1966 in History

Events 1 - 100 of 361

• Jan 1 12 day transit worker strike shuts down NYC subway

• Jan 1 All US cigarette packs have to carry "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health"
• Jan 2 1st Jewish child born in Spain since 1492 expulsion
• Jan 3 Floyd B McKissick, named national director of CORE
• Jan 4 Doug Walters scores second Test century in his second Test
• Jan 4 Military coup in Upper Volta leads to a new national constitution
• Jan 7 Gene Kiniski beats Lou Thesz in St Louis, to become NWA wrestling champion

• Jan 9 Polish government denies exit visa to Cardinal Wyszynski revisionism
• Jan 10 India & Pakistan sign Tashkent Declaration peace accord
• Jan 10 The Georgia House of Representatives votes 184-12 to deny Julian Bond his seat as a result of his opposition to the Vietnam War
• Jan 11 550 die in landslides in mountains behind Rio de Janeiro after rain
• Jan 12 12 day NYC transit strike ends

• Jan 12 3 British Members of Parliament are attacked in a hotel in Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe)


• Jan 13 1st black selected for presidential cabinet (LBJ selects Robert C Weaver-HUD)
• Jan 13 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Jan 15 The First Nigerian Republic is overthrown in a military coup d'etat
• Jan 15 Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna lead a coup d'état in Nigeria, the Prime Minister of Nigeria and other senior political and military figures are killed
• Jan 16 Harold R Perry becomes 2nd black Roman Catholic bishop in US
• Jan 16 Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi seizes power in the chaos caused by a military coup and becomes the Nigerian Head of State
• Jan 17 B-52/KC-135 tankers crash near Spanish coast at Palomares, 7 die

• Jan 18 Robert C Weaver, confirmed as 1st black cabinet member (HUD)

• Jan 19 Tippett's cantate "Vision of St Augustine" premieres in London
• Jan 24 117 passengers are killed after an Air India Boeing-707 plane crashes into Mont Blanc, France
• Jan 26 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:06.2)
• Jan 26 The Beaumont Children go missing from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide, South Australia.
• Jan 29 Lawry & Simpson complete 244 opening stand v England, Adelaide
• Jan 29 Snow storm in north east US kills 165
• Jan 29 US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
• Jan 29 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Allen
• Jan 30 -19°F (-28°C), Corinth, Mississippi (state record)
• Jan 30 -27°F (-33°C), New Market, Alabama (state record)
• Jan 30 Ard Schenk skates world record 1500m (2:05.2)
• Jan 31 Belgian state police kills 2 striking mine workers
• Jan 31 USSR launches Luna 9 towards Moon
• Feb 2 Pakistan suggests a six-point agenda with Kashmir dispute as number one item for the proposed Indo-Pak ministerial talks after 1965 war.
• Feb 3 1st operational weather satellite, ESSA-1 launched US


• Feb 3 1st soft landing on Moon (Soviet Luna 9)
• Feb 4 All-Nippon Airways 727 crashes off Haneda Airport (Japan); kills 133
• Feb 9 Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points
• Feb 9 UK Government announces construction of a nuclear reactor on the North coast of Scotland
• Feb 10 Harmel government in Belgium resigns

• Feb 13 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
• Feb 14 Australian currency is decimalised, and decimal currency postage stamps introduced
• Feb 14 Russian writers Andrei Sinyavsky & Joey Daniel found guilty under the offense of anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda for publishing their satirical writings abroad
• Feb 16 Bob Cowper makes 307 v England at the MCG, 727 mins, 20 fours
• Feb 16 France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria
• Feb 17 French satellite Diapason D-1A launch into Earth orbit
• Feb 20 Author Valery Tarsis banished in USSR

• Feb 22 Soviets launch Kosmos 110 with Veterok & Ugolek, 1st 2-dog crew
• Feb 23 Military coup in Syria ends Bitar government
• Feb 23 Premier Milton Obote siezes power in Uganda

• Feb 24 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Feb 25 Syrian military coup under General Hafiz al-Assad
• Feb 27 Ice Pairs Championship at Davos won by Belousova and Protopopov of the Soviet Union
• Feb 27 Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Peggy Fleming of US
• Feb 27 Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Emmerich Danzer of Austria
• Mar 1 Ba'ath-party takes power in Syria
• Mar 1 Venera 3 becomes 1st man-made object to impact on a planet (Venus)
• Mar 2 215,000 US soldiers in Vietnam
• Mar 3 James Goldman's "Lion in Winter" premieres in NYC
• Mar 3 Kwame Nkrumah flees Ghana to Guinea
• Mar 3 Twister hits Jackson Mississippi; 3 minutes after 1st sighting, 57 die
• Mar 4 Canadian Pacific airliner explodes on landing at Tokyo, 64 die
• Mar 4 North Sea Gas 1st pumped ashore by BP
• Mar 5 75 MPH air currents causes BOAC 707 crash into Mount Fuji, 124 die
• Mar 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Mar 6 Barry Sadler's "Ballad of the Green Berets" becomes #1 (13 weeks)
• Mar 7 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Mar 8 An IRA bomb destroys Nelson's Column in Dublin
• Mar 8 Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
• Mar 9 Andrew Brimmer becomes 1st black governor of Federal Reserve Board
• Mar 10 5 time Horse of the Year, Kelso, retires
• Mar 10 North Vietnamese capture US Green Beret Camp at Ashau Valley

• Mar 11 A fire at two ski resorts in Numata, Japan kills 31 people.
• Mar 12 Pioneer Plaza dedicated
• Mar 12 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
• Mar 15 Racial riots erupt in the Watts section of Los Angeles
• Mar 16 Gemini 8 launched with Armstrong & Scott, aborted after 6.5 orbits
• Mar 16 Man From Uncle star David McCallum receives huge welcome in London
• Mar 17 South Africa's government bans Defense & Aid Fund
• Mar 17 US submarine locates missing H-bomb in Mediterranean
• Mar 18 General Suharto forms government in Indonesia
• Mar 18 Scott Paper begins selling paper dresses for $1
• Mar 19 Belgium government of Vanden Boeynants begins
• Mar 21 US Supreme Court reverses Massachusetts ruling that "Fanny Hill" is obscene
• Mar 23 1st official meeting after 400 years of Catholic & Anglican Church
• Mar 24 Selective Service announces college deferments based on performance
• Mar 25 US Supreme court rules "poll tax" unconstitutional
• Mar 26 Large-scale anti-Vietnam War protests take place in the United States, including in New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago
• Mar 31 25,000 anti war demonstrators march in NYC

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• Jan 10 Steve Kramer, American politician, born in Baltimore, Maryland
• Jan 11 Kelley Law, Canadian curler
• Jan 13 Tabitha Stevens, fictional character (Bewitched)
• Jan 18 André Ribeiro, Brazilian racing driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
• Jan 21 Katrine Michaelsen, Gentokte Denmark, Miss Denmark (1984)
• Jan 25 Chet Culver, American politician, governor of Iowa
• Jan 31 Dr Umar Alisha, A Sufi Master was Born at Pithapuram.
• Feb 5 Rok Petrovič, Slovenian skier (d. 1993)
• Feb 12 Boty Goodwin, British artist (d. 1995)
• Feb 18 Guy Ferland, American television director
• Feb 20 Cecilia Cummins, Clintwood Va, 5th of 5 siblings born on 2/20
• Feb 22 Resha Riggins, Miss Alabama (1990), born in Trussville Alabama
• Feb 22 Brian Greig, Australian politician
• Feb 25 Samantha Phillips, Ft Meade MD, Penthouse Pet
• Mar 1 Paul Hollywood, English baker and TV judge (The Great British Bake Off), born in Wallasey, England
• Mar 4 Dav Pilkey, American author
• Mar 9 Tony Lockett, Australian rules footballer, born in Ballarat, Victoria
• Mar 9 Michael Patrick MacDonald, Irish-American activist against crime and violence and author (All Souls: A Family Story From Southie), born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Mar 11 Pavel Petrovich Mukhortov, Russian cosmonaut
• Mar 18 Daniel S. Nevins, American rabbi
• Mar 18 Peter Jones, British entrepreneur and businessman (Dragons' Den, American Inventor), born in Maidenhead, Berkshire
• Mar 22 Yahya Ayyash, militant
• Mar 22 Artis Pabriks, Latvian politician
• Apr 1 Chris Evans, English disc jockey
• Apr 14 André Boisclair, Quebec politician (Parti Québécois)
• Apr 20 David Chalmers, Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist, born in Sydney, Australia
• Apr 23 Jim Stynes [James], Hall of Fame Australian rules footballer (only foreigner to win Brownlow medal), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2012)
• Apr 26 Yoshihiro Togashi, Mangaka who created YuYu Hakusho
• May 2 Belinda Stronach, Canadian businesswoman and politician, born in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
• May 4 Jane McGrath, British-Australian co-founder of the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer, born in Paignton, Devon (d. 2008)
• May 13 Kamen Vodenicharov, Bulgarian entertainer
• May 13 Nikos Aliagas, Greek TV show host
• May 25 Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
• Jun 4 Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician
• Jun 13 Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician
• Jun 19 Joichi Ito, Japanese entrepreneur
• Jun 21 Rudi Bakhtiar, American journalist
• Jun 21 Mancow Muller, American radio personality
• Jun 21 Gretchen Carlson, American television commentator, born in Anoka, Minnesota
• Jun 22 Euan Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, English baron/multi-millionaire
• Jun 27 Giambattista Valli, Italian fashion designer, born in Rome, Italy
• Jul 7 Neil Tobin, American magician
• Jul 14 Brian Selznick, American author and illustrator
• Jul 17 Sten Tolgfors, Swedish politician
• Jul 20 Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012-), born in Atlacomulco, State of Mexico
• Jul 25 Christine C. Quinn, American Democratic Party politician and Speaker of the New York City Council, born in Glen Cove, New York
• Jul 29 Richard Steven Horvitz, American comic voiceactor
• Jul 31 Marina V A Mowatt, [Ogilvy], daughter of English princess Alexandra
• Aug 1 James St. James, American author and nightlife personality, born in Saginaw, Michigan
• Aug 7 Jimmy Wales, American internet entrepreneur and cofounder of Wikipedia, born in Huntsville, Alabama
• Aug 18 Gustavo Charif, Argentine artist
• Aug 19 Lilian Garcia, wrestling announcer
• Aug 25 Michael Cohen, American lawyer to Donald Trump, born in Long Island, New York
• Aug 27 Juhan Parts, Prime Minister of Estonia
• Aug 28 Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician, born in Mumbai, India
• Aug 31 Jan Einar Thorsen, Norwegian Alpine skier
• Sep 3 Vladimir Ryzhkov, Russian politician
• Sep 11 Princess Akishino, Japanese Imperial Family, born in Suruga-ku, Shizuoka, Japan
• Sep 19 Soledad O'Brien, American journalist (Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien), born in St. James, New York
• Sep 19 Eric Robert Rudolph, American criminal (domestic terrorist convicted with series of bombings), born in Merritt Island, Florida
• Sep 21 Ronna Reeves, Big Spring TX
• Sep 22 David Adjaye, Ghanaian British architect, born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Sep 24 Michael J. Varhola, American author
• Sep 27 Stephanie D Wilson, astronaut, born in Boston, Massachusetts
• Sep 28 Erno Das, lighting tech/gaffer (Spiegels, Lovely Liza)
• Sep 30 Kerry G. Johnson, African American graphic designer and caricaturist
• Oct 9 Christopher Östlund, Swedish publisher and entrepreneur, born in Uppsala, Sweden

• Oct 20 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader (d. 2006)
• Oct 20 Stefan Raab, German entertainer
• Oct 20 Patrick J. Volkerding, Founder and maintainer of the Slackware Linux distribution
• Oct 24 Roman Abramovich, Russian oil magnate
• Oct 27 Matt Drudge, American political commentator and blogger (Drudge Report), born in Takoma Park, Maryland
• Oct 28 Andy Richter, Yorkville IL, writer/sidekick (Conan O'Brien)
• Oct 28 Aris Spiliotopoulos, Greek politician
• Oct 31 Joseph Boyden, Canadian novelist (Three Day Road), born in Willowdale, North York, Ontario
• Nov 1 Jeremy Hunt, British politician and Foreign Secretary (2018-), born in London, England
• Nov 1 Willie D, American hip hop artist, famous for being a member of The Geto Boys
• Nov 3 Joe Hachem, Lebanese-born Australian poker player
• Nov 4 H. John Heinz IV, American medieval armor craftsman; son of Teresa Heinz
• Nov 16 Tricia Cast, Medford NY, actress (Amanda-Bad News Bear, Young & Restless)
• Nov 16 Tahir Shah, British travel writer and explorer
• Nov 18 Jorge Camacho, Spanish poet
• Nov 19 Rocco DiSpirito, American chef
• Nov 20 Jill Thompson, American comic book writer and artist
• Nov 24 Paul Robinett, American internet personality
• Nov 27 Edward Hall, British theatre director of Hampstead Theatre (Rose Rage), born in England
• Nov 30 Wil Mara, American author
• Dec 4 Suzanne Malveaux, American television news journalist, born in Lansing, Michigan
• Dec 9 Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician
• Dec 12 Royce Gracie, Brazilian martial artist, born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Dec 13 Ross Burden, New Zealand celebrity chef, born in Napier, New Zealand (d. 2014)
• Dec 17 Kristiina Ojuland, Estonian politician
• Dec 17 Christopher A. Wray, American lawyer, F.B.I. Director (2017-), born in NYC, New York
• Dec 20 Ed de Goey, Dutch soccer goalie (Feyenoord), born in Gouda, South Holland
• Dec 27 Fabian Núñez, American politician
• Dec 27 Wendy Coakley-Thompson, American writer

• Mar 10 Dutch Crown Princess Beatrix (Queen Beatrix) marries German aristocrat Claus von Amsberg in Amsterdam
• Jun 6 Socialite Claus von Bulow marries heiress Martha [Sunny]Sharp Crawford
• Jun 15 English writer of blockbuster novels, Jackie Collins weds 2nd husband Oscar Lerman
• Jul 6 American sci-fi writer "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" Philip K Dick marries 4th wife Nancy Hackett

Deaths 1 - 100 of 123

• Jan 1 Vincent Auriol, President of France (1947-53), dies at 82

• Jan 10 Hermann Kasack, German writer (Die Stadt hinter dem Strom), dies at 69
• Jan 11 Alberto Giacometti, Swiss-French painter and sculptor, dies at 64
• Jan 11 Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian politician, Prime Minister of India (1964-66), dies under suspicious circumstances at 61
• Jan 14 Sergei Korolev, Russian space station constructor, dies
• Jan 16 Margarete Susman, German-Jewish writer, dies at 91
• Jan 17 Vincent J Donehue, director (Lonelyhearts), dies of Hodgkin's at 50
• Jan 18 Kathleen Norris, US author, dies at 85
• Jan 24 Homi J. Bhabha, Indian physicist (b. 1909)
• Jan 29 Josef Winckler, German dentist/writer (Tolle Bomberg), dies at 84
• Feb 1 Hedda Hopper [Elda Furry], American gossip columnist, dies at 75
• Feb 1 Nicholas Piantanida, sets balloon flight record & dies in descent
• Feb 4 Gilbert H Grosvenor, president National Geographic Society, dies at 90
• Feb 10 Billy Rose [William Samuel Rosenberg], American theatrical producer (Diamond Horse Show), dies at 66
• Feb 13 Elio Vittorini, writer, dies
• Feb 15 Camillo Torres, Colombian priest/guerrilla fighter, dies
• Feb 15 Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect, dies at 56
• Feb 16 Hendrik Tilanus, Dutch artillery officer and political leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
• Feb 17 Hans Hofmann, German/US painter (Search for the Real), dies at 85
• Feb 18 Anne Anema, Dutch lawyer/journalist/politician (ARP), dies at 94
• Feb 18 Grigori Grigoyevich Nelyubov, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 31

• Feb 21 Paul Comtois, French Canadian politician, dies at 70
• Feb 22 Paul de Keyser, Flemish philologist and folklorist, dies at 74
• Feb 26 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian freedom fighter and writer (b. 1883)
• Feb 28 Charles A Bassett II, astronaut, dies at 34, in a crash of T-38 jet
• Feb 28 Elliot McKay See Jr., American engineer and NASA astronaut, dies at 38 in T-38 jet crash
• Mar 1 Fritz Houtermans, German physicist (b. 1903)
• Mar 5 Anna Achmatova, Ukrainian poet, dies at 76
• Mar 5 Enrique E Ecker, Curacaos/US bacteriologist, dies at 79
• Mar 10 Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist, invented phase-contrast microscope (Nobel 1953), dies at 77
• Mar 10 Mari Sandoz, American author (Cheyenne Autumn), dies at 64
• Mar 27 Mien Labberton, Dutch poet, dies at 82
• Mar 30 Erwin Piscator, German director (Plebeians test rebellion), dies at 72
• Mar 30 Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator, dies at 95
• Mar 30 Newbold Morris, American politician (b. 1902)
• Apr 1 Karl B Adam, German theologist (Jesus Christ), dies at 89
• Apr 2 C. S. Forester, English historical novelist (Horatio Hornblower), dies at 66
• Apr 3 Russel Crouse, US stagewriter (Life with Father), dies at 73
• Apr 3 Battista Farina, Italian automobile designer and founder of Pininfarina company, dies at 72
• Apr 5 Svend Fleuron, Danish writer, dies at 91
• Apr 8 George Creten, Belgian sculptor and painter, dies at 79
• Apr 9 Sutan Sjahrir, premier of Indonesia (1945-47), dies at 57
• Apr 10 Christian J Modeste, Dutch king of gypsies, dies at 71
• Apr 10 Evelyn Waugh, British writer (Black Mischief), dies at 62
• Apr 12 Sumokil, president of Republic South Moluccas, executed
• Apr 13 Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi politician and President of Iraq (1963-66), killed in a plane crash at 45
• Apr 13 Georges Duhamel, French writer (b. 1884)
• Apr 25 Maurice Roelants, Flemish novelist and poet (Komen en gaan, Prayer for a Good End), dies at 70
• May 3 Wylie Watson, dies at 77
• May 9 Wilhelmus Marinus Bekkers, Dutch Roman Catholic bishop of Hertogenbosch, dies at 58
• May 12 Felix Martin Julius Steiner, German Heer and Waffen-SS officer (b. 1896)
• May 13 Henk [Hendrik M] of Randwijk, poet/editor in chief (illegal), dies
• May 14 Georgia BD Camp Johnson, US poet/playwright, dies at 88
• May 14 Megan Lloyd George, English politician, dies at 64
• May 18 Paul Althaus, German theologist (That Christian Wahrheit), dies at 78
• May 19 Tortoise, reportedly given to Tonga's King by Captain James Cook in 1773, dies at around 193
• May 23 Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b. 1902)
• Jun 5 Natacha Rambova, costume designer, dies at 69
• Jun 7 Jean Arp [Hans Arp], French-Swiss sculptor, artist and poet, dies at 78
• Jun 8 Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (b. 1890)
• Jun 8 Joseph A. Walker, WWII and NASA test pilot (1st spaceplane flights to edge of outerspace), dies in an aircraft collison at 45
• Jun 20 Georges Lemaître, Belgian Catholic Priest, astronomer and physics professor, who initially proposed the universe expansion and big-bang theories, dies at 71
• Jun 27 Arthur D Waley, [Schloss], British sinology/poet (Monkey), dies
• Jul 1 Pauline Boty, English artist, dies of cancer at 29
• Jul 2 Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (The Beetle), dies at 67
• Jul 3 Kees Boeke, Dutch reformist educator (Cosmic View), dies at 81
• Jul 4 Dorothy Aldis, American children's writer, dies at 70
• Jul 5 George de Hevesy, Hungarian radiochemist (Nobel 1943), dies at 80
• Jul 6 Anne Nagel, dies of cancer at 50
• Jul 7 Carmelita Geraghty, dies of heart attack at 65
• Jul 11 Delmore Schwartz, US poet/critic (Shenandoah), dies at 52
• Jul 12 D T Suzuki, Zen Buddhism scholar, dies in Tokyo Japan at 96
• Jul 13 Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, dies at 82
• Jul 14 Julie Manet, French painter (b. 1878)
• Jul 21 Eugeen Calleen, Flemish sculptor, dies at 83
• Jul 25 Frank O'Hara, American writer and poet, dies after being hit by a car at 40
• Jul 31 Alex E von Falkenhausen, German general, dies at 87
• Aug 1 Charles Whitman, former marine, kills 16 at U of Texas, shot by cops
• Aug 6 Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, sci-fi author (Space Lords), dies at 53
• Aug 6 Cordwainer Smith, American writer (b. 1913)
• Aug 10 Felix Andries Vening Meinesz, Dutch geophysicist (black force), dies at 79
• Aug 10 Jacobus C Bloem, poet (Cinders), dies
• Aug 15 Gerhard/Gerhart Pohl, German writer (Battle of Kolbenau), dies at 64
• Aug 15 Gerhard Pohl, German writer (Crazy Ferdinand), dies at 64
• Aug 17 Michael Garrison, producer (Crowded Sky), dies after a fall at 43
• Aug 18 Isaac Keesing, Dutch publisher and founder (System Keesing), dies at 80
• Aug 18 Watze Cuperus, Frisian author (Struggle & Blessing), dies at 75
• Aug 29 Sayyid Qutb, Egyptian theoretician (b. 1906)
• Aug 31 Kasimir Edschmid, German writer, dies at 75
• Sep 6 Hendrik Verwoerd, South African Prime Minister (1958-66), assassinated at 64 by Dimitri Tsafendas

• Sep 9 Leon de Smet, Flemish painter, dies at 85
• Sep 10 Emil Gumbel, German mathematician and pacifist (b. 1891)
• Sep 11 Collett E. Woolman, American airline founder (Delta Air Service), dies at 76
• Sep 14 Hiram Wesley Evans, American member of the Ku Klux Klan, dies at 84
• Sep 21 Paul Reynaud, Premier of France (May-June 1940), dies at 87

• Sep 29 Maurits H E Uyldert, Dutch poet/writer (Motion), dies at 75

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