The year 1964 was a leap year and began on a Wednesday.
12th January – The Zanzibar Revolution began.
4th June – The Beatles began their first World Tour. It made them a global success.
2nd July – The US Civil Rights Act made discrimination by race, religion, sex or skin colour illegal.
24th September – The Warren Commission declared that Lee Harvey Oswald was the only assassin of J F Kennedy.
14th October – Leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev was removed from power and replaced by Leonid Brezhnev.
Average house:
UK – £2,999; USA – $13,050
Petrol per gallon:
UK – £0.24; USA – $0.30
Loaf of Bread:
UK – £0.06; USA – $0.22
Gold per ounce:
UK – $35.10, USA – $35.3
World: – 3,280,979,467
Australia: – 11,218,304
Canada: – 19,711,052
China: – 696,064,960
India: – 484,050,048
Soviet Union: 125,521,512
United States: – 191,140,992
United Kingdom: – 53,991,000
Best Selling Single:
UK – Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles
USA – I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
AUS – I Saw Her Standing There/ Love Me Do – The Beatles
CAN – I Want to Hold Your Hand – The Beatles
Best Selling Album:
UK – Beatles For Sale – The Beatles
USA – Hello Dolly – Original Soundtrack
AUS – No data – Charts began 1965
CAN – No data – Charts began 1968
Popular Artists:
The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Dave Clark Five, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, The Rolling Stones, The Searchers, The Supremes
Published in 1964:
The Giving Tree – Shel Silverstein
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
A Moveable Feast – Ernest Hemingway
Harriet the Spy – Louise Fitzhugh
Games People Play – Eric Berne
Highest grossing movies 1964 (USA box office figures):
1. Mary Poppins – $31 million
2. My Fair Lady – $30 million
3. Goldfinger – $22.5 million
4. The Carpetbaggers – $15.5 million
5. From Russia With Love – $9.2 million
Australia Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Canada Prime Minister – Lester Pearson
China President – Liu Shaoqi
India Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru to 27th May, Lal Bahadur Shastri from 9th June
Soviet Union Leader – Nikita Khruschchev to 14th October, Leonid Brezhnev after 14th October
United States President – Lyndon B Johnson
United Kingdom Prime Minister – Alec Douglas Home to 16th October, Harold Wilson after 16th October
7th January – Nicholas Cage (Actor)
17th January – Michelle Obama (First Lady)
10th March – Prince Edward (Royal Family)
7th April – Russell Crowe (Actor)
26th May – Lenny Kravitz (Musician)
19th June – Boris Johnson (UK Prime Minister)
1st October – Harry Hill (Comedian)
6th March – King Paul of Greece (Royal Family)
2nd May – Nancy Astor (Politician)
27th May – Jawaharlal (Prime Minister of India)
27th August – Gracie Allen (Comedian)
28th September – Harpo Marx (Actor)
20th October – Herbert Hoover (President of USA)
11th December – Sam Cooke (Singer)
Football – West Ham won the FA Cup
Cycling – Jacques Anquetil (FRA) won the Tour de France for the 4th time
Tennis – Roy Emerson won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open
Golf – British Open won by Tony Lema; US Open won by Bobby Nichols
Baseball – St Louis Cardinals won the World Series
Horse Racing – Arkle won the Cheltenham Gold Cup; Northern Dancer won the Kentucky Derby
Olympics – The Winter Olympics were held in Innsbruck, Austria and won by the Soviet Union.
The Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo, Japan and won by the United States.
G I Joe Action Figure
Barbie and Ken Dolls
Mousetrap Game
Etch A Sketch
Matchbox Cars
Easy Bake Oven
BASIC computer language invented
Acrylic paint invented
Word Processor invented
Measles vaccine developed
Temazepam sleeping tablet developed
Polaroid camera developed
Published Oct 22, 2020 @ 12:40 pm – Updated –