1965

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

Events

Watercress darter

• January 21: The Birmingham Area Committee for Development of Economic Opportunity was incorporated.
• March 6: Joseph Ellwanger led a group of white civil rights protestors in a march on the Dallas County Courthouse.
• 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.
• May 7: WVOK-AM brought the Rolling Stones and the Beach Boys to Legion Field as part of its "Shower of Stars" concert series.
• May 17-22: The "Vulcan Spring Exposition" was held at the Alabama State Fairgrounds.
• August 6: President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• September: Residents of Mountain Woods voted to incorporate as a town.
• September: Temporary bracing allowed the Rainbow Viaduct, damaged by a 1965 Morris Avenue fire, to reopen to cars and passenger automobiles.
• 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.
• October 12: The 1965 Birmingham municipal election was held to fill five open seats on the Birmingham City Council.
• November 1: The Sergeant Jack Show debuted on WBMG-42.
• November: Residents of the Town of Mountain Woods voted to be annexed into Vestavia Hills.
• 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 North 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Northeast YMCA opened in Roebuck.

Business

• January 22: CARS, Inc. was incorporated.
• February 15: The Empire Theater celebrated its grand re-opening.
• March 1: Yeilding's opened a new store at Vestavia Mall.
• August 16: The Pizitz Alberta store opened.
• October: Chester the Chicken was invented by W. O. Giles.
• October 17: Television station WBMG 42 began broadcasting.
• October 20: Edna Huffington opened her Carousel Beauty Salon on 3rd Avenue North.
• October 28: Birmingham's second K-Mart opened at Roebuck Plaza.
• December 20: Barber's Cafeteria opened at Eastwood Mall.
• 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 opened in the former Empire Building, which they named the City National Bank Building.
• Leonard Damsky founded the Damsky Paper Co.
• 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.
• Lolo Records was established.
• 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 Smith Jr.
• Parisian opened a third store in Vestavia Hills.
• The WJLD Singers were formed for promotional appearances.
• The Walter Schoel Engineering Company, founded in 1888, was incorporated.
• Trussville Wastewater Treatment Plant was deeded to the Jefferson County Sewer Board.
• Fred Wheelock succeeded his father as president of the George F. Wheelock Co..
• Mike Cohen opened Mike's Fine Jewelry.

Disestablishments

• U.S. Steel shut down its American Bridge plant at 700 39th Street North.

Education

• April: A fire destroyed much of the original, wood-frame section of Hall-Kent Elementary School.
• May 30: Vivian Malone became the first African-American to graduate from the University of Alabama.
• November 9: Howard College was elevated to university status and renamed Samford University.
• New Castle High School opened in Fultondale.
• Herzing Institute was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Jefferson State Community College was established.
• Wenonah State Junior College was founded.
• John B. Norman succeeded A. C. Dickinson as principal of Hayes High School.

Government

• Cooper Green was appointed President of the Jefferson County Commission.
• Charles Sutton was elected to his first term on the Homewood City Council.
• James Martin succeeded Carl Elliot as Representative for the 7th Congressional District of Alabama.
• August 17: 1965 Birmingham bond referendum
• September 30–October 22: The Alabama State Legislature was called to a special session to debate an amendment to the Alabama Constitution which would allow George Wallace to succeed himself as Governor of Alabama. The proposal did not pass.
• October 29: The bill creating the Alabama Academy of Honor passed.

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.
• August: The UAB Educational Foundation was established.

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

Willie Mays

• January 1: The Alabama Crimson Tide lost to Texas in the Orange Bowl.
• June 9: Santiago Rosario tied a Birmingham Barons record of two triples against Chattanooga.
• August 12: Ted Kubiak hit a Birmingham Barons record of six runs in a single game at Montgomery.
• September 3: The NFL's Minnesota Vikings defeated the Dallas Cowboys 57-17 in an exhibition game at Legion Field.
• September 13: Willie Mays hit his 500th Major League home run.
• September 25: Willie Mays hit his 50th home run of the season, becoming the oldest player to reach that total.
• November 9: Outfielder Willie Mays was named the National League's Most Valuable Player.
• November 27: Alabama won the 1965 Iron Bowl against Auburn, 30-3.
• December 18: Auburn lost the Liberty Bowl to Ole Miss, 13-7.
• The Alabama Crimson Tide football team won a national championship under Bear Bryant.
• NASCAR driver Bobby Allison moved to the Grand National circuit.
• 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 Auburn Tigers football team, and 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.

Births

Roderick Royal

Howard Bayless

• January 1: Terri Sewell, U.S. Representative
• February 20: Martha Bozeman, attorney
• March 6: Allan Lowe, Mayor of Columbiana
• March 25: Avery Johnson, basketball coach
• April 1: Marija Lunetti, visionary
• April 22: Charles Nana, business consultant
• May 26: Mitch Gaspard, college baseball coach
• June 3: Mike Shula, football coach
• July 2: Jeannine O'Grody, museum curator
• 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 5: Rod Bramblett, sports announcer
• November 6: Ever Magallanes, baseball player and manager
• November 10: Lanier Isom, journalist and author
• December 14: James Brooks, Baptist minister
• Barry Austin, actor and healthcare administrator
• Howard Bayless, businessman
• Allison Black-Cornelius, non-profit executive
• Ted Breaux, chemist and distiller
• Jay Burnham, Alabama Symphony Orchestra timpanist
• Wes Chapman, ballet master
• Andy Craig, school superintendent
• Anthony Crawford, restaurateur
• Bernard Frei, businessman
• Randy Gachet, sculptor
• Pamela Harman, high school teacher
• Kyle Holman, actor and voice actor
• Roderick Jackson, high school teacher and coach
• Jim Newman, Broadway actor and Village People member
• Guin Robinson, Mayor of Pell City
• Roderick Royal, Birmingham City Councilor
• Isabel Rubio, social activist
• Charles Samuels, director of the U. S. Bureau of Prisons
• Karim Shamsi-Basha, photographer
• Geoff Stone, police officer
• Keith Thomson, writer
• Harry Turner, Jr, postal employee and evangelist
• Roy Williams, former Birmingham News reporter

Graduations

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

• January: Larry Langford from Parker High School
• Bill Billits from Minor High School
• Charles E. Bugg from Rice University with a PhD 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
• Vivian Malone from the University of Alabama with a bachelor of arts in business management
• 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 PhD
• 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

• January 15: William Christian, accountant
• April 28: Courtney Shropshire, physician and founder of Civitan International
• May 26: Homer Norton, college football coach
• May 29: Gordon Persons, former Governors of Alabama
• May 30: R. L. Zeigler, grocer and meat processor
• June 25: Joseph Woodward II, business executive and historian
• July 4: Sigmund Nesselroth, architect
• July 17: James Saxon Childers, journalist and author
• August 20: Matt H. Murphy, attorney
• November 14: Ewart "Dixie" Walker, baseball player
• December: Clarence Going, educator
• Elwyn Hamer, War Eagle caretaker
• Milton Magnus Sr, entrepreneur
• George Wheelock, founder of the George F. Wheelock Co.

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

Works

• Berry High School mural
• "Design for Progress" Birmingham 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

Buildings

The Birmingham Board of Education Building

• 125,000-square-foot expansion of the AMICO plant
• Beaconview Apartments
• 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 for City National Bank
• Ensley Community Center
• Exchange Security Bank of Birmingham's branch at 1013 Vanderbilt Road.
• First Federal building
• The Hillman Nurses' Building was remodeled as the Roy R. Kracke Clinical Services Building.
• New pressbox at Legion Field
• John & Addine Drew residence in East Thomas
• Lloyd Noland Hospital's first major addition
• Long-Lewis Ford, 4200 Bessemer Superhighway
• Mount Lebanon Baptist Church (destroyed by a fire in 2005)
• New Castle High School in Fultondale
• Parisian Vestavia Hills at Vestavia Mall
• Pizitz Alberta
• Pizitz parking deck
• Town and Country
• Townview Apartments (Five Points South)
• Trussville Public Library
• West End Hills Missionary Baptist Church in Powderly
• Wooten Building in Forest Park

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, Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in for his own full term as U.S. President. Canada adopted its present flag. 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 "went 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 struck 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 declared its 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 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; philosopher Albert Schweitzer; animated film producer Fred Quimby; silent film actress Clara Bow; and magician Harry Blackstone, Sr.

1960s

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Births - Deaths - Establishments - Events - Works