Events January
January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso). January 10 Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance. January 15 – 1966 Nigerian coup d'état: A bloody military coup is staged in Nigeria, deposing the civilian government and resulting in the death of Prime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa. January 17 The Nigerian coup is overturned by another faction of the military, led by Major General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, leaving a military government in power and beginning a long period of military rule. 1966 Palomares B-52 crash: A U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber collides with a KC-135 Stratotanker over Spain, dropping three 70-kiloton hydrogen bombs near the town of Palomares, and one into the sea. Carl Brashear, the first African-American United States Navy diver, is involved in an accident during the recovery of the latter, which results in the amputation of his leg. January 19 – Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India; she is sworn in on January 24. January 20 - The Radio Caroline ship Mi Amigo runs aground on the beach at Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, UK. January 21 – Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party. January 22 – The military government of Nigeria announces that ex-prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was killed during the coup a week previously. January 24 – Air India Flight 101 crashes into Mont Blanc, killing all 117 people on board, including Homi J. Bhabha, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission. January 26 Disappearance of the Beaumont children: Three children disappear on their way to Glenelg, South Australia, never to be seen again. Their fate remains unknown. 1966 Liberal Party of Australia leadership election: Harold Holt is elected leader of the Liberal Party of Australia unopposed when Sir Robert Menzies retires after an unprecedented 16 years in office; consequently Holt becomes Prime Minister of Australia six days later. January 27 The British government promises the U.S. that British troops in Malaysia will stay until more peaceful conditions occur in the region. Britain's Labour Party unexpectedly retains the parliamentary seat of Hull North in a by-election, with a swing of 4.5% to their candidate from the opposition Conservatives, and a majority up from 1,181 at the 1964 General Election to 5,351. January 31 – The United Kingdom ceases all trade with Rhodesia.
February
February 1 – Around 2,600 political prisoners are released by East Germany, in return for "donations" worth approximately $10,000 a head from West Germany. February 3 – The unmanned Soviet Luna 9 spacecraft makes the first controlled rocket-assisted landing on the Moon. February 4 – All Nippon Airways Flight 60 plunges into Tokyo Bay; 133 people are killed. February 7 The Great Fire of Iloilo, Philippines, breaks out in a lumber yard and burns for almost half a day, destroying nearly three-quarters of the City Proper area and causing 50 million pesos in total property damage. Lyndon B. Johnson of the United States and Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam convene with other officials in a summit in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss the course of the Vietnam War.David C. Humphrey & David S. Patterson (eds), "January 31–March 8: The Honolulu Conference; Congressional Hearings on the War ", Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume IV, Vietnam, 1966, 1998. February 14 – The Australian dollar is introduced at a rate of 2 dollars per pound, or 10 shillings per dollar. February 19 – The naval minister of the United Kingdom, Christopher Mayhew, resigns over defence policy. February 20 – While Soviet author and translator Valery Tarsis is abroad, the Soviet Union negates his citizenship. February 23 – 1966 Syrian coup d'état: An intra-party military coup in Syria replaces the previous government of Amin al-Hafiz by one led by Salah Jadid. February 24 – A coup led by the police and military of Ghana raises the National Liberation Council to power while president Kwame Nkrumah is abroad. February 28 – British Prime Minister Harold Wilson calls a general election in the United Kingdom, to be held on March 31.
March
March – The DKW automobile ceases production in Germany. March 1 The British Government announces plans for the decimalisation of the pound sterling (hitherto denominated in 20 shillings and 240 pence to the £), to come into force on 15 February 1971 (Decimal Day). Soviet space probe Venera 3 crashes on Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet's surface. The Ba'ath Party takes power in Syria. March 2 – Kwame Nkrumah arrives in Guinea and is granted asylum. March 3 – A F5 tornado strikes Mississippi and Alabama, causing catastrophic damage over its 200 miles, and kills 57 people March 4 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 crashes during a night landing in poor visibility at Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing 64 of 72 people on board. In an interview with London Evening Standard reporter Maureen Cleave, John Lennon of the Beatles states: "We're more popular than Jesus now." March 5 BOAC Flight 911 crashes in severe clear-air turbulence over Mount Fuji soon after taking off from Tokyo International Airport in Japan, killing all 124 people on board. Merci, Chérie by Udo Jürgens (music by Udo Jürgens, lyrics by Jürgens and Thomas Hörbiger) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1966 (staged in Luxembourg) for Austria. March 7 – Charles de Gaulle asks U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson for negotiations about the state of NATO equipment in France. March 8 Anti-communist demonstrations occur at the Indonesian Foreign Ministry. Vietnam War: The U.S. announces it will substantially increase the number of its troops in Vietnam. Nelson's Pillar in O'Connell Street, Dublin, is clandestinely blown up by former Irish Republican Army volunteers marking this year's 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising. March 10 – Crown Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands marries Claus von Amsberg. Some spectators demonstrate against the groom because he is German. March 11 Transition to the New Order in Indonesia: President Sukarno gives all executive powers to General Suharto by signing the Supersemar order. French President Charles de Gaulle states that French troops will be taken out of NATO and that all French NATO bases and headquarters must be closed within a year. March 16 – NASA spacecraft Gemini 8 (David Scott, Neil Armstrong) conducts the first docking in space, with an Agena target vehicle. March 20 – Football's FIFA World Cup Trophy is stolen while on exhibition in London; it is found seven days later by a mongrel dog named "Pickles" and his owner David Corbett, wrapped in newspaper in a south London garden. March 22 – in the Chinese city of Xingtai a magnitude 6.8 earthquake leaves more than 8,000 dead and 38,000 injured. March 24 – Pope Paul VI meets Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in Rome, and gives him an episcopal ring. March 26 – Demonstrations are held across the United States against the Vietnam War. March 28 – Cevdet Sunay becomes the fifth president of Turkey. March 29 – The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union is held: Leonid Brezhnev demands that U.S. troops leave Vietnam, and announces that Chinese-Soviet relations are not satisfactory. March 31 The British Labour Party led by Harold Wilson wins the 1966 United Kingdom general election, gaining a 96-seat majority (compared with a single seat majority when the election was called on February 28). The Soviet Union launches Luna 10, which becomes the first space probe to enter orbit around the Moon.
April
April 2 – The Indonesian army demands that the country rejoin the United Nations. April 3 – Luna 10 is the first manmade object to enter lunar orbit. April 5 – During the Buddhist Uprising, South Vietnamese military prime minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ personally attempts to lead the capture of the restive city of Đà Nẵng before backing down. April 7 – The United Kingdom asks the United Nations Security Council for authority to use force to stop oil tankers that violate the embargo against Rhodesia (authority is given April 10). April 8 Buddhists in South Vietnam protest against the fact that the new government has not set a date for free elections. Leonid Brezhnev becomes General Secretary of the Soviet Union, as well as Leader of the Communist Party of the U.S.S.R. April 14 Kenyan Vice President Oginga Odinga resigns, saying "invisible government" representing foreign interests now runs the country. He will head a new party, the Kenya People's Union. The South Vietnamese government promises free elections in 3–5 months. April 15 – An anti-Nasser conspiracy is exposed in Egypt. April 18 China declares that it will stop economic aid to Indonesia. The 38th Academy Awards ceremony is held in Santa Monica, California: The Sound of Music wins Best Picture. April 19 – Moors murders: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley go on trial at Chester Crown Court in north west England for the murders of 3 children who vanished between November 1963 and October 1965. April 21 An artificial heart is installed in the chest of Marcel DeRudder in a Houston, Texas, hospital. The opening of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is televised for the first time. Haile Selassie visits Jamaica for the first time, meeting with Rasta leaders. April 24 – Uniform daylight saving time is first observed in most parts of North America. April 26 A new government is formed in the Republic of the Congo, led by Ambroise Noumazalaye. The magnitude 5.1 Tashkent earthquake affects the largest city in Soviet Central Asia with a maximum MSK intensity of VII (Very strong). Tashkent is mostly destroyed and 15–200 are killed. April 27 – Pope Paul VI and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko meet in the Vatican (the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and the Soviet Union). April 28 – In Rhodesia, security forces kill seven ZANLA men in combat; Chimurenga, the ZANU rebellion, begins. April 30 – Regular hovercraft service begins over the English Channel (discontinued in 2000).
May
May 4 Fiat signs a contract with the Soviet government to build a car factory in the Soviet Union. May 1966 lunar eclipse: A penumbral lunar eclipse takes place, the 64th lunar eclipse of Lunar Saros 111. May 5 – The Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings to win the Stanley Cup in ice hockey. May 6 – The Moors murders trial ends in the UK with Ian Brady being found guilty on all three counts of murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Myra Hindley is convicted on two counts of murder and of being an accessory in the third murder committed by Brady, receiving two concurrent terms of life imprisonment and a seven-year fixed term for being an accessory. May 7 – Irish bank workers go on strike. May 12 African members of the UN Security Council say that the British army should blockade Rhodesia. Radio Peking claims that U.S. planes have shot down a Chinese plane over Yunnan (the U.S. denies the story the next day). May 14 – Turkey and Greece intend to start negotiations about the situation in Cyprus. May 15 Indonesia asks Malaysia for peace negotiations. The South Vietnamese army besieges Da Nang. Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators again picket the White House, then rally at the Washington Monument.