1965 American Television Series Debuts

Events

January–February

* January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term as President of the United States.
** Indonesian President Sukarno announces the withdrawal of the Indonesian government from the United Nations.
* January 30 – The state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place in London with the largest assembly of dignitaries in the world until the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II.
* February 4 – Trofim Lysenko is removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics at the Academy of Sciences in the Soviet Union. Lysenkoist theories are now treated as pseudoscience.
* February 12
** The African and Malagasy Common Organization ('; OCAM) is formed as successor to the Afro-Malagasy Union for Economic Cooperation ('; UAMCE), formerly the African and Malagasy Union ('; UAM).
* February 18 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
* February 20
** ''Ranger 8'' crashes into the Moon, after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
** Suat Hayri Ürgüplü forms the new (interim) government of Turkey (29th government).

* February 21 – Malcolm X is gunned down while giving a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem.

March–April

* March 2 – Vietnam War: Operation Rolling Thunder – The United States Air Force 2nd Air Division, United States Navy and South Vietnamese air force begin a 3-year aerial bombardment campaign against North Vietnam.
* March 7 – "Bloody Sunday": Some 200 Alabama State Troopers attack 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, as they attempt to march to the state capitol of Montgomery.
* March 8 – Vietnam War: Some 3,500 United States Marines arrive in Da Nang, South Vietnam, becoming the first American ground combat troops in Vietnam.
* March 9 – The " Turnaround Tuesday" march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., stops at the site of "Bloody Sunday", to hold a prayer service and return to Selma, in obedience to a court restraining order. On the same day, White supremacists attack three white ministers, leaving Unitarian Universalist minister James J. Reeb in a coma.
* March 10 – An engagement is announced between Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven, who will become the first commoner and the first Dutchman to marry into the Dutch Royal Family.
* March 18 – Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov leaves his Voskhod 2 spacecraft for 12 minutes, becoming the first person to walk in space.
* March 20
** "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", sung by France Gall (music and lyrics by Serge Gainsbourg) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 for Luxembourg.
** The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 begins.
* March 23
** Events of March 23, 1965: Large student demonstration in Morocco, joined by discontented masses, meets with violent police and military repression.
** Gemini 3: NASA launches the United States' first 2-person crew (Gus Grissom, John Young) into Earth orbit.
**The first issue of ''The Vigilant'' is published from Khartoum.
* March 25 – Martin Luther King Jr. and 25,000 civil rights activists successfully end the 4-day march from Selma, Alabama, to the capitol in Montgomery.
*March 28
**At least 400 are killed or missing after an earthquake triggered a series of dam failures in La Ligua, Chile.
* March 30 – The second ODECA charter, signed by Central American states on December 12, 1962, becomes effective.
* April 3 – The world's first space nuclear power reactor, ''SNAP-10A.
* April 5 – At the 37th Academy Awards, ''My Fair Lady'' wins 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Rex Harrison wins an Oscar for Best Actor. ''Mary Poppins'' takes home 5 Oscars. Julie Andrews wins an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. Sherman Brothers receives 2 Oscars including Best Song, "Chim Chim Cher-ee".
* April 6 – The Intelsat I ("Early Bird") communications satellite is launched. It becomes operational May 2 and is placed in commercial service in June.
* April 9 – The West German parliament extends the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes.
* April 18 – Consecration of Saint Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto, Canada.
* April 23 – The Pennine Way officially opens.
* April 24
** The 1965 Yerevan demonstrations start in Yerevan, demanding recognition of the Armenian genocide.
** The bodies of Portuguese opposition politician Humberto Delgado and his secretary Arajaryr Moreira de Campos are found in a forest near Villanueva del Fresno, Spain (they were killed February 12).
** In the Dominican Republic, officers and civilians loyal to deposed President Juan Bosch mutiny against the right-wing junta running the country, setting up a provisional government. Forces loyal to the deposed military-imposed government stage a countercoup the next day, and civil war breaks out, although the new government retains its hold on power.
* April 26 – Rede Globo is founded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
* April 28
** U.S. troops occupy the Dominican Republic.
** Vietnam War: Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies announces that the country will substantially increase its number of troops in South Vietnam, supposedly at the request of the Saigon government (it is later revealed that Menzies had asked the leadership in Saigon to send the request at the behest of the Americans).
* April 29 – Australia announces that it is sending an infantry battalion to support the South Vietnam government.

May–June

* May 1
** Bob Askin replaces Jack Renshaw as Premier of New South Wales.
** The Battle of Dong-Yin occurs as a conflict between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.
* May 9 – Pianist Vladimir Horowitz returns to the stage after a 12-year absence, performing a legendary concert in Carnegie Hall in New York.
* May 12 –West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations.
* May 25 – Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first round of their championship rematch with the " Phantom Punch" at the Central Maine Civic Center in Lewiston.
* May 27 – Internazionale beats Benfica 1–0 at the San Siro, Milan and wins the 1964-65 European Cup in Association football.
* May 29 – A mining accident in Dhanbad, India kills 274.
* May 31 – Scottish racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, later this year winning the Formula One world driving championship.
* June 1 – A coal mine explosion in Fukuoka, Japan, kills 237.
* June 2 – Vietnam War: The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrives in South Vietnam.
* June 7 – Kakanj mine disaster: A mining accident in Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, results in 128 deaths.
* June 10 – Vietnam War – Battle of Dong Xoai: About 1,500 Viet Cong mount a mortar attack on Đồng Xoài, overrunning its military headquarters and the adjoining militia compound.
* June 19
** Houari Boumediene's Revolutionary Council ousts Ahmed Ben Bella, in a bloodless coup in Algeria.
** Air Marshal Nguyen Cao Ky, head of the South Vietnamese Air Force, was appointed prime minister at the head of the military junta, with General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu becoming a figurehead president, ending two years of short-lived military juntas.
* June 20 – Police in Algiers break up demonstrations by people who have taken to the streets chanting slogans in support of deposed President Ahmed Ben Bella.
* June 22 – The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed in Tokyo.
* June 25 – A U.S. Air Force Boeing C-135 Stratolifter bound for Okinawa crashes just after takeoff at MCAS El Toro in Orange County, California, killing all 85 on board.

July–August

* July – The Commonwealth secretariat is created.
* July 14 – U.S. spacecraft ''Mariner 4'' flies by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images from the Red Planet.
* July 15 – Greek Prime minister Georgios Papandreou and his government are dismissed by King Constantine II.
* July 16 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel is inaugurated by presidents Giuseppe Saragat and Charles de Gaulle.
* July 24 – Vietnam War: Four F-4C Phantoms escorting a bombing raid at Kang Chi are targeted by antiaircraft missiles, in the first such attack against American planes in the war. One is shot down and the other 3 sustain damage.
* July 26 – The Maldives receive full independence from Great Britain.
* July 27 – Edward Heath becomes Leader of the British Conservative Party.
* July 28 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000, and to more than double the number of men drafted per month - from 17,000 to 35,000.
* July 30 – War on Poverty: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.
* August 7 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, recommends the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia following a deterioration of PAP–UMNO relations, negotiating its separation with Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore.
* August 9
** Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognises it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation – a position he holds until 1990.
** An explosion at an Arkansas missile plant kills 53.
** Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public.
* August 18 – Vietnam War: Operation Starlite – 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quảng Ngãi Province, in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the U.S. base at Chu Lai.
* August 19 – At the conclusion of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, 66 ex- SS personnel receive life sentences, 15 others shorter ones.
* August 21 – NASA launches Gemini 5 (Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad) on the first 1-week space flight, as well as the first test of fuel cells for electrical power on such a mission.
* August 30 – An avalanche buries a dam construction site at Saas-Fee, Switzerland, killing 90 workers.
* August 31 – U.S. President Johnson signs a law penalizing the burning of draft cards with up to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

September–October

* September 2
**Pakistani troops enter the Indian sector of Kashmir, while Indian troops try to invade Lahore.
** The People's Republic of China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border.
** Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula, south of the Chu Lai Marine base.
* September 8
** India opens 2 additional fronts against Pakistan.
** The Pakistan Navy destroys Indian Port of Dwarka. Operation Dwarka (Pakistan celebrates Victory Day annually).
* September 9
** U.N. Secretary General U Thant negotiates with Pakistan President Ayub Khan.
** U Thant recommends China for United Nations membership.
* September 14 – The fourth and final period of the Second Vatican Council opens.
* September 16 – In Iraq, Prime Minister Arif Abd ar-Razzaq's attempted coup fails.
* September 17 – King Constantine II of Greece forms a new government with Prime Minister Stephanos Stephanopoulos, in an attempt to end a 2-year-old political crisis.
* September 18
** In Denmark, Palle Sørensen shoots 4 policemen in pursuit; he is apprehended the same day.
** Comet Ikeya–Seki is first sighted by Japanese astronomers.
** Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin invites the leaders of India and Pakistan to meet in the Soviet Union to negotiate.
* September 19
** Pakistani Forces achieve a decisive victory at the Battle of Chawinda, ultimately halting the Indian advance and successfully stabilizing the Sialkot Front.
* September 20 – Vietnam War: An USAF F-104 Starfighter piloted by Captain Philip Eldon Smith is shot down by a Chinese MiG-19 Farmer. The pilot is held until March 15 1973.
* September 21 – Gambia, Maldives and Singapore are admitted as members of the United Nations.
* September 22 – Radio Peking announces that Indian troops have dismantled their equipment on the Chinese side of the border.
* September 24
** Fighting resumes between Indian and Pakistani troops.
** The British governor of Aden cancels the constitution and takes direct control of the protectorate, due to the bad security situation.
* September 27 – The largest tanker ship at this time, ''Tokyo Maru'', is launched in Yokohama, Japan.
* September 28
** Fidel Castro announces that anyone who wants to can emigrate to the United States.
** Taal Volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts, killing hundreds.
* September 30
** The Indonesian army, led by General Suharto, crushes an alleged communist coup attempt (see Transition to the New Order and 30 September Movement).
** The classic family sci-fi show '' Thunderbirds'' debuts on ITV in the United Kingdom.
* October 3 – Fidel Castro announces that Che Guevara has resigned and left Cuba.
* October 4
** At least 150 are killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
** Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of the Commonwealth of Nations begin negotiations in London.
** Pope Paul VI visits the United States. He appears for a Mass in Yankee Stadium and makes a speech at the United Nations.
** The University of California, Irvine opens its doors.
* October 5 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with Malaysia because of their disagreement in the UN.
* October 6 – Ian Brady, a 27-year-old stock clerk from Hyde in Cheshire, is arrested for allegedly hacking to death (with a hatchet) 17-year-old apprentice electrician Edward Evans at a house on the Hattersley housing estate.
* October 7 – Seven Japanese fishing boats are sunk off Guam by super typhoon Carmen; 209 are killed.
* October 8
** Indonesian mass killings of 1965–1966: The Indonesian army instigates the arrest and execution of communists which last until next March.
** The 7 Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent are adopted at the XX International Conference in Vienna, Austria.
** The International Olympic Committee admits East Germany as a member.
* October 10 – The first group of Cuban refugees travels to the U.S.
* October 12
** Per Borten forms a government in Norway.
** The U.N. General Council recommends that the United Kingdom try everything to stop a rebellion in Rhodesia.
* October 13 – Congo President Joseph Kasavubu fires Prime Minister Moise Tshombe and forms a provisional government, with Évariste Kimba in a leading position.
* October 15 – Vietnam War: The Catholic Worker Movement stages an anti-war protest in Manhattan. One draft card burner is arrested, the first under the new law.
* October 17 – The New York World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, closes. Due to financial losses, some of the projected site park improvements fail to materialize.
* October 18 – The Indonesian government outlaws the Communist Party of Indonesia.
* October 20 – Ludwig Erhard is re-elected Chancellor of West Germany (he had first been elected in 1963).
* October 21
** Comet Ikeya–Seki approaches perihelion, passing from the sun.
** The Organization of African Unity meets in Accra, Ghana.
* October 22
** African countries demand that the United Kingdom use force to prevent Rhodesia from declaring unilateral independence.
** Colonel Christophe Soglo stages a second coup in Dahomey.
* October 25 – The Soviet Union declares its support of African countries in case Rhodesia unilaterally declares independence.
* October 27
** Brazilian president Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco removes power from parliament, legal courts and opposition parties.
** Süleyman Demirel of AP forms the new government of Turkey (30th government).
* October 28 – Pope Paul VI promulgates ''Nostra aetate'', a "Declaration on the Relation of the (Roman Catholic) Church with Non-Christian Religions" by the Second Vatican Council which includes a statement that Jews are not collectively responsible for the death of Jesus (Jewish deicide).
* October 29 – An 80-kiloton nuclear device is detonated at Amchitka Island, Alaska, as part of the Vela Uniform program, code-named Project Long Shot.
* October 30 – Vietnam War: Near Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. A sketch of Marine positions is found on the dead body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.

November–December

* November 1 – A trolleybus plunges into the Nile at Cairo, Egypt, killing 74 passengers.
* November 3 – French President Charles de Gaulle announces (just short of his 75th birthday) that he will stand for re-election.
* November 5 – Martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The United Nations General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary by a vote of 82–9.
* November 6 – Freedom Flights begin: Cuba and the United States formally agree to start an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States (by 1971, 250,000 Cubans take advantage of this program).
* November 8
** Vietnam War – Operation Hump: The United States Army 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong.
* November 11
** In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares ''de facto'' independence ('UDI').
** United Airlines Flight 227 crashes short of the runway and catches fire at Salt Lake City International Airport, killing 43 out of 91 passengers and crew.
* November 12 – A UN Security Council resolution (voted 10–0) recommends that other countries not recognize independent Rhodesia.
* November 13
** The burns and sinks off Nassau, Bahamas, with the loss of 90 lives.
** British theatre critic Kenneth Tynan says "fuck" during a discussion on BBC
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