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The Approval of the Contraception Pill
The pill is approved for contraceptive use. It becomes a huge it with women and production is doubled by the end of 1962. -
The Sharpeville Massacre
On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. -
Strong Earthquake hits Chile
On this day in 1960, the first tremor of a series hits Valdivia, Chile. By the time they end, the quakes and their aftereffects kill 5,000 people and leave another 2 million homeless. Registering a magnitude of 7.6, the first earthquake was powerful and killed several people. It turned out to be only a foreshock, however, to one of the most powerful tremors ever recorded. -
First Televized Presidential Debate by Richard Nixon and JFK.
The first of those four debates was held on Sept. 26, 1960 at the Chicago television studios of WBBM, a CBS affiliate. The three remaining debates were held on Oct. 7, 13, and 21, respectively. -
Bay of Pigs
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. -
John F Kennedy gives his Man to Moon speech.
He gives his famous speech - "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." -
James Meredith Admitted Into the Segregated University of Mississippi
James Howard Meredith (born June 25, 1933) is an American civil rights movement figure, a writer, and a political adviser. In 1962, he was the first African American student admitted to the segregated University of Mississippi, an event that was a flashpoint in the American civil rights movement. -
Berlin Wall Built
The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. -
Death of Marilyn Monroe
She was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood home by her psychiatrist Ralph Greenson after he was called by Monroe's housekeeper Eunice Murray on August 5, 1962. -
First Person Killed Trying to Cross the Berlin Wall
East German guards gun down a young man trying to escape across the Berlin Wall into West Berlin and leave him to bleed to death. It was one of the ugliest incidents to take place at one of the ugliest symbols of the Cold War. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban missile crisis was a 13-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side, and the United States on the other, in October 1962. -
First Woman in Space
Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. -
Great Train Robbery in England
It is the name given to a £2.6 million train robbery (the equivalent of £41 million today) committed on Thursday 8th August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England.[1] The bulk of the stolen money was not recovered. Three robbers were never found, two convicted robbers escaped. One convicted was most likely never involved, and died in prison. Though there were no firearms involved, the standard judgment was 30 years. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy was fatally shot while traveling with his wife Jacqueline, Texas Governor John Connally, and Connally's wife Nellie, in a presidential motorcade. A ten-month investigation in 1963-64 by the Warren Commission concluded that Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone and that Jack Ruby also acted alone when he killed Oswald before he could stand trial. -
Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison
On June 12, 1964, Nelson Mandela received a life sentence for committing sabotage against South Africa’s apartheid government, avoiding a possible death sentence. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
A speech broadcast live on national television and radio, President John F. Kennedy unveiled plans to pursue a comprehensive civil rights bill in Congress,. The bill passed the House of Representatives in mid-February 1964, but became mired in the Senate due to a filibuster by southern senators that lasted 75 days. -
U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, per the authority given to him by Congress in the subsequent Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, decided to escalate the Vietnam Conflict by sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam. On March 8, 1965, 3,500 U.S. Marines landed near Da Nang in South Vietnam; they are the first U.S. troops arrive in Vietnam. -
Malcolm X Is Assassinated by Black Muslims
The former Nation of Islam leader Malcolm X was shot and killed by assassins identified as Black Muslims as he was about to address the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. He was 39. -
New York City Great Blackout
The Northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on November 9, 1965, affecting parts of Ontario in Canada and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey in the United States. Over 30 million people and 80,000 square miles were left without electricity for up to 12 hours. -
Mao Zedong Launches the Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution was a social-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976. Set into motion by Mao Zedong, then Chairman of the Communist Party of China. -
Two Multi-Ton Chunks of the Mundrabilla Meteorite Found
In April 1966, two large masses estimated to be 10-12 tons and 4-6 tons, later named Mundrabilla, were found approximately 200 yards (ca. 183 m) apart and described by the finders R. B. Wilson and A. M. Cooney. The 12.4 tonne main mass (recently accurately weighed) of the Mundrabilla meteorite shower is the largest meteorite yet found in Australia. In all, some 22 tonnes of fragments of this ancient meteorite shower have been recovered. -
Nazi Albert Speer Released From Spandau Prison
LS gates of Spandau prison. CU newsreel cameraman. MS crowds gathering outside jail at night. MS showing the gates of prison being opened at midnight - two Mercedes cars come out carrying the two men. -
First Kwanzaa Celebrated
The first day of the first Kwanzaa is celebrated in Los Angeles under the direction of Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach. The seven-day holiday, which has strong African roots, was designed by Dr. Karenga as a celebration of African American family, community, and culture. -
3 Astronauts Die in Capsule Fire
Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee are killed on the launch pad when a flash fire engulfs their command module during testing for the first Apollo/Saturn mission. They are the first U.S. astronauts to die in the line of duty. -
Stalin's Daughter Defects
The daughter of the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin has requested political asylum at the United States Embassy in India. The American Mutual Radio network broke the news but the American State Department has so far refused to comment. Since her father's death in 1953, little has been heard of 42-year-old Svetlana Alliluyeva - who prefers to be known by her mother's maiden name. She has been living in a flat in Moscow near the British Embassy working as a researcher and translator. Mothe -
Six-Day War in the Middle East
Te Six-Day War, also known as June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria. -
Australian Prime Minister Disappears
He might have been eaten by a shark. Or maybe he was assassinated by secret agents from the Soviet Union. Of course, he could have possibly been picked up by a Chinese submarine. Others have said that he might have committed suicide or been picked up by a UFO. Such were the rumors and conspiracy theories that ran rampant after the disappearance of Harold Holt, Australia's 17th Prime Minister, on December 17, 1967. -
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected the First Secretary of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and continued until 21 August when the Soviet Union and all members of the Warsaw Pact, with the notable exception of Romania, invaded the country to halt the reforms. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
. He was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, at the age of 39. King was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:05PM that evening. James Earl Ray, a fugitive from the Missouri State Penitentiary, was arrested in London at Heathrow Airport, extradited to the United States, and charged with the crime. -
Assassination of Robert Kennedy
After winning the California and South Dakota primary elections for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States, Kennedy was shot as he walked through the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel and died in the Good Samaritan Hospital twenty-six hours later. Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian/Jordanian immigrant, was convicted of Kennedy's murder and is serving a life sentence for the crime. -
Man takes first steps on the Moon
The astronaut stepped onto the Moon's surface, in the Sea of Tranquility, at 0256 GMT, nearly 20 minutes after first opening the hatch on the Eagle landing craft. Armstrong had earlier reported the lunar module's safe landing at 2017 GMT with the words: "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed." -
Manson Family Murders
It was cooler up there too, which was especially refreshing on that hot muggy Saturday night, the 9th of August 1969. The beautiful young woman kept herself company with her attractive and sophisticated friends: Abigail Folger, the coffee heiress and her boyfriend Voytek Frykowski, and an internationally known hair stylist Jay Sebring. -
Sesame Street First Airs
The history of Sesame Street has reflected changing attitudes to developmental psychology, early childhood education and cultural diversity. Featuring Jim Henson's Muppets, animation, live shorts, humor and celebrity appearances, it was the first television program of its kind to base its content and production values on laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum "detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes.
