THE YEAR 1964

Cost of Living

Yearly Inflation Rate ― 1.28%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average ― 874
Average Cost of new house ― $13,050
Average Income per year ― $6,000
Gas per Gallon ― 30 cents
Average Cost of a new car ― $3,500
Loaf of bread ― 21 cents
United States Postage Stamp ― 5 cents
Average Monthly Rent ― $115
Ticket to the movies ― $1.25


1964 ― As the war in Vietnam and US Congress Authorizes war against N Vietnam more American servicemen were dying, and after three civil rights workers were murdered in Mississippi the president signed the Civil Rights act of 1964 but this did not stop the violence as it continued to increase in many American Cities. Lyndon Johnson was also returned to power after a landslide victory. This was also the year The Beatles took the world and America by storm and Beatlemania went into overdrive as they released a series of number one hits including "I want to hold your hand" , "All my Loving" . Other British groups also found success including The Rolling Stones and The Animals and together with the American Talent of The Supremes and Bob Dylan many say this was one of the greatest years for music in the last century. Also one young loud talented boxer by the name of Cassius Clay won the Boxing World heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston.


Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the US Destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin

1. Leading up to 1960 check out earlier Vietnam War History Check Out 1960
2. 1961 May Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visited Saigon and declared Ngo Dinh Diem the "Winston Churchill of Asia. Johnson assured Diem of more aid in molding a fighting force that could resist the communists.
3. 1963 January 3rd Vietcong units defeat South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) in Battle of Ap Bac
4. 1963 November 2nd Coup d'état in South Vietnam and Ngo Dinh Diem is assassinated Major General Duong Van Minh takes control of South Vietnam
5. 1964 January 30th In a bloodless coup, General Nguyen Khanh seizes power in Saigon. South Vietnam
6. August 2nd to 4th Sea battle between the North Vietnamese Navy's Torpedo Squadron and the destroyer USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy
7. August 10th Tonkin Gulf Resolution (officially, Asia Resolution, Public Law 88-408) passed by United States Congress
8. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution gave U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson authorization, without a formal declaration of war by Congress, for the use of conventional military force in Southeast Asia
By the following year over 200,000 US Troops are involved in the Vietnam war and sustained American bombing raids of North Vietnam, dubbed Operation Rolling Thunder, begin lasting for the next 3 years.


The Boston Strangler (Albert DeSalvo) is captured

1. 1962 First Victim Anna E. Slesers is found strangled with the cord from her Bathrobe
2. 1962 Seven more victims are murdered Mary Mullen, 85, Nina Nichols, 68, Helen Blake, 65, Ida Irga, 75, Jane Sullivan, 67, Sophie Clark, 20 and Patricia Bissette, 23
3. 1963 Four more victims are murdered Mary Brown, 69, Beverly Samans, 23, Evelyn Corbin, 58 and Joann Graff, 23
4. 1964 January 4th The final victim Mary Sullivan, 19 is found
5. 1964 October 27th Albert DeSalvo is arrested and later confesses to being the Boston Strangler
6. 1967 Albert DeSalvo is found guilty and sentenced to Life Imprisonment
7. 1973 is found stabbed to death at Massachusetts Correctional Institution formerly known as MCI-Walpole
Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders (sometimes known as the silk stocking murders) were not committed by one person because the victims from different age and ethnic groups, and that there were different modi operandi. 


Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy concludes Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone

1. President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed on November 22nd, 1963 while visiting Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald.
2. On November 29th, 1963, only a week after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson creates the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
3. Chief Justice Earl Warren is appointed to head the commission and they were tasked with investigating the death of President Kennedy.
4. The Warren Commission, as it was called, spent nearly a whole year traveling to Dallas, listening to witnesses, examining government reports and looking into the alleged shooter's background.
5. On September 24th, the report was presented to President Johnson and then on September 27th, 1964 it was released to the public.
6. The report concluded that the gunman Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone with an unknown motive in assassinating President Kennedy and the Jack Ruby had acted alone in his murder of the suspect Oswald.
7. It was also reported that the Secret Service had not made adequate preparations for the president's Dallas visit.
8. The results proved to be somewhat controversial as there was some conflicting evidence and many people believed in different conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination such as there were multiple shooters involved or that foreign governments arranged the assassination.


The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law by President Johnson ― President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law on July 2nd, . The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their race, religion, sex, national origin, or the colors of their skin. It also made segregation in public places illegal, enforced the desegregation of schools and addressed unfair and unequal access to voting and voter registration.

The law was considered one of the crowning achievements during the civil rights movement and ended the Jim Crow laws that had legalized segregation in the United States since the end of slavery and the Civil War. While it did not solved the country's racial issues or end prejudice, it was the first step in creating a more fair and equal society.


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr receives the Nobel Peace Prize ― On October 14th, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The prize was awarded to him for his efforts in leading the non-violent resistance against racial prejudice and segregation in the United States. King was only 35 years old when he received the prestigious prize, making him the youngest recipient at the time. King was awarded $54,123 of prize money, of which he donated to his cause in furthering the Civil Rights Movement.

Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton for the first time ― Having first met while filming the movie Cleopatra in 1961, actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor make their much publicized relationship official on March 15th when they are married in Montreal. The two had both been married when they first started their relationship, a scandalizing event that garnered attention from the Vatican, which condemned them. The Burton-Taylor affair and marriage had the public fascinated and marked the beginning of the public's enthrallment with celebrity relationships. The pair were married until their divorce in June of 1974. They remarried each other in 1975 but divorced for a second time in less than a year.


The Mariner 4 spacecraft is launched by NASA.More Information and Timeline for Mariner 4 ― The Mariner 4 spacecraft is launched on November 28th with the mission of photographing and studying the atmosphere of Mars. The Mariner 4 spacecraft reached Mars in July of 1965 and was the first successful mission to reach the red planet as well as the first to provide images of another planet from deep space. There were a total of twenty-one black and white photos that Mariner 4 relayed back to Earth. The spacecraft stopped communicating with NASA in October of 1965 when its antenna was no longer pointing in the correct position. The Mariner 4 space probe resumed communications in 1967 but was deactivated at the end of that year.


Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States Supreme Court Case decided ― The United States Supreme Court made its decision on the Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States court case on December 14th, The motel had been refusing to allow African-American patrons to stay there and was subsequently charged with violating Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title II of the Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination illegal in places that offered public accommodation if it affected commerce. The court upheld the Title II Commerce Clause as constitutional and declared that places of public accommodation did not have a right to pick and choose guests as they pleased without regulation because of the involvement in commerce. 

More News and Key Events

• Students storm the administration building and stage sit in at the University of California 800 are arrested.
• The first Beatles US Album Release "Introducing the Beatles," is released on January 10th in the US by Vee-Jay Records
• Malta gains independence from the UK
• Cassius Clay Beats Sonny Liston on February 25th for World Heavyweight championship
• Work Begins on The Aswan Dam by diverting the Nile to a manmade canal.
• The British and French Governments announce commitment to build a tunnel under the English Channel
• The Queen opens the Forth Road Suspension Bridge connecting Edinburgh to Fife
• President Lyndon Johnson declares a War On Poverty Campaign.
• The first Ford Mustang from Ford Motor Company is made.
• Verrazano Narrows Bridge is opened joining Staten Island and Brooklyn
• The 24th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is Ratified which removed the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax. Available as a downloadable image on our Public Domain Images Page
• The abolition of the death penalty in UK
• Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
• The most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2, strikes South Central Alaska
• Race Riots in Harlem New York, Elizabeth, NJ, Paterson, NJ, Jersey City, NJ, Rochester, New York, Dixmoor, Chicago, Ill, Philadelphia,
• The Poll Tax becomes illegal in all US states as it been used as a blunt tool for barring poverty-stricken African-Americans and whites from participating in the electoral process.
• The so called BRAIN DRAIN of UK Scientists from UK to USA
• Easter and Whitsun outbreak of Mods and Rockers on 18th May Fights and disturbances on British Seaside Resorts
• Nelson Mandela and seven others are sentenced on June 12th to life imprisonment in South Africa
• South Africa are barred from the Olympic Games in Tokyo due to their Apartheid Policies
• The PLO Palestinian Liberation Organization, is established. Ahmad Shukeiri is the first leader with Yasser Arafat as one of the founding members.
• Three civil rights field workers disappear after investigating the burning of an African American church by the Ku Klux Klan.
• James Hoffa is found guilty and sentenced to eight years on bribery charges
• World's Fair held in New York
• U.S. Surgeon General reports that smoking may lead to lung cancer
• Star Of India sapphire stolen from American Museum of Natural History in New York
• Civil War breaks out in Cyprus between Greeks and Turks
• Tanzania Gains Independence From Great Britain and combines the former Tanganika and the Island of Zanzibar
• Malawi Gains Independence From Great Britain
• Malta Gains Independence From Great Britain
• A riot during a soccer match between Peru and Argentina ends with the loss of 300 fans dead.
• Great Train Robbers get 30 years each
• A military coup d'etat in Brazil led by Gen. Humberto Castello Branco
• Jack Ruby is convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President Kennedy
• The Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, Japan
• The Winter Olympic Games are held in Innsbruck, Austria

Sports

NFL ― Cleveland Browns

AFL ― Buffalo Bills

NCAA Football ― University of Texas

MLB ― St. Louis Cardinals

NBA ― Boston Celtics

NCAA Basketball ― UCLA

NHL ― Toronto Maple Leafs

NCAA Hockey ― University of Michigan

Golf
Masters ― Arnold Palmer
U.S. Open – Ken Venturi

British Open – Tony Lema
PGA ― Bobby Nichols
U.S. Women's Open ― Micky Wright

Popular Culture

• Sidney Poitier becomes the first black actor to win the "best actor" Oscar
• "Hello Dolly," "Funny Girl," and "Fiddler on the Roof" premier on Broadway in New York.
• The Rolling Stones release debut album, "The Rolling Stones"
• The Beatles make their first appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show.
• The Beatles have 13 singles Billboard's Hot 100 at the same time
• The first pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, is established
• The Beatles hold the top five positions in the Billboard Top 40 singles in America
• Bob Dylan releases "The Times They Are a-Changin" many consider a 1960s classic as it captured the changes hapening in society
• BBC2 starts broadcasting in the UK.
• Pablo Picasso painted his fourth Head of a Bearded Man
• The Sun Newspaper is first published in the United Kingdom
• Hasbro launch G.I. Joe an action figure for boys to join the Barbie Doll For Girls.
• Buffalo Wings ( deep fried chicken wings coated with hot sauce ) are made at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is published written by Roald Dahl
• Top of the Pops premieres on BBC television.
• Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton for the first time

Popular Films

• The Carpetbaggers
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown
• My Fair Lady
• Mary Poppins

Popular Musicians

• The Beatles
• Roy Orbison
• Ella Fitzgerald
• Simon and Garfunkel

Born This Year

• Teri Hatcher ― December 8th 
• Keanu Reeves ― September 2nd 
• Russell Crowe ― April 7th
• Lenny Kravitz ― May 26th 

Technology

• BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), an easy to learn high level programming language is introduced.
• IBM announces the System/360.
• The worlds first high speed rail network opens in Japan
• First Ford Mustang is manufactured
• Sony introduces the first VCR Home Video Recorder History of Video Recorders
• The first driver less train runs on London Underground
• China explodes its first Nuclear bomb

Inventions

• Computer Mouse by Douglas Engelbart 
• Bubble Wrap by Marc A Chavannes

From thepeoplehistory