1960's Timeline

By Philip hesjedal

  • "The Pill" is Born 

    Here is the first drug developed for social rather than medicinal purposes. At first, the Pill is only available to married women, but American culture rapidly adopts the new contraceptive choice. By 1965, over five million American women are on the Pill, even though many states still have laws prohibiting prescriptions for unmarried women and minors. The Pill does not cause the sexual revolution, but certainly enables it.

  • USSR Tests Hydrogen Bomb 

    The Soviet Union fires a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb, the biggest explosion in history. 

  • Cuban Missile Crisis 

    Photos by U.S. spy planes reveal the Soviets are positioning camouflaged nuclear missiles in Cuba. Kennedy orders a naval blockade of Cuba to prevent delivery of more missiles. The world holds its breath during a week of tense negotiations to resolve the standoff. The crisis ends when Russia agrees to remove the Cuban missiles, in exchange for the U.S. removing similar missiles from Turkey.

  • U.S. Gets Tough

    New in office, President Johnson pushes for stiffer policies on Vietnam.

  • U.S. Navy Arrives 

    After North Vietnam goes into Laos, U.S. moves 2 carriers offshore. 

  • Smoking "Hazardous To Your Health" 

    The first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health is a landmark document, contradicting decades of tobacco advertising that suggest healthful benefits.  Acting voluntarily, The New Yorker and other leading magazines start to refuse tobacco ads. Within months, Congress has passed the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965, requiring health warnings on packages and banning ads on broadcast media

  • Kennedy Assassinated 

    President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon Johnson is quick sworn in as President. 

  • The "Hippie" Comes Into Being 

    Michael Fallen starts a series of stories for the San Francisco Examiner, introducing the word "hippie" to readers. Fallen's articles are widely read, but "hippie" doesn't appear in mainstream language for two more years. 
    May 25, 1966 

  • U.S. Goes on the Offensive

    U.S. troops in Vietnam get permission to go on the offensive. 

  • First Super Bowl 

    Forty million TV viewers watch the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs. 

  • Martin Luther King Opposes War

    Breaking with the President, Martin Luther King announces his opposition to the war. 

  • One Small Step for Man 

  • Richard Nixon Wins Presidency 

    Nixon receives 43.4% of the popular vote, just seven-tenths of 1% more than Humphrey. Third-party segregationist candidate George Wallace receives about 15 percent of the popular vote. Nixon wins a second term in 1972, and resigns from office in 1974.