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The Vietnam Conflict Unfolds
Women's skirts get shorter; men's hair gets longer
By Paula Green
The first U.S. combat troops arrive in Vietnam. By the end of the year, 190,000 American soldiers are in Vietnam. On February 1, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and more than 2,600 others are arrested in Selma, Ala., during demonstrations against voter-registration rules. Cigarette manufacturers are forced to add health warnings on cigarette packets. Hypertext is introduced for linking on the Internet. On Palm Sunday, fifty-one tornadoes hit six Midwestern states killing 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.
Average: The average income was $6,900. The cost of a new home is $20,200. Average cost for a new car was 2,650. Gasoline was 31 cents a gallon. A loaf of bread was 45 cents. A gallon of milk was 95 cents and carrots were 15 cents per pound. Eggs sold for 53 cents a dozen, and bacon was 79 cents a pound. A first-class stamp was 5 cents.
Firsts: Soft contact lenses were invented. On June 3, 120 miles above the Earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. A respirator that replaces the iron lung is developed. Pope Paul VI becomes the first Pope to visit the United States.
U.S. Events: Civil rights and black-nationalist leader, Malcolm X is shot to death on February 21, at a Harlem rally. On July 30, President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid. On October 28, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed in St. Louis, Missouri.
World News: Winston Churchill, the British leader dies on January 24, in London at the age of 90. On February 15, Canada adopts the maple leaf for its flag. Cigarette advertising is banned on British
television. Soviet-Russian Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov is the first person to walk in space.
Entertainment: The Sound of Music premieres. An instant hit, the film was one of the top-grossing films of 1965. Other popular films – Battle of the Bulge, Cat Ballou, Darling, That Darn Cat, Dr. Zhivago, The Great Race, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Help, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Shenandoah, A Thousand Clowns, Thunderball, and What’s New Pussycat.
Television: Popular TV shows -The Big Valley, The Dating Game, Days of Our Lives, I Dream of Jeannie, The FBI, F Troop, Gidget, Green Acres, Hogan’s Heroes, Hollywood Squares, Lost in Space, The Monkees, I Spy, That Girl, and The Wild, Wild West. On December 9, A Charlie Brown Christmas, the first Peanuts television special, debuts on CBS.
Songs: The hit list – Day Tripper, Downtown, Get Off of My Cloud, Help, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Il Silenzio, I’ve Got You Babe, The Last Time, Like A Rolling Stone, Mr. Tambourine Man, Ticket to Ride, Unchained Melody, Wooly Bully and Yesterday. The Beatles play their first live concert at Shea Stadium in New York.
Publishing: Popular Books: Ariel, The Autobiography of Malcom X, The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain, #2), In Cold Blood, Dune, Fox in Sox, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, The Magus, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, The Source, Stoner, The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, and Unsafe at Any Speed.
Sports: MLB – The Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship and The Buffalo Bills win the AFL
Championship. NHL Montreal Canadiens are crowned Stanley Cup champs; NBA – Boston Celtics are victorious MLB – Los Angeles Dodgers are triumphant in the World Series. On January 2, quarterback Joe Namath signs a record deal with the American Football League's New York Jets.
Politics: President: Lydon B. Johnson: Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey. Lyndon B. Johnson was
inaugurated as the U.S. President on January 20, 1965.
Quotes:
"You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” ~Malcolm X, Prospects for Freedom, January 7
"Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health" - US Surgeon General
“Go now, and teach all nations. Make it your first care to love one another and to find the kingdom of God.” ~Jesus, The Greatest Story Ever Told
Sources: www.infoplease.com/year/1965, famous+quotes+from+the+year+1965,
history/year/1965, www.mshs1965.com/class_custom.cfm?page_id=359848
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