Significant Events
- Jan 11 1st government report warning by US Surgeon General Luther Terry that smoking may be hazardous
- Jun 1 Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its 1st President
- Jun 12 Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison in South Africa
- Jun 29 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed after 83-day filibuster in the US Senate
- Jul 2 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law
- Dec 10 Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo
1964 in Film & TV
- Jan 29 "Dr Strangelove", directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, premieres
- Apr 13 36th Academy Awards: "Tom Jones", Best Film, Patricia Neal and Sidney Poitier win Best Actor/Actress, Poitier first black actor to win
- Apr 25 11th National Film Awards (India): "Shehar Aur Sapna" wins the Golden Lotus
- Aug 27 Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke premieres in Los Angeles
- Oct 21 Film version of "My Fair Lady" directed by George Cukor and starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1965)
1964 in Music
- Feb 9 1st appearance of the Beatles on the "Ed Sullivan Show" draws 73.7 million viewers
- Aug 27 Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" directed by Robert Stevenson and starring Julie Andrews and Dick van Dyke premieres in Los Angeles
- Sep 17 Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 for a concert (Kansas)
- Oct 31 Barbra Streisand's "People" album goes #1 for 5 weeks
- Dec 9 John Coltrane's Quartet records their greatest work "A Love Supreme" at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
1964 in Sport
- Mar 6 Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to "Muhammad Ali", calling his former title a "slave name"
- Oct 25 Dutchman Anton Geesink is 1st non-Japanese Olympic judo gold medal winner
- Nov 15 Mickey Wright shoots a 62, lowest golf score for a woman pro at the Tall City Open, Midland, Texas
Did You Know?
The Great Alaska Earthquake (9.2 magnitude) and resulting tsunami kill 139 people in the largest US earthquake and second largest ever recorded
On March 27, 1964
World Leaders in 1964
Lyndon B. Johnson
36th US President
Mao Zedong
Chinese Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet First Secretary
Famous People in 1964
Barbra Streisand
Grammy for Album of the Year
Julie Andrews
Oscar for Best Actress
Rex Harrison
Oscar for Best Actor
Adam Yauch
Barry Bonds
Brett Hull
Mariska Hargitay
Russell Crowe
Sandra BullockWould You Believe?
Prometheus, the world's oldest tree (at least 4862 years old), is accidently cut down in Nevada, US
On August 6, 1964
Famous Weddings
- Jan 25 Comedian and actor Bill Cosby marries Camille Olivia Hanks
- Jan 25 MLB outfielder Pete Rose (22) weds first wife Karolyn Englehardt
- Feb 19 Actor Peter Sellers (38) weds actress Britt Ekland in London, England
- Mar 15 Actress Elizabeth Taylor (32) marries for the 5th time to actor Richard Burton (38)
- Apr 9 Serial killer John Wayne Gacy (22) weds co-worker Marlynn Myers
Famous Divorces
- Mar 6 Actress Elizabeth Taylor's 4th divorce from entertainer Eddie Fisher
- Jul 28 Broadway musical actress-singer Ethel Merman (56) divorces academy award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine (47) after 32 days of marriage
Brendan Behan
Douglas MacArthur
Emilio Aguinaldo
Herbert Hoover
Jawaharlal Nehru
Rachel Carson