This Year in History:
1966
Discover what happened in this year with HISTORY’s summaries of major events, anniversaries, famous births and notable deaths.
The Johnson administration and its handling of the war in Vietnam comes under attack from several quarters. A group of 22 eminent U.S. scientists, including seven Nobel laureates, urged the…
When producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson conceived a situation comedy called The Monkees in 1965, they hoped to create a ratings success by blurring the line between pop music…
Hurricane Inez slams into the islands of the Caribbean, killing hundreds of people, on this day in 1966. The storm left death and destruction in its wake from Guadeloupe to…
The Soviet Defense Ministry newspaper, Krasnaya Zuezda, reports that Russian military experts have come under fire during U.S. raids against North Vietnamese missile sites while the Soviets were training North…
Pope Paul VI addresses 150,000 people in St. Peter’s Square in Rome and calls for an end to the war in Vietnam through negotiations. Although the Pope’s address had no…
Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara declares at a news conference in Saigon that he found that military operations have “progressed very satisfactorily since 1965.” McNamara had arrived in Saigon on…
U.S. troops move into Tay Ninh Province near the Cambodian border, about 50 miles north of Saigon, and sweep the area in search of Viet Cong as part of Operation…
President Johnson leaves Washington for a 17‑day trip to seven Asian and Pacific nations and a conference scheduled in Manila. En route to Manila, Johnson visited New Zealand and Australia;…
On the morning of October 21, 1966, a landslide of coal waste crashes into a small Welsh mining village, killing 116 children and 28 adults. The accident left just five…
On this day in 1966, an avalanche of mud and rocks buries a school in Aberfan, Wales, killing 148 people, mostly young students. The elementary school was located below a…
In Manila, President Johnson meets with other Allied leaders and they pledge to withdraw troops from Vietnam within six months if North Vietnam “withdraws its forces to the North and…
A fire breaks out on board the 42,000‑ton U.S. aircraft carrier Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin. The accident occurred when a locker filled with night illumination magnesium flares burst…
U.S. Ambassador‑at‑Large Averell Harriman visits 10 nations to explain the results of the Manila conference and the current U.S. evaluation of the situation in Southeast Asia. Harriman, acting as Johnson’s…
To this day, no one can say with absolute certainty who the leader of ?(Question Mark) and the Mysterians really is. Is he—as literalists would have us believe—the former Rudy…
On this day in 1966, the actor David Schwimmer, best known for his starring role on the mega‑hit TV sitcom Friends, which originally aired from 1994 to 2004, is born…
On November 7, 1966, British rock sensations The Beatles walk into London’s Indica Gallery, where avant‑garde Japanese artist Yoko Ono is preparing for the opening of her solo exhibit. Singer…
Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara faces a storm of student protest when he visits Harvard University to address a small group of students. As he left a dormitory, about…
Gen. Earle Wheeler, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addresses a gathering at Brown University and approximately 60 students walk out to protest his defense of U.S. involvement in…
On November 18, 1966, Sandy Koufax, the ace pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, retires from baseball. He was just 30 years old, and he was retiring after a great…
On November 19, 1966, in college football, first‑ranked Notre Dame and second‑ranked Michigan State play to a 10‑10 tie at Spartan Stadium. The Irish, per coach Ara Parseghian’s instructions, ran…
