1965

1965 was the 94th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

Watercress darter

• March 7: Some 200 Alabama State Troopers clashed with 525 civil rights demonstrators in Selma, Alabama during Bloody Sunday.
• March 21: Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church and A. D. King's residence were targeted by bombs, neither of which exploded.
• August 6: President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• October 3: A new building at the Birmingham Municipal Airport was dedicated housing the FAA's Flight Service Station and General Aviation District Office as well as the Weather Bureau
• November 9: Howard College was elevated to university status and renamed Samford University.
• The Alabama legislature established funding for indigent care, leading to the later establishment of Cooper Green Mercy Hospital.
• The Alabama Pops Orchestra was founded.
• The Bessemer Public Library moved to the former Bessemer Post Office on the corner of 19th Street and 4th Avenue.
• The Birmingham Air and Space Museum was established.
• The Birmingham Festival of Arts put on a Salute to Mexico.
• The first Civic Center Authority of the Cities and County of Jefferson County was assembled.
• Pastor Joseph Ellwanger led 72 CWCA protesters in a march on the Dallas County Courthouse to protest the county's unlawful suppression of voting rights for black citizens.
• The FBI named Bobby Frank Cherry, Robert Chambliss, Tommy Blanton, and Herman Frank Cash as their primary suspects in the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
• Herzing Institute was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Jefferson State Community College was established.
• An attempt was made to bomb Nina Miglionico's home during her re-election campaign for Birmingham City Council.
• The town of Mountain Woods incorporated.
• The National States Rights Party moved its headquarters from Birmingham to Savannah, Georgia.
• John B. Norman succeeded A. C. Dickinson as principal of Hayes High School.
• Folk singer Odetta was presented with a key to the city by Birmingham mayor Albert Boutwell.
• The 1965 Parade of Homes was held.
• Roosevelt City was incorporated.
• The Rucker Agee Collection of Maps of the Southeast was initiated at the Birmingham Public Library by Rucker Agee.
• The annual Sidewalk Art Show was relocated from Woodrow Wilson Park to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.
• Sipsey in Walker County was incorporated.
• The discovery of the watercress darter was published by Mike Howell and R. D. Caldwell.

Business

• August 16: The Pizitz Alberta store opened.
• October: Quick-service chicken chain Chester's was founded by W. O. Giles.
• December 6: Television station WBMG 42 began broadcasting.
• AIA Birmingham was chartered.
• The Birmingham Times was founded by Jesse Lewis.
• The Bryant family began planting grapevines and exploring wine making.
• City National Bank purchased the Empire Building, renaming it the City National Bank Building.
• The original Devinci's Pizza opened in Homewood.
• The FCC approved a new UHF station for Birmingham, but protests from other applicants made them re-open hearings.
• Guthrie's restaurant was founded in Haleyville.
• Architecture and planning firm KPS Group was founded as a sole practitioner's office by Murray Kidd.
• Long-Lewis Ford moved to 4200 Bessemer Superhighway.
• J.B. Mazer became president of Mazer.
• The first National Bank of Commerce was founded.
• New Pilgrim Credit Union was founded by Nelson H. Smith.
• Parisian opened a third store in Vestavia Hills.
• The WJLD Singers were formed for promotional appearances.

Government

• Cooper Green was appointed President of the Jefferson County Commission.
• Charles Sutton was elected to his first term on the Homewood City Council.

Non-profits

• The Bluff Park Art Association was established.
• The Freunde Deutscher Sprache und Kultur (Birmingham German Club) was begun.
• John Nixon was elected president of Alabama's NAACP.

Religion

• May: Henry Gary succeeded Martin Coleman as pastor of Avondale United Methodist Church.
• Marshall Gordon succeeded Arnold Royal as president of Temple Beth-El.
• Joseph Lowery became pastor of St Paul United Methodist Church.
• S. Lawrence Johnson succeeded Albert Henry III as pastor of Pilgrim Congregational Church.
• First Baptist Church of Ensley pastor A. D. King left for Zion Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.

Sports

• January 1: The Alabama Crimson Tide lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl.
• August 12: Ted Kubiak hit a Birmingham Barons record of six runs in a single game at Montgomery.
• June 9: Santiago Rosario tied a Birmingham Barons record of two triples against Chattanooga.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide football team won a national championship under Bear Bryant.
• NASCAR driver Bobby Allison moved to the Grand National circuit.
• The Auburn Tigers football team played in the Liberty Bowl.
• The Birmingham Barons suspended operations at the conclusion of the season.
• Roberta Baumgardner won a doubles title on the American tennis circuit.
• Gabby Hulgan won his first title as a sub-junior in the 1965 World Skeet Shooting Championships.
• Birmingham native baseball player Lee May was called up to the Major League.
• Mal Moore was hired as the Tide's defensive backfield coach.
• Former Birmingham Baron Joe Nuxhall broke Eppa Rixey's Cincinnati Reds team record of 440 games pitched.
• Satchel Paige pitched a single game for the Kansas City Athletics.
• Otis Thornton was drafted into professional baseball in the 68th round.
• Birmingham native baseball pitcher Bob Veale achieved his career high in strikeouts at 276.
• Birmingham native baseball pitcher Al Worthington posted a career high 21 saves, won 10 games, and made an appearance in the World Series.

See also: 1965 Alabama Crimson Tide football team, 1965 Birmingham Barons

Individuals

• May 4: Donald Beatty was granted a patent for his gain-adjusting audio level terminator.
• Bill Bolen moved from radio station WSGN-AM to television station WBMG 42.
• Artist Larry Connatser had his first solo exhibit at Chicago's St Xavier College.
• Joe Dentici began his radio career working with WYDE-AM.
• Joe Farley was recruited to Alabama Power as an executive vice president.
• Roland Frye returned to teaching, this time at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Marshal Hagler photographed his first big-name musical act that came through Tuscaloosa.
• Bernard Kincaid was given an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force.
• Joe Minter joined the U.S. Army.
• Jack Nelson joined the Los Angeles Times as its Atlanta bureau chief.
• Richard Quick began his swim coaching career at Memorial High School in Houston, Texas.
• Ann Reynolds joined the faculty of the University of Illinois College of Medicine.
• Clarke Stallworth left the Birmingham Post-Herald for the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer in Georgia.
• Lurleen Wallace was diagnosed with uterine cancer.
• J. D. Weeks started working with the Jefferson County Department of Health as an environmentalist.
• A then-unknown Tammy Wynette was discovered on the Country Boy Eddie Show.

Roderick Royal

Howard Bayless

Births

• January 1: Terri Sewell, U.S. Representative
• February 20: Martha Bozeman, attorney
• March 6: Allan Lowe, Mayor of Columbiana
• April 1: Marija Lunetti, visionary
• May 26: Mitch Gaspard, college baseball coach
• June 3: Mike Shula, football coach
• August 22: Dave Rossi, radio personality and program director
• August 23: Arthur Price, minister
• August 25: Cornelius Bennett, football player
• September 6: Van Tiffin, football player
• October 28: Gus Malzahn, college football coach
• November 6: Ever Magallanes, baseball player and manager
• Howard Bayless, businessman
• Allison Black-Cornelius, advocate
• Wes Chapman, ballet master
• Andy Craig, school superintendent
• Bernard Frei, businessman
• Randy Gachet, sculptor
• Pamela Harman, high school teacher
• Roderick Jackson, high school teacher and coach
• Roderick Royal, Birmingham City Councilor
• Isabel Rubio, social activist
• Karim Shamsi-Basha, photographer
• Geoff Stone, police officer
• Keith Thomson, writer
• Harry Turner, Jr, postal employee and evangelist

U. W. Clemon speaking to the graduating class at Miles College in 1965.

Graduations

• January: Larry Langford from Parker High School
• Bill Billits from Minor High School
• Charles E. Bugg from Rice University with a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry
• John L. Carroll from Tufts University with a bachelor of arts
• U. W. Clemon from Miles College as valedictorian
• Rob Henrikson from Indian Springs School
• Henry Lovoy from Ensley High School
• Roy Moore from Etowah County High School
• Pat Morrow from Emma Sansom High School
• Richard Quick from Southern Methodist University with a bachelor's degree in physical education
• Bob Riley from the University of Alabama with a degree in business administration
• Dowd Ritter from Shades Valley High School
• Virginia Volker from the University of Alabama School of Medicine with a master's degree in human anatomy
• Charles Wagner from Concordia Seminary with a bachelor's in divinity
• Margaret Walker from Iowa University with a Ph.D.
• Willie James Ware from Hayes High School
• Holli Watts from the University of Alabama with a bachelors degree in recreation administration
• Eric Wieschaus from John Carroll Catholic High School

Marriages

• July 24: Robert Bentley to the former Martha Dianne Jones of Montgomery
• Traffic engineer John Garrett to Betty Goggans

Divorces

• Jay Sebring from his first wife, Cami

Awards

• Football Hall of Fame Foundation Distinguished American Award: Charley Boswell
• Miss Alabama: Linda Folsom
• Miss Samford: Mozella Pettus
• Mr Crestwood: Ernest Ferrara
• The Hartselle municipal airport was named for Asa Rountree, Jr.

James Saxon Childers

Deaths

• May 26: Homer Norton, college football coach
• May 29: Gordon Persons, former Governors of Alabama
• June 25: Joseph Woodward II, business executive and historian
• July: Sigmund Nesselroth, architect
• July 17: James Saxon Childers, journalist and author
• November 14: Ewart Walker, baseball player
• December: Clarence Going, educator
• Elwyn Hamer, War Eagle caretaker
• Milton Magnus, Sr, entrepreneur
• Courtney Shropshire, physician and founder of Civitan International

See also List of Birmingham homicides in 1965 and List of homicides in 1965

Works

• "Design for Progress" master plan

Books

• The Bible: Selections from the King James Version for Study as Literature by Roland Frye
• The Reader's Bible, A Narrative by Roland Frye

The Birmingham Board of Education Building

Buildings

• 125,000-square-foot expansion of the AMICO plant
• Birmingham Board of Education Building
• New wing of upper floor galleries added to the Birmingham Museum of Art's west wing
• Brookwood Bridge was destroyed by fire
• Emmet O'Neal Library
• Empire Building renovations
• Ensley Community Center
• First Federal building
• New pressbox at Legion Field
• Lloyd Noland Hospital's first major addition
• Long-Lewis Ford, 4200 Bessemer Superhighway
• Mount Lebanon Baptist Church (destroyed by a fire in 2005)
• Pizitz Alberta
• Pizitz parking deck
• Town and Country
• Trussville Public Library

Film

• Shenandoah with Philip Alford

Music

• "Kiss Me Goodnight" by Sandy Posey (as Sandy Carmel)
• Art Forms of Dimensions Tomorrow by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
• The Heliocentric Worlds of Sun Ra, Volume One by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
• Shades of a Genius by Mitty Collier
• "That's Enough" by Roscoe Robinson

Context

In 1965, the Vietnam War continued. Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in for his own full term as U.S. President. The state funeral of Sir Winston Churchill featured the largest assembly of statesmen in the world up until that time. A new red and white maple leaf design was inaugurated as the flag of Canada. NASA launched Ranger 8 and Ranger 9, the last in a series of unmanned lunar space probes. The Astrodome opened in Houston, Texas. Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round of their championship rematch with the "Phantom Punch". The Second Kashmir War was fought by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir.

Also in 1965, Mariner 4 flew by Mars, becoming the first spacecraft to return images from the Red Planet. Bob Dylan elicited controversy among folk purists by "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival. The Social Security Act of 1965 was signed into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid. The Watts Riots in Los Angeles resulted in 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, 3,438 arrests and over $40 million in property damage. The Beatles performed the first stadium concert in the history of rock, playing before 55,600 persons at Shea Stadium in New York City. Sandy Koufax pitched a perfect game against the Chicago Cubs. Hurricane Betsy roared ashore near New Orleans, Louisiana with winds of 145 mph, causing 76 deaths and $1.42 billion in damage. Comet Ikeya–Seki became one of the brightest comets seen in the last thousand years. Rhodesia caused on international furor by declaring independence from the United Kingdom. Five Gemini space flights were launched, which included the first American space walk.

The top-grossing films in 1965 included The Sound of Music, Doctor Zhivago, Thunderball, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, A Thousand Clowns, and The Great Race. The Sound of Music won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Wise). Best Actor went to Lee Marvin for Cat Ballou and Best Actress to Julie Christie for Darling.

Television premieres in 1965 included Lost in Space, Green Acres, Tom and Jerry, The Dean Martin Show, Hogan's Heroes, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Days of Our Lives, and A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Top pop music hits in 1965 included "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, "Downtown" by Petula Clark, "Yesterday" and "Help!" by The Beatles, and "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers. The top selling albums were the Mary Poppins soundtrack, Beatles '65 by the Beatles, The Sound Of Music soundtrack, the My Fair Lady soundtrack, and the Fiddler On The Roof original cast album. Other notable albums released included Today! by the Beach Boys, Rubber Soul by the Beatles, Mr. Tambourine Man and Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds, Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan, and My Generation by the Who.

The Grammy for Record of the Year went to "A Taste of Honey" by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. Album of the Year was September of My Years by Frank Sinatra. Song of the Year was "The Shadow of Your Smile" (Love Theme From The Sandpiper) performed by Tony Bennett. The Best New Artist Grammy went to Tom Jones.

Notable births in 1965 included musician Rob Zombie, actor Chris Rock, film director Michael Bay, rapper Dr. Dre, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, actor Robert Downey Jr, actor Martin Lawrence, musician Trent Reznor, actress Brooke Shields, author J. K. Rowling, singer Shania Twain, actor Charlie Sheen, basketball player Scottie Pippen, television presenter Ty Pennington, musician Björk, and actor Ben Stiller. Notable deaths included writer T. S. Eliot; actress Jeanette MacDonald; former U.K. Prime Minister Winston Churchill; singer Nat King Cole; activist Malcolm X (assassinated); actor Stan Laurel; King Farouk I of Egypt; journalist Edward R. Murrow; musician Spike Jones; author Shirley Jackson; baseball player Moonlight Graham; physician, philosopher, and musician Albert Schweitzer; animated film producer Fred Quimby; silent film actress Clara Bow; and magician Harry Blackstone, Sr.

1960s

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