Secretary of State for Scotland and Keeper of the Great Seal – Michael Noble until 16 October; then Willie Ross
Law officers
Lord Advocate – Ian Shearer, Lord Avonside; then Gordon Stott
Solicitor General for Scotland – David Colville Anderson; then Henry Wilson
Judiciary
Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Clyde
Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Grant
Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Gibson
Events
11 January – Nationwide UK teenage girls' magazine Jackie is first published by DC Thomson of Dundee.
29 April – 1964 Aberdeen typhoid outbreak: All schools in Aberdeen are closed following 136 cases of typhoid being reported.
30 April – Breakthrough on 2.5-mile (4.0 km) tunnel 500 metres (1,600 ft) under the Firth of Forth to link the colliery at Valleyfield, Fife, to the modern coal processing facilities at Kinneil colliery near Bo'ness.
14 May – Rutherglen by-election: Labour gains seat from the Conservatives.
20 May – 1964 Aberdeen typhoid outbreak begins.
23 June – University of Strathclyde chartered.
4 September – The Forth Road Bridge opens across the Firth of Forth, connecting Fife and Edinburgh.
22 September – Hunterston A nuclear power station opens.
15 October – United Kingdom general election: Labour defeats Sir Alec Douglas-Home's Conservatives and the Unionist Party in Scotland loses eight seats.
20 November – The first part of the M8 motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh is opened.
HMNB Clyde established by the Royal Navy at Faslane on the Gare Loch.
William Grant & Sons first market their Glenfiddich distillery Speyside single malt whisky in bottles internationally.
Births
2 January – Michael McCann, lawyer and politician
29 January – Roddy Frame, singer-songwriter and guitarist
2 February – Susan Deacon, Labour politician and MSP (1999–2007)
12 February – Stephen Carter, businessman and politician
19 February – Jim McInally, international footballer and manager
7 March – Tommy Sheridan, socialist politician and MSP (1999–2007)
13 April – John Swinney, Scottish National Party leader and government minister
18 April – Niall Ferguson, historian
24 May – Liz McColgan, athlete
31 May – Billy Davies, footballer and manager
27 June – Shona Marshall, sport shooter
1 August – Fiona Hyslop, Scottish National Party MSP (1999– ) and government minister
9 September – John Hughes, footballer and manager
4 October – Yvonne Murray, middle- and long-distance runner
8 October – James Grant, new wave singer-songwriter
13 November – Paul McBride, criminal lawyer (died 2012)
11 December – Justin Currie, singer-songwriter
25 December – Gary McAllister, international footballer, manager and coach
Dorothy Bain, Lord Advocate
Stephen Conroy, painter
Aminatta Forna, novelist
Jim Lambie, installation artist
Gillian Reid, chemist
Alan Warner, novelist
Deaths
31 May – Nikolai Orlov, classical pianist (born 1892 in Russia)
21 July – John White, international footballer (born 1937)
25 September – Robert Wilson, tenor (born 1907)
3 December – Dot Allan, writer (born 1886)
11 December – Charles Donaldson, Conservative politician (born 1903)
31 December – Ronald Fairbairn, psychoanalyst (born 1889)
The arts
15 December – Peter Watkins' docudrama Culloden is broadcast on BBC Television.