Observation — 1964, It Was A Beatlesmania Year

 Half a century ago, the best way to find out what was going on in the world was to read Time or Newsweek.  If you did you would have seen the seeds of the conservative movement in the rise of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, who became the Republican nominee for president in 1964. Though the movement didn’t “take” until Ronald Reagan came along, Goldwater is generally acknowledged as the founder. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Bill.  1964 was also all about the British invasion with the Beatles dominating the Billboard charts throughout the year.  “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You” were numbers one and two.  ‘Hello Dolly” by Louis Armstrong and Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman” managed to make it into the top five.  Mary Poppins and Dr. Strangelove, strangely juxtapositioned, were the top movies. John LeCarre’s The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Candy by Terry Southern and Herzog by Saul Bellow, were fiction best sellers. Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. The Ford Mustang was born.  So were Michelle Obama and Barry Bonds.  Cole Porter and Ian Fleming died. If you were around, what were you doing during this year of the wood dragon?