Menzies retires, man reaches the Moon

Sir Robert Menzies

Menzies government is returned at the election on November 30, 1963 with a majority of 22 seats. This is the last of seven elections Menzies won in a row before his retirement in 1966. Sir Robert Menzies is inducted into the Order of the Thistle at St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, the only Australian appointed to the Order, an honour in the gift of the reigning monarch.   

Australian Events

Indigenous Australians gain the right to vote in federal elections in 1962. Holt Government, January 20, 1966: Sir Robert Menzies retires after 16 years as Prime Minister. McEwen Government, December 18, 1967: Prime Minister Harold Holt disappears in the surf at Portsea, Victoria on 17 December. His body is never recovered. 

World Events

November 22, 1963: US President John F Kennedy is killed by an assassin's bullet in Dallas, Texas. First heart transplant is performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in South Africa in 1967. Apollo XI lands on the moon: Armstrong and Aldrin are the first men to walk on the moon's surface, July 20, 1969.