1966
*US has nearly 500,000 troops in Vietnam
*4 dig under the Berlin Wall to gain freedom from East Germany
*The Salvation Army Celebrates 100 years
*Miniskirts are in fashion
*Cassius Clay Defeats Henry Cooper in two title fights in London
*Vietnam international days of protest
*Miranda Rights come into being after the Supreme Court overturns the conviction of a confessed rapist ruling he had not been properly informed of his right to council and to not testify against himself
*Pakistani-Indian peace negotiations end successfully
*Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India
*The Australian Dollar was introduced at a rate of two dollars per pound, or ten shillings per dollar.
*Pope Paul VI and Arthur Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, meet in Rome - the first official meeting for 400 years between the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches
*Earthquake in Turkey - 2394 dead, 10000 injured
*Aberfan disaster in South Wales in United Kingdom, a slag heap containing unwanted rock from the local coal mine slid down Merthyr Mountain. As it collapsed it destroyed twenty houses and a farm before going on to demolish virtually all of Pantglas Junior School 144 people were killed, 116 of whom were children mostly between the ages of 7 and 10.
*Barbados achieves independence
*US Population exceeds 195 million
*England defeats Germany to win the 1966 World Cup Final.
Memory posted by visitor for that day The day England Won The World Cup
*China under Chairman Mao launches China's Cultural Revolution and begins purging intellectuals
Popular Culture
- Star Trek first episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek
- Author Jacqueline Susann has her first novel, Valley of the Dolls published
- Simon and Garfunkel release Sounds of Silence,
Popular Films
Thunderball
Dr. Zhivago
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
A Man for All Seasons
Music
The Mamas and the Papas
The Beatles
The Monkees
The Beach Boys
The Rolling Stones
Simon and Garfunkel
Popular Songs
I'm a Believer... The Monkees
Good Vibrations... The beach Boys
Monday Monday... The Mamas and the Papas
Wild Thing... The Troggs
Top 10 TV Series
"Bonanza"; "The Red Skelton Hour"; "The Andy Griffith Show"; "The Lucy Show"; "The Jackie Gleason Show"; "Green Acres"; "Daktari"; "Bewitched"; "The Beverly Hillbillies"; "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."
Other Series Premieres
"The Monkees"; "Family Affair"; "That Girl"; "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E."; "The Green Hornet"; "Mission: Impossible"; "Dark Shadows."