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News and Events of 1966

Year by Year: 1900-2012 View a 1966 calendar

World Events

World Statistics

Population: 3.415 billion
population by decade

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France withdraws its forces from NATO. President De Gaulle visits the USSR (June 20).
Sukarno leaves office in Indonesia; Suharto assumes power.
Botswana, Lesotho, and Guyana become independent states within the British Commonwealth.
India suffers the worst famine in 20 years; Lyndon Johnson asks for $1 billion in aid to the country.

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U.S. Events

U.S. Statistics

President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Vice President: Hubert H. Humphrey
Population: 196,560,338
Life expectancy: 70.2 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 26.7
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 24.5
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 5.9

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Medicare begins (July 1).
Supreme Court decides Miranda v. Arizona, protecting rights of the accused.
Stokeley Carmichael elected president of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Background: Student movements

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Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $787.8 billion
Federal spending:   $134.53 billion
Federal debt:   $328.5 billion
Consumer Price Index:   32.4
Unemployment:   4.5%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.05

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Sports

Sports Links

Pro Football Summary

Pro Basketball Summary

Pro Baseball Summary

World Series

Baltimore d. LA Dodgers (4-0)

NBA Championship

Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3)

Stanley Cup

Montreal d. Detroit (4-2)

Wimbledon

Women: Billie Jean King d. M. Bueno (6-3 3-6 6-1)
Men: Manuel Santana d. D. Ralston (6-4 11-9 6-4)

Kentucky Derby Champion

Kauai King

NCAA Basketball Championship

Texas Western d. Kentucky (72-65)

NCAA Football Champions

Notre Dame (AP, UPI, FW, NFF-tie) (9-0-1) & Michigan St. (NFF-tie) (9-0-1)

World Cup

England d. W. Germany (4-2)

Entertainment

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter, Katherine Anne Porter
Music: Variations for Orchestra, Leslie Bassett

Oscars awarded in 1966
Academy Award, Best Picture: The Sound of Music, Robert Wise, producer (Twentieth Century-Fox)

Nobel Prize for Literature: Shmuel Yosef Agnon (Israel) and Nelly Sachs (Sweden)

1966 Emmy Awards

1966 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1966
Record of the Year: "A Taste of Honey," Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Album of the Year: September of My Years, Frank Sinatra (Reprise)
Song of the Year: "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Love Theme From The Sandpiper), Paul Francis Webster and Johnny Mandel, songwriters

Miss America: Deborah Irene Bryant (KS)

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Events

The first Star Trek episode, "The Man Trap," is broadcast on September 8. The plot concerns a creature that sucks salt from human bodies.
CBS backs out of plans to broadcast Psycho, deeming the movie too violent for at-home viewing.
The old Metropolitan Opera House is abandoned as the company moves to Lincoln Center. The new Metropolitan Opera opens with Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra.

Movies

A Man for All Seasons, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Alfie, A Man and a Woman

Books

John Barth, Giles Goat-Boy
Paul Bowles, Up Above the World
Truman Capote, In Cold Blood
Robert Coover, The Origin of the Brunists
Bernard Malamud, The Fixer
Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49

Science

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Robert Sanderson Mulliken (US), for research on bond holding atoms together in molecule

Physics: Alfred Kastler (France), for work on energy levels inside atom

Physiology or Medicine: Charles Brenton Huggins (US), for studies in hormone treatment of cancer of prostate; Francis Peyton Rous (US), for discovery of tumor-producing viruses

Insulin is first synthesized in China. Background: Health & Nutrition
MIT biochemist Har Khorana finishes deciphering the DNA code. Background: genetic engineering
The Food and Drug Administration declares "the Pill" safe for human use. Background: Birth & Contraception