Timeline August 1964

Events in August 1964 15

• 1893 – 1964 Palmiro Togliatti (1893-1964) Died 21 August 1964, aged 71 Togliatti led the Italian Communist Party for nearly four decades, building it into the largest communist party in Western Europe. He died while visiting the Soviet Union, and the city of Tolyatti was later named in his honour.
• 1895 – 1964 Gracie Allen (1895-1964) American comedian, the scatterbrained half of Burns and Allen on stage, radio and television.
• 1908 – 1964 Ian Fleming (1908-1964) Died 12 August 1964, aged 56 Fleming was a British author best known for creating the James Bond spy series. He wrote twelve Bond novels and two short story collections, drawing on his own wartime naval intelligence experience.
• 1925 – 1964 Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) Died 3 August 1964, aged 39 O'Connor was an American writer known for Southern Gothic novels and short stories exploring morality and religion, including "A Good Man Is Hard to Find". She wrote much of her work while suffering from lupus, which caused her early death.
• 1964 Freedom Summer murders of civil rights workers Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner killed in Mississippi Three civil rights workers registering Black voters in Mississippi were abducted and murdered by Ku Klux Klan members with the involvement of local police. Their deaths, and the search for their bodies, drew national attention to violent resistance against the civil rights movement.
• 1964 Roy Orbison releases Oh, Pretty Woman Number one Number one in the US and UK.
• 1964 US Championships 1964 Men: Roy Emerson · Women: Maria Bueno
• 1964 Gulf of Tonkin incident Naval clashes off North Vietnam The USS Maddox reported an engagement with North Vietnamese torpedo boats, followed by a disputed second incident two days later. The events became the pretext for direct American military escalation in Vietnam.
• 1964 Long Beach demonstration One-inch punch stuns martial arts world Bruce Lee demonstrated his extraordinary martial arts at the International Karate Championships in Long Beach on August 2, 1964. His one-inch punch and two-finger push-ups astonished the crowd and were filmed by Ed Parker.
• 1964 The Kinks release You Really Got Me UK number one A distorted power-chord riff that points the way to hard rock and punk.
• 1964 – 2012 Adam Yauch (1964-2012) Died 4 May 2012, aged 47 American musician known as MCA, a founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group the Beastie Boys. He died of cancer of a salivary gland after a years-long battle with the disease.
• 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution passed US Congress authorises military force in Vietnam Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Congress passed a joint resolution granting President Johnson broad authority to use military force in Southeast Asia without a formal declaration of war. It became the legal basis for the rapid expansion of US involvement in the Vietnam War.
• 1964 Bruce Lee marries Linda Emery Married in Seattle, August 17, 1964 Bruce Lee married Linda Emery on August 17, 1964, in Seattle. They had met at the University of Washington. Linda would later write two books about her husband.
• 1964 – present Mats Wilander The Tactician Won seven Grand Slam titles, including three out of four in 1988.
• 1964 Gracie Allen dies in Hollywood Gracie Allen dies aged 69.