Highlights of 1964

MAJOR EVENTS:

After completing what would have been the final year of John F. Kennedy's first term, President Johnson re-elected in a landslide over Barry Goldwater
President Johnson declares "war on poverty," introduces a variety of federal welfare programs, including Medicare (initially proposed by Kennedy in 1960)
Three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi during "Freedom Summer"
24th Amendment to Constitution adopted, ensuring fair voting practices
Race riots break out in Harlem and other U.S. cities
Investigating the Kennedy assassination, the Warren Commission determines that "Oswald acted alone" in killing the president
U.S. military forces launch attacks on North Vietnam in response to an alleged attack on a U.S. destroyer off the Vietnamese coast; Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution that gives the President greater freedom to authorize combat actions in Vietnam
Soviet leader Khrushchev falls from power, is ultimately replaced by Leonid Brezhnev
Anchorage, Alaska hit by massive earthquake
Turkey attacks Cyprus

BUSINESS & ECONOMY:

Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa convicted of fraud, conspiracy and jury tampering
The average hourly wage for blue collar workers has increased from between 50 and 75 percent since 1949

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY:

Space probe Mariner IV flies by Mars, transmitting pictures of the planet's surface back to earth
The world's longest suspension bridge, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York, opens
Concern in Britain over "brain drain," or the mass emigration of British scientists to the U.S.
World's Fair held in New York
First lung transplant

SPORTS:

World Series: St. Louis over New York Yankees, 4-3
Olympics held in Tokyo
Cassius Clay (the future Muhammad Ali) defeats Sonny Liston to win heavyweight boxing title

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT:

Movies: Lord of the Flies, A Hard Day's Night, My Fair Lady, Goldfinger, Zorba the Greek, Mary Poppins
Songs: I Want to Hold Your Hand, Hello Dolly!, She Loves You, Can't Buy Me Love, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Oh Pretty Woman, Baby Love, My Guy
TV Shows: The Munsters, The Virginian, Daniel Boone, Outer Limits, Gilligan's Island, Man From UNCLE, Flipper, Dr. Kildare, Voyage the the Bottom of the Sea
Books: A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemmingway (posthumous publication); Herzog, Saul Bellow; In His Own Write, John Lennon
"Beatlemania" spreads as the Beatles become a global phenomenon
Musicals Hello Dolly, Fiddler on the Roof debut
Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton after divorcing Eddie Fisher 10 days before
Cole Porter dies

FUN FACTS:

According to some reports, not a single juvenile crime is reported in New York City the night of the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964

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