What Happened in 1967 — Events, Births & Deaths

Ronald Reagan, past movie actor and future President of the United States, is sworn in as Governor of California.

The Doors released their eponymous debut album.

Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is established following the seizure of power from local city officials by revolutionaries.

Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch "Operation Deckhouse Five" in the Mekong River delta.

Dr. James Bedford becomes the first person to be cryonically preserved with intent of future resuscitation.

Counterculture of the 1960s: The Human Be-In takes place in San Francisco, California's Golden Gate Park, launching the Summer of Love.

The first Super Bowl is played in Los Angeles. The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10.

Albert DeSalvo, the "Boston Strangler", is convicted of numerous crimes and is sentenced to life imprisonment.

Between dozens and hundreds of anti-Somocista demonstrators are killed by the Nicaraguan National Guard in Managua.

Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Ivory Coast are established.

Milton Keynes (England) is founded as a new town by Order in Council, with a planning brief to become a city of 250,000 people. Its initial designated area enclosed three existing towns and twenty-one villages. The area to be developed was largely farmland, with evidence of continuous settlement dating back to the Bronze Age.

South Vietnamese junta leader and Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky fires rival, Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Nguyen Huu Co, while the latter is overseas on a diplomatic visit.

Apollo program: Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their Apollo 1 spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

Cold War: The Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom sign the Outer Space Treaty in Washington, D.C., banning deployment of nuclear weapons in space, and limiting the usage of the Moon and other celestial bodies to peaceful purposes.

Lunar Orbiter program: Lunar Orbiter 3 lifts off from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 13 on its mission to identify possible landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo spacecraft.

Cultural Revolution: The Shanghai People's Commune is formally proclaimed, with Yao Wenyuan and Zhang Chunqiao being appointed as its leaders.

The 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.

American researchers discover the Madrid Codices by Leonardo da Vinci in the National Library of Spain.

Cultural Revolution: Zhang Chunqiao announces the dissolution of the Shanghai People's Commune, replacing its local government with a revolutionary committee.

Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 crashes near Marseilles, Ohio, killing 38.

Trans World Airlines Flight 553 crashes in a field in Concord Township, Ohio, following a mid-air collision with a Beechcraft Baron, killing 26 people.

Suharto takes power from Sukarno when the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly inaugurate him as Acting President of Indonesia.

The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.

The supertanker Torrey Canyon runs aground off the Cornish coast.

Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City.

Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 crashes at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, killing 19.

Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech in New York City's Riverside Church.

The first Boeing 737 (a 100 series) makes its maiden flight.

Gnassingbé Eyadéma overthrows Nicolas Grunitzky and installs himself as the new President of Togo, a title he will hold for the next 38 years.

A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.

A tornado outbreak in Illinois, United States, kills over 50 and injures over 1,000. Belvidere sustains over 500 casualties as a violent tornado strikes the high school. Another tornado near Chicago causes another 500 casualties, devastating Oak Lawn.

Soviet space program: Soyuz 1 (Russian: Союз 1, Union 1), a crewed spaceflight carrying cosmonaut Colonel Vladimir Komarov, is launched into orbit.

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1 when its parachute fails to open. He is the first human to die during a space mission.

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had "gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily".

Expo 67 officially opens in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with a large opening ceremony broadcast around the world. It opens to the public the next day.

Vietnam War: Boxer Muhammad Ali refuses his induction into the United States Army and is subsequently stripped of his championship and license.

After refusing induction into the United States Army the previous day, Muhammad Ali is stripped of his boxing title.

The Philippine province of Davao is split into three: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental.

The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.

Dr. Zakir Husain becomes the third President of India. He is the first Muslim President of the Indian Union. He holds this position until August 24, 1969.

Six-Day War: President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt demands dismantling of the peace-keeping UN Emergency Force in Egypt.

The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Egypt closes the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping.

L'Innovation department store in Brussels, Belgium, burns down, resulting in 323 dead or missing and 150 injured, the most devastating fire in Belgian history.

Egypt imposes a blockade and siege of the Red Sea coast of Israel.

Belle de Jour, directed by Luis Buñuel, is released.

The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is released.

Australians vote in favor of a constitutional referendum granting the Australian government the power to make laws to benefit Indigenous Australians and to count them in the national census.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline.

The Nigerian Eastern Region declares independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

Luis Monge is executed in Colorado's gas chamber, in the last pre-Furman execution in the United States.

Protests in West Berlin against the arrival of the Shah of Iran are brutally suppressed, during which Benno Ohnesorg is killed by a police officer. His death results in the founding of the terrorist group 2 June Movement.

Seventy-two people are killed when a Canadair C-4 Argonaut crashes at Stockport in England.

The Six-Day War begins: Israel launches surprise strikes against Egyptian air-fields in response to the mobilisation of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border.

Six-Day War: Israeli soldiers enter Jerusalem.

Six-Day War: The USS Liberty incident: A United States Navy spy ship is attacked by the Israeli Air Force and Navy, resulting in 34 deaths and 171 wounded.

Six-Day War: Israel captures the Golan Heights from Syria.

The Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire.

The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws that prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional.

U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominates Solicitor-General Thurgood Marshall to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mariner program: Mariner 5 is launched towards Venus.

Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon.

Cold War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson meets with Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin in Glassboro, New Jersey for the three-day Glassboro Summit Conference.

Karol Wojtyła (later John Paul II) is made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.

Merger Treaty: The European Community is formally created out of a merger between the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.

The Aden Emergency: The Battle of the Crater in which the British Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders retake the Crater district following the Arab Police mutiny.

Nigerian Civil War: Nigerian forces invade Biafra, beginning the war.

New Zealand decimalises its former currency to the modern-day New Zealand dollar.

Riots begin in Newark, New Jersey.

Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Piedmont Airlines Boeing 727-22, and a twin-engine Cessna 310 collide over Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA. Both aircraft are destroyed and all passengers and crew are killed, including John T. McNaughton, an advisor to Robert McNamara.

Detroit Riots: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.

During an official state visit to Canada, French President Charles de Gaulle declares to a crowd of over 100,000 in Montreal: Vive le Québec libre! ("Long live free Quebec!"); the statement angered the Canadian government and many Anglophone Canadians.

Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.

During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is founded by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Two young women became the first fatal victims of grizzly bear attacks in the 57-year history of Montana's Glacier National Park in separate incidents.

UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act 1967 declares participation in offshore pirate radio illegal.

Led by Abbie Hoffman, the Youth International Party temporarily disrupts trading at the New York Stock Exchange by throwing dollar bills from the viewing gallery, causing trading to cease as brokers scramble to grab them.

George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party, is assassinated by a former member of his group.

Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Six-Day War: The Khartoum Resolution is issued at the Arab Summit, and eight countries adopt the "three 'no's against Israel".

Dagen H in Sweden: Traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight.

Vietnam War: Operation Swift begins when U.S. Marines engage the North Vietnamese in battle in the Que Son Valley.

The people of Gibraltar vote to remain a British dependency rather than becoming part of Spain.

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched an attack on Indian posts at Nathu La, Sikkim, India, which resulted in military clashes.

The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland.

Seven people die, 46 people are injured, and more than 150 boats capsize when a squall hits Lake Michigan during Michigan's first coho salmon sport fishing season.

Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first African-American justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei abdicates in favour of his son.

Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia. Guevara would be executed the next day.

A day after his capture, Ernesto "Che" Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia.

The Outer Space Treaty comes into force.

A bomb explodes on board Cyprus Airways Flight 284 while flying over the Mediterranean Sea, killing 66.

The Soviet probe Venera 4 reaches Venus and becomes the first spacecraft to measure the atmosphere of another planet.

The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam organizes a march of fifty thousand people from the Lincoln Memorial to the Pentagon.

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi crowns himself Emperor of Iran.

Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors.

Vietnam War: US President Lyndon B. Johnson and "The Wise Men" conclude that the American people should be given more optimistic reports on the progress of the war.

Vietnam War: The Battle of Dak To begins.

Iberia Flight 062 crashes in Blackdown, West Sussex, killing all 37 people on board including British actress June Thorburn.

Carl B. Stokes is elected as Mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, becoming the first African American mayor of a major American city.

US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, establishing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Apollo program: NASA launches the unmanned Apollo 4 test spacecraft, atop the first Saturn V rocket, from Florida's Cape Kennedy.

The Nauru Independence Act 1967 passed the Parliament of Australia, giving independence to the UN Trust Territory of Nauru with effect from 31 January 1968.

Vietnam War: In a propaganda ceremony in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, three American prisoners of war are released by the Viet Cong and turned over to "new left" antiwar activist Tom Hayden.

The first of its many UFO sightings is made at Pudasjärvi, Finland.

The Congress of Colombia, in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the death of Policarpa Salavarrieta, declares this day as "Day of the Colombian Woman".

American physicist Theodore Maiman is given a patent for his ruby laser systems, the world's first laser.

The only fatality of the North American X-15 program occurs during the 191st flight when Air Force test pilot Michael J. Adams loses control of his aircraft which is destroyed mid-air over the Mojave Desert.

Aeroflot Flight 2230 crashes near Koltsovo Airport, killing 107.

Vietnam War: Acting on optimistic reports that he had been given on November 13, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson tells the nation that, while much remained to be done, "We are inflicting greater losses than we're taking...We are making progress."

The establishment of TVB, the first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong.

Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland tells news reporters: "I am absolutely certain that whereas in 1965 the enemy was winning, today he is certainly losing."

UN Security Council Resolution 242 is adopted, establishing a set of the principles aimed at guiding negotiations for an Arab–Israeli peace settlement.

The first pulsar (PSR B1919+21, in the constellation of Vulpecula) is discovered by two astronomers Jocelyn Bell Burnell and Antony Hewish.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara announces his resignation.

The People's Republic of Southern Yemen gains its independence from the United Kingdom

The Pakistan Peoples Party is founded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who becomes its first chairman.

Pro-Soviet communists in the Philippines establish Malayang Pagkakaisa ng Kabataan Pilipino as its new youth wing.

At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human (53-year-old Louis Washkansky).

Adrian Kantrowitz performs the first human heart transplant in the United States.

Constantine II of Greece attempts an unsuccessful counter-coup against the Regime of the Colonels.

The Silver Bridge collapses, killing 46 people.

Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia, disappears while swimming near Portsea, Victoria, and is presumed drowned.

Harold Holt, the Prime Minister of Australia, is officially presumed dead.

Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a human-to-human heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.

American businesswoman Muriel Siebert becomes the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Aeroflot Flight L-51 crashes near Liepāja International Airport in Liepāja, Latvia, killing 43.

Lara Jill Miller, American actress

Mike Portnoy, American drummer and songwriter

David J. C. MacKay, English physicist, engineer, and academic (died 2016)

Sherri Shepherd, American actress, comedian, and television personality

Dave Navarro, American musician and television personality

Muhsin Hendricks, South African imam, Islamic scholar and LGBT activist

Robin Ventura, American baseball player

J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and academic (born 1904)

Anatoly Maltsev, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1909)

Dorothy Parker, American poet, short story writer, critic, and satirist (born 1893)

Tudor Arghezi, Romanian author and poet (born 1880)