If you celebrate your 60th birthday in 2024, you’re in the company of a host of famous faces – including Michelle Obama, Nicholas Cage, Sandra Bullock, and Keanu Reeves. But what else was going on in 1964?
It was a year filled with moments that would shape the cultural landscape for years to come. Here we look back at some of the events that made 1964 such a memorable year.
STEPS TOWARDS RACIAL EQUALITY?
The year after his infamous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, 1964 saw Martin Luther King awarded the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 35, making him the youngest ever recipient at the time. On 2nd July President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act making it illegal to discriminate against someone based on their race, religion, sex, national origin, or the colour of their skin, enforced the desegregation of schools and addressed inequalities around voting and voter registration. In contrast, it was also the year Nelson Mandela, and seven others were sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa and sent to Robben Island prison.
IAN FLEMING DIES
Fleming’s eleventh novel You Only Live Twice was published in March this year. As well as the Bond novels he was so famous for, Fleming also wrote the children’s novel Chitty Chittty Bang Bang, initially published in three volumes, the first of which was released in October 1964. It was the last book Fleming wrote, and he did not live to see it published. A heavy smoker and drinker in adult life, Fleming had struggled to recover from heart attack a few years earlier, he passed away on 12th August 1964.
SUMMER OLYMPICS IN TOKYO
1964 saw Japan host the Summer Games for the first time, but it was the second time Tokyo had been selected as host city – with the previous 1940 Summer Olympics having been abandoned as a result of World War Two. In the opening ceremony, the Olympic flame was lit by torch bearer Yoshinori Sakai, a student who was born in Hiroshima on the day of the devastating atomic bomb. The 1964 Games were seen as a symbol of hope and rejuvenation for Japan.
ON A SERIOUS NOTE
Now that you’re 60, it’s a good time to think about the future and in particular your plans for retirement. You may know exactly what you want to do and when and how much income you’ll need to do it, or you may feel unable to think that far ahead. Don’t forget that Titan Wealth Planning can help you to plan for the future. If you’d like to discuss how you might want to retire, to review your current arrangements or for help with any other aspect of your financial future click here to let us know and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
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