Inspirational

• The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" debuts
• President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, abolishing racial segregation in the United States
• Plans to build the New York City World Trade Center are announced
• Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston in Miami Beach, Florida, and is crowned heavyweight boxing champion of the world
• U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces that the United States has developed a jet airplane (the A-11), capable of sustained flight at more than 2,000 miles per hour (3,200 km/h) and of altitudes of more than 70,000 feet
• The Ford Mustang is officially unveiled to the public
• New York World's Fair takes place
• Martin Luther King Jr., a leader in the American civil rights movement, becomes the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
• NASA launches the Mariner 4 space probe from Cape Kennedy toward Mars to take television pictures of that planet
• First orbital flight of Saturn 1

Noteable 1964 Television Debuts

• Jonny Quest
• Gilligan's Island
• Bewitched (which featured a '64 T-Bird Convertible as Samantha's car!)
• Christmas special: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Jeopardy!
• The Addams Family
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
• The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, breaking television ratings records

Memorable Television During 1964

• I Dream of Jeannie
• Batman (Adam West)
• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• The Andy Griffith Show
• The Flintstones
• The Twilight Zone
• Star Trek

Noteable 1964 Film Debuts

• Goldfinger
• A Fistful of Dollars
• Fate Is the Hunter
• Good Neighbor Sam
• Viva Las Vegas!
• Roustabout
• Kissin' Cousins
• Mary Poppins
• Robinson Crusoe on Mars
• Bikini Beach
• Mothra vs. Godzilla (Japan)
• Disney's "Incredibles" (designs inspired by)

Random Inspiration

• The Thunderbird Hotel (my Grandfather designed)
• The Apollo program
• The Space Race
• Pan American World Airways captures the romance of air travel
• The 1962 Worlds Fair Seattle
• Cary Grant!
• Palm Springs!
• The Desert Air Hotel
• The Rat Pack
• Mad Men
• 1960 Winter Olympics near Lake Tahoe
• Elvis, of course!