Historical Events in July 1966

Wimbledon Women's Tennis

Jul 2 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: American Billie Jean King beats Maria Bueno of Brazil 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 for the first of her 12 Grand Slam singles titles

Jul 3 Atlanta Braves Tony Cloninger, 1st NL player and only pitcher to hit 2 grand slams in a MLB game (17-3 v SF Giants)
Jul 3 Race riots in Omaha, Nebraska
Jul 3 US Open Women's Golf, Hazeltine National GC: American Sandra Spuzich wins by 1 from Carol Mann for her only LPGA major title

Music History

Jul 4 Beatles attacked in the Philippines after (unintentionally) insulting Imelda Marcos

Event of Interest

Jul 4 LBJ signs Freedom of Information Act

Jul 5 NASA launches Saturn IB rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida
Jul 5 National Guard mobilizes in Omaha, Nebraska, after 3rd night of rioting
Jul 5 NYC Transit Authority raises basic bus and subway fare from 15 cents to 20 cents
Jul 6 Malawi becomes a republic, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda becomes president

Event of Interest

Jul 7 Obscenity ban for "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs overturned by the Massachusetts Supreme Court after testimony by Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer

Jul 8 King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Prince Charles Ndizi
Jul 8 US airline strike (until Aug 19th)

British Golf Open

Jul 9 British Open Men's Golf, Muirfield: Jack Nicklaus beats Doug Sanders & Dave Thomas by 1 stroke to become only 4th in history to win all 4 majors

Jul 12 10.51" (26.70 cm) of rainfall in Sandusky,Ohio (state record, until broken in 1995)
Jul 12 37th All-Star Baseball Game: NL wins 2-1 in 10 inninngs, at Busch Memorial Stadium, St Louis

Sports History

Jul 12 Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson voted MLB All Star game MVP

Baseball Hall of Fame Third Baseman Brooks Robinson

Jul 12 Start of 3 day race riot in Chicago, looting brings out National Guardsmen
Jul 12 US Treasury announces it will buy mutilated silver coins at silver bullion price at Philadelphia and Denver mints
Jul 13 A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founds the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna movement) in New York City
Jul 14 53rd Tour de France won by Lucien Aimar of France
Jul 14 Richard Speck rapes and kills 8 nurses in a Chicago dormitory
Jul 16 David Heneker's musical "Half a Sixpence", starring Tommy Steels, and based on H.G. Well's 1905 novel "Kipps", closes at Broadhurst Theater, NYC, after 511 performances
Jul 16 Nigeria becomes the first Anglophone independent state in Africa to become an associate member of European Economic Community
Jul 16 Number of banned persons in South Africa totals 936; the individuals are banned under various laws, most prominently the Suppression of Communism and Riotous Assembly Acts

Musical Finale

Jul 17 Charles Strouse and Lee Adams' musical "It's a Bird... It's A Plane...It's Superman" closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC. after 129 performances

Jul 17 Indians set club record by hitting 7 HR in 15-2 win over Detroit
Jul 17 Jim Ryun sets mile record (3m51s3)

Event of Interest

Jul 18 Carl Sagan turns 1 billion seconds old

Event of Interest

Jul 18 Gemini 10 launches John Young & Michael Collins

Jul 19 France performs nuclear Test at Fangataufa Island
Jul 19 Governor James Rhodes declares state of emergency in Cleveland (race riot)
Jul 21 Gemini X returns to Earth
Jul 21 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
Jul 23 Cavern Club in Liverpool reopens

#1 in the Charts

Jul 23 Frank Sinatra's album "Strangers In The Night" hits #1 on the US charts, (Grammy for Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance)

Jul 23 John Pennel pole vaults record (5.34 m)
Jul 23 Napoleon XIV releases "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha! Ha!"
Jul 24 PGA Championship Men's Golf, Firestone CC: American Al Geiberger wins his only major title by 4 shots from Dudley Wysong

Music Concert

Jul 25 Brian Jones' final performance as a Rolling Stone

Guitarist and Multi-Instrumentalist Brian Jones

Event of Interest

Jul 25 Mao Zedong swims the Yangtze River

Revolutionary and Chairman of the Communist Party Mao Zedong

You Can't Hurry Love

Jul 25 The Supremes release single "You Can't Hurry Love"

Hall of Fame

Jul 25 Yankee manager Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame

Jul 26 Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords stating that the House is not bound to follow its own previous precedent
Jul 26 WRLH TV channel 31 in Lebanon, NH (NBC) begins broadcasting

Music History

Jul 29 Bob Dylan hurt in motorcycle accident near Woodstock, New York

Jul 29 In Nigerian counter-coup, Head of State General Aguiyi Ironsi is assassinated by a group of Northern Nigerian officers and soldiers
Jul 30 Beatles' "Yesterday... & Today" album goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
Jul 30 FIFA World Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London, England: Striker Geoff Hurst scores a hat trick as England beats West Germany, 4-2 after extra time
Jul 30 US airplanes bomb the demilitarized zone between North and South Vietnam

Ban the Beatles

Jul 31 Two Alabama radio hosts, Tommy Charles and Doug Layton of WAQY in Birmingham ask listeners to send in Beatles albums and merchandise to burn in response to John Lennon's anti-Jesus remark that "Christianity will go" [1]