istoryworld
All Events
Based on interviews given to Alex Haley in 1964, a life of Malcolm X is published soon after his assassination
Mobutu stages his second coup in the Congo and this time takes power as president
Footballer Franz Beckenbauer plays his first international for West Germany
Ian Smith makes a unilateral declaration of Rhodesia's independence
German performance artist Joseph Beuys walks round a gallery demonstrating How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare
The Second Vatican Council ends, having made some radical changes in the ritual and attitudes of the Roman Catholic church
A gene-centred view of evolution develops – and is brilliantly described in 1976, at a popular level, by Richard Dawkins in his book The Selfish Gene
Linus Pauling and Emile Zuckerkandl develop what they call the molecular clock, using protein sequences to estimate the time since molecules diverged
Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, becomes India's prime minister as leader of the Congress party
Robert Menzies retires as Australian prime minister and is succeeded by Harold Holt
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 9 is the first to achieve a soft-landing on the moon and to send back photographic data from the surface
Kwame Nkrumah, the founding father of Ghana, is toppled in a coup while away on a state visit to China
Jean-Bedel Bokassa takes power in a coup in the Central African Republic
Scientists at the US Geological Survey develop the theory of plate tectonics as the explanation of continental drift
Real-life husband and wife Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor star as the married couple in the film of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Austrian author Peter Handke provokes interest with his first play Offending the Audience
The Soviet spacecraft Luna 10 orbits the moon and broadcasts the Internationale to the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party
Suharto forces the Indonesian president, Achmed Sukarno, to hand over to him all executive powers
Joaquin Balaguer, a close associate of Trujillo, is elected president of the Dominican Republic
British actor Michael Caine makes his name starring in two outstanding films within the year, Alfie and The Ipcress File
English novelist Paul Scott publishes The Jewel in the Crown, the first volume in his 'Raj Quartet'
Leonid Brezhnev, taking the title General Secretary (last used by Stalin), makes it plain that he is the Soviet leader
NATO headquarters moves to Brussels after de Gaulle expels all NATO personnel from French soil
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, leader of the Awami League, demands full autonomy for East Pakistan (Bangladesh)
Plaid Cymru sends its first MP to Westminster when Gwynfor Evans wins a Carmarthen by-election
