| 1964-10-17
Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies opens the artificial Lake Burley Griffin in the middle of the capital Canberra.
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| 1964-03-31
The Brazilian military government, under the aegis of general Castello Branco, begins.
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| 1964-01-12
Rebels in Zanzibar begin a revolt known as the Zanzibar Revolution and proclaim a republic.
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| 1964-03-20
The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
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| 1964-07-19
Vietnam War: at a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.
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| 1964-01-11
United States Surgeon General Dr. Luther Leonidas Terry, M.D., publishes a landmark report saying that smoking may be hazardous to health, sparking nation- and worldwide anti-smoking efforts.
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| 1964-10-27
Ronald Reagan delivers a speech on behalf of Republican candidate for president, Barry Goldwater. The speech launched his political career and came to be known as "A Time for Choosing".
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| 1964-01-08
President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
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| 1964-10-29
A collection of irreplaceable gems, including the 565 carat (113 g) Star of India, is stolen by a group of thieves (among them is "Murph the surf") from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
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| 1964-08-28
The Philadelphia race riot begins.
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| 1964-01-01
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is divided into the independent republics of Zambia and Malawi, and the British-controlled Rhodesia.
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| 1964-09-21
The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world's first Mach 3 bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California.
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| 1964-08-06
Prometheus, a bristlecone pine and the world's oldest tree, is cut down.
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| 1964-03-06
Nation of Islam's Elijah Muhammad officially gives boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.
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| 1964-11-28
Vietnam War: National Security Council members agree to recommend that U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of bombing in North Vietnam.
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| 1964-06-21
Three civil rights workers, Andrew Goodman, James Chaney and Mickey Schwerner, are murdered in Neshoba County, Mississippi, United States, by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
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| 1964-08-01
The Belgian Congo is renamed the Republic of the Congo.
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| 1964-11-21
The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opens to traffic (at the time it is the world's longest suspension bridge).
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| 1964-08-07
Vietnam War: the U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving US President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
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| 1964-07-06
Malawi declares its independence from the United Kingdom.
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| 1964-11-03
Washington D.C. residents are able to vote in a presidential election for the first time.
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| 1964-06-05
DSV Alvin is commissioned.
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| 1964-04-17
The Ford Motor Company unveils the Ford Mustang at the New York World's Fair.
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| 1964-06-06
Under a temporary order, the rocket launches at Cuxhaven, Germany, are terminated, though they never resume.
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| 1964-02-17
Gabonese president Leon M'ba is toppled by a coup and his rival, Jean-Hilaire Aubame, is installed in his place.
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| 1964-08-04
American civil rights movement: civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are found dead in Mississippi after disappearing on June 21.
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| 1964-12-01
Malawi, Malta and Zambia join the United Nations.
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| 1964-04-20
BBC Two launches with the power cut because of the fire at Battersea Power Station.
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| 1964-12-03
Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Police arrest over 800 students at the University of California, Berkeley, following their takeover and sit-in at the administration building in protest at the UC Regents' decision to forbid protests on UC property.
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| 1964-04-17
Shea Stadium opens.
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| 1964-04-26
Tanganyika and Zanzibar merge to form Tanzania.
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| 1964-10-12
The Soviet Union launches the Voskhod 1 into Earth orbit as the first spacecraft with a multi-person crew and the first flight without space suits
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| 1964-10-01
Japanese Shinkansen ("bullet trains") begin high-speed rail service from Tokyo to Osaka.
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| 1964-09-04
Scotland's Forth Road Bridge near Edinburgh officially opens.
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| 1964-11-02
King Saud of Saudi Arabia is deposed by a family coup, and replaced by his half-brother King Faisal.
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| 1964-04-07
IBM announces the System/360.
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| 1964-02-10
Melbourne-Voyager collision: The aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne collides with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.
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| 1964-07-31
Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.
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| 1964-02-29
In Sydney, Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser sets a new world record in the 100-meter freestyle swimming competition (58.9 seconds).
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| 1964-04-17
Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air.
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| 1964-08-02
Vietnam War: Gulf of Tonkin Incident – North Vietnamese gunboats allegedly fires on U.S. destroyers, USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy.
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| 1964-02-17
In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States rules that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.
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| 1964-09-18
North Vietnamese Army begins infiltration of South Vietnam.
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| 1964-02-09
The Beatles make their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing before a "record-busting" audience of 73 million viewers.
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| 1964-01-09
Martyrs' Day: Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians.
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| 1964-03-01
Villarrica Volcano begins a strombolian eruption causing lahars that destroy half of the town of Coñaripe.
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| 1964-03-06
Constantine II becomes King of Greece.
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| 1964-06-12
Anti-apartheid activist and ANC leader Nelson Mandela is sentenced to life in prison for sabotage in South Africa.
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| 1964-04-21
A Transit-5bn satellite fails to reach orbit after launch; as it re-enters the atmosphere, 2.1 pounds of radioactive plutonium in its SNAP RTG power source is widely dispersed.
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| 1964-12-11
Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. An unknown terrorist fires a mortar shell at the building during the speech.
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| 1964-05-02
First ascent of Shishapangma the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
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| 1964-01-13
Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, is appointed archbishop of Krakow, Poland.
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| 1964-04-22
The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its first season.
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| 1964-12-01
Vietnam War: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his top-ranking advisers meet to discuss plans to bomb North Vietnam.
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| 1964-12-22
First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
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| 1964-10-01
The Free Speech Movement is launched on the campus of University of California, Berkeley.
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| 1964-09-27
The British TSR-2 aircraft XR219 made its maiden flight from Boscombe Down in Wiltshire.
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| 1964-10-03
First Buffalo Wings are made at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York.
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| 1964-10-29
Tanganyika and Zanzibar unite to form the Republic of Tanzania.
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| 1964-09-29
The Argentine comic strip Mafalda is published for the first time.
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| 1964-12-05
Vietnam War: For his heroism in battle earlier in the year, Captain Roger Donlon is awarded the first Medal of Honor of the war.
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| 1964-05-29
The Arab League meets in East Jerusalem to discuss the Palestinian question, leading to the formation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
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| 1964-03-12
New Hampshire Lottery: New Hampshire becomes the first U.S. state to legally sell lottery tickets in the 20th century.
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| 1964-08-12
South Africa is banned from the Olympic Games due to the country's racist policies.
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| 1964-10-22
Jean-Paul Sartre is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, but turns down the honor.
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| 1964-03-27
The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
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| 1964-07-20
The National Movement of the Revolution is instituted as the sole legal political party in the Republic of Congo.
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| 1964-05-22
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces the goals of his Great Society social reforms to bring an "end to poverty and racial injustice" in America.
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| 1964-11-21
Second Vatican Council: The third session of the Roman Catholic Church's ecumenical council closes.
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| 1964-09-01
The Indian Oil Corporation forms after the merger of the Indian Oil Refineries and the Indian Oil Company.
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| 1964-05-28
The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed.
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| 1964-10-18
The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair closes for its first season after a six-month run.
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| 1964-03-21
In Copenhagen, Denmark, Gigliola Cinquetti wins the ninth Eurovision Song Contest for Italy singing "Non ho l'età" ("I'm not old enough").
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| 1964-08-05
Vietnam War: Operation Pierce Arrow – American aircraft from carriers USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bomb North Vietnam in retaliation for strikes attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin.
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| 1964-09-18
Constantine II of Greece marries Danish princess Anne-Marie.
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| 1964-09-27
The Warren Commission releases its report, concluding that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated President John F. Kennedy.
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| 1964-10-16
Soviet leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksey Kosygin are inaugurated as General Secretary of the CPSU and Premier, respectively.
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| 1964-08-12
Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.
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| 1964-07-02
U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
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| 1964-10-26
Eric Edgar Cooke becomes last person in Western Australia to be executed.
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| 1964-09-12
Canyonlands National Park is designated as a National Park.
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| 1964-03-14
A jury in Dallas, Texas, finds Jack Ruby guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald, assumed assassin of John F. Kennedy.
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| 1964-02-11
Greeks and Turks begin fighting in Limassol, Cyprus.
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| 1964-06-11
World War II veteran Walter Seifert runs amok in an elementary school in Cologne, Germany, killing at least eight children and two teachers and seriously injuring several more with a home-made flamethrower and a lance.
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| 1964-07-20
Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, Cai Be, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).
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| 1964-02-27
The government of Italy asks for help to keep the Leaning Tower of Pisa from toppling over.
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| 1964-11-28
Mariner program: NASA launches the Mariner 4 probe toward Mars.
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| 1964-05-09
Ngo Dinh Can, de facto ruler of central Vietnam under his brother President Ngo Dinh Diem before the family's toppling, is executed.
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| 1964-12-14
American Civil Rights Movement: Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States – The United States Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Congress can use the Constitution's Commerce Clause power to fight discrimination.
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| 1964-04-04
The Beatles occupy the top five positions on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
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| 1964-10-10
The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.
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| 1964-07-27
Vietnam War: 5,000 more American military advisers are sent to South Vietnam bringing the total number of United States forces in Vietnam to 21,000.
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| 1964-09-21
Malta becomes independent from the United Kingdom.
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| 1964-12-12
Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta becomes the first President of the Republic of Kenya.
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| 1964-08-04
Gulf of Tonkin Incident: United States destroyers USS Maddox and USS Turner Joy report coming under attack in the Gulf of Tonkin.
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| 1964-06-19
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate.
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| 1964-01-23
The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution, prohibiting the use of poll taxes in national elections, is ratified.
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| 1964-06-28
Malcolm X forms the Organization of Afro-American Unity.
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| 1964-01-13
Hindu-Muslim rioting breaks out in the Indian city of Calcutta – now Kolkata – resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people.
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| 1964-08-16
Vietnam War: A coup d'état replaces Duong Van Minh with General Nguyen Khanh as President of South Vietnam. A new constitution is established with aid from the U.S. Embassy.
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| 1964-10-24
Northern Rhodesia gains independence from the United Kingdom and becomes the Republic of Zambia (Southern Rhodesia remained a colony)
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| 1964-10-16
The People's Republic of China detonates its first nuclear weapon.
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| 1964-05-07
Pacific Air Lines Flight 773, a Fairchild F-27 airliner, crashes near San Ramon, California, killing all 44 aboard; the FBI later reports that a cockpit recorder tape indicates that the pilot and co-pilot had been shot by a suicidal passenger.
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| 1964-10-28
Vietnam War: U.S. officials deny any involvement in bombing North Vietnam.
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| 1964-02-11
The Republic of China (Taiwan) breaks off diplomatic relations with France.
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| 1964-01-30
Ranger program: Ranger 6 is launched.
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| 1964-05-05
The Council of Europe declares May 5 as Europe Day
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| 1964-11-27
Cold War: Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru appeals to the United States and the Soviet Union to end nuclear testing and to start nuclear disarmament, stating that such an action would "save humanity from the ultimate disaster".
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| 1964-10-22
Canada: A Multi-Party Parliamentary Committee selects the design which becomes the new official Flag of Canada.
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| 1964-10-14
Leonid Brezhnev becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and thereby, along with his allies - such as Alexei Kosygin - the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), ousting the former monolithic leader Nikita Khrushchev, and sending him into retirement as a nonperson in the USSR.
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| 1964-05-02
Vietnam War: An explosion sinks the USS Card while docked at Saigon. Viet Cong forces are suspected of placing a bomb on the ship.
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