1964.The big news stories involved civil rights in the United States,and The Beatles,who were the hottest act in pop music and who began their first visit to America in February.
Lyndon Johnson was the President Of The United States ,and it was in 1964 that he signed into law the Civil Rights Act,that outlawed segregation in schools,public places and employment.The act was vigorously opposed by southern politicians.Three civil rights workers were killed that year in Mississippi and members of the Ku Klux Klan were investigated in the deaths.It was also the year that Martin Luther King king won a Nobel Peace Prize,and Sidney Poirtier became the first black man to win the Oscar for best actor in "Lilies Of The Field."Things may have been improving for black Americans,but there were still deep racial conflicts.
America seemed conflicted in other ways too.The Vietnam War was raging and,during 1964 The Warren Commission came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had been the sole killer of President John F.Kennedy.In the same year,Jack Ruby was found guilty of Oswald's murder and was sentenced to death.Meanwhile,in the United Kingdom,the death penalty was being abolished.
The Olympic Games were held in Tokyo during the summer and in Innsbruck,Austria during the winter.A World's Fair was held in New York City,where the Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened as well,and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at that time.
In Alaska,an earthquake struck on Good Friday.It was the strongest earthquake ever felt in the United States,at over 9 on the Richter Scale.
In 1964,gas cost about thirty cents a gallon and a loaf of bread around twenty one cents.Most new cars were under $5000 and an average home cost $13,050,with the average yearly salary being slightly less than half of that.That was the year the Ford Mustang was first produced.
The most popular names for boys in 1964 were Michael(as it was three years earlier),John,David,James and Robert.For girls,the most popular names were Lisa,Mary,Susan,Karen and Patricia.
Three hundred and sixty three new words appeared for the first time in The Oxford English Dictionary.They included condo,disco,ninja,paki,a derogatory name for some one of Pakistani decent.I guess with all the leaps and bounds we were making towards racial equality in North America,we really needed another racial slur.Pop tart was used for the first time,as was skateboard.Skateboards had been in existence for some time,but the term was first coined in 1964.Sitcom was also used for the first time.
There didn't really seem to be what we would call a sitcom today among the listings of popular television shows,unless you could call The Lucy Show a sitcom.Other popular television shows of the day included Bonanza,Gomer Pyle,The Beverly Hillbillies,My Three Sons,Peyton Place,Lassie and Flipper.
Early in 1964,Bob Dylan released an album called"The Times They Are A Changing"(still my favorite Dylan song).I guess if I'd had such things in mind at the time I would have thought the song appropriate for the occasion.It certainly seems that it was a rapidly changing society at the time.It was the age of Civil Rights,The Vietnam War,with all of it's associated protests on the near horizon.The Kennedy assassination seemed to usher in an era where people were less inclined to trust their governments.From the conclusion that Oswald acted alone,the whole incident seemed to escalate into the ultimate conspiracy theory.It seemed a beginning of a whole age of conspiracy theories.
Things were changing in our family too.My father still worked just down the road from our home in Redmondville.But he had somehow decided to move the family to Moncton,about eighty miles down the road.It was to be a big move for us and must have been a difficult decision for my father.The only thing he ever said to me about that decision was that the schools were better in the city,with better funding and newer,and students at those schools achieved at a higher rate.So he decided to sacrifice and commute the eighty mile to work every day.It was to be a decision he stuck with from the day it was made,as he moved us into the only home he had ever owned.For us,it was a big move,from country to city.The times were indeed changing.
End-Chapter One.
Sources:thepeoplehistory.blogspot.com
www.weddingvendors.com/baby-names/popular/1964
wordorigins.com
Lyndon Johnson was the President Of The United States ,and it was in 1964 that he signed into law the Civil Rights Act,that outlawed segregation in schools,public places and employment.The act was vigorously opposed by southern politicians.Three civil rights workers were killed that year in Mississippi and members of the Ku Klux Klan were investigated in the deaths.It was also the year that Martin Luther King king won a Nobel Peace Prize,and Sidney Poirtier became the first black man to win the Oscar for best actor in "Lilies Of The Field."Things may have been improving for black Americans,but there were still deep racial conflicts.
America seemed conflicted in other ways too.The Vietnam War was raging and,during 1964 The Warren Commission came to the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald had been the sole killer of President John F.Kennedy.In the same year,Jack Ruby was found guilty of Oswald's murder and was sentenced to death.Meanwhile,in the United Kingdom,the death penalty was being abolished.
The Olympic Games were held in Tokyo during the summer and in Innsbruck,Austria during the winter.A World's Fair was held in New York City,where the Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened as well,and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at that time.
In Alaska,an earthquake struck on Good Friday.It was the strongest earthquake ever felt in the United States,at over 9 on the Richter Scale.
The most popular names for boys in 1964 were Michael(as it was three years earlier),John,David,James and Robert.For girls,the most popular names were Lisa,Mary,Susan,Karen and Patricia.
Three hundred and sixty three new words appeared for the first time in The Oxford English Dictionary.They included condo,disco,ninja,paki,a derogatory name for some one of Pakistani decent.I guess with all the leaps and bounds we were making towards racial equality in North America,we really needed another racial slur.Pop tart was used for the first time,as was skateboard.Skateboards had been in existence for some time,but the term was first coined in 1964.Sitcom was also used for the first time.
There didn't really seem to be what we would call a sitcom today among the listings of popular television shows,unless you could call The Lucy Show a sitcom.Other popular television shows of the day included Bonanza,Gomer Pyle,The Beverly Hillbillies,My Three Sons,Peyton Place,Lassie and Flipper.
Early in 1964,Bob Dylan released an album called"The Times They Are A Changing"(still my favorite Dylan song).I guess if I'd had such things in mind at the time I would have thought the song appropriate for the occasion.It certainly seems that it was a rapidly changing society at the time.It was the age of Civil Rights,The Vietnam War,with all of it's associated protests on the near horizon.The Kennedy assassination seemed to usher in an era where people were less inclined to trust their governments.From the conclusion that Oswald acted alone,the whole incident seemed to escalate into the ultimate conspiracy theory.It seemed a beginning of a whole age of conspiracy theories.
Things were changing in our family too.My father still worked just down the road from our home in Redmondville.But he had somehow decided to move the family to Moncton,about eighty miles down the road.It was to be a big move for us and must have been a difficult decision for my father.The only thing he ever said to me about that decision was that the schools were better in the city,with better funding and newer,and students at those schools achieved at a higher rate.So he decided to sacrifice and commute the eighty mile to work every day.It was to be a decision he stuck with from the day it was made,as he moved us into the only home he had ever owned.For us,it was a big move,from country to city.The times were indeed changing.
End-Chapter One.
Sources:thepeoplehistory.blogspot.com
www.weddingvendors.com/baby-names/popular/1964
wordorigins.com
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