August 2, 1964 – August 7, 1964
A clash between USS Maddox and North Vietnamese torpedo boats leads Congress to pass the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, enabling US escalation.
President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
A smaller Viet Cong force repels an attack by South Vietnamese troops with US advisers near Mỹ Tho.
Monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself to death in Saigon in protest at the Diệm government's treatment of Buddhists; the photograph shocks the world.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Malaya unites with Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo) and Sarawak to form Malaysia.
Generals led by Dương Văn Minh overthrow President Ngô Đình Diệm, who is killed with his brother Ngô Đình Nhu the next day.