1966

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• In India on 11 January, Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, becomes prime minister.

• On 24 February in Ghana, a military coup ends the rule of Nkrumah.

• On 11 March, following anti-Communist demonstrations, President Sukarno of Indonesia transfers all power to General Raden Suharto.

• In China, Mao Zedong publishes his Little Red Book, and begins the Cultural Revolution, which aims to challenge the authority of party bureaucrats and restore his own power.

• On 6 September, South African prime minister Dr Hendrik Verwoerd, one of the promoters of the racist policy of apartheid, is assassinated.

• On 1 October, Chinese defence minister Lin Biao accuses the Soviet Union of conspiring with the United States over Vietnam. Six days later, the Soviet Union expels all Chinese students, and relations between the two countries continues to decline.

• On 3 February, the Soviet Luna 9 makes the first unmanned landing on the moon, soon followed by the United States's Surveyor 1 (2 June).

• The America pop group The Beach Boys release their influential LP Pet Sounds.

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