Though the mid-'60s may be 60-odd years in the rearview mirror, their impact is still felt well into 2024. Case in point? The social movements, pop culture moments, and free-spirited aesthetics that would come to define not only the decade but also change the course of history as we know it.
From Martin Luther King Jr. standing at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement to California surfer girls getting ready to catch some waves, here are 30 photos of what the world looked like in 1964.
1
“Che Guevara Walking through Red Square in Moscow, November 1964.”
2
“Early morning train in Japan, 1964.”
3
“Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X at the Capitol listening to the Senate debate on the Civil Rights bill. The two met for only one minute. 1964.”
4
“Coffee break on the job in Chicago, 1964.”
5
Civil rights demonstrators prepare for a march in Tallahassee, Florida.
6
“New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle after being slammed to the ground by a Pittsburgh Steelers lineman in Pittsburgh on Sept. 20, 1964. The photograph immortalized Tittle in football lore as the epitome of the aging warrior who had finally fallen.”
7
“President Lyndon B Johnson at the signing of the Civil Rights Act, 1964. Political figures such as Robert Kennedy & Hubert Humphrey can be seen in the background.”
9
“1964, my dad working at the original Tower Records in Sacramento, California.”
10
Police officers hold back Beatles fans waiting for the British boy band to arrive at the Ed Sullivan Show.
11
“Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minnelli in London, ca 1964.”
12
Muhammed Ali poses for a photo with The Beatles.
13
“My parents on their wedding day in 1964.”
14
“Jayne Mansfield with her husband Mickey Hargitay and their daughter Mariska, 1964.”
15
“The Twilight Zone ‘The Masks’ 1964.”
16
“Crossing America in a 1964 stationwagon.”
17
“An 18 year old Alan Rickman, 1964.”
18
“My grandma and grandpa’s wedding in 1964.”
19
“Cramming into a VW Beetle, 1964.”
20
“Madeline Kahn, Hofstra University, 1964.”
21
“These are cheerleaders from my dad’s college yearbook, 1964.”
22
“Architect Minoru Yamasaki posing with a model of the World Trade Center that he designed, 1964.”
23
Martin Luther King Jr. receives one of many pens President Lyndon B. Johnson used to sign the Civil Rights Act into Law.
24
“1964- Bob Uecker and Bob Gibson are both fined by the Cardinals for holding hands for the team picture.”
25
Civil rights demonstrators face off with police officers in Nashville, Tennessee.
26
“Quote from a 1964 yearbook. ‘That’s what she said.’ Found as a quote in my uncle’s 1964 yearbook from a Connecticut high school.”
