1965

align="center" colspan=2 | Years:
1962 1963 1964 - 1965 - 1966 1967 1968

align="center" colspan=2 | Decades:
1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s

align="center" | Centuries:
19th century - 20th century - 21st century

1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar).

Events

January-February

January 4 - United States President Lyndon Johnson proclaims his "Great Society" during his State of the Union address.
January 14 - Prime Ministers of Northern Ireland and Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years
January 26 - Hindi becomes the official language of India.
February 7 - US begins regular bombing of North Vietnamese towns and villages
February 9 - Vietnam War: The first United States combat troops are sent to South Vietnam
February 15 - A new red and white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign.
February 18 - The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom
February 20 - Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
February 21 - Malcolm X is assassinated at his mosque in New York City by Black Muslims

March

March 7 - Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama
March 8 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam
March 8 - First US combat forces arrive in Vietnam
March 10 - Goldie, a London Zoo golden eagle is recaptured after 13 days of freedom
March 11 - White supremacists beat up white priest James J. Reeb during civil rights disturbances in Selma, Alabama. He dies later
March 18 - cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space
March 21 - Ranger program: NASA launches Ranger 9 which is the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes
March 23 - NASA launches Gemini 3 which is the United States' first two-person space flight took (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
March 25 - Civil rights activists led by Martin Luther King, Jr. begin march from Selma to the capitol in Montgomery

April

April 6 - Launch of Early Bird communications satellite. It becomes operational May 2
April 9 - The West German parliament extends the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes
April 11 - The Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak: Fifty-one tornadoes hit in six Midwestern states killing 256.
April 23 - The Pennine Way officially opened
April 24 - Bodies of Portuguese opposition politician Humberto Delgado and his secretary Arajaris Campos are found in a forest near Villanueva del Fresno, Spain. They were killed February 12
April 24 - Fighting breaks out in the Dominican Republic as officers loyal to deposed President Juan Bosch lead a mutiny against the right wing junta running the country. US troops are later sent by President Lyndon B. Johnson for the stated purpose of protecting US citizens and preventing an alleged Communist takeover of the country
April 28 - Vietnam War: Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announces that the country will substantially increase its number of troops in South Vietnam, supposedly at the request of the Saigon government, although it is later revealed that Menzies had asked the leadership in Saigon to send the request at the behest of the Americans.
April 29 - Australia announces that it is sending an infantry battalion to support the South Vietnam government

May-June

May 2 - US president Johnson sends troops to the Dominican Republic
May 13 - West German court of appeals condemns behavior of ex-defense minister Franz Joseph Strauss during the Spiegel scandal
May 19 - Tui Malila, the oldest tortoise or living animal ever, dies of natural causes.
May 29 - A mining accident in Dhambas, India kills 274
June 2 - Vietnam War: The first contingent of Australian combat troops arrives in South Vietnam
June 5-7 - US astronaut Edward White makes first US space walk
June 7 - A mining accident in Kakanji, Bosnia - 128 dead
June 10 - Vietnam War: Battle of Dong Xoai begins - About 1,500 Vietcong mount a mortar attack on Dong Xoai and then overrun its military headquarters and adjoining militia compound
June 19 - Houari Boumedienne's Revolutionary Council ousts Ahmed Ben Bella in a bloodless coup in Algeria
June 22 - Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.
June 24 - Freddie Mills, former British boxing champion, is found shot in his car in Soho

July

July 14 - Mariner 4 flyby of Mars
July 16 - The Mont Blanc Tunnel is used for the first time
July 24 - Vietnam War: Four F-4C Phantoms escorting a bombing raid at Kang Chi are the targets of antiaircraft missiles in the first such attack against American planes in the war. One is shot down and the other three sustain damage
July 27 - Edward Heath becomes Leader of the British Conservative Party
July 28 - Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000
July 29 - Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay
July 30 - War on Poverty: US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid

August

August 1 - TV ban on cigarette advertising in Britain
August 6 - US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into United States law
August 9 - Singapore proclaims its independence from Malaysia
August 9 - An explosion at a missile plant in Arkansas kills 53
August 9 – Indonesian president Sukarno collapses in public
August 11 - Watts Riots begin in Los Angeles, California
August 18 - Vietnam War: Operation Starlite begins as 5,500 United States Marines destroy a Viet Cong stronghold on the Van Tuong peninsula in Quang Ngai Province, in the first major American ground battle of the war. The Marines were tipped-off by a Viet Cong deserter who said that there was an attack planned against the US base at Chu Lai
August 19 - At the Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, 66 ex-SS personnel receive life sentences, 15 others smaller ones

September

September 2 - Pakistani troops enter the Indian sector of Kashmir
September 6 - Indian troops march on Lahore
September 7 - China announces that it will reinforce its troops in the Indian border
September 7 - Vietnam War: In a follow-up to August's Operation Starlight, United States Marines and South Vietnamese forces initiate Operation Pirahna on the Batangan Peninsula, 23 miles south of the Chu Lai Marine base
September 8 - India opens two additional fronts against Pakistan
September 9 - UN secretary general U Thant negotiates with Pakistani president Ayub Khan
September 9 - U Thant recommends China for UN membership
September 13 - Congress of Arab countries begins in Casablanca - Habib Bourgiba boycotts the meeting
September 14 - Opening of fourth and final period of Second Vatican Council
September 16 - China protests against Indian provocations in its border region
September 16 - In Iraq, Prime Minister Razzak's attempted coup fails
September 17 - Stefan Stafanopoulos forms a new government in Greece and ends a two-year old political crisis
September 18 - China claims that US troops have used poison gas in South Vietnam
September 18 - In Denmark, Palle Srensen shoots four policemen in pursuit - apprehended the same day
September 19 - Soviet prime minister Alexei Kosygin invites the leaders of India and Pakistan to meet in Soviet Union to negotiate
September 20 - End of term for Tuanku Syed Putra ibni Almarhum Syed Hassan Jamalullail as the 3rd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
September 21 - Commander of US troops in Vietnam, general William Westmoreland, pleads Washington to cancel the ban to use mustard gas
September 21 - Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III, Sultan of Terengganu becomes the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
September 22 - Peking Radio announces that Indian troops have dismantled their equipment on the Chinese side of the border
September 24 - Fighting between Indian and Pakistani troops erupts again
September 24 - British governor of Aden cancels the Aden constitution and takes direct control of the protectorate because of the bad security situation
September 27 - Largest tanker ship at the time, Tokyo Maru, launched in Yokohama
September 28 - Fidel Castro announces that everybody who wants can immigrate to USA
September 28 - Taal volcano in Luzon, Philippines, erupts - hundreds dead
September 30 – Attempted communist coup in Indonesia. Indonesian army crushes it with the lead of general Suharto

October

October 3 - Fidel Castro announces that Che Guevara has resigned and left the country
October 4 - Prime minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia and Arthur Bottomley of British Commonwealth begin negotiations in London - they end on October 8 without results
October 5 - Pakistan sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia because of the disagreement in UN
October 8 - Indonesian army arrests and executes communists
October 8 - Olympic Committee admits East Germany as a member
October 8 - The Post Office Tower opens in London
October 9 - Yale University presents the "Vinland map"
October 9 - Brigade of South Korean soldiers arrive in South Vietnam
October 10 - First group of Cuban refugees travels to USA
October 12 - Per Borten forms a government in Norway
October 12 - UN general council recommends that United Kingdom try everything to stop a rebellion in Rhodesia
October 13 - President of Congo, Joseph Kasavubu, fires Prime Minister Moise Tsombe and forms a provisional government with Evariste Kimba in a lead
October 15 - Vietnam War: The anti-war student-run National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam stages the first public burning of a draft card in the United States
October 16 - Suharto takes power in Indonesia
October 18 - Indonesian government declares communist party illegal
October 20 - Ludwig Erhard elected as a chancellor in West Germany
October 21 - Ikeja-Seki comet
October 21 - OAU meeting begins in Accra
October 22 - French authors Andr Figueras and Jacques Laurent are fined for their comments against Charles De Gaulle
October 22 - African countries demand that United Kingdom to use force to prevent Rhodesia to declare unilateral independence
October 24 - British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Arthur Bottomley travel to Rhodesia for negotiations
October 25 - Soviet Union declares its support of African countries in case Rhodesia unilaterally declares independence
October 26 - Anti-government demonstrations in the Dominican Republic
October 27 - Brazilian president Branco removes power of parliament, legal courts and opposition parties
October 28 - French foreign minister Couve de Murville travels to Moscow
October 28 - Pope Paul VI announces that ecumenical council has decided that Jews are not collectively responsible for the killing of Christ
October 28 - In St. Louis, Missouri, the 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed
October 29 - Kidnapping of Mehdi Ben Barka
October 30 - Vietnam War: Just miles from Da Nang, United States Marines repel an intense attack by wave after wave of Viet Cong forces, killing 56 guerrillas. Among the dead, a sketch of Marine positions was found on the body of a 13-year-old Vietnamese boy who sold drinks to the Marines the day before.
October 31 - Indonesian army announces that it is fighting with communist guerillas in Java

November

November 2 - Republican John V. Lindsay elected mayor of New York City
November 3 - Charles De Gaulle announces that he will stand in next presidential election
November 4 - US racer Craig Freedlove makes a female speed record
November 5 - Martial law announced in Rhodesia. UN general council accept British intent to use force against Rhodesia in necessary with votes 82-9
November 6 - Freedom Flights begin: Cuba and the United States formally agree to start an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States (by 1971 250,000 Cubans take advantage of this program).
November 8 - The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands (on June 23, 1976 Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches were returned to Seychelles).
November 9 - Northeast Blackout of 1965: Several U.S. states and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 1/2 hours.
November 9 - Vietnam War: In New York City, 22-year old Catholic Worker member Roger Allen LaPorte sets himself on fire in front of the United Nations building in protest of the war in Vietnam (this was the second such incident in a week; on November 2 32-year-old Quaker member Norman Morrison did the same thing in front of The Pentagon)
November 11 - Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe) is declared independent by the white minority regime of Ian Smith
November 12 - UN Security Council resolution (voted 10-0) recommends that other countries would not recognize independent Rhodesia
November 14 - Vietnam War: Battle of the Ia Drang begins - In the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands in Vietnam, the first major engagement of the war between regular American and North Vietnamese forces begins
November 16 - Venera program: The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus (on March 1, 1966 it became the first spacecraft to reach the surface of another planet)
November 16 - Disney launches Epcot Center
November 20 - UN Security Council recommends that all states stop trading with Rhodesia
November 23 - Soviet general Mikhail Kazakov becomes commander of Warsaw Pact
November 24 - Queen Elizabeth of Belgium dies
November 25 - Joseph Mobutu takes over in Congo through a military coup
November 26 - At the Hammaguira launch facility in the Sahara Desert, France launches a Diamant-A rocket with its first satellite, Asterix-1 on board, becoming the third country to enter space.
November 27 - Vietnam War: The Pentagon tells US President Lyndon B. Johnson that if planned major sweep operations needed to neutralize Viet Cong forces during the next year were to succeed, the number of American troops in Vietnam has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000
November 28 - Vietnam War: In response to US President Lyndon B. Johnson's call for "more flags" in Vietnam, Philippines President Elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam.
November 29 - Canadian satellite Alouette 2 is launched.

December

December 1 - The Border Security Force is established in India as a special force to guard the borders.
December 3 - First British aid flight arrive in Lusaka - Zambia has asked for British help against Rhodesia
December 3 - Members of OAU decide that they sever diplomatic relations with United Kingdom unless British government end rebellion of Rhodesia by mid-December
December 5 – Charles De Gaulle re-elected as French president with 10.828.421 votes
December 8 - Rhodesian prime minister warns that Rhodesia would resist trade embargo with force against the neighboring countries
December 8 - Closing of Second Vatican Council
December 15 - Tanzania and Guinea sever diplomatic relations with United Kingdom
December 15 - Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 meet in Earth orbit
December 17 - British government begins oil embargo against Rhodesia - USA joins the effort
December 21 - Soviet Unions announces that it has shipped rockets to North Vietnam
December 21 - Soviet scientists condemn Trofim Lysenko
December 21 - Konrad Adenauer resigns from the post of chairman of the Christian Democratic party
December 22 - Military coup on Dahomey
December 22 - 70 mph speed limit imposed on British roads
December 27 - British oil platform Sea Gem collapses in the North Sea
December 28 - Italian foreign minister Mintore Fanfani resigns
December 30 - President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia announces that Zambia and United Kingdom have agreed to a deadline before which the Rhodesian white government should be ousted
December 30 - Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines

Unknown dates

The Council for National Academic Awards is established in the UK
TAT-4 cable goes into operation.
Mont Blanc tunnel between France and Italy completed.
Medicaid is founded in the United States
Desteldonk becomes a part of Ghent (EastFlanders, Flanders, Belgium)
California City, California incorporated.
Tui Malila, the oldest tortoise or living animal ever, dies of natural causes.

Year in topic

1965 in film

The Sound of Music
Doctor Zhivago
The Greatest Story Ever Told starring Max vonSydow, Charlton Heston, Martin Landau, John Wayne, Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall, Shelley Winters, Pat Boone and others
Help!, starring The Beatles

1965 in literature

On Escalation by Herman Kahn coins the term escalation, a word closely associated with the Cold War.

1965 in music

February 11 - Beatle Ringo Starr marries Maureen Cox.
August - Paul Simon releases UK-only LP The Paul Simon Song Book.
1965 is the title of an Afghan Whigs album released in 1998.

1965 in rail transport
1965 in sports
1965 in television

March 24 - Live TV pictures from U.S. unmanned moon probe "Ranger 9" transmitted prior to impact.
Sony introduces the Betamax, a home video tape recorder
CBS switches to the color standard.
CBS First airing of Charles Schulz' "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the first of many specials based on the popular Peanuts comic strip.