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1965 the war in Vietnam continues to worsen. Americans continue major bombing of North Vietnam. More men are lost. At the same time the Anti-War movement grows and in November 35,000 people march on Washington as a protest against the war. There is also civil unrest with rioting, looting and arson in Los Angeles. This was also the first year mandated health warnings appeared on cigarette packets and smoking became a no no. The latest craze in kids toys was the Super Ball and The Skate Board. Fashions also changed as women's skirts got shorter men's hair grew longer as the The miniskirt makes its appearance. Sony introduces it's doomed Betamax Recorder and Hypertext is introduced for linking test on the Internet. The St Louis Arch is completed and The Beatles release 4 new albums including "Help".


Cost of Living 1965

How Much things cost in 1965
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.59%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 969
Average Cost of new house $13,600.00
Average Income per year $6,450.00
Gas per Gallon 31 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
Loaf of bread 21 cents
Average Rent per month $118.00
E-type Jaguar $1,867.00


What Events Happened in 1965

  • Australia Joins Vietnam War
  • Hindi becomes the official language of India.
  • Racing driver Jim Clark wins the Indianapolis 500, and later wins the Formula One world driving championship in the same year.
  • The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak: An estimated fifty-one tornadoes (forty-seven confirmed) hit in six Midwestern states killing anywhere from 256 to 271 people and injuring some 1,500 more.
  • Lyndon B. Johnson announces increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000
  • Lyndon B. Johnson announces his program to create Medicare and to expand his war on poverty
  • The Maple leaf becomes Canada’s new national flag symbol
  • Rhodesia Declares Unilateral Independence From Great Britain and becomes Zimbabwe
  • India and Pakistan Fighting continues to escalate
  • Malcolm X shot in New York
  • Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. leads civil rights march in Alabama from Selma to Montgomery
  • Britain brings in a new Race Relations Act hoping to stop some of the unrest in inner cities
  • Cigarette advertising banned on Television in Britain
  • The Post Office Tower opens in London
  • In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed ( The St Louis Arch )
  • Several U.S. states (VT, NH, MA, CT, RI, NY and portions of NJ) and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 1/2 hours. 30 million people
  • 70 mph speed limit imposed on British roads
  • US Citizens Evacuated due to Civil War in Dominican Republic
  • Troopers violently confront civil rights marchers in Alabama

Popular Culture 1965

  • The Mary Quant designed Mini Skirt appears in London and will be the fashion statement of the 60's
  • One of most popular films "Sound of Music" released

Popular Films

  • Mary Poppins
  • The Sound of Music
  • Goldfinger
  • My Fair Lady
  • What's New Pussycat?
  • Cat Ballou

Books Released

  • Dune
  • The Man with the Golden Gun
  • Hotel

Popular Musicians

  • The Beatles
  • The Rolling Stones
  • Freddie and the Dreamers
  • The Animals
  • The Kinks
  • The Searchers
  • The Seekers
  • Moody Blues
  • Donovan
  • Cilla Black
  • Dusty Springfield
  • Tom Jones

Technology 1965

  • Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program
  • Ranger 9 sends back live TV broadcast when it crashes on to the moon
  • Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space
  • Major Edward H. White II becomes the second human to walk in space during the flight of Gemini 4
  • Sony introduces it's Betamax video recorder

Inventions Invented by Inventors and Country ( or attributed to First Use )

  • Space Walk Russia Aleksei Leonov - first person oustide space vehicle
  • Optical Disk USA by James Russell - now Compact Disk
  • Hypertext USA for linking text on the Internet Respirator ( replacement for the Iron Lung ) USA


Research for this year is provided by The People History.
See History By Year and Decade for more prices and information.
Find out more about the 60s at ThePeopleHistory.com.