The 1964 Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan from October 10th to October 24th. 93 nations participated in the games. The U.S. won the most gold medals -- 36.
Robert DeSalvo was arrested for rape in Boston on October 27th. Subsequently he confessed to a series of 13 killings and sexual assaults that had been attributed to the "Boston Strangler." At the time, there was no physical evidence to link DeSalvo to those crimes and he was convicted only on the rape charges in 1967. In 1973 he was stabbed to death in prison. In 2013 DNA evidence linked him to the 1964 murder of Mary Sullivan.
On December 10th, in Oslo, Norway, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At 35, he was the youngest to receive the award. He donated the prize money to the civil rights movement.
Captain Roger Donlon led U.S. forces in defense of Dam Nong from a sudden predawn attack by Viet Cong forces on July 6th, 1964. Donlon suffered multiple wounds, but continued to fight and lead his troops to a successful defense of the base. On Dec. 5th, 1965 he became the first Medal of Honor recipient in the Vietnam War.
Sir Winston Churchill suffered a stroke on January 15th and died on January 24th at the age of 90.
Malcom X was killed by Talmadge Hayer, a member of The Nation of Islam as he spoke at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem on February 21st, 1965. Malcom X was estranged from The Nation and had criticized some of its teachings. Two others, Norman 3X Butler and Thomas 15X Johnson, were charged and convicted of the crime, but only Hayer confessed. All three received life sentences and all three were eventually paroled.
The "Early Bird" satellite was launched into orbit on April 6th, 1965. It was the first commercially owned satellite, launched into a "fixed" orbit around the equator that allowed the Communications Satellite Corporation to transmit signals between Europe and the United States.

On July 30th, 1965, President Johnson signed the bill amending Social Security to include medical care. The Medicaid and Medicare bills were signed at the Harry S. Truman Library in Independence, Missouri and the first Medicare card was presented to President Truman.



Sep 1st – The “Johnson / Daisy” commercial is shown depicting a little girl picking apart a daisy while a voice over counts down from 10 to 0 and then the screen is obliterated by a nuclear blast, and the message, “vote for President Johnson, the stakes are too high for you to stay home.”
Sep 2nd - Keanu Reeves is born
Sep 3rd - US attorney general Robert Kennedy resigns; announces candidacy for Senator from New York
Sep 3rd - 2nd incident that year of race riots in Singapore between Chinese and Malay, 13 people killed, 106 injured
Sep 14th - Walt Disney awarded Medal of Freedom at White House
Sep 15th - Beatles play at Public Auditorium in Cleveland
Sep 17th - Beatles are paid a then record $150,000 for a concert (Kansas)
Sep 22nd - "Fiddler on the Roof" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 3242 performances
Sep 27th - Findings of the Warren Commission into the assassination of President John Kennedy released, finds Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
Oct 10th - 18th modern Olympic games opens in Tokyo
Oct 12th – Soviet Union launches Voskhad 1, first spacecraft to carry a multi-person crew
Oct 14th - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. announced as winner of the Nobel Peace Prize
Oct 14th - Premier Nikita Khrushchev replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party
Oct. 15th – Former President, Herbert Hoover dies
Oct. 16th – The People’s Republic of China successfully tests a nuclear bomb, making it the fifth nation in the world with nuclear bomb capabilities
Oct 20th - Riot at Rolling Stones show in Paris (150 arrested)
Oct. 27th – Albert DeSalvo arrested for rape in Boston (would later confess to being the “Boston Strangler”
Oct 22nd - EMI rejects audition by "High Numbers"; they go on to become The Who
Oct 22nd - French philosopher/author Jean-Paul Sartre refuses Nobel prize
Oct 24th - Zambia (formerly Northern Rhodesia) gains independence from Britain (National Day)
Oct 25th - "The Wrong Way Run", Viking Jim Marshall runs 66 yards in wrong direction for a safety (NFL's #1 blooper)
Oct 25th - Rolling Stones appear on Ed Sullivan Show
Oct. 27th - Actor Ronald Reagan launches his political career when his "A Time for Choosing" speech broadcasts on NBC. In it, Reagan stresses his belief in small government. The speech raises $1 million for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign.s
Oct 29th - Star of India & other jewels are stolen in NY
Oct 30th - Tran Van Huong appointed premier of South Vietnam
Nov 1st - Vietcong-assault on airport Bien Hoa at Saigon – first direct attack on a U.S. base. Four Americans were killed.
Nov 3rd - LBJ (D) soundly defeats Barry Goldwater (R) for pres
Nov 5th - US launches Mariner 3 toward Mars; no data returned
Nov. 10th – Ambassador Maxwell Taylor recommended expansion of the war in Vietnam
Nov 14th - "Oliver!" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 774 performances
Nov 18th - J. Edgar Hoover describes Martin Luther King as "most notorious liar"
Nov 24th - For 1st time since 1800, residents of Washngton DC permitted to vote
Nov 29th - Roman Catholic Chuyrch in US replaces Latin with English
Dec 2nd - After the University of California Berkeley’s chancellor refuses to drop charges against suspended free speech protesters, over 1,000 students stage an overnight sit-in at Sproul Hall. Over the next 12 hours, 814 students are arrested. The Berkeley Free Speech Movement inspires similar protests across the country and helps define modern American student activism.
Dec. 4th - The U.S. Justice Department charges 21 Mississippi men with conspiring to deprive Freedom
Summer workers James Earl Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman of their civil rights, since murder is not a federal crime. In December 1967, seven of the conspirators are found guilty, though none of them will serve more than six years in jail.
Dec 5th - Vietnam War: for his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
Dec 6th - "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" 1st airs on TV
Dec 10th - Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr Martin Luther King Jr. in Oslo
Dec 11th - Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fires a mortar shell at the building during the speech.
Dec 12th - Shooting starts for "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage" (Menagerie)
Dec 15th - Canada adopts maple leaf flag
Dec 17th - "Goldfinger", 3rd James Bond film, starring Sean Connery and Honor Blackman premieres in London
Dec 18th - During funeral service held for soul singer Sam Cooke, fans cause damage to funeral home
Dec. 28th – The Battle of Binh Gia, close to Saigon was the largest battle to date between ARVN forces and the Viet Cong. Five Americans were killed.
Dec. 31st – The year ends with 23,310 military personnel in South Vietnam, 216 having been killed by year’s end.
Jan 4th - LBJ's "Great Society" State of the Union Address
Jan 8th - Star of India returned to American Museum of Natural History
Jan 20th – Alan Freed died at the age of 43
Jan 26th - South Vietnam military coup under general Nguyen Khanh
Jan 27th – President Johnson sends a memo to Ambassador Taylor in Vietnam, declaring “the U.S. will spare no effort and no sacrifice in doing its full part to turn back the Communists in Vietnam.”
Jan 30th - State funeral of Sir Winston Churchill at St Paul's Cathedral, London - largest state funeral ever
Feb 1st - Martin Luther King Jr. & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma Ala
Feb 1st - Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
Feb 7th – A Viet Cong attack on Pleiku airbase kills 8 Americans
Feb 10th – The Viet Cong blow up a men’s barrack in Qui Nhon killing 23 Americans.
Feb 15th - Maple Leaf becomes official flag of Canada
Feb 15th – Nat King Cole dies at age of 45 of lung cancer
Feb 18th - Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
Feb 20th - Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data
Feb 21st - Rights activist Malcolm X is shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at Audubon Ballroom in New York City
Mar 2nd – “Operation Rolling Thunder” an intense bombing of North Vietnam was launched
Mar 6th - "How to Succeed in Business" closes at 46th St NYC after 1415 perfs
Mar 7th - Alabama state troopers & 600 black protestors clash in Selma
Mar 8th - 1st US combat forces arrive in Vietnam (3,500 Marines)
Mar 15th - T.G.I. Friday's 1st restaurant opens in NYC
Mar 21st - Martin Luther King Jr. begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
Mar 30th - Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
Apr 9th - India & Pakistan engage in border fight
Apr 12th - 1st NL game at Houston's Astrodome (Phillies beat Astros 2-0)
Apr 15th - NFL changes penalty flag from white to bright gold
April 17th – First large protest against the Vietnam War (20,000) in Washington D.C.
April 18th – Pernell Roberts (Adam Cartwright) appeared in his last episode of Bonanza
Apr 20th - People's Republic China offers North Vietnam military aid
Apr 21st - New York World's Fair reopens for 2nd & final season
Apr 23rd - Launch of 1st Soviet communications satellite
Apr 27th - RC Duncan patents "Pampers" disposable diaper
Apr 28th - US marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until October 1966
May 2nd - Early Bird satellite goes into commercial service
May 3rd - 1st use of satellite TV, Today Show on Early Bird Satellite
May 3rd - Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US
May 5th - 1st large-scale US Army ground units, the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in South Vietnam
May 11th - Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument
May 13th - Rolling Stones record "Satisfaction"
May 16th - Bomb destroys USAF base Bien Hoa South Vietnam
May 16th - The Campbell Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs under its Franco-American brand.
May 18th - Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names for Star Trek Captain; they include Kirk
May 25th - Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston in 1 for heavyweight boxing title rematch
May 30th - Viet Cong offensive against US base Da Nang, begins
May 31st - Brooke Shields is born
Jun 7th - Sony Corp introduced its home video tape recorder, priced at $995
Jun 7th - The Supreme Court of the United States decides on Griswold v. Connecticut, effectively legalizing the use of contraception by married couples.
Jun 8th - US troops ordered to fight offensively in Vietnam
Jun 10th - Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Xoai begins.
Jun 12th - Sonny & Cher make their 1st TV appearance in "American Bandstand"
Jun 12th - South Vietnam Gen Nguyen Cao Ky succeeds Phan Huy Quat as premier
Jun 15th - Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone"
Jun 16th – Senator J. William Fulbright recommends direct negotiations with North Vietnam to end the war.
Jun 17th - 1st bombing by B-52 (50 km north of Saigon)
Jul 8th – Maxwell Taylor resigns as Ambassador to Vietnam; is replaced by Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr.
Jul 15th - "Mariner IV" sends back 1st pictures of Mars
Jul 16th – After visiting Vietnam, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara recommends increasing U.S. personnel in Vietnam to 375,000
Jul 24th – Surface to Air Missiles provided by the Soviet Union are first used by North Vietnam
Jul 25th - Folk-rock begins, Dylan uses electric guitar at Newport Folk Festival
Jul 27th - President Lyndon B. Johnson signs a bill requiring cigarette makers to print health warnings on all cigarette packages about the effects of smoking
Jul 28th - LBJ sends 50,000 more soldiers to Vietnam (total of 125,000); increases draft from 17,000 per month to 35,000 per month
Jul 30th - LBJ signs Medicare bill, which goes into effect in 1966
Aug 2nd - Morley Safer sends 1st Vietnam report indicating we are losing
Aug 6th - Indian troops invade Pakistan
Aug 6th - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act prohibiting voting discrimination against minorities
Aug 11th - Watts riots begin in Southeast Los Angeles, lasts 6 days
Aug 12th - Race riot in West Side of Chicago
Aug 15th - Beatles play to 55,000 at Shea Stadium
Aug 17th – first offensive military action in Vietnam, “Operation Starlite” sent 5,500 Marines on a “search and destroy” mission to nullify 1,500 Viet Cong threatening Chu Lai air base
Aug 28th - Bob Dylan booed for playing electric guiter at a concert in New York's Forest Hills
Aug 29th - Astronauts Cooper & Conrad complete 120 Earth orbits in Gemini 5
Aug 31st - US House of Representatives and Senate establish Department of Housing & Urban Development

 

OTHER MAJOR EVENTS
Moniqe Corzillius
THE DAISY GIRL COMMERCIAL
In an unconventional move, in 1964, the Johnson campaign hired the New York agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach to produce its campaign advertizing. On September 1st, during NBC's "Monday Night at the Movies" broadcast of "David and Bathsheba," what came to be known as the "Daisy Girl" commercial was shown. It depicts a little girl picking apart a daisy while a voice over counts down from 10 to 0 and then the screen is obliterated by a nuclear blast, and the message, “vote for President Johnson, the stakes are too high for you to stay home.” While Republican candidate Barry Goldwater was never named in the ad, the implication was obvious. The spot only aired once, but due to its controversial nature, it was repeated several times on network newscasts. The girl in the ad was three year old Moniqe Corzillius, a child model who appeared in numerous advertizements. Her parents were not aware that she was appearing in a political advertizement and were paid $100 for her work. The ad is credited by many to be the beginning of Madison Avenue style political advertizing and negative campaigning.
Map of Electoral College Results
1964 Presidential Election
1964 Presidential Campaign Buttons
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
In the presidential election of 1964, the Lyndon Johnson and his vice presidential candidate Hubert Humphrey won 44 of the state electoral votes (plus the District of Columbia) to only 6 for Barry Goldwater and his running mate, Henry Miller. Historically, the Democrats had usually been able to win southern states, but perhaps due to Johnson's record on civil rights, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina went Republican in 1964 -- it was the first time a Republican candidate had won the state of Georgia. Johnson had the advantage of being the incumbent president and was able to depict Goldwater as an ultra conservative. Senator Goldwater had voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on the grounds he believed it to be unconstitutional. Ironically, Johnson was also able to position himself as less likely to get the U.S. involved in war -- Goldwater had said he would not "rule out" the use of nuclear weapons in Vietnam.
The Warren Commission presents its report to President Johnson
Front cover of Warren Commission Report and mug shot of Lee Harvey Oswald
THE WARREN COMMISSION
On September 24th, 1964, the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy delivered its report to President Johnson. Johnson had established the Commission on November 29th, 1963 just a week after the assasination. He appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren to head the Commission. The Commission was established in lieu of a state investigation in Texas, or special hearings by the House and / or Senate. The President indicated he wanted a comprehensive and decisive report, not a set of conflicting reports. The Commission concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in killing the President and there was no domestic or international conspiracy. In subsequent years, those findings have come under considerable criticism and fifty years later, a majority of Americans do not believe Oswald was a lone gunman.
Muhammad Ali stands over Sonny Liston after knocking him out in the first round.
ALI VS. LISTON, PART 2
It had been over a year since Cassius Clay had defeated Sonny Liston to become the World Heavyweight Boxing champion in February of 1964. The rematch was over quickly as Liston was knocked out midway through the first round. What became known as the "phantom punch" was so fast that many in attendance said they didn't see it. As a result, there were many allegations of a "fix." In the year between the two bouts, there had been a lot of controversy as Clay announced his conversion to The Nation of Islam and changed his name to Muhammad Ali. There were continued allegations that Liston was involved with organized crime. The small city of Lewiston, Maine became venue for the fight as Boston backed out due to the controversies concerning the two fighters. Only 2,434 attended the match as there were rumors of planned attacks on Ali by supporters of Malcom X who had been assassinated earlier in the year. Ali had publicly rejected Malcom X after his break with the Nation of Islam. Some even claimed that Liston threw the fight early because he feared he might get hit by gunfire in the event of an attack on Ali.