Major Events
- Jan 11 First government report by US Surgeon General Luther Terry warning that smoking may be hazardous
- Jun 1 Kenya becomes a republic with Jomo Kenyatta as its 1st President
- Jun 12 Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison in South Africa
- Jun 29 Civil Rights Act of 1964 passes after an 83-day filibuster in the US Senate
- Jul 2 US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act into law
- Dec 10 Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo, Norway
- More 1964 Events
1964 in Film & TV
- Jan 29 "Dr Strangelove", directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, premieres
- Feb 9 1st appearance of the Beatles on "The Ed Sullivan Show", live from New York; broadcast draws 73.7 million television viewers
- Apr 13 36th Academy Awards: "Tom Jones" (Best Film), Patricia Neal (Hud) and Sidney Poitier (Lilies Of The Field) win; Poitier first Black actor in a leading role to win a competitive Oscar
- Apr 25 11th National Film Awards (India): "Shehar Aur Sapna" wins the Golden Lotus
- Jun 29 NBC approves Gene Roddenberry's script for pilot episode of "Star Trek" titled "The Cage"
- Aug 27 Walt Disney's musical film "Mary Poppins" directed by Robert Stevenson, starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, with songs by Richard and Robert Sherman, premieres at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, California; wins 5 Academy Awards
- Oct 21 Film version of "My Fair Lady" directed by George Cukor, and starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, premieres in New York (Academy Awards Best Picture 1965)
- Oct 31 Barbra Streisand's "People" album goes #1 for 5 weeks
1964 in Music
- Sep 17 The Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 by baseball team owner Charles Finley for a concert at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on a scheduled day off; the group adds the song "Kansas City"/"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" to their standard setlist, much to the delight of the crowd
- Dec 9 John Coltrane's Quartet records their greatest work "A Love Supreme" at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
1964 in Sport
- Mar 6 Boxing legend Cassius Clay joins the Nation of Islam and changes his name to "Muhammad Ali", calling his former title a "slave name"
- Jul 14 51st Tour de France: Jacques Anquetil of France wins 4th consecutive Tour and is first to claim 5 titles
- Aug 12 Mickey Mantle switch-hits HR record 10th & final time in a game with one going up 502 feet
- Sep 17 The Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 by baseball team owner Charles Finley for a concert at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on a scheduled day off; the group adds the song "Kansas City"/"Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey" to their standard setlist, much to the delight of the crowd
- Oct 25 Dutchman Anton Geesink is 1st non-Japanese Olympic judo gold medal winner
- Nov 15 Mickey Wright shoots a 62, lowest golf score for a woman pro at the Tall City Open, Midland, Texas
Did You Know?
The Great Alaska Earthquake (9.2 magnitude) and resulting tsunami kill 139 people in the largest US earthquake and second largest ever recorded
Jeff Bezos
Scott Kelly
Prince Edward
Boris Johnson
Jack Ma
Kamala Harris
Nicolas Cage
Elle MacPherson
Hank Azaria
Sandra Bullock
Keanu Reeves
Robin Givens
Tracy Chapman
Lenny Kravitz
Courtney Love
Adam Yauch
Eddie Vedder
Bonnie Blair
José Canseco
Barry Bonds
Brett Hull
Mats Wilander
Dwight GoodenMore People Born in 1964
Fun Fact About 1964
Prometheus, the world's oldest tree aged at least 4,862 years old, is accidentally cut down in Nevada, USA
Emilio Aguinaldo
Brendan Behan
Douglas MacArthur
Jawaharlal Nehru
Leó Szilárd
Herbert Hoover
Cole Porter
Sam CookeMore 1964 Deaths
Articles About 1964
The Beatles on Ed Sullivan
The Beatles with TV host Ed Sullivan during their first appearance on his show in February 1964February 9
Nelson Mandela Begins 27 Years in Jail
Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment on this day and sent to Robben Island, seven miles off Cape Town. It caused international outrage.June 12
Windmill Girls Get Dressed And Leave Town
Undressed but unmoving, the Windmill Girls were a big hit at a London theatre that used the slogan, ‘We never closed.’ But on this day it did.October 31
Famous Weddings in 1964
- Jan 25 Comedian and actor Bill Cosby marries Camille Olivia Hanks
- Jan 25 MLB outfielder Pete Rose (22) weds first wife Karolyn Englehardt
- Feb 19 Actor Peter Sellers (38) weds actress Britt Ekland in London, England
Famous Divorces in 1964
- Feb 10 Billy Rose and Joyce Mathews divorce again
- Mar 6 English-American actress Elizabeth Taylor's 4th divorce from American entertainer Eddie Fisher, after nearly 5 years of marriage
- Jul 28 Broadway musical actress-singer Ethel Merman (56) divorces Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine (47) after 32 days of marriage
More 1964 Weddings
Barbra Streisand
Julie Andrews
Rex Harrison
Lyndon B. Johnson
Mao Zedong
Nikita Khrushchev