The one millionth Mini is produced

Goldie the eagle (right) escapes from London Zoo, flying wild in Regent's Park for 13 days

1st The Luton ABC Cinema theater manager drops the curtain on P.J.Proby when the singer's pants split

3rd Spanish forces begin a blockade of Gibraltar

7th US begins regular bombing of North Vietnamese towns and villages

9th The first US combat troops are despatched to South Vietnam

11th Beatle Ringo Starr marries Maureen Cox

15th Singer Nat 'King' Cole dies of complications after surgery for lung cancer

15th The red and white maple leaf design is adopted as the official flag of Canada

17th King Farouk of Egypt dies aged 45

18th The Gambia becomes independent from the United Kingdom

19th Elkan Allan, Head of Rediffusion TV's light entertainment, announces a ban on miming from April 2nd, a decision which particularly affects 'Ready Steady Go!'

20th Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after successfully photographing possible landing sites

21st The political activist Michael X is assassinated following his split from the Black Muslims

22nd Strike aircraft TSR2 goes supersonic for the first time

23rd Comedian Stan Laurel dies aged 75, eight years after his partner Oliver Hardy

24th Shooting starts on the Beatles film 'Help'

At 26, David Steele becomes Britain's youngest Member of Parliament

Jeff Beck (right) replaces Eric Clapton as lead guitarist of The Yardbirds

5th Ernie Terrell becomes the WBA World Heavyweight Boxing Champion

7th Bloody Sunday race riots in Selma, Alabama

8th 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam

10th Goldie, the London Zoo golden eagle is recaptured after 13 days of freedom

18th Aleksei Leonov becomes the first man to walk in space

21st NASA launches Ranger 9, the last of the unmanned lunar space probes

23rd The first American 2-man spacecraft, Gemini 3, is launched

24th Transmission of TV pictures from the moon received as Ranger 9 impacts with the surface

25th A civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery is led by Martin Luther King, Jr

26th Presenter Keith Fordyce leaves Rediffusion TV's 'Ready Steady Go!'

6th The Kray twins (right top) are cleared at the Old Bailey of running a protection racket

6th The 'Early Bird' communications satellite is launched (right bottom), taking station 22,300 miles above the equator, providing 'line of sight' communications between Europe and North America

9th The West German parliament extends the statute of limitations on Nazi war crimes

11th A machine-gun attempt on the Shah's life fails in Teheran

11th Fifty-one tornadoes hit the USA in six Midwestern states, killing 256 people

12th The first record company-sponsored commercial show is transmitted by Radio Caroline

19th Reggie Kray holds a celebrity wedding. Messages are sent by Judy Garland and Barbara Windsor

23rd Soviet communications satellite Molnya-1 is launched

23rd The Pennine Way is officially opened

28th In Rome, Harold Wilson is the first Labour Prime Minister to meet the Pope

2nd The House of Commons approves a Bill to impose a Corporation Tax on Company profits

2nd The first Australian combat troops arrive in South Vietnam

3rd US astronaut Ed White makes the first US space walk

7th A mining accident in Kakanji, Bosnia, kills 128

10th A BEA Trident makes the first automatic aircraft landing at Heathrow, flying from Paris

10th Mrs C.V.Ward becomes the first female member of The Stock Exchange

12th Jack Warner - 'Dixon of Dock Green', Frankie Vaughan and Coronation Street's Violet Carson        are awarded the O.B.E. in the Queen's birthday list. The Beatles receive the M.B.E.

14th Two O.B.E.s return their honours in a protest over the Beatles' M.B.E. awards

18th The government announces plans to introduce a legal blood alcohol limit for drivers

22nd Producer David O. Selznick dies

24th Jonathan Cape publishes John Lennon's second book 'A Spaniard In The Works' in the U.K.

Over 400 people reply to an advert in Hollywood Reporter, wanting to become one of 'The Monkees'

2nd Pakistani troops enter the Indian sector of Kashmir

4th Albert Schweitzer dies aged 90

6th Indian troops march on Lahore

9th U Thant recommends China for UN membership

16th 'Tom and Jerry' producer Fred Quimby dies

16th China protests against Indian provocations in its border region

16th In Iraq, Prime Minister Razzak's attempted coup fails

25th Radio 390 ( formerly Radio Invicta and Radio King ) begins broadcasting

27th Actress Clara Bow 'The flapper of the Twenties' dies

27th The largest tanker ship up to that time, the Tokyo Maru, is launched in Yokohama

28th Fidel Castro announces that anybody who wants to can immigrate to the USA

28th The Taal volcano erupts in Luzon, Philippines, killing hundreds

29th Aston Martin launch their first four-seater car, the DB6

30th EMI begin selling L.P. records through 3,000 grocers shops at 12s 6d each

Ron Richards and John Burgess of EMI, Peter Sullivan of Decca and George Martin form A.I.R .

4th Fidel Castro announces that Che Guevara has left Cuba 'to fight imperialism abroad'

4th Prime Minister Ian Smith of Rhodesia attends negotiations in London

4th Paul VI becomes the first Pope to visit America

5th Pakistan sever diplomatic relations with Malaysia because of a disagreement in the UN

7th The Post Office Tower, Britain's highest building at 620ft, is opened in London

7th Robert Mitera’s tee shot, aided by a 50-m.p.h. tail wind, travels 447 yards to the pin, and drops in for the longest-ever hole-in-one. The golf course: Miracle Hills in Omaha, Nebraska

8th The Olympic Committee admits East Germany as a member

11th Gerry Marsden marries Pauline Behan, the secretary of his fan club

18th The Indonesian government declares the Communist party illegal

21st Bill Black, Elvis' bass player, dies from a brain tumour

24th Prime Minister Harold Wilson and Arthur Bottomley travel to Rhodesia for negotiations

25th The Soviet Union declares its support of African countries in case Rhodesia unilaterally declares independence

26th The Beatles are awarded the M.B.E.

28th Brady and Hindley are charged with the 'Moors Murders'

28th The 630-foot-tall parabolic steel Gateway Arch is completed in St. Louis, Missouri

29th The U.S.A. detonates an 80 kiloton H-bomb over the Aleutian Islands

3rd Charles De Gaulle announces that he will stand in next French presidential election

5th Martial law is announced in Rhodesia

6th Cuba and the USA agree to start an airlift for Cubans who want to go to the United States

7th Pirate station Radio Essex begins regular broadcasting

8th The death penalty is abolished in Britain

9th Roger Allen LaPorte sets himself on fire in front of the UN building in protest against the Vietnam war

11th Ian Smith declares unilateral independence for Rhodesia to prevent black majority rule

12th The UN Security Council recommends that other countries not recognize independent Rhodesia

16th Ireland's first Prime Minister, William Thomas Cosgrave, dies aged 85

16th The Soviet Union launches the Venera 3 space probe from Baikonur, Kazakhstan toward Venus

16th The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) concept is announced by Walt Disney as an innovative use for property that his company owns near Orlando, Florida. It is planned to be a "community of the future" designed to stimulate new ideas for urban living. It eventually opens in 1982 (right)

20th The UN Security Council recommends that all member states stop trading with Rhodesia

24th An experimental 70 m.p.h. speed limit is introduced on British motorways

25th Joseph Mobutu takes over in Congo after a military coup

26th France launches its first satellite 'A1 Asterix' from a site in Africa, becoming the third 'space' country

28th Philippines President Elect Ferdinand Marcos announces he will send troops to help fight in South Vietnam

29th Mary Whitehouse launches the National Viewers and Listeners Association

29th The Canadian satellite Alouette 2 is launched

5th Charles De Gaulle is re-elected as French president with 10,828,421 votes

15th Goldie the eagle escapes from London Zoo for the second time this year

15th Tanzania and Guinea sever diplomatic relations with the United Kingdom

15th Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 meet in Earth orbit

16th William Somerset Maugham dies

17th The British and US governments begin an oil embargo against Rhodesia

17th Ronnie Scott opens his club in Soho

21st The Soviet Union announces that it has supplied rockets to North Vietnam

21st Konrad Adenauer resigns from the post of chairman of the Christian Democratic party

22nd Richard Dimbleby CBE OBE dies aged 52

22nd A cabinet reshuffle makes Roy Jenkins Home Secretary and Barbara Castle Minister of Transport

27th The B.P. oil rig 'Sea Gem' (right) collapses in the North Sea killing 13 people

30th Ferdinand Marcos becomes President of the Philippines

January 1 Laura Ingraham, talk show host and author
January 9 Joely Richardson, actress
January 20 Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, future Countess of Wessex
January 22 DJ Jazzy Jeff, rapper, actor
January 27 Alan Cumming, actor
February 1 Brandon Lee, actor, son of Bruce Lee
February 1 Sherilyn Fenn, actress
February 1 Princess Stephanie of Monaco
February 11 Angie Ridgeway, golfer
February 11 Stephen Gregory, actor
February 18 Dr. Dre, rap music performer, music producer
February 23 Michael Dell, founder of Dell, Inc.
March 7 Jesper Parnevik, Swedish golfer
March 10 Rod Woodson, American football player
March 11 Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, television presenter
March 24 Mark Calaway, professional wrestler The Undertaker
March 25 Sarah Jessica Parker, actress
April 4 Robert Downey Jr., actor
April 7 Bill Bellamy, actor, comedian
April 15 Linda Perry, musician
April 16 Martin Lawrence, actor, comedian, producer
May 14 Eoin Colfer, writer
May 16 Krist Novoselic, bassist with Nirvana
May 28 Chris Ballew, musician
May 31 Brooke Shields, actress
June 1 Nigel Short, chess player
June 4 Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
June 7 Mick Foley, professional wrestler and author
June 10 Elizabeth Hurley, actress
June 15 Bernard Hopkins, boxer
July 22 Shawn Michaels, professional wrestler
July 26 Sandra Bullock, actress
July 28 Lori Loughlin, actress
July 31 Joanne Kathleen Rowling, author of Harry Potter
August 28 Shania Twain, singer/songwriter
September 11 Moby, musician
September 21 Cheryl Hines, actress
November 2 Shah Rukh Khan, actor
November 6 Greg Graffin, singer and founder of Bad Religion
November 7 Sigrun Wodars, East German athlete
November 21 Alexander Siddig, Star Trek actor
November 25 Bernie Kosar, American football quarterback
November 30 Ben Stiller, actor
December 3 Steve Harris, actor
December 3 Katarina Witt, figure skater
December 14 Craig Biggio, baseball player
December 20 Rich Gannon, American football quarterback
December 27 Salman Khan, actor, India

January 4 T. S. Eliot, American/British poet
January 12 Lorraine Hansberry, writer
January 14 Jeanette MacDonald, American actress, singer
January 20 Alan Freed, disc jockey
January 24 Winston Churchill, British politician
January 28 Maxime Weygand, soldier
January 28 Tich Freeman, record-breaking Kent leg spinner
February 13 Gloria Morgan-Vanderbilt, socialite
February 15 Nat King Cole, singer, musician
February 17 King Farouk of Egypt
February 21 Malcolm X, Black Muslim Movement activist
February 22 Felix Frankfurter, justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
February 23 Stan Laurel, British actor
February 26 George Adamski, UFO traveler
March 6 Margaret Dumont, actress
March 13 Corrado Gini, statistician
March 18 King Farouk I of Egypt
March 28 HRH Princess Mary, The Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood
May 25 Sonny Boy Williamson
June 22 David O. Selznick, producer
June 28 Red Nichols, jazz musician
July 1 Wally Hammond, cricketer
July 1 Harald Zwart, Norwegian film director
July 7 Moshe Sharett, second Prime Minister of Israel
July 25 Freddie Mills, boxer
August 27 Le Corbusier, Swiss architect
August 28 Giulio Racah, Israeli physicist
September 4 Albert Schweitzer, German physician
September 14 J.W. Hearne Middlesex and England all-rounder
September 15 Steve Brown, jazz musician
September 16 Fred Quimby, producer
September 27 Clara Bow, actress
October 21 Bill Black, musician
November 6 Clarence Williams, jazz musician
November 16 William Thomas Cosgrave, Irish politician
November 24 Queen Elizabeth of Belgium
November 25 Dame Myra Hess, English pianist
December 16 William Somerset Maugham, author
December 22 Richard Dimbleby CBE OBE