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.

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 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.