1964

Events

January 1 - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland dissolved
January 8 - President Lyndon Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
January 11 - US Surgeon General Luther Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous for one's health. First such statement from US government.
January 12 - Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt and later proclaim a republic.
January 16 - Hello Dolly! opens in New York City's St. James Theatre.
January 20 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released
January 23 - Thirteen years after its proposal and nearly two years after the measure had been passed by the United States Senate 77-16, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
February 11 -
- Greeks & Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- Taiwan drops diplomatic relations with France.
April 7 - IBM announces the System/360.
Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
September 14 - Opening of third period of Second Vatican Council
October 14-15 - Nikita Khrushchev is deposed as leader of the Soviet Union; Leonid Brezhnev assumes power.
November - Lyndon Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater in the U.S. presidential election
November 21 - Closing of third period of Second Vatican Council

Art, Culture & Fashion

1964 in music
- January 18 - The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time
- February 11 - The Beatles have their 1st live appearance in US in the Washington DC Coliseum

1964 in television
- April 30 - Television sets manufactured as of this date are required to receive UHF channels.
- The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show, breaking television ratings records

Births

Deaths

Technology

John George Kemeny and Thomas Eugene Kurtz create BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), an easy to learn high level programming language that has been included on many computers and even some games consoles
First Moog synthesizer designed by Robert Moog