1966

March 1966 issue of Birmingham magazine

1966 was the 95th year after the founding of the city of Birmingham.

Events

Doug Layton and Tommy Charles at WAQY-AM

• February 28-March 6: The 21st edition of "Holiday on Ice" was staged at Municipal Auditorium.
• Vestavia Hills approved the annexation of the Town of Mountain Woods.
• May 28: Denny Chimes were rededicated after modernization was completed.
• August: WAQY-AM's Tommy Charles and Doug Layton touched off a feverish "Ban the Beatles" campaign after reading that John Lennon's remark that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus".
• November 21: The Brother Bryan statue was relocated to Prayer Point at Vulcan Park.
• November 28: The Downtown Action Committee and Birmingham Chamber of Commerce sponsored their first Birmingham Christmas parade.
• UAB was established as a separate university within the University of Alabama System.
• The Birmingham Museum of Art launched its Artmobile program.
• The Alabama Theatre hosted its final Miss Alabama pageant.
• John Beecher began a one year visiting professorship at Miles College.
• Hugo Black authored the majority opinion in Adderley v. Florida and dissented in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.
• Vestavia Hills merged with the town of Mountain Woods.
• Medal of Honor recipient Matthew Leonard began his final tour of Vietnam.
• John Godbold was appointed a federal judge by President Lyndon Johnson.
• Mel Powers and his aunt and lover Candace Mossler were acquitted of murdering her husband in Key Biscayne, Florida.
• Operation Pride, a federally-funded housing improvement program in three Northside neighborhoods, debuted.
• The Birmingham Police Department hired its first African-American officer, Leroy Stover.
• 8 finalists were selected in the architectural competition for the new Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center.
• The City of Birmingham purchased Rickwood Field from Al Belcher.
• R. D. Thompson bought the Florentine Building.
• Denny Stadium was renamed "Bryant-Denny" in honor of Bear Bryant.
• UAB's Health Sciences Research Building was renamed the Lyons Harrison Research Building.

Business

Southern Living debuted February 1966

• The Birmingham Southern Railroad acquired the Federal Barge Lines Railroad.
• Bob Sykes Bar-B-Q opened a Five Points West location.
• Dale's Cellar opened in the ground floor of the Essex House.
• Neal Hemphill began the Sound of Birmingham recording studio.
• Sneaky Pete's founded by Pete Graphos.
• TV Sales and Service opened in Homewood.
• Windham Construction moved out of their 1912 Windham Building.
• October 29: Buffalo Rock opened their new bottling plant in West Homewood.
• The Kartus Korner clothing store closed.

Media

• February: Southern Living began publication.
• WBRC 6 purchased its first color cameras.
• WJLD-AM relocated from Bessemer Super Highway to 19th Street North.

Sports

• June 21: Satchel Paige pitched in his last game.
• July 12: Bobby Allison got his first pro-racing victory at the Oxford Plains Speedway on the Grand National circuit.
• August 13: The AFL's New York Jets defeated the Houston Oilers 16-10 in an exhibition game at Legion Field.
• September 3: The NFL's Cleveland Browns defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 13-10 in an exhibition game at Legion Field.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide went undefeated, beating Nebraska 39-28 in the Orange Bowl.
• John Lee Armstrong became head coach for the Samford Bulldogs football team.

Individuals

• December 7: Bull Connor suffered a stroke.
• Oscar Adams Jr became the first African American to join the Birmingham Bar Association.
• Thomas Fox succeeded Robert Schuler as CEO of Anderson Electric.
• Hank Hartsfield became an astronaut.
• Bill Hay assumed the pulpit of Edgewood Presbyterian Church.
• Carol Hayes retired as Director of Negro Schools for Birmingham City Schools.
• William Noble joined the firm of Speir, Robertson, & Jackson.
• Fay Quick was elected to her first term as Shelby County Tax Collector.
• Jay Sebring met Sharon Tate on the set of Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killer.
• Fred Shuttlesworth founded the Greater New Light Baptist Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Chef Nick Sarris and his family immigrated to the United States from Tsitalia, Greece.

Births

Craig Witherspoon, born in 1966

• February 12: Pat Byington, environmental lobbyist
• February 18: Dan Bynum, Artist, Painter
• April 9: Tracy Rocker, Auburn Tigers football player and coach
• April 15: Anthony Grant, Alabama Crimson Tide basketball coach
• April 24: Stan Kimbrough, basketball player
• May 4: Bill Godshalk, accountant and victim of the 9/11 terror attacks
• May 25: Tim Boykin, guitarist
• August 3: Eric "Butterbean" Esch, professional fighter
• September 19: Eric Robert Rudolph, terrorist bomber
• September 27: Kevin Kynerd, CEO of Bradford Building Co.
• September 29: John Scalici, percussionist
• October 30: Nolanda Bearden, architect and attorney
• December 18: Nate Johnston, basketball player
• Frederick Alexander, Fairfield Police Department
• Zelia Baugh, Alabama Mental Health Commissioner
• Christopher Confessore, orchestra conductor
• Jeff Key, actor
• Tracey Morant-Adams, economic development official
• Merv and Marvin Torme, grocers
• Scott Vowels, executive director of the South Regions Minority Business Council
• Craig Witherspoon, superintendent of Birmingham City Schools
• Buck Johnson ("Burly Clyde"), vocalist and songwriter

Graduations

• Richard Arrington, Doctor of Zoology, University of Oklahoma
• Paul Bryant Jr, bachelor's degree in finance, University of Alabama
• Miles Copeland, bachelor of arts, Birmingham-Southern College
• Camille Desmarais, Gallaudet College
• Bill Hay, Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia
• Bev Head, LL.B from Yale University School of Law
• Bill Mason, M.D. from the University of Tennessee

Deaths

Virginia Hill, died in 1966

• March 13: Harley Gilmore, Hueytown municipal court judge
• March 24: Virginia Hill, mob boss
• May 19: Little Man Popwell, poker player
• July 5: Mule Suttles, Baseball Hall of Fame
• October 9: Robert Schuler, CEO of Anderson Electric
• December 18: Irita Van Doren, newspaper book editor
• Harry Kartus

See also: List of Birmingham homicides in 1966

Works

• A Smell of Honey, a Swallow of Brine, The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill, and But Charlie, I Never Played Volleyball! films produced by David F. Friedman

Books

• To Live and Die in Dixie & Other Poems, by John Beecher
• The Last Gentleman, novel by Walker Percy
• Jubilee, and The Ballad of the Free, by Margaret Walker
• Psychedelic Prayers & Other Meditations by Timothy Leary

Buildings

Heritage House Motor Inn, constructed in 1966

• Jim Burke Buick, new showroom at 1301 5th Avenue North
• Cullman County Courthouse
• Downtown Club
• Heritage House Motor Inn (now Days Inn Birmingham South)
• Neely Henry Dam
• Going Elementary School
• Baptist Medical Center Montclair (now Trinity Medical Center)
• Baptist Medical Hospital on Princeton Avenue
• Buffalo Rock bottling plant on Oxmoor Road
• Phillips High School renovations
• Eastwood Mall expansion
• End zone grandstands at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa
• Highland Avenue Bridge
• Renovations to the Jefferson County Courthouse Bessemer Division
• George Rust residence on Briarcliff Road in Mountain Brook.
• The Thomas Jefferson Hotel was renovated with new carpets and automatic elevators.

Music

• Visits Planet Earth, Other Planes of There, and The Magic City by Sun Ra and his Solar Arkestra
• Theme from Star Trek sung by Loulie Jean Norman
• "Function at the Junction" by Shorty Long
• "Hey Joe" by the Outer Mongolian Herd
• "Comin' on Back to Me/Why (?)" 45 single by Rites of Spring
• "She Can't Be the One" by the Very-ations
• "Come on and Love Me" by the Vikings
• "Judge and the Jury" by the Judges

Context

In 1966 Indira Gandhi became prime minister of India. Military coups were carried out in the Central African Republic, Upper Volta, Nigeria, Syria, Ghana, Argentina, and Togo. John Lennon speculated that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." Former members of the IRA destroyed the Nelson Pillar in Dublin. Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie (Ras Tafari) visited Jamaica. Surveyor 1 landed safely on the moon. The Freedom of Information Act was signed by President Johnson. A U2 spy plane disappeared over Cuba. England won the FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium. Race riots erupted in Chicago, Illinois and Lansing, Michigan. Mao Tse-Tung launched China's "Cultural Revolution." Turkish earthquakes killed thousands. The Black Panther Party was founded. Ronald Reagan became governor of California. Barbados, Botswana, Guyana, and Lesotho joined the United Nations. Truman Capote threw his famous "Black and White Ball" in New York City. The animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas premiered on CBS. Maulana Karenga celebrated the first Kwanzaa. St Louis' Gateway Arch was completed.

Top grossing films of 1966 included Thunderball, Dr Zhivago, and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. A Man for All Seasons won the Oscar for Best Picture. Katherine Anne Porter won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature for her Collected Stories. Pop music hits included "The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel. "Ballad of the Green Berets" by Sgt Barry Sadler, "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, and "These Boots are Made for Walkin" by Nancy Sinatra. Tom Jones was awarded the Grammy for "Best New Artist". No Peace prize was awarded by the Nobel committee in 1966.

Notable 1966 births include model Cindy Crawford, baseball player Greg Maddux, golfer John Daly, singer Janet Jackson, actress Helena Bonham Carter, basketball player Dikembe Mutombo, actor John Cusack, boxer Mike Tyson, actress Halle Berry, actress Salma Hayek, actor Adam Sandler, football player Troy Aikman, singer Sinéad O'Connor and actor Kiefer Sutherland. Notable eaths included those of artist Alberto Giacometti, actor Buster Keaton, painter Maxfield Parrish, writer Evelyn Waugh, blues artist Mississippi John Hurt, and businessman Walt Disney.

1960s

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