Monday, October 1, 2012

1964 Birth of a Novelist

Jane Ann McLachlan had this great idea for a blog challenge for the month of October to do one day for each of the first 25 years of your life.  So here we go, this will be a tough challenge for me, I am normally lucky to do 25 blog entries in 6 months.  October is my birth month, so it seems fitting.  So here we go!



1964

In 1964 the Dow closed the year at 874
Inflation was at 1.28%
Average cost of a new house: $13,050
Average income: $6000
Gasoline: $0.30 a gallon
Movie ticket: $1.25

Some cool things were born that year along with me, like the Ford Mustang.  I’ve always loved the Mustang.  I almost bought one this year.  I was on a Ford lot just this week and they just got a new Shelby GT convertible in Gotta Have it Green, and I about died.   It’s out of my price range but one can dream.  Ford is actually running a cool program where you customize a mustang and possibly win it. Mustang Customizer

The programming language BASIC was introduced for first time.  I actually learned this but it wasn’t until many years later, in the 70s.  I had a love of computing from a very early age.

The first VCR was introduced, even though most people had no idea what this was.  It probably cost as much as a car.

The Rolling Stones published their debut album and the Beatles came to America.   Some people think 1964 was one of the best years for music in the century.

Lyndon Johnson was elected President and Martin Luther King won the Nobel Prize this year.  Cassius Clay beat Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Boxing title.  Clay later changed his name to Muhammad Ali for those of you that didn’t know he wasn’t born with that name.  There were race riots in Harlem and Nelson Mandela went to prison that year.

Vietnam was just starting to heat up, and later that year the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allowed Johnson to commit troops without Congressional approval.

The UK abolished the Death Penalty, and committed to build a tunnel with the French to go under the English Channel.  The Mods and Rockers fights broke out over the Whitsun Weekend in May, chronicled by The Who in their movie Quadraphenia.

Personally I don’t remember anything from this year. =P  I hadn't even had an inkling that I might write someday.

Clear Ether!

8 comments:

  1. 1964 is the year I graduated from high school. I remember all of that.

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    1. It was teh brink of a lot of change, and you got to see all of it. Very cool! Thanks for coming by Richard and for leaving a comment!

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  2. I was 14 in 1964 and I remember too! :)

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    1. I am used to being one of the older people in my peer group, but not today. =) Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting Susan!

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  3. 1964 has always sounded great to me! I'm a huge fan of The Beatles and most things 60s, thanks to my Mum! However, I was born in 1977, so things were a bit more punk! Great post!

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    1. I can only go by what I read, since I don't remember anything from '64. =)

      77 was a great year also, I saw Star Wars at the theater after waiting in a line that went around the building. Thanks for leaving a comment Neil!

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  4. I was 2 in 1964, so I don't remember any of this. But I did learn, somewhere along the way, that the Ford Mustang was a cool car.

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    1. Someday I'll have one. I keep telling myself that anyway. =) Thanks for coming over and posting a comment, Joy!

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