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.

Cost of Living 1964

How Much things cost in 1964
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.28%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.5%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 874 Average Cost of new house $13,050.00 Average Income per year $6,000.00 Gas per Gallon 30 cents Average Cost of a new car $3,500.00 Loaf of bread 21 cents United States Postage Stamp 5 cents Average Monthly Rent $115.00 Ticket to the movies $1.25
Below are some Prices for UK guides in Pounds Sterling
Average House Price 3,360
From Our 1964 Page Part of our 1960s Toys Selection of 250 Sixties Toys
Price: From $1.88
Magilla Gorilla and his TV pals From The 1960s



What Events Happened in 1964

Vietnam War
  • Three North Vietnamese torpedo boats attack the US Destroyer Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin US Congress Authorizes war against N Vietnam Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
More Information and Timeline For History Of Vietnam War From 1960 to 1964
1. Leading up to 1960 check out earlier Vietnam War History Check Out Vietnam War 1946 to 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.


Boston Strangler
  • The Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo is captured
More Information and Timeline For The Boston Strangler Murders
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.


UK
  • The abolition of the death penalty in UK
U.S.
  • President Lyndon Johnson declares a War On Poverty Campaign.
U.S.
  • Warren Commission report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy concludes Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone
U.S.
  • Students storm the administration building and stage sit in at the University of California 800 are arrested.
U.S.
  • James H. Meredith, an African American and a former serviceman in the U.S. Air Force begins his degree at the white only University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.
Malta
  • Malta gains independence from the UK
U.S.
  • Cassius Clay Beats Sonny Liston on February 25th for World Heavyweight championship
Egypt
  • Work Begins on The Aswan Dam by diverting the Nile to a manmade canal.
UK
  • The British and French Governments announce commitment to build a tunnel under the English Channel
Scotland
  • The Queen opens the Forth Road Suspension Bridge connecting Edinburgh to Fife
U.S.
  • The first Ford Mustang from Ford Motor Company is made.
U.S.
  • Verrazano Narrows Bridge is opened joining Staten Island and Brooklyn
U.S.
  • 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
U.S.
  • Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
U.S.
  • The most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2, strikes South Central Alaska
U.S.
  • Race Riots in Harlem New York, Elizabeth, NJ, Paterson, NJ, Jersey City, NJ, Rochester, New York, Dixmoor, Chicago, Ill, Philadelphia,
U.S.
  • 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.
UK
  • The so called BRAIN DRAIN of UK Scientists from UK to USA
UK
  • Easter and Whitsun outbreak of Mods and Rockers on 18th May Fights and disturbances on British Seaside Resorts
South Africa
  • Nelson Mandela and seven others are sentenced on June 12th to life imprisonment in South Africa
South Africa
  • South Africa are barred from the Olympic Games in Tokyo due to their Apartheid Policies
U.S.
  • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr receives the Nobel Peace Prize,
Palestine
  • The PLO Palestinian Liberation Organisation is established with Yasser Arafat as the head
UK
  • The UK Interest Rate is Raised to 7%
UK
  • UK Report expects population to explode over next 20 years and plans for 3 new towns including Milton Keynes
U.S.
  • Three civil rights field workers disappear after investigating the burning of an African American church by the Ku Klux Klan.
U.S.
  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is signed into law by President Johnson.
U.S.
  • James Hoffa is found guilty and sentenced to eight years on bribery charges
U.S.
  • World's Fair held in New York
U.S.
  • U.S. Surgeon General reports that smoking may lead to lung cancer
U.S.
  • Star Of India sapphire stolen from American Museum of Natural History in New York
Cyprus
  • Civil War breaks out in Cyprus between Greeks and Turks
Tanzania
  • Tanzania Gains Independence From Great Britain and combines the former Tanganika and the Island of Zanzibar
Malawi
  • Malawi Gains Independence From Great Britain
Peru
  • A riot during a soccer match between Peru and Argentina ends with the loss of 300 fans dead.
UK
  • Great Train Robbers get 30 years each
Malta
  • Malta Gains Independence From Great Britain
Brazil
  • A military coup d'état in Brazil led by Gen. Humberto Castello Branco
U.S.
  • Jack Ruby is convicted of the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of President Kennedy
Japan
  • The Summer Olympics are held in Tokyo, Japan
Austria
  • The Winter Olympic Games are held in Innsbruck, Austria



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"
  • 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

Check out our TV Shows From The 60s whenever possible we have included a trailer to jog your memory. Series trailers and more information are found on the decade they started.

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 1964

  • 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 Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )
Computer Mouse USA by Douglas Engelbart
Bubble Wrap USA by Marc A Chavannes


Major World Political Leaders

Australia Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies Brazil President João Goulart Till 1 April
Brazil President Ranieri Mazzilli From 2 April
Brazil President Ranieri Mazzilli Till 15 April
Brazil President Castelo Branco From 15 April
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 Jawahar Lal Nehru Till 27 May
India Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda From 27 May
India Prime Minister Gulzarilal Nanda Till 9 June
India Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri From 9 June
Italy Prime Minister Aldo Moro

Japan Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda Till 9 November
Japan Prime Minister Eisaku Sato From 9 November

Mexico President Adolfo López Mateos Till 30 November
Mexico President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz From 30 November
Russia / Soviet Union
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev 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 Sir Alec Douglas-Home Till 16 October
United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Wilson From 16 October 1964

Political Elections


United States Presidential Election 1964 Lyndon B. Johnson (Democratic) Defeats Barry Goldwater (Republican)

British General Election 1964 Harold Wilson ( Labour )defeats Alec Douglas-Home ( Conservative ) and Jo Grimond ( Liberal )