People, Locations, Episodes

Zanzibar Gains Independence From Britain

On this date in 1963, Zanzibar gained its independence from Britain.

The history of Zanzibar is out of proportion with its size. Simply to mention the name Zanzibar is to conjure up an air of mystery. Sultans, ivory, slaves, spices, navigators, and explorers–words that start to tell the story of Zanzibar.

The 24th Amendment To The Constitution is Passed

*On this date in 1964 the twenty-fourth amendment to the constitution was passed.

Since the legal end to slavery, African Americans had been denied the right to vote by a number of different ways. Some measures were deceitful, many others were life threatening. This confirmation ensured the Abolition of the Poll Tax Qualification in Federal Elections.

Malcolm X Leaves the Nation Of Islam

*On this date in 1964, Malcolm X Separated from the Nation of Islam (NOI).

Malcolm X planed to create Black Nationalist party that would cooperate with local civil rights actions in order to heighten political consciousness of Negroes. The week before he had an unplanned meeting with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a hallway after they both observed Senate filibuster on the Civil Rights Bill. Soon after his announcement, a meeting with Malcolm X, E. Grant, and J. Warden to discuss incorporation of MMI (Muslim Mosque Incorporated) took place.

Hamilton v. Alabama is Ruled

*On March 30, 1964, Hamilton v. Alabama was decided. This was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that a Black woman, Mary Hamilton, was entitled to the same courteous forms of address customarily reserved solely to whites in the Southern United States and that calling a Black person by his […]

Freedom Summer (In America), a story

*Freedom Summer is briefly described on this date in 1964.  Sometimes called the Mississippi Summer Project, it was a volunteer campaign against voter suppression in the United States. Its launch was to register as many Black voters as possible in Mississippi. Blacks had been cut off from voting since the turn of the century due […]

The 1964 Civil Rights Act is Passed

On this date in 1964, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

John F. Kennedy had argued for a new Civil Rights Act during the 1960 presidential election. But for the next two years, over 70 per cent of the African American vote went to Kennedy, the new president did nothing to promote this legislation.

The Civil Rights bill was brought before Congress in 1963. Kennedy presented arguments in favor of it on June 11 in a speech on television. Kennedy’s Civil Rights bill was still being debated by Congress when he was assassinated in November 1963.

Three Civil Rights Activists Are Murdered in Mississippi

On this date in 1964, three Civil Rights workers disappeared near Philadelphia, Mississippi.

Two of them were white and one was black. James Chaney, a Black Mississippian, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, Jewish New Yorkers, were in Neshoba County to look into the burning of a Black church and help register Black voters during what was called “Freedom Summer.”

The three were stopped for speeding, jailed briefly, and then released, after which they were followed out of town by a gang of Klansmen, intercepted, and murdered.

The Organization of Afro-American Unity is Formed

*On this date in 1964, Malcolm X announced the establishment of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) at a public meeting in New York’s Audubon Ballroom.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is Enacted

On this date in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was enacted into law in America. The first of three such legislations was an attempt to deal with the increasing demands of African Americans for equal rights.

Malawi Gains Independence From Britain

*On this date in 1964, Malawi gained independence from Britain.   This occurred almost 80 years after the European invasion and the Berlin Conference.  In 1961, the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections, and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963. The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and the following […]

Gambia Gains Its Independence From the UK

*On this date in 1964, the Gambia Independence Act 1964 was issued.  This was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave independence to The Gambia with effect from February 18, 1965.   This episode happened 80 years after the Berlin Conference convened.  It marked the high point of white European competition […]

The International Olympic Committee Bans South Africa Over Apartheid

*On this date in 1964, South Africa was banned from the Tokyo Olympic Games. This action came from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to their racist apartheid polices.

For the next 28 years international IOC sanctions continued and were lifted for the Barcelona Games in 1992.

Zambia Gains its Independence From the U.K.

On this date in 1964, Zambia gained independence from Britain. With a population of over 9 million, Zambia is located in Southern Africa, east of Angola.

Zambia’s history goes back to the debut of Homo sapiens: evidence of human habitation going back 100,000 years has been found at Kabwe, north of Lusaka.

The Scottish explorer David Livingstone came to the area that is now Zambia in 1851. He was the first to see the falls he named Victoria, after Queen Victoria, in 1855.

The Deacons of Defense, and Justice are Formed

*The Deacons for Defense and Justice are celebrated on this date in 1964. This was an armed African American self-defense group founded in the mill town of Jonesboro, Louisiana, during the 20th-century American Civil Rights era. It is intended to protect civil rights activists and their families. They are threatened by white vigilantes and discriminatory […]

Martin Luther King Jr. is awarded The Nobel Peace Prize

On this date in 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was awarded The Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. King, who was 35, was the youngest man, the second American, and the third Black man awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.