing). The threat of a general strike loomed as trade unions
made it clear they intended to oppose the government�s wage restraint policy.
Smallpox was also a threat as an epidemic hit Britain and other countries
insisted visitors from the UK were vaccinated. It was announced that, 20 years
after the birth of the atomic Age, the world now possessed 280 atomic bombs, 40
of them in Britain. The Met Office started using centigrade as well as
Fahrenheit and ring pull cans came into use. In Paris OAS terrorists opposed to
President De Gaulle�s plans for Algeria planted ten plastic explosives bombs.
In Communist China it was revealed that only �registered addicts � were allowed
to buy or smoke cigarettes. The Beatles
and Cliff Richard were making the
charts. On TV, new, were Steptoe and Son
and Z Cars.
17/1/1962, Wednesday
(+6,098) Jim Carrey, US actor, was born.
15/1/1962, Monday (+6,096)
British weather reports started using Centigrade as well as Fahrenheit.
14/1/1962, Sunday (+6,095)
The European Economic Community
agreed on a Common Agricultural Policy.
13/1/1962, Saturday
(+6,094) Albania allied to the People's Republic of China, as the two countries
signed a trade pact.
12/1/1962, Friday
(+6,093) Ronald Rhodes, canoeing champion, died (born 31/10/1937)
11/1/1962, Thursday
(+6,092) Steven Hislop, motorcycle racing, was born.
10/1/1962, Wednesday (+6,091) 11 coal miners were killed in an
explosion at a mine near Carterville, Illinois.
9/1/1962, Tuesday
(+6,090) A Cuban-Soviet trade treaty
was signed.
8/1/1962, Monday (+6,089) Edward Rodgerson , English footballer, died
(born 3/4/1891).
3/1/1962, Wednesday
(+6,084) Pope John XXIII excommunicated
Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
1/1/1962, Monday (+6,082)
(1)
In the UK, the total number of full-time students in the universities and
university colleges stood at 93,524, up from 63,063 in 1947-8.
(2) Western Samoa became independent.
(3) The Beatles had their
first audition with a record company in London. Their manager, Brian Epstein,
was told, guitar groups are out, this group won�t make it, go back to
Liverpool.
=====================================================================================
22/12/1961, Friday (+6,072) James Davis became the first
US casualty of the war in Vietnam.
19/12/1961, Tuesday
(+6,069) India annexed Goa from the Portuguese, after 400 years of
Portuguese rule.
16/12/1961, Saturday
(+6,066) The USSR agreed to make a loan to Ghana for the construction of
the Volta River Project, for generating hydroelectric power.
15/12/1961, Friday (+6,065)
Adolf Eichmann, Nazi official
responsible for the execution of millions of Jews, was sentenced to death after
a four-month trial in Jerusalem.
13/12/1961, Wednesday
(+6,063) Grandma Moses, US painter, died aged 101.
9/12/1961, Saturday (+6,059)
Tangynika became independent. See 9/12/1962.
8/12/1961, Friday
(+6,058) Seamus Robinson, Irish republican leader, died aged 71.
7/12/1961, Thursday
(+6,057) The London County Council approved the building of 300-foot
high blocks of flats at Hammersmith, the tallest in Britain.
4/12/1961, Monday (+6,054)
The birth control pill became available on the National Health Service.
===================================================================================
20/11/1961, Monday
(+6,040) Shaun Wallace, champion cyclist, was born.
16/11/1961, Thursday
(+6,036) Frank Bruno, boxer, was born in Hammersmith, London.
12/11/1961, Sunday (+6,032)
Enzo Francescoli, Uruguayan footballer, was born.
11/11/1961, Saturday
(+6,031) Jan Kuehnemund, US guitarist, was born.
10/11/1961, Friday (+6,030) The
USSR renamed Stalingrad as Volgograd.
9/11/1961, Thursday (+6,029) Jill
Dando, British journalist and BBC television presenter, was born in
Weston-super-Mare (murdered 1999).
8/11/1961, Wednesday (+6,028)
Negotiations with Britain began in Brussels to join the Common Market.
7/11/1961, Tuesday (+6,027) Konrad Adenauer was elected
Chancellor of Germany for the fourth time.
6/11/1961, Monday (+6,026) The
Fenchurch Street (London) lines saw their first electric services (peak hours
only). A full electric service began on 18/6/1962.
5/11/1961, Sunday (+6,025) Gina
Mastrogiacomo, US actress), was born in Long Island, New York (died 2001)
4/11/1961, Saturday (+6,024) (television, Italy)
Italy's second television network Rai 2 began broadcasting, joining the
original RAI (Radiotelevisione Italiana) which had begun in 1954.
3/11/1961, Friday (+6,023) The
Burmese diplomat U Thant was elected UN Secretary-General.
2/11/1961, Thursday (+6,022) James
Thurber, author, died in New York.
1/11/1961, Wednesday (+6,021) (1)
The UK, concerned about rising immigration, planned a Commonwealth Immigration
Bill to limit their numbers. 21,000 Commonwealth citizens migrated to the UK in
1960 but 100,000 were expected for 1961. Number quotas and/or skills
requirements could be imposed. See 2/7/1962.
(2) In the Soviet Union, a
�de-Stalinisation� programme resulted in Stalin�s body being removed from the
Red Square mausoleum where it had lain next to Lenin since his death in 1953.
Even Stalingrad,� with its great
significance regarding World War Two, was renamed Volgograd.
====================================================================================
31/10/1961, Tuesday (+6,020) Joseph
Stalin's body was removed from the Lenin Mausoleum and reburied outside the
Kremlin as part a Soviet policy of de-Stalinization.
30/10/1961, Monday (+6,019) (Russia, nuclear)
The Soviet Union detonated a 50-megaton yield hydrogen bomb known as Tsar Bomba
over Novaya Zemlya, the largest man-made explosion ever. Too large to be fit
inside even the largest available warplane, the weapon was suspended from a
Tupolev Tu-95 piloted by A.E. Durnovtsev, a Hero of the Soviet Union. A
parachute slowed the bomb's descent so that the airplane could have time to
climb away from the fireball, and at an altitude of four kilometres, was
exploded at 8:33 AM GMT Although the news drew protests around the world, the
event was not reported in the Soviet press
29/10/1961, Sunday (+6,018) General
elections in Greece were won by the National Radical Union. Constantine
Karamanlis became Prime Minister.
28/10/1961, Saturday (+6,017) The
Berlin Crisis, US and Soviet tanks began a gradual withdrawal from stand-off
positions either side of the border.
27/10/1961, Friday (+6,016) Mauritania
and Mongolia were admitted to the United Nations.
26/10/1961, Thursday (+6,015) First
test flight of Saturn launch vehicle.
25/10/1961, Wednesday (+6,014)
The satirical magazine Private Eye
was published for the first time.
24/10/1961, Tuesday (+6,013) (Russia)
Bertrand Russell protested to the Soviet Embassy in London about the resumption
of nuclear tests by the Russians. The Russian response that it must be ready
for an attack from the USA did not impress him.
23/10/1961, Monday (+6,012) Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish footballer, was born.
20/10/1961, Friday
(+6,009) Ian Rush, footballer, was born.
18/10/1961, Wednesday
(+6,007) A work by Henri Matisse
attracted big crowds in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Only after
116,000 people had seen it over 46 days did someone notice it was hung
upside-down.
12/10/1961, Thursday
(+6,001) New Zealand voted to abolish the death penalty.
11/10/1961, Wednesday
(+6,000) Chico Marx, the piano-playing member of the Marx Brothers
comedy team, died.
10/10/1961, Tuesday
(+5,999) A volcanic eruption on the southern Atlantic island of Tristan
da Cunha forced the evacuation of the entire population to Britain.
9/10/1961, Monday (+5,998)
Margaret Thatcher got her
first government job, as Parliamentary Secretary.
7/10/1961, Saturday (+5,996)
4/10/1961, Wednesday
(+5,993) The Labour Party Conference voted against having Polaris bases
in Britain.
3/10/1961, Tuesday
(+5,992) Dean Lawrence, English actor, was born.
2/10/1961, Monday
(+5,991) Reginald Spooner, cricketer, died (born 21/10/1880).
1/10/1961, Sunday (+5,990)
The British Trust territory of Southern Cameroons joined with French
Cameroons to form the Republic of Cameroon.
=====================================================================================
30/9/1961, Saturday
(+5,989) The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)
was founded in Paris.
29/9/1961, Friday (+5,988)
Syria seceded from the United Arab Republic after anti-Egyptian uprisings.� See 1/2/1958, and 2/9/1971.
28/9/1961, Thursday
(+5,987) In Ghana, President Kwame Nkrumah imprisoned leading members of
the opposition, claiming a plot to assassinate him.
27/9/1961, Wednesday
(+5,986) Hilda Doolittle, US poet (born 10/9/1886 in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania), died in Zurich, Switzerland.
25/9/1961, Monday
(+5,984)
22/9/1961, Friday
(+5,981) Jack Buckner, athlete, was born.
21/9/1961, Thursday
(+5,980) In Egypt, Nasser confiscated the assets of wealthier Egyptians.
20/9/1961, Wednesday (+5,979)
(1) Rhodesian Prime Ministers Ian Smith banned the Black
opposition party.
(2) Argentinean
Antonio Albertondo began the first non-stop swim across the English Channel and
back. He completed the feat on 21/9 after 43 hours 5 minutes in the water.
19/9/1961, Tuesday
(+5,978) Jamaica left the West
Indies Federation.
18/9/1961, Monday (+5,977)
Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish Secretary General of the United Nations and Nobel
Prize Winner, was killed a plane crash near Ndola in Northern Rhodesia.� He had been flying from Leopoldville, Congo.
17/9/1961, Sunday (+5,976)
(1) (London) A
large �Ban the Bomb� demonstration in London was ended by the police with 830
arrested, including Vanessa Redgrave. 15,000 had attended the demonstration in
Trafalgar Square.
(2) The ex-President of Turkey,
Menderes, (see 27/5/1960) was executed at the prison on Imrali island, having
been accused of breaking the Turkish Constitution.
16/9/1961, Saturday
(+5,975)
14/9/1961, Thursday
(+5,973) New Zealand introduced compulsory selective military service.
13/9/1961, Wednesday
(+5,972) U.N. forces defeated Katangan rebels. See 11/7/1960.
12/9/1961, Tuesday
(+5,971) The philosopher Bertrand Russell, aged 89, was arrested and imprisoned
for protesting against nuclear weapons.
9/9/1961, Saturday
(+5,968) London Metropolitan line services north of Amersham were
withdrawn. The last steam passenger services ran on the London Underground.
6/9/1961, Wednesday
(+5,965) In London, anti-nuclear protestors attempted to march to the US
Embassy in protest at the resumption of nuclear tests by the USA. They were
stopped and their leaders, including the 89-year-old Bertrand Russell, were
arrested by the police.
5/9/1961, Tuesday
(+5,964) The USA announced it would resume underground nuclear tests.
2/9/1961, Saturday
(+5,961) Gillian Clark, badminton player, was born.
=====================================================================================
31/8/1961, Thursday
(+5,959) (1) After failure of the Geneva
Conference, the USSR announced it would resume nuclear weapons testing.
(2) Last Spanish troops withdrew from
Morocco.
21/8/1961, Monday (+5,949) Britain released Jomo
Kenyatta, who had been imprisoned for his part in the Mau-Mau rebellion, to
facilitate Kenyan political negotiations.
20/8/1961, Sunday (+5,948)
(Science)
Percy Williams Bridgman, US physicist, died in Randolph, New Hampshire, USA.
17/8/1961, Thursday
(+5,945) Construction of the Berlin Wall began, see 13/8/1961. The
Soviets had hidden building materials close to the site of the wall, so
construction was rapid. �2,000 people a
day had been leaving the east for West Germany.
13/8/1961, Sunday (+5,941) East German border guards stopped cars passing through the Brandenburg
Gate, Berlin.� The border between East
and West Berlin was sealed, at first with barbed wire, later by the Berlin Wall, erected on 17/8/1961. On
22/8/1961 a 100 metre no-man�s-land was created either side of the Berlin Wall.
The Wall was 96 miles long and 3.6 metres high. It had 302 armed watchtowers
and 20 bunkers.� 192 persons were killed
at the Wall, and another 200 wounded by shooting. The East German Government
called the barrier �an anti-fascist protection wall�. A second wall was added
in June 1962, and a third in 1965, reinforced by a fourth in 1975. The
Berlin Wall finally came down on 8/11/1989.
10/8/1961, Thursday
(+5,938) Britain first applied for membership of the EEC.
7/8/1961, Monday
(+5,935) Walter Swinburn, champion jockey, was born.
4/8/1961, Friday (+5,932)
Barak Hussein Obama, first
African-American President (44th) of the USA from 2009, was born.
1/8/1961, Tuesday (+5,929) Dirk
Franciscus Blind, Dutch footballer, was born.
====================================================================================
25/7/1961, Tuesday (+5,922) The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Selwyn Lloyd, introduced a pay freeze for UK
workers which was to last 9 months. He was concerned that over the previous 12
months, pay had risen 8% whereas national production had only risen 3%.
22/7/1961, Saturday (+5,919) The UN ordered a ceasefire in Tunisia, after
clashes between Tunisians and French.
21/7/1961, Friday (+5,918)
Runcorn Bridge, on the River Mersey, opened.� It was then the longest steel arch bridge in
the UK.
20/7/1961, Thursday
(+5,917) In a move to thwart Iraqi
claims on Kuwait, the Arab League admitted Kuwait as a member.
19/7/1961, Wednesday
(+5,916) TWA began showing films in the first class lounge of its long-haul
flights.
18/7/1961, Tuesday
(+5,915) The six Common Market countries issued the Bonn Declaration
aimed at political union.
14/7/1961, Friday
(+5,911) Boy George was born.
2/7/1961, Sunday
(+5,899) (1) The author Ernest Hemingway, born
21/7/1899 in Oak Park, Illinois, committed suicide.
(2) Venezuelan President
Romulo Betancourt laid the foundation stone of the new city of Sao Tome de
Guyana, describing it as �The future Ruhr of Venezuela�.
1/7/1961. Saturday (+5,898)
(1) British
troops were stationed in Kuwait in case of an attack by Iraq. In June
1961 Kuwait gained independence from Britain and a week later Iraq called for
�a return of Kuwait to the Iraqi homeland�. On 30/6/1961 Kuwait requested
assistance from the UK, and Royal Marines were sent out. The British troops
remained for two years.
(2) Lady Diana Spencer was born, in Park House, Sandringham.
====================================================================================
30/6/1961, Friday
(+5,897) (Innovation)
Lee de Forrest, US inventor, died in Hollywood, California.
27/6/1961, Tuesday
(+5,894) Dr Ramsey was enthroned as the 100th Archbishop of
Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral.
25/6/1961, Sunday (+5,892) Iraq claimed newly-independent
Kuwait as Iraqi, on the grounds that both had been part of the Ottoman Empire
and arbitrarily divided by Britain.
19/6/1961, Monday (+5,886)
Kuwait became independent.
16/6/1961, Friday (+5,883)
Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Soviet Union whilst in Paris, travelling
with the Leningrad Kirov Ballet.
9/6/1961, Friday
(+5,876) The UN called on Portugal to cease repressive measures in Angola.
6/6/1961, Tuesday
(+5,873) �Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss
psychologist and associate of Freud, died aged 85.
5/6/1961, Monday
(+5,872) The US Supreme Court ruled that the Communist Party must register
as a foreign-dominated organisation. On 17/6/1961 the US Communist Party
refused to comply with this ruling.
3/6/1961, Saturday
(+5,870)
1/6/1961, Thursday
(+5,868) (1) Dr Richard Beeching was appointed by the
Conservative Minister for Transport as Chairman Designate of the British
Railways Board.
(2) Northern Cameroons joined the
Federation of Nigeria.
====================================================================================
31/5/1961, Wednesday
(+5,867) The Republic of South Africa was formed, and it left the
Commonwealth.
30/5/1961, Tuesday
(+5,866) Rafael Trujillo, corrupt and dictatorial President of the
Dominican Republic, was assassinated. He had been ruler since he overthrew the
benevolent but inefficient rule of President Horacio Velasquez, who acceded in
July 1924. After the assassination a brief period of democratic rule under
President Juan Bosch from December 1962 to September 1963 was succeeded by a
military junta.
29/5/1961, Monday
(+5,865) The Western European Union agreed that West Germany would be
allowed to build destroyers equipped to fire nuclear weapons.
28/5/1961, Sunday (+5,864)
Amnesty International was founded
in London.
27/5/1961, Saturday (+5,863)
25/5/1961, Thursday
(+5,861) (1)
US President Kennedy announced the Apollo space programme.
(2) Klu Klux Klan marchers clashed with
civil rights �Freedom Riders� in Montgomery, Alabama.
24/5/1961, Wednesday
(+5,860) Cyprus joined the Council
of Europe.
20/5/1961, Saturday (+5,856) The Orient Express left Paris
on its final journey to Istanbul. The service started in 1883, and was suspended
for World War Two. It used to be the peak of luxury travel but air travel had
now superseded it.
18/5/1961, Thursday
(+5,854) Plans were announced for new UK universities at Canterbury,
Colchester, and Coventry.
17/5/1961, Wednesday
(+5,853) Guildford Cathedral consecrated.
16/5/1961, Tuesday
(+5,852) A 14-nation conference on Laos opened in Geneva. It soon ran into
deadlock.
13/5/1961, Saturday
(+5,849) Gary Cooper, US actor, died.
11/5/1961, Thursday
(+5,847) US President Kennedy sent
400 Special Forces troops to conduct covert anti-Communist operations in North
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
9/5/1961, Tuesday
(+5,845) Ali Amini, the new Prime Minister of Iran, dissolved Parliament
and banned political meetings.
8/5/1961, Monday (+5,844)
George Blake, 38, a former British diplomat, was jailed for 42 years for
spying for Russia.
5/5/1961, Friday (+5,841)
The Americans put Alan Shephard into space for 15 minutes, reaching an
altitude of 116 miles before splashing down 303 miles from the launch site. He
was the second man and the first American to reach space. However the Russian
space flight on 12/4/1961 had lasted 108 minutes and circled the Earth.
2/5/1961, Tuesday
(+5,838) Warring factions in Laos agreed to a ceasefire.
1/5/1961, Monday (+5,837)
Off-course betting shops became
legal in Britain. They were legalised under the Betting and Gaming Act, 1960.
10,000 of them opened within the first 6 months thereafter.
=====================================================================================
29/4/1961, Saturday
(+5,835) The World Wildlife Fund was founded in Switzerland.
27/4/1961, Thursday
(+5,833) Sierra Leone became independent, and joined the Commonwealth.
19/4/1961, Wednesday
(+5,825) Jim Fox, athlete (modern pentathlon), was born.
17/4/1961, Monday (+5,823) 1,300 Anti-Castro Cuban exiles, led by Jose
Cardona, attempted to invade Cuba from the Bay of Pigs. However on 18 and
19/4/1961 the exiles were pinned down on the beach by Castro�s troops. The USA
under President Kennedy backed
down following Khrushchev�s
declaration that the USSR would defend Cuba against the USA and the 1,200
survivors were left to their fate. They surrendered to Cuban authorities on
20/4/1961.
13/4/1961, Thursday
(+5,819) The UN General Assembly condemned apartheid in South Africa.
12/4/1961, Wednesday
(+5,818) (Space Exploration) Yuri Gagarin (1934 � 1968) made
the first orbit of the Earth, at an altitude of 300km, in his spaceship Vostok
1. He took off from Tyuratom in Kazakhstan, made a single Earth-orbit, and
landed near Engels in the Saratov region.
11/4/1961, Tuesday
(+5,817) The trial of the Nazi war criminal, Adolf Eichmann, opened in
Jerusalem.
9/4/1961, Sunday (+5,815)
Yvonne McGregor, cycling champion, was born.
2/4/1961, Sunday (+5,808)
Easter Sunday.
=====================================================================================
28/3/1961, Tuesday
(+5,803) Stephen Baddeley, British badminton player, was born.
27/3/1961, Monday (+5,802)
The first women traffic wardens began ticketing, in Leicester.
26/3/1961, Sunday (+5,801)
In Belgian elections, the Christian Socialists lost their overall majority and
formed a coalition government with the Socialists. Theodore Lefevre (Christian
Socialist) succeeded Gaston Eyskens (also Christian Socialist) as Prime
Minister.
21/3/1961, Tuesday
(+5,796) Lothar Matthaus, West German footballer, was born.
19/3/1961, Sunday (+5,794)
Rune Bratseth, Norwegian footballer, was born.
15/3/1961, Wednesday
(+5,790) South Africa stated it
would leave the Commonwealth.
14/3/1961, Tuesday
(+5,789) The New English Bible was
published.
13/3/1961, Monday (+5,788)
In the UK, the old black and white �5 notes ceased to be legal tender.
11/3/1961, Saturday
(+5,786)
9/3/1961, Thursday
(+5,784) the Dalai Lama appealed to the UN to restore the independence of
Tibet.
8/3/1961, Wednesday
(+5,783) Death of the
conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. Born in 1876 in St Helens, Lancashire, he was the
grandson of the founder of the Beecham�s pills business.
6/3/1961, Monday (+5,781)
Mini cabs began operating in Britain.
3/3/1961, Friday
(+5,778) Fatima Whitbread, athlete (javelin), was born.
1/3/1961, Wednesday� (+5,776)
US President Kennedy formed the Peace Corps, a group of volunteers to work in
less-developed countries.
===================================================================================
28/2/1961, Tuesday
(+5,775) Barry McGuigan, world featherweight boxing champion, was born.
27/2/1961, Monday
(+5,774) Britain and Iceland settled their fishing dispute. British ships
would no longer fish within 12 miles of the Icelandic coast.
26/2/1961, Sunday (+5,773)
King Hassan II became ruler of Morocco on the death of his father, King
Mohammad V.
14/2/1961, Tuesday
(+5,761) (Chemistry)
The synthesis of element Lawrencium was confirmed at University of Berkeley
California. It was named after the inventor of the cyclotron, Ernest Lawrence.
8/2/1961, Wednesday
(+5,755) The BBC dropped its radio
programme Children�s Hour because TV had cut its audiences.
5/2/1961, Sunday (+5,752)
The Sunday Telegraph began publishing.
4/2/1961, Saturday (+5,751) The
MPLA began its fight against the Angolan Government at Luanda.
2/2/1961, Thursday (+5,749)
1/2/1961, Wednesday (+5,748)
Manuel Amoros, French footballer, was born.
====================================================================================
31/1/1961, Tuesday
(+5,747) The West Claire Railway,
immortalised in songs by Percy French, closed.
30/1/1961, Monday (+5,746)
The contraceptive pill went on sale in Britain. It was called Conovid, see
18/10/1960.
29/1/1961, Sunday (+5,745)
27/1/1961, Friday
(+5,743) Zachary Space, US politician, was born.
26/1/1961, Thursday (+5,742)
Morris Nichols,� cricketer, died (born
6/10/1900).
25/1/1961, Wednesday
(+5,741)
20/1/1961, Friday (+5,736)
(1) Queen Elizabeth II met Archbishop Makarios in
Cyprus.
19/1/1961, Thursday
(+5,735) Michael Ramsey was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, following
the retirement of Archbishop Fisher.
18/1/1861, Wednesday
(+5,734) Peter Beardsley, English footballer, was born.
17/1/1961, Tuesday
(+5,733) Ex-President Patrice Lumumba
of Zaire (deposed 14/9/1960) was executed by rebel Katangese troops.
11/1/1961, Wednesday
(+5,727)
8/1/1961, Sunday (+5,724)
(France,
Algeria)
France held a national referendum on whether Algeria should be granted
independence. The result was in favour of independence.
7/1/1961, Saturday (+5,723)
The first episode of The Avengers was broadcast.
6/1/1961, Friday (+5,722)
Dag Hammarskjold, UN Secretary General, visited South Africa to discuss
apartheid.
5/1/1961, Thursday
(+5,721)
3/1/1961, Tuesday (+5,719) (1) The US severed
all diplomatic relations with Cuba.
(2) The millionth Morris Minor car came
off the assembly lines in Britain.
====================================================================================
31/12/1960, Saturday (+5,716)
(1) National Service ceased in the UK. The last
batch of 18-year olds were called up. Of the 2,049 who received their call-up
cards, 50 would join the RAF at Cardington, Bedfordshire, the rest went to
Aldershot for 2 weeks basic training and joined the Army.
(2) The farthing ceased to be legal
tender in Britain. At a quarter of an old penny there were 960 of them to the
pound sterling.
21/12/1960, Wednesday
(+5,706) (Saudi
Arabia) King Saud took over the Saudi Arabian government.
14/12/1960, Wednesday (+5,699)
Christopher Waddle, footballer, was born.
9/12/1960, Friday (+5,694)
(Broadcasting)
Coronation Street first
televised. The series was expected to last just 13 weeks.
5/12/1960, Monday
(+5,690) (Railway
Tunnels) The S Elia-Lanculla tunnel, Italy, 5.142 km long, opened on
the Reggio-Calabria-Brindisi line.
=================================================================================
30/11/1960, Wednesday
(+5,685) Gary Lineker, footballer, was born.
29/11/1960, Tuesday
(+5,684) Andrew Astbury, English champion swimmer, was born.
28/11/1960, Monday (+5,683) (Africa)
Mauretania became fully independent from France.
27/11/1960, Sunday (+5,682)
Yulia Tymoshenko, Ukrainian politician and co-leader of the Orange Revolution,
Prime Minister (2005, 2007-10), was born in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR,
Soviet Union.
26/11/1960, Saturday
(+5,681) (New
Zealand) General election in New Zealand was won by the National party,
with 46 seats. Labour won 34 seats. Keith Holyoake was appointed Prime
Minister.
21/11/1960, Monday
(+5,676) (Rail
Travel GB) The Chingford branch, London, was electrified.
19/11/1960, Saturday (+5,674)
(Aviation)
The first VTOL (vertical take off, landing) aircraft made by British Hawker
Siddeley, flew for the first time.
16/11/1960, Wednesday
(+6,671) Clark Gable, US actor, died.
14/11/1960, Monday (+5,669)
Judy Simpson, athlete, was born.
10/11/1960, Thursday
(+5,665) The initial print run of Lady Chatterley�s Lover, 200,000 copies
at 3s 6d each, sold out on the first day.
9/11/1960, Wednesday
(+5,664) John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1919-63), Democrat,
became President of the USA, with 34,227,096 votes against 34,108,546 votes for
Nixon. Aged 43, Kennedy was the first Roman Catholic president and the youngest
so far.
8/11/1960, Tuesday
(+5,663) (1)
Ten Irish soldiers in the UN peacekeeping force in The Congo were killed in
an ambush at Niemba. Irish sadness at the event was also coloured by the
recognition that this marked Ireland�s emergence from the isolation it had been
in since its neutrality in World War Two.
(2) Former Massachusetts
Attorney-General Edward Brooke became the first Black Senator in the US. He was
born in Washington DC in 1919.
7/11/1960, Monday (+5,662) Missiles first appeared on the
Red Square military parade.
5/11/1960, Saturday (+5,660) Mack Sennett, Canadian-born US
actor and film director, died aged 80.
3/11/1960, Thursday
(-5,658) Hugh Gaitskell successfully fought off a challenge for Labour
Party leadership by Harold Wilson.
2/11/1960, Wednesday
(+5,657) The publisher of Lady
Chatterley�s :Lover was found not guilty on 2/11/1960. On 10/11/1960, the first
day of publication, 200,000 copies were sold in Britain.
1/11/1960, Tuesday (+5,656) It
was announced that US Polaris missile submarines were to be based in the Firth
of Clyde.
====================================================================================
31/10/1960, Monday
(+5,655) The second of two cyclones (first one on 10/10/1960) hit eastern
Pakistan, killing 10,000.
30/10/1960, Sunday (+5,654)
Diego Maradona, Argentinean footballer, was born.
25/10/1960, Tuesday
(+5,649) The Bulova Accutron tuning
fork watch, introduced this day, had a tuning fork that vibrated 360 times per
second, 144x as fast as the balance oscillators in other hand wound
conventional and electrical watches. It was the most accurate watch to date,
keeping time to within 1 minute per month.
21/10/1960, Friday (+5,645)
Britain�s first nuclear-powered
submarine, Dreadnought, was launched at Barrow in Furness.
20/10/1960, Thursday
(+5,644) D H Lawrence�s book Lady
Chatterley�s Lover put Penguin Books in the dock at the Old Bailey, under
the Obscene Publications Act.
19/10/1960, Wednesday
(+5,643) The USA imposed an
embargo on shipments to Cuba, banning all exports to Cuba except food and
medicine. Cuba had been buying arms from the USSR, and when the USA
imposed economic sanctions by refusing to buy Cuban sugar, Castro nationalised
USA businesses. Cuba also attempted to 'export Revolution', to the Dominican
Republic, Panama, and Nicaragua. However many young US citizens supported
Castro.
18/10/1960, Tuesday
(+5,642) The first approved
contraceptive pill, called Enovid 10, went on sale in the USA. Catholics
objected. See 30/1/1961.
17/10/1960, Monday (+5,641) The British daily newspaper News Chronicle ceased publication and
was incorporated into the Daily Mail.
16/10/1960, Sunday (+5,640)
In the fiercest fighting in Algeria in two years, 277 Muslim Algerian fighters
and 40 French soldiers were killed during weekend battles.
15/10/1960, Saturday
(+5,639) Simon Wigg, speedway champion, was born.
14/10/1960, Friday (+5,638)
Stephen Cram, athlete, was born.
9/10/1960, Sunday �(+5,633) The worst storms since 1953
caused severe flooding in southern England.
6/10/1960, Thursday
(+5,630) South Africa held a referendum on whether to declare itself a
Republic, further cutting ties with Britain. Only Whites were allowed to vote.
The result was 52.14% in favour of a Republic and 47.42% against.
5/10/1960, Wednesday
(+5,629) The British Labour Party, at its Scarborough Conference, voted
overwhelmingly for unilateral nuclear disarmament.
1/10/1960, Saturday (+5,625)
Nigeria became independent.
===================================================================================
28/9/1960, Wednesday
(+5,622) NATO introduced a unified system of air command.
27/9/1960, Tuesday
(+5,621) (1) Death of Estelle Sylvia
Pankhurst, suffragette.
(2) Bank Underground Station, London,
opened the first travelator, or moving pavement, in Europe.
26/9/1960, Monday
(+5,620)
25/9/1960, Sunday (+5,619)
Igor Belanov, Russian footballer, was born.
24/9/1960, Saturday (+5,618)
The first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, was
launched at Newport, Virginia. She cost US$ 445 million, carried 100 aircraft,
had a complement of 440 officers and 4,160 enlisted men, and a flight deck the
size of four football pitches.
22/9/1960, Thursday
(+5,616) Mali became independent.
17/9/1960, Saturday
(+5,611) Damon Hill, motor racing champion, was born.
16/9/1960, Friday
(+5,610) Kurt Busiek, US comic book writer, was born in Boston,
Massachusetts.
15/9/1960, Thursday
(+5,609) Traffic wardens began operating in London. 40 began operations
in the Westminster area of London; their first ticket was issued to a doctor
who had parked outside a hotel as he treated a heart attack victim inside. Plus ca change.
14/9/1960, Wednesday
(+5,608) (1)
OPEC� was set up by Iran, Iraq,
Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
(2) Successful military coup in Zaire by
Colonel Mobutu, against President Lumumba.
13/9/1960, Tuesday
(+5,607) In Washington, D.C., charges were filed against a Tennessee bank
and 27 individuals said to have used economic pressure to prevent black people
from voting.
12/91960, Monday (+5,606)
MOTs on motor vehicles introduced in Britain.
11/9/1960, Sunday (+5,605)
The first episode of Danger Man, starring Patrick McGoohan, was broadcast on UK
TV.
6/9/1960, Tuesday (+5,600) The first English Football league
match to be televised was broadcast today.�
Blackpool played Bolton Wanderers.
4/9/1960, Sunday (+5,598)
Henry Persse, champion jockey, died.
1/9/1960, Thursday (+5,595) Nyerere became Tangynika's first
Prime Minister.
=====================================================================================
31/8/1960, Wednesday (+5,594) East Germany closed the border
with West Berlin.
25/8/1960, Thursday (+5,588) The 17th Olympic Games
opened in Rome.
23/8/1960, Tuesday (+5,586) Oscar Hammerstein, US theatrical producer,
died aged 65.
22/8/1960, Monday (+5,585)
(1) Two
dogs returned to Earth in a Soviet space craft. The Russian dogs, named Byelka
(Squirrel) and Strelka (Arrow) returned on board Sputnik Five, along with 40 mice, two rats, and
some plants, as they prepared for a human launch. President John F Kennedy angrily asked US scientists why the first pair
of space dogs were called Strelka and Byelka and not Rover and Fido.
(2) Senegal
seceded from Mali.
21/8/1960, Sunday (+5,584) David B Steinman, US bridge engineer, died
aged 74.
20/8/1960, Saturday (+5,583) (1) Senegal became independent.
(2) Plastic
carrier bags were used for the first time, by a Swedish shoe retailer.
19/8/1960, Friday (+5,582)
In London, Penguin Books was prosecuted for obscenity over its plans to publish
Lady Chatterley�s Lover.
18/8/1960, Thursday (+5,581) The birth control pill, the world�s first oral contraceptive, was
launched in America.
17/8/1960, Wednesday (+5,580) Gabon
became an independent nation, from France.
16/8/1960, Tuesday
(+5,579) Cyprus became independent, with Archbishop Makarios as
President.� Fazil Kuchuk, leader of the
Turkish Cypriots, was Vice-President, but relations between the two communities
were strained. The island�s Greek population, some 80% of the total, wanted
union, or enosis, with Greece. See 15/7/1974 and 3/4/1955. Britain retained military
bases on the island.
15/8/1960, Monday (+5,578)
(1)
The Congo (Brazzaville) became independent from France.
(2) Britain�s
first motorway service station opened to the public, on the M.1 at Newport
Pagnell. Motorist Graham Miller was the first to buy food there. The services
had opened in 1959 but only for lorry drivers.
14/8/1960, Sunday (+5,577)
Sarah Brightman, English singer, was born in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire.
13/8/1960, Saturday (+5,576) The Central African Republic
became independent.
12/8/1960, Friday (+5,575)
The first US communications satellite, Echo
1, was launched.
11/8/1960, Thursday
(+5,574) Chad formerly a French colony, became an independent Republic.
9/8/1960, Tuesday
(+5,572)
8/8/1960, Monday
(+5,571) Coup in Laos; General Souvanna Phoumi became leader/
7/8/1960, Sunday (+5,570)
Ivory Coast became independent from France.
6/8/1960, Saturday
(+5,569) Castro nationalised all US-owned property in Cuba, in retaliation
for US economic sanctions.
5/8/1960, Friday (+5,568) Upper Volta became
independent.
4/8/1960, Thursday
(+5,567) NASA test pilot Joseph A. Walker became the fastest man in history
as he flew an X-15 at a speed of 2,196 miles per hour, breaking a record set in
1956 by Milburn Apt, who had been killed while flying an X-2.
3/8/1960, Wednesday
(+5,566) Niger became independent
from France.
2/8/1960, Tuesday
(+5,565) The Continental League, proposed as a third major league for
baseball, came to an end after CL President Branch Rickey and co-founder
William Shea concluded a meeting in Chicago with representatives of the
National League and American League.
1/8/1960, Monday (+5,564) Benin (Dahomey) became
independent from France.
===================================================================================
30/7/1960, Saturday
(+5,562)
28/7/1960, Thursday
(+5,560) UN Secretary General Dag
Hammarskjold arrived in the Congo in a bid to end the civil war there.
27/7/1960, Wednesday
(+5,559) In Britain, Derick Heathcoat Amory retired as Chancellor of the
Exchequer. He was replaced by Selwyn Lloyd, former Foreign Secretary. The Earl
of Home became the new Foreign Secretary.
24/7/1960, Sunday (+5,556)
22/7/1960, Friday
(+5,554) (Medical)
The implantable pacemaker was patented by Wilson Greatbach, New York, USA, for
Wilson Greatbach Inc.
21/7/1960, Thursday
(+5,553) (1) Sirimavo Bandarainake became the
world�s first woman Prime Minister, of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). This followed the
assassination of her husband, Solomon, the former Prime Minister.
(2) Francis Chichester, 58,
arrived in New York on his yacht, Gypsy
Moth, having set a record of 40 days for a solo Atlantic crossing.
20/7/1960, Wednesday
(+5,552) General election in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was won by the Sri Lanka
Freedom Party. Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of the late Prime Minister
assassinated September 1959, became Prime Minister, She was the first woman
Prime Minister of a Commonwealth country.
19/7/1960, Tuesday
(+5,551) Philip Hubble, champion swimmer, was born.
18/7/1960, Monday
(+5,550) William A. Dembski, US� mathematician was born in Chicago.
17/7/1960, Sunday (+5,549)
Frank O�Mara, athlete (runner) was born.
16/7/1960, Saturday (+5,548)
Albert Kesselring, German Air Commander on all fronts during World War Two,
condemned as a war criminal, died.
15/7/1960, Friday
(+5,547) In Los Angeles, Kennedy accepted the Democratic Party nomination
for President.
13/7/1960, Wednesday
(+5,545)
12/7/1960, Tuesday
(+5,544) (USA, Russia) President
Khrushchev of the USSR asserted that the Monroe Doctrine of 1823 was no longer
valid; this would legitimate Soviet interference in the Caribbean. On 14/7/1960
the US confirmed that the Monroe Doctrine was still in operation.
11/7/1960, Monday (+5,543)
(1)
The communications satellite TELSTAR became operational. Britain could now
receive US television shows,
(2) Katanga rebels declared independence from the Congo under
Tshombe.� See 13/9/1961.� Belgium sent troops to the Congo. �See 14/1/1963.
9/7/1960, Saturday
(+5,541) Belgium began an airlift of 25,711 of its nationals back from the
Congo, as that country became independent.
7/7/1960, Thursday
(+5,539) Belgium sent troops to the
Congo.
6/7/1960, Wednesday
(+5,538) Aneurin Bevan, founder of the National Health Service in 1948, Minister
of Health 1945-51, died.� He was born on
15/11/1897.
5/7/1960, Tuesday
(+5,537)
1/7/1960, Friday (+5,533)
�(1) A pint of milk cost
3.3p� 1 kg old potatoes cost 2.57p. A GP earned �2,425 per annum, and a coal miner was
paid �9 17s 6d a week. The average annual UK salary was �700. A Belling 48T
electric cooker cost �51 and a Lavalux washing machine cost �87 3s. A hoover
steam-dry iron cost �4 12s 1d. A loaf of bread cost 1 shilling (5p). The
average house price in the UK was �2,500. A
second class return rail fare London to Glasgow cost �8.40
(2) Ghana became
independent (formerly Gold Coast and British Togoland).� Kwame Nkrumah was its first President.
===================================================================================
30/6/1960, Thursday
(+5,532) The Belgian
Congo became independent, under President Lumumba. Civil war erupted
within a week, the mineral-rich region of Katanga seceded, and UN peacekeeping
troops arrived as the Belgians left. In August the mineral-rich province of
Kasai also seceded. Without these two provinces, Congo would have been one of
the poorest countries in Africa. Paramilitary troops from Rhodesia, Europe, and
South Africa were ready to defend breakaway Katanga and their mining interests.
The UN said it would restore law and order but was not concerned with the
secession of Katanga. Lumumba now made the mistake of turning to the USSR for
help. Russia sent aid and Kasai was retaken for a while. However other
government members decided to rid themselves of the radical Lumumba, and the
Chief of Staff, Mobutu, set up a new government; Lumumba was assassinated in
January 1961. Tschombe, leader of Katanga, was supported by the Belgian�s
decision to pay mining royalties to him, not the Congo government. However the
UN leader, Dag Hammarskjold, was determined to crown his first major
international peacekeeping exercise with success, and there was now a
pro-Western government in the Congo. Hammarskjold�s plane crashed in uncertain
circumstances on 17 September 1961 whilst negotiating with Tschombe. There was
fighting between Katangan and UN forces in Elisabethville, capital of Katanga,
and the UN attitude hardened. The UN ordered the forcible occupation of Katanga,
and in January 1963 UN forces fully occupied the breakaway province.
28/6/1960, Tuesday
(+5,530)
27/6/1960, Monday
(+5,529) Charlotte Dodd, tennis champion, died (born 29/4/1871)
26/6/1960, Sunday (+5,528)
Madagascar became an
independent republic.� It had been a
French colony since 1896.
25/6/1960, Saturday
(+5,527) (Astronomy)
Walter Baade, German-US astronomer, died in Gottingen, Germany.
24/6/1960, Friday (Africa)
Joseph Kasavubu was elected as the first President of the independent Congo.
23/6/1960, Thursday
(+5,525) Castro threatened to seize US-owned property in Cuba, in
retaliation for US economic sanctions.
22/6/1960, Wednesday
(+5,524) Nan Winton became the first woman to read the national news on
BBC television.
21/6/1960, Tuesday
(+5,523) Kate Brown,
Governor of Oregon� from 2015, was born.
20/6/1960, Monday (+5,522) Mali became independent from
France as the federation of Mali, including Senegal.� See 22/8/1960.
19/6/1960, Sunday (+5,521) Jaguar took over the Daimler
motor company.
18/6/1960, Saturday (+5,520) Jehovah�s Witnesses released
the New World Translation of the
Bible.
7/6/1960, Tuesday
(+5,509) (1)
The first NHS hearing aids were issued.
5/6/1960, Sunday (+5,507)
Richard Fox, canoeing, was born.
===================================================================================
31/5/1960, Tuesday
(+5,502) Walter Funk, Nazi government official, died aged 69.
30/5/1960, Monday (+5,501)
Boris Pasternak, Russian author of Dr Zhivago, Nobel Prize winner in 1958
(which he declined), died near Moscow.
29//5/1960, Sunday (-5,500)
27/5/1960, Friday (+5,498) (Turkey)
President Adnan Menderes (1889-1961) of Turkey was ousted in an army coup.� He founded the Democratic Party in 1945 and
became Prime Minister in 1950. Pro-Western, he took Turkey into NATO in 1952. However
he was also sympathetic to Islam, and the Turkish army, very secularist, found
this intolerable. The Army believed that Menderes posed a threat to the
secularisation of Turkey begin by Ataturk in the 1920s. Ultimately, severe
inflation from 1954 eroded Menderes�s support in the towns; Menderes relied on
rural peasant support.� Menderes was
forced to assume dictatorial powers in April 1960, just before his overthrow. See
17/9/1961. In September 1990 Menderes was posthumously �rehabilitated� and
given a State Funeral, attended by the Turkish President.
26/5/1960, Thursday
(+5,497) At the
United Nations in New York, U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. displayed a
hand-carved replica of the Great Seal of the United States that had been
presented by the Soviets as a gift to the American ambassador in Moscow, and the listening device that had been
discovered inside "right under the beak of the eagle".
25/5/1960, Wednesday
(+5,496) Patrick Bonner, footballer, was born.
24/5/1960, Tuesday
(+5,495) (USA)
The USA launched the Midas-2 satellite. Weighing over 2.5 tonnes, its purpose
was to test the feasibility of a satellite system to give early warning of any
ballistic missile attack on the USA.
23/5/1960, Monday (+5,494)
(Jewish) The Israelis announced the capture of the war
criminal Adolf Eichmann. Israeli Mossad agents snatched Eichmann on 11/5/1960
as he returned home after work, and he was taken to a secret hiding place
outside Buenos Aires. He was living under the name Ricardo Klement. On
21/5/1960 he was disguised in the uniform of an El Al flight attendant and
bundled on board a flight to Tel Aviv. Eichmann was found guilty of war crimes
by a court in Jerusalem, on 15/12/1961, and hanged on 31/5/1962 at Ramleh
Prison, Jerusalem. He remains the only person ever executed by due legal
process in Israel, after a trial involving 210 witnesses over 14 weeks. His
last words were �long live Germany, long live Argentina, long live Austria, I
shall not forget them�.
22/5/1960, Sunday (+5,493)
Mohanlal, Indian actor, was born.
21/5/1960, Saturday (+5,492) Conception, Chile, was hit by an earthquake
that killed 1,000 people and damaged 145,000 buildings,
18/5/1960, Wednesday
(+5,489) The Queen Mother opened the Kariba dam on the Zambesi River.
16/5/1960, Monday
(+5,487) (Light)
The first working laser was created by Theodore H Maiman. At first it had no
obvious practical applications, but is now indispensable by the military, phone
networks, supermarket checkouts and security.
15/5/1960, Sunday (+5,486) (Space
exploration) Sputnik IV was launched.
14/5/1960, Saturday
(+5,485) Elizabeth Hobbs, water skiing champion, was born.
11/5/1960, Wednesday
(+5,482)
9/5/1960, Monday
(+5,480) (Morals)
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)approved a birth control pill. By 1965
some 5 million US women were using the Pill.
8/5/1960, Sunday (+5,479)
Franceschino Baresi, Italian footballer, was born.
3/5/1960, Tuesday
(+5,474) (European
Union) The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was founded in
Geneva. It had seven
members; Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the UK, Switzerland, Austria, and Portugal.
1/5/1960, Sunday (+5,472)
(Russia) A
US spy plane, the U-2, piloted by Gary Powers, was hit by an SA2 missile and shot down over the USSR
near Sverdlovsk. He had been on a flight path from Pehsawar air base, Pakistan,
over the USSR to Greenland. On 8/7/1960 Gary
Powers was indicted as a spy; he was sentenced to 10 years in prison,
but was released after 18 months (on 10/2/1962) in exchange for Soviet agent
Rudolf Abel.
=====================================================================================
30/4/1960, Saturday (+5,471) Britain abandoned the Blue
Streak missile programme.
27/4/1960, Wednesday
(+5,468) (1) Synghman Rhee resigned as
President of South Korea.
(2) Togo became independent
25/4/1960, Monday (+5,466) Race riots in Mississippi, ten
Black people were shot dead. Extremist Whites in the State disliked the 1954 US
Supreme Court ruling that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional.
22/4/1960, Friday
(+5,463) Lloyd Honeyghan, boxer, was born in Jamaica. �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
21/4/1960, Thursday
(+5,462) Brasilia was inaugurated as the new capital of Brazil. The city
was planned by Lucio Costa.
20/4/1960, Wednesday (+5,461) Rebels