What happened in 1964

“I Want To Hold Your Hand”

The Beatles · 7 weeks at #1 in 1964

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1. Jan 4There! I've Said It AgainBobby Vinton4 wks
2. Feb 1I Want To Hold Your HandThe Beatles7 wks
3. Mar 21She Loves YouThe Beatles2 wks
4. Apr 4Can't Buy Me LoveThe Beatles5 wks
5. May 9Hello, Dolly!Louis Armstrong And The All Stars1 wk
6. May 16My GuyMary Wells2 wks
7. May 30Love Me DoThe Beatles1 wk
8. Jun 6Chapel Of LoveThe Dixie Cups3 wks
9. Jun 27A World Without LovePeter And Gordon1 wk
10. Jul 4I Get AroundThe Beach Boys2 wks
11. Jul 18Rag DollThe 4 Seasons Featuring the "Sound of Frankie Valli"2 wks
12. Aug 1A Hard Day's NightThe Beatles2 wks
13. Aug 15Everybody Loves SomebodyDean Martin1 wk
14. Aug 22Where Did Our Love GoThe Supremes2 wks
15. Sep 5House Of The Rising SunThe Animals3 wks
16. Sep 26Oh, Pretty WomanRoy Orbison And The Candy Men3 wks
17. Oct 17Do Wah Diddy DiddyManfred Mann2 wks
18. Oct 31Baby LoveThe Supremes4 wks
19. Nov 28Leader Of The PackThe Shangri-Las1 wk
20. Dec 5RingoLorne Greene1 wk
21. Dec 12Mr. LonelyBobby Vinton1 wk
22. Dec 19Come See About MeThe Supremes1 wk
23. Dec 26I Feel FineThe Beatles1 wk

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1964; weeks count only those in 1964.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Feb 7The Beatles land in the United States for the first time, at the newly renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport.
2. Feb 9As Beatlemania swept the United States, the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show before a record-breaking audience, beginning a musical phenomenon known as the British Invasion.
3. Mar 6In a radio broadcast, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad announced that American boxer Cassius Clay would change his name to Muhammad Ali.
4. Mar 14Jack Ruby is convicted of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, the assassin who had shot and killed John F. Kennedy the previous year.
5. Mar 30Jeopardy!, the popular American game show created by Merv Griffin, made its debut on the NBC television network.
6. Apr 4The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
7. May 28The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded, with Yasser Arafat elected as its first leader.
8. Jul 2The Civil Rights Act was signed into law, outlawing segregation in schools, at the workplace, and other facilities that served the general public in the United States.
9. Jul 27Vietnam War: Five thousand more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
10. Aug 4Vietnam War: The National Security Agency falsely claimed that a U.S. Navy destroyer was attacked a second time by North Vietnamese vessels in the Gulf of Tonkin, leading Congress to authorize the use of military force.
11. Sep 21Malta gains independence from the United Kingdom, but remains in the Commonwealth.
12. Dec 1Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.
13. Dec 11Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
14. Dec 22The first test flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird) takes place at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, United States.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Lyndon B. Johnson

• UK Prime Minister

  Alec Douglas-Home → Harold Wilson

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Lester B. Pearson

• President of France

  Charles de Gaulle

• German Chancellor

  Ludwig Erhard

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Hayato Ikeda → Eisaku Satō

• Soviet leader

  Nikita Khrushchev → Leonid Brezhnev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1964, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Nicolas CageAmerican actor · Jan 7
• Jeff BezosAmerican computer scientist and businessman · Jan 12
• Michelle ObamaAmerican lawyer and activist, 44th First Lady of the United States · Jan 17
• Sarah PalinAmerican politician, 9th Governor of Alaska · Feb 11
• Chris FarleyAmerican comedian and actor (died 1997) · Feb 15
• Matt DillonAmerican actor · Feb 18
• Mike Von ErichAmerican wrestler (died 1987) · Mar 2
• Tracy ChapmanAmerican singer-songwriter and guitarist · Mar 30
• David CrossAmerican actor, producer, and screenwriter · Apr 4
• Tim WalzAmerican politician, Governor of Minnesota & vice presidential candidate · Apr 6

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.