1965 was the year that Medicare was established, providing hospital and medical benefits to people over 65 and financed through Social Security. This was also the year the first space probe landed on another planet’s surface, when the Soviet probe Venera 3 strikes Venus.

• The Viet Cong attack U.S. military in South Vietnam. PresidentJohnson orders air raids and sends U.S. troops to fight. The United States halts bombing later and tries to make peace with North Vietnam, but the terms are rejected. Bombing resumes and more U.S. troops are sent to fight. Large anti-war demonstrations break out across the United States.
• Malcolm X, preaching brotherhood between blacks and whites, is shot and killed in New York City.
• Frank Herbert, science-fiction author, publishes the novel Dune.
• Sonny Bono and his wife, Cher, singers, achieve fame with their song “I Got You Babe”.
• The Rolling Stones establish themselves as a major English rock group with their hit record “Satisfaction”.