1966

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1930s  1940s  1950s  – 1960s –  1970s  1980s  1990s
Years:	1963 1964 1965 – 1966 – 1967 1968 1969

1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1966th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 966th year of the 2nd millennium, the 66th year of the 20th century, and the 7th year of the 1960s decade.

Events

• January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out".
• January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who.
• January 12 – Batman debuts on ABC (1966-1968).
• February 23 – Television is first broadcast in Greece when ERT went on the air.
• April 5 – The Money Programme debuts on BBC2 (1966-present).
• June 5 – A taped appearance by The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. The band debuts their music videos for "Rain" and "Paperback Writer".
• June 27 – The first episode of the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows airs on ABC, introducing Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke) to the viewing audience as she applies for a job at the Collinwood Manor.
• July 1 – First Canadian color television broadcast.
• September – ABC switches to the color standard, meaning that all three US networks are now broadcasting in color regularly.
• September 3 – The last new episode of the television series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet airs.
• September 7 – The final episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show airs (the first episode aired on October 3, 1961).
• September 8 – The first episode of Star Trek airs (1966-1969).
• September 12 – The Monkees premieres (1966-1968).
• October 2 – The four-part serial Talking to a Stranger, acclaimed as one of the finest British television dramas of the 1960s, begins transmission in the Theatre 625 strand on BBC2.
• October 27 – It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown airs for the first time on CBS.
• November 16 – Cathy Come Home, possibly the best-known play ever to be broadcast on British television, is transmitted in BBC1's The Wednesday Play anthology strand.

Births

• February 6 – Rick Astley, British singer
• March 10 – Omer Tarin Pakistani poet, scholar and mystic.
• April 8 – Robin Wright, American actress
• April 15 – Samantha Fox, British supermodel & singer
• May 3 – Peter Abbay
• May 16 – Janet Jackson, American singer & actress
• June 30 – Mike Tyson professional boxer
• August 3 – Brent Butt, Canadian actor and comedian
• August 7 – Jimmy Wales, American founder of Wikipedia
• September 9 – Adam Sandler, American comedian and actor
• October 2 – Rodney Anoa'i, American professional wrestler (died 2000)
• October 9 — David Cameron, British Prime Minister
• October 11 – Luke Perry, American actor (died 2019)
• December 21 – Kiefer Sutherland, actor

Deaths

• August 3 – Lenny Bruce
• November 17 – James Jabara, American Air Force pilot

Movies released

• A Man for All Seasons
• Alfie
• Batman
• The Battle of Algiers Golden Lion winner
• The Birds, the Bees and the Italians Palme d'Or winner
• Blowup
• Chappaqua
• Cul-de-Sac Golden Bear winner
• Follow Me, Boys!
• Frankie and Johnny
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Hawaii
• It Happened Here
• A Man and a Woman Palme d'Or winner
• Morgan!
• Our Man Flint
• Paradise, Hawaiian Style
• The Sand Pebbles
• The Singing Nun
• Spinout
• Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (short subject)
• The Wild Angels

Hit Songs

• "The Sound of Silence" – Simon and Garfunkel
• "We Can Work It Out" – The Beatles
• "My Love" – Petula Clark
• "Lightnin' Strikes" – Lou Christie
• "Ballad of the Green Berets" – Sgt. Barry Sadler (the Top Song of 1966, according to Billboard)
• "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" – Nancy Sinatra
• "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration'" – Righteous Brothers
• "Good Lovin'" – The Young Rascals
• "Yellow Submarine" – The Beatles
• "Monday Monday" – The Mamas and Papas
• "When A Man Loves a Woman" – Percy Sledge
• "Paint It Black" – The Rolling Stones
• "Paperback Writer" – The Beatles
• "Kicks" – Paul Revere & the Raiders
• "Gloria" – Shadows of Knight
• "Homeward Bound" – Simon and Garfunkel
• "I Am a Rock" – Simon and Garfunkel
• "Sweet Pea" – Tommy Roe
• "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" – Dusty Springfield
• "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" – James Brown
• "A Groovy Kind of Love" – The Mindbenders
• "Along Comes Mary" – The Association
• "Red Rubber Ball" – The Cyrkle
• "Lil' Red Riding Hood" – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
• "Born Free" – Roger Williams
• "Strangers In the Night" – Frank Sinatra
• "Wild Thing" – The Troggs
• "Summer in the City" – Lovin' Spoonful
• "Reach Out I'll Be There" – The Four Tops
• "Last Train To Clarksville" – The Monkees
• "You Keep Me Hangin' On" – The Supremes
• "Summertime" – Billy Stewart
• "Winchester Cathedral" – New Vaudeville Band
• "Good Vibrations" – The Beach Boys
• "Mellow Yellow" – Donovan
• "I'm a Believer" – The Monkees
• "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" – The Royal Guardsmen
• "That's Life" – Frank Sinatra
• "Sugar Town" – Nancy Sinatra
• "Tell It Like It Is" – Aaron Neville
• "Good Thing" – Paul Revere and the Raiders

New Books

• The Adventurers – Harold Robbins
• The Anti-Death League – Kingsley Amis
• Capable of Honor – Allen Drury
• The Circle Game – Margaret Atwood
• The Dartmoor Worker anthology of William Crossing
• Der Meteor – Friedrich Dürrenmatt
• The Devil's Brigade – Robert H. Adleman
• The Double Image – Helen McInnes
• The Embezzler – Louis Auchincloss
• Expeditions – Margaret Atwood
• Fantastic Voyage – Isaac Asimov
• The Fixer – Bernard Malamud
• In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
• Jean de Florette – Marcel Pagnol
• Last Picture Show – Larry McMurtry
• The Magic Finger – Roald Dahl
• Manon des sources – Marcel Pagnol
• The Master and Margarita – Mihail Bulgakov
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
• Octopussy and The Living Daylights – Ian Fleming
• The Soldier's Art – Anthony Powell
• The Solid Mandala – Patrick White
• Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein – Margaret Atwood
• The Sun King – Nancy Mitford
• Tai-Pan – James Clavell
• Tell No Man – Adela Rogers St. Johns
• A Thousand Days – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
• Valley of the Dolls – Jacqueline Susann
• Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys

Nobel Prizes 1966

• The 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature was won by Shmuel Yosef Agnon and Nelly Sachs.
• The 1966 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was won by Peyton Rous and Charles Brenton Huggins.
• The 1966 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was won by Robert S. Mulliken.
• The 1966 Nobel Prize in Physics was won by Alfred Kastler.
• The Nobel Peace Prize was not awarded in 1966.