:: wikimiki.org ::

Max Aitken

Max Aitken

The Right Honourable Sir William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, PC (May 25, 1879–June 9, 1964) was a Canadian–British business tycoon and politician.

Biography

politician He was born in Maple, Ontario, Canada and at an early age his family moved to Newcastle, New Brunswick, the place he would always call home and where, at the age of 13, he published his first newspaper. Although he wrote the entrance examinations for Dalhousie University and registered at the Saint John Law School, he did not attend either institution. His only formal higher education came when he briefly attended the University of New Brunswick. Aitkin worked briefly as an office boy in the law office of Richard Bedford Bennett, in the Town of Chatham, New Brunswick. Bennett later became Prime Minister of Canada and a business associate. As a young man, he made his way to Halifax, Nova Scotia where John F Stairs, part of the city's dominant business family, employed him at his newly formed Royal Securities Corporation. Under the tutelage of Stairs, who would be his mentor and lifelong friend, Aitken engineered a number of large business deals and mega-mergers. On January 29, 1906 in Halifax, he married Gladys Henderson Drury, daughter of Major General Charles Drury. They had three children before her untimely passing in 1927. Beaverbrook remained a widower for many years until 1963 when he married Marcia Anastasia Christoforides (1910-1994), the widow of his friend Sir James Dunn. Children with Gladys Henderson Drury: #Janet Gladys Aitken (1908-1988) #John William Maxwell Aitken (1910-1985) #Peter Rudyard Aitken (1912-1947) Soon, Aitken moved to England, where he bought and later sold control of the Rolls-Royce automobile company and began to build a London newspaper empire. He often worked closely with Andrew Bonar Law, another native of New Brunswick, who became the only Canadian to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. In 1911, he was knighted by King George V. During World War I, the Canadian government put him in charge of creating the Canadian War Records Office in London and Aitken then made certain that news of Canada's contribution to the War was printed in Canadian and British newspapers. Aitken also established the Canadian War Memorials Fund that evolved into a collection of war art by the premier artists and sculptors in Britain and Canada. His visits to the Western Front during World War I resulted in his 1916 book Canada in Flanders, a three-volume collection that chronicled the achievements of Canadian soldiers on the battlefields. After the War, he wrote several books including Politicians and the Press in 1925 and Politicians and the War in 1928. Adding to his chain of newspapers, which included the London Evening Standard he bought the failing Daily Express in 1915 for the paltry sum of ₤17,000. Over time, he turned the dull newspaper into a glittering and witty journal, filled with an array of dramatic photo layouts and in 1918, he founded the "Sunday Express." By 1934, daily circulation reached 1,708,000, generating huge profits for Aitken whose wealth was already such that he never took a salary. Following World War II, the Daily Express became the largest selling newspaper in the world, by far, with a circulation of 3,706,000. He would become known by some historians as the first baron of "Fleet Street" and as one of the most powerful men in Britain whose newspapers could make or break almost anyone. In the 1930s, while personally attempting to dissuade King Edward VIII from continuing his potentially ruinous affair with American divorcee, Wallis Simpson, Lord Beaverbrook's newspapers published every tidbit of the affair, especially the heir apparent's cosiness with Adolf Hitler. During World War II, he joined the British cabinet as minister of information and in 1940, Winston Churchill, the new British Prime Minister, would appoint him as Minister of Aircraft Production and later Minister of Supply. Under Aitken, fighter and bomber production increased so much so that Churchill declared: "His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour". After the war, Lord Beaverbrook served as chancellor of the University of New Brunswick and became the university's, the city of Fredericton's and the Province's greatest benefactor. He would provide additions to the University, scholarship funds, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Beaverbrook Skating Rink, the Lord Beaverbrook Hotel (profits donated to charity), The Playhouse, and numerous other projects. In 1957, a bronze statue of Lord Beaverbrook was erected at the centre of Officers' Square in Fredericton, New Brunswick, paid for by money raised by children throughout the province. A bust of him by Oscar Nemon stands in the park in the town square of Newcastle, New Brunswick not far from where he sold newspapers as a young boy. His ashes are in a plinth of the bust. In his 1956 autobiography, David Low quotes H.G. Wells as saying of Beaverbrook: "If ever Max ever gets to Heaven, he won't last long. He will be chucked out for trying to pull off a merger between Heaven and Hell after having secured a controlling interest in key subsidiary companies in both places, of course." Lord Beaverbrook died in 1964 in Surrey, England. The Beaverbrook Foundation continues his philanthropic interests.

Legacy

Lord Beaverbrook and his wife Lady Beaverbrook have left a considerable legacy to his adopted province of New Brunswick, Canada, and the United Kingdom, among others. His legacy includes the following buildings: Image:Beaverbrook_1st_Statue.gif
- University of New Brunswick
- [http://www.unbf.ca/housing/reslife/Aitken/index.php Aitken House]
- Aitken University Centre
- Lady Beaverbrook Gymnasium
- Lady Beaverbrook Residence
- Beaverbrook House (UNBSJ E-Commerce Centre)
- City of Fredericton, New Brunswick
- Lady Beaverbrook Arena (formerly operated by UNB)
- The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, including world-reknowned art collection (N.B.'s provincial gallery)
- The Fredericton Playhouse
- Lord Beaverbrook Hotel
- City of Campbellton, New Brunswick
- Lord Beaverbrook School
- City of Saint John, New Brunswick
- Lord Beaverbrook Rink
- City of Calgary, Alberta
- Lord Beaverbrook High School

Succession

Bibliography

- Canada in Flanders (1916)
- Politicians and the Press (1925)
- Politicians and the War Vol 1 (1928)
- Politicians and the War Vol 2 (1932)
- Men and Power (1956)
- Friends: Sixty years of Intimate personal relations with Richard Bedford Bennett (1959)
- Courage (1961)
- The decline and fall of Lloyd George (1962)
- The divine propagandist (1962)
- My Early Life (1962)
- Success (1962)
- The Abdication of Edward VIII (1966)

External link

The Right Honourable

The Right Honourable (abbreviated "The Rt Hon." or "The Right Hon.") is an honorific prefix which is traditionally applied to certain classes of people in the United Kingdom, Canada, and other Commonwealth Realms.

Entitlement

People entitled to the prefix in a personal capacity are:
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the Privy Council of Northern Ireland
- This includes all current and former members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom, which is a committee of the Privy Council;
- Barons, viscounts and earls (marquesses are "The Most Honourable" and dukes are "The Most Noble" or "His Grace", and, if Privy Councillors, retain these higher styles); and
- The holders of certain offices of state in some Commonwealth realms (e.g. in Canada, the Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice). In order to differentiate peers who are Privy Counsellors from those who are not, sometimes the suffix PC is added to the title. In addition some people are entitled to the prefix in an official capacity, i.e. the prefix is added to the name of the office, but not the name of the person:
- The Lord Mayors of London, Dublin, Cardiff, Belfast, York and Bristol; and of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart; and
- The Lord Provosts of Edinburgh and Glasgow. All other Lord Mayors and Lord Provosts are "The Right Worshipful".

Corporate entities

The prefix is also added to the name of various corporate entities, e.g.:
- The Right Honourable the Lords Spiritual and Temporal (of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Lords);
- The Right Honourable the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses (now usually the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom &c.) in Parliament Assembled (the House of Commons); and
- The Right Honourable the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (the Board of Admiralty)
- The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations (the Board of Trade) See also the corporate use of "Most Honourable," as in "The Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council" (the Privy Council).

Use of the honorific

The honorific is normally only used on the front of envelopes and other written documents: for example, The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP is otherwise referred to simply as "Mr Blair". In the House of Commons, members refer to each other as "the honourable member for ..." or "the right honourable member for ..." depending upon whether or not they are Privy Counsellors. However the title "the honourable member" is only a parliamentary term and is not used outside the House. When a married woman holds this style, she uses her own given name in her style. So, when Mrs. Denis Thatcher was made a Privy Counsellor, she didn't become The Right Honourable Mrs. Denis Thatcher or The Right Honourable Mrs Thatcher, but became The Right Honourable Margaret Thatcher.

Outside the United Kingdom

Generally within the Commonwealth, ministers and judges are The Honourable unless they are appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, in which case they are The Right Honourable. Such persons generally include Prime Ministers and judges of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand, and several other Commonwealth prime ministers.

Australia

In Australia some Premiers of the Australian colonies in the 19th century were appointed members of the UK Privy Council and were thus entitled to be called The Right Honourable. After Federation in 1901, the Governor-General, the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the Prime Minister and some other senior ministers held the title. There has never been an Australian Privy Council. In 1972 Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam declined appointment to the Privy Council, but the practice was resumed by Malcolm Fraser in 1975. In 1983 Bob Hawke declined the appointment, and the appointment of Australians to the Privy Council was abolished shortly thereafter. The last Governor-General to be entitled to the style was Ninian Stephen. The last politician to be entitled to the style was Ian Sinclair, who retired in 1998. The only living Australians holding the title The Right Honourable for life are:
- Doug Anthony, former Deputy Prime Minister
- Sir Zelman Cowen, former Governor-General
- Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister
- Ian Sinclair, former Leader of the National Party and Speaker of the House of Representatives
- Sir Ninian Stephen, former Governor-General
- Reginald Withers, former Senator, Minister, and Lord Mayor of Perth. The Lord Mayors of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart are styled The Right Honourable, but the style (which has no connection with the Privy Council) attaches to the title of Lord Mayor, and not to their names, and is relinquished upon leaving office.

Canada

In Canada, members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada receive the honorific The Honourable, with only the occupants of the most senior public offices being made The Right Honourable, as they used to be appointed to the British Privy Council. L'Honorable and le Très Honorable are used in French by the federal government, but the Office québécois de la langue française (the Quebec government body setting standards for the French language) considers them improper loan expressions and advises the use of Monsieur and Madame (Mr. and Ms.) instead. Although appointments of Canadians to the British Privy Council have ceased, the following public servants are domestically awarded the style The Right Honourable for life:
- the Governor General of Canada
- the Prime Minister of Canada
- the Chief Justice of Canada. (Governors General also use the style His/Her Excellency during their term of office.) Several prominent Canadians (mostly politicians) have become members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and have thus been entitled to use the title Right Honourable, either because of their services in Britain (e.g. serving as envoys to London) or as members of the Imperial War Cabinet, or due to their prominence in the Canadian Cabinet. These include:
- Sir John A. Macdonald (1879)1
- Sir John Rose (1886)
- Sir John Sparrow David Thompson (1894)1
- Sir Samuel Henry Strong (1897)4
- Sir Wilfrid Laurier (1897)1
- Sir Richard John Cartwright (1902)
- Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau (1904)4
- Sir Charles Tupper (1907)1
- Sir Charles Fitzpatrick (1908)4
- Sir Robert Laird Borden (1912)1
- Sir George Eulas Foster (1916)
- Sir Louis Henry Davies (1919)4
- Lyman Poore Duff (1919)6
- Arthur Lewis Sifton (1920)
- Arthur Meighen (1920)1
- Charles Doherty (1920)
- Sir William Thomas White (1920)
- William Lyon Mackenzie King (1922)1
- William Stevens Fielding (1923)
- Francis Alexander Anglin (1925)4
- Sir William Mulock (1925)
- George Perry Graham (1925)
- R.B. Bennett (1930)1
- Sir George Halsey Perley (1931)
- Ernest Lapointe (1937)
- Vincent Massey (1941)3
- Raoul Dandurand (1941)
- Louis St. Laurent (1946)2
- James Lorimer Ilsley (1946)
- Clarence Decatur Howe (1946)
- Ian Alistair Mackenzie (1947)
- James Garfield Gardiner (1947)
- Thibaudeau Rinfret (1947)4
- John George Diefenbaker (1957)1
- Georges-Philéas Vanier (1963)5
- Lester Bowles Pearson (1963)1 1 - As Prime Minister. 2 - Tupper was appointed when he was no longer Prime Minister and St. Laurent was appointed when he was a cabinet minister under Mackenzie King. 3 - Massey became Governor General over a decade later. He was made "Right Honourable" while serving as Canada's High Commissioner to London. 4 - As Chief Justice of Canada 5 - As Governor General of Canada. 6 - Duff did not become Chief Justice until 1933. Canadian appointments to the British Privy Council were ended by the government of Lester Pearson. Since then, the style may only be granted for life by the Governor General to eminent Canadians who have not held any of the offices that would otherwise entitle them to the style. It has been granted to the following individuals:
- Paul Joseph James Martin (1992)
- Martial Asselin (1992)
- Ellen Fairclough (1992)
- Jean-Luc Pépin (1992)
- Alvin Hamilton (1992)
- Don Mazankowski (1992)
- Jack Pickersgill (1992)
- Robert Stanfield (1992)
- Herb Gray (2002)

Ireland

The Irish Privy Council was abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922; nevertheless the Lord Mayor of Dublin, like his counterparts in the United Kingdom, retains the usage of the honorific; the Lord Mayor of Cork has never been entitled to the title. The remaining members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland are entitled to be styled The Right Honourable.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the Prime Minister is customarily appointed to the British Privy Council and is styled The Right Honourable. However, the current Prime Minister, Helen Clark, has not recommended any new Privy Counsellors. The Governor-General is also usually a Privy Counsellor, but the current Governor-General, Dame Silvia Cartwright, is not. In any case the Governor-General as a plenipotentiary representative is entitled to the style "Excellency". At present there are only two Privy Counsellors in the New Zealand Parliament, both appointed by previous Prime Ministers: Helen Clark (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Leader of the Opposition in 1993) and Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First (appointed by Jim Bolger upon becoming Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer in 1996). Privy Counsellors recently retired include the former Speaker of the House, Jonathan Hunt (appointed by Geoffrey Palmer in recognition of long service in 1989), who retired from Parliament in 2005 to become New Zealand's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley (appointed upon becoming Prime Minister in 1997), who stepped down from Parliament at the 2002 election.

External links

- [http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/titre_e.cfm Current list of Canadian notables possessing some form of honorific] (incl. Rt. Hon.) Category:Titles

Imperial Privy Council

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council is a body of advisors to the British Sovereign. Formerly, the Council was a powerful institution, but is now largely ceremonial. Most of its power is held by one of its committees, the Cabinet. The Council also performs judicial functions, which are for the most part delegated to the Judicial Committee. The Sovereign, when acting on the Council's advice, is known as the King-in-Council or Queen-in-Council. The members of the Council are collectively known as The Lords of Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council (sometimes The Lords and others of...). The chief officer of the body is the Lord President of the Council, who is the fourth highest Great Officer of State, a member of the Cabinet, and normally, the Leader of either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Another important official is the Clerk, whose signature is appended to all orders made in the Council. Both "Privy Counsellor" and "Privy Councillor" may be correctly used to refer to a member of the Council. The former, however, is preferred by the Privy Council Office.

History

During the reigns of the Norman monarchs, the Crown was advised by a royal court, which consisted of magnates, ecclesiastics and high officials. The body originally concerned itself with advising the Sovereign on legislation, administration and justice. Later, different bodies assuming distinct functions evolved from the court. The courts of law took over the business of dispensing justice, while Parliament became the supreme legislature of the kingdom. Nevertheless, the Council retained the power to hear legal disputes, either in the first instance or on appeal. Furthermore, laws made by the Sovereign on the advice of the Council, rather than on the advice of Parliament, were accepted as valid. Powerful Sovereigns often used the body to circumvent the courts and Parliament. For example, a committee of the Council—which later became the Court of the Star Chamber—was during the fifteenth century permitted to inflict any punishment except death, without being bound by any rules regarding evidence or the burden of proof. During Henry VIII's reign, the Sovereign, on the advice of the Council, was allowed to enact laws by mere proclamation. The legislative pre-eminence of Parliament was not restored until after Henry VIII's death. Though the royal Council retained legislative and judicial responsibilities, it became a primarily administrative body. The Council was a large body—it consisted of forty members in 1553—which made it difficult to manage as an advisory body. Therefore, the Sovereign relied on a small committee, which later evolved into the modern Cabinet. James I and Charles I attempted to rule as absolute monarchs, contributing to further deterioration of the power of the Council. After the English Civil War, Charles I was executed, and the monarchy and House of Lords abolished. The remaining house of Parliament, the House of Commons, instituted a Council of State to execute laws and to direct administrative policy. The forty-one members of the Council were elected by the Commons; the body was headed by Oliver Cromwell, the de facto military dictator of the nation. In 1653, however, Cromwell became Lord Protector, and the Council was reduced to between thirteen and twenty-one members, all elected by the Commons. In 1657, the Commons granted Cromwell even greater powers, some of which were reminiscent of those enjoyed by monarchs. The Council became known as the Protector's Privy Council; its members were appointed by the Lord Protector, subject to Parliament's approval. In 1659, shortly before the restoration of the monarchy, the Protector's Council was abolished. Charles II restored the royal Privy Council, but he, like previous Stuart monarchs, chose to rely on a small committee of advisors. Under George I, who did not speak English, even more power passed to the body. Thus, the Privy Council, as a whole, ceased to be a body of important confidential advisors to the Sovereign; the role passed to a committee of the Privy Council, now known as the Cabinet.

Composition

The Sovereign may appoint all Privy Counsellors, but in practice does so on the advice of the Government. The heir-apparent and the Sovereign's consort are invariably appointed to the Council, as are the Church of England's three highest ecclesiastics—the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of London. Several senior judges—Lords of Appeal in Ordinary, judges of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, judges of the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland and judges of the Inner House of the Court of Session (the highest court in Scotland)—are also named to the Privy Council. The bulk of Privy Counsellors, however, are politicians. The Prime Minister, ministers in the cabinet, some senior ministers outside the cabinet, the Leader of the Opposition and leaders of large parties in the House of Commons are all appointed Privy Counsellors. Although the Privy Council is primarily a British institution, officials from some other Commonwealth realms are also appointed to the body. The most notable instance is New Zealand, whose Prime Minister, senior politicians, Chief Justice and Court of Appeal judges are conventionally made Privy Counsellors. The following oath is administered to Privy Counsellors before they take office: :You do swear by Almighty God to be a true and faithful Servant unto The Queen's Majesty as one of Her Majesty's Privy Council. You will not know or understand of any manner of thing to be attempted, done or spoken against Her Majesty's Person, Honour, Crown or Dignity Royal, but you will lett and withstand the same to the uttermost of your power, and either cause it to be revealed to Her Majesty Herself, or to such of Her Privy Council as shall advertise Her Majesty of the same. You will in all things to be moved, treated and debated in Council, faithfully and truly declare your Mind and Opinion, according to your Heart and Conscience; and will keep secret all matters committed and revealed unto you, or that shall be treated of secretly in Council. And if any of the said Treaties or Counsels shall touch any of the Counsellors you will not reveal it unto him but will keep the same until such time as, by the consent of Her Majesty or of the Council, Publication shall be made thereof. You will to your uttermost bear Faith and Allegiance to the Queen's Majesty; and will assist and defend all Jurisdictions, Pre-eminences, and Authorities, granted to Her Majesty and annexed to the Crown by Acts of Parliament, or otherwise, against all Foreign Princes, Persons, Prelates, States, or Potentates. And generally in all things you will do as a faithful and true Servant ought to do to Her Majesty. So help you God. Membership concludes upon the dissolution of the Privy Council, which automatically occurs six months after a demise in the Crown. (Formerly, until a statute to the contrary was passed during the reign of Anne, the death of a monarch brought an end to the Council immediately.) By convention, however, the Sovereign reappoints all members of the Council after its dissolution; hence, membership is, in practice, for life. The Sovereign may however remove an individual from the Council, and individuals may choose to resign to avoid expulsion. The last individual to voluntarily leave the Privy Council was Jonathan Aitken, who left in 1997 following allegations of perjury. He was one of only three Privy counsellors to resign in the 20th century (the others being John Profumo, in 1963, and John Stonehouse, in 1976 ). The last individual to be expelled from the Council against his will was Sir Edgar Speyer, 1st Baronet, who was removed in 1921 for pro-German activities during the First World War.

Meetings

First World War Meetings of the Privy Council are normally held once each month wherever the Sovereign may be residing at the time. The Sovereign attends the meeting, though his or her place may be taken by two or more Counsellors of State. Under the Regency Act 1937, Counsellors of State may be chosen from amongst the Sovereign's spouse and the four individuals (at least twenty-one years of age) next in the line of succession. At meetings of the Privy Council, the Lord President reads out a list of Orders to be made, and the Sovereign merely says "Approved." Only a few ministers of the Crown attend such meetings, which rarely last very long. Full meetings of the Privy Council are only held when the reigning Sovereign announces his or her own marriage, or when a demise in the Crown occurs. In the latter case, the Privy Council—together with the Lords Spiritual, Lords Temporal, the Lord Mayor of London, the Aldermen of the City of London and representatives of Commonwealth nations—makes a proclamation declaring the accession of the new Sovereign.

Functions

The Sovereign exercises executive authority by making Orders-in-Council upon the advice of the Privy Council. Orders-in-Council, which are drafted by the government rather than by the Sovereign, are used to make simple government regulations. Furthermore, they are used to grant the Royal Assent to laws passed by the legislative authorities of British crown dependencies. Government appointments are also made by Orders-in-Council. Distinct from Orders-in-Council are Orders of Council. Whilst the former are made by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council, the latter are made by members of the Privy Council without the participation of the Sovereign. They are issued under the specific authority of Acts of Parliament, and are normally used to regulate public institutions. The Sovereign, furthermore, issues Royal Charters on the advice of the Privy Council. Charters grant special status to incorporated bodies; they are used to grant city status to towns. The Crown-in-Council also performs certain judicial functions. Within the United Kingdom, the Crown-in-Council hears appeals from ecclesiastical courts, the Court of Admiralty of the Cinque Ports, prize courts and the Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, appeals against schemes of the Church Commissioners and appeals under certain Acts of Parliament (eg the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975). The Crown-in-Council also hears appeals from several Commonwealth Realms, British Overseas Territories, Sovereign Base Areas and crown dependencies. The aforementioned cases are theoretically decided by the Crown-in-Council, but are in practice decided by the Judicial Committee, which consists of senior judges who are Privy Counsellors. The Judicial Committee has direct jurisdiction in cases relating to the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.

Rights and privileges of members

Though the Privy Council as a whole is "The Most Honourable", individual Privy Counsellors are entitled to the style "The Right Honourable". Peers who are Privy Counsellors also append the post-nominal letters "PC", but commoners do not. Peers are already entitled to the style "The Right Honourable", if not a higher style, even when they are not Privy Counsellors; thus, the letters "PC" are necessary to indicate membership of the Council. For commoners, on the other hand, "The Right Honourable" is sufficient identification as a Privy Counsellor. Privy Counsellors are entitled to positions in the order of precedence. At the beginning of each new Parliament, members of the House of Commons who are Privy Counsellors may take the oath of allegiance before all other members except the Speaker and the Father of the House (the most senior member of the House). Formerly, whenever a Privy Counsellor rose to make a speech in the House of Commons at the same time as another member, the Speaker would first recognise the Privy Counsellor. This informal custom, however, was abolished in 1998. Privy Counsellors are allowed to sit on the steps to the Sovereign's Throne in the House of Lords Chamber during debates. They share this privilege with peers who are not members of the House of Lords, diocesan bishops of the Church of England, retired bishops who formerly sat in the House of Lords, the Dean of Westminster, the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod. Each Privy Counsellor has the individual right to personal access to the Sovereign. Peers also enjoy the same right individually; members of the House of Commons possess the right collectively. In each case, personal access may only be used to tender advice on public affairs.

Other councils

The Privy Council is one of the four principal councils of the Sovereign. The other three are: the courts of law, the commune concilium (common council, or Parliament) and the magnum concilium (great council, or the assembly of all the peers of the Realm). All are still in existence, but the magnum concilium has not been formally summoned since 1640. Several other "Privy Councils" have advised the Sovereign. England and Scotland once had separate Privy Councils, but the Act of Union 1707, which united the two countries into Great Britain, replaced both with a single body. Ireland, on the other hand, continued to have a separate Privy Council even after the Act of Union 1800. The Irish Privy Council was abolished in 1922, when Southern Ireland separated from the United Kingdom; it was succeeded by the Privy Council for Northern Ireland, which became dormant after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland. Canada has had its own Privy Council—the Queen's Privy Council for Canada—since 1867. (Note that whilst the Canadian Privy Council is specifically "for Canada", the Privy Council discussed above is not "for the United Kingdom".) The equivalent organ of state in the other Commonwealth Realms and some Commonwealth Republics is called the Executive Council.

References

- Blackstone, W. (1765). Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- [http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/ld/ldcomp/compso.htm Davies, M. (2003). Companion to the Standing Orders and guide to the Proceedings of the House of Lords, 19th ed.]
- "Privy Council." (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. London: Cambridge University Press.
- [http://www.privy-council.org.uk Privy Council Office (Home Page). (2004).] Category:Privy councils Category:Departments of the United Kingdom Government

May 25

May 25 is the 145th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (146th in leap years). There are 220 days remaining.

Events

- 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo back from the Moors.
- 1420 - Henry the Navigator is appointed governor of the Order of Christ.
- 1521 - The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.
- 1659 - Richard Cromwell resigns as Lord Protector of England following the restoration of the Long Parliament, beginning a second brief period of the republican government called the Commonwealth.
- 1787 - In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, delegates convene a Constitutional Convention to write a new Constitution for the United States. George Washington presides.
- 1810 - In the May Revolution, armed citizens of Buenos Aires expel the Viceroy during the Semana de Mayo.
- 1865 - In Mobile, Alabama, 300 are killed when an ordnance depot explodes.
- 1895 - Playwright, poet and novelist Oscar Wilde is convicted of "commiting acts of gross indecency with other male persons" and sentenced to serve two years in prison.
- 1895 - The Republic of Taiwan is formed, with Tang Ching-sung as the president.
- 1914 - The United Kingdom's House of Commons passes Home Rule Act for devolution in Ireland.
- 1925 - Scopes Trial: John T. Scopes is indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- 1925 - The National Forensics League of the U.S. is founded.
- 1926 - Sholom Schwartzbard assassinates Symon Petliura, the head of the Paris-based government-in-exile of Ukrainian People's Republic.
- 1935 - In a span of 45 minutes at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Jesse Owens sets or ties four track and field world records.
- 1935 - Babe Ruth hits his 714th and last home run at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, setting a baseball record that will stand for 39 years.
- 1938 - Spanish Civil War: Bombing of Alicante, 313 deads.
- 1940 - World War II: The Battle of Dunkirk begins.
- 1946 - The parliament of Transjordan makes Abdullah I of Jordan their king.
- 1953 - Nuclear testing: At the Nevada Test Site, the United States conducts its first and only nuclear artillery test.
- 1955 - Kanchenjunga, third highest peak in the world is scaled successfully for the first time.
- 1961 - Apollo program: U.S. president John F. Kennedy announces before a special joint session of Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a "man on the moon" before the end of the decade.
- 1963 - In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Organisation of African Unity is established.
- 1966 - Explorer program: Explorer 32 launches.
- 1965 - Muhammad Ali knocks out Sonny Liston in the first minute of the first round of a boxing match.
- 1967 - Celtic_F.C. become the first British team to reach a European_Cup final and also to win it, beating Inter_Milan 2-1 in normal time.
- 1968 - In St. Louis, Missouri, US Vice-President Hubert Humphrey and US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall dedicate the Gateway Arch as part of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.
- 1973 - Mike Oldfield releases Tubular Bells.
- 1977 - Star Wars (later retitled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope) opens a limited run in theaters before expanding to become the highest grossing movie to date.
- 1979 - American Airlines Flight 191: In Chicago, Illinois, a DC-10 crashes during takeoff at O'Hare International Airport killing 271 on board and two people on the ground.
- 1979 - The movie Alien opens in theaters.
- 1981 - In Riyadh, the Gulf Cooperation Council is created between Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- 1982 - HMS Coventry is sunk during the Falklands War.
- 1985 - Bangladesh is hit by a tropical cyclone and storm surge, which kills approximately 10,000 people.
- 1988 - The Berulsemann was born.
- 1988 - Professional Wrestler Josh Wallen is born.
- 1995 - The Bosnian Serb Army kills 72 youngsters in the Bosnian city of Tuzla.
- 1997 - A military coup in Sierra Leone replaces President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah with Major Johnny Paul Koromah.
- 1997 - Strom Thurmond becomes the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Senate, at 41 years and 10 months.
- 1999 - The two officers scapegoated after the 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Kimmel and Lieutenant General Short were exonerated (posthumously) by the US Senate of all charges of dereliction of duty.
- 2001 - 32-year-old Erik Weihenmayer, of Boulder, Colorado, becomes the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 2001 - 64-year-old Sherman Bull, of New Canaan, Connecticut, becomes the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 2002 - China Airlines Flight 611: A Boeing 747-200 breaks apart in mid-air and plunges into the Taiwan Strait killing 225 people.
- 2002 - A train crash in Tenga, Mozambique kills 197 people.
- 2003 - Néstor Kirchner becomes President of Argentina after defeating Carlos Menem. He is the first elected President since the December 2001 economic crisis.
- 2004 - The theatrical version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is released on DVD.
- 2004 - Tampa Bay Lightning win the Stanley Cup.
- 2005 - Liverpool win the UEFA Champions League after beating AC Milan in the final.

Births

- 1048 - Emperor Shenzong of China (d. 1085)
- 1334 - Emperor Suko of Japan (d. 1398)
- 1458 - Mahmud Begada, Sultan of Gujarat (d. 1511)
- 1606 - Charles Garnier, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1649)
- 1661 - Claude Buffier, French philosopher and historian (d. 1737)
- 1713 - John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1792)
- 1725 - Samuel Ward, American politician (d. 1776)
- 1803 - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist and playwright (d. 1873)
- 1803 - Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and philosopher (d. 1882)
- 1820 - Anne Brontë, English writer (d. 1849)
- 1845 - Lip Pike, baseball player (d.1883)
- 1860 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)
- 1865 - John Mott, American YMCA leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1955)
- 1865 - Pieter Zeeman, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1943)
- 1877 - Billy Murray, American singer (d. 1954)
- 1879 - Lord Beaverbrook, English publisher (d. 1964)
- 1880 - Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)
- 1882 - Marie Doro, American actress (d. 1956)
- 1887 - Francesco Forgione, Italian priest (d. 1968)
- 1888 - Miles Malleson, English actor (d. 1969)
- 1889 - Igor Sikorsky, Russian inventor (d. 1972)
- 1912 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (d. 1989)
- 1913 - Richard Dimbleby, British journalist and broadcaster (d. 1965)
- 1918 - Claude Akins, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1921 - Jack Steinberger, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1922 - Enrico Berlinguer, Italian politician (d. 1984)
- 1924 - István Nyers, Hungarian footballer (d. 2005)
- 1925 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (d. 1974)
- 1925 - Jeanne Crain, American actress (d. 2003)
- 1926 - Miles Davis, American jazz trumpeter (d. 1991)
- 1927 - Robert Ludlum, writer (d. 2001)
- 1929 - Beverly Sills, American soprano
- 1931 - Georgi Grechko, cosmonaut
- 1932 - John Gregory Dunne, American writer (d. 2003)
- 1935 - Cookie Gilchrist, American football player
- 1936 - Tom T. Hall, American singer and songwriter
- 1936 - Vladimir ("Wally""Walter") Fekula, American banker, raconteur
- [[1938]] - [[Raymond Carver, American writer (d. 1988)
- 1939 - Dixie Carter, American actress
- 1939 - Ian McKellen, English actor
- 1943 - Jessi Colter, American singer
- 1944 - Frank Oz, English-born puppeteer and director
- 1949 - Jamaica Kincaid, Antiguan-born novelist
- 1953 - Daniel Passarella, Argentine football player
- 1956 - Sugar Minott, Jamaican singer
- 1958 - Paul Weller, British musician
- 1963 - Mike Myers, Canadian actor and comedian
- 1965 - Simon Fowler, English singer (Ocean Colour Scene)
- 1966 - McLoud, Swiss composer, musician, and multimedia artist
- 1967 - Poppy Z. Brite, American author
- 1968 - Kendall Gill, American basketball player
- 1969 - Anne Heche, American actress
- 1970 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor
- 1971 - Sonya Smith, American actress
- 1974 - Monica Keena, American actress
- 1975 - Lauryn Hill, American singer
- 1976 - Miguel Tejada, Dominican Major League Baseball player
- 1976 - Jonny Wilkinson, English rugby player
- 1977 - Pat Burrell, baseball player
- 1978 - Brian Urlacher, American football player
- 1979 - Carlos Bocanegra, American soccer player
- 1984 - Unnur Birna Vilhjálmsdóttir, Miss Iceland, crowned Miss World in 2005.

Deaths

- 709 - Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne
- 735 - Bede, English historian and monk
- 967 - Murakami, Emperor of Japan (b. 926)
- 992 - Mieszko I of Poland
- 1085 - Pope Gregory VII
- 1261 - Pope Alexander IV
- 1452 - John Stafford, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1555 - Gemma Frisius, Dutch mathematician and cartographer (b. 1508)
- 1555 - Henry II of Navarre (b. 1503)
- 1595 - Valens Acidalius, German critic and poet (b. 1567)
- 1632 - Adam Tanner, Austrian mathematician and philosopher (b. 1572)
- 1667 - Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman (b. 1620)
- 1681 - Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Spanish playwright (b. 1600)
- 1693 - Marie-Madeleine Pioche de la Vergne, comtesse de la Fayette, French writer (b. 1634)
- 1741 - Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (b. 1660)
- 1786 - Peter III of Portugal, consort of Queen Maria I of Portugal (b. 1717)
- 1789 - Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist (b. 1751)
- 1797 - John Griffin Whitwell, 4th Baron Howard de Walden, British field marshal (b. 1719)
- 1805 - William Paley, English philosopher (b. 1743)
- 1848 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (b. 1797)
- 1849 - Benjamin d'Urban, British general and colonial administrator (b. 1777)
- 1912 - Austin Lane Crothers, American politician (b. 1860)
- 1930 - Randall Thomas Davidson, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1848)
- 1934 - Gustav Holst, English composer (b. 1874)
- 1935 - Sir Frank Watson Dyson, English Astronomer Royal (b. 1868)
- 1940 - Joe De Grasse, American film director (b. 1873)
- 1951 - Paula von Preradovic, Croatian-born writer (b. 1887)
- 1965 - Sonny Boy Williamson, American singer, songwriter, and musician (b. 1899)
- 1977 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (b. 1904)
- 1986 - Chester Bowles, American politician (b. 1901)
- 1988 - Ernst Ruska, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1994 - Sonny Sharrock, American jazz guitarist (b. 1940)
- 1996 - Brad Nowell, American singer and guitarist (Sublime) (b. 1968)
- 2003 - Jeremy Michael Ward, American musician (The Mars Volta) (drug overdose)
- 2004 - Roger W. Straus, Jr., American publisher (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Sunil Dutt, Indian actor and politician (b. 1929)
- 2005 - Graham Kennedy, Australian television personality (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Ruth Laredo, American pianist (b. 1937)

Holidays and observances

- Commemoration of the Venerable Bede (Anglican)
- Argentina - Day of May Revolution/National Day (1810)
- Chad, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe - African Freedom/Unity Day
- Jordan - National Day/Arab Renaissance Day (1946)
- Libya, Sudan - Sudan National Day/May Revolution Day (1969)
- United States - Memorial Day/Decoration Day, a legal holiday (1868)
- Virginia - Confederate Memorial Day (1868)
- Lebanon, Liberation Day (1999)
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia - Day of Youth
- Ancient Latvia - Urbanas Diena observed
- Towel Day, in memory of Douglas Adams, is observed

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/25 BBC: On This Day] ---- May 24 - May 26 - April 25 - June 25 – listing of all days ko:5월 25일 ms:25 Mei ja:5月25日 simple:May 25 th:25 พฤษภาคม

1879

1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

January-March

- January - The current constitution of The State of California, US was ratified.
- January 2 - Fred Spofforth claims the first Hat-trick in test cricket.
- January 11 - Anglo-Zulu War begins.
- January 22 - Zulu troops massacre British troops at the Battle of Isandlwana. At Rorke's Drift, outnumbered British soldiers drive the attackers away after hours of fighting.
- February 12 - At New York City's Madison Square Garden the first artificial ice rink in North America opens.
- February 14 - At Antofagasta, Chile: Chilean troops disembark in this port, then Bolivian. This is the beginning of the War of the Pacific between Chile and the joint forces of Peru and Bolivia.
- February 15 - Women's rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
- February 22 - In Utica, New York, Frank Woolworth opens the first of many of 5 and 10-cent Woolworth stores.
- March 3 - The United States Geological Survey is created
- March 13 - Marriage of The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria, to Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia.
- March 14 - Albert Einstein: German-born physicist who would go on to revolutionize modern Physics.
- March 29 - Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Kambula: British forces defeat 20,000 Zulus.

May-December

- May 26 - Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.
- May 30 - New York City's Gilmores Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and is opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.
- May 30 - A F4 tornado struck Irving, Kansas, killing 18 people and injuring 60.
- July 4 - Taughannock Giant unearthed on the shore of Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, New York (later proven to be a hoax).
- July 19 - Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots-up Holliday's New Mexico saloon.
- August 21 - Virgin Mary, along with St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared in Knock to local people.
- October 7 - Dual Alliance formed by Germany and Austria-Hungary
- October 21 - Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric light bulb (it lasted 13 1/2 hours before burning out).
- December 28 - The central part of the Tay Rail Bridge in Dundee, Scotland collapses as a train passed over it, killing 75.
- December 30 - The Pirates of Penzance is first performed (Paignton, Devon, England).
- December 31 - Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time (Menlo Park, New Jersey).

Unknown dates

- Hall effect discovered by Dr. Edwin Hall.
- Somerville College founded.
- Stefan-Boltzmann law discovered by Jožef Stefan.
- Football first played in Shepshed.
- Irish Lang League convinces tenants of Charles Boycott and neighboring townsfolk to isolate him by noncooperation - first boycott
- Ferdinand Cheval begins to build his Palais Idéal in France

Births

January-April

- January 1 - E. M. Forster, English writer (d. 1970)
- January 3 - Grace Coolidge, First Lady of the United States (d. 1957)
- January 12 - Ray Harroun, American race car driver (d. 1968)
- January 13 - Melvin Jones, American founder of Lions Clubs International (d. 1961)
- January 28 - Francis Picabia, French painter and poet (d. 1953)
- February 22 - J. N. Brønsted, Danish chemist (d. 1947)
- February 26 - Frank Bridge, English composer (d. 1941)
- March 8 - Otto Hahn, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
- March 14 - Albert Einstein, German-born physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1955)
- March 26 - Othmar Ammann, Swiss-born engineer (d. 1965)
- March 30 - Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (d. 1954)
- April 20 - Paul Poiret, French couturier (d. 1944)
- April 26 - Owen Willans Richardson, British physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1959)
- April 29 - Sir Thomas Beecham, English conductor (d. 1961)

May-December

- May 6 - Bedřich Hrzony´, Czech orientalist and linguist (d. 1952)
- May 17 - Simon Petlyura, Ukrainian independence fighter (d. 1926)
- May 19 - Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor, American-born politician (d. 1964)
- May 19 - Viscount Waldorf Astor, British businessman and politician (d. 1952)
- May 22 - Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-born stage and film actress (d. 1945)
- May 23 - Dezső Lauber, Hungarian sportsman (d. 1966)
- May 25 - Max Aitken, Canadian-born statesman and newspaper baron (d. 1964)
- July 1 - Léon Jouhaux, French labor leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1954)
- July 5 - Wanda Landowska, Polish harpsichordist (d. 1959)
- August 13 - John Ireland, English composer (d. 1962)
- August 31 - Emperor Yoshihito, 123rd Emperor of Japan (d. 1926)
- September 2 - An Jung-geun, assassin of the Japanese politician Ito Hirobumi (d. 1910)
- September 14 - Margaret Sanger, American birth control advocate (d. 1966)
- September 15 - Joseph Lyons, tenth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1939)
- September 20 - Victor Sjöström, Swedish film actor and director (d. 1960)
- October 2 - Wallace Stevens, American poet (d. 1955)
- October 3 - Warner Oland, Swedish-born actor (d. 1938)
- October 5 - Francis Peyton Rous, American pathologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1970)
- October 9 - Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1960)
- October 21 - Joseph Canteloube, French composer and singer (d. 1957)
- October 29 - Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary (d. 1940)
- November 10 - Patrick Pearse Irish patriot (d. 1916)
- November 26 - Charles W. Goddard, playwright and screenwriter (d. 1951)
- December 3 - Nagai Kafu, Japanese writer (d. 1959)
- December 10 - Jouett Shouse, American politician.
- December 18 - Paul Klee, Swiss artist (d. 1940)
- December 28 - Billy Mitchell, U.S. general and military aviation pioneer (d. 1936)

Deaths

- February 11 - Honoré Daumier, French caricaturist and painter (b. 1808)
- February 25 - Charles Peace, British criminal (executed) (b. 1832)
- March 1 - Joachim Heer, Swiss politician (b. 1825)
- March 30 - Thomas Couture, French painter and teacher (b. 1815)
- April 30 - Sarah Josepha Hale, American author (b. 1788)
- June 1 - Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, son of French Emperor Napoleon III (b. 1856)
- August 30 - John Bell Hood, America Confederate general (b. 1831)
- November 5 - James Clark Maxwell, Scottish physicist (b. 1831) Category:1879 ko:1879년 ms:1879 simple:1879 th:พ.ศ. 2422

1964

:For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar).

Events

January

- January 1 - Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
- January 3 - Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President.
- January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the 15th century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I meet in Jerusalem.
- January 7 - A British firm, the Leyland Motor Corp., announces the sale of 450 buses to the Cuban government, challenging the United States blockade of Cuba.
- January 8 - In his first State-of-the-Union address, President Lyndon Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
- January 9 - Armed clashes between United States troops and Panamanian mobs in the Canal Zone precipitate a major international crisis and result in the deaths of 21 Panamanians and 4 U.S. soldiers.
- January 11 - United States Surgeon General Luther Leonidas Terry reports that smoking may be hazardous to one's health. First such statement from the U.S. government.
- January 12 - The predominantly Arab government of Zanzibar is overthrown by African nationalist rebels. A U.S. destroyer evacuates 61 U.S. citizens.
- January 12 - Terry C. Soto, Founder of PPI Enterprises of Houston, Texas, is born.
- January 13 - I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles released in the United States. It will become their first North American hit and the beginning of Beatlemania.
- January 16 - Hello Dolly! opens in New York City's St. James Theatre.
- January 16 - John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, resigns from the space program and announces the next day that he will seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Ohio.
- January 18 - Esther Armstrong Scottish Landscape Artist born in Dingwall,Scotland. Plans to build the World Trade Center announced.
- January 20 - Meet the Beatles, the first Beatles album in the United States, is released.
- January 22 - Kenneth Kaunda inaugurated as the first President of Northern Rhodesia.
- January 23 - Thirteen years after its proposal and nearly two years after the measure had been passed by the United States Senate 77-16, the 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
- January 23 - Arthur Miller's After the Fall opens on Broadway. A semi-autobiographical work, it will arouse controversy over his portrayal of late ex-wife Marilyn Monroe.
- January 27 - France and the People's Republic of China announce their decision to establish diplomatic relations.
- January 27 - Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-Me.), 66, announces her candidacy for the Republican nomination for President.
- January 28 - A U.S. Air Force jet training plane that strays into East Germany is shot down by Soviet fighters near Erfurt. All three crew men are killed.
- January 29 - 1964 Winter Olympics open in Innsbruckand concludes on February 9. The Soviet Union launches two scientific satellites, Elektron I and II, from a single rocket.
- January 30 - The junta ruling South Vietnam since the overthrow of President Ngo Dinh Diem is itself toppled from power in a bloodless coup led by Maj. Gen. Nguyen Khanh.
- January 30 - Ranger 6 is launched by NASA. Its mission is to carry television cameras and to crash-land on the moon.

February

- February 3 - In protests against alleged de-facto school racial segregation, black and Puerto Rican groups in New York City boycott public school.
- February 6 - Cuba cuts off the normal water supply to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay in reprisal for U.S. seizure 4 days earlier of 4 Cuban fishing boats off the coast of Florida.
- February 7 - A jury trying Bryon De La Beckwith for the murder of Medgar Evers in June 1963 reports in Jackson, Mississippi that it was unable to agree on a verdict, resulting in a mistrial; The Beatles land in New York City.
- February 9 - The Beatles make their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The 1964 Winter Olympics concludes.
- February 11 - Greeks & Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
- February 11 - The Republic of China (Taiwan) drops diplomatic relations with France because of French recognition of the People's Republic of China.
- February 17 - In Wesberry v. Sanders 376 US 1 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
- February 26 - John Glenn slips on a bathroom rug in his Columbus, Ohio apartment and hits his head on the bathtub, injuring his left inner ear, and prompting him (later that week) to withdraw from the race for the Senate nomination.
- February 27 - The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
- February 29 - President Johnson announces that the United States had developed a jet airplane (the A-11), capable of sustained flight at more than 2,000 MPH and of altitudes of more than 70,000 feet.

March

- March 4 - Jimmy Hoffa, President of the Teamsters, is convicted by a Federal jury of tampering with a Federal jury in 1962.
- March 4 – Malta gains independence.
- March 6 - Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
- March 8 - Malcolm X, suspended from the Nation of Islam, says in New York City that he is forming a black nationalist party.
- March 9 - In New York Times Co. v Sullivan 376 US 254 1964, the Supreme Court of the United States rules that under the First Amendment, speech criticizing political figures cannot be censored.
- March 9 - The first Ford Mustang rolls off the assembly line at