February 1964

The following events occurred in February 1964:

February 1, 1964 (Saturday)

• Altamirano rail disaster: A diesel-hauled twelve-carriage holiday excursion train leaves the Argentine seaside resort of Mar Del Plata on its 230-mile journey north to the capital, Buenos Aires, carrying 1040 passengers.^[1] At Altamirano, 65 miles south of the capital, the Firefly Express as it was called, travelling at 100 km/h, crashes head-on with a steam-hauled freight train, 250m from the station at Altamarino. Both locomotives explode, spreading burning diesel fuel over a wide area. A police doctor, giving an estimate of 34 deaths, admits that the exact figure will never be known: "There is no telling how many bodies burned up in the fire".
• The Beatles vault to the #1 spot on the U.S. singles charts for the first time, with "I Want to Hold Your Hand", starting the British Invasion of the United States.

February 2, 1964 (Sunday)

• Born: Ramesh Kumar Nibhoria, Punjabi engineer and inventor, in Firozpur; Goodluck Nanah Opiah, Nigerian politician, in Abacheke Egbema

February 3, 1964 (Monday)

• A Turkish Airlines Douglas C-47A-5-DK Skytrain on a cargo flight crashes in Ankara Province, Turkey, while on approach to Esenboğa Airport in Ankara, killing the entire crew of three.
• The North Vietnamese Air Force establishes its first jet fighter unit, Fighter Regiment No. 921, equipped with MiG-17s. North Vietnamese jet fighter units will be based in the People's Republic of China until August while their pilots undergo training.
• Protesting against alleged de facto school racial segregation, Black and Puerto Rican groups in New York City boycott public schools.

February 4, 1964 (Tuesday)

• The federal government of the United States authorizes the Twenty-fourth Amendment, outlawing the poll tax.
• General Motors introduces the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser and the Buick Sport Wagon.

February 5, 1964 (Wednesday)

• Kashmir Day: India backs out of its promise to hold plebiscite in the disputed territory of Kashmir. (In 1948, India had taken the issue of Kashmir to the United Nations Security Council and offered to hold a plebiscite in the held Kashmir under UN supervision.) In March 1965, the Indian Parliament will pass a bill declaring Kashmir a province of India.
• Born: Laura Linney, US actress, in New York City.

February 6, 1964 (Thursday)

• Cuba cuts off the normal water supply to the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, in reprisal for the U.S. seizure 4 days earlier of 4 Cuban fishing boats off the coast of Florida.
• Died: Emilio Aguinaldo, 94, Filipino politician and First President of the Philippines

February 7, 1964 (Friday)

The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964

• A Jackson, Mississippi jury, trying Byron De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers in June 1963, reports that it cannot reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial.
• The Beatles arrive from England at New York City's JFK International Airport, receiving a tumultuous reception from a throng of screaming fans, marking the first occurrence of "Beatlemania" in the United States.
• Canada's Golden Hawks aerobatic team is disbanded.

February 8, 1964 (Saturday)

• Born: German Gref, Russian economist and politician, in Panfilovo, Kazakh SSR (now Kazakhstan)
• Died: Boshirō Hosogaya, 75, Japanese admiral; Ernst Kretschmer, 75, German psychiatrist

February 9, 1964 (Sunday)

• The 1964 Winter Olympics come to a close in Innsbruck, Austria.
• The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, marking their first live performance on American television. Seen by an estimated 73 million viewers, the appearance becomes the catalyst for the mid-1960s "British Invasion" of American popular music.
• The 1964 Australian Grand Prix is won by Jack Brabham.

February 10, 1964 (Monday)

• Born: Francesca Neri, Italian actress, in Trento.^[2]
• Died: Eugen Sänger, 58, Austrian aerospace engineer

February 11, 1964 (Tuesday)

• Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
• The Republic of China (Taiwan) drops diplomatic relations with France because of French recognition of the People's Republic of China.
• Born: Sarah Palin, US politician, in Sandpoint, Idaho (as Sarah Louise Heath)

February 12, 1964 (Wednesday)

• Died: Willy Schmidt-Gentner, 69, German film score composer

February 13, 1964 (Thursday)

• Five days before his trial as a war criminal is due to begin, German psychiatrist Werner Heyde hangs himself in prison at Butzbach.^[3]
• Died: Arthur Upfield, 73, Australian crime novelist

February 14, 1964 (Friday)

• In the UK, The Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely Order is issued, proposing to create a new county by merging the areas of the administrative counties of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely (with minor boundary changes); it is subsequently approved by Parliament.^[4] The Huntingdon and Peterborough Order is created to fulfil a comparable function for neighbouring counties. Both orders are passed despite considerable local opposition.

February 15, 1964 (Saturday)

• The North Vietnamese Air Force scores its first aerial victory against an American aircraft when a North Vietnamese T-28 Trojan armed trainer shoots down a C-123 Provider transport plane.
• the Denison by-election to the Australian House of Representatives, triggered by the death of incumbent Liberal MP Athol Townley, results in victory for Adrian Gibson.

February 16, 1964 (Sunday)

• Parliamentary elections in Greece.^[5] result in a clear victory for Georgios Papandreou and his Center Union party.
• Born: Bebeto, Brazilian footballer, in Salvador (as José Roberto Gama de Oliveira); Christopher Eccleston, English actor, in Salford, Lancashire

February 17, 1964 (Monday)

• Wesberry v. Sanders (376 US 1 1964): The Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
• Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a military coup and his archrival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place. However, French intervention quickly restores M'ba's government.
• Gaibnasar Pallayev becomes Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Tajikistan.

February 18, 1964 (Tuesday)

• The first fifty French soldiers land at the Libreville International Airport to intervene in the political coup in Gabon.^[6] The rebels respond by closing the airport but fail to establish obstacles.
• Born: Matt Dillon, US actor, in New Rochelle, New York
• Died: Joseph-Armand Bombardier, 56 Canadian inventor (best known for the snowmobile) and business entrepreneur

February 19, 1964 (Wednesday)

• Further French troops are airlifted to Gabon to put down the recent army coup. (See February 17.) French Air Force planes straf the rebels at Baraka, while the French Army attacks the insurgents with machine gun fire and mortars. The rebels at the military base surrender once their ammunition supply runs out, and their commander, Lieutenant Ndo Edou, is executed. Deposed President M'ba is rescued.

February 20, 1964 (Thursday)

• Died: Verena Holmes, 74, English mechanical engineer and inventor, the first woman member elected to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (1924)

February 21, 1964 (Friday)

• Died: Luis Martín-Santos, 39, Spanish psychiatrist and writer (car accident)^[7]

February 22, 1964 (Saturday)

• Born: William Tanui, Kenyan athlete, in Terik

February 23, 1964 (Sunday)

• Chrysler's Second Generation HEMI racing engine (426 Cubic Inches with Hemispherical Head design) makes its first appearance at the Daytona 500 motor race. The HEMI powered Plymouth of Richard Petty (#43) wins. HEMI powered Plymouths finish 1-2-3.

February 24, 1964 (Monday)

• David A. Burchinal becomes Director of the Joint Staff of the United States armed forces.
• Born: Todd Field, American actor and film director, in Pomona, California

February 25, 1964 (Tuesday)

• Muhammad Ali defeats Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida, to become crowned the heavyweight champion of the world.
• Born: Lee Evans, British comedian and actor, in Avonmouth, Bristol
• Died: Grace Metalious, 39, US novelist (liver disease)

February 26, 1964 (Wednesday)

• Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, a Douglas DC-8, crashes into Lake Pontchartrain 20 miles (32 km) northeast of New Orleans, nine minutes after taking off from New Orleans International Airport, killing all 58 people on board. Among the dead is the American opera singer and actor Kenneth Lee Spencer.
• U.S. astronaut and politician John Glenn slips on a bathroom rug in his Columbus, Ohio, apartment and hits his head on the bathtub, injuring his left inner ear, and prompting him (later that week) to withdraw from the race for the Democratic Party Senate nomination.

February 27, 1964 (Thursday)

• The government of Italy asks for international assistance to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
• Died: Orry-Kelly, 66, Australian costume designer in Hollywood

February 28, 1964 (Friday)

• Born: Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Uzbekistani cyclist, in Tashkent
• Died: Timmy Mayer, 26, US racing driver, in a practice session at Longford, Tasmania, when he loses control of his custom-built Cooper T70 at over 100 mph and hits a tree next to the course.

February 29, 1964 (Saturday)

• U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that the United States has developed a jet airplane (the A-11), capable of sustained flight at more than 2,000 miles per hour (3,200 km/h) and of altitudes of more than 70,000 feet (21,000 m).
• Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq becomes Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.^[8]

References