1966 - Wikiwand

1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1966th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 966th year of the 2nd millennium, the 66th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1960s decade.

From top to bottom, left to right: The Cultural Revolution begins in China as Mao Zedong mobilizes the Red Guards to purge perceived enemies of the Communist ideology, plunging the nation into social and political turmoil; The 1966 FIFA World Cup is held in England, where the host nation defeats West Germany in the final to win its first and only championship title; the Beach Boys release Pet Sounds, an innovative and influential album that redefines pop music and inspires generations of musicians; the South African Border War begins as South West African insurgents engage with South African forces, sparking a prolonged conflict tied to apartheid and decolonization in southern Africa; the University of Texas tower shooting in Austin shocks the nation as a gunman kills 16 people and wounds dozens more in one of the first modern mass shootings in U.S. history; the Soviet Union’s Luna 9 becomes the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon and transmit photographic data to Earth; the 1966 flood of the Arno inundates Florence, Italy, causing catastrophic damage to priceless artworks, manuscripts, and historical buildings in one of the worst cultural disasters of the 20th century; the groundbreaking science fiction series Star Trek premieres on NBC, shaping global pop culture and inspiring generations of fans and scientists; the Buddhist Uprising in South Vietnam intensifies unrest as Buddhist groups protest the U.S. backed military government, exposing internal fractures while American troop deployments continue to rise in the deepening Vietnam War.

Quick Facts

1966 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1966 MCMLXVI
Ab urbe condita	2719
Armenian calendar	1415 ԹՎ ՌՆԺԵ
Assyrian calendar	6716
Baháʼí calendar	122–123
Balinese saka calendar	1887–1888
Bengali calendar	1372–1373
Berber calendar	2916
British Regnal year	14 Eliz. 2 – 15 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2510
Burmese calendar	1328
Byzantine calendar	7474–7475
Chinese calendar	乙巳年 (Wood Snake) 4663 or 4456 — to — 丙午年 (Fire Horse) 4664 or 4457
Coptic calendar	1682–1683
Discordian calendar	3132
Ethiopian calendar	1958–1959
Hebrew calendar	5726–5727
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2022–2023
- Shaka Samvat	1887–1888
- Kali Yuga	5066–5067
Holocene calendar	11966
Igbo calendar	966–967
Iranian calendar	1344–1345
Islamic calendar	1385–1386
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 41 (昭和４１年)
Javanese calendar	1897–1898
Juche calendar	55
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4299
Minguo calendar	ROC 55 民國55年
Nanakshahi calendar	498
Thai solar calendar	2509
Tibetan calendar	ཤིང་མོ་སྦྲུལ་ལོ་ (female Wood-Snake) 2092 or 1711 or 939 — to — མེ་ཕོ་རྟ་ལོ་ (male Fire-Horse) 2093 or 1712 or 940

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Events

January

January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko.^[1]
January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso).^[2]
January 10
- Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.^[3]
- The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance.^[4]
January 15 – 1966 Nigerian coup d'état: A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.^[5]
January 17
- The Nigerian coup is overturned by another faction of the military, led by Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, leaving a military government in power and beginning a long period of military rule.^[6]
- 1966 Palomares B-52 crash: A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea. Carl Brashear, the first African-American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter, which results in the amputation of his leg.
January 19 – Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India; she is sworn in on January 24.
January 21 – Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party.
January 22 – The military government of Nigeria announces that ex-prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was killed during the coup a week previously.
January 24 – Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board, including Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission.
January 26 – Disappearance of the Beaumont children: Three children disappear on their way to Glenelg, South Australia, never to be seen again. Their fate remains unknown.^[7],1966 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election: Harold Holt is elected leader of the Liberal Party of Australia unopposed when Sir Robert Menzies retires after an unprecedented 16 years in office; consequently Holt becomes Prime Minister of Australia six days later.
January 27
- The British government promises the U.S. that British troops in Malaysia will stay until more peaceful conditions occur in the region.
- Britain's Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351.^[8]
January 31 – The United Kingdom ceases all trade with Rhodesia.

February

February 1 – Around 2,600 political prisoners are released by East Germany, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from West Germany.^[9]
February 3 – The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon.
February 4 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed.
February 7
- The Great Fire of Iloilo, Philippines, breaks out in a lumber yard and burns for almost half a day, destroying nearly three-quarters of the City Proper area and causing 50 million pesos in total property damage.^[10]^[11]^[12]
- Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a summit in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss the course of the Vietnam War.^[13]
February 14 – The Australian dollar is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar.
February 19 – The naval minister of the United Kingdom, Christopher Mayhew, resigns over defence policy.
February 20 – While Soviet author and translator Valery Tarsis is abroad, the Soviet Union negates his citizenship.
February 23 – 1966 Syrian coup d'état: An intra-party military coup in Syria replaces the previous government of Amin al-Hafiz by one led by Salah Jadid.
February 24 – A coup led by the police and military of Ghana raises the National Liberation Council to power while president Kwame Nkrumah is abroad.
February 28 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson calls a general election in the United Kingdom, to be held on March 31.

March

March – The DKW automobile ceases production in Germany.^[14]
March 1
- The British Government announces plans for the decimalisation of the pound sterling (hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (Decimal Day).
- Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface.
- The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria.
March 2 – Kwame Nkrumah arrives in Guinea and is granted asylum.
March 4
- Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board.
- In an interview with London Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, John Lennon of The Beatles states: "We're more popular than Jesus now."
March 5
- BOAC Flight 911 crashes in severe clear-air turbulence over Mount Fuji soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board.
- Merci, Chérie by Udo Jürgens (music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 (staged in Luxembourg) for Austria.
March 7 – Charles de Gaulle asks U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson for negotiations about the state of NATO equipment in France.
March 8
- Anti-communist demonstrations occur at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry.
- Vietnam War: The U.S. announces it will substantially increase the number of its troops in Vietnam.
- Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, Dublin, is clandestinely blown up by former Irish Republican Army volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising.
March 10 – Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg.^[15] Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German.
March 11
- Transition to the New Order in Indonesia: President Sukarno gives all executive powers to General Suharto by signing the Supersemar order.
- French President Charles de Gaulle states that French troops will be taken out of NATO and that all French NATO bases and headquarters must be closed within a year.
March 16 – NASA spacecraft Gemini 8 (David Scott, Neil Armstrong) conducts the first docking in space, with an Agena target vehicle.
March 20 – Football's FIFA World Cup Trophy is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "Pickles" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden.
March 22 – in the Chinese city of Xingtai a magnitude 6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured.
March 24 – Pope Paul VI meets Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring.^[16]
March 26 – Demonstrations are held across the United States against the Vietnam War.^[17]
March 28 – Cevdet Sunay becomes the fifth president of Turkey.^[18]
March 29 – The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held: Leonid Brezhnev demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory.^[19]
March 31
- The British Labour Party led by Harold Wilson wins the 1966 United Kingdom general election, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28).^[20]
- The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.

April

April 2 – The Indonesian army demands that the country rejoin the United Nations.
April 3 – Luna 10 is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit.
April 5 – During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down.^[21]
April 7 – The United Kingdom asks the United Nations Security Council for authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violate the embargo against Rhodesia (authority is given April 10).
April 8
- Buddhists in South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for free elections.
- Leonid Brezhnev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Union, as well as Leader of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R.
April 14
- Kenyan Vice President Oginga Odinga resigns, saying "invisible government" representing foreign interests now runs the country. He will head a new party, the Kenya People's Union.
- The South Vietnamese government promises free elections in 3–5 months.
April 15 – An anti-Nasser conspiracy is exposed in Egypt.
April 18
- China declares that it will stop economic aid to Indonesia.
- The 38th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: The Sound of Music wins Best Picture.
April 19 – Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965.
April 21
- An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital.
- The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time.
- Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders.
April 24 – Uniform daylight saving time is first observed in most parts of North America.
April 26
- A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye.
- The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed.
April 27 – Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union).
April 28 – In Rhodesia, security forces kill seven ZANLA men in combat; Chimurenga, the ZANU rebellion, begins.
April 30 – Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued in 2000).

May

May 4
- Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the Soviet Union.
- May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111.
May 5 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey.
May 6 – The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory.
May 7 – Irish bank workers go on strike.
May 12
- African members of the UN Security Council say that the British army should blockade Rhodesia.
- Radio Peking claims that U.S. planes have shot down a Chinese plane over Yunnan (the U.S. denies the story the next day).
May 14 – Turkey and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in Cyprus.
May 15
- Indonesia asks Malaysia for peace negotiations.
- The South Vietnamese army besieges Da Nang.
- Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators again picket the White House, then rally at the Washington Monument.
May 16
- The Chinese Communist Party issues the 'May 16 Notice', marking the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
- A strike is called by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom.^[22]
- In New York City, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. makes his first public speech on the Vietnam War.
May 19 – Gertrude Baniszewski is found guilty of torturing and murdering 16-year-old Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, United States, and is sentenced to life in prison (she is released on parole in December 1985).^[23]
May 24
- Battle of Mengo Hill: Ugandan army troops arrest Mutesa II of Buganda and occupy his palace.^[24]
- The Nigerian government forbids all political activity in the country until January 17, 1969.
May 25
- Explorer program: Satellite Explorer 32 (Atmosphere Explorer-B) is launched from the United States.
- No. 9 Squadron RAAF becomes part of the 4,500 strong Australian Task Force assigned to duties in Vietnam, leaving for Southeast Asia aboard the aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney.^[25]
May 26 – British Guiana achieves independence from the United Kingdom, becoming Guyana.
May 28
- Fidel Castro declares martial law in Cuba because of a possible U.S. attack.
- The Indonesian and Malaysian governments declare that the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation is over (a treaty is signed on August 11).
- Boat ride It's a Small World opens at Disneyland.
May 29 – Sports stadium Estadio Azteca officially opens in Mexico City in advance of the 1968 Summer Olympics.^[26]
May 31 – The Philippines reestablishes diplomatic relations with Malaysia.

June

June 2
- Éamon de Valera is re-elected as Irish president, aged 84.
- Surveyor program: Surveyor 1 lands in Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon, becoming the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on another world.
- Four former cabinet ministers including Évariste Kimba are executed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mobutu Sese Seko.
June 3 – Joaquín Balaguer is elected president of the Dominican Republic.
June 5 – Gemini 9A: Gene Cernan completes the second U.S. spacewalk (2 hours, 7 minutes).
June 6 – Civil rights activist James Meredith is shot by a sniper while traversing Mississippi in the March Against Fear.
June 8
- A North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber prototype is destroyed in a mid-air collision with an F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot. NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker and USAF test pilot Carl Cross are both killed.
- 1966 Topeka tornado: Topeka, Kansas, is devastated by a tornado that registers as an "F5" on the Fujita scale, the first to exceed US$100 million in damages. Sixteen people are killed, hundreds more injured and thousands of homes damaged or destroyed, and the campus of Washburn University suffers catastrophic damage.^[27]
June 12 – Chicago's Division Street riots begin in response to police shooting of a young Puerto Rican man.
June 13 – Miranda v. Arizona: The Supreme Court of the United States rules that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them.
June 14 – The Vatican abolishes the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
June 17 – An Air France personnel strike begins.
June 18 – CIA chief William Raborn resigns; Richard Helms becomes his successor.
June 28 – Argentine Revolution: In Argentina, a military junta calling itself Revolución Argentina deposes president Arturo Umberto Illia in a coup and appoints General Juan Carlos Onganía to power.
June 29
- Vietnam War: U.S. planes begin bombing Hanoi and Haiphong.^[28]
- The strike by the National Union of Seamen in the United Kingdom is called off.^[22]
June 30
- France formally leaves the military structure of NATO.
- The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded in Washington, D.C.

July

July 1 – Joaquín Balaguer becomes president of the Dominican Republic.^[29]
July 3
- 31 people are arrested when a demonstration by approximately 4,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters in front of the United States Embassy in London in Grosvenor Square turns violent.
- René Barrientos is elected President of Bolivia.
July 6 – Malawi becomes a republic.
July 7 – A Warsaw Pact conference ends with a promise to support North Vietnam.
July 8 – King Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng of Burundi is deposed by his son Ntare V, who is in turn deposed by prime minister Michel Micombero.
July 11 – The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England.
July 12 – Zambia threatens to leave the Commonwealth of Nations because of British peace overtures to Rhodesia.
July 13 – In Chicago, United States, Richard Speck breaks into a nurses' dormitory and murders eight of the nine student nurses who live there.^[30]^[31]
July 14
- Israeli and Syrian jet fighters clash over the Jordan River.
- Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history.
July 18
- Gemini 10 (John Young, Michael Collins) is launched from the United States. After docking with an Agena target vehicle, the astronauts set a world altitude record of 474 miles (763 km).
- The International Court of Justice rules in favour of South Africa in a case on the administration of South West Africa which has been brought before them by Ethiopia and Liberia.
July 22 – Following the death of Hsu Tsu-tsai, a visiting engineer, in The Hague under suspicious circumstances, the Chinese government declares Dutch diplomat G. J. Jongejans persona non grata, but tells him not to leave China before Hsu's Chinese associates have been permitted to leave the Netherlands.
July 23 – Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe.
July 24
- U.N. Secretary General U Thant visits Moscow.
- A USAF F-4C Phantom #63-7599 is shot down by a North Vietnamese SAM-2 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Hanoi, the first loss of a U.S. aircraft to a Vietnamese surface-to-air missile in the Vietnam War.^[32]
July 26 – Lord Gardiner issues the Practice Statement in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, stating that the House, when acting in a judicial capacity, is not bound to follow its own previous precedent.
July 28 – The U.S. announces that a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance plane has disappeared over Cuba.
July 29
- 1966 Nigerian counter-coup: Army officers from the north of Nigeria execute head of state General Aguiyi-Ironsi and install Yakubu Gowon.
- La Noche de los Bastones Largos: Junta takes over Argentine universities.
- Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. He is not seen in public for over a year.
July 30 – England beats West Germany 4–2 to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley after extra time.
July 31 – Loss of MV Darlwyne: a pleasure cruiser disappears off the Cornwall coast of England with the loss of all 31 aboard.^[33]

August

August 1
- Sniper Charles Whitman kills 15 people and wounds 31 from roof of the University of Texas at Austin Main Building tower in the United States, after earlier killing his wife and mother.^[34]
- The British Colonial Office merges with the Commonwealth Relations Office to form a new Commonwealth Office.
August 5 – The Caesars Palace hotel and casino opens in Las Vegas, United States.
August 6
- Braniff International Airways Flight 250 crashes in Falls City, Nebraska, United States, killing all 42 of those on board.^[35]
- René Barrientos takes office as the President of Bolivia.
- The Salazar Bridge (later the 25 de Abril Bridge) opens in Lisbon, Portugal.
August 10 – Lunar Orbiter 1, the first U.S. spacecraft to orbit the Moon, is launched.
August 11
- Indonesia and Malaysia issue a joint peace declaration, formally ending the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation which began in 1963.
- The Beatles hold a press conference in Chicago, during which John Lennon apologizes for his "more popular than Jesus" remark, saying, "I didn't mean it as a lousy anti-religious thing."
August 12 – Massacre of Braybrook Street: Harry Roberts, John Duddy and Jack Witney shoot dead 3 plainclothes policemen in London; they are later sentenced to life imprisonment.
August 15 – Syrian and Israeli troops clash over Lake Kinneret (also known as the Sea of Galilee) for 3 hours.
August 17 – Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Republic begin negotiations in Kuwait to end the war in Yemen.
August 18 – Vietnam War – Battle of Long Tan: D Company, 6th Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment, meets and defeats a Viet Cong force estimated to be four times larger, in Phuoc Tuy Province, Republic of Vietnam.
August 19 – The 6.8 M_w Varto earthquake affects the town of Varto in eastern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent), killing at least 2,394–3,000 and injuring at least 1,420.
August 21 – Seven men are sentenced to death in Egypt for anti-Nasser agitation.
August 22
- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is established.
- The United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), predecessor of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW), is formed.
August 26 – The first battle of the South African Air Force and the South African Police with PLAN, the armed wing of the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), takes place at Ongulumbashe during Operation Blue Wildebeest, triggering the South African Border War which continues until 1989.
August 29 – The Beatles end their U.S. tour with a concert at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. It is their last performance as a live touring band.
August 30 – France offers independence to French Somaliland (Djibouti from 1977).

September

September 1
- United Nations Secretary-General U Thant declares that he will not seek re-election, because U.N. efforts in Vietnam have failed.
- 98 British tourists die when Britannia Airways Flight 105 crashes in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.
September 6 – South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd is stabbed to death in Parliament by Dimitri Tsafendas.
September 9 – NATO decides to move Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe to Belgium.
September 12 – B. J. Vorster becomes the new Prime Minister of South Africa.
September 13 – Cultural Revolution in China: Clashes between the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Guards are reported by TASS in the Soviet Union.
September 16
- In South Vietnam, Thích Trí Quang ends a 100-day hunger strike.
- The Metropolitan Opera House opens at Lincoln Center in New York City with the world premiere of Samuel Barber's opera Antony and Cleopatra.
September 19 – Indonesian military commander (later President) Suharto announces the resumption of Indonesian participation in the United Nations.
September 29 – Hurricane Inez strikes Hispaniola, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.^[36]
September 30
- The Bechuanaland Protectorate in Africa achieves independence from the United Kingdom as Botswana, with Seretse Khama as its first President.
- Baldur von Schirach and Albert Speer are released from Spandau Prison in West Berlin.

October

October 1 – West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashes with 18 fatal injuries and no survivors 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Wemme, Oregon, the first loss of a DC-9.^[37]
October 3 – Tunisia severs diplomatic relations with the United Arab Republic.
October 4
- Israel applies for membership in the European Economic Community, which is never granted.
- Basutoland becomes independent of the United Kingdom and takes the name Lesotho.
October 5
- UNESCO signs the Recommendation Concerning the Status of Teachers. This event is to be celebrated as World Teachers' Day.
- Spain closes its Gibraltar border to vehicular traffic.^[38]
- An experimental breeder reactor at the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan suffers a partial meltdown when its cooling system fails.
October 6
- LSD is made illegal in the United States and controlled so strictly that not only are possession and recreational use criminalized, but all legal scientific research programs on the drug in the country are shut down as well.
- The Love Pageant Rally takes place in the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park (a narrow section that projects into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district).
October 7 – The Soviet Union declares that all Chinese students must leave the country before the end of October.
October 9 – Vietnam War: Binh Tai Massacre.
October 11 – France and the Soviet Union sign a treaty for cooperation in nuclear research.
October 14
- Closure of Intra Bank begins a crisis in the Lebanese banking system.
- The city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro system.
October 15 – Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton found the Black Panther Party in the United States.
October 17 – Lesotho and Botswana are admitted to the United Nations.
October 21 – Aberfan disaster in South Wales (U.K.): 144 (including 116 children) are killed by a collapsing coal spoil tip.^[39]
October 26
- NATO decides to move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels.^[40]
- A fire aboard the US aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in the Gulf of Tonkin kills 44 crewmen.
October 27
- The United Nations terminates the mandate given by the League of Nations and proclaims that South West Africa will be administrated by the United Nations. This is rejected by South Africa.
- Walt Disney records his final filmed appearance prior to his death, detailing his plans for EPCOT, a utopian planned city to be built in Florida.

November

November 2
- The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans the opportunity to apply for permanent residency in the United States.^[41]
- North Korean commandos ambush a UN command control consisting of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers south of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.^[42]
November 4 – 1966 flood of the Arno river in Italy hits Florence, flooding it to a maximum depth of 6.7 m (22 ft), leaving thousands homeless and destroying millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. In addition, a severe tidal flood hits Venice.
November 5 – Thirty-eight African states demand that the United Kingdom use force against the Rhodesian government.
November 6 – Lunar Orbiter 2 is launched.
November 8 – Screen actor Ronald Reagan is elected Governor of California.
November 10 – Seán Lemass retires as Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, to be replaced in the role by fellow Fianna Fáil member Jack Lynch.
November 11
- A mine kills three Israeli paratroopers on the West Bank border.
- Spain declares a general amnesty for crimes committed during the Spanish Civil War, effective only for the Falangists' side.
November 12 – A total solar eclipse occurs, the 20th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 142.
November 15 – Gemini 12 (James A. Lovell, Buzz Aldrin) splashes down safely in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 km (370 mi) east of the Bahamas.
November 17
- The U.N. General Assembly decides to found the United Nations Industrial Development Organization.
- A spectacular Leonid meteor shower passes over Arizona, at the rate of 2,300 a minute for 20 minutes.
November 24 – TABSO Flight 101, from Sofia, Bulgaria, crashes near Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, killing all 82 people on board.^[43]
November 26
- 1966 Australian federal election: Harold Holt's Liberal/Country Coalition government is re-elected with a significantly increased majority, defeating the Labor Party led by Arthur Calwell. Calwell resigns as Labor leader shortly after; he will be replaced by his deputy and future Prime Minister Gough Whitlam.
- In the Canadian Football League, the Saskatchewan Roughriders defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders to win the 54th Grey Cup at Vancouver's Empire Stadium 29–14. Saskatchewan are led by quarterback Ron Lancaster.
November 27 – The Washington Redskins defeat the New York Giants 72–41 in the highest scoring game in National Football League history.
November 28 – Truman Capote's Black and White Ball ("The Party of the Century") is held in New York City.
November 29 – The SS Daniel J. Morrell sinks in a storm on Lake Huron, killing 28 of 29 crewmen.
November 30 – Barbados achieves independence from the United Kingdom.

December

December 1
- Kurt Georg Kiesinger is elected Chancellor of West Germany.
- British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Rhodesian Prime minister Ian Smith negotiate aboard HMS Tiger in the Mediterranean.
December 2 – U Thant agrees to serve a second term as United Nations Secretary General.
December 3 – Anti-Portuguese demonstrations occur in Macau; a curfew is declared the next day.
December 5 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bond v. Floyd that the Georgia House of Representatives must seat Julian Bond, having violated his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
December 6 – Vietnam War: Bình Hòa massacre.
December 7
- Syria offers weapons to rebels in Jordan.
- Barbados is admitted to the United Nations.
December 8 – The Typaldos Line's ferry SS Heraklion sinks in rough seas in the Aegean Sea near Crete, leaving 217 dead.
December 16
- The United Nations Security Council approves an oil embargo against Rhodesia.
- The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights are adopted by the General Assembly, as Resolution 2200 A (XXI).
December 17 – South Africa does not join the trade embargo against Rhodesia.
December 18 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, is shown for the first time on CBS in the United States. It becomes a Christmas tradition.
December 19 – The Asian Development Bank begins operations.
December 20 – U.K. Prime Minister Harold Wilson withdraws all his previous offers to the Rhodesian government and announces that he will agree to independence for the country only after the establishment of a Black majority government there.
December 22 – Prime Minister Ian Smith declares that Rhodesia is already a republic.
December 26 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, founder of Organization US (a black nationalist group) and chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach, from 1989 to 2002.^[44]
December 31
- East German Premier Walter Ulbricht discusses negotiations about German reunification.
- Eight paintings worth millions of pounds are stolen from Dulwich Picture Gallery in London, but are recovered locally within a week.
- The Congolese government takes over the Union Minière du Haut Katanga.

Date unknown

Konstantin Chernenko, later leader of the Soviet Union, becomes a candidate member of the Central Committee.
Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn are awarded the Fermi Prize.
The Congress of the United States creates the National Council for Marine Resources and Engineering Development.
Martin Richards designs the programming language BCPL.
The World Buddhist Sangha Council is convened by Theravadins in Sri Lanka, with the hope of bridging differences and working together.
The Jerusalem Bible, a Roman Catholic translation, is published in English.
Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann publish The Social Construction of Reality.
Long-term potentiation (LTP), the putative cellular mechanism of learning and memory, is first observed by Terje Lømo in Oslo, Norway.
In or about this year, one person returning to Haiti from the Congo is thought to have first brought HIV to the Americas.^[45]

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