The 1964 Winter Olympics closed at Innsbruck in Austria. In the final event, held before the closing ceremony, Toralf Engan of Norway won the gold medal in final event, the 90 meter ski jump.
Tap play to hear the #1 song from that week
"I Want to Hold Your Hand" · The Beatles
1964
Sunday, February 9, 1964
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA
Trolley buses on Tasker Street, Philadelphia, 1968The day you were born
Sunday, February 9
Top story that day
The day you were born
The Beatles made their first live American TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, watched by an estimated 73 million viewers.
Read moreThe news
Also in the news that week
Our day-by-day record for February 9 is thin. These stories ran that day and in the days around it.
The Times archive (TimesMachine) needs a New York Times subscription. Stories from English Wikipedia's current-events pages and year articles (CC BY-SA 4.0), shortened to a sentence or two. Stories with a “Read more” link were found through Wikidata's dated events and summarized from that Wikipedia article.
The day
That morning
The weather
37° high · low 27°
Overcast. It was a cold day in Philadelphia.
Reconstructed from the ERA5 climate record for the Philadelphia area. A model of past weather, not a station reading. Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)
The moon that night
Waning crescent
About 26 days into its cycle.
Calculated from the moon's 29.5-day cycle, accurate to about a day. Image: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.
Your signs
Star sign
Aquarius
A air sign, traditionally said to be independent, original and kind.
Chinese zodiac
Water Rabbit
Traditionally said to be gentle and elegant. Born before Lunar New Year (Feb. 13, 1964), so still the Year of the Rabbit that began Jan. 25, 1963.
Sun signs by the usual date ranges. Chinese year from the date of Lunar New Year.
The #1 song that week
“I Want to Hold Your Hand”
The Beatles. Plays right here.
Billboard, week of February 8, 1964 (Hot 100). Chart history via Wikipedia.
In the White House
The president the day you were born.
Inauguration dates · Official portrait via Wikimedia Commons
The year
What things cost in 1964
Then, in big red. Now, in gray underneath.
Guess the price
What did a gallon of gas cost in 1964?
One dollar in 1964$10.39is what it takes to buy the same today
Loaf of white bread (1 lb)21¢Now $1.83
Dozen eggs54¢Now $2.27
Milk at the store48¢a half gallonNow $4.11 a gallon
Pound of ground beef50¢Now $6.79
Pound of coffee82¢Now $9.33
Pound of sugar13¢Now $1.02
Pound of bananas17¢Now 66¢
At home
The way you lived
The car everyone was buying
Chevrolet's full-size car line was America's best-selling car in 1964.
Sales: source · Chevrolet Impala on Wikipedia · Photo via Wikimedia Commons
In the house when you were born
Museum and collection pieces via Wikimedia Commons, credited below. Names link to Wikipedia.
The house in the 1960s
There's more
See the rest of your year, free
- Inventions and grand openings of 1964
- The crazes, dances and slang of the 1960s
- Toys, candy and what was for dinner
- What people wore
- The movies, the stars, the albums and the books
- What everyone watched on TV, and the champions of 1964
- The big stories of 1964
- Your first years, one by one
- Questions to ask Mom about the day
Photo credits (75)
- NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (public domain)
- Photo: Bmuscotty88, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Dick Swanson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, California, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Wikited at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Dough4872, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Han Zheng, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: David Wilson from Oak Park, Illinois, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Arnold Newman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: OWS Photography, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
