events 1950-1969

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30/12/1969, Tuesday (+9,002) Jay Kay, singer (Jamiroquai) was born.

21/12/1969, Sunday (+8,993) Julie Delpy, actress, was born.

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.

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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.

21/11/1969, Friday (+8,963) Norman Lindsay, artist, died.

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) Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) opened in Helsinki between the USSR and USA (President Nixon). The talks had been proposed for 19/6/1969 but suspended by the USA due to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

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 2^nd 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.

10/11/1969, Monday (+8,952) The TV programme Sesame Street began on US TV. It aimed to teach children the basics of numbers, letters and other topics.

9/11/1969. Sunday (+8,951)

8/11/1969, Saturday (+8,950) Henry Mallin, boxer, was born (died 8/11/1969).

7/11/1969, Friday (+8,949) The 250,000^th Chevrolet Corvette was manufactured.

5/11/1969, Wednesday (+8,947) Anti-Apartheid demonstrators invaded the pitch at Twickenham, during a game by the touring South African Springboks.

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29/10/1969, Wednesday (+8,940) The Arpanet went live.

21/10/1969, Tuesday (+8,932) Willy Brandt was elected Chancellor of West Germany.

19/10/1969, Sunday (+8,930) The USSR and China began talks in Beijing to settle their boundary dispute along the River Issuri.

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.

13/10/1969, Monday (+8,924) Nancy Kerrigan, ice skater, was born.

12/10/1969, Sunday (+8,923) US President Nixon predicted that the Vietnam War would be over in 3 months.

11/10/1969, Saturday (+8,922)

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.

9/10/1969, Thursday (+8,920) PJ Harvey, musician, was born.

5/10/1969, Sunday (+8,916) Monty Python was first screened.

3/10/1969, Friday (+8,914) Gwen Stefani, singer, was born.

1/10/1969, Wednesday (+8,912) The first line of the Beijing Metro, 24 km long, opened. Construction had been approved in 1965.

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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.

23/9/1969, Tuesday (+8,904) Racing car driver Tapio Laukkanen was born.

22/9/1969, Monday (+8,903) Robert Kelly, footballer, died (born 16/11/1893).

19/6/1969, Friday (+8,900) The 2 millionth Mini was manufactured.

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.

15/9/1969, Monday (+8,896)

14/9/1969, Sunday (+8,895) Denis Betts, rugby player, was born.

13/9/1969, Saturday (+8,894) The Talladega Superspeedway car racing venue opened in Alabama.

12/9/1969, Friday (+8,893) President Nixon continued B52 bombing raids on Vietnam.

9/9/1969, Tuesday (+8,890) Rachel Hunter, actress, was born.

4/9/1969, Thursday (+8,885) Noah Taylor, actor, was born

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 Gadhafi ousted King Idris of Libya in a military coup.

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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) US National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger began secret talks with North Vietnam in Paris.

1/8/1969, Friday (+8,851) The British pre-decimal halfpenny ceased to be legal tender.

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28/7/1969, Monday (+8,847) Jason Priestley, actor, was born.

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 (+8,831) William Ivy, motor cycle racing champion, died (born 27/8/1942).

7/7/1969, Monday (+8,826) The French language was given equal status to English across the country. This was under the official Languages Act, passed by Canada�s House of Commons this day.

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).

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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.

22/6/1969, Sunday (+8,811) Judy Garland, US actress, died.

21/6/1969, Saturday (+8,810) US tennis player Maureen Connolly died.

19/6/1969, Thursday (+8,808) US President Nixon suspended arms limitation talks with the USSR due to the their invasion of Czechoslovakia.

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.

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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) Abortion and contraception were legalised in Canada.

13/5/1969, Tuesday (+8,771)

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.

4/5/1969, Sunday (+8,762) F Osbert S Sitwell, poet, died.

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.

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30/4/1969, Wednesday (+8.758)

29/4/1969, Tuesday (+8,757) Jazz supremo Duke Ellington was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the USA.

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.

27/4/1969, Sunday (+8,755)

25/4/1969, Friday (+8,753) 500 British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to help quell sectarian rioting.

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 22^nd 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.

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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 34^th 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.

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28/2/1969, Friday (+8,697) Dwight D Eisenhower, US statesman, died aged 78.

27/2/1969, Thursday (+8,696) John Boles, US singer, died in San Amgelo, Texas (born 27/10/1900 in Greeneville, Texas).

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.

10/2/1969, Monday (+8,679)

9/2/1969, Sunday (+8,678) The Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet made its maiden flight. See 21/1/1970.

8/2/1969, Saturday (+8,677) A large meteorite scattered several tons of material over a large area of Chihuahua Province, Mexico. It was named the Allende meteorite, after the nearest village to the impact point.

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.

2/2/1969, Sunday (+8,671) Boris Karloff, actor, died.

1/2/1969, Saturday (+8,670) Gabriel Batistuta, Argentinean footballer, was born.

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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).

16/1/1969, Thursday (+8,654) Norman Williamson, champion jockey, was born.

15/1/1969, Wednesday (+8,653) Theodor Werner, German painter, died aged 82.

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.

12/1/1969, Sunday (+8,650) British hard rock band Led Zeppelin released their first album.

11/1/1969, Saturday (+8,649) Richmal Crompton, British author died (born 1890)

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)

4/1/1969, Saturday (+8,642) Violet and Daisy Hilton, English conjoined twin actresses, died.

3/1/1969, Friday (+8,641) Michael Schumacher, racing car driver, was born.

2/1/1969, Thursday (+8,640) (1) A civil rights march from Belfast to London ended in violence.

(2) Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch bought the News of the World Group. This gave him his forst stake in Fleet Street.

1/1/1969, Wednesday (+8,639) Sir Learie Constantine became Britain�s first Black peer.

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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.

25/12/1968, Wednesday (+8,632) 42 Dalits were burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, in retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers.

24/12/1968, Tuesday (+8,631) The Apollo 8 astronauts became the first humans to orbit the Moon, flying 110 km above its surface.

23/12/1968, Monday (+8,630) Quincy Jones III, Swedish-US musician, was born in Wimbledon, London.

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).

18/12/1968, Wednesday (+8,625) The UN passed a Directive requiring the UK to return Gibraltar to Spain by 67 to 18 votes with 34 abstentions. The UK rejected the call, saying that Gibraltarians had voted to remain with the UK.

17/12/1968, Tuesday (+8,624) Paul Tracy, Canadian racing car driver, was born.

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.

3/12/1968, Tuesday (+8,610) Brendan Fraser, actor, was born.

2/12/1968, Monday (+8,609) Lucy Liu, actress, was born.

1/12/1968, Sunday (+8,608)

===================================================================================

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.

27/11/1968, Wednesday (+8,604)

26/11/1968, Tuesday (+8,603) In Britain the Race Relations Act came into force, banning racial discrimination at work.

25/11/1968, Monday (+8,602) Upton Sinclair, writer, died.

21/11/1968, Thursday (+8,598) Baby Sheri Schroder was born with several birth defects, in Love Canal, a residential area of Niagara Falls. Her birth spurs on an investigation which uncovered one of the worst pollution svcandals in US history.

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.

10/11/1968, Sunday (+8,587) Novelist John Steinbeck died.

5/11/1968, Tuesday (+8,582) (1) Richard Milhous Nixon, born 9/1/1913, won the 37^th 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. This was a move intended to help Humphrey (see 29/8/1968) win the Presidential election, as it could make the Vietnam War more acceptable to US voters. However the voters were too much against the War for this, and Republican Nixon won.

30/10/1968, Wednesday (+8,576) Rose Wilder Lane, US journalist, died.

29/10/1968, Tuesday (+8,575)

28/10/1968, Monday (+8,574) Ben Harper, musician, was born.

27/10/1968, Sunday (+8,573) Violent anti-Vietnam war protests outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London.

22/10/1968, Tuesday (+8,568) Apollo 7, having orbited the Earth 163 times, splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean,

18/10/1968, Friday (+8,564) Bob Beamon, 22, US athlete, shattered the world long jump record by 53 cm (21 inches), attaining a jump of 8.9 metres (29 ft, 2.5 inches), a record that stood until 1991 when Mike Powell jumped 8.95 metres (29 ft 4.5 inches).

17/10/1968, Thursday (+8,563) Ziggy Marley, musician, was born.

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) (1) (Railways) The new Euston Station in London was opened by the Queen.� Work had begun in 1963.

(2) US athlete James Hines ran the 100 metres in under 10 seconds, a record that stood until 1983.

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 19^th 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.

====================================================================================

30/9/1968, Monday (+8,546)

29/9/1968, Sunday (+8,545) 5Paul Radmilovic, swimming champion, died (born 5/3/1886).

28/9/1968, Saturday (+8,544) Naomi Watts, actress, was born.

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.

24/9/1968, Tuesday (+8,540)

21/9/1968, Saturday (+8,537) Ricki Lake, actress, was born.

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.

10/9/1968, Tuesday (+8,526) Guy Ritchie, film director, was born.

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) At a controversial meeting in Chicago, USA, there was a heated televised debate between Eugene McCarthy, who favoured pulling out of the Vietnam War, and Hubert Humphrey who wanted to continue the battle. Anti-War protestors gathered in Chicago where they fought with backers of the war effort, the latter faction sanctioned by the Mayor of Chicago. The Democrats chose Humphrey as their Presidential candidate.

28/8/1968, Wednesday (+8,513) Billy Boyd, Scottish actor known for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was born.

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) The US Ambassador to Guatemala was killed in Guatemala City by Communist guerrillas as he resisted a kidnap attempt.

17/8/1968, Saturday (+8.,502) Clessie Cummins, founder of Cummins Engines Company, died in California.

16/8/1968, Friday (+8,501) Donovan Leitch Jr, US actor, was born in London, England.

15/8/1966, Thursday (+8,500) Debra Messing, actress, was born.

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.

9/8/1968, Friday (+8,494) Gillian Anderson, actress, was born.

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.

4/6/1968, Tuesday (+8,428) Dorothy Gish, actress, died.

3/6/1968, Monday (+8,427)

1/6/1968, Saturday (+8,425) Helen Keller, US author, died aged 87.

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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.

29/5/1968, Wednesday (+8,422)

28/5/1968, Tuesday (+8,421) Kylie Minogue, singer, was born.

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.

26/5/1968, Sunday (+8,419)

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.

23/5/1968, Thursday (+8,416)

22/5/1968, Wednesday (+8,415) Striking French workers now numbered 9 million.

21/5/1968, Tuesday (+8,414) The US Navy lost contact with the nuclear submarine Scorpion, with 99 men on board. The wreck of the vessel was subsequently located on the ocean floor 640 km southwest of the Azores.

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 18^th 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.

====================================================================================

31/3/1968, Sunday (+8,363) Democrat President Johnson of the USA, discouraged by Liberal anti-Vietnam War Senator Eugene McCarthy�s performance against him (see 29/8/1968), pulled out of the race to secure Democrat nomination for the upcoming Presidential election.

30/3/1968, Saturday (+8.362) Celine Dion, singer, was born.

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.

22/3/1968, Friday (+8,354) Student �anarchists� rioted and occupied an administration building at Nanterre University, France. The riots soon spread to other universities.

21/3/1968, Thursday (+8.353) In Britain, road deaths fell 23% in the three months after introduction of breath tests. See 8/10/1967.

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) The USA�s highest road tunnel, the Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, 2.72 km long and 3401 metres above sea level, opened.

14/3/1968, Thursday (+8,346)

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.

===================================================================================

26/2/1968, Monday (+8,329) London�s first bus lane, across Vauxhall Bridge, opened.

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.

19/2/1968, Monday (+8,322)

18/2/1968, Sunday (+8,321) Molly Ringwald, actress, was born.

17/2/1968, Saturday (+8,320) British actor Sir Donald Wolfit died.

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.

1/2/1968, Thursday (+8,304) The execution of Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem by South Vietnamese National Police Chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan was filmed by Eddie Adams. This footage helped swing public opinion against the Vietnam War.

=====================================================================================

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.

29/1/1968,� Monday (+8,301) Edward Burns, actor, was born.

28/1/1968, Sunday (+8,300) Sarah McLachlan, singer, was born.

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.

22/1/1968, Monday (+8,294) The TV comedy Rowan & Martin�s Laugh-In premiered on NBC in the USA.

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.

20/1/1968, Saturday (+8,292) Melissa Rivers, actress, was born.

16/1/1968, Tuesday (+8,288) (1) 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.

(2) Communist guerrillas in Guatemala shot dead two US Embassy military attaches.

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 20^th 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.

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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) Hyundai Motor Company was founded in South Korea.

26/12/1967, Tuesday (+8,267)The South Vietnamese threatened to pursue and attack Communist troops in Cambodia. China assured Cambodia of its support against this. Chinese workers had already been repairing bomb-damaged parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

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.

17/12/1967, Sunday (+8,258) Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared whilst swimming at Cheviot Beach, Victoria. His body was never found; most believed he had been carried off by strong currents but some speculated that he had faked his own death.

16/12/1967, Saturday (+8,257) Miranda Otto, actress, was born.

15/12/1967, Friday (+8,256) The Silver Bridge, between Point Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, hio, collapsed, killing 46 people.

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.

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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 20^th 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.

21/11/1967, Tuesday (+8,232) US racing car driver Ken Block was born.

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.

7/11/1967, Tuesday (+8,218)

5/11/1967, Sunday (+8,215) 49 people were killed at a rail crash at Hither Green, south London.

4/11/1967, Saturday (+8.,214) Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser told former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert B. Anderson that he was willing to agree to many of the requests of Israel to end the state of belligerence between the two nations following the recent Six-Day War but to do so officially would be suicide for any Arab leader.

3/11/1967, Friday (+8,213) Alexander Aitken., mathematician, died.

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.

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31/10/1967, Tuesday (+8,211) Nguyen Van Thieu was sworn into office as the 4th President of South Vietnam. In his inaugural address, President Thieu said, "I will make a direct proposal to the North Vietnamese government to sit down at the conference table" to seek a way of ending the Vietnam War.

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) Expo 67 closed in Montreal, after having attracted more than 50,306,648 visitors in six months, a record attendance for any world's fair. It had opened on 27/4/1967.

28/10/1967, Saturday (+8,208) Julia Roberts, actress, was born.

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.

22/10/1967, Sunday (+8,202)

21/10/1967, Saturday (+8,201) The Israeli destroyer Eilat was sunk by Egyptian missiles

20/10/1967, Friday (+8,200) Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed �Bigfoot�, on an expedition in northern California to search for the creature.

19/10/1967, Thursday (+8,199)

18/10/1967, Wednesday (+8,198) The Soviet space probe Venera 4 made the first soft landing on Venus.

17/10/1967, Tuesday (+8,197) The Rock Musical Hair by James Rado and Gerome Ragni opened on Broadway.

15/10/1967, Sunday (+8,195) Henry Pu Yi, the last emperor of China from the age of 2, died in Beijing 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.

10/10/1967, Tuesday (+8,190) The Outer Space Treaty came into effect, detailing guidelines for the exploration of outer space and banning the stationing of weapons of mass destruction there.

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.

6/10/1967, Friday (+8,186) The South Vietnamese Government began its new policy of curbing student protesters by drafting 12 of them into the South Vietnamese Army.

5/10/1967, Thursday (+8,185) The first majority verdict was recorded in a UK court, 10 to 2, at Brighton Quarter Sessions.

4/10/1967,� Wednesday (+8,184) Enugu, the Biafran capital, was taken by Nigerian forces.

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).

2/10/1967, Monday (+8,182) US Jurist Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as the first African-American Justice of the US Supreme Court.

1/10/1967, Sunday (+8,181) Colour TV broadcasting began in France. At this time there were only 1,500 colour TV sets in France, but within 12 months that number had grown to 200,000.

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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.

29/9/1967, Friday (+8,179) The classic sci-fi TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was broadcast for the first time, on ITV.

28/9/1967, Thursday (+8,178) Mira Sorvino, actress, was born.

27/9/1967, Wednesday (+8,177) The liner Queen Mary arrived at Southampton, at the end of her last transatlantic voyage.

24/9/1967, Sunday (+8,174)

21/9/1967, Thursday (+8,171) Faith Hill, singer, was born.

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.

14/9/1967, Thursday (+8,164) Michael Johnson, athlete, was born.

12/9/1967, Tuesday (+8,162) Governor Reagan called for an escalation of the Vietnam War.

11/9/1967, Monday (+8,161) Harry Connick Jr., singer, was born.

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.

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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.

26/8/1967, Saturday (+8,145) Andres Sas, Belgian-Peruvian composer, died aged 67

25/8/1967, Friday (+8,144) John Patler killed the head of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell. Patler had been a Party member until his expulsion shortly before the murder.

24/8/1967, Thursday (+8,143) Car company executive henry J Kaiser died this day aged 85.

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.

21/8/1967, Monday (+8,140) Carrie Anne Moss, actress, was born.

17/8/1967, Thursday (+8,136) West-Indian born civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael rejected the non-violent principles of Martin Luther King Jr, and called on African-Americans to mount an armed revolution.

15/8/1967, Tuesday (+8,134) The Marine Broadcasting Act came into force in the UK, outlawing pop pirate radio stations.

10/8/1967, Thursday (+8,129) Riddick Bowe, boxer, was born.

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.

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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 12^th 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.

20/7/1967, Thursday (+8,108)

18/7/1967, Tuesday (+8,106) British forces were to withdraw from areas east of Suez by the mid-1970s,

17/7/1967, Monday (+8,105) John Coltrane, musician, died.

16/7/1967, Sunday (+8,104) Will Ferrell, comedian and actor, was born.

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).

12/7/1967, Wednesday (+8,100) Five days of race riots, lasting until 17/7/1967, broke out in Newark, USA, after an African-American was beaten by police for a traffic offence.

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.

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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) 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.

20/6/1967, Tuesday (+8,078) Nicole Kidman, actress, was born.

17/6/1967, Saturday (+8,075) China exploded its first hydrogen bomb. This raised tensions between China and the USSR.

16/6/1967, Friday (+8,074) Reginald Denny, English actor died aged 75.

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.

13/6/1967, Tuesday (+8,071) Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall was nominated as the first Black American Justice of the US Supreme Court, He served until 1991.

12/6/1967, Monday (+8,070) Venera 4 was launched toward Venus by the Soviet Union.

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) (1) Moshe Dayan appointed the Israeli Defence Minister.

(2) the Beatles released their famous album, Sgt Pepper�s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

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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 Eilat.

19/5/1967, Friday (+8,046) (Israel) The UN began to withdraw its peacekeeping forces from the Gaza Strip, at the request of Egypt.

17/5/1967, Wednesday (+8,044) Henry Allen, US jazz trumpeter, died in New York (born Algiers, Louisiana, 7/1/1908)

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.

8/5/1967, Monday (+8,035) Laverne Andrews, US musician, died (born 6/7/1915 in Minneapolis).

=====================================================================================

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.

17/4/1967, Monday (+8,014) Liz Phair, musician, was born.

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.

8/3/1967, Wednesday (+7,974)

7/3/1967, Tuesday (+7,973) The first North Sea gas was brought ashore in Britain.

6/3/1967, Monday (+7,972) Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly died.

5/3/1967, Sunday (+7,971)

3/3/1967, Friday (+7,969) US President Lyndon B Johnson announced his plan to establish a draft lottery to send troops to Vietnam.

2/3/1967, Thursday (+7,968) Thailand gave permission to the USA for its bombers to operate from Thai air bases.

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.

20/2/1967, Monday (+7.958) Kurt Cobain, guitarist, was born.

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.

5/2/1967, Sunday (+7,943) Somoza�s son, Anastasio, became President of Nicaragua.

3/2/1967, Friday (+7,941) In Australia, Ronald Ryan became the last person to be hanged, at Penkridge Prison, Melbourne, for murdering a prison guard when he escaped from prison in December 1965.

====================================================================================

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.

14/1/1967, Saturday (+7,921) Emily Watson, actress, was born.

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 900^th 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.

21/12/1966, Wednesday (+7,897) Kiefer Sutherland, actor, was born.

18/12/1966, Sunday (+7,894)

15/12/1966, Thursday (+7,891) Walt Disney, US film producer and leader in animation, died.

8/12/1966, Thursday (+7,884) Sinead O�Connor, singer, was born.

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.

5/12/1966, Monday (+7,881) Jiang Qing, wife of Chairman Mao, encouraged the Red Guards, the Chinese Army, to join the struggle of the Cultural Revolution. However the military was about the only organised tool of government still functioning in an orderly manner. Despite her best efforts., most units of the People�s Liberation Army continued to maintain a degree of law and order. Otherwise, China was teetering on the brink of anarchy and civil war.

4/12/1966, Sunday (+7,880)

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.

17/11/1966, Thursday (+7,863) Jeff Buckley, musician, was born.

12/11/1966, Saturday (+7,858) David Schwimmer, actor, 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)

27/10/1967, Thursday (+7,842) China succeeded in laumching a nuclear warhead from� a guided missile.

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) Mohamed Fawzi, Egyptian composer who wrote the music adopted in 1963 as the National Anthem of Algeria, died aged 48.

19/10/1966, Wednesday (+7,834) US President Johnson began a tour of SW Pacific countries to bolster support against North Vietnam. By end 1966, there were some 390,000 US troops in South Vietnam.

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.

11/10/1966, Tuesday (+7,826) Luke Perry, actor, was born.

10/10/1966, Monday (+7,825) Simon and Garfunkel released their album Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme.

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) Albert Speer, Hitler�s architect, was released from Spandau prison, West Berlin.

====================================================================================

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)

24/9/1966, Saturday (+7,809) Michael J Varhola, author, was born.

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.

14/9/1966, Wednesday (+7,799) Aamer Sohail, Pakistani cricketer, was born in Lahore

13/9/1966, Tuesday (+7,798) Johannes Vorster was sworn in as President of South Africa.

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) 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.

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.

4/9/1966, Sunday (+7,789) Bireli Lagrene, French jazz guitarist, was born in Alsace, France.

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.

2/9/1966, Friday (+7,787) Governor George Wallace of Georgia, USA, forbade the State�s schools from complying with Federal US desegregation requirements.

===================================================================================

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.

25/8/1966, Thursday (+7,779)

23/8/1966, Tuesday (+7,777) The Cotswolds were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

22/8/1966, Monday (+7,776) GZA, rapper, was born,

21/8/1966, Sunday (+7,775)

20/8/1966, Saturday (+7,774) Dimebag Durrell, musician, was born.

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.

17/8/1966, Wednesday (+7,771) William E Dudley, poet, was born.

16/8/1966, Tuesday (+7,770)

14/8/1966, Sunday (+7,768) Halle Berry, actress, was born.

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.

12/8/1966, Friday (+7,766)

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) (1) In Austin, USA, Charles Whitman shot dead 12 people at Texas University before being shot dead himself by policemen.

(2) The Minitz to St Erhard line, Austria, closed.

===================================================================================

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.

27/7/1966, Wednesday (+7,750) In the USA, cigarette packets had to carry labels warning of the health risks.

23/7/1966, Saturday (+7,746) Montgomery Clift, actor, died.

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�.

4/7/1966, Monday (+7,727) Start of a 3-day Warsaw Pact meeting in Bucharest where Nicolae Ceausescu craftily suggested that both the Warsaw Pact and NATO be disbanded, knowing that this would leave western Europe more vulnerable to Russia.

3/7/1966, Sunday (+7,726) Anti-Vietnam war protests outside the US Embassy, London.

2/7/1966, Saturday (+7,725) Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet, died aged 67.

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.

=====================================================================================

30/6/1966, Thursday (+7,723) Mike Tyson, boxer, was born.

29/6/1966, Wednesday (+7,722) Barclaycard, the first British credit card, was introduced.

28/6/1966, Tuesday (+7,721) John Cusack, actor, was born.

27/6/1966, Monday (+7,720) JJ Abrams, TV producer, was born.

21/6/1966, Tuesday (+7,714)

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.

14/6/1966, Tuesday (+7,707) Pope Paul VI abolished the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, the list of books that Catholics were forbidden from reading.

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.

5/6/1966, Sunday (+7,698)

4/6/1966, Saturday (+7,697) Cecelia Bartoli, mezzo-soprano singer, was born.

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.

13/5/1966, Friday (+6,765)

10/5/1966, Tuesday (+7,672) Jonathan Edwards, triple jump athlete, was born.

9/5/1966, Monday (+7,671) Alfred Mendelsohn, composer, died.

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.

29/4/1966, Friday (+7,661) William Eccles, physicist, died.

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. British author Evelyn Waugh died.

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.

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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. Not only Communists were killed, but also many ethnic Chinese, who had gained a powerful economic position in Indonesia.

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.

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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 81^st 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)

10/2/1966, Thursday (+7,583) Consumer activist and safety campaigner Ralph Nader began testifying before US Congress about the reluctance of the US car industry to invest in safety features.

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) Rick Astley, singer, was born.

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.

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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) US Senator J William Fulbright challenged the legality of US involvement in Vietnam.

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.

13/1/1966, Thursday (+7,555) Patrick Dempsey, actor, was born.

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.

4/1/1966, Tuesday (+7,546) Under the Tashkent Agreement, the Indo-Pakistan War ended. Both sides withdrew from Kashmir.

2/1/1966, Sunday (+7,544)

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.

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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.

26/12/1965, Sunday (+7,537)

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.

23/12/1965, Thursday (+7,534) Eddie Vedder, rock singer (Pearl Jam) was born.

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.

21/12/1965, Tuesday (+7,532) The United Nations General Assembly voted 106 to 0 to adopt the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. After ratification by 27 nations, it would come into effect on 4/1/1969.

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) The Organisation of African Unity demanded the UK use military force against Rhodesia. However the UK did not have the military capability to do this unless the Portuguese colonies or South Africa provided bases, which were not forthcoming.

4/12/1965, Saturday (+7,515) The US spacecraft Gemini 7 was launched, crewed by Frank Borman and James Lovell.

1/12/1965, Wednesday (+7,512)

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30/11/1965, Tuesday (+7,511) Ben Stiller, actor, was born.

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�.

27/11/1965, Saturday (+7,508)

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.

21/11/1965, Sunday (+7,502) Bjork Gudmundsdottir, singer, was born.

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)

12/11/1965, Friday (+7,493) The UN called for all nations to refuse to recognise Rhodesian independence under Ian Smith.

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 suspending capital punishment in the UK for 5 years 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.

6/11/1965, Saturday (+7,487) US composer Edgar Varese died.

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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.

13/10/1965, Wednesday (+7,463) In the Congo (Zaire), President Tshombe was ousted by Kasavubu.

12/10/1965, Tuesday (+7,462) Paul Muller, the Swiss chemist who formulated the insecticide DDT in 1939, died in Basle.

10/10/1965, Sunday (+7,460)

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.

5/10/1965, Tuesday (+7,455) Gustaf Adolf Tiburtius Bengtsson, composer, died aged 79.

4/10/1965, Monday (+7,454) Pope Paul VI visited New York City; the first Papal visit to America.

3/10/1965, Sunday (+7,453) US President Johnson ditched the immigration quota system under the 1965 Immigration Act. Educated skilled migrants could now enter the USA so long as they did not threaten the livelihood of a US citizen.

2/10/1965, Saturday (+7,452) Oskar R. Lange, Polish economist and diplomat, died aged 61.

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.

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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.

26/9/1965, Sunday (+7,445) Clara Bow, actress, was born.

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) The 10 millionth Volkswagen Beetle was manufactured.

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 11^th 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.

30/8/1965, Monday (+7,419) Bob Dylan released his Highway 61 Revisited album.

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.

19/8/1965, Thursday (+7,408) US troops destroyed a suspected Vietcong stronghold near Van Tuong.

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.

====================================================================================

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.

8/7/1965, Thursday (+7,366) Ronald Biggs, who played a part in the Great Train Robbery in 1963, escaped from Wandsworth Prison. Whilst 2 prisoners distracted the guards in the exercise yard, accomplices parked a removals van outside the wall and threw a rope ladder over. Biggs climbed over and they escaped in a getaway car that had been hidden inside the van; the van was abandoned.

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.

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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.

9/6/1965, Wednesday (+7,337)

8/6/1965, Tuesday (+7,336) US Congress authorised the use of ground troops in combat in Vietnam. By end July, 125,000 US troops were in Vietnam.

7/6/1965, Monday (+7,335) The US Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut�s State Law of 1879 prohibit8ing the sale of birth control techniques was unconstitutional..

6/6/1965, Sunday (+7,334)

4/6/1965, Friday (+7,332) The first contingent of Australian troops arrived in Vietnam.

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.

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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) Co-founder of Volvo, Assar Gabrielsson, died aged 70.

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.

19/5/1965, Wednesday (+7,316) The world�s oldest tortoise, Tui Malila, born 1773, died.

13/5/1965, Thursday (+7,310) The Russian Luna 5 space probe, intended to explore the possibility of landing safely on the Moon, malfunctioned and crashed onto its surface.

12/5/1965, Wednesday (+7,309) West Germany established diplomatic relations with Israel.

10/5/1965, Monday (+7,307) Linda Evangelista, Canadian fashion model, was born.

5/5/1965, Wednesday (+7,302) Truce in the Dominican Republic between the Leftist and Rightist warring factions.

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)

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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.

13/4/1965, Tuesday (+7,280) The 10 millionth Pontiac vehicle, a 1965 Catalina, was manufactured.

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.

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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.

22/3/1965, Monday (+7,258) The US Government admitted it had used chemical weapons against the V|ietcong in the Vietnam War.

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.

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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)

9/2/1965, Tuesday (+7,217) The first US combat troops arrived in South Vietnam.

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.

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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).

27/1/1965, Wednesday (+7,204) Alan Cumming, actor, was born.

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�.

(3) General Franco of Spain met with Jewish representatives to discuss legitimising Jewish communities in Spain,

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.

14/1/1965, Thursday (+7,191) Sean Lemass, Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) met the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland,� Terence O�Neill, at Stormont Castle, Belfast. This meeting was the first official recognition by the Irish Republic of Northern Ireland.

9/1/1965, Saturday (+7,186) Joely Richardson, actress, was born.

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.

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31/12/1964, Thursday (+7,176) Donald Campbell set a new water speed record of 276.33 mph (444.71 kph) in his speedboat Bluebird in Perth, Western Australia.

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.

19/12/1964, Saturday (+7,165) The military junta in South Vietnam dissolved the High National Council and arrested some of its members.

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) US President Johnson announced a large increase in aid to South Vietnam.

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.

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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 36^th US President. He defeated the Republican, Senator Barry Goldman of Arizona. Goldwater was seen as too extreme in defence of �liberty�, and only received 38% of the vote, to Johnson�s 61%.

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.

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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 31^st 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 18^th 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.

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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.

20/9/1964, Sunday (+7,075)

19/9/1964, Saturday (+7,074) Trisha Yearwood, singer, was born.

18/9/1964, Friday (+7,073) Playwright Sean O�Casey died.

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.

12/9/1964, Saturday (+7,067) The Spaghetti Western film �A Fistful of Dollars� premiered, directed by Sergio Leone, starring Clint Eastwood in his first leading role

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)

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28/8/1964, Friday (+7,052) Race riots broke out in Philadelphia, USA.

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.

19/8/1964, Wednesday (+7,043)

18/8/1964, Tuesday (+7,042) The International Olympic Committee banned South Africa from the Tokyo Games because of its policy of apartheid.

17/8/1964, Monday (+7,041) Greece withdrew its forces from NATO because of tension with Turkey over Cyprus.

16/8/1964, Sunday (+7,040)

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.

5/8/1964, Wednesday (+7,029) US aircraft bombed North Vietnam in retaliation for the Maddox attack (2/8/1964).

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.

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31/7/1964, Friday (+7,024) NASA succeeded in landing the Ranger 7 probe on the Moon.

30/7/1964, Thursday (+7,023) US President Johnson signed the Medicare Act, providing State medical insurance for those aged 65 and over.

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) Tshombe returned from exile and was made Congolese (Zaire) Prime Minister. He attempted to force a peace deal on various rebel groups, and drafted White mercenaries into his army. This attracted criticism from other Communist-oriented African States. Rebels seized White hostages and held them at Stanleyville (now Kisangani) until they were rescued by Belgian paratroopers, flown in on US planes.

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 16^th 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.

22/6/1964, Monday (+6.,985) Dan Brown, writer, was born.

21/6/1964, Sunday (+6,984) Dean Saunders, footballer, was born.

18/6/1964, Thursday (+6,981)

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.

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30/5/1964, Saturday (+6,962)

27/5/1964, Wednesday (+6,959) 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) US President Lyndon Johnson spoke of his vision of a �Great Society�. He intended to redistribute wealth, improve civil rights and healthcare, whilst maintaining a thriving economy.

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.

1/5/1964, Friday (+6,933) John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz developed BASIC (Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code). This day the first BASIC programme was run on a computer at Dartmouth College. It was a multi-purpose programming language that was simple to use.

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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.

20/4/1964, Monday (+6,922) Crispin Glover, actor, was born.

19/4/1964, Sunday (+6,921) Rightist coup in Laos, Suvanna Phuma remained Prime Minister

18/4/1964, Saturday (+6,920) Ford unveiled its GT40 racing car. It was built specifically to outperform Ferrari in endurance races, because Henry Ford was angry that Enzo Ferrari refused t sell his company to him. The car suffered from aerodynamic issues and became airborne in a race and crashed; however by the late 60s this car proved able to beat Ferrari�s models.

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.

7/4/1964, Tuesday (+6,909) Russell Crowe, actor, was born.

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. 31/3/1964, The Brazilian 4th Military District, disturbed at events earlier (see 15/3/1964) mounted an insurrection that was soon joined by other sections of the military. The few troops loyal to Goulart were soon overcome, and also a General Strike called by the General Confederation of Workers caused disruption but failed to prevent the military takeover.

30/3/1964, Monday (+6,901) Mods and Rockers clashed on the seafront at Clacton.

29/3/1964, Sunday (+6,900) Easter Sunday. Elle MacPherson, actress, was born.

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) (1) Unrest in British Guiana as a strike by sugar workers continued (strike ended 26/7/1964).

(2) In Brazil, 1,400 sailors seized a Trades Union building to protest against the arrest of their association�s President. They surrendered to the Army two days later and were swiftly pardoned. The top military were shocked and accused President Goulart of undermining discipline, see 31/3/1964

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) Jacques Songo'o, Cameroonian footballer, was born.

16/3/1964, Monday (+6,887) US President Johnson called for �total victory� in a �national war on poverty�.

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.

======================================================================================

29/2/1964, Saturday (+6,871) In Sydney, Australia, Dawn Fraser set a new record of 58.9 seconds for the 100 metre freestyle.

21/2/1964, Friday (+6,863) �10 notes were issued for the first time since World War Two.

20/2/1964, Thursday (+6,862) Ceasefire in the border war between Algeria and Morocco. The French, former colonial power in both countries, had drawn the border without local consultation, and in 10/1963 a border war began. The two countires had a further border conflict in 1967, and clashed again in 1976 over the fate of Spanish Sahara.

18/2/1964, Tuesday (+6,860) Matt Dillon, actor, was born.

16/2/1964, Sunday (+6,858) Jose Roberto Gama de Oliveira, Brazilian footballer, was born.

15/2/1964, Saturday (+6,857) Willy Brandt, Mayor of West Berlin, became leader of the West German Social Democratic Party.

13/2/1964, Thursday (+6,855)

11/2/1964, Tuesday (+6,853) Fighting broke out at Limassol, Cyprus, between Greeks and Turks.

10/2/1964, Monday (+6,852) The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collided with the HMAS Voyager off the coast of New South Wales, Australia. The Voyager sank, killing 82.

9/2/1964, Sunday (+6,851)

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.

5/2/1964, Wednesday (+6,847) Laura Linney, actress, was born.

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.

29/1/1964, Wednesday (+6,840) Alan Ladd, actor, died.

27/1/1964, Monday (+6,,838) France recognised Communist China.

23/1/1964, Thursday (+6,834) Dr James Hardy, at the University of Mississippi, USA, attempted the first animal to human heart transplant. He implanted the heart of a chimpanzee named Bino into the chest of Boyd Rush, aged 68. Rush died 90 minutes later.

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) 24 days after Zanzibar became independent from the UK as a constitutional monarchy, its Sultan was overthrown; Zanzibar was proclaimed a Socialist Republic. The Arab Sultan of Zanzibar was banished from the country, and an African-led government took control. A few months later it united with Tanganyika to form Tanzania.

11/1/1964, Saturday (+6,822) (Medical) Health experts in America published the first warnings that cigarettes could be dangerous for your health.

10/1/1964, Friday (+6,821) A Marja, Dutch author, died.

9/1/1964, Thursday (+6,820) Rioting in the Panama Canal Zone over the issue of whether the Panamanian Flag could� be flown alongside the US Flag. 22 Panamanians and 4 US citizens died. The event is now commemorated as Martyr�s Day.

8/1/1964, Wednesday (+6,819) (USA) In the US, President Johnson proposed a reduction in defence spending. He wanted to reprioritise spending towards alleviating poverty.

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.

====================================================================================

30/12/1963, Monday (+6,810) German-born composer Paul Hindemith died.

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.

20/12/1963, Friday (+6,800)

18/12/1963, Wednesday (+6,798) Brad Pitt, actor., was born.

17/12/1963, Tuesday (+6,797) The USA passed the Clean Air Act, forerunner to the 1970 Clean Air Act which required major cuts in car emissions.

16/12/1963, Monday (+6,796) Benjamin Bratt, actor, was born.

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.

13/12/1963, Friday (+6,793)

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)

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30/11/1963, Saturday (+6,780) Phil Baker, US musician, died in Copenhagen (born 24/8/1896 in Philadelphia).

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.

28/10/1963, Monday (+6,747) Lauren Holly, actress, 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.

13/10/1963, Sunday (+6,732) The Beatles (John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr) appeared on British TV in Saturday Night at the Palladium. Their popularity soared.

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.

8/10/1963, Tuesday (+6,727)

7/10/1963, Monday (+6,726) Hurricane Flora killed 7,190 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

6/10/1963, Sunday (+6,725) Elisabeth Shue, actress, was born.

5/10/1963, Saturday (+6,724) Laura Davies, golf champion, was born.

3/10/1963, Thursday (+6,722) A further military coup in Guatemala. Morales was deposed a second time. Colonel Osvaldo Lopez Arellano headed a new military regime; military rule lasted until 1981.

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.

25/9/1963, Wednesday (+6,714) The Bosch administration in the Dominican Republic was overthrown in a bloodless coup by the military, who alleged that Bosch was too pro-Communist.

24/9/1963, Tuesday (+6,713) Peter Craven, speedway driver, died (born 21/6/1934).

22/9/1963, Sunday (+6,711)

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) Haiti was officially made a One Party State, with all civil rights suspended. In fact there were very few civil rights anyway, but this move cemented the Party of |National Unity as another support mechanism for Duvalier.

16/9/1963, Monday (+6,705) Malaysia was formed; 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 women 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.

3/9/1963, Tuesday (+6,692) Poet Louis MacNeice 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.

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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.

18/8/1963, Sunday (+6,676) James Meredith became the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.

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) (1) 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).

(2) Haitian exiles attempted to overthrow Papa Doc Duvalier, mounting an invasion of Haiti from the Dominican Republic. However they were driven out of Haiti after 2 days fighting.

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 2^nd 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.

28/7/1963, Sunday (+6,655)

26/7/1963, Friday (+6,653) Big earthquake hit Skopje, Yugoslavia, killing 1,100. 150,000 were left homeless.

25/7/1963, Thursday (+6,652) Ugo Cerletti, neurologist, died.

23/7/1963, Tuesday (+6,650)

22/7/1963, Monday (+6,649) In Britain, a commission into slum housing was set up.

21/7/1963, Sunday (+6,648) In Britain, Prime Minister Harold MacMillan appointed Lord Denning to investigate the security aspects of the Profumo affair.

13/7/1963, Saturday (+6,640) Fatboy Slim, musician, was born.

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�.

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30/6/1963, Sunday (+6,627) Coronation of Giovanni Batista Montini as Pope Paul VI.

29/6/1963, Saturday (+6,626) Anne Sophie Mutter, violinist, was born.

28/6/1963, Friday (+6,625) Ahmed Hilmi Pasha, Palestinian leader and one time Prime Minister of the All-Palestine Government, died aged 84.

27/6/1963, Thursday (+6,624) Meera Syal, writer, was born.

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) Anatoly Borisovich Jurkin, Russian writer, was born.

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.

9/6/1963, Sunday (+6,606) Johnny Depp, actor, was born.

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.

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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.

8/5/1963, Wednesday (+6,574) British comedian Max Miller died.

6/5/1963, Monday (+6,572)

3/5/1963, Friday (+6,569) Martial law was declared in Haiti.

2/5/1963, Thursday (+6,568) Jack Crawford,� cricketer, died (born 1/12/1886).

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28/4/1963, Sunday (+6,564) Cuban President Fidel Castro visited the USSR.

26/4/1963, Friday (+6,652) Jet Li, actor, was born.

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.

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31/3/1963, Sunday (+6,536) Harry Akst, US composer, died in Hollywood (born in New York, 15/8/1894)

29/3/1963, Friday (+6,534) MC Hammer, rap artist, was born.

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.

20/3/1963, Wednesday (+6,525) Actor David Thewlis was born in Blackpool, England.

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.

5/3/1963, Tuesday (+6,510) Patsy Kline, singer, died.

3/3/1963, Sunday (+6,508) Steve Moore, water skiing champion, was born.

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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.

17/2/1963, Sunday (+6,494) Michael Jordan, basketball player, was born.

15/2/1963, Friday (+6,492) Studebaker announced that all its cars would now have front seat belts.

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.

12/2/1963, Tuesday (+6,489)

11/2/1963, Monday (+6,488) Sylvia Plath, writer, died.

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.

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30/1/1963, Wednesday (+6,476) Pelham Warner, cricketer, died (born 2/10/1873).

29/1/1963, Tuesday (+6,475) US poet Robert Frost died.

28/1/1963, Monday (+6,474)

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.�

13/1/1963, Sunday (+6,459)

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.

6/1/1963, Sunday (+6,452) Lina Arbanell, German singer, died (born 7/2/1895).

3/1/1963, Thursday (+6,449) Jack Carson, actor, died.

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.

24/12/1965, Monday (+6,439)

22/12/1962, Saturday (+6,437) Ralph Fiennes, actor, was born.

21/12/1962, Friday (+6,436) The US agreed to sell Polaris missiles to the UK.

20/12/1965, Thursday (+6,435)

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.

16/12/1962, Sunday (+6,431) Lew Landers, US film and TV director, died aged 61.

15/12/1962, Saturday (+6,430) Charles Laughton, actor, died.

14/12/1962, Friday (+6,429) Mariner II sent back the first close-up pictures of the planet Venus.

13/12/1962, Thursday (+6,428) Rudolf Wissell, German politician and former Minister for Economic Affairs in the Weimar Republic, died aged 93.

12/12/1962, Wednesday (+6,427) Tracy Austin, tennis champion, was born.

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)

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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.

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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.

13/10/1962, Saturday (+6,367) Kelly Preston, actress, was born.

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.

6/10/1952, Saturday (+6,360)

5/10/1962, Friday (+6,359) The Beatles released their first hit, Love Me Do.

4/10/1962, Thursday (+6,358) The TV Series, The Saint, starring Roger Moore as Simon Templar, first broadcast this day.

3/10/1962, Wednesday (+6,357) Tommy Lee, musician (Motley Crue) was born.

2/10/1962, Tuesday (+6,356) Boris Y. Bukreev, Russian mathematician, died (born 1859)

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.

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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.

23/9/1962, Sunday (+6,346)

21/9/1962, Friday (+6,345) The British TV quiz programme University Challenge conducted by Bamber Gascoigne was first transmitted.

20/9/1962, Thursday (+6,344) African American student James Meredith was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by the State Governor. This resulted in rioting and President kennedy sent in Federal troops. Four days later the US Court of Appeals ordered the university to admit him.

17/9/1962, Monday (+6,341) Baz Luhrmann, film director, was born.

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) The Beatles recorded their debut single Love Me Do at EMI studios, London.

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 (+6,331) Isak Dinesen, Danish writer, died (born 17/4/1885).

6/9/1962, Thursday (+6,330) Hanns Eisler, composer, died.

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.

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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.

19/8/1962, Sunday (+6,312)

18/8/1962, Saturday (+6,311) Brothers Ahmad and Mahmaoud Khayami founded Iran� National to manufacture cars in Iran.

17/8/1962, Friday (+6,310) Peter Fechter, 18, became the first person to be killed whilst trying to cross the Berlin Wall. He was shot dead by border guards.

16/8/1962, Thursday (+6,309) The Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, sacked the drummer, Pete Best, and replaced him with Ringo Starr.

15/8/1962, Wednesday (+6,308) The Netherlands agreed to hand over Irian Jaya (West Papua) to Indonesia after a transition period administered by the United Nations.

12/8/1962, Sunday (+6,305)

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.

3/8/1962, Friday (+6,296)

1/8/1962, Wednesday (+6,294) President Nkrumah of Ghana escaped an assassination attempt.

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31/7/1962, Tuesday (+6,293) Wesley Snipes, actor, was born.

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.

18/7/1962, Wednesday (+6,280) A military coup in Peru; President Prado was arrested by the Army. There was a further coup in 1963.

10/7/1962, Tuesday (+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.

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26/5/1962, Monday (+6,244) Karl Friedrich Rapp, founder of BMW, died aged 80.

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.

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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.

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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)

16/4/1962, Monday (+6,187) Ian MacKaye, musician, was born.

14/4/1962, Saturday (+6,185) Georges Pompidou became French Prime Minister.

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.

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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.

22/3/1962, Thursday (+6,162) With US aid, South Vietnam launched Operation Sunrise against Vietcong guerrillas.

15/3/1962, Thursday (+6,155) John Hall, rugby player, was born.

8/3/1962, Thursday (+6,148) The Beatles performed live on BBC for the first time, on the show Teenager Turn.

3/3/1962, Saturday (+6,143) Jackie Joyner Kersee, athlete, 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.

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26/2/1962, Monday (+6,138) The IRA announced a ceasefire after a 5-year campaign of violence.

22/2/1962, Thursday (+6,134) Steve Irwin, environmentalist, was born.

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.

17/2/1962, Saturday (+6,129) Lou Diamond Phillips, actor, was born.

15/2/1962, Thursday (+6,127)

11/2/1962, Sunday (+6,123) Sheryl Crow, singer and musician, 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.

8/2/1962, Thursday (+6,120)

7/2/1962, Wednesday (+6,119) Garth Brooks, singer, was born.

6/2/1962, Tuesday (+6,118) Axl Rose, singer for Guns N� Roses, was born.

5/2/1962, Monday (+6,117) Jennifer Jason Leigh, actress, was born.

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.

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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) 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.

19/1/1962, Friday (+6,100)

17/1/1962, Wednesday (+6,098) Jim Carrey, US actor, was born.

16/1/1962, Tuesday (+6,097) Ivan Mestrovi, sculptor, died.

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).

6/1/1962, Saturday (+6,087)

4/1/1962, Thursday (+6,085) The first driverless trains appeared on the New York subway.

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.

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30/12/1961, Saturday (+6,080) Ben Johnson, athlete, was born.

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.

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28/11/1961, Tuesday (+8,048) Martin Clunes, actor, was born.

20/11/1961, Monday (+6,040) Shaun Wallace, champion cyclist, was born.

19/11/1961, Sunday (+6,039) Meg Ryan, actress, 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,