>World History 1965-66ָ
War Escalates in Vietnam, Singapore leaves Federatoin, Gambia Independent, Rhodesia Independence, War of Poverty, Violence in Selma, Voting Rights Act, Riots in Watts, Immigration Act, US Troops in Dominican Republic, "Unsafe At Any Speed," Great Blackout, First Commercial Satellite, kashmir Crisis, Botswana Independent, Lesotho Independent, Nigerian Civil War, Miranda Decision, National Organization of Women, Direct Dial Phones
| 1965 War Escalates in Vietnam In early 1965, the war in Vietnam underwent significant escalation. In retaliation for attacks on the barracks at Plieku, US forces conducted a series of air attacks against North Vietnam. In March, the US initiated the first sustained attacks against the North, in an action named "rolling thunder." On March 7, the first two battalions of US combat troops arrived to defend the air base at Danang. |
| 1965 Singapore Withdraws From Malaysia Federatoin Singapore withdrew from the Malaysian Federation at the request of Malaysia. The Malaysian government was upset by attempts made by the Singapore Chinese Youth Organization to extend its influence to other parts of the Federation. On August 9, Singapore became an independent Republic and joined the British Commonwealth of Nations. |
| 1965 Gambia Gains Independence On February 18, Gambia became a fully independent country. A referendum on becoming a republic was defeated. The first Prime Minister was Dawanda Jawara. |
| 1965 Rhodesia Declares Independence Rhodesia declared its independence from Great Britain, in defiance of the British government. Rhodesia's government, led by Ian Smith, was all white in a country that was overwhelmingly black. Great Britain declared the act treasonable, and immediately applied economic sanctions that were expanded by the United Nations. |
| 1965 War of Poverty Launched In his State of the Union address, President Johnson announced the launching of a comprehensive plan to wage war on poverty. On August 24, 1965, he signed the Economic Opporutnity Act into law. |
| 1965 Violence in Selma Selma, Alabama became the focus of the civil rights movement as activists worked to register black voters. Demonstrators also organized a march from Selma to Birmingham to promote voting rights. "Bloody Sunday" occured when state troopers attacked demonstrators. |
| 1965 Voting Rights Act On August 6, the President signed into law the Voting Rights Act. The act prohibited states from using poll taxes or literacy tests to limit voter registration for minorities. |
| 1965 Riots in Watts Five days of riots broke out on August 11, 1965 in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The riots caused 34 deaths and injuries to 1,000 people. Over 4,000 individuals were arrested. Property damage was estimated at $40 million. The riots in Watts were the most severe of a series of riots that took place in many American cities in the mid-1960s. |
| 1965 Immigration Act of 1965 The Immigration Act of 1965 eliminated quotas as a basis for national immigration. It was, however, still very restrictive in the total number of immigrants allowed to enter the United States. |
| 1965 US Sends Troops to Dominican Republic In December, 1962, the Dominicans elected liberal intellectual, Juan Bosch, as President. Seven months later the military staged a coup, and President Kennedy cut off all aid. Lyndon Johnson, however, resumed some aid when he became President. On April 25th, some army officers attempted a coup that failed, and the Dominican Republic was plunged into civil war. On April 28th, President Johnson, at the urging of the American Ambassador who claimed that Communist- oriented rebels might win, ordered 23,000 American troops to the Dominican Republic. The American forces succeeded in bringing order, but met with objections both domestic and from the Organization of American States. The United States convinced the OAS to send an international peace-force to replace the American forces, and within a year, free elections were held in the Dominican Republic, and all American troops were withdrawn. |
| 1965 Nadar Publishes " Unsafe At Any Speed" Ralph Nader published Unsafe at Any Speed, a report that was highly critical of the safety of automobiles. The publishing of Unsafe at Any Speed began a campaign to improve the safety of US automobiles. It also launched Nader's career as a consumer advocate. |
| 1965 Great Blackout The Great Blackout of 1965 caused the power sytems throughout the Northeast to fail, thus plunging New York, Boston and other cities into darkess during the evening rush hour. The blackout originated at a power plant along the Canadian border, but the failure cascaded through the system. |
| 1965 First Commercial Satellite launched In 1965, the first commercial (non-goverment sponsored) satellite was launched. Thus began a large industry specializing in providing telecommunication services to industry. | 1966 Kashmir Crisis The Indians charged Pakistan with infiltrating into Kashmir. In response, the Indians launched an attack on Pakistan directed towards Lahore. The undeclared war lasted from August 16 to September 22. |
| 1966 Botswana Gains Independence On September 30, Botswana, formerly called the Bechuanaland Protectorate, became independent. Its first President was Sir Seretes Khama. |
| 1966 Lesotho Gains Independence On October 4, the British colony of Basutoland became independent, and was renamed Lesotho. The country became a monarchy under King Moshoeshoe. Chief Leabua Jonathan became Prime Minister. |
| 1966 Nigerian Civil War Breaks Out In January, a series of insurrections in the Nigerian army brought chaos to the country. Troops murdered their officers; civilians killed each other. The governor of the Nigerian Eastern Region, Lieutenant Colonel Odumegwi Ojukwu, set up an independent regime. On May 30, 1966, he declared the eastern region independent, as the new Republic of Biafra. |
| 1966 Miranda Decision In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court overturned the convicition of a kidnapper after ruling that he had not been advised of his rights before he confessed. |
| 1966 National Organization of Women Founded The National Organization of Women was founded by Betty Friedan, who became its first president. Thus, the modern women's movement was launched. |
| 1966 First Direct Dial Phones The world became appreciably smaller when the first direct-dial international call was made. Previously all international calls required the assistance of operators. Today, the globe is linked by a network of phones that allow instant communications worldwide. |