January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
Jean-Bédel Bokassa
Jean-Bédel Bokassa (; 22 February 1921 – 3 November 1996), also known as Bokassa I, was a Central African political and military leader who served as the second president of the Central African Republic (CAR) and as the emperor of its s ...
takes over as military ruler of the
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic (CAR; ; , RCA; , or , ) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the southeast, the DR Congo to the south, the Republic of th ...
, ousting President
David Dacko
David Dacko (; 1927 – 21 November 2003) was a Central African politician who served as the first president of the Central African Republic from 14 August 1960 to 1 January 1966, and 3rd President from 21 September 1979 to 1 September 1981. Af ...
.
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
–
1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état
The 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état was an event which took place on 3 January 1966 in the Republic of Upper Volta (today Burkina Faso), when following large-scale popular unrest the military intervened against the government, forced President Mauri ...
: President
Maurice Yaméogo
Maurice Yaméogo (31 December 1921 – 15 September 1993) was the first President of the Republic of Upper Volta, now called Burkina Faso, from 1959 until 1966.
"Monsieur Maurice" embodied the Voltaic state at the moment of independence. However ...
is deposed by a military coup in the
Republic of Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper Volta (french: République de Haute-Volta) was a landlocked West African country established on 11 December 1958 as a self-governing colony within the French Community. Before becoming autonomous, it had been part of the ...
(modern-day Burkina Faso).
*
January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
**
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
i–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the
Tashkent Declaration
The Tashkent Declaration was signed between India and Pakistan on 10 January 1966 to resolve the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. Peace was achieved on 23 September through interventions by the Soviet Union and the United States, both of which push ...
, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
Julian Bond
Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the e ...
to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance.
** A
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference
Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences were biennial meetings of Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and the Dominion members of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Seventeen Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conferences were held betwee ...
convenes in
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
,
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, primarily to discuss
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
*
January 12
Events Pre-1600
* 475 – Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, and his general, Basiliscus gains control of the empire.
*1528 – Gustav I of Sweden is crowned King of Sweden, having already reigned s ...
– United States President
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
states that the United States should stay in
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
until
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
aggression there is ended.
*
January 15
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
* 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
–
1966 Nigerian coup d'état
The 1966 Nigerian coup d'état began on 15 January 1966, when mutinous Nigerian soldiers led by Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and Emmanuel Ifeajuna killed 22 people including the Prime Minister of Nigeria, many senior politicians, many senior Army o ...
: A bloody military coup is staged in
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...
.
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
** The Nigerian coup is overturned by another faction of the military, leaving a military government in power. This is the beginning of a long period of military rule.
**
1966 Palomares B-52 crash
The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at over the Me ...
: A U.S. Air Force
B-52
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...
bomber collides with a
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...
over Spain, dropping three 70-
kiloton
TNT equivalent is a convention for expressing energy, typically used to describe the energy released in an explosion. The is a unit of energy defined by that convention to be , which is the approximate energy released in the detonation of a t ...
hydrogen bomb
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
s near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea.
Carl Brashear
Carl Maxie Brashear (January 19, 1931 – July 25, 2006) was a United States Navy sailor. He was a master diver, rising to the position in 1970, despite having his left leg amputated in 1966. The film '' Men of Honor'' was based on his life.
E ...
, the first African American
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter which results in the amputation of his leg.
*
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender ...
–
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
is elected
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
; she is sworn in
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
.
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
**
1966 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election
The Liberal Party of Australia held a leadership ballot on 20 January 1966, following the resignation of Robert Menzies. Incumbent deputy leader Harold Holt was elected unopposed as his successor, and was sworn in as prime minister on 26 January. ...
:
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party.
Holt was born in S ...
is elected leader of the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
unopposed when
Sir Robert Menzies
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
retires after an unprecedented 16 years in office; consequently Holt becomes
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
six days later.
** Demonstrations occur against high
food prices
Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food.
Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing an ...
in Hungary.
*
January 21
Events Pre-1600
* 763 – Following the Battle of Bakhamra between Alids and Abbasids near Kufa, the Alid rebellion ends with the death of Ibrahim, brother of Isa ibn Musa.
* 1525 – The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is founded when Co ...
– Italian Prime Minister
Aldo Moro
Aldo Romeo Luigi Moro (; 23 September 1916 – 9 May 1978) was an Italian statesman and a prominent member of the Christian Democracy (DC). He served as prime minister of Italy from December 1963 to June 1968 and then from November 1974 to July ...
resigns due to a power struggle in his party.
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
** The military government of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
announces that ex-prime minister
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...
was killed during the coup a week previously.
** The
Chad
Chad (; ar, تشاد , ; french: Tchad, ), officially the Republic of Chad, '; ) is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic ...
ian Muslim insurgent group
FROLINAT
FROLINAT (french: Front de libération nationale du Tchad; en, National Liberation Front of Chad) was an insurgent rebel group active in Chad between 1966 and 1993.
Origins
The organization was a result of the political union between the left ...
is founded in
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
January 24
Events Pre-1600
* 41 – Claudius is proclaimed Roman emperor by the Praetorian Guard after they assassinate the previous emperor, his nephew Caligula.
* 914 – Start of the First Fatimid invasion of Egypt.
*1438 – The Cou ...
–
Air India Flight 101
Air India Flight 101 was a scheduled Air India passenger flight from Bombay to London. On the morning of 24 January 1966 at 8:02 CET, the aircraft operating the flight accidentally flew into Mont Blanc in France. The accident was caused by a mi ...
crashes into
Mont Blanc
Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and i ...
, killing all 117 people on board, including Dr.
Homi J. Bhabha
Homi Jehangir Bhabha, (30 October 1909 – 24 January 1966) was an Indian nuclear physicist, founding director, and professor of physics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). Colloquially known as "Father of Indian nuclear pro ...
, chairman of the
Indian Atomic Energy Commission
The Atomic Energy Commission of India is the governing body of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India. The DAE is under the direct charge of the Prime Minister.
The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was set up on 3 August 1948 ...
.
*
January 26
Events Pre-1600
* 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph.
*1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people.
*1564 – ...
–
Beaumont children disappearance
Jane Nartare Beaumont (born 10 September 1956), Arnna Kathleen Beaumont (born 11 November 1958) and Grant Ellis Beaumont (born 12 July 1961), collectively known as the Beaumont children, were three Australian siblings who disappeared from Gle ...
: Three children disappear on their way to
Glenelg, South Australia
Glenelg is a beach-side suburb of the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Located on the shore of Holdfast Bay in Gulf St Vincent, it has become a tourist destination due to its beach and many attractions, home to several hotels and dozens of ...
, never to be seen again.
*
January 27
Events Pre-1600
* 98 – Trajan succeeds his adoptive father Nerva as Roman emperor; under his rule the Roman Empire will reach its maximum extent.
* 945 – The co-emperors Stephen and Constantine are overthrown and forced to becom ...
**The British government promises the U.S. that British troops in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
will stay until more peaceful conditions occur in the region.
**Britain's Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351.
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the t ...
– The United Kingdom ceases all trade with
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
February
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Around 2,600
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
s are released by
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– The unmanned Soviet
Luna 9
Luna 9 (Луна-9), internal designation Ye-6 No.13, was an uncrewed space mission of the Soviet Union's Luna programme. On 3 February 1966, the Luna 9 spacecraft became the first spacecraft to achieve a survivable landing on a celestial bod ...
spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
.
*
February 4
Events Pre–1600
* 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...
–
All Nippon Airways Flight 60
was a Boeing 727-81 aircraft making a domestic commercial flight from Sapporo Chitose Airport to Tokyo Haneda International Airport. On February 4, 1966, all 133 people on board died when the plane mysteriously crashed into Tokyo Bay about ...
plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed.
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
–
Lyndon Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
of the United States and
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...
of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a
summit
A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous.
The term (mountain top) is generally used ...
in
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
to discuss the course of the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparkin ...
– Soviet fiction writers
Yuli Daniel
Yuli Markovich Daniel ( rus, Ю́лий Ма́ркович Даниэ́ль, p=ˈjʉlʲɪj ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ dənʲɪˈelʲ, a=Yuliy Markovich Daniel'.ru.vorb.oga; 15 November 1925 — 30 December 1988) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident k ...
and
Andrei Sinyavsky
Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (russian: Андре́й Дона́тович Синя́вский; 8 October 1925 – 25 February 1997) was a Russian writer and Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965.
Sinyavsk ...
are sentenced to five and seven years, respectively, for "anti-Soviet" writings.
*
February 14
Events Pre-1600
* 748 – Abbasid Revolution: The Hashimi rebels under Abu Muslim Khorasani take Merv, capital of the Umayyad province Khorasan, marking the consolidation of the Abbasid revolt.
* 842 – Charles the Bald and Louis ...
– The
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...
is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar.
*
February 19
Events Pre-1600
* 197 – Emperor Septimius Severus defeats usurper Clodius Albinus in the Battle of Lugdunum, the bloodiest battle between Roman armies.
* 356 – The anti-paganism policy of Constantius II forbids the worship of pagan ...
– The naval minister of the United Kingdom,
Christopher Mayhew
Christopher Paget Mayhew, Baron Mayhew (12 June 1915 – 7 January 1997) was a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1950 and from 1951 to 1974, when he left the Labour Party to join the Liberals. In 1981 ...
, resigns.
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– While Soviet author and translator
Valery Tarsis
Valery Yakovlevich Tarsis ( uk, Валерій Яковлевич Тарсіс, russian: Вале́рий Я́ковлевич Та́рсис; , Kyiv – 3 March 1983, Bern) was a Ukrainian writer, literary critic, and translator. He was highly c ...
is abroad, the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
negates his citizenship.
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
–
1966 Syrian coup d'état
The 1966 Syrian coup d'état refers to events between 21 and 23 February during which the government of the Syrian Arab Republic was overthrown and replaced. The ruling National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party were removed from power ...
: An intra-party military coup in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
replaces the previous government of
Amin al-Hafiz
Amin al-Hafiz ( ar, أمين الحافظ, Amīn al-Ḥāfiẓ12 November 1921 – 17 December 2009), also known as Amin Hafez was a Syrian politician, general, and member of the Ba'ath Party who served as the President of Syria from 27 Jul ...
by one led by
Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (1926 – 19 August 1993, ar, صلاح جديد, Ṣalāḥ Jadīd) was a Syrian general, a leader of the left-wing of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party in Syria, and the country's ''de facto'' leader from 1966 until 1970, when h ...
.
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– A coup led by the police and military of
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
raises the
National Liberation Council
The National Liberation Council (NLC) led the Ghanaian government from 24 February 1966 to 1 October 1969. The body emerged from a ''coup d'état'' against the Nkrumah government carried out jointly by the Ghana Police Service and Ghana Armed For ...
to power while president
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...
is abroad.
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
– British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
calls a General Election in the United Kingdom, to be held on March 31.
March
* March – The
DKW
DKW (''Dampf-Kraft-Wagen'', en, "steam-powered car", also ''Deutsche Kinder-Wagen'' en, "German children's car". ''Das-Kleine-Wunder'', en, "the little wonder" or ''Des-Knaben-Wunsch'', en, "the boy's wish"- from when the company built to ...
automobile ceases production in Germany.
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
**The British Government announces plans for the
decimalisation
Decimalisation or decimalization (see spelling differences) is the conversion of a system of currency or of weights and measures to units related by powers of 10.
Most countries have decimalised their currencies, converting them from non-decimal ...
of the
pound sterling
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
(hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (
Decimal Day
Decimal Day in the United Kingdom and in Ireland was Monday 15 February 1971, the day on which each country decimalised its respective £sd currency of pounds, shillings, and pence.
Before this date, the British pound sterling (symbol "£" ...
).
**Soviet
space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ent ...
''
Venera 3
Venera 3 (russian: Венера-3 meaning ''Venus 3'') was a Venera program space probe that was built and launched by the Soviet Union to explore the surface of Venus. It was launched on 16 November 1965 at 04:19 UTC from Baikonur, Kazakhstan ...
'' crashes on
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
**The
Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...
takes power in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
.
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
–
Kwame Nkrumah
Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An in ...
arrives in
Guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
and is granted
asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
...
.
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
**
Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402
On March 4, 1966, Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 (CP402) struck the approach lights and a seawall during a night landing attempt in poor visibility at Haneda Airport in Japan. Of the 62 passengers and 10 crew, only 8 passengers survived.
...
crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at
Tokyo International Airport
, officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...
in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.
**In an interview with ''
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
'' reporter
Maureen Cleave
Maureen Diana Cleave (20 October 1934 – 6 November 2021) was a British journalist. She worked for the London ''Evening Standard'' from 1958 conducting interviews with many prominent musicians of the era, including Bob Dylan and John Lennon. O ...
,
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
states "We're
more popular than Jesus
"More popular than Jesus" is part of a remark made by John Lennon of the Beatles in a March 1966 interview in which he argued that the public were more infatuated with the band than with Jesus and that Christian faith was declining to the exte ...
now".
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
**
BOAC Flight 911
BOAC Flight 911 (call sign "Speedbird 911") was a round-the-world flight operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) that crashed near Mount Fuji in Japan on 5 March 1966, with the loss of all 113 passengers and 11 crew members ...
crashes in severe
clear-air turbulence
In meteorology, clear-air turbulence (CAT) is the turbulent movement of air masses in the absence of any visual clues, such as clouds, and is caused when bodies of air moving at widely different speeds meet.
The atmospheric region most suscepti ...
over
Mount Fuji
, or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...
soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
**"
Merci, Chérie
"Merci, Chérie" (; "Thank you, darling") was the winning song in the Eurovision Song Contest 1966, performed for by Udo Jürgens with lyrics in German and partially in French. It is an earnest ballad in which the singer, as he leaves her, than ...
" by
Udo Jürgens
Udo Jürgens (born Jürgen Udo Bockelmann; 30 September 1934 – 21 December 2014) was an Austrian composer and singer of popular music whose career spanned over 50 years. He won the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 for Austria, composed close ...
(music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the
Eurovision Song Contest 1966
The Eurovision Song Contest 1966 was the 11th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Luxembourg (city), Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, following the country's victory at the with the song "Poupée de cire, poupée de son" ...
for Austria.
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
–
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
asks U.S. President
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
for negotiations about the state of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
equipment in France.
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bour ...
**Anti-communist demonstrations occur at the
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n Foreign Ministry.
**
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
: The U.S. announces it will substantially increase the number of its troops in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
**
Nelson's Pillar
Nelson's Pillar (also known as the Nelson Pillar or simply the Pillar) was a large granite column capped by a statue of Horatio Nelson, built in the centre of what was then Sackville Street (later renamed O'Connell Street) in Dublin, Ireland. ...
in
O'Connell Street
O'Connell Street () is a street in the centre of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, running north from the River Liffey. It connects the O'Connell Bridge to the south with Parnell Street to the north and is roughly split into two sections ...
,
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, is clandestinely blown up by former
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...
volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
.
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a t ...
–
Crown Prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
ss
Beatrix of the Netherlands
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
marries
Claus von Amsberg
Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Jonkheer van Amsberg (born Klaus-Georg Wilhelm Otto Friedrich Gerd von Amsberg; 6 September 1926 – 6 October 2002) was Prince consort of the Netherlands from 30 April 1980 until his death in 2002 as the husband ...
. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German.
*
March 11
Events Pre-1600
* 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander.
* 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the venerati ...
**
Transition to the New Order
Indonesia's transition to the New Order in the mid-1960s ousted the country's first president, Sukarno, after 22 years in the position. One of the most tumultuous periods in the country's modern history, it was the commencement of Suharto's ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
: President
Sukarno
Sukarno). (; born Koesno Sosrodihardjo, ; 6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967.
Sukarno was the leader of ...
gives all
executive power
The Executive, also referred as the Executive branch or Executive power, is the term commonly used to describe that part of government which enforces the law, and has overall responsibility for the governance of a state.
In political systems ba ...
s to General
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
by signing the "
Supersemar
The Order of Eleventh March ( id, Surat Perintah Sebelas Maret), commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation ''Supersemar'', was a document signed by the Indonesian President Sukarno on 11 March 1966, giving army commander Lt. Gen. Suhart ...
" order.
**French President
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
states that French troops will be taken out of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
and that all French NATO bases and headquarters must be closed within a year.
*
March 16
Events Pre-1600
* 934 – Meng Zhixiang declares himself emperor and establishes Later Shu as a new state independent of Later Tang.
*1190 – Massacre of Jews at Clifford's Tower, York.
* 1244 – Over 200 Cathars who refuse ...
**
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
spacecraft
Gemini 8
Gemini 8 (officially Gemini VIII) With Gemini IV, NASA changed to Roman numerals for Gemini mission designations. was the sixth crewed spaceflight in NASA's Gemini program. It was launched on March 16, 1966, and was the 14th crewed American flig ...
(
David Scott
David Randolph Scott (born June 6, 1932) is an American retired test pilot and NASA astronaut who was the seventh person to walk on the Moon. Selected as part of the third group of astronauts in 1963, Scott flew to space three times and c ...
,
Neil Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor.
...
Paul Van Doren
Paul Van Doren (June 12, 1930 – May 6, 2021) was an American businessman and one of the founders of Vans, a shoe company in the United States.
Early life
Van Doren was one of the two children of Johnson and Rena Van Doren. His father was an i ...
establishes the
Vans
Vans is an American manufacturer of skateboarding shoes and related apparel, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and motocross teams. From 1996 to 2019, the comp ...
shoe company in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
*
March 19
Events Pre-1600
* 1277 – The Byzantine–Venetian treaty of 1277 is concluded, stipulating a two-year truce and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire.
*1279 – A Mongol victory at the Battle of Yamen ends ...
– The
Texas Western Miners
The UTEP Miners is the name given to the sports teams of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). They are informally referred to as the Miners, UTEP, or Texas–El Paso. UTEP was a member of the Western Athletic Conference from 1967 to 2005, ...
defeat the
Kentucky Wildcats
The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...
with five African American starters, ushering in desegregation in athletic recruiting.
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
– Football's
FIFA World Cup Trophy
The World Cup is a solid gold trophy that is awarded to the winners of the FIFA World Cup association football tournament. Since the advent of the World Cup in 1930, two trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, before ...
is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "
Pickles
Pickles may refer to:
Dogs
* Pickles (dog) (died 1967), a dog that found the stolen World Cup trophy in 1966
* Pickles (pickleball), a dog often cited as the name origin for the sport of pickleball
* Mr. Pickles, the titular demonic dog in an ...
" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden.
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
: in the Chinese city of
Xingtai
Xingtai (), formerly known as Xingzhou and Shunde, is a prefecture-level city in southern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of and administers 4 districts, 2 county-level cities and 12 counties. At the 2020 censu ...
a magnitude 6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured.
*
March 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1199 – King Richard I of England is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting in France, leading to his death on April 6.
*1387 – English victory over a Franco- Castilian-Flemish fleet in the Battle of Margate off ...
–
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
meets
Michael Ramsey
Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until 1 ...
, the
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring.
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
– Demonstrations are held across the United States against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
*
March 27
Events Pre-1600
*1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and Interdict (Catholic canon law), interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom. ...
– In
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, 20,000 Buddhists march in demonstrations against the policies of the military government.
*
March 28
Events Pre-1600
* AD 37 – Roman emperor Caligula accepts the titles of the Principate, bestowed on him by the Senate.
* 193 – After assassinating the Roman Emperor Pertinax, his Praetorian Guards auction off the throne to Di ...
**
Cevdet Sunay
Cevdet Sunay (; 10 February 1899 – 22 May 1982) was a Turkish politician and army officer, who served as the fifth President of Turkey from 1966 to 1973.
Early life and career
Sunay was born in 1899 in Trabzon, in the Ottoman Empire. A ...
becomes the fifth president of
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
.
**
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
visits Washington, D.C.
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– The
23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) took place in Moscow, RSFSR between 29 March and 8 April 1966. It was the first Congress during Leonid Brezhnev's leadership of the Party and state. The position of First Secret ...
is held:
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory.
*
March 31
Events Pre-1600
* 307 – After divorcing his wife Minervina, Constantine the Great, Constantine marries Fausta, daughter of the retired Roman emperor Maximian.
*1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at V ...
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
wins the
1966 United Kingdom general election
The 1966 United Kingdom general election was held on 31 March 1966. The result was a landslide victory for the Labour Party led by incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
Wilson decided to call a snap election since his government, elected a m ...
, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28).
** The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
launches
Luna 10
Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of ...
, which becomes the first
space probe
A space probe is an artificial satellite that travels through space to collect scientific data. A space probe may orbit Earth; approach the Moon; travel through interplanetary space; flyby, orbit, or land or fly on other planetary bodies; or ent ...
to enter orbit around the Moon.
April
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– The
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n army demands that the country rejoin the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
* 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
* 1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created ...
–
Luna 10
Luna 10 (or Lunik 10) was a 1966 Soviet lunar robotic spacecraft mission in the Luna program. It was the first artificial satellite of the Moon.
Luna 10 conducted extensive research in lunar orbit, gathering important data on the strength of ...
is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.
*
April 5
Events Pre-1600
* 823 – Lothair I is crowned King of Italy by Pope Paschal I.
* 919 – The second Fatimid invasion of Egypt begins, when the Fatimid heir-apparent, al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, sets out from Raqqada at the head of his a ...
– During the
Buddhist Uprising
The Buddhist Uprising of 1966 (), or more widely known in Vietnam as the Crisis in Central Vietnam (), was a period of civil and military unrest in South Vietnam, largely focused in the I Corps area in the north of the country in central Vietnam. ...
, South Vietnamese military prime minister
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ
Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (; 8 September 1930 – 23 July 2011) was a South Vietnamese military officer and politician who served as the chief of the Republic of Vietnam Air Force in the 1960s, before leading the nation as the prime minister of South V ...
personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of
Đà Nẵng
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
before backing down.
*
April 7
Events Pre-1600
* 451 – Attila the Hun captures Metz in France, killing most of its inhabitants and burning the town.
* 529 – First ''Corpus Juris Civilis'', a fundamental work in jurisprudence, is issued by Eastern Roman Empe ...
– The United Kingdom asks the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...
for authority to use force to stop
oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crud ...
s that violate the embargo against
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
(authority is given
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 1407 ...
).
*
April 8
Events Pre-1600
* 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
* 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
*1139 – Ro ...
** Buddhists in
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for
free elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...
.
**
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Union, Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Gener ...
becomes General Secretary of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, as well as Leader of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R.
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
** Kenyan Vice President
Oginga Odinga
Jaramogi Ajuma Oginga Odinga (October 1911 – 20 January 1994) was a Luo chieftain who became a prominent figure in Kenya's struggle for independence. He later served as Kenya's first Vice-President, and thereafter as opposition leader. Odinga ...
resigns, saying "invisible government" representing foreign interests now runs the country. He will head a new party, the
Kenya People's Union
The Kenya People's Union (KPU) was a socialist political party in Kenya led by Oginga Odinga. The party was banned in 1969.
History
Formation
In March 1966 a left-wing faction of the governing Kenya African National Union (KANU) instigated a ...
.
**The
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
ese government promises free elections in 3–5 months.
*
April 15
Events Pre-1600
* 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...
– An anti-
Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced Egyptian ...
conspiracy is exposed in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
** China declares that it will stop economic aid to
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
** The
38th Academy Awards
The 38th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1965, were held on April 18, 1966, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. They were hosted by Bob Hope.
The ceremony was broadcast on the ABC network and was ...
ceremony is held in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...
: ''
The Sound of Music
''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...
'' wins
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
** An
artificial heart
An artificial heart is a device that replaces the heart. Artificial hearts are typically used to bridge the time to heart transplantation, or to permanently replace the heart in the case that a heart transplant (from a deceased human or, experi ...
is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a
Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
, hospital.
** The opening of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
is televised for the first time.
**
Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
visits
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.
**
Moors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
:
Ian Brady
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
and
Myra Hindley
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
go on trial at
Chester Crown Court
Chester Crown Court is a judicial facility at Castle Square in Chester, Cheshire. The building, which forms part of a series of imposing buildings at Chester Castle, is a Grade I listed building.
History
The current building replaced a previous ...
in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
and October
1965
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 Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
.
*
April 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
* 1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy m ...
–
Uniform
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
daylight saving time
Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...
is first observed in most parts of North America.
*
April 26
Events Pre-1600
*1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
* 1348 – Czech king Karel IV founds the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe.
* 14 ...
** A new government is formed in the
Republic of the Congo
The Republic of the Congo (french: République du Congo, ln, Republíki ya Kongó), also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply either Congo or the Congo, is a country located in the western coast of Central Africa to the w ...
, led by
Ambroise Noumazalaye
Ambroise Édouard Noumazalaye (September 23, 1933Rémy Bazenguissa-Ganga, ''Les voies du politique au Congo: essai de sociologie historique'' (1997), Karthala Editions, page 442.November 17, 2007Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in
Soviet Central Asia
Soviet Central Asia (russian: link=no, Советская Средняя Азия, Sovetskaya Srednyaya Aziya) was the part of Central Asia administered by the Soviet Union between 1918 and 1991, when the Central Asian republics declared ind ...
with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (''Very strong'').
Tashkent
Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...
is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
*
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
–
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
and Soviet Foreign Minister
Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (russian: Андрей Андреевич Громыко; be, Андрэй Андрэевіч Грамыка; – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet communist politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as ...
meet in the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum
The Holy See
* The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
(the first meeting between leaders of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
).
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
– In
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
, security forces kill seven
ZANLA
Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant African nationalist organisation that participated in the Rhodesian Bush War against white minority rule of Rhode ...
men in combat; ''
Chimurenga
''Chimurenga'' is a word in the Shona language. The Ndebele equivalent, though not as widely used since the majority of Zimbabweans are Shona speaking, is ''Umvukela'', meaning "revolutionary struggle" or uprising. In specific historical term ...
'', the
ZANU
The Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) was a militant organisation that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia, formed as a split from the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU). ZANU split in 1975 into wings loyal to Robert Mugab ...
rebellion, begins.
*
April 30
Events Pre-1600
* 311 – The Diocletianic Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire ends.
* 1315 – Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged at the instigation of Charles, Count of Valois.
*1492 – Spain gives Christopher Columbus hi ...
– Regular
hovercraft
A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces.
Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
service begins over the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
(discontinued in 2000).
May
*
May 4
Events Pre-1600
* 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''.
* 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are ...
**
Fiat
Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
** May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of
Lunar Saros 111
Saros cycle series 111 for lunar eclipses occurs at the moon's descending node, repeats every 18 years 11 and 1/3 days. It contains 71 events.
The first total lunar eclipse of this series was on April 19, 1353, and last was on August 4, 1533. Th ...
.
*
May 5
Events Pre-1600
* 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
*1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
* 1260 – Ku ...
– The
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
defeat the
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...
to win the
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
in ice hockey.
*
May 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
*1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanis ...
– The
Moors murders
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
trial ends in the UK with
Ian Brady
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment.
Myra Hindley
The Moors murders were carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley between July 1963 and October 1965, in and around Manchester, England. The victims were five children—Pauline Reade, John Kilbride, Keith Bennett, Lesley Ann Downey, and Edward E ...
is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.
*
May 7
Events Pre-1600
* 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
* 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...
– Irish bank workers
go on strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...
.
*
May 12
Events Pre-1600
* 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.
* 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang d ...
** African members of the UN Security Council say that the British army should blockade Rhodesia.
**
Radio Peking
China Radio International (CRI) is the state-owned international radio broadcaster of China. It is currently headquartered in the Babaoshan area of Beijing's Shijingshan District. It was founded on December 3, 1941, as Radio Peking. It late ...
claims that U.S. planes have shot down a Chinese plane over
Yunnan
Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...
(the U.S. denies the story the next day).
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
–
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
.
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
**
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
asks
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
for peace negotiations.
** The
South Vietnam
South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
ese army besieges
Da Nang
Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one ...
.
** Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators again picket the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, then rally at the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
.
*
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
** The
Chinese Communist Party
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...
issues the ' May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
.
** A strike is called by the
National Union of Seamen
The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, ...
in the United Kingdom.
** In New York City, Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
makes his first public speech on the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
*
May 19
Events
Pre-1600
* 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
* 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
* 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev.
*1445 &n ...
– Gertrude Baniszewski is found guilty of torturing and murdering 16-year-old
Sylvia Likens
Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. This abuse in ...
at a court in Indianapolis, United States, and is sentenced to life in prison (she is released on parole in December
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
).
*
May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
**
Battle of Mengo Hill
The Buganda Crisis, also called the 1966 Mengo Crisis, the Kabaka Crisis, or the 1966 Crisis, domestically, was a period of political turmoil that occurred in Buganda. It was driven by conflict between Prime Minister Milton Obote and the Kabaka o ...
:
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
n army troops arrest
Mutesa II of Buganda
Sir Edward Frederick William David Walugembe Mutebi Luwangula Mutesa II (modern spelling: Muteesa) (19 November 1924 – 21 November 1969) was Kabaka of the Kingdom of Buganda in Uganda from 22 November 1939 until his death. He was the thirty- ...
and occupy his palace.
** The
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
n government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.
*
May 25
Events Pre-1600
* 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
*240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Tol ...
**
Explorer program
The Explorers program is a NASA exploration program that provides flight opportunities for physics, geophysics, heliophysics, and astrophysics investigations from space. Launched in 1958, Explorer 1 was the first spacecraft of the United Stat ...
: Satellite
Explorer 32
Explorer 32, also known as Atmosphere Explorer-B (AE-B), was a NASA satellite launched by the United States to study the Earth's upper atmosphere. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Delta C1 launch vehicle, on 25 May 1966. It was the se ...
(Atmosphere Explorer-B) is launched from the United States.
**
No. 9 Squadron RAAF
No. 9 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The squadron was formed in early 1939 and saw active service in World War II as a fleet co-operation unit providing aircrews for seaplanes operating off Royal Australian Navy c ...
becomes part of the 4,500 strong
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n Task Force assigned to duties in
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, leaving for
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
–
British Guiana
British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana.
The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...
achieves independence, becoming Guyana.
* May 28
** Fidel Castro declares martial law in Cuba because of a possible U.S. attack.
** The
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
n and
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
n governments declare that the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation is over (a treaty is signed on August 11).
** Boat ride "It's a Small World" opens at Disneyland.
* May 29 – Sports stadium Estadio Azteca officially opens in Mexico City in advance of the 1968 Summer Olympics.
* May 31 – The Philippines reestablishes diplomatic relations with
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
June
* June 2
** Éamon de Valera is re-elected as Irish president.
** Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
** Four former cabinet ministers including Évariste Kimba are executed in the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville), Democratic Republic of the Congo, for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko.
* June 3 – Joaquín Balaguer is elected president of the Dominican Republic.
* June 5 – Gemini 9A: Gene Cernan completes the second U.S. spacewalk (2 hours, 7 minutes).
* June 6 – Civil rights movement, Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot by a sniper while traversing Mississippi in the March Against Fear.
* June 8
** A North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber prototype is destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross are both killed.
** 1966 Topeka tornado: Topeka, Kansas is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, and the campus of Washburn University suffers catastrophic damage.
* June 12 – Chicago's Division Street riots begin in response to police shooting of a young Puerto Rican man.
* June 13 – ''Miranda v. Arizona'': The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.
* June 14 – The Holy See, Vatican abolishes the ''Index Librorum Prohibitorum''.
* June 17 – An Air France personnel strike begins.
* June 18 – CIA chief William Raborn resigns; Richard Helms becomes his successor.
* June 28 – Argentine Revolution: In Argentina, a military dictatorship, military junta calling itself ''Revolución Argentina'' deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to power.
* June 29
**
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
: U.S. planes begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.
** The strike by the
National Union of Seamen
The National Union of Seamen (NUS) was the principal trade union of merchant seafarers in the United Kingdom from the late 1880s to 1990. In 1990, the union amalgamated with the National Union of Railwaymen to form the National Union of Rail, ...
in the United Kingdom is called off.
* June 30
** France formally leaves
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
.
** The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, D.C.
July
* July 1 – Joaquín Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.
* July 3
**31 people are arrested when a demonstration by approximately 4,000 anti-
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
protesters in front of the United States Embassy in London in Grosvenor Square turns violent.
**René Barrientos is elected President of Bolivia.
* July 6 – Malawi becomes a republic.
* July 7 – A Warsaw Pact conference ends with a promise to support North Vietnam.
* July 8 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Ntare V, who is in turn deposed by prime minister Michel Micombero.
* July 11 – The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England.
* July 12
**
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
visits Moscow.
** Zambia threatens to leave the Commonwealth of Nations because of British peace overtures to
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
* July 13 – The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is founded in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
* July 14
** Israeli and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n jet fighters clash over the Jordan River.
** Richard Speck murders 8 student nurses in their Chicago dormitory. He is arrested on July 17.
** Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen (UK Parliament constituency), Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history.
* July 18
** Gemini 10 (John Young (astronaut), John Young, Michael Collins (astronaut), Michael Collins) is launched from the United States. After docking with an Agena target vehicle, the astronauts set a world altitude record of 474 miles (763 km).
** The International Court of Justice rules in favour of South Africa in a case on the administration of South West Africa which has been brought before them by Ethiopia and Liberia.
* July 22 – Following the death of Hsu Tsu-tsai, an engineer, in The Hague, the Chinese government declares Dutch delegate G. J. Jongejans persona non grata, but tells him not to leave the country before other Chinese engineers have left the Netherlands.
* July 23 – Katanga Province, Katangese troops in Kisangani, Stanleyville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.
* July 24 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant visits Moscow.
* July 24 – A USAF McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, F-4C Phantom #63-7599 is shot down by a North Vietnamese S-75 Dvina, SAM-2 northeast of Hanoi, the first loss of a U.S. aircraft to a Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in the Vietnam War.
* July 26 – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stating that the House is not bound to follow its own previous precedent.
* July 28 – The U.S. announces that a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane has disappeared over Cuba.
* July 29
** 1966 Nigerian counter-coup: Army officers from the north of
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
execute head of state General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Aguiyi-Ironsi and install Yakubu Gowon.
** ''La Noche de los Bastones Largos'': Junta takes over Argentine universities.
** Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.
* July 30 – England national football team, England beats Germany national football team, West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium (1923), Wembley after extra time.
* July 31 – The pleasure cruiser MV ''Darlwyne'' Loss of MV Darlwyne, disappeared off the Cornwall coast with the loss of all 31 aboard.
August
* August 1
** Sniper Charles Whitman kills 14 people and wounds 32 from atop the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower, after earlier killing his wife and mother.
** The British Colonial Office merges with the Commonwealth Relations Office to form a new Commonwealth Office.
* August 2 – The Spanish government forbids overflights by British military aircraft.
* August 5
** Groundbreaking takes place for the World Trade Center (1973-2001), World Trade Center in New York City.
**
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
leads a civil rights march in Chicago, during which he is struck by a rock thrown from an angry white mob.
** The Caesars Palace hotel and casino opens in Las Vegas.
* August 6
** Braniff Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, Nebraska, killing all 42 on board.
** René Barrientos takes office as the President of Bolivia.
** The António de Oliveira Salazar, Salazar Bridge (later the 25 de Abril Bridge) opens in Lisbon, Portugal.
* August 10
** An East German court sentences Günter Laudahn to life imprisonment for spying for the United States.
** Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the moon, is launched.
* August 11
** Indonesia and Malaysia issue a joint peace declaration, formally ending the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation which began in 1963.
**
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
hold a press conference in Chicago, during which
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
apologizes for his "
more popular than Jesus
"More popular than Jesus" is part of a remark made by John Lennon of the Beatles in a March 1966 interview in which he argued that the public were more infatuated with the band than with Jesus and that Christian faith was declining to the exte ...
" remark, saying, "I didn't mean it as a lousy anti-religious thing."
* August 12 – Massacre of Braybrook Street: Harry Roberts, John Duddy and Jack Witney shoot dead 3 plainclothes policemen in London; they are later sentenced to life imprisonment.
* August 15 –
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
n and Israeli troops clash over Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee) for 3 hours.
* August 17 – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic begin negotiations in Kuwait to end the war in Yemen.
* August 18 –
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
– Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.
* August 19 – The 6.8 1966 Varto earthquake, Varto earthquake affects the town of Varto in eastern
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent''), killing at least 2,394–3,000 and injuring at least 1,420.
* August 21 – Seven men are sentenced to death in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
for anti-
Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced Egyptian ...
agitation.
* August 22
** The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is established.
** The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers, United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.
* August 26 – The first battle of the South African Air Force and the South African Police with People's Liberation Army of Namibia, PLAN, the armed wing of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), takes place at Ongulumbashe during Operation Blue Wildebeest, triggering the South African Border War which continues until 1989.
* August 29 –
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
end their The Beatles' 1966 US tour, U.S. tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last performance as a live touring band.
* August 30 – France offers independence to French Somaliland (Djibouti from 1977).
September
* September 1
** United Nations Secretary-General U Thant declares that he will not seek re-election, because U.N. efforts in Vietnam have failed.
** 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia.
* September 6 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.
* September 9 –
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
decides to move Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to Belgium.
* September 12
** Gemini 11 (Richard F. Gordon, Jr., Pete Conrad) docks with an Agena target vehicle.
** B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.
* September 13 –
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
in China: Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, TASS in the Soviet Union.
* September 16
** In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.
** The Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera ''Antony and Cleopatra (opera), Antony and Cleopatra''.
* September 19 – Indonesian military commander (later President)
Suharto
Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto ...
announces the resumption of Indonesian participation in the United Nations.
* September 29 – Hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
* September 30
** The Bechuanaland Protectorate in Africa achieves independence from the United Kingdom as Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first President of Botswana, President.
** Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer are released from Spandau Prison in West Berlin.
October
* October – Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found the Black Panther Party in the United States.
* October 1 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors south of Wemme, Oregon, the first loss of a DC-9.
* October 3 – Tunisia severs diplomatic relations with the United Arab Republic.
* October 4
** Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.
** Basutoland becomes independent of the United Kingdom and takes the name Lesotho.
* October 5
** UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This event is to be celebrated as World Teachers' Day.
** Spain closes its Gibraltar border to vehicular traffic.
** An experimental breeder reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan suffers a partial meltdown when its cooling system fails.
* October 6
** LSD is made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only are possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the country are shut down as well.
** The Love Pageant Rally takes place in the Panhandle (San Francisco), Panhandle of Golden Gate Park (a narrow section that projects into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district).
* October 7 – The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October.
* October 9 –
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
: Binh Tai Massacre.
* October 11 – France and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
sign a treaty for cooperation in nuclear research.
* October 14
** Closure of Intra Bank begins a crisis in the Lebanese banking system.
** The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro system.
* October 17 – Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
* October 21
** Aberfan disaster in South Wales (U.K.): 144 (including 116 children) are killed by a collapsing coal spoil tip.
** The AFL-NFL merger in American football is approved by the U.S. Congress.
* October 22 – Spain demands that the United Kingdom stop military flights to Gibraltar; Britain refuses the next day.
* October 26
**
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
decides to move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels.
** A fire aboard the aircraft carrier in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.
* October 27
** The
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
terminates the mandate given by the League of Nations and proclaims that South West Africa will be administrated by the United Nations. This is rejected by South Africa.
** Walt Disney records his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for EPCOT (concept), EPCOT, a utopian planned community, planned city to be built in Florida.
November
* November 1 – The National Football League in the United States awards its sixteenth franchise to the city of New Orleans. The team will be named the New Orleans Saints.
* November 2 – The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States.
* November 4 – 1966 flood of the Arno river in Italy hits Florence, flooding it to a maximum depth of , leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. In addition, a 1966 Venice flood, severe tidal flood hits Venice.
* November 5 – Thirty-eight African states demand that the United Kingdom use force against the
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
n government.
* November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.
* November 8 – Screen actor Ronald Reagan is elected Governor of California.
* November 10 – Seán Lemass retires as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland to be replaced in the role by fellow Fianna Fáil member Jack Lynch.
* November 11
** A mine kills 3 Israelis, Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.
** Spain declares general amnesty for crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War, effective only for the Falangists' side.
* November 12 – Total solar eclipse occurs, the 20th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 142.
* November 14 – Jack L. Warner sells Warner Bros. to Seven Arts Productions, which eventually becomes Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
* November 15
** Gemini 12 (James A. Lovell, Buzz Aldrin) splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bahamas.
** A Boeing 727 freighter on Pan Am Flight 708 crashes near Berlin, Germany, killing all three crew on board.
** Two young couples in Point Pleasant, West Virginia reportedly see a strange moth-like creature, which would become known as the Mothman.
* November 17
** The U.N. General Assembly decides to found the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
** A spectacular Leonids, Leonid meteor shower passes over Arizona, at the rate of 2,300 a minute for 20 minutes.
* November 21 – In Togo, the army crushes an attempted coup.
* November 24
**
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
begin recording sessions for their ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album at Abbey Road Studios in London.
** TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.
* November 26
** 1966 Australian federal election:
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party.
Holt was born in S ...
's Liberal Party of Australia, Liberal/National Party of Australia, Country Coalition (Australia), Coalition Holt Government, Government is re-elected with a significantly increased majority, defeating the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. Calwell resigns as Labor leader shortly after; he will be 1967 Australian Labor Party leadership election, replaced by his deputy and future Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
** In the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup at Vancouver's Empire Stadium (Vancouver), Empire Stadium 29–14. Saskatchewan were led by quarterback Ron Lancaster.
* November 27 – The Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in National Football League history.
* November 28 – Truman Capote's Black and White Ball ('The Party of the Century') is held in New York City.
* November 29 – The sinks in a storm on Lake Huron, killing 28 of 29 crewmen.
* November 30 – Barbados achieves Barbados Independence Act 1966, independence from the United Kingdom.
December
* December 1
** Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of Germany (Federal Republic), Chancellor of West Germany.
** British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
and
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
n Prime minister Ian Smith negotiate aboard in the Mediterranean.
* December 2 – U Thant agrees to serve a second term as United Nations Secretary General.
* December 3 – Anti-Portuguese demonstrations occur in Macau; a curfew is declared the next day.
* December 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in ''Bond v. Floyd'' that the Georgia House of Representatives must seat Julian Bond, having violated his First Amendment to the United States Constitution, First and Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment rights.
* December 6 –
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
: Bình Hòa massacre.
* December 7
**
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
offers weapons to rebels in Jordan.
** Barbados is United Nations Security Council Resolution 230, admitted to the United Nations.
* December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.
* December 12 – Harry Roberts (criminal), Harry Roberts, John Whitney and John Duddy are sentenced to life imprisonment (each with a recommended minimum of 30 years) for the Shepherd's Bush murders of three London policemen on August 12. Roberts, arrested on November 15 north of London, will eventually spend nearly 48 years in prison.
* December 16
** The United Nations Security Council approves an oil embargo against
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
** The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).
* December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
.
* December 19 – The Asian Development Bank begins operations.
* December 20 – U.K. Prime Minister
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...
withdraws all his previous offers to the
Rhodesia
Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...
n government and announces that he will agree to independence for the country only after the establishment of a Black majority government there.
* December 22 – Prime Minister Ian Smith declares that Rhodesia is already a republic.
* December 24 – New York television station WPIX broadcasts ''Yule Log (TV program), The Yule Log'' for the first time; it becomes a Christmas tradition.
* December 25 – Marionette sci-fi series ''Thunderbirds (TV series), Thunderbirds'' airs its final episode on ITV (TV network), ITV in the United Kingdom with a Christmas special.
* December 26 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.
* December 31
** East German Premier Walter Ulbricht discusses negotiations about German reunification.
** Eight paintings worth millions of pounds are stolen from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, but are recovered locally within a week.
** The Congolese government takes over the Union Minière du Haut Katanga.
Date unknown
* Konstantin Chernenko, later leader of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
, becomes a candidate member of the Central Committee.
* Paramount Pictures Corporation becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Gulf+Western Industries, Inc.
* Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn are awarded the Fermi Prize.
* The Congress of the United States creates the National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development.
* Martin Richards (computer scientist), Martin Richards designs the programming language BCPL.
* The World Buddhist Sangha (Buddhism), Sangha Council is convened by Theravada, Theravadins in Sri Lanka, with the hope of bridging differences and working together.
* ''The Jerusalem Bible'', a Roman Catholic translation, is published in English.
* Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann publish ''The Social Construction of Reality''.
* Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cell (biology), cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.
* In or about this year, one person returning to Haiti from the Republic of the Congo, Congo is thought to have first brought HIV to the Americas.
Births
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Ivica Dačić, Serbian politician, Prime Minister of Serbia 2012–2014
* January 4 – Christian Kern, Austrian politician, 24th Chancellor of Austria
* January 6 – Sharon Cuneta, Filipino actress, host and singer
* January 7 – Corrie Sanders, South African boxer (d. 2012)
* January 8
** Igor Vyazmikin, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2009)
** Andrew Wood (singer), Andrew Wood, American musician (d. 1990)
* January 13 – Patrick Dempsey, American actor and race car driver
* January 14
** Nadia Maftouni, Iranian philosopher
** Dan Schneider, American television producer, screenwriter and actor
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
January 19
Events Pre-1600
* 379 – Emperor Gratian elevates Flavius Theodosius at Sirmium to ''Augustus'', and gives him authority over all the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.
* 649 – Conquest of Kucha: The forces of Kucha surrender ...
** Floris Jan Bovelander, Dutch field-hockey player
** Stefan Edberg, Swedish tennis player
** Lena Philipsson, Swedish singer and media personality
*
January 20
Events Pre-1600
* 250 – Pope Fabian is martyred during the Decian persecution.
* 649 – King Chindasuinth, at the urging of bishop Braulio of Zaragoza, crowns his son Recceswinth as co-ruler of the Visigothic Kingdom.
* 1156 &ndas ...
– Rainn Wilson, American actor, writer and producer
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
– Jegath Gaspar Raj, Tamil Maiyam founder
* January 28 – Andrea Berg, German singer
* January 29 – Romário, Brazilian footballer and politician
February
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
– Michelle Akers, American footballer
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– Jimmy Thunder, Samoan boxer
* February 5 – José María Olazábal, Spanish golfer
* February 6 – Rick Astley, British pop musician
*
February 7
Events Pre-1600
* 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor.
* 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II.
* 1301 &nd ...
– Kristin Otto, German swimmer
* February 8 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
* February 9 – Ellen van Langen, Dutch athlete
* February 11 – Cristina Elena Grigoraș, Romanian artistic gymnast
* February 13 – Neal McDonough, American actor
* February 17 – Quorthon, Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer (d. 2004)
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– Cindy Crawford, American model and actress
* February 22 – Rachel Dratch, American actress and comedian
*
February 23
Events Pre-1600
* 303 – Roman emperor Diocletian orders the destruction of the Christian church in Nicomedia, beginning eight years of Diocletianic Persecution.
* 532 – Byzantine emperor Justinian I lays the foundation stone of a ...
**Alexandre Borges, Brazilian actor
**Didier Queloz, Swiss-born astronomer, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate
*
February 24
Events Pre-1600
* 484 – King Huneric of the Vandals replaces Nicene bishops with Arian ones, and banishes some to Corsica.
* 1303 – The English are defeated at the Battle of Roslin, in the First War of Scottish Independence.
* 13 ...
– Billy Zane, American actor
* February 25
** Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete
** Téa Leoni, American actress
* February 26
** Jennifer Grant, American actress
** Najwa Karam, Lebanese singer
* February 27 – Alison Gertz, American AIDS activist (d. 1992)
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
** Paulo Futre, Portuguese footballer
** Ickey Woods, American football player
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
– Zack Snyder, American actor, film director, screenwriter and producer
*
March 2
Events Pre-1600
* 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...
– Sheren Tang, Hong Kong actress
* March 3
** Fernando Colunga, Mexican actor
** Vander Lee, Brazilian singer-songwriter (d. 2016)
** Tone Lōc, African American R&B musician
*
March 4
Events Pre-1600
*AD 51 – Nero, later to become Roman emperor, is given the title '' princeps iuventutis'' (head of the youth).
* 306 – Martyrdom of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia.
* 852 – Croatian Knez Trpimir I issues a st ...
** Steve Bastoni, Australian actor
** Kevin Johnson (basketball), Kevin Johnson, American basketball player
* March 9 – Tony Lockett, Australian rules footballer
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a t ...
– Edie Brickell, American singer
* March 13 – Chico Science, Brazilian musician (d. 1997)
* March 17 – Espen Hammer, Norwegian philosopher
* March 18 – Jerry Cantrell, American guitarist and singer
*
March 22
Events Pre-1600
* 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea.
* 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century.
* 871 – Æthelr ...
** Pia Cayetano, Filipino politician, and lawyer
** António Pinto (athlete), Antonio Pinto, Portuguese long-distance runner
* March 25
** Tom Glavine, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
** Jeff Healey, Canadian guitarist (d. 2008)
** Anton Rogan, Northern Irish footballer
** Remig Stumpf, German cyclist (d. 2019)
*
March 26
Events Pre-1600
* 590 – Emperor Maurice proclaims his son Theodosius as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire.
* 1021 – On the feast of Eid al-Adha, the death of the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, kept secret for six weeks, is ...
– Michael Imperioli, American actor
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Krasimir Balakov, Bulgarian footballer
April
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– Teddy Sheringham, British footballer
*
April 8
Events Pre-1600
* 217 – Roman emperor Caracalla is assassinated and is succeeded by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
* 876 – The Battle of Dayr al-'Aqul saves Baghdad from the Saffarids.
*1139 – Ro ...
** Cynthia Nixon, American actress
** Robin Wright, American actress
* April 11 – Lisa Stansfield, British soul singer
* April 13 – Ali Boumnijel, Tunisian footballer
*
April 14
Events Pre-1600
* 43 BC – Legions loyal to the Roman Senate, commanded by Gaius Pansa, defeat the forces of Mark Antony in the Battle of Forum Gallorum.
* 69 – Vitellius, commanding Rhine-based armies, defeats Roman emperor Otho ...
- Greg Maddux, American baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
*
April 15
Events Pre-1600
* 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings.
* 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guiscar ...
– Samantha Fox, British model and singer
* April 17 – Vikram (actor), Vikram, Indian actor
*
April 18
Events Pre-1600
* 796 – King Æthelred I of Northumbria is murdered in Corbridge by a group led by his ealdormen, Ealdred and Wada. The ''patrician'' Osbald is crowned, but abdicates within 27 days.
* 1428 – Peace of Ferrara betw ...
– Trine Hattestad, Norwegian athlete
* April 20 – David Chalmers, Australian philosopher
* April 22 – Jeffrey Dean Morgan, American actor
* April 25 – Man Arenas, Spanish comic creator
*
April 26
Events Pre-1600
*1336 – Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) ascends Mont Ventoux.
* 1348 – Czech king Karel IV founds the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe.
* 14 ...
April 27
Events Pre-1600
* 247 – Philip the Arab marks the millennium of Rome with a celebration of the ''ludi saeculares''.
* 395 – Emperor Arcadius marries Aelia Eudoxia, daughter of the Frankish general Flavius Bauto. She becomes one of ...
** Siw Anita Andersen Norwegian actress
** Yoshihiro Togashi, Japanese author and illustrator
*
April 28
Events Pre-1600
* 224 – The Battle of Hormozdgan is fought. Ardashir I defeats and kills Artabanus V effectively ending the Parthian Empire.
* 357 – Emperor Constantius II enters Rome for the first time to celebrate his victory ...
– Ali Reza Pahlavi (born 1966), Ali-Reza Pahlavi, titular prince of Iran (d. 2011)
May
* May 3 – Firdous Bamji, Indian-American actor
*
May 5
Events Pre-1600
* 553 – The Second Council of Constantinople begins.
*1215 – Rebel barons renounce their allegiance to King John of England — part of a chain of events leading to the signing of the Magna Carta.
* 1260 – Ku ...
May 6
Events Pre-1600
* 1527 – Spanish and German troops sack Rome; many scholars consider this the end of the Renaissance.
*1536 – The Siege of Cuzco commences, in which Incan forces attempt to retake the city of Cuzco from the Spanis ...
** Andrea Chiesa, Swiss Formula One driver
** Cindy Hsu, American Emmy Award-winning journalist
*
May 7
Events Pre-1600
* 351 – The Jewish revolt against Constantius Gallus breaks out after his arrival at Antioch.
* 558 – In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses, twenty years after its construction. Justinian I imm ...
** Anderson Cummins, Canadian cricketer
** Jes Høgh, Danish footballer
* May 8
** Robert J. Behnen, American genealogist and politician
** Kamil Kašťák, Czech ice hockey player
** Marta Sánchez, Spanish female vocalist, entertainer
** Cláudio Taffarel, Brazilian goalkeeper
* May 10
** Mikael Andersson (ice hockey, born 1966), Mikael Andersson, Swedish ice hockey player
** Jonathan Edwards (triple jumper), Jonathan Edwards, British athlete
** Anne Elvebakk, Norwegian biathlete
** Genaro Hernández, Mexican-American boxer
** Wade Dominguez, American actor, model, singer and dancer (d. 1998)
*
May 12
Events Pre-1600
* 254 – Pope Stephen I succeeds Pope Lucius I, becoming the 23rd pope of the Catholic Church, and immediately takes a stand against Novatianism.
* 907 – Zhu Wen forces Emperor Ai into abdicating, ending the Tang d ...
** Stephen Baldwin, American actor
** Bebel Gilberto, Brazilian popular singer
* May 13
** Cheryl Dunye, Liberian-born film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress
** Darius Rucker, African American country singer
*
May 16
Events Pre-1600
* 946 – Emperor Suzaku abdicates the throne in favor of his brother Murakami who becomes the 62nd emperor of Japan.
*1204 – Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire.
* 1364 ...
** Janet Jackson, African American R&B singer
** Juan Manuel Funes, Guatemalan footballer and coach
* May 17
** Hill Harper, American actor
** Qusay Hussein, Iraqi politician (d. 2003)
*
May 19
Events
Pre-1600
* 639 – Ashina Jiesheshuai and his tribesmen assaulted Emperor Taizong at Jiucheng Palace.
* 715 – Pope Gregory II is elected.
* 1051 – Henry I of France marries the Rus' princess, Anne of Kiev.
*1445 &n ...
– Polly Walker, English actress
* May 21
** Lisa Edelstein, American actress and playwright
** François Omam-Biyik, Cameroonian football player
* May 22 – Siri Eftedal, Norwegian team handball player and Olympic medalist
* May 23
** H. Jon Benjamin, American actor and comedian
** Graeme Hick, English cricketer
*
May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
** Eric Cantona, French footballer
** Francisco Javier Cruz, Mexican football player
** Russell Kun, Nauruan politician
*
May 25
Events Pre-1600
* 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
*240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Tol ...
– Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh, Iranian goalkeeper
*
May 26
Events Pre-1600
* 17 – Germanicus celebrates a triumph in Rome for his victories over the Cherusci, Chatti, and other German tribes west of the Elbe.
* 451 – Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sasanian Empire take ...
** Helena Bonham Carter, English actress
** Zola Budd, South African athlete
* May 27
** Heston Blumenthal, British chef
** Carol Campbell (actress), Carol Campbell, Afro-German actress, model and presenter
* May 30 – Thomas Häßler, German football player
June
* June 3 – Wasim Akram, Pakistani cricketer
* June 4
** Cecilia Bartoli, Italian mezzo-soprano
** Svetlana Jitomirskaya, American mathematician
** Vladimir Voevodsky, Russian mathematician (d. 2017)
* June 6 – Faure Gnassingbé, President of Togo
* June 7 – Tom McCarthy (director), Tom McCarthy, American film director and actor
* June 8
** Jens Kidman, Swedish musician
** Julianna Margulies, American actress and producer
* June 13 – Grigori Perelman, Russian mathematician
* June 14 – Eduardo Waghorn, Chilean musician
* June 15 – Roberto Carnevale, Italian musician
* June 16 – Jan Železný, Czech javelin thrower
* June 18 – Kurt Browning, Canadian figure skater
* June 19 – Samuel West, British actor
* June 22
** Michael Park (co-driver), Michael Park, British rally co-driver (d. 2005)
** Emmanuelle Seigner, French actress
** Dean Woods, Australian cyclist and Olympic champion (d. 2022)
* June 23 – Richie Jen, Taiwanese musician
* June 24 – Adrienne Shelly, American actress, film director and screenwriter (d. 2006)
* June 25 – Dikembe Mutombo, Congolese basketball player
* June 26 – Dany Boon, French comedian and filmmaker
* June 27 – J. J. Abrams, American television writer and producer
* June 28
** John Cusack, American actor
** Mary Stuart Masterson, American actress
* June 29 – Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Indonesian politician, governor of Jakarta
* June 30
** Cheryl Bernard, Canadian Olympic curler
** Marton Csokas, New Zealand actor
** Mike Tyson, African American boxer
July
* July 1
** Enrico Annoni, Italian footballer
** Samir Rifai, Prime Minister of Jordan
* July 3 – František Štorm, Czech musician (Master's Hammer) and typographer
* July 5 – Gianfranco Zola, Italian footballer
* July 8 – Shadlog Bernicke, Nauruan politician
* July 9 – Pamela Adlon, American actress, voice actress, screenwriter, producer and director
* July 10 – Gina Bellman, New Zealand-British actress
* July 11 – Kentaro Miura, Japanese author and illustrator
* July 14 – Matthew Fox, American actor
* July 15
** Irène Jacob, French-born actress
** Kristoff St. John, American actor (d. 2019)
* July 16
** Frankie Gan Joon Zin, Malaysian politician
** Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy, Malaysian lawyer
* July 18
** Lori Alan, American actress and voice actress
** Dan O'Brien, American athlete
* July 20 – Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012-2018), Governor of the State of Mexico (2005–2011)
* July 21 – Sarah Waters, British novelist
* July 26 – Angelo Di Livio, Italian footballer
* July 28 – Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer
* July 29 – Richard Steven Horvitz, American actor and voice actor
* July 30
** Murilo Bustamante, Brazilian mixed martial artist
** Allan Langer, Australian rugby league player
* July 31 – Dean Cain, American actor
August
* August 5 – James Gunn, American filmmaker
* August 7
** Harith Iskander, Malaysian actor and comedian
** Jimmy Wales, American-British entrepreneur, co-founder of Wikipedia. Quoted from the April 25, 2004, first-ever press release issued by the Wikimedia Foundation.
* August 10
** Charlie Dimmock, English TV gardening expert
** Hossam Hassan, Egyptian footballer
** André Sogliuzzo, American actor and voice actor
* August 11 – Juan María Solare, Argentine composer
* August 12 – Les Ferdinand, English footballer
* August 14
** Halle Berry, American actress
** Freddy Rincón, Colombian footballer (d. 2022)
* August 17 – Rodney Mullen, American skateboarder
* August 19 – Lee Ann Womack, American musician
* August 20
** Dimebag Darrell, American guitarist (d. 2004)
** Enrico Letta, 55th Prime Minister of Italy
** Liu Chunyan, Chinese voice actress and host
* August 23 – Rik Smits, Dutch basketball player
* August 26 – Jacques Brinkman, Dutch field hockey player
* August 27
** Jeroen Duyster, Dutch rower
** Juhan Parts, 15th Prime Minister of Estonia
* August 28 – Priya Dutt, Indian social worker and politician
September
* September 1 – Tim Hardaway, American basketball player
* September 2 – Salma Hayek, Mexican-American actress
* September 4 – Yanka Dyagileva, Russian singer (d. 1991)
* September 6
** Emil Boc, 61st Prime Minister of Romania
** Eduardo Maruri, Ecuadorian businessman and politician
* September 7
** Vladimir Andreyev (racewalker), Vladimir Andreyev, Russian race walker
** Toby Jones, English actor
** Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann, German speed skater
* September 8 – Carola Häggkvist, Swedish pop singer, Eurovision Song Contest Eurovision Song Contest 1991, 1991 winner
* September 9
** Georg Hackl, German skiing, luger
** Adam Sandler, American actor and comedian
* September 12
** Steve Ells, American entrepreneur and founder of Chipotle Mexican Grill
** Kiko, Princess Akishino, Princess Akishino of Japan
** Malu Mader, Brazilian actress
* September 20 – Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese-American guitarist and singer-songwriter
* September 21 – Nechirvan Barzani, President of Iraqi Kurdistan
* September 22
** Erdoğan Atalay, German actor
** Moustafa Amar, Egyptian singer
* September 25 – Jason Flemyng, English actor
* September 28 – Maria Canals-Barrera, American actress
* September 29 – Bujar Nishani, President of Albania (d. 2022)
October
* October 1
** Ashab Uddin, Indian politician
** George Weah, Liberian politician and football player
* October 2 – Yokozuna (wrestler), Rodney Anoa'i, Samoan-American professional wrestler (d. 2000)
* October 3 – Rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Israeli settler leader (d. 2000)
* October 5 – Inessa Kravets, Ukrainian athlete
* October 6 – Niall Quinn, Irish footballer
* October 7 – Sherman Alexie, Native American author
* October 8 – Aaron Callaghan (footballer, born 1966), Aaron Callaghan, Irish football club executive
* October 9 – David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* October 10
** Tony Adams, English footballer
** Carolyn Bertozzi, American chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate
** Bai Ling, Chinese actress
** Elana Meyer, South African athlete
* October 11 – Luke Perry, American actor (d. 2019)
* October 15
** Eric Benét, African American singer-songwriter
** Jorge Campos, Mexican footballer and coach
* October 18 – Angela Visser, Dutch winner of Miss Universe 1989
* October 19 – Jon Favreau, American actor and director
* October 20 – Stefan Raab, German entertainer, television host, comedian and musician
* October 22 – Valeria Golino, Italian-Greek film and television actress
* October 24 – Roman Abramovich, UK-based Russian billionaire businessman
* October 25 – Wendel Clark, Canadian hockey player
* October 28 – Andy Richter, American actor, writer, comedian and late night talk show announcer
* October 30 – Zoran Milanović, Croatian politician, President of Croatia
* October 31
**Ad-Rock, Adam Horovitz, American rapper
**Mike O'Malley, American actor and playwright
November
*November 2
**David Schwimmer, American actor
* November 3 – Joe Hachem, Lebanese-born Australian poker player
* November 8 – Gordon Ramsay, Scottish-born chef, restaurateur and television personality
* November 11
** Benedicta Boccoli, Italian model and actress
** Peaches (musician), Peaches, Canadian musician
* November 13 – Susanna Haapoja, Finnish politician (d. 2009)
* November 15 – Rachel True, American actress
* November 17
** Jeff Buckley, American singer-songwriter (d. 1997)
** Daisy Fuentes, Cuban-born American model and television personality
** Sophie Marceau, French actress
* November 19
** Gail Devers, American track and field athlete
** Jason Scott Lee, American actor and martial artist
* November 22
** Orlando Jorge Mera, Dominican politician (d. 2022)
** Michael K. Williams, American actor (d. 2021)
* November 23
**Vincent Cassel, French actor
**Michelle Gomez, Scottish actress
* November 24 – Juan Pablo Gamboa, Colombian actor
* November 25
** Billy Burke (actor), Billy Burke, American actor
** Roberto Rojas, Bolivian politician (d. 2022)
* November 26 – Garcelle Beauvais, Haitian-American actress, singer and fashion model
* November 28 – Narumi Yasuda, Japanese actress
* November 29 – John Bradshaw Layfield, American professional wrestler
December
* December 1 - Larry Walker, Canadian baseball player, MLB Hall of Fame member
* December 3 – Adam Berry, American composer
* December 4
** Fred Armisen, American actor, comedian and musician
** Carey Means, American actor and voice artist
* December 5 – Patricia Kaas, French singer and actress
* December 7
** C. Thomas Howell, American actor and director
** Linn Ullmann, Norwegian journalist and author
* December 8
** Bushwick Bill, Jamaican-American rapper (d. 2019)
** Matthew Labyorteaux, American actor
** Sinéad O'Connor, Irish pop singer
** Ralph Santolla, Italian-American metal guitarist (d. 2018)
* December 9
** Tim Bull, Australian politician
** Michael Foster (musician), Michael Foster, American musician, drummer
* December 10
** Montserrat Gil Torné, Andorran politician
** Kirsten Gillibrand, American politician; United States Senator (D-NY)
** Julio Rodas, Guatemalan soccer player
** Mateo Romero (artist), Mateo Romero, Native American painter
** Gideon Sa'ar, Israeli politician
** Kadyrbek Sarbayev, foreign minister of Kyrgyzstan
** Natee Thongsookkaew, Thailand footballer
* December 12
** Último Dragón, Japanese professional wrestler
** Lydia Zimmermann, Spanish filmmaker
* December 14
** Anthony Mason (basketball), Anthony Mason, American basketball player (d. 2015)
** Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Danish Prime Minister
* December 15 – Katja von Garnier, German film director
* December 17 – Miloš Tichý, Czech astronomer
* December 19
** Tim Sköld, Swedish multi-instrumentalist musician
** Alberto Tomba, Italian alpine skier
* December 20 – Ed de Goeij, Dutch footballer
* December 21 – Kiefer Sutherland, Canadian actor and film director
* December 22
** Din Beramboi, Malaysian comedian, actor and radio DJ (d. 2010)
** Dmitry Bilozerchev, Soviet gymnast
* December 23 – Cláudia Raia, Brazilian actress, dancer and singer
* December 24 – Diedrich Bader, American actor and voice artist
* December 27 – Bill Goldberg, American professional wrestler
* December 28 – Kaliopi, Macedonian singer-songwriter
* December 31 – Maddie Taylor, American actress and comedian
Date unknown
* Guli Francis-Dehqani, Iranian-born Anglican diocesan bishop
* Julian Hooper, New Zealand artist
* Charbel Iskandar, Lebanese actor
* Kivi Larmola, Finnish artist
Deaths
January
*
January 1
January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the yea ...
– Vincent Auriol, French politician, President of France (b. 1884)
*
January 3
Events Pre-1600
*AD 69, 69 – The Roman legions on the Rhine refuse to declare their allegiance to Galba, instead proclaiming their legate, Aulus Vitellius, as emperor.
* 250 – Emperor Decius orders everyone in the Roman Empire (ex ...
** Sammy Younge Jr., American civil rights activist (b. 1944)
** Marguerite Higgins, American journalist (b. 1920)
** Rex Lease, American actor (b. 1903)
* January 4 – Georges Theunis, 24th Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1873)
*
January 10
Events Pre-1600
*49 BC – Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signalling the start of civil war.
* 9 – The Western Han dynasty ends when Wang Mang claims that the divine Mandate of Heaven called for the end of the dynasty and the be ...
– Ignacy Oziewicz, Polish general (b. 1887)
* January 11
** Alberto Giacometti, Swiss sculptor and painter (b. 1901)
** Hannes Kolehmainen, Finnish Olympic athlete (b. 1889)
**
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri (; 2 October 1904 – 11 January 1966) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of India from 1964 to 1966 and 6th Home Minister of India from 1961 to 1963. He promoted the White Re ...
, Indian activist, 2nd
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
(b. 1904)
* January 14
** Sergei Korolev, Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer (b. 1907)
** Bill Carr, American Olympic athlete (b. 1909)
*
January 15
Events Pre-1600
* 69 – Otho seizes power in Rome, proclaiming himself Emperor of Rome, beginning a reign of only three months.
* 1541 – King Francis I of France gives Jean-François Roberval a commission to settle the province of ...
** Samuel Akintola, Nigerian premier of the Western Nigeria, Western region and Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of the Yoruba (assassinated) (b. 1910)
**
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence.
Early life
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...
, Nigerian politician, 1st Prime Minister of Nigeria (assassinated) (b. 1912)
** Ahmadu Bello, Nigerian premier of the Premier of Northern Nigeria, Northern region (assassinated) (b. 1910)
* January 16 – Courtney Hodges, American army general (b. 1887)
*
January 17
Events Pre-1600
* 38 BC – Octavian divorces his wife Scribonia and marries Livia Drusilla, ending the fragile peace between the Second Triumvirate and Sextus Pompey.
* 1362 – Saint Marcellus' flood kills at least 25,000 people on ...
– Vincent J. Donehue, American stage director (b. 1917)
* January 18 – Kathleen Norris, American writer (b. 1880)
*
January 22
Events Pre-1600
* 613 – Eight-month-old Constantine is crowned as co-emperor (''Caesar'') by his father Heraclius at Constantinople.
* 871 – Battle of Basing: The West Saxons led by King Æthelred I are defeated by the Danelaw Vi ...
– Herbert Marshall, English actor (b. 1890)
* January 25 – Saul Adler, Russian-born British-Israeli expert on parasitology (b. 1895)
*
January 31
Events Pre-1600
* 314 – Pope Sylvester I is consecrated, as successor to the late Pope Miltiades.
* 1208 – The Battle of Lena takes place between King Sverker II of Sweden and his rival, Prince Eric, whose victory puts him on the t ...
** Elizabeth Patterson (actress), Elizabeth Patterson, American actress (b. 1875)
** Arthur Percival, British general (b.1887)
February
*
February 1
Events Pre-1600
* 1327 – The teenaged Edward III is crowned King of England, but the country is ruled by his mother Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer.
* 1411 – The First Peace of Thorn is signed in Thorn (Toruń), Mon ...
** Hedda Hopper, American actress and gossip columnist (b. 1885)
** Buster Keaton, American actor and film director (b. 1895)
** Joseph R. Knowland, American politician and newspaper publisher (b. 1873)
*
February 3
Events Pre-1600
* 1112 – Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, and Douce I, Countess of Provence, marry, uniting the fortunes of those two states.
*1451 – Sultan Mehmed II inherits the throne of the Ottoman Empire.
*1488 – ...
– June Walker, American actress (b. 1900)
* February 5 – Louisa Martindale, British physician, writer, magistrate and prison commissioner (b. 1872)
* February 6 – Narcisa de León, Filipino film producer (b. 1877)
* February 9 – Sophie Tucker, American singer (b. 1886)
*
February 10
Events Pre-1600
* 1258 – Mongol invasions: Baghdad falls to the Mongols, bringing the Islamic Golden Age to an end.
* 1306 – In front of the high altar of Greyfriars Church in Dumfries, Robert the Bruce murders John Comyn, sparkin ...
** J. F. C. Fuller, British general and military strategist (b. 1878)
** Billy Rose, American composer and band leader (b. 1899)
* February 12 – Wilhelm Röpke, German economist (b. 1899)
* February 15
** Gerard Antoni Ciołek, Gerard Ciołek, Polish architect and historian (b. 1909)
** Camilo Torres Restrepo, Colombian socialist and Roman Catholic priest (b. 1929)
* February 17
**Alfred P. Sloan, American automobile industrialist (b. 1875)
**Hans Hofmann, German-American painter (b. 1880)
* February 18 – Robert Rossen, American film director (b. 1908)
*
February 20
Events Pre-1600
*1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.
*1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland ...
– Chester W. Nimitz, American Navy admiral (b. 1885)
* February 25 – Victor Kravchenko (defector), Victor Kravchenko, Soviet writer (b. 1905)
* February 26
** Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian pro-independence activist, Hindu nationalist (b. 1883)
** Gino Severini, Italian painter (b. 1883)
*
February 28
Events Pre-1600
*202 BC – Liu Bang is enthroned as the Emperor of China, beginning four centuries of rule by the Han dynasty.
* 870 – The Fourth Council of Constantinople closes.
*1525 – Aztec king Cuauhtémoc is executed on ...
** Charles Bassett, American astronaut (b. 1931)
** Jonathan Hale, American actor (b. 1891)
** Elliot See, American astronaut (b. 1927)
March
*
March 1
Events Pre-1600
*509 BC – Publius Valerius Publicola celebrates the first Roman triumph, triumph of the Roman Republic after his victory over the deposed king Lucius Tarquinius Superbus at the Battle of Silva Arsia.
* 293 – Emperor ...
** Fritz Houtermans, German physicist (b. 1903)
** William R. Munroe, American admiral (b. 1886)
** Donald Stewart (actor), Donald Stewart, American actor (b. 1910)
* March 3
** Joseph Fields, American playwright (b. 1895)
** William Frawley, American actor (''I Love Lucy'') (b. 1887)
** Alice Pearce, American actress (b. 1917)
*
March 5
Events Pre-1600
* 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
* 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Eastern ...
– Anna Akhmatova, Russian poet (b. 1889)
*
March 7
Events Pre-1600
* 161 – Marcus Aurelius and L. Commodus (who changes his name to Lucius Verus) become joint emperors of Rome on the death of Antoninus Pius.
* 1138 – Konrad III von Hohenstaufen was elected king of Germany at Cob ...
– Donald B. Beary, American admiral (b. 1888)
*
March 8
Events Pre-1600
* 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem ''Shahnameh''.
*1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León.
* 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between bour ...
** William Astor, 3rd Viscount Astor, British politician (b. 1907)
** Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar, Egyptian painter (b. 1925)
*
March 10
Events Pre-1600
* 241 BC – First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates: The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing the First Punic War to an end.
* 298 – Roman Emperor Maximian concludes his campaign in North Africa and makes a t ...
** Frank O'Connor, Irish writer (b. 1903)
** Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)
* March 12 – Néstor Guillén, Bolivian politician, 40th President of Bolivia (b. 1890)
*
March 20
Events Pre-1600
* 673 – Emperor Emperor Tenmu, Tenmu of Japan assumes the Chrysanthemum Throne at the Asuka, Yamato#Imperial Palaces, Palace of Kiyomihara in Asuka, Yamato, Asuka.
*1206 – Michael IV of Constantinople, Michael IV Au ...
** Laurence Abrams, English professional footballer (b. 1889)
** Johnny Morrison (baseball), Johnny Morrison, American professional baseball player (b. 1895)
*
March 27
Events Pre-1600
*1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and Interdict (Catholic canon law), interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom. ...
– Helen Menken, American actress (b. 1901)
*
March 29
Events Pre-1600
* 845 – Paris is sacked by Viking raiders, probably under Ragnar Lodbrok, who collects a huge ransom in exchange for leaving.
* 1430 – The Ottoman Empire under Murad II captures Thessalonica from the Republic of ...
– Stylianos Gonatas, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1876)
* March 30 – Erwin Piscator, German theater director (b. 1893)
April
* April 1 – Brian O'Nolan, Irish humorist (b. 1911)
*
April 2
Events Pre-1600
*1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...
– C. S. Forester, English author (b. 1899)
*
April 3
Events Pre-1600
* 686 – Maya king Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ahk' assumes the crown of Calakmul.
* 1043 – Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England.
* 1077 – The Patriarchate of Friûl, the first Friulian state, is created ...
– Battista Farina, Italian car designer (b. 1893)
* April 6 – Julia Faye, American actress (b. 1893)
*
April 10
Events Pre-1600
* 428 – Nestorius becomes the Patriarch of Constantinople.
* 837 – Halley's Comet makes its closest approach to Earth at a distance equal to 0.0342 AU (5.1 million kilometres/3.2 million miles).
* 1407 ...
– Evelyn Waugh, English author (b. 1903)
*April 11 - William H. Pitsenbarger, United States Air Force Medal of Honour recipient (b. 1944)
* April 13
** Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (b. 1881)
** Georges Duhamel, French author (b. 1884)
** Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi military officer and statesman, 2nd President of Iraq (b. 1921)
* April 17 – Mario Serandrei, Italian editor and screenwriter (b. 1907)
* April 19 – Javier Solís, Mexican singer and actor (b. 1931)
* April 20 – Prince Frederick of Prussia (1911–1966), Prince Frederick of Prussia (b. 1911)
*
April 21
Events Pre-1600
*753 BC – Romulus founds Rome ( traditional date).
* 43 BC – Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered ...
– Sepp Dietrich, Nazi German military leader and Schutzstaffel, SS commander (b. 1892)
* April 23 – George Ohsawa, Japanese dietist, founder of Macrobiotics (b. 1893)
*
April 24
Events Pre-1600
* 1479 BC – Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th dynasty).
* 1183 BC – Traditional reckoning of the Fall of Troy m ...
– Tino Pattiera, Yugoslav-born Italian tenor (b. 1890)
* April 29 – Eugene O'Brien (actor), Eugene O'Brien, American actor (b. 1880)
May
*
May 4
Events Pre-1600
* 1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull ''Licet ecclesiae catholicae''.
* 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are ...
– Amédée Ozenfant, French painter (b. 1886)
* May 8 – Erich Pommer, German film producer (b. 1889)
* May 11 – Alfred Wintle, British army officer and eccentric (b. 1897)
*
May 14
Events Pre-1600
* 1027 – Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks.
*1097 – The Siege of Nicaea begins during the First Crusade.
* 1264 – Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured and forc ...
– Ludwig Meidner, German painter (b. 1884)
*
May 15
Events Pre-1600
* 221 – Liu Bei, Chinese warlord, proclaims himself emperor of Shu Han, the successor of the Han dynasty.
* 392 – Emperor Valentinian II is assassinated while advancing into Gaul against the Frankish usurper Arbog ...
** Venceslau Brás, 9th President of Brazil, leader in World War II (b. 1868)
** Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, 30th President of El Salvador (assassinated) (b. 1882)
** Titien Sumarni, Indonesian actress (b. 1932)
* May 20 – Carlos Arruza, Mexican bullfighter (b. 1920)
* May 21 – Lady Dorothy Macmillan, spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
* May 22 – Tom Goddard, English cricketer (b. 1900)
* May 23 – Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (b. 1902)
*
May 24
Events Pre-1600
* 919 – The nobles of Franconia and Saxony elect Henry the Fowler at the Imperial Diet in Fritzlar as king of the East Frankish Kingdom.
* 1218 – The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
* 1276 – Magnus La ...
– Jim Barnes, English golf champion (b. 1886)
*
May 25
Events Pre-1600
* 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans.
*240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet.
* 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes Tol ...
– Vernon Sturdee, Australian general (b. 1890)
* May 29 – John and James Woolf, James Woolf, British film producer (b. 1919)
June
* June 1 – Papa Jack Laine, American jazz musician (b. 1873)
* June 3 – Nicholas Straussler, Hungarian engineer (b. 1891)
* June 6 – Ethel Clayton, American actress (b. 1882)
* June 7 – Jean Arp, Alsatian sculptor, painter and poet (b. 1886)
* June 8 – Anton Melik, Slovenian geographer (b. 1890)
* June 11 – Wallace Ford, English-born American actor (b. 1898)
* June 12
** William Ernest Hocking, American philosopher (b. 1873)
** Hermann Scherchen, Austrian conductor (b. 1891)
* June 15 – Robert G. Fowler, American pioneer aviator (b. 1884)
* June 19 – Ed Wynn, American actor and comedian (b. 1886)
* June 20 – Georges Lemaître, Belgian priest and astrophysicist (b. 1894)
* June 30
** Margery Allingham, British detective fiction writer (b. 1904)
** Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
July
* July 2
** Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet (b. 1900)
** John of Shanghai and San Francisco, John the Wonderworker, Chinese Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox bishop, American archbishop and saint (b. 1896)
* July 3 – Deems Taylor, American composer (b. 1885)
* July 5 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)
* July 7 – Carmelita Geraghty, American actress (b. 1901)
* July 9 – Venerable Marija Petković, Yugoslav Roman Catholic foundress and Servant of God (b. 1892)
* July 11 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet (b. 1913)
* July 12 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese scholar and essayist (b. 1870)
* July 14 – Julie Manet, French painter (b. 1878)
* July 18 – Bobby Fuller, American rock and roll musician (b. 1942)
* July 21
** Francesco Paolo Cantelli, Italian mathematician (b. 1875)
** Philipp Frank, Austrian physicist and mathematician (b. 1884)
* July 23
** Montgomery Clift, American actor (b. 1920)
** Douglass Montgomery, American actor (b. 1907)
* July 25 – Frank O'Hara, American poet (b. 1926)
* July 31
** Alexander von Falkenhausen, German general and military advisor, 20 July Plotter (b. 1878)
** Bud Powell, American jazz pianist (b. 1924)
August
* August 1 – Charles Whitman, American mass murderer (b. 1941)
* August 3 – Lenny Bruce, American comedian (b. 1925)
* August 6 – Cordwainer Smith, American author (b. 1913)
* August 12 – Artur Alliksaar, Estonian poet (b. 1923)
* August 15
** Jan Kiepura, Polish tenor and actor (b. 1902)
** Seena Owen, American actress (b. 1894)
* August 17 – Ken Miles, British sports car racing engineer and driver (b. 1918)
* August 19 – Fritz Bleyl, German painter (b. 1880)
* August 23 – Francis X. Bushman, American actor (b. 1883)
* August 24
** Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski, Polish general and statesman, 33rd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1895)
** Vicente Mejía Colindres, 29th President of Honduras (b. 1878)
* August 26 – Art Baker (actor), Art Baker, American actor (b. 1898)
September
* September 3 – Fu Lei, Chinese translator (b. 1908)
* September 6
** Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (b. 1879)
** Hendrik Verwoerd, 2nd Prime Minister of South Africa (b. 1901)
* September 14
** Gertrude Berg, American actress (b. 1899)
** Hiram Wesley Evans, American Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard (b. 1881)
** Cemal Gürsel, Turkish general and statesman, 10th Prime Minister of Turkey and 4th President of Turkey (b. 1895)
* September 17 – Fritz Wunderlich, German tenor (b. 1930)
* September 19 – Vladimir Grigoryevich Fyodorov, Soviet scientist and general (b. 1874)
* September 21 – Paul Reynaud, French lawyer and politician, 77th Prime Minister of France (b. 1878)
* September 26
** Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi, Indian Independence activist (b. 1900)
** Helen Kane, American singer (b. 1904)
* September 28
** André Breton, French poet and writer (b. 1896)
** Eric Fleming, American actor (b. 1925)
October
* October 10
** Charlotte Cooper (tennis), Charlotte Cooper, English tennis champion (b. 1870)
** Wilfrid Lawson (actor), Wilfrid Lawson, English actor (b. 1900)
* October 13 – Clifton Webb, American actor, dancer and singer (b. 1889)
* October 16 – George O'Hara (actor), George O'Hara, American actor (b. 1899)
* October 17 – Cléo de Mérode, French dancer (b. 1875)
* October 18 – Elizabeth Arden, Canadian-born American beautician and cosmetics entrepreneur (b. 1878)
* October 23 – Claire McDowell, American silent screen actress (b. 1877)
* October 24 – Hans Dreier, German art director (b. 1885)
* October 26 – Alma Cogan, English singer (b. 1932)
* October 28 – Robert Charpentier, French Olympic cyclist (b. 1916)
November
* November 2
** Peter Debye, Dutch chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1884)
** Mississippi John Hurt, African American singer and guitarist (b. 1893)
* November 4 – Dietrich von Choltitz, Nazi German military governor of Paris in World War II (b. 1894)
* November 8 – Bernhard Zondek German-born Israeli gynecologist, developer of first reliable pregnancy test (b. 1891)
* November 9 – Jisaburō Ozawa, Japanese admiral (b. 1886)
* November 13 – Esna Boyd, Australian tennis player (b. 1899)
* November 14 – Steingrímur Steinþórsson, 11th Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1893)
* November 21 – Władysław Bortnowski, Polish historian and military commander (b. 1891)
* November 23 – Seán T. O'Kelly, 2nd President of Ireland (b. 1882)
* November 26 – Siegfried Kracauer, German writer, sociologist and critic (b. 1889)
* November 28 – Boris Podolsky, Russian-American physicist (b. 1896)
December
* December 2 – L.E.J. Brouwer, Dutch mathematician and philosopher (b. 1881)
* December 6 – Juan Natalicio González, Paraguayan poet, 37th President of Paraguay (b. 1897)
* December 14
** Emma Dunn, British-born actress (b. 1875)
** Verna Felton, American actress (b. 1890)
** Richard Whorf, American actor (b. 1906)
* December 15 – Walt Disney, American animated film producer and founder of The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland Resort (b. 1901)
* December 19 – Betty Kuuskemaa, Estonian actress (b. 1879)
* December 22
** Harry Beaumont, American film director (b. 1888)
** Lucy Burns, American women's rights campaigner (b. 1879)
** Robert Keith (actor), Robert Keith, American actor (b. 1898)
* December 26 – Herbert Gille, SS German general (b. 1897)
* December 27 – Guillermo Stábile, Argentine football player and manager (b. 1905)
* December 30 – Christian Herter, United States Secretary of State (b. 1895)
Nobel Prizes
* Nobel Prize in Physics, Physics – Alfred Kastler
* Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemistry – Robert S. Mulliken
* Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Physiology or Medicine – Peyton Rous and Charles Brenton Huggins
* Nobel Prize in Literature, Literature – Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs
* Nobel Peace Prize, Peace – not awarded