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The musical "Mary Poppins" kicked off the film career of stage star Julie Andrews, who went on to win an Academy Award for her portrayal of the loving-but-firm nanny. The film debuted in August 1964. MONDADORI PORTFOLIO/getty images
The musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown," starring Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell, was among the most popular movies in the summer of 1964. Reynolds was nominated for an Academy Award, but lost to Julie Andrews. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Getty Images
Ava Gardner and Richard Burton starred in an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play "The Night of the Iguana" that debuted in summer 1964. courtesy Warner Bros.
Beatlemania was in full swing in the summer 1964 as the album and film "A Hard Day's Night" swept across the country. Here, the Fab Four frolicked in the surf in Miami Beach, Florida, that year. Daily Express/Archive Photos/Getty Images
Meanwhile, the California-bred band the Beach Boys had a big year of their own in 1964, with the quintessential summer hits "I Get Around" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." They performed "I Get Around" on "The Ed Sullivan Show" later that year. Getty Images
Ernest Hemingway's autobiographical book "A Moveable Feast" was among the top sellers in the summer of 1964. Scribners
Spy stories were big sellers that summer, including John Le Carre's "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold," Helen MacInnes' "The Venetian Affair" and Ian Fleming's James Bond tale "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." Gollancz
"Crisis in Black and White," Charles Silberman's analysis of racial oppression in the United States, stayed on bestseller lists throughout the summer of 1964. Random House Inc
Avant garde fashion designer Rudi Gernreich's beachwear turned heads in the summer of 1964. His "monokini," pictured here in yellow and white wool, was a topless suit for women that garnered a moment of high-fashion attention before becoming the stuff of museum exhibitions. Fashion Institute of Technology/AP
Birkenstock sandals made their debut in Germany in 1964. It would be a couple more years until Margot Fraser began importing them to the United States after trying on the clunky, cork-soled sandals during a visit to a Bavarian spa. Kim Komenich//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Discotheque dresses -- short, sleeveless numbers that allowed women room to move -- began appearing in the summer of 1964. Model Twiggy wore this version at the Blaises Nightclub in London in 1967. Popperfoto/Getty Images
Skateboards had just started to take off in 1963, after onetime California lifeguard Larry Stevenson perfected a wheeled version of the surfboard. During the summer of 1964, the boards spread around the United States. Here, boys skate past cars on the streets of New York in 1965. Bill Eppridge/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Baseball was big around the country as exciting young players, like Tony La Russa, joined lineups. La Russa, pictured here with the Kansas City A's in 1963, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, in 2014. Sporting News/Sporting News via Getty Images
The Kodak Instamatic camera was released in 1963 and became an immediate success, thanks to its simple controls and lightweight design. With millions of Instamatics in circulation within a few years, there's no telling how many summer vacation photos these snappers shot. SSPL/Getty Images
The Schwinn Sting-Ray, a motorcycle-inspired bicycle, debuted in 1963 and first appeared in Schwinn's catalog in 1964. Its banana seat and deep handlebars, shown here in 1966, became a fast favorite among young cyclists. Schwinn via Getty Images
