What happened in 1966

“The Ballad Of The Green Berets”

SSgt Barry Sadler · 5 weeks at #1 in 1966

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1. Jan 1The Sound Of SilenceSimon & Garfunkel2 wks
2. Jan 8We Can Work It OutThe Beatles3 wks
3. Feb 5My LovePetula Clark2 wks
4. Feb 19Lightnin' StrikesLou Christie1 wk
5. Feb 26These Boots Are Made For Walkin'Nancy Sinatra1 wk
6. Mar 5The Ballad Of The Green BeretsSSgt Barry Sadler5 wks
7. Apr 9(You're My) Soul And InspirationThe Righteous Brothers3 wks
8. Apr 30Good Lovin'The Young Rascals1 wk
9. May 7Monday, MondayThe Mamas & The Papas3 wks
10. May 28When A Man Loves A WomanPercy Sledge2 wks
11. Jun 11Paint It, BlackThe Rolling Stones2 wks
12. Jun 25Paperback WriterThe Beatles2 wks
13. Jul 2Strangers In The NightFrank Sinatra1 wk
14. Jul 16Hanky PankyTommy James And The Shondells2 wks
15. Jul 30Wild ThingThe Troggs2 wks
16. Aug 13Summer In The CityThe Lovin' Spoonful3 wks
17. Sep 3Sunshine SupermanDonovan1 wk
18. Sep 10You Can't Hurry LoveThe Supremes2 wks
19. Sep 24CherishThe Association3 wks
20. Oct 15Reach Out I'll Be ThereFour Tops2 wks
21. Oct 2996 Tears? (Question Mark) & The Mysterians1 wk
22. Nov 5Last Train To ClarksvilleThe Monkees1 wk
23. Nov 12Poor Side Of TownJohnny Rivers1 wk
24. Nov 19You Keep Me Hangin' OnThe Supremes2 wks
25. Dec 3Winchester CathedralThe New Vaudeville Band3 wks
26. Dec 10Good VibrationsThe Beach Boys1 wk
27. Dec 31I'm A BelieverThe Monkees1 wk

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1966; weeks count only those in 1966.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Jan 12Lyndon B. Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communist aggression there is ended.
2. Jan 19Indira Gandhi becomes India's first female prime minister.
3. Feb 28American test pilots Charles Bassett and Elliot See die in a plane crash in St. Louis, Missouri.
4. Mar 8Nelson's Pillar, a large granite pillar topped by a statue of Lord Nelson in Dublin, Ireland, was severely damaged by a bomb.
5. Mar 31The Labour Party under Harold Wilson wins the 1966 United Kingdom general election.
6. Jun 8An F-104 Starfighter collides with XB-70 Valkyrie prototype no. 2, destroying both aircraft during a photo shoot near Edwards Air Force Base. Joseph A. Walker, a NASA test pilot, and Carl Cross, a United States Air Force test pilot, are both killed.
7. Jun 30The National Organization for Women, a leading United States feminist organization, was founded in Washington, D.C.
8. Jul 30In London, the England national football team won the FIFA World Cup, winning the final against West Germany 4–2 after extra time.
9. Aug 1Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
10. Aug 1Charles Whitman kills 15 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police.
11. Sep 8The science fiction show Star Trek made its American premiere with "The Man Trap", launching a media franchise that has since created a cult phenomenon and has influenced the design of many current technologies.
12. Sep 30Bechuanaland declares its independence, and becomes the Republic of Botswana.
13. Nov 8Former Massachusetts attorney general Edward Brooke became the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
14. Dec 26The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

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

  Harold Wilson

• Prime Minister of Canada

  Lester B. Pearson

• President of France

  Charles de Gaulle

• German Chancellor

  Ludwig Erhard → Kurt Georg Kiesinger

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Eisaku Satō

• Soviet leader

  Leonid Brezhnev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1966, from Wikidata.

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

• Patrick DempseyAmerican actor and race car driver · Jan 13
• Rainn WilsonAmerican actor · Jan 20
• Neal McDonoughAmerican actor and producer · Feb 13
• Billy ZaneAmerican actor and producer · Feb 24
• Téa LeoniAmerican actress · Feb 25
• Zack SnyderAmerican director, producer, and screenwriter · Mar 1
• Michael ImperioliAmerican actor and screenwriter · Mar 26
• Robin WrightAmerican actress, director, producer · Apr 8
• Cynthia NixonAmerican actress · Apr 9
• Jeffrey Dean MorganAmerican actor · Apr 22

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