- January
- The name of Trans-Canada Airlines is changed to Air Canada. [1130.48]
- January 15
- Pierre Ngendandumwe, premier of Burundi, is murdered. [1]
- January 16
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk. [1]
- January 18
- H L de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname. [1]
- January 20
- Spain's Generalissimo Francisco Franco meets with Jewish representatives to discuss legitimizing Jewish communities in Spain. [1]
- American Jet Propulsion Laboratory proposes modified Apollo flight to fly around Mars and return. [1]
- January 22
- US launches TIROS 9 weather satellite. [1]
- January 26
- Ali Mansoer, premier of Persia, murdered. [1]
- South Vietnam military coup under General Nguyen Khanh. [1]
- January 27
- First ground station-to-aircraft radio communication via satellite. [1]
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- January 30
- State funeral of Winston Churchill. [1]
- February 3
- Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 is launched into Earth orbit (552/636 km). [1]
- February 4
- In Rat Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 8.7 earthquake occurs, one of the largest earthquakes in the USA and the world. The resulting tsunami is recorded widely across the Pacific. [53]
- February 7
- Operations begin at Grupo Folklorico Antiyano on Curaçao. [1]
- US begins regular bombing and strafing of North Vietnam. [1]
- February 8
- Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic Ocean off Jones Beach, New Jersey, USA; 84 dead. [1]
- February 10
- In northwestern Iran, a magnitude 5.1 earthquake occurs. [53]
- February 15
- Canada replaces the Union Jack flag with the Maple Leaf. [1] [614.18]
- February 16
- Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors. [1]
- February 18
- 27 copper miners die in avalanche, Granduc Mountain, British Columbia, Canada. [1]
- Gambia gains independence from Britain. [1]
- February 20
- Turkish government of Uergüplü forms. [1]
- February 21
- In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity. [1] [129]
- February 22
- USSR launches Kosmos 57 into earth orbit (Voskhod Test). [1]
- The Royal Australian Mint opens in Canberra, Australia. [501.141]
- February 24
- East German President Ulbricht visits Egypt. [1]
- February 26
- Dutch Government of Marijnen falls. [1]
- Federal Republic of Germany ceases military aid to Tanzania. [1]
- February 27
- Dutch Marijnen government resigns. [1]
- France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria. [1]
- February 28
- Adolf Schärf, President of Austria (1957-65), dies at age 74. [1]
- March 1
- Gas explosion kills 28 in apartment complex (La Salle, Québec, Canada). [1]
- March 3
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- March 7
- Christian-democrats win parliament in Chile. [1]
- March 8
- First US combat forces arrive in South Vietnam (3,500 Marines). [1]
- March 11
- Indonesia President Sukarno accepts qualifications of Suharto. [1]
- March 14
- Israeli cabinet approves diplomatic relations with Federal Republic of Germany. [1]
- March 18
- USSR launches Voshkod 2; Alexei Leonov makes first spacewalk (20 minutes). [1] [5] [1603.86]
- March 19
- Chivu Stoica becomes President of the Council of Romanian People's Republic and Nicolae Ceausescu is appointed first Secretary of Romanian communist party. [1]
- Indonesia nationalizes all foreign oil companies. [1]
- Rembrandt's painting Titus sells for record 7,770,000 gulden. [1]
- March 21
- US Ranger 9 launched, last American unmanned lunar space probe; will take 5,814 pictures before lunar impact. [1] [5]
- March 22
- D Senanayake wins general elections in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). [1]
- US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong. [1]
- March 23
- Gemini 3 launched, first US two-man space flight (Grissom and Young). [1]
- Moroccan army shoots on demonstrators, about 100 killed. [1]
- March 25
- Viola Gregg Liuzzo, US civil rights activist, is murdered. [1]
- West German Bondsdag extends war crimes retribution. [1]
- March 28
- Near the west coast of central Chile, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurs. About 400 persons are killed, 350 injured, and extensive property damage reported throughout the area. 230-foot dam near El Cobre village shatters, releasing 2 million tons of water and mud on the village. [53]
- March 30
- In Rat Islands, Alaska, a magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs. One of the largest earthquakes in the United States. [53]
- March 31
- US orders the first combat troops to Vietnam. [1]
- April 1
- South Africa worker's union leader Henry Fazzie sentenced to ten years. [1]
- Syncom 3, first geosynchronous communications satellite, passes from civilian to military control. [1]
- April 3
- First atomic powered spacecraft (SNAP) launched. [1]
- April 6
- Intelsat 1 ("Early Bird") satellite is launched; first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite. [1] [457] [457]
- April 9
- India and Pakistan engage in border fight. [1]
- April 11
- 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 and injuring 5,000. [1]
- April 19
- Electronics magazine publishes an article by Gordon Moore, head of research and development for Fairchild Semiconductor, on the future of semiconductor components. Moore predicts that transistor density on integrated circuits would double every 12 months for the next ten years. (This prediction is revised in 1975 to doubling every 18 months, and becomes known as Moore's Law.) [4]
- April 20
- People's Republic China offers North Vietnam military aid. [1]
- April 21
- New York World's Fair re-opens for second and final season. [1]
- April 23
- Launch of first Soviet communications satellite. [1]
- April 24
- Military coup under Donald Reid Cabral in Dominican Republic. [1]
- April 27
- RC Duncan patents "Pampers" disposable diaper. [1]
- April 28
- US marines invade Dominican Republic. [1]
- April 29
- Australian government announces it will send troops to Vietnam. [1]
- Magnitude 6.5 earthquake shakes Seattle, Washington, USA, killing five; second largest earthquake in the history of Washington state. [1] [53]
- Malta is 18th member of Council of Europe. [1]
- May 1
- USSR launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon. [1]
- May 2
- The "Early Bird" satellite is used to transmit television pictures across the Atlantic Ocean. [1] [457]
- May 3
- In El Salvador, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake occurs, killing 125, injuring about 500, and leaving an estimated 48,000 homeless. The town of Ilopango is almost completely destroyed. [53]
- First use of satellite TV, Today Show on the Early Bird Satellite. [1]
- Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US. [1]
- Pulitzer prize awarded to Irwin Unger (Greenback Era). [1]
- May 5
- First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam. [1]
- May 9
- Luna 5 launched (USSR); first attempt to soft land on Moon (fails). [1]
- May 11
- First of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 in India. [1]
- USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk. [1]
- May 12
- The Federal Republic of Germany announces the beginning of diplomatic relations with Israel. (Ambassadors are exchanged starting on August 11.) [1] [37]
- May 13
- Several Arab nations break ties with Federal Republic of Germany after it establishes diplomatic relations with Israel. [1]
- May 14
- Second Chinese atom bomb explodes. [1]
- May 16
- Bomb destroys US Air Force base Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. [1]
- May 20
- Pakistani Boeing 720-B crashes at Cairo, Egypt, killing 121. [1]
- May 23
- Franz Jonas elected president of Austria. [1]
- Pontoon ferry overturned on Shire River, Malawi, kills 150. [1]
- May 25
- India and Pakistan border fights take place. [1]
- May 26
- Dutch Voting Rights Bill passes. [1]
- Revised International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea takes effect. [1]
- May 28
- Fire and explosion at Dhori mine in Dhanbad, India kills 400. [1]
- May 30
- France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker, Algeria. [1]
- Viet Cong offensive against US base Da Nang begins. [1]
- June 1
- A Penzias and R Wilson detect 3 degrees K primordial background radiation. [1]
- Explosion at Fukuoka, Japan kills 237 coal miners. [1]
- June 2
- Second of two cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (Ganges River, India). [1]
- June 8
- US troops ordered to fight offensively in Vietnam. [1]
- USSR launches Luna 6; misses Moon. [1]
- June
- John McKay-Clements, of Ontario, Canada, buys a Canadian 1911 silver pattern dollar from the Norwood family of New York. He pays $35,000 cash plus $20,000 in numismatic trade. The price sets a world record for a single coin. [3]
- June 28
- First US ground combat forces in Vietnam authorized by President Lyndon Johnson. [1]
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