Events of 1965

January

• January 1 – The ship S.S. Catala is driven onto the beach in Ocean Shores, Washington, stranding her.

• January 4 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union Address.

• January 12 – Wanda Beach Murders: The bodies of two 15-year-olds, Christine Sharrock and Marrine Schmidt, are found at Wanda Beach, Sydney.

• 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 19 – The unmanned Gemini 2 is launched on a suborbital test of various spacecraft systems.

• January 20 – Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for his own full term as U.S. President.

• January 26 – Anti-Hindi agitations break out in India, because of which Hindi does not get "National Language" status and remains one of the 23 official languages of India.

• January 30 – State funeral of Sir Winston Churchill takes place with the largest assembly of statesmen in the world until the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II.

February

• February 6 – Sir Stanley Matthews plays his final First Division game, at the record age of 50 years and 5 days.

• February 15 – A new red and white maple leaf design is inaugurated as the flag of Canada, replacing the Union Flag and the Canadian Red Ensign.

• February 18 – The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom.

• February 20 – Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon, after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.

• February 21 – Malcolm X is assassinated in Manhattan.

• February 22 – A new, revised, color production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella airs on CBS. Lesley Ann Warren makes her TV debut in the title role. The show becomes an annual tradition.

March

• March 2 – The Sound of Music premieres at the Rivoli Theater in New York City.

• March 7 – Bloody Sunday: Some 200 Alabama State Troopers clash with 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama.

• March 8 – Vietnam War: Some 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.

• March 9 – The second attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., stops at the bridge that was the site of Bloody Sunday, to hold a prayer service and return to Selma, in obedience to a court restraining order. White supremacists beat up white Unitarian Universalist minister James J. Reeb later that day in Selma.

• March 10 – Goldie, a London Zoo golden eagle, is recaptured after 13 days of freedom.

• March 10 – Engagement announced between Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven, who will become the first commoner and the first Dutchman to marry into the Dutch Royal Family.

• March 11 – White Unitarian Universalist minister James J. Reeb, beaten by White supremacists in Selma, Alabama on March 9 following the second march from Selma, dies in a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

• March 16 – Police clash with 600 SNCC marchers in Montgomery, Alabama.

• March 17 – In Montgomery, Alabama, 1,600 civil rights marchers demonstrate at the Courthouse.

• March 17 – In response to the events of March 7 and 9 in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson sends a bill to Congress that forms the basis for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It is passed by the Senate May 26, the House July 10, and signed into law by President Johnson Aug. 6.

• March 18 – Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space.

• March 18 – A United States federal judge rules that SCLC has the lawful right to march to Montgomery, Alabama to petition for 'redress of grievances'.

• March 19 – The wreck of the SS Georgiana, reputed to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser ever built and owned by the real Rhett Butler, is discovered off the Isle of Palms, South Carolina, by teenage diver E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after she was sunk with a million dollar cargo while attempting to run past the Union blockade into Charleston.

• March 20 – Poupée de cire, poupée de son, sung by France Gall (music and text by Serge Gainsbourg) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1965 for Luxembourg.

• March 20 – The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 begins.

• March 21 – Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9, which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes.

• March 21 – Martin Luther King, Jr. leads 3,200 Civil rights activists in the third march from Selma, Alabama to the capitol in Montgomery.

• March 22 – Nicolae Ceauşescu becomes the first secretary of the Romanian Communist Party.

• March 23 – Gemini 3: NASA launches the United States' first 2-person crew (Gus Grissom, John Young) into Earth orbit.

• March 25 – Martin Luther King, Jr. and 25,000 civil rights activists successfully end the 4-day march from Selma, Alabama, to the capitol in Montgomery.

• March 30 – Funeral services are held for Detroit homemaker Viola Liuzzo, who was shot dead by 4 Klansmen as she drove marchers back to Selma at night after the civil rights march.

April

• April 3 – The world's first space nuclear power reactor, SNAP-10A, is launched by the United States from Vandenberg AFB, California. The reactor operates for 43 days and remains in high earth orbit.

• April 5 – At the 37th Academy Awards, My Fair Lady wins 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Rex Harrison wins an Oscar for Best Actor. Mary Poppins takes home 5 Oscars. Julie Andrews wins an Academy Award for Best Actress, for her portrayal in the role. Sherman Brothers receives 2 Oscars including Best Song, "Chim Chim Cher-ee".

• April 6 – The Early Bird communications satellite is launched. It becomes operational May 2 and is placed in commercial service in June.

• April 9

• *The West German parliament extends the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes.

• *In Houston, Texas, the Harris County Domed Stadium (more commonly known as the Astrodome) opens.

• April 9

• *The 100th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War is observed.

• *Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang appear on the cover of Time Magazine.

• April 11 – The Palm Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965: An estimated 51 tornadoes (47 confirmed) hit in 6 Midwestern states, killing between 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.

• April 14 – In Cold Blood killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith, convicted of murdering 4 members of the Herbert Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, are executed by hanging at the Kansas State Penitentiary for Men in Lansing, Kansas.

• April 17 – The first SDS march against the Vietnam War draws 25,000 protestors to Washington, DC.

• April 18 – Consecration of St Clement of Ohrid Macedonian Orthodox Cathedral in Toronto, Canada.

• April 21 – The NY World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, NY, reopens.

• April 23 – The Pennine Way officially opens.

• April 24 – The 1965 Yerevan demonstrations start in Yerevan, demanding recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

• April 24

• *The bodies of Portuguese opposition politician Humberto Delgado and his secretary Arajaryr Moreira de Campos are found in a forest near Villanueva del Fresno, Spain (they were killed February 12).

• *In the Dominican Republic, officers and civilians loyal to deposed President Juan Bosch mutiny against the right-wing junta running the country, setting up a provisional government. Forces loyal to the deposed military-imposed government stage a countercoup the next day, and civil war breaks out, although the new government retains its hold on power.

• April 28

• *U.S. troops are sent to the Dominican Republic by President Lyndon B. Johnson, "for the stated purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and preventing an alleged Communist takeover of the country", thus thwarting the possibility of "another Cuba".

• *Vietnam War: Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies announces that the country will substantially increase its number of troops in South Vietnam, supposedly at the request of the Saigon government (it is later revealed that Menzies had asked the leadership in Saigon to send the request at the behest of the Americans).

• April 29 – Australia announces that it is sending an infantry battalion to support the South Vietnam government.

May

• May 1 – Bob (later Sir Robert) Askin replaces Jack Renshaw as Premier of New South Wales.

• May 1 – The Battle of Dong-Yin occurs as a conflict between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.

• May 1 – Liverpool wins the FA Cup Final, beating Leeds Utd 2–1.

• May 5 – The first draft card burnings take place at the University of California, Berkeley, and a coffin is marched to the Berkeley Draft Board.

• May 12 – West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations.

• May 12 – The Italian liner T/S Michelangelo enters into service.

• May 13 – A West German court of appeals condemns the behavior of ex-defense minister Franz Joseph Strauss during the Spiegel scandal.

• May 21 – The largest teach-in to date begins at Berkeley, California, attended by 30,000.

• May 22 – The first skateboard championship is held. In addition, several hundred Vietnam War protestors in Berkeley, CA, march to the Draft Board again to burn more cards as well as Lyndon Johnson in effigy.

• May 29 – A mining accident in Dhanbad, India kills 274.

• May 31 – Racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, and later wins the Formula One world driving championship in the same year.

June

• June 3 – Gemini 4: Astronaut Edward Higgins White makes the first U.S. space walk.

• June 7 – A mining accident in Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, results in 128 deaths.

• June 10 – Vietnam War – Battle of Dong Xoai: About 1,500 Vietcong mount a mortar attack on Dong Xoai, overrunning its military headquarters and the adjoining militia compound.

• June 16 – A planned anti-war protest at The Pentagon becomes a teach-in, with demonstrators distributing 50,000 leaflets in and around the building.

• June 19 – Houari Boumédienne's Revolutionary Council ousts Ahmed Ben Bella, in a bloodless coup in Algeria.

• June 20 – Police in Algiers break up demonstrations by people who have taken to the streets chanting slogans in support of deposed President Ben Bella.

• June 22 – The Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is signed in Tokyo.

• June 25 – A U.S. Air Force Boeing C135-A bound for Okinawa crashes just after takeoff at MCAS El Toro in Orange County, California, killing all 85 on board.

July

• July 14 – U.S. spacecraft Mariner 4 flies by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images from the Red Planet.

• July 15 – Greek Prime minister George Papandreou and his government are dismissed by King Constantine II.

• July 16 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel is inaugurated by presidents Giuseppe Saragat and Charles de Gaulle.

• July 24 – Vietnam War: Four F-4C Phantoms escorting a bombing raid at Kang Chi are targeted by antiaircraft missiles, in the first such attack against American planes in the war. One is shot down and the other 3 sustain damage.

• July 25 – Bob Dylan elicits controversy among folk purists by "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival.

• July 26 – The Maldives receive full independence from Great Britain.

• July 27 – Edward Heath becomes Leader of the British Conservative Party.

• July 28 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000, and to double the number of men drafted per month from 17,000 to 35,000.

• July 29 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.

• July 30 – War on Poverty: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.

August

• August 1 – Cigarette advertising is banned on British television.

• August 6 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

• August 7 – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Prime Minister of Malaysia, recommends the expulsion of Singapore from the Federation of Malaysia, negotiating its separation with Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister of Singapore.

• August 9 – Singapore is expelled from the Federation of Malaysia, which recognizes it as a sovereign nation. Lee Kuan Yew announces Singapore's independence and assumes the position of Prime Minister of the new island nation.

• August 9 – An explosion at an Arkansas missile plant kills 53.

• August 9 – Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public.

• August 11 – The Watts Riots begin in Los Angeles, California.

• August 13 – The rock group Jefferson Airplane debuts at the Matrix in San Francisco, California and begins to appear there regularly.

• August 15 – The Beatles perform the first stadium concert in the history of rock, playing at Shea Stadium in New York.

• August 18 – Vietnam War – Operation Starlite: 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quang Ngai Province, in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped-off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the U.S. base at Chu Lai.

• August 19 – At the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, 66 ex-SS personnel receive life sentences, 15 others smaller ones.

• August 20 – Jonathan Myrick Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian from Keene, New Hampshire, is murdered in Hayneville, Alabama while working in the American civil rights movement.

• August 21 – Gemini 5 (Gordon Cooper, Pete Conrad) is launched on the first 1-week flight, as well as the first test of fuel cells for electrical power.

• August 30 – Casey Stengel announces his retirement after 55 years in baseball.

• August 30 – Rock musician Bob Dylan releases his influential album Highway 61 Revisited, featuring the song "Like a Rolling Stone."

• August 30 – An avalanche buries a dam construction site at Saas-Fee, Switzerland killing 90 workers.

• August 31 – President Johnson signs a law penalizing the burning of draft cards with up to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.

September

• September 2 – Pakistani troops enter the Indian sector of Kashmir, while Indian troops try to invade Lahore.

• September 6 Islamic Republic Of Pakistan observes its Defence day.

• September 7 – The People's Republic of China announces that it will reinforce its troops on the Indian border.

• September 7 – Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlite, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Piranha on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 miles south of the Chu Lai Marine base.

• September 8 – India opens 2 additional fronts against Pakistan.

• September 9 – Sandy Koufax pitches a perfect game in a baseball match against the Chicago Cubs. The opposing pitcher, Bob Hendley, allows only 1 run, which is unearned.

• September 9 – U.N. Secretary General U Thant negotiates with Pakistan President Ayub Khan.

• September 9 – U Thant recommends China for United Nations membership.

• September 9 – Hurricane Betsy roars ashore near New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of 145 MPH, causing 76 deaths and $1.42 billion in damage. The storm is the first hurricane to cause $1 billion in unadjusted damages, giving it the nickname "Billion Dollar Betsy". It is the last major hurricane to strike New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina 40 years later.

• September 13 – The Congress of Arab Countries begins in Casablanca; Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia boycotts the meeting.

• September 14 – The fourth and final period of the Second Vatican Council opens.

• September 15 – Mary Poppins comes out in theaters in France.

• September 16 – China protests against Indian provocations in its border region.

• September 16 – In Iraq, Prime Minister Arif Abd ar-Razzaq's attempted coup fails.

• September 17 – King Constantine II of Greece forms a new government with Prime Minister Stephanos Stephanopoulos, in an attempt to end a 2-year-old political crisis.

• September 18 – In Denmark, Palle Sørensen shoots 4 policemen in pursuit; he is apprehended the same day.

• September 18 – Comet Ikeya-Seki is first sighted by Japanese astronomers.

• September 18 – Soviet Premier Alexey Kosygin invites the leaders of India and Pakistan to meet in the Soviet Union to negotiate.

• September 22 – Radio Peking announces that Indian troops have dismantled their equipment on the Chinese side of the border.

• September 24 – Fighting resumes between Indian and Pakistani troops.

• September 24 – The British governor of Aden cancels the constitution and takes direct control of the protectorate, due to the bad security situation.

• September 25 – The Tom & Jerry cartoon series makes its world broadcast premiere on CBS.

• September 27 – The largest tanker ship at the time, Tokyo Maru, is launched in Yokohama, Japan.

• September 28 – Fidel Castro announces that anyone who wants to can emigrate to the United States.

• September 28 – Taal Volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts, killing hundreds.

• September 30 – October 1 – The Indonesian army, led by General Suharto, crushes an alleged communist coup attempt (see Transition to the New Order and 30 September Movement).

• September 30 – Classic family sci-fi show Thunderbirds (TV series) debuts on ITV

October

• October 3 – Fidel Castro announces that Che Guevara has resigned and left the country.

• October 3 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs an immigration bill which abolishes quotas based on national origin.

• October 4 – At least 150 killed when a commuter train derails at the outskirts of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

• October 4 – Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of the Commonwealth of Nations begin negotiations in London.

• October 4 – Pope Paul VI visits the United States. He appears for a Mass in Yankee Stadium and makes a speech at the United Nations.

• October 4 – The University of California, Irvine opens its doors.

• October 5 – Pakistan severs diplomatic relations with Malaysia because of their disagreement in the UN.

• October 6 – Ian Brady, a 27-year-old stock clerk from Hyde in Cheshire, is arrested for allegedly hacking 17-year-old apprentice electrician Edward Evans to death at a house on the Hattersley housing estate.

• October 7 – Seven Japanese fishing boats are sunk off Guam by super typhoon Carmen; 209 are killed.

• October 8 – The Indonesian army instigates the arrest and execution of communists which last until March 1966 (see Indonesian killings of 1965–66).

• October 8 – The International Olympic Committee admits East Germany as a member.

• October 8 – The Post Office Tower opens in London.

• October 9 – Yale University presents the Vinland map.

• October 9 – A brigade of South Korean soldiers arrive in South Vietnam.

• October 10 – The first group of Cuban refugees travels to the U.S.

• October 12 – Per Borten forms a government in Norway.

• October 12 – The U.N. General Council recommends that the United Kingdom try everything to stop a rebellion in Rhodesia.

• October 13 – Congo President Joseph Kasavubu fires Prime Minister Moise Tshombe and forms a provisional government, with Evariste Kimba in a leading position.

• October 15 – Vietnam War: The student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States to result in arrest under the new law.

• October 16 – Police find a girl's body on Saddleworth Moor near Oldham in Lancashire. The body is quickly identified as that of 10-year-old Lesley Ann Downey, who disappeared on Boxing Day the previous year from a fairground in the Ancoats area of Manchester. Ian Brady, arrested for the murder of a 17-year-old man in nearby Hattersley, is charged with murdering Lesley, as is his 23-year-old girlfriend Myra Hindley.

• October 16 – Anti-war protests draw 100,000 in 80 U.S. cities and around the world.

• October 17 – The NY World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, NY, closes. Due to financial losses, some of the projected site park improvements fail to materialize.

• October 18 – The Indonesian government outlaws the Communist Party of Indonesia.

• October 20 – Ludwig Erhard is re-elected Chancellor of West Germany (he had first been elected in 1963).

• October 21 – Comet Ikeya-Seki approaches perihelion, passing 450,000 kilometers from the sun.

• October 21 – The OAU meets in Accra, Ghana.

• October 22 – French authors André Figueras and Jacques Laurent are fined for their comments against Charles De Gaulle.

• October 22 – African countries demand that the United Kingdom use force to prevent Rhodesia from declaring unilateral independence.

• October 22 – Colonel Christophe Soglo stages a second coup in Dahomey.

• October 24 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Commonwealth Secretary Arthur Bottomley travel to Rhodesia for negotiations.

• October 24 – British police find the decomposed body of a boy on Saddleworth Moor.

• October 25 – The Soviet Union declares its support of African countries in case Rhodesia unilaterally declares independence.

• October 26 – Anti-government demonstrations occur in the Dominican Republic.

• October 26 – Police discover the body of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, Indiana.

• October 27 – Brazilian president Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco removes power from parliament, legal courts and opposition parties.

• October 28 – French Foreign Minister Couve de Murville travels to Moscow.

• October 28 – Pope Paul VI announces that the ecumenical council has decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ.

• October 28 – In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed.

• October 29 – Mehdi Ben Barka, a Moroccan politician, is kidnapped in Paris and never seen again.

• October 29 – Ian Brady and Myra Hindley appear in court, charged with the murders of Edward Evans (17), Lesley Ann Downey (10), and John Kilbride (12).

• October 29 – An 80-kiloton nuclear device is detonated at Amchitka Island, Alaska as part of the Vela Uniform program, code-named Project Long Shot.

• October 30 – Vietnam War: Near Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. Among the dead, a sketch of Marine positions is found on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.

• October 30 – In Washington, DC, a pro-Vietnam War march draws 25,000.

November

• November 2 – Republican John Lindsay is elected mayor of New York City.

• November 2 – Quaker member Norman Morrison, 32, sets himself on fire in front of The Pentagon.

• November 3 – French President Charles De Gaulle announces that he will stand for re-election.

• November 5 – Martial law is announced in Rhodesia. The UN General Assembly accepts British intent to use force against Rhodesia if necessary by a vote of 82–9.

• November 6 – Freedom Flights begin: Cuba and the United States formally agree to start an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States (by 1971 250,000 Cubans take advantage of this program).

• November 7 – Pillsbury's world-famous mascot, the Pillsbury Doughboy, is created.

• November 8 – Vietnam War – Operation Hump: The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong.

• November 8 – The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands (on June 23, 1976 Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches are returned to the Seychelles).

• November 8 – The Murder (Abolition of the Death Penalty) Act 1965 is given Royal Assent, suspending the death penalty for murder in the United Kingdom; renewal of the Act in 1969 made the abolition permanent.

• November 8 – The soap opera Days of our Lives debuts on NBC.

• November 9 – Northeast Blackout of 1965: Several U.S. states (VT, NH, MA, CT, RI, NY and portions of NJ) and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13½ hours.

• November 9 – Vietnam War: In New York City, 22-year-old Catholic Worker Movement member Roger Allen LaPorte sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in protest of the war.

• November 11 – In Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), the white-minority government of Ian Smith unilaterally declares independence.

• November 12 – A UN Security Council resolution (voted 10–0) recommends that other countries not recognize independent Rhodesia.

• November 13 – The SS Yarmouth Castle burns and sinks 60 miles off Nassau, with the loss of 90 lives.

• November 14 – Vietnam War – Battle of the Ia Drang: In the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands in Vietnam, the first major engagement of the war between regular United States and North Vietnamese forces begins.

• November 15 – U.S. racer Craig Breedlove sets a new land speed record of 600.601 mph.

• November 16 – Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus (on March 1, 1966 it became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet).

• November 20 – The UN Security Council recommends that all states stop trading with Rhodesia.

• November 22 – Man of La Mancha opens in a Greenwich Village theatre in New York and eventually becomes one of the greatest musical hits of all time, winning a Tony Award for its star, Richard Kiley.

• November 23 – Soviet general Mikhail Kazakov assumes command of the Warsaw Pact.

• November 24 – Congolese lieutenant general Mobutu ousts Joseph Kasavubu and declares himself president.

• November 26 – At the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter outer space.

• November 27 – Tens of thousands of Vietnam War protesters picket the White House, then march on the Washington Monument.

• November 27 – Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned major sweep operations to neutralize Viet Cong forces during the next year are to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam will have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000.

• November 28 – Vietnam War: In response to U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippines President-elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.

• November 29 – The Canadian satellite Alouette 2 is launched.

December

• December 1 – The Border Security Force is established in India as a special force to guard the borders.

• December 3 – The first British aid flight arrives in Lusaka; Zambia had asked for British help against Rhodesia.

• December 3 – Members of the Organization of African Unity decide to sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom, unless the British government ends the rebellion of Rhodesia by mid-December.

• December 5 – Charles de Gaulle is re-elected as French president with 10,828,421 votes.

• December 8 – Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith warns that Rhodesia will resist a trade embargo by neighboring countries with force.

• December 8 – The Second Vatican Council closes.

• December 9 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuts on CBS, quickly becoming an annual tradition.

• December 15 – Tanzania and Guinea sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom.

• December 15 – Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 perform the first controlled rendezvous in Earth orbit.

• December 17 – The British government begins an oil embargo against Rhodesia; the United States joins the effort.

• December 21 – The Soviet Union announces that it has shipped rockets to North Vietnam.

• December 21 – Soviet scientists condemn Trofim Lysenko for pseudoscience.

• December 21 – In West Germany, Konrad Adenauer resigns as chairman of the Christian Democratic Party.

• December 21 – A new, 1-hour German-American production of The Nutcracker, with an international cast that includes Edward Villella in the title role, makes its U.S. TV debut. It is repeated annually by CBS over the next 3 years, but after that, it is virtually forgotten.

• December 22 – A military coup occurs in Dahomey.

• December 22 – A 70 mph speed limit is imposed on British roads.

• December 25 – The Yemeni Nasserite Unionist People's Organisation is founded in Taiz.

• December 27 – The British oil platform Sea Gem collapses in the North Sea.

• December 28 – Italian Foreign Minister Amintore Fanfani resigns.

• December 30 – President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia announces that Zambia and the United Kingdom have agreed a deadline before which the Rhodesian white government should be ousted.

• December 30 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines.

• December 31 Farhid Najafpour was born; Bokassa takes power in the Central Africa Republic.

Undated

• Jenny and Sylvia Likens are left in the care of Indianapolis housewife Gertrude Baniszewski. Sylvia is found dead and hideously mutilated 3 months later.

• Tokyo officially becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from New York City.

• The Council for National Academic Awards is established in the UK.

• TAT-4 cable goes into operation.

• Aborigines are given the vote in Queensland.

Ongoing

• Angolan War of Independence 1961–1974

• Colombian Civil War 1964–Present

• North Yemen Civil War 1962–1970

Births

January

• January – Paudge Behan, Irish actor

• January 4 – Julia Ormond, British actress

• January 5 – Patrik Sjoberg, Swedish high jumper

• January 6 – Konnan, Cuban-born professional wrestler

• January 9 – Joely Richardson, British actress

• January 12 – Nikolai Borschevsky, Russian professional ice hockey player (retired)

• January 14 – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, British chef

• January 14 – Shamil Basayev, Chechen rebel (d. 2006)

• January 14 – Marc Delissen, Dutch field hockey player

• January 14 – Bob Essensa, Canadian ice hockey player

• January 14 – Slick Rick, English rapper

• January 15 – Adam Jones, American rock musician (Tool)

• January 15 – James Nesbitt, Northern Irish actor

• January 18 – Dave Attell, American comedian

• January 20 – Greg Kriesel, American rock musician (The Offspring)

• January 20 – Sophie, Countess of Wessex

• January 22 – Steven Adler, American rock musician (Guns N' Roses)

• January 22 – DJ Jazzy Jeff, American rapper and actor

• January 22 – Diane Lane, American actress

• January 24 – Mike Awesome, American professional wrestler (d. 2007)

• January 25 – Esa Tikkanen, Finnish ice hockey player

• January 26 – Natalia Yurchenko, Soviet gymnast

• January 26 – Siavash Shams, Iranian Singer

• January 27 – Alan Cumming, Scottish actor

• January 29 – Dominik Hašek, Czech hockey player

February

• February 1 – Brandon Lee, Chinese-American actor (d. 1993)

• February 1 – Sherilyn Fenn, American actress

• February 1 – Princess Stéphanie of Monaco

• February 3 – Maura Tierney, American actress

• February 4 – Jerome Brown, American football player (d. 1992)

• February 5 – Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian footballer (footballer)

• February 7 – Chris Rock, American actor and comedian

• February 8 – Dicky Cheung, Hong Kong actor

• February 11 – Stephen Gregory, American actor

• February 18 – Dr. Dre, American rapper and music producer

• February 22 – Dean Karr, American director and photographer

• February 23 – Michael Dell, American computer manufacturer

• February 23 – Kristin Davis, American actress

• February 25 – Brian Baker, American rock guitarist (Bad Religion)

• February 27 – Joakim Sundström, Swedish sound editor, sound designer and musician

• February 28 – Park Gok-ji, South Korean film editor

March

• March 1 – Booker T, American professional wrestler, 5-time WCW World Champion

• March 1 – Stewart Elliott, Canadian jockey

• March 3 – Dragan Stojkovic, Serbian footballer and coach

• March 4 – Ron Gant, American baseball player

• March 4 – Andrew Collins, British radio DJ and journalist

• March 4 – Jonathan Shearer, Scottish castaway

• March 4 – Paul W.S. Anderson, British filmmaker, producer and screenwriter

• March 4 – WestBam (Maximillian Lenz), German rave techno DJ

• March 7 – Jesper Parnevik, Swedish golfer

• March 8 – Kenny Smith, American basketball player, 2-time NBA Champion

• March 9 – Benito Santiago, American baseball player

• March 10 – Rod Woodson, American football player

• March 11 – Jesse Jackson, Jr., American politician

• March 11 – Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen, British television presenter

• March 12 – Steve Finley, American baseball player

• March 12 – Liza Umarova, Chechen singer and actress

• March 14 – Kevin Brown, American baseball player

• March 14 – Aamir Khan, Indian Bollywood actor

• March 24 – Mark Calaway, American professional wrestler ("The Undertaker")

• March 24 – Patrick Scales, British-German electric bass guitar player

• March 25 – Sarah Jessica Parker, American actress

• March 25 – Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgarian high jumper and president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee

• March 25 – Avery Johnson, American basketball player and coach

• March 29 – Voula Patoulidou, Greek athlete

April

• April 1 – Robert Steadman, English composer

• April 1 – Mark Jackson, American basketball player and analyst

• April 3 – Nazia Hassan, Pakistani pop singer (d. 2000)

• April 4 – Robert Downey Jr., American actor

• April 6 – Frank Black, American musician

• April 7 – Bill Bellamy, American actor and comedian

• April 11 – Eelco van Asperen, Dutch computer scientist

• April 12 – Tom O'Brien (II) (actor), American actor-producer

• April 13 – The Real Darren Stevens, Canadian radio personality

• April 13 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentine architect

• April 15 – Linda Perry, American musician

• April 16 – Martin Lawrence, American actor, comedian, and producer

• April 16 – Jon Cryer, American actor

• April 19 – Suge Knight, American record producer

• April 19 – Natalie Dessay, French soprano

• April 21 – Ed Belfour, Canadian hockey player

• April 23 – Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Indian mountain climber

• April 26 – Kevin James, American comedian and actor

May

• May 3 – Gary Mitchell, Irish playwright

• May 4 – Aykut Kocaman, Turkish footballer

• May 7 – Owen Hart, Canadian professional wrestler (d. 1999)

• May 9 – Steve Yzerman, Canadian hockey player

• May 11 – Monsour del Rosario, Filipino Olympic athlete and actor

• May 13 – José Antonio Delgado, Venezuelan mountain climber (d. 2006)

• May 13 – Tim Chapman, American Bounty Hunter

• May 13 – Hikari Ota, Japanese comedian

• May 14 – Eoin Colfer, Irish novelist

• May 16 – Krist Novoselic, American rock bassist (Nirvana)

• May 17 – Trent Reznor, American rock musician (Nine Inch Nails)

• May 19 – Philippe Dhondt, French singer known as Boris

• May 23 – Manuel Sanchís Hontiyuelo, Spanish footballer

• May 24 – Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director

• May 24 – John C. Reilly, American actor

• May 24 – Carlos Franco, Paraguayan golfer

• May 27 – Todd Bridges, American actor

• May 28 – Chris Ballew, American rock musician (The Presidents of the United States of America)

• May 31 – Brooke Shields, American actress and supermodel

June

• June 1 – Nigel Short, English chess player

• June 2 – Steve and Mark Waugh, Australian cricketers

• June 4 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer

• June 7 – Mick Foley, American professional wrestler and author

• June 7 – Jean-Pierre François, French footballer and singer

• June 7 – Damien Hirst, British artist

• June 7 – Christine Roque, French singer

• June 8 – Chris Chavis, American professional wrestler ("Tatanka")

• June 10 – Elizabeth Hurley, English model and actress

• June 11 – Manuel Uribe Garza, morbidly obese Mexican

• June 10 – Scott Graham, American sportscaster

• June 15 – Bernard Hopkins, American boxer

• June 17 – Dara O'Kearney, Irish ultra runner and professional poker player

• June 19 – Sean Marshall, American child actor and singer

• June 23 – Paul Arthurs, British rock guitarist (Oasis)

• June 26 – Mike Breen, American sports announcer

July

• July 1 – Harald Zwart, Norwegian film director

• July 3 – Shinya Hashimoto, Japanese professional wrestler

• July 4 – Horace Grant, American basketball player

• July 4 – Jo Whiley, British radio DJ

• July 5 – Eyran Katsenelenbogen, Israeli jazz pianist

• July 11 – Ernesto Hoost, Dutch kickboxer

• July 17 – Craig Morgan, American singer

• July 19 – Stuart Scott, American sports reporter

• July 19 – Evelyn Glennie, Scottish virtuoso percussionist

• July 21 – Guðni Bergsson, Icelandic footballer

• July 22 – Michael Hickenbottom (aka Shawn Michaels), American professional wrestler

• July 23 – Slash (Saul Hudson), American rock musician (Guns N' Roses)

• July 24 – Brian Blades, American National Football League wide receiver

• July 26 – Jeremy Piven, American actor

• July 27 – José Luis Chilavert, Paraguayan footballer

• July 31 – J. K. Rowling, English author

August

• August 2 – Sandra Ng, Hong Kong actress

• August 2 – Hisanobu Watanabe, Japanese baseball player and coach

• August 4 – Fredrik Reinfeldt, Swedish Prime Minister

• August 4 – Dennis Lehane, American crime writer

• August 6 – David Robinson, American basketball player

• August 6 – Mark Speight, British television presenter (d. 2008)

• August 9 – Chin Kar Lok, Hong Kong actor

• August 10 – Mike E. Smith, American jockey

• August 10 – John Starks, American basketball player

• August 11 – Duane Martin, American actor

• August 14 – Emmanuelle Béart, French actress

• August 15 – Vincent Kuk, Hong Kong director and actor

• August 18 – Koji Kikkawa, Japanese singer

• August 23 – Roger Avary, American film writer/director/producer

• August 24 – Reggie Miller, American basketball player

• August 25 – Mia Zapata, American singer (d. 1993)

• August 28 – Amanda Tapping, Canadian actress

• August 28 – Shania Twain, Canadian country singer and songwriter

• August 30 – Peter Grant, Scottish footballer and football manager

September

• September 1 – Craig McLachlan, Australian actor and singer

• September 2 – Lennox Lewis, British boxer

• September 2 – Partho Sen-Gupta, Indian independent filmmaker

• September 3 – Charlie Sheen, American actor

• September 4 – Bowie Lam, Hong Kong actor and singer

• September 9 – Constance Marie, American actress

• September 10 – Marco Pastors, Dutch politician Mik1884.Derby Fan

• September 11 – Moby, American musician

• September 11 – Paul Heyman, American wrestling promoter, ECW

• September 12 – Einstein Kristiansen, Norwegian cartoonist, designer and TV host

• September 14 – Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President since 2008

• September 14 – Ron Pearson, American actor, comedian and juggler

• September 16 – Katy Kurtzman, American actress, director, and producer

• September 17 – Kyle Chandler, American actor

• September 19 – Sabine Paturel, French singer

• September 20 – Robert Rusler, American actor

• September 21 – Cheryl Hines, American actress

• September 21 – Johanna Vuoksenmaa, Finnish film director

• September 25 – Scottie Pippen, American basketball player

• September 26 – Alexandra Lencastre, Portuguese actress

• September 27 – Peter MacKay, Canadian politician

• September 27 – Steve Kerr, American basketball player

• September 30 – Kathleen Madigan, American comedienne

October

• October 1 – Andreas Keller, German field hockey player

• October 1 – Cliff Ronning, Canadian ice hockey player

• October 4 – John Melendez, American TV announcer

• October 4 – Rykers Solomon, Nauruan politician

• October 4 – Micky Ward, American boxer

• October 5 – Mario Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player

• October 5 – Patrick Roy, Canadian ice hockey player

• October 8 – C-Jay Ramone, American rock bassist (The Ramones)

• October 9 – Dionicio Ceron, Mexican long-distance runner

• October 10 – Chris Penn, American actor (d. 2006)

• October 14 – Steve Coogan, British comedian and actor

• October 14 – Constantine Koukias, Australian composer

• October 16 – Steve Lamacq, British radio DJ

• October 17 – Aravinda de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer

• October 18 – Curtis Stigers, American jazz vocalist and saxophonist

• October 18 – Zakir Naik, Indian Islamic speaker and doctor

• October 19 – Ty Pennington, American television presenter

• October 20 – Jil Caplan, French singer and songwriter

• October 20 – Mikhail Shtalenkov, Russian ice hockey player

• October 26 – Aaron Kwok, Hong Kong singer and actor

• October 26 – Kelly Rowan, Canadian actress

• October 26 – Kenneth Rutherford, New Zealand cricketer

• October 29 – Christy Clark, Canadian politician

• October 30 – Gavin Rossdale, English musician

• October 31 – Rob Rackstraw, British voice actor

November

• November 2 – Shahrukh Khan, Indian actor

• November 3 – Ann Scott, French novelist

• November 4 – Wayne Static, American rock singer (Static-X)

• November 4 – Pata, Japanese rock guitarist (X Japan)

• November 4 – Jeff Scott Soto, American musician

• November 5 – Famke Janssen, Dutch model and actress

• November 6 – Greg Graffin, American rock singer (Bad Religion)

• November 7 – Sigrun Wodars, German athlete

• November 9 – Bryn Terfel, Welsh baritone

• November 10 – Eddie Irvine, Northern Irish racecar driver

• November 19 – Paulo Barreto, Brazilian cryptographer

• November 20 – Yoshiki Hayashi, Japanese rock composer, piano and drummer (X Japan)

• November 21 – Björk, Icelandic singer, songwriter, and musician

• November 21 – Alexander Siddig, Sudanese-born English actor

• November 23 – Don Frye, American professional wrestler and mixed martial arts fighter

• November 25 – Cris Carter, American football player

• November 25 – Tim Armstrong, American singer and musician

• November 28 – Peter Beagrie, English footballer

• November 30 – Ben Stiller, American actor

• November 30 – Tashi Tenzing, Indian mountaineer

December

• December 3 – Steve Harris, American actor

• December 3 – Katarina Witt, German figure skater

• December 4 – Anthony DeSando, American actor

• December 5 – John Rzeznik, American rock singer (The Goo Goo Dolls)

• December 5 – Carlton Palmer, English footballer

• December 8 – Carina Lau Kar-ling, Chinese actress

• December 15 – Luis Fabián Artime, Argentine footballer

• December 18 – John Moshoeu, South African footballer

• December 19 – Jessica Steen, Canadian actress

• December 21 – Andy Dick, American actor

• December 22 – Lee Berger American-born explorer and paleoanthropologist

• December 27 – Salman Khan, Indian actor

• December 29 – Dexter Holland, American rock singer (The Offspring)

• December 30 – Zoe Kelli Simon, American actress

• December 31 – Nicholas Sparks, American author

• December 31 – Gong Li, Chinese actress

Unknown dates

• Bradley Joseph, American composer, pianist, and keyboardist

• Paul Seawright, Irish photographer

• Lucy Noland, Vietnamese-American journalist

• Tommy DeCarlo, American singer

Deaths

January

• January 4 – T. S. Eliot, American-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1888)

• January 10 – Frederick Fleet, English sailor and lookout aboard the RMS Titanic (b. 1887)

• January 12 – Lorraine Hansberry, American writer (b. 1930)

• January 14 – Jeanette MacDonald, American actress and singer (b. 1903)

• January 20 – Alan Freed, American disc jockey (b. 1922)

• January 24 – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (b. 1874)

• January 28 – Maxime Weygand, French soldier (b. 1867)

• January 28 – Tich Freeman, English cricketer (b. 1888)

February

• February 5 – Irving Bacon, American actor (b. 1893)

• February 7 – Nance O'Neil, stage & film actress, friend of Lizzie Borden (b. 1874)

• February 13 – Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt, Swiss-born socialite (b. 1906)

• February 15 – Nat King Cole, American singer and musician (b. 1919)

• February 19 – Forrest Taylor, American stage, film and television actor (b. 1883)

• February 21 – Malcolm X, American activist (assassinated) (b. 1925)

• February 22 – Felix Frankfurter, U.S. Supreme Court Justice (b. 1882)

• February 23 – Stan Laurel, British actor (b. 1890)

• February 26 – George Adamski, Polish-born alleged UFO traveler (b. 1891)

March

• March 6 – Margaret Dumont, American actress (b. 1889)

• March 7 – Louise Mountbatten, Queen of Sweden and second wife of King Gustaf VI Adolf (b. 1889)

• March 13 – Corrado Gini, Italian statistician (b. 1884)

• March 13 – Fan S. Noli, Albanian bishop, poet, and political figure (b. 1882)

• March 17

• *Amos Alonzo Stagg, American baseball, basketball, and football player and coach (b. 1862)

• *Nancy Cunard, English writer, heiress and political activist (b. 1896)

• March 18

• *King Farouk I of Egypt (b. 1920)

• *Jack Quinlan, American Chicago Cubs radio broadcaster (b. 1927)

• March 23 – Mae Murray, stage & silent screen star (b. 1889)

• March 28

• *Jack Hoxie, American actor, rodeo performer (b. 1885)

• *Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood (b. 1897)

• *Richard Beesly, British Olympic gold medal-winning rower (b. 1907)

• March 30 – Philip Showalter Hench, American physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)

April

• April 3

• *Ray Enright, American film director (b. 1896)

• *Ernst Kirchweger, Austrian communist and resistance fighter (b. 1897 or 1898)

• April 8 – Lars Hanson, Swedish actor (b. 1886)

• April 10 – Linda Darnell, American actress (b. 1923)

• April 14 – Perry Smith (b. 1928) and Dick Hickock (b. 1931), American murderers of the Clutters in 1959 (executed)

• April 16 – Sydney Chaplin, American actor (b. 1885)

• April 18 – Guillermo González Camarena, Mexican inventor (b. 1917)

• April 21 – Edward Victor Appleton, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)* April 25 – Owney Madden, English-born gangster (b. 1891)

• April 24 – Louise Dresser, American actress (b. 1878)

• April 27 – Edward R. Murrow, American journalist (b. 1908)

• April 30 – Helen Chandler, American actress (b. 1906)

May

• May 1 – Spike Jones, American musician and bandleader (b. 1911)

• May 7 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer (b. 1883)

• May 14 – Frances Perkins, First woman appointed as a United States Presidential cabinet member (Labor) (b. 1880)

• May 18 – Eli Cohen, Israeli spy (b. 1924)

• May 22 – Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)

• May 23

• *David Smith, American sculptor (b. 1906)

• *Earl Webb, American baseball player (b. 1897)

• May 25 – Sonny Boy Williamson, American blues musician (b. 1899)

June

• June 7 – Judy Holliday, American actress (b. 1921)

• June 13 – Martin Buber, Austrian-Israeli philosopher (b. 1878)

• June 15

• *Steve Cochran, American actor (b. 1917)

• *E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (b. 1902)

• June 20 – Bernard Baruch, Financier and Presidential adviser (b. 1870)

• June 22 – David O. Selznick, American film producer (b. 1902)

• June 23 – Mary Boland, veteran stage & screen actress (b. 1880)

• June 24

• *Freddie Mills, British boxing champion (b. 1919).

• *Kenneth Macdonald Beaumont, English legal pioneer (b. 1884)

• June 26 – Reginald Beckwith, English actor (b. 1908)

• June 28 – Red Nichols, American jazz cornettist (b. 1905)

• June 30 – Bessie Barriscale, American actress (b. 1884)

July

• July 1 – Wally Hammond, English cricketer (b. 1903)

• July 7 – Moshe Sharett, second Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1894)

• July 14

• *Adlai Stevenson, American politician (b. 1900)

• *Max Woosnam, English sportsman (b. 1892)

• July 19

• *Clyde Beatty, American animal trainer (b. 1903)

• *Syngman Rhee, First President of South Korea (b. 1875)

• July 24 – Constance Bennett, American actress (b. 1904)

• July 28 – Rampo Edogawa, Japanese author and critic (b. 1894)

• July 30 – Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese writer (b. 1886)

August

• August 6

• *Nancy Carroll, American actress (b. 1903)

• *Everett Sloane, American actor (b. 1909)

• August 8 – Shirley Jackson, American author (b. 1916)

• August 9 – Creighton Hale, American actor (b. 1882)

• August 25 – Moonlight Graham, American baseball player

• August 27 – Le Corbusier, Swiss architect (b. 1887)

• August 28 – Giulio Racah, Israeli physicist (b. 1909)

September

• September 4

• *Albert Schweitzer, Alsatian physician and missionary, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1875)

• *Alfred Bossom, Baron Bossom, English architect and politician (b. 1881)

• September 8

• *Hermann Staudinger, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1881)

• *Dorothy Dandridge, American actress (b. 1922)

• September 10 – Bobby Jordan, American actor (b. 1923)

• September 14 – J.W. Hearne, English cricketer (b. 1891)

• September 15 – Steve Brown, American musician (b. 1890)

• September 16 – Fred Quimby, American animated film producer (b. 1886)

• September 25 – Henry Hugh Tudor, British general (b. 1871)

• September 27 – Clara Bow, American silent film actress (b. 1905)

October

• October 1 – Gareth Hughes, Welsh actor (b. 1894)

• October 3 – Zachary Scott, American actor (b. 1914)

• October 11

• *Dorothea Lange, American photographer (b. 1895)

• *Walther Stampfli, member of the Swiss Federal Council (b. 1884)

• October 12 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1899)

• October 14 – Randall Jarrell, American poet (b. 1914)

• October 17 – John Barton King, American cricketer (b. 1873)

• October 18 – Henry Travers, English actor (b. 1874)

• October 21 – Marie McDonald, American actress (b. 1923)

• October 26 – Sylvia Likens, American murder victim (b. 1949)

• October 29 – Miller Anderson, American Olympic diver (b. 1922)

• October 30 – Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., American historian (b. 1888)

• October 31 – Rita Johnson, American actress (b. 1913)

November

• November 6 – Edgard Varèse, French-born composer (b. 1883)

• November 6 – Clarence Williams, American musician (b. 1893)

• November 8 – Dorothy Kilgallen, American newspaper columnist (b. 1913)

• November 12 – Syedna Taher Saifuddin, Indian Bohra Spiritual Leader (b. 1888)

• November 16 – Harry Blackstone, Sr., American magician (b. 1885)

• November 16 – W. T. Cosgrave, Irish politician (b. 1880)

• November 18 – Henry A. Wallace, Vice President of the United States (b. 1888)

• November 24 – Abdullah III Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1895)

• November 25 – Dame Myra Hess, English pianist (b. 1890)

December

• December 5 – Joseph Erlanger, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)

• December 16 – W. Somerset Maugham, English writer (b. 1874)

• December 22 – Al Ritz, American actor (b. 1901)

• December 24 – William M. Branham, American minister (b. 1909)

• December 29

• *Frank S. Nugent, American journalist (b. 1908)

• *Kosaku Yamada, Japanese composer and conductor (b. 1886)

Unknown date

• Bill Gardner, American law enforcement agent and one of Eliot Ness's Untouchables (b. 1884)

Ship events

• List of ship launches in 1965

• List of ship commissionings in 1965

Nobel Prizes

• Physics – Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Julian Schwinger, Richard P. Feynman

• Chemistry – Robert Burns Woodward

• Physiology or Medicine – François Jacob, André Lwoff, Jacques Monod

• Literature – Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov

• Peace – United Nation's Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Academy Awards

• Best Picture: My Fair Lady, Jack Warner, producer

• Best Director: George Cukor, My Fair Lady

• Best Actor: Rex Harrison, My Fair Lady

• Best Actress: Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins

• Best Supporting Actor: Peter Ustinov, Topkapi

• Best Supporting Actress: Lila Kedrova, Zorba the Greek

• Best Original Screenplay: Father Goose written by Frank Tarloff, Peter Stone and S.H.Barnett

• Best Adapted Screenplay: Becket, by Edward Anhalt

• Best Original Song: Mary Poppins, Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

• Best Original Score: Mary Poppins'' by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

World population

See also

• 20th century