This Year in History:
1966
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
On January 13, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appoints the first African American cabinet member, making Robert C. Weaver head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the…
On January 17, 1966, the National Broadcasting Corporation orders 32 episodes of a new TV show, “The Monkees,” for its upcoming fall schedule. Little did producers know that the fake…
On January 17, 1966, a B‑52 bomber collides with a KC‑135 jet tanker over Spain’s Mediterranean coast, dropping three 70‑kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares and one in the…
Following the death of Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi becomes head of the Congress Party and thus prime minister of India. She was India’s first female head…
On February 3, 1966, the Soviet Union accomplishes the first controlled landing on the moon, when the unmanned spacecraft Lunik 9 touches down on the Ocean of Storms. After its…
On February 10, 1966, Ralph Nader, a young lawyer and the author of the groundbreaking book Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed‑In Dangers of the American Automobile, testifies before Congress…
Venera 3, a Soviet probe launched from Kazakhstan on November 15, 1965, collides with Venus, the second planet from the sun. Although Venera 3 failed in its mission to measure…
On March 2, 1966, in Dearborn, Michigan, the Ford Motor Company celebrates the production of its 1 millionth Mustang, a white convertible. The sporty, affordable vehicle was officially launched two…
On March 4, 1966, an offhand John Lennon comment appears in the London Evening Standard. Months later, it erupted in the “Bigger than Jesus” scandal that brought a semi‑official end…
On March 5, 1966, Marvin Miller, the 48‑year‑old assistant to the president of the United Steelworkers of America, is elected the first full‑time executive director of the Major League Baseball…
Thanks to Hollywood, America’s collective memory of the Vietnam War is now inextricably linked with the popular music of that era. More specifically, it is linked with the music of…
In College Park, Maryland on March 19, 1966, underdog Texas Western College defeats Kentucky, 72‑65, in the NCAA men’s college basketball final—the first NCAA title for an all‑Black starting five. “I wasn’t out…
On the afternoon of April 21, 1966, a bar crawl in New York’s West Village leads to an important early moment in the gay liberation movement. In what will be…
On May 4, 1966, San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays hits his 512th career home run to break Mel Ott’s National League record for home runs. Mays would finish his…
James H. Meredith, who in 1962 became the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi, is shot by a sniper shortly after beginning a lone civil rights march…
A former actor named Ronald Reagan receives the Republican nomination for governor of California on June 7, 1966. He won the election that November and was sworn in on January…
On June 8, 1966, the rival National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) announce that they will merge. The first “Super Bowl” between the two leagues took place…
On June 13, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona, establishing the principle that all criminal suspects must be advised of their rights before…
On the night of July 13, 1966, eight student nurses are brutally murdered by Richard Speck at their group residence in Chicago, Illinois. Speck threatened the women with both a…
On July 15, 1966, 18 U.S. senators sign a statement calling on North Vietnam to “refrain from any act of vengeance against American airmen.” The number of captured American pilots was…
