20251001

News and statistics


UK Births: 1,014,672
UK Deaths: 611,130
Retail Price Index (RPI) 4.8%
Index 14.4
Interest Rate (gross) on Savings Accounts 3.50%
Unemployment quoted at 405,000
Philips introduced the musicassette (compact cassette)
Rudi Gernreich 'designs' the topless swimsuit
China tests its first atomic bomb
Ian Smith becomes Prime Minister of Rhodesia
The first MOOG synthesiser is developed by Robert Moog
Peter Sellers marries Britt Ekland at Guildford register office
British troops are sent into Cyprus
Henry Cooper wins the European Heavyweight boxing title
Elizabeth Taylor marries Richard Burton
Chemotherapy is first used in the treatment of cancer
Miss World is Ann Sidney (Miss United Kingdom)
Miss Universe is Corinna Tsopei (Miss Greece)
Honda diversifies into car production
The first postulation of the existence of Quarks is made
Construction of the Aswan Dam is commenced at Abu Simbel
Word processors are first generally seen
John Surtees becomes the only man to win world titles on both two and four wheels
Donald Campbell captures world land (403.10 m.p.h.) and water (276.33 m.p.h.) speed records in Australia
Grand Prix crashes claim the lives of Carel de Beaufort and Tim Mayer
U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin resolution to allow America to make war on Vietnam
The first official world surfing championships are held at Manly, Sydney and won by Australian, Bernard 'Midget' Farrelly
Nelson Mandela and 7 others are sentenced to life imprisonment for treason
The first electronic ticket barriers and unmanned trains are seen on the London Underground
The abolition of Resale Price Maintenance prompts the rise of supermarkets

Prices


800kg sliced white loaf - 1s 2d (5.8p)
Litre of petrol - 1s 0.24d (5.1p)
Pint of milk - 9d (3.8p)
Pint of beer - 1s 6.5d (7.8p)
20 cigarettes - 4s 11d (24.6p)
Average house price £3,360

UK inflation rate 3.5%

20250125

Zulu


The period drama and war film Zulu is a British film that depicts the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift between a detachment of the British Army and the Zulu, in the Anglo-Zulu War. The film was directed and co-written by American screenwriter Cy Endfield who had moved to the UK in 1951 after being blacklisted in Hollywood. Produced by Stanley Baker and Endfield, with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, the screenplay was by Endfield and John Prebble, based on Prebble's 1958 Lilliput article "Slaughter in the Sun".
The film stars Stanley Baker and introduces Michael Caine in his first major role, with a supporting cast that includes Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Nigel Green, Paul Daneman, Glynn Edwards, Ivor Emmanuel and Patrick Magee. Zulu chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi (a future South African political leader) played Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande, his great-grandfather. The opening and closing narration is spoken by Richard Burton.
First shown on the 85th anniversary of the battle, 22 January 1964, at the Plaza Theatre in the West End, it received widespread critical acclaim, with praise for its sets, soundtrack, cinematography, action sequences and the cast's performances, particularly Baker, Booth, Green and Caine. The film brought Caine international fame.

20241211

New Beatles Documentary


A Martin Scorsese produced documentary, directed by David Tedesch, has appeared and is on Disney+. It documents the cultural impact of the Beatles on the USA in the aftermath of their first three-week visit to the country in February, 1964, which included their historic first performances on The Ed Sullivan Show. It includes archival footage from the Beatlemania era. Scorses and Tedeschi did a orevious documentary on George Harrison, which I have not seen. The film features footage shot by Albert and David Maysles originally for the 1964 documentary What's Happening! The Beatles in the U.S.A., digitally restored. New interviews with McCartney and Starr were also filmed. Footage of the Beatles' February 1964 performances on The Ed Sullivan Show and at the Washington Coliseum has also been restored, with audio from these performances remixed by Giles Martin using de-mixing technology developed by Peter Jackson's WingNut Films and previously used for Beatles releases on the 2022 reissue of Revolver and the 2023 reissue of 1962–1966. A soundtrack album from the film has been released digitally and on streaming platforms. The album contains studio recordings by the Beatles of songs featured in the film, as well as the original versions of tracks covered by the Beatles (eg the Chuck Berry recording of "Roll Over Beethoven," the Little Richard recording of "Long Tall Sally"). The compilation also includes a striking cover of "Yesterday" performed by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1968.

20241207

Castro

Ernesto "Che" Guevara, 1964. A Marxist revolutionary, instrumental in developing the Soviet-Cuban relationship in the early 60s. By 1964 he was acting as head of the Cuban delegation to speak at the UN. 

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20241019

Mac 64


It was in 1964 that Paul McCartney apparently bought this appropriately
number plated Aston Martin DB6.

Munich Hair

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