This page offers an insight into life in 1965 and includes World news, political leaders, prices, population statistics and information about the popular culture of 1965.
The year 1965 began on a Friday. It was not a leap year.
1965 In The News
30th January – Winston Churchill given a state funeral.
21st February – Malcolm X assassinated.
2nd June – First Australian troops sent to Vietnam.
16th July – The Mont Blanc tunnel in the Alps opened.
9th September – Hurricane Betsy caused over $1 billion worth of damage.
8th December – The Race Relations Act UK addressed racial discrimination.
Life in 1965 – Prices
Average house:
UK – £3,269; USA – $13,600
Petrol per gallon:
UK – £0.24; USA – $0.31
Loaf of Bread:
UK – £0.06; USA – $0.21
Gold per ounce:
UK – $35.12, USA – $35.3
Life in 1965 – Population
World: – 3,350,249,978
Australia: – 11,439,384
Canada: – 20,071,104
China: – 715,546,432
India: – 494,963,584
Soviet Union: 126,541,296
United States: – 193,526,000
United Kingdom: – 54,350,000
Life in 1965 – Music
Best Selling Single:
UK – Tears – Ken Dodd
USA – I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) – Four Tops
AUS – Que Sera, Sera/ Shakin’ All Over – Normie Rowe
CAN – Shakin’ All Over – Chad Allan & the Expressions
Best Selling Album:
UK – The Sound of Music – Original Broadway Cast
USA – Mary Poppins – Original Soundtrack
AUS – The Sound of Music – Original Broadway Cast
CAN – No data – Charts began 1968
Popular Artists:
The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Petula Clark, The Rolling Stones, The Searchers, The Supremes, The Temptations
On the Bookshelves
Books Published in 1965:
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
Dune – Frank Herbert
Autobiography of Malcolm X – Malcolm X
Stoner – John Williams
The Mouse and the Motorcycle – Beverley Cleary
At the Movies
1965 Top Movies (USA box office figures):
1. The Sound of Music – $75 million
2. Dr Zhivago – $43 million
3. Thunderball – $27 million
4. Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines – $14 million
5. The Great Race – $11.4 million
Life in 1965 – World Leaders
Australia Prime Minister – Robert Menzies
Canada Prime Minister – Lester Pearson
China President – Liu Shaoqi
India Prime Minister – Lal Bahadur Shastri
Soviet Union Leader – Leonid Brezhnev after 14th October
United States President – Lyndon B Johnson
United Kingdom Prime Minister – Harold Wilson
Born in 1965
15th January – James Nesbitt (Actor)
20th January – Sophie, Countess of Wessex (Royal Family)
14th March – Aamir Khan (Film Director)
30th March – Piers Morgan (TV Personality)
10th May – Linda Evangelista (Model)
1st July – Carl Fogarty (Motorcycle Racer)
21st November – Björk (Singer/Songwriter)
Died in 1965
4th January – T. S. Eliot (Poet)
24th January – Winston Churchill (Politician)
15th February – Nat King Cole (Musician)
23rd February – Stan Laurel (Actor)
7th March – Louise Mountbatten (Swedish Royal Family)
14th March – Marion Jones (Tennis Player)
4th September – Albert Schweitzer (Physician)
1965 Sport Highlights
Football – Liverpool won the FA Cup
Cycling – Felice Gimondi (ITA) won the Tour de France
Tennis – Roy Emerson won the Australian Open and Wimbledon
Golf – British Open won by Peter Thomson; US Open won by Gary Player; Jack Nicklaus beat the Masters record with 17 under par.
Baseball – Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series
Horse Racing – Arkle won the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the second time; Lucky Debonair won the Kentucky Derby
Christmas Wishlist
G I Joe Action Figure
Barbie and Ken Dolls
Fisher Price Chatter Telephone
Etch A Sketch
Matchbox Cars
Easy Bake Oven
What Was New?
Compact Discs (CDs) invented
Astroturf (called Chemgrass) invented
Soft Contact Lenses invented
Aspartame produced but not yet authorised
Collapsible baby buggy patented
Portable defibrillator first used
First published 2021; updated and republished Mar 30 2022 @ 12:35 pm – Updated –
