What else happened in 1964?

In the news…

*Jan. 8 – US Pres. Lyndon Johnson declares a “War on Poverty” in his first State of the Union address.*Jan. 18 – Plans to build the World Trade Center are announced.*Jan. 20 – The first Beatles album to be released in the US, Meet the Beatles, hits stores.*Jan. 23 – The 24th Amendment to the US Constitution, prohibiting poll taxes, is ratified.*Jan. 29 – The 1964 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruck, Austria.*Feb. 1 – The Beatles top the US pop charts for the first time with “I Want To Hold Your Hand.”*Feb. 2 – GI Joe makes its debut as a popular American toy.

*Feb. 7 – The Beatles land in New York City.*Feb. 9 – The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.*Mar. 6 – Cassius Clay changes his name to Muhammad Ali.*Mar. 9 – The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line.

*Mar. 13 – Kitty Genovese is stabbed to death outside her Queens apartment. 38 of her neighbors do not respond to her cries for help.*April 26 – The Rolling Stones release their eponymous debut album.*May 2 – 1,000 students march through Times Square and another 700 march in San Francisco in the first major demonstration against the Vietnam War. Smaller marches also occur in Boston, Seattle, and Madison, Wisconsin.*Jun. 12 – Nelson Mandela and seven others are sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa.*Jul. 2 – LBJ signs the 1964 Civil Rights Act into law.*Aug. 1 – The last Looney Tune, “Senorella and the Glass Huarache”, is released before Jack Warner shuts down the Warner Bros. Cartoon Division.*Aug. 7 – The US Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution giving LBJ broad war powers to attack North Vietnam.


*Oct. 1 – Three thousand student activists at UC, Berkeley surround and block a police car from taking a CORE volunteer arrested for not showing his ID when he violated a ban on outdoor activist card tables. The protest is the genesis of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement.*Oct. 10 – The 1964 Summer Olympics opens in Tokyo.*Oct. 14 – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.*Oct. 14 – Nikita Khrushchev is deposed as leader of the Soviet Union; Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin assume power.

*Oct. 31 – LBJ pledges the creation of the Great Society.*Nov. 3 – Lyndon B. Johnson defeats Republican challenger Barry Goldwater to gain his second term as US President.*Nov. 4 – Lenny Bruce was arrested at the Café au Go Go in New York on obscenity charges.


*Dec. 3 – Over 800 students are arrested at UC, Berkeley after their takeover and sit-in at the administration building, protesting the UC Regents’ decision to forbid Vietnam War protests on UC property.*Dec. 6 – “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” premieres on NBC.
Famous Births…

*Jan. 2 – Pernell Whitaker, great boxer.

*Jan. 7 – Nicolas Cage, cool actor. Check out Raising Arizona and Wild At Heart.*Jan. 17 – Andy Rourke, bassist for The Smiths.*Jan. 18 – Jane Horrocks, unbelievably talented actress and singer. She’s most famous for playing Bubble on Absolutely Fabulous, but if you haven’t seen her in Little Voice, do yourself a favor and go rent it now. She is truly amazing in that film.*Jan. 23 – Mariska Hargitay, really cool actress. She plays Det. Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU. She’s quite good in that and recently won an Emmy for it. She’s also Jayne Mansfield’s daughter.*Jan. 27 – Bridget Fonda, incredibly likable actress. I like Meg Ryan, but whenever I heard her name mentioned as ‘America’s Sweetheart’ back in the nineties, I always thought to myself, “No, it’s Bridget Fonda.” Check out Singles. You really fall in love with her character.*Feb. 5 – Laura Linney, very talented actress. Check out Love Actually.*Feb. 15 – Chris Farley, SNL alum and extremely funny guy.


*Feb. 18 – Matt Dillon, cool actor. He’s really been in a lot of good things over the years.*Mar. 7 – Wanda Sykes, extremely funny woman.

*Mar. 9 – Juliette Binoche, talented and beautiful actress. Check out The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Three Colors: Blue.*Mar. 17 – Rob Lowe, talented actor. I was really surprised by how good he was in that TV Movie of Stephen King’s The Stand.*Mar. 18 – Seymore Butts, great adult film director.*Mar. 23 – Hope Davis, really great actress. Check out American Splendor.*Mar. 30 – Tracy Chapman, cool folk singer.*Apr. 4 – David Cross, very funny guy.

*Apr. 7 – Russell Crowe, talented actor. Check out Gladiator and L.A. Confidential.*Apr. 13 – Caroline Rhea, talk show host and very funny woman. I think she is an incredibly sexy woman.*Apr. 20 – Andy Serkis, cool actor. He was Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies.*Apr. 20 – Crispin Glover, highly eccentric actor.*Apr. 25 – Hank Azaria, the voice of Apu, Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Comic Book Guy among many others.*Apr. 29 – Federico Castelluccio, cool actor. He was Furio on The Sopranos. Remember when it looked like he was going to push Tony into that helicopter rotor? That was awesome!*May 4 – Rocco Siffredi, great Italian porn star. *May 13 – Stephen Colbert, incredibly funny guy. The Colbert Report is hysterical.*May 26 – Lenny Kravitz, rock star.*May 28 – Christa Miller, very funny and attractive actress. She was great on The Drew Carey Show.*May 30 – Tom Morello, guitarist for Rage Against The Machine.*Jun. 15 – Courteney Cox, very funny actress. She was Monica on Friends. I miss Friends. She was really cool in Misfits of Science, too.*Jun. 23 – Joss Whedon, the creator of Firefly; the greatest television show in the history of television. Joss is God!*Jul. 3 – Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson.*Jul. 9 – Courtney Love, singer for Hole, widow of Kurt Cobain. I don’t care what anyone says. I really like Courtney Love.*Jul. 11 – Craig Charles, British sitcom star. He plays Dave Lister on Red Dwarf. I love vindaloo.

*Jul. 22 – John Leguizamo, very talented actor and extremely funny guy.*Aug. 5 – Adam Yauch, MCA from the Beastie Boys.*Sep. 2 – Keanu Reeves, cool enough actor. He’s really good in Bill & Ted, The Matrix, River’s Edge, Parenthood, and My Own Private Idaho. But, he should never again try to act in dialect. He was terribly out of place in Dangerous Liasons and he ruined Coppola’s Dracula.*Sep. 16 – Molly Shannon, SNL alum and incredibly funny and sexy lady. As a matter of fact, she may very well be my favorite performer in SNL history.*Sep. 28 – Janeane Garofalo, smart, funny, sexy, adorable comedian, actress, and radio talk show host. I love this woman. She is one of the voices of my generation.*Oct. 7 – Dan Savage, great sex columnist.*Nov. 7 – Dana Plato, Kimberly on Diff’rent Strokes and poster child for child stars gone wrong. I know some folks have made fun of her, but I always liked her. That Playboy shoot was really hot.*Nov. 11 – Calista Flockhart, very cool actress. I really liked Ally McBeal.*Nov. 14 – Patrick Warburton, very cool actor. He was Puddy on Seinfeld and he was The Tick. He’s also the voice of Joe on Family Guy.*Nov. 29 – Don Cheadle, amazingly talented actor.*Dec. 4 – Marisa Tomei, really hot actress. She is way hotter than people give her credit for.*Dec. 23 – Eddie Vedder, singer for Pearl Jam.
Famous Deaths…

*Jan. 17 – T.H. White, author of The Once and Future King. I read that book in high school and loved it. It is still one of my favorites.*Jan. 29 – Alan Ladd, classic film actor. He was Shane.*Feb. 12 – Gerald Gardner, one of the founders of modern Wicca.*Mar. 23 – Peter Lorre, legendary Hungarian movie star. He was brilliant in M & The Maltese Falcon.

*Apr. 5 – Douglas MacArthur, great American general.*Apr. 14 – Rachel Carson, author of Silent Spring.*Apr. 18 – Ben Hecht, great screenwriter.*Aug. 3 – Flannery O’Connor, great American novelist.*Aug. 12 – Ian Fleming, great author of spy novels and creator of James Bond.*Aug. 27 – Gracie Allen, incredibly funny comedian. She teamed up on stage for years with her husband, George Burns.*Sep. 28 – Harpo Marx, brilliant comedian. He was one of the Marx Brothers.

*Oct. 10 – Eddie Cantor, popular entertainer.

*Oct. 15 – Cole Porter, great American composer.*Oct. 20 – Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States.*Dec. 11 – Sam Cooke, magnificent soul vocalist.
In the world of television…

Shows premiering in 1964

The Addams Family (Leo’s pick for Best New Show of 1964)

Bewitched

Daniel Boone

Gilligan’s Island

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Jeopardy!Jonny QuestThe Magilla Gorilla Show

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.The Munsters

Peyton PlaceShindig!Top of the Pops
Shows ending in 1964

77 Sunset StripMake Room for DaddyRoute 66The Twilight Zone
Most Watched Shows of 1964-65 Season

10. Combat9. Peyton Place8. The Lucy Show7. The Dick Van Dyke Show6. The Red Skelton Hour5. The Fugitive4. The Andy Griffith Show3. Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.2. Bewitched1. Bonanza
In the world of books…

Great Books published in 1964

Herzog – Saul BellowCharlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald DahlYou Only Live Twice – Ian FlemingWhy We Can’t Wait – Martin Luther King, Jr.At the Mountains of Madness and Other Novels – H. P. LovecraftUnderstanding Media: The Extensions of Man – Marshall McLuhanLast Exit to Brooklyn – Hubert Selby, Jr.Julian – Gore Vidal (This book is about one of my personal heroes, the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus.)
In the world of comics…

Marvel Comics publishes Sgt. Fury #5 in January, featuring the first appearance of Baron Strucker, a primary enemy of Nick Fury.Marvel Comics publishes X-Men #3 in January, featuring the first appearance of the Blob, an important nemesis of the X-Men.Marvel Comics publishes Amazing Spider-Man #9 in February, featuring the first appearance of Electro, a prominent Spider-Man foe.Marvel Comics publishes Tales of Suspense #50 in February, featuring the first appearance of the Mandarin, the arch-enemy of Iron Man.Marvel Comics publishes Avengers #4 in March, featuring the Silver Age return of Captain America.Marvel Comics publishes X-Men #4 in March, featuring the first appearances of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch.Marvel Comics publishes Daredevil #1 in April, featuring the first appearance of Daredevil.Marvel Comics publishes Tales of Suspense #52 in April, featuring the first appearance of the Black Widow.DC Comics publishes Detective Comics #327 in May, featuring the debut of the “New Look” Batman.DC Comics publishes The Brave and the Bold #54 in July, featuring the first appearance of the Teen Titans.Marvel Comics publishes Amazing Spider-Man #14 in July, featuring the first appearance of the Green Goblin, Spider-Man’s arch-enemy.Marvel Comics publishes Avengers #8 in September, featuring the first appearance of Kang the Conqueror, a major enemy of the Avengers.Marvel Comics publishes Tales of Suspense #57 in September, featuring the first appearance of Hawkeye.DC Comics publishes Hawkman #4 in November, featuring the first appearance of Zatanna.Marvel Comics publishes Strange Tales #126 in November, featuring the first appearance of Dormammu, a major nemesis of Doctor Strange.Marvel Comics publishes Tales to Astonish #62 in December, featuring the first appearance of the Leader, a major enemy of the Hulk.
In the world of sports…

*World Series – The St. Louis Cardinals win 4 games to 3 over the New York Yankees.*NBA Finals – The Boston Celtics win 4 games to 1 over the San Francisco Warriors.*Boxing – On Feb. 25th in Charlotte, North Carolina, Cassius Clay defeats Sonny Liston by TKO in the 8th round to win the World Heavyweight Championship.

*NFL Championship – The Cleveland Browns win 27-0 over the Baltimore Colts.*AFL Championship – The Buffalo Bills win 11-7 over the San Diego Chargers.*College Football champions – The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Arkansas Razorbacks (shared).*Stanley Cup – The Toronto Maple Leafs win 4 games to 3 over the Detroit Red Wings.*Summer Olympics – The US wins the most medals (90) and the most gold medals (36).

*Winter Olympics – The USSR wins the most medals (25) and the most gold medals (11).


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