- January 22
- US launches TIROS 9 weather satellite. [1]
- February 1
- Martin Luther King Jr and 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma, Alabama. [1]
- February 3
- 105 US Air Force cadets forced to resign for cheating on exams. [1]
- Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 is launched into Earth orbit (552/636 km). [1]
- February 4
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 7
- US begins regular bombing and strafing of North Vietnam. [1]
- February 8
- Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic Ocean off Jones Beach, New Jersey, USA; 84 dead. [1]
- February 16
- Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors. [1]
- February 17
- US Ranger 8 launched; will transmit 7,137 lunar pictures. [1]
- February 20
- Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon, returns photos, other data. [1]
- February 21
- In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity. [1] [129]
- February 23
- Frank Gasparro is sworn in as Chief Engraver of the US Mint. [485.40]
- March 3
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- March 7
- A group of 600 demonstrators from Selma, Alabama, march on the capital city of Montgomery to protest their disenfranchisement of voting rights and the earlier killing of a black man, Jimmie Lee Jackson, by a state trooper. [1] [129]
- March 8
- First US combat forces arrive in South Vietnam (3,500 Marines). [1]
- March 9
- The US Treasury Department begins sales of Special Mint sets, at US$4 per set. Collectors can buy in lots of 1, 2, 5, or 10. [388.118]
- March 11
- James Reeb, US vicar/civil rights activist, is murdered. [1]
- March 15
- US President Lyndon Johnson addresses a joint session of Congress to urge the passage of legislation guaranteeing voting rights for all. [1] [129]
- March 20
- US President Lyndon Johnson notifies Alabama's Governor George Wallace that he will use federal authority to call up the Alabama National Guard in order to supervise a planned civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. [129]
- March 21
- Martin Luther King Jr begins march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. [1]
- US Ranger 9 launched, last American unmanned lunar space probe; will take 5,814 pictures before lunar impact. [1] [5]
- March 22
- US confirms its troops used chemical warfare against the Vietcong. [1]
- March 23
- Gemini 3 launched, first US two-man space flight (Grissom and Young). [1]
- March 24
- US Ranger 9 strikes Moon, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of crater Alphonsus. [1]
- March 25
- Martin Luther King Jr leads 25,000 to state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. [1]
- Viola Gregg Liuzzo, US civil rights activist, is murdered. [1]
- March 31
- US orders the first combat troops to Vietnam. [1]
- April 1
- Syncom 3, first geosynchronous communications satellite, passes from civilian to military control. [1]
- April 3
- First atomic powered spacecraft (SNAP) launched. [1]
- April 5
- 37th Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards:
- Best picture: My Fair Lady;
- Best actor: Rex Harrison;
- Best actress: Julie Andrews for her role in the film Mary Poppins;
- Best song: "Chim Chim Cher-ee" by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman in the film Mary Poppins.
[1] [6]
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 6
- Intelsat 1 ("Early Bird") launched; first commercial geosynchronous communications satellite. [1]
- April 11
- 40 tornadoes strike US midwest killing 272 and injuring 5,000. [1]
- April 14
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 16
- Test flight of heavy Saturn S-1C rocket. [1]
- April 19
- First American all-news radio station (WINS 1010 AM in New York City) begins operating. [1]
- April 21
- New York World's Fair re-opens for second and final season. [1]
- April 28
- Richard Helms replaces Marshall S Carter as deputy director of US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- US marines invade Dominican Republic. [1]
- William F Raborn Jr replaces John A McCone as 7th head of US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- April 29
- Earthquake shakes Seattle, Washington, USA; five die. [1]
- May 3
- First use of satellite TV, Today Show on the Early Bird Satellite. [1]
- Cambodia drops diplomatic relations with the US. [1]
- May 5
- First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam. [1]
- May 11
- Ellis Island added to Statue of Liberty National monument. [1]
- May 14
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 15
- US President Lyndon Johnson announces the start of resumed silver dollar production. [388.77]
- May 16
- Bomb destroys US Air Force base Bien Hoa, South Vietnam. [1]
- Campbell Soup Company introduces Spaghetti-Os under its Franco-American brand. [1] [5]
- May 19
- U.S. Congressman Silvio Conte of Massachusetts introduces legislation intended to prohibit silver dollar production. [388.78]
- May 21
- US Senator Alan Bible of Nevada introduces a bill that would give the Treasury Secretary the power to dictate what coins could be traded at a premium. It would also prohibit exportation of US coins, prohibit the melting of silver coins by unauthorized persons, outlaw unreasonable hoarding of coins, and outlaw buying or selling non-rare coins at more than face value. [388.122]
- May 24
- US Supreme Court declares federal law allowing post office to intercept communist propaganda is unconstitutional. [1]
- May 25
- U.S. Treasury officials announce that dollar coin production had been suspended. [388.78]
- May 30
- Viet Cong offensive against US base Da Nang begins. [1]
- June 3
- Gemini 4 launched; second US two-man flight (McDivitt and White). [1] [5]
- US President Lyndon Johnson proposes to Congress to authorize replacing silver in circulation coins with cheaper base metals. [388.119]
- June 8
- US troops ordered to fight offensively in Vietnam. [1]
- June 17
- 28.14 cm (11.08 inches) of rainfall, Holly, Colorado (state 24-hour record). [1]
- June 22
- James D. Lathan and George York are hanged for the murders of 12 people in Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas, and Colorado, which took place over 12 days in 1961. [565.163]
- June 28
- First US ground combat forces in Vietnam authorized by President Lyndon Johnson. [1]
- July 15
- US scientists display close-up photos of Mars from Mariner IV. [1]
- The US House of Representatives passes the Coinage Act of 1965. [388.126]
- July 20
- 46.18 cm (18.18 inches) of rainfall, Edgarton, Missouri (state 24-hour record). [1]
- July 23
- US President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the Coinage Act of 1965. Some provisions:
- authorizes re-opening the San Francisco facility as a coinage production facility,
- the composition of the dime and quarter dollar are changed from 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper to 91.67 percent copper and 8.33 percent nickel (two outer layers of 75 percent copper, bonded to core of pure copper),
- the composition of the half dollar is changed from 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper to 40 percent silver and 60 percent copper (two outer layers of 80 percent silver, bonded to a core of 21.5 percent silver),
- allows striking of 1964-dated and 1965-dated coins into 1966,
- suspends production of any silver dollar coins for five years,
- suspends use of mint marks on coinage for five years.
[388.118,128] [443.20] [458.40] [464.22] [514.38]
- July 29
- The last delivery of $2 United States notes is made. [404.76]
- Gemini 5 returns after 12 days 7 hours 11 minutes 53 seconds in space. [1]
- July 30
- US President Lyndon Johnson signs Medicare bill, which goes into effect following year. [1] [5]
- August 2
- Morley Safer sends first Vietnam report indicating US is losing war. [1]
- August 6
- US President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act, which makes it illegal to impose restrictions on federal, state and local elections that were designed to deny the vote to blacks. [1] [129]
- August 11
- Six-day insurrection starts in Watts section of Los Angeles, California. [1]
- August 12
- Race riot in West Side of Chicago, Illinois. [1]
- Disneyland (Ahaneim, California) welcomes its 50-millionth guest, Mary Adams. [6]
- August 21
- Gemini 5 launched into Earth orbit (two astronauts). [1]
- August 29
- Astronauts Cooper and Conrad complete 120 Earth orbits in Gemini 5. [1]
- August 31
- US House of Representatives joins Senate in establishing Department of Housing and Urban Development. [1]
- The U.S. Forest Service announces it has received six bids to develop a ski resort on Mineral King in California. A proposal from Disney is one of two leading candidates. Disney's US$35 million proposal includes up to 27 chair lifts with capacity for 11,400 seats per hour, hotels for up to 3000 guests, and ten-story underground parking for 3600 cars. (The issue will be challenged in the courts for years, until the idea is abandoned in 1978.) [6]
- September 1
- The San Francisco Mint facility resumes production of circulating coins. Coins had last been struck for circulation in San Francisco in 1955. [388.118]
- September 12
- In Los Angeles, California, the 17th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Sammy Davis Jr. and Danny Thomas.
- Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment - Actors and Performers:
- Dick Van Dyke for The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Lynn Fontanne for episode "The Magnificent Yankee" of Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Alfred Lunt for episode "The Magnificent Yankee" of Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Leonard Bernstein for the New York Philharmonic Young People's Concerts series
- Barbra Streisand for My Name Is Barbra
- Outstanding Individual Achievements in Entertainment
- Directors: Paul Bogart for episode "The 700 Year Old Gang" of The Defenders
- Lighting Directors: Phil Hyms for episode "The Magnificent Yankee" of Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Cinematographer: William W. Spencer for 12 O'Clock High
- Art Directors and Set Decorators: Warren Clymer for The Holy Terror
- Musicians: Peter Matz for My Name Is Barbra
- Color Consultant: Edward P. Ancona Jr. for Bonanza
- Writers: David Karp for episode "The 700 Year Old Gang" of The Defenders
- Individual Achievements in News, Documentaries and Sports - Musicians: Norman Dello Joio for 'Golden Prison': The Louvre, 'A'
- Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment:
- Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show
- George Schaefer for episode "The Magnificent Yankee" of Hallmark Hall of Fame
- Richard Lewine for My Name Is Barbra
- Roger Englander for Young People's Concerts: What Is Sonata Form?
[184]
- Hurricane Betsy strikes Florida and Louisiana; kills 75. [1]
- September 17
- Groundbreaking ceremonies are held for construction of a new mint building in Philadelphia. [388.118]
- October 28
- In St. Louis, Missouri, construction is completed on the Gateway Arch, a 630-foot-high parabola of stainless steel. The arch was erected to commemorate President Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase of 1803. [1] [129]
- November 1
- First concert at Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco, California, USA. [1]
- November 9
- The biggest power failure in U.S. history occurs as all of New York state, portions of seven neighboring states, and parts of eastern Canada are plunged into darkness. The blackout was caused by the tripping of a transmission line near Ontario, Canada. The cascading effect onto other transmission lines eventually takes down the entire Northeastern network. 30 million people in eight U.S. states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec are affected by the blackout. [1] [129]
- November 13
- Cruise ship Yarmouth Castle, on an overnight cruise from Miami, Florida, to the Bahamas, burns and sinks off Bahamas, killing 90 of 546 passengers. [1] [75.27] [94.50]
- November 15
- At the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney, Roy Disney, and Florida Governor Hayden Burns make the first public announcement of plans to build a new Disney theme park near Orlando. (It will open in six years as Walt Disney World Resort.) [1] [6]
- December 1
- Airlift of refugees from Cuba to US begins. [1]
- December 4
- Two passenger planes collide above Danbury, Connecticut, USA; four die. [1]
- Gemini 7 is launched with two astronauts (Borman and Lovell). [1]
- December 15
- Gemini 6 launched; will make first rendezvous in space (with Gemini 7). [1]
- December 16
- Gemini 6 returns to Earth. [1]
- Pioneer 6 launched into solar orbit. [1]
- December 17
- Astrodome opens, first event is Judy Garland and Supremes concert. [1]
- Largest newspaper - Sunday New York Times at 946 pages (50 cents). [1]
- December 18
- Borman and Lovell splash down in Atlantic; ends two-week Gemini VII mission. [1]
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