Contemporary
Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show (1964): Beatlemania in America
An estimated 73 million viewers watched, a record for American television at the time, and the broadcast launched Beatlemania and the British Invasion in the United States.
Era · 1945 – present
Contemporary
From the Cold War and the Space Race to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the world we live in today.
Contemporary
Civil Rights Act of 1964: The Law That Outlawed Segregation
The act outlawed segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in employment and federally funded programmes, ending legal Jim Crow in public life.
Contemporary
Cosmic Microwave Background Discovery (1964): Big Bang Echo
The detection of the cosmic microwave background gave strong evidence for the Big Bang theory and earned Penzias and Wilson the 1978 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Contemporary
1964 Alaska Earthquake: The Great Good Friday Quake and Tsunami
About 130 deaths, most of them caused by tsunamis; the earthquake became a key case in confirming plate tectonics and improving tsunami warnings.
Contemporary
Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-1968): Bombing North Vietnam
More than three and a half years of bombing damaged North Vietnam heavily but failed to break its will or stop the flow of men and supplies to the South.
Contemporary
Battle of Ia Drang (1965): First Major US Battle in Vietnam
US forces held LZ X-Ray but a battalion was ambushed at LZ Albany; both sides claimed success and drew lessons that shaped the war of attrition.
Contemporary
Singapore Independence 1965: Separation from Malaysia
Singapore left the Federation of Malaysia and became a sovereign republic, joining the United Nations in September 1965.
Contemporary
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965: Kashmir and the Tashkent Agreement
A UN-demanded ceasefire on 23 September 1965 ended the fighting in a military stalemate; the Tashkent Declaration of January 1966 restored pre-war positions.
Contemporary
Indonesian Mass Killings 1965-1966: The Anti-Communist Purge
An estimated 500,000 to 1 million people were killed, the Communist Party of Indonesia was destroyed and Suharto replaced Sukarno, establishing the New Order.
Contemporary
Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence 1965 Explained
Rhodesia's unrecognised white-minority state survived 14 years of sanctions and war before the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement led to Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
Contemporary
Delano Grape Strike (1965-1970): Cesar Chavez and Farm Workers
After five years of strikes and a national consumer boycott, California table grape growers signed the first major union contracts with farm workers in July 1970.
Contemporary
Watts Riots (1965): Six Days of Unrest in Los Angeles
Six days of rioting left 34 people dead and about 1,000 injured; the McCone Commission blamed unemployment, poor schools and police relations but was criticised for understating grievances.