What Happened in 1965 Important News and Events, Key Technology and Popular Culture

What happened in 1965 Major News Stories include Mary Quant designed Northeast blackout including Parts of Canada and U.S. North East, Mini Skirt appears in London, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery, The Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote becomes law, Operation Rolling Thunder Launched In Vietnam, St. Louis, Gateway Arch is completed, Race Riots Break Out In Watts, California

 

Cost of Living 1965

How Much things cost in 1965
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.59% 
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 5.0% 
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 969 
Average Cost of new house $13,600.00 
Average Income per year $6,450.00 
Gas per Gallon 31 cents 
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00 
Loaf of bread 21 cents 
Average Rent per month $118,00 
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling 
Average House Price 3,660 
Gallon of Petrol 5 shillings or 26 new pence 
E-type Jaguar 1867 

 

1965

Watts Riots

• Race Riots Break Out In Watts, California leaving large parts of the city burnt and looted and 34 dead. 

Northeast blackout including Parts of Canada and U.S. North East

• Several U.S. states (VT, NH, MA, CT, RI, NY and portions of NJ) and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 1/2 hours. 30 million people

The Gateway Arch

• In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed ( The St Louis Arch ).

More Information for the completion of the Gateway Arch. 
The Gateway Arch, located in St. Louis, Missouri, was completed during October when the final top section of the monument was put in place. The Gateway Arch was created as a landmark to memorialize the symbolic gateway between the Eastern United States and the West. It was designed by Eero Saarinen who won a design competition for the arch in 1947 and it took four years of construction to complete. The monument is 630 foot tall, 630 foot wide and made with stainless steel.

 

1965 Voting Rights Act

• The Voting Rights Act, guaranteeing African Americans the right to vote becomes law

 

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Gemini Space

• The Gemini Space Program continues into 1965 and lay the groundwork for an eventual manned mission to the moon.

 

Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

• The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak on April 13th : An estimated fifty-one tornadoes (forty-seven confirmed) hit in six Midwestern states killing anywhere from 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.

 

"Days of Our Lives" debuts

• The popular soap opera "Days of Our Lives" debuts.

The popular daytime soap opera "Days of Our Lives" debuted on NBC during the month of November . Known for its complicated and shocking plot lines, the drama chronicled the fictional trials and tribulations of modern American families. During the 1970's, the show was recognized for tackling controversial and important subjects of the time like interracial relationships and fertility issues. Airing nearly every weekday, "Days of Our Lives" has currently shown over 12,000 episodes and continues to remain popular. 

 

"Doctor Zhivago"

• The popular film "Doctor Zhivago" premieres. The epic film "Doctor Zhivago" premieres in New York during December . The film starred Omar Sharif as the title character and Julie Christie as "Lara." The story, based on a 1957 novel by Boris Pasternak, followed two lovers who were torn apart during the Russian Revolution. The film has been consistently ranked as one of the best movies ever created by critics but was banned in the USSR. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards and won five of them including Best Music, Best Cinematography, and Best Screenplay. 

 

Ranger 8 Moon Mission

• Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program.

More Information for the Ranger 8 Moon Mission. 
The Ranger 8 moon mission launches from Cape Canaveral on February 17th . The purpose of the mission was to crash the Ranger 8 spacecraft into the surface of the moon as it took high resolution photos of the surface, in an effort to determine possible landing sites for future manned missions under the Apollo program. It was successful in its mission and Ranger 8 crashed into the surface on February 20th . There were a total of nine Ranger missions that began in 1959 and lasted until 1965, and the end goal of the collective program was to obtain high resolution photos of the moon's surface. The Ranger 7 mission achieved this goal but the Ranger 8 mission expanded upon it, with over 7,000 images taken of the surface before impact. 

 

Ikeya-Seki Comet

• The Ikeya-Seki comet is discovered by two Japanese astronomers during September.

More Information for Ikeya-Seki Comet. 
The Ikeya-Seki comet was discovered during September by Japanese astronomers Ikeya Kaoru and Seki Tsutomu. The extremely bright comet was visible to the naked eye in the daylight during the next month as it made its closest approach to the Sun. The Ikeya-Seki comet was important in that it provided a unique opportunity for scientists to observe that type of comet for the first time using modern scientific instruments. The last time that a comet of this type had been spotted prior to the Ikeya-Seki comet was in 1882. 

 

Civil rights march in Alabama

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery.

More Information for the Selma/Montgomery March. 
In March Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. organized a peaceful demonstration for African-American civil rights and voting rights by marching from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. The first two attempts at crossing the Pettus bridge were halted by state troopers, but on the third march the protesters were backed by the U.S. Army and National Guardsmen and allowed to pass through. King led about three-thousand people on the journey to the capitol and when they arrived in Montgomery they were met by about 30,000 more people who wished to join the demonstration. By August , President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, guaranteeing African-Americans the right to vote.

 

Anti-Vietnam Teach-In

• University of California Berkeley hosts the largest anti-Vietnam teach-in during May.

More Information for the Anti-Vietnam Teach-In. 
During May the largest anti-Vietnam teach-in took place at the University of California Berkeley. Tens of thousands of people attended the event which lasted for a day and a half and was held at a playing field at the university. The teach-in was organized by the Vietnam Day Committee and featured several notable speakers and attendees, including Norman Mailer, Norman Thomas, Dr. Benjamin Spock, and I.F. Stone. The organizers had also invited a representative of the U.S. State Department to speak in defense of President Johnson and the Vietnam war, but they declined the invitation. 

 

1965 Mens and Womens Fashion Clothes

Part of our Collection of Clothing From 1965
Part of our Collection of Fashion Accessories From 1965

Calenda

• Racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, and later wins the Formula One world driving championship in the same year.

 

U.S. - Troop Increase South Vietnam

• Lyndon B. Johnson announces increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000

U.S. -- Medicare

• Lyndon B. Johnson announces his program to create Medicare and to expand his war on poverty

 

U.S. - Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak

• The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak on April 13th : An estimated fifty-one tornadoes (forty-seven confirmed) hit in six Midwestern states killing anywhere from 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.

 

UK - 70 mph speed limit

• 70 mph speed limit imposed on British roads

 

U.S. - Higher Education Act of 1965

• Higher Education Act of 1965 is signed into law providing low-interest loans for students in higher education.

 

Civil War in Dominican Republic

• US Citizens Evacuated due to Civil War in Dominican Republic

 

Indonesia

• Following attempted coup by communists in Indonesia lead to the murder of over half million people and a transition to the new order led by Major General Suharto.

 

Vietnam - Operation Rolling Thunder

• Operation Rolling Thunder Launched In Vietnam on June 15th

 

U.S. - Warren Buffet

• Warren Buffet Gains controlling interest in Berkshire-Hathaway 1965 ( $18.00 per share ) in 2008 ( $150,000 per share )

 

U.S. - Civil Rights

• Troopers violently confront civil rights marchers in Alabama

 

Cuba - US Airlift

• US begins airlift of Cubans wishing to leave Cuba and live in America

Popular Culture 1965

• The Mary Quant designed Mini Skirt appears in London and will be the fashion statement of the Sixties
• One of most popular films "Sound of Music" released
• The Beatles Release The Movie and Album Help!
• The Beatles Play Live Concert Shea Stadium
• The Grateful Dead with Lead guitarist Jerry Garcia play their first concert, in San Francisco

Popular Films

• Mary Poppins
• The Sound of Music
• Goldfinger
• My Fair Lady
• What's New Pussycat?
• Cat Ballou

Books Released

• Dune
• The Man with the Golden Gun
• Hotel

Popular Musicians

• The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones
• Freddie and the Dreamers
• The Animals
• The Kinks
• The Searchers
• The Seekers
• Moody Blues
• Donovan
• Cilla Black
• Dusty Springfield
• Tom Jones

 

Born This Year

Ty Pennington October 19th
Ben Stiller November 30th
Sarah Jessica Parker March 25th
J K Rowling July 31st

 

Technology

• Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program

• Ranger 9 sends back live TV broadcast when it crashes on to the moon

• Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space

• Major Edward H. White II becomes the second human to walk in space during the flight of Gemini 4

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Space Walk Russia Aleksei Leonov - first person outside space vehicle 
Optical Disk USA by James Russell - now Compact Disk 
Hypertext USA by Ted Nelson - concept for linking, later developed for use in webpages on the Internet  
Respirator ( replacement for the Iron Lung ) USA 

 

Major World Political Leaders

Australia -- Prime Minister -- Sir Robert Menzies -- 
Brazil -- President -- Castelo Branco -- 
Canada -- Prime Minister -- Lester B. Pearson -- 
China -- Chairman of the People's Republic of China -- Liu Shaoqi -- 
France -- President -- Charles de Gaulle -- 
Germany -- Chancellor -- Ludwig Erhard -- 
India -- Prime Minister -- Lal Bahadur Shastri -- 
Italy -- Prime Minister -- Aldo Moro -- 
Japan -- Prime Minister -- Eisaku Sato -- 
Mexico -- President -- Gustavo Diaz Ordaz -- 
Russia / Soviet Union -- First Secretary of the CPSU -- Leonid Brezhnev -- 
South Africa -- Prime Minister -- Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd -- 
United States -- President -- Lyndon B. Johnson -- 
United Kingdom -- Prime Minister -- Harold Wilson --