Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Years: 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 - 1964 - 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

Events

• January 1 - Top of the Pops premieres on BBC television.
• January 3 - Footage of The Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on The Jack Paar Show.
• January 15 - Vee Jay Records files a lawsuit against Capitol Records and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles albums. On April 9, Capitol Records is granted an injuction restraining Vee Jay Records from further manufacturing, distributing or advertising recordings by the Beatles.
• January 18 - The Beatles appear on the Billboard magazine charts for the first time.
• February 1 - Indiana Governor Welsh declares the song "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen pornographic. He requests that the Indiana Broadcasters Association ban the record. Governor Welsh claimed that his "ears tingle" when he heard the song. Publisher Max Firetag offers $1,000 to anyone that can find anything "suggestive" in the song's lyrics.
• February 7 - The Beatles arrive in the United States and are greeted by thousands of screaming fans at New York's Kennedy Airport.
• February 9 - The Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show, which breaks television ratings records.
• February 16 - The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show.
• February 23 - The Beatles appear on the Ed Sullivan show.
• March - Capitol Records is bombarded with requests for heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay's album, I Am the Greatest, following Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston in February.
• March 6 - Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, Kissin' Cousins is released to theaters.
• March 14 - Billboard Magazine reports that sales of Beatle records make up 60% of the entire singles market.
• March 16 - Disc jockey Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion.
• March 21 - For the first time in history, all Top Ten singles on the U.K. chart are by British acts.
• March 24 - John Lennon's first book, In His Own Write is published.
• March 27 - The Beatles occupy the top six spots on the Australian pop chart.
• March 28 - Wax likenesses of The Beatles are put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. The Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum.
• April 4 - The Beatles occupied all five top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles chart with their singles "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".
• April 11 - The Beatles hold 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine by Elvis Presley, December 19, 1956.
• April 26 - The Rolling Stones release their eponymous debut album.
• May 2 - In the United States, The Beatles' Second Album climbs to the #1 spot on the LP charts in only its second week of release, making it the first album ever to reach #1 that quickly.
• July 31 - Country singer Jim Reeves dies in an airplane crash near Nashville.
• September 16 - Shindig! premieres on ABC.
• September 22 - Fiddler on the Roof opens on Broadway.
• October 19 - Simon and Garfunkel release Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which is initially a total flop upon first release. After release of their second album, Sounds of Silence, in 1966, it hits #30 on the Billboard charts.
• Simon and Garfunkel form to record for Columbia Records, marking first time that ethnic names are used in pop music.
• 11 year old Keith Green becomes the youngest person ever to sign a contract with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) after publishing, recording and releasing the song "The Way I Used to Be".
• Frank Zappa's musical career begins.
• Phil Ochs' musical career begins.
• Marianne Faithfull's musical career begins.
• Sonny and Cher begin performing together.
• MC5 forms.
• The Mamas & the Papas form.
• The Velvet Underground forms.
• The Grass Roots form.
• The Ford Mustang introduced.

Births

• May 26 - Lenny Kravitz

Films released

• ''Dr. Strangelove'
• A Fistful of Dollars
• Goldfinger
• A Hard Day's Night
• My Fair Lady
• Mary Poppins
• The Pink Panther
• A Shot in the Dark
• Viva Las Vegas

Hit songs

• "Baby Love" - The Supremes
• "Can't Buy Me Love" - The Beatles
• "Chug-A-Lug" - Roger Miller
• "Dancin' In The Street" - Martha & the Vandellas
• "Dawn" - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• "Fun Fun Fun" - The Beach Boys
• "Glad All Over" - Dave Clark Five
• "Go Now" - The Moody Blues
• "Goldfinger" - Shirley Bassey
• "A Hard Day's Night" - The Beatles
• "Hello Dolly" recorded by Louis Armstrong
• "House Of The Rising Sun" - The Animals
• "I Feel Fine"/"She's A Woman" - The Beatles
• "I Get Around" - The Beach Boys
• "I Guess I'm Crazy" - Jim Reeves
• "Welcome To My World" - Jim Reeves
• "It's Over" - Roy Orbison
• "Needles And Pins" - The Searchers
• "Rag Doll" - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• "She's Not There" - The Zombies
• "Oh, Pretty Woman" - Roy Orbison
• "Twist and Shout" - The Beatles
• "Under The Boardwalk" - The Drifters
• "Walk on By" - Dionne Warwick
• "Welcome To My World" - Jim Reeves
• "Wishin' and Hopin'" - Dusty Springfield
• "You Really Got Me" - The Kinks

New Books

• Albert Angelo - B.S. Johnson
• Armageddon - Leon Uris
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - Ian Fleming
• The Defense - Vladimir Nabokov
• The Farm Book - Jan Pfloog
• Fortunate Pilgrim - Mario Puzo
• Funeral in Berlin - Len Deighton
• Herzog - Saul Bellow
• The Jealous God - John Braine
• Flowers for Hitler - Leonard Cohen
• Julian - Gore Vidal
• Little Big Man - Thomas Berger
• The Man - Irving Wallace
• The Martyred - Richard E. Kim
• A Moveable Feast - Ernest Hemingway
• An Autobiography - Dick Gregory
• One-Dimensional Man - Herbert Marcuse
• A Purple Place For Dying - John D. MacDonald
• Rascal - Sterling North
• The Rector of Justin - Louis Auchincloss
• Second Generation - Raymond Williams
• Shadow and Act - Ralph Ellison
• Shadow of a Bull - Maia Wojciechowska
• A Song of Six Pence - A.J. Cronin
• The Valley of Bones - Anthony Powell
• When the Lion Feeds - Wilbur Smith
• Why We Can't Wait - Martin Luther King, Jr.
• You Only Live Twice - Ian Fleming
• The Splendid Belt of Mr. Big - Sara Bulette

1964

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