1960
February 1, 1960 - Four black college students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro, NorthCarolina stage a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter,protesting their denial of service. This action caused a national campaign, waged by seventy-thousand students, both white and black, over the next eight months, in sit-ins across the nation for Civil Rights.
April 1, 1960 - Tiros I, the first weather satellite, is launched by the United States. Twelve days later, the navigation satellite, Transit 1-b is launched.
April 1, 1960 - The 1960 census includes a United Statespopulation of 179,323,175, an 18.5% increase since 1950. Forthe first time, two states, New York and California have overfifteen million people within their borders. The geographic center of the United States is located six and one half miles northwest of Centralia, Illinois.
May 1, 1960 - In the Soviet Union, a United States U-2reconnaissance plane is shot done by Soviet forces, leading tothe capture of U.S. pilot Gary Powers and the eventualcancellation of the Paris summit conference. On August 19,Powers is sentenced by the Soviet Union to ten years in prisonfor espionage. On February 10, 1962 , he would be exchangedfor a captured Soviet spy in Berlin.
July 4, 1960 - The fifty star flag of the United States is debuted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reflecting the admission of Hawaii into the union in 1959.
November 8, 1960 - The presidential race to succeed two termpresident Dwight D. Eisenhower is won by Senator John F.Kennedy, the Democratic candidate from Massachusetts, overincumbent Vice President Richard M. Nixon. Kennedy was anarrow victor in the popular vote, by slightly more than 120,000votes, but won a more substantial victory in the Electoral College tally, 303 to 219. 62.8% of the voting age population took part in the contest. The 1960 campaign for president had seen the first televised debate on September 26.
1961
January 3, 1961 - Disputes over the nationalization of United States businesses in Cuba cause the U.S. Government to sever diplomatic and consular relations with the Cuban government.
February 15, 1961 - The entire United States figure skating teamis killed in a plane crash near Brussels, Belgium on their journeyto the World Championships. Seventy-three people are killed.
April 17, 1961 - The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba is repulsed byCuban forces in an attempt by Cuban exiles under the directionof the United States government to overthrow the regime of FidelCastro.
May 5, 1961 - The first U.S. manned sub-orbital space flight iscompleted with Commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. inside aMercury capsule launched 116.5 miles above the earth fromCape Canaveral, Florida. Twenty days later, President Kennedy announces his intention to place a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
August 13, 1961 - The construction of the Berlin Wall begins bythe Soviet bloc, segregating the German city, previously held infour sectors by Allied forces, including the United States. Thewall would last for twenty-eight years.
December 28, 1961 - The National Park Service extends itslands into the U.S. Virgin Islands when President John F.Kennedy proclaims the Buck Island Reef as a NationalMonument. The reef includes an underwater nature trail and oneof the best marine gardens in the Caribbean Sea.
1962
February 7, 1962 - The first sign of a looming Vietnam conflict emerges when President Kennedy admits that the militaryadvisors already in Vietnam would engage the enemy if firedupon.
February 20, 1962 - Lt. Colonel John Glenn becomes the firstU.S. astronaut in orbit in the Friendship 7 Mercury capsule. Hewould circle the earth three times before returning to earth,remaining aloft for four hours and fifty-five minutes. This flightequalized the space race with the Soviet Union, whose Vostok Iflight on April 12, 1961 with Yuri Gagarin had become the firstmanned spaceflight into orbit one year earlier.
April 21, 1962 - The Seattle Century 21 Exposition, the firstworld's fair held in the United States since World War II, opensunder the theme of space exploration. Over 9.6 million visitorswould attend the exposition over 184 days in central Seattle,whose monorail still travels inside the city.
October 1, 1962 - Three thousand troops quell riots, allowingJames Meredith to enter the University of Mississippi as the first black student under guard by Federal marshals.
October 14, 1962 - The Cuban Missile Crises begins. Inresponse to the Soviet Union building offensive missiles in Cuba, President John F. Kennedy orders a naval and air blockade of military equipment to the island. An agreement is eventuallyreached with Soviet Premier Khrushchev on the removal of themissiles, ending the potential conflict after thirty-eight days, in what many think was the closest the Cold War came to breakinginto armed conflict.
1963
March 21, 1963 - The last twenty-seven prisoners of Alcatraz, the island prison in San Francisco Bay, are ordered removed by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and the federal penitentiary is closed.
June 11, 1963 - A patent for the first manned space capsule, theMercury, is issued to Maxime A. fa*get, Andre J. Meyer, Jr.,Robert G. Chilton, William S. Blanchard, Jr., Alan B. Kehlet,Jerome B. Hammack, and Caldwell C. Johnson, Jr.
June 17, 1963 - The Supreme Court of the United States ruled inthe case of Abington School District vs. Schempp that lawsrequiring the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or Bible verses inpublic schools is unconstitutional. The vote was 8 to 1.
July 25, 1963 - The United States, Soviet Union, and GreatBritain agree to a limited nuclear test-ban treaty, barring allnuclear testing above ground.
August 28, 1963 - The Civil Rights march on Washington, D.C.for Jobs and Freedom culminates with Dr. Martin Luther King'sfamous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the LincolnMemorial. Over 200,000 people participated in the march forequal rights.
August 29, 1963 - A peaceful settlement to the land disputebetween Mexico and the United States is enacted with thesigning of the Chamizal Treaty, establishing the boundary in theEl Paso Juarez Valley. The dispute, which had been ongoing forninety-nine years, is now commemorated by the ChamizalNational Memorial in El Paso, Texas.
November 22, 1963 - In Dallas, Texas, during a motorcadethrough downtown, President John F. Kennedy is mortallywounded by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Vice PresidentLyndon B. Johnson is sworn into office later that day. Two dayslater, Oswald was himself killed on live national television by Jack Ruby while being transported in police custody.
1964
January 9, 1964 - The Panama Canal incident occurs whenPanamanian mobs engage United States troops, leading to thedeath of twenty-one Panama citizens and four U.S. troops.
January 13, 1964 - Beatlemania hits the shores of the UnitedStates with the release of I Want to Hold Your Hand, whichbecomes the Liverpool group's first North American hit. Oneweek later, their first U.S. album Meet the Beatles is released.
February 25, 1964 - 1960 Olympic champion Cassius Clay(Muhammad Ali) wins the World Heavyweight Championship inBoxing from current champ Sonny Liston.
April 22, 1964 - The New York World's Fair opens in Queens,New York on the site of the 1939 event. One of the largestworld's fairs in United States history, it was not a sanctionedBureau of International Exhibitions event, due to conflict over the dates of the Seattle fair of 1962. This world's fair would last for two seasons, and included exhibits from eighty nations. Over 50 million visitors would attend. Its theme structure, the Unisphere, is still present, now seen each August outside the U.S. Tennis Open.
July 2, 1964 - An omnibus legislation in the U.S. Congress onCivil Rights is passed. It banned discrimination in jobs, voting and accommodations.
August 7, 1964 - The Tonkin Resolution is passed by the UnitedStates Congress, authorizing broad powers to the president totake action in Vietnam after North Vietnamese boats hadattacked two United States destroyers five days earlier.
November 3, 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson wins his firstpresidential election with a victory over Barry M. Goldwater from Arizona. Johnson extended the Democratic victory by formerrunning mate John F. Kennedy with a 486 to 52 thrashing of theRepublican candidate in the Electoral College and over 15 million surplus in the popular vote.
1965
February 7, 1965 - President Lyndon B. Johnson orders thecontinuous bombing of North Vietnam below the 20th parallel.
March 25, 1965 - Martin Luther King speaks at a civil rights rally on the courthouse steps of the Alabama State Capitol, ending the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march for voting rights.
August 6, 1965 - The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Two significant portions of the act; the outlawing of the requirement of potential voters to take a literacy test in order to qualify and the provision of federal registration of voters in areas with less than 50% of all voters registered.
August 11, 1965 - The Watts race riots in Los Angeles begin afive day siege, culminating in the death of thirty-four people andproperty destruction in excess of $200 million.
October 15, 1965 - The first public burning of a draft card occursin protest to the Vietnam War. It is coordinated by the anti-wargroup of students, National Coordinating Committee to End theWar in Vietnam.
Kevlar is developed by Dupont scientist Stephanie LouiseKwolek. She would patent the compound, used extensively inbullet proof vests, in 1966.
1966
June 29, 1966 - United States warplanes begin their bombingraids of Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam. By December ofthis year, the United States had 385,300 troops stationed inSouth Vietnam with sixty thousand additional troops offshore andthirty-three thousand in Thailand.
July 1, 1966 - Medicare, the government medical program forcitizens over the age of 65, begins.
September 9, 1966 - President Lyndon Johnson signedlegislation creating the San Juan Island National Historical Park. The site, in Washington State, includes the location of British and United States army camps in the 1860s when both nations claimed ownership of the island.
October 15, 1966 - The National Historic Preservation Act ismade law. It expanded the National Register of Historic Places to include historic sites of regional, state, and local significance.
November 8, 1966 - The first black United States Senator ineighty-five years, Edward Brooke, is elected to Congress. Brookewas the Republican candidate from Massachusetts and formerAttorney General of that state.
1967
January 15, 1967 - The first Super Bowl is held in Los Angeles between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs with Green Bay winning 35-10. Over fifty one million people watch on television.
January 27, 1967 - The Outer Space Treaty is signed into force by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, to take effect on October 10, 1967.
June 23, 1967 - A three day summit between President LyndonB. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, held atGlassboro State College in New Jersey, culminates in a mutualdeclaration that no crises between them would lead to war.
July 1967 - Black riots plague U.S. cities. In Newark, New Jersey, twenty-six are killed, fifteen hundred injured and one thousand arrested from July 12 to 17. One week later, July 23 to 30, forty are killed, two thousand injured, and five thousand left homeless after rioting in Detroit, known as the 12th Street Riots, decimate a black ghetto. The riots are eventually stopped by over 12,500 Federal troopers and National Guardsmen.
October 2, 1967 - Thurgood Marshall is sworn into office as thefirst black Supreme Court Justice.
1968
January 23, 1968 - The U.S.S. Pueblo incident occurs in the Sea of Japan when North Korea seizes the ship and its crew,accusing it of violating its territorial waters for the purpose of spying. They would release the prisoners on December 22, butNorth Korea still holds possession of the U.S.S. Pueblo to thisday.
February 13, 1968 - Ford's Theatre, the site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 in Washington, D.C., reopens to the public. It had been restored to its original appearance and use as a theatre, now comprising the Ford's Theatre National Historic Site.
March 31, 1968 - President Johnson announces a slowing to thebombing of North Vietnam, and that he would not seek reelectionas president. Peace talks would begin May 10 in Paris; allbombing of North Korea halted October 31.
April 4, 1968 - Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while standing on a motel balcony by James Earl Ray.
June 5, 1968 - Presidential candidate, the Democratic Senatorfrom New York, Robert F. Kennedy, is shot at a campaign victorycelebration in Los Angeles by Sirhan Sirhan, a Jordanian, afterprimary victories, and dies one day later.
November 5, 1968 - Richard M. Nixon recaptures the WhiteHouse from the Democratic party with his victory of Hubert H.Humphrey and 3rd Party candidate George Wallace. Nixoncaptures 301 Electoral College Votes to 191 for Humphrey and46 for Wallace.
1969
January 12, 1969 - The New York Jets win Super Bowl III overthe Baltimore Colts after a bold prediction by quarterback JoeNamath. This is the first victory in the National Football League for a former American Football League team.
January 25, 1969 - Four-party Vietnam war peace talks begin. InApril, U.S. troops in the war reached its zenith at 543,400 andwould begin their withdrawal on July 8.
July 20, 1969 - The Apollo program completes its mission. NeilArmstrong, United States astronaut, becomes the first man to setfoot on the moon four days after launch from Cape Canaveral.His Apollo 11 colleague, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. accompanies him.
July 25, 1969 - President Richard M. Nixon announces his newVietnam policy, declaring the Nixon Doctrine that expected Asianallies to care for their own military defense. This policy, and allVietnam war policies, would be heavily protested throughout theremainder of the year. On November 15, 1969, more than twohundred and fifty thousand anti-Vietnam war demonstratorsmarched on Washington, D.C. to peacefully protest the war.
November 20, 1969 - Alcatraz Island, the former prison in SanFrancisco Bay, is occupied by fourteen American Indians in a long standoff over the issues of Indian causes.
November 21, 1969 - The Internet, called Arpanet during its initial development, is invented by the Advanced Research Projects Agency at the U.S. Department of Defense. The first operational packet switching network in the world was deployed connecting the IMP at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. By December 5, it included the entire four node system, with theUCSB and the University of Utah.
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History Photo Bomb
Crowds of the Civil Rights March in Washington, D.C. surroundthe Washington Monument. August 28, 1963. Courtesy National Archives.
San Cristobal, Cuba. Aerial photo of the Medium RangeBallistic Missile Launch Site, Number Two. Photo: Department ofDefense, November 1, 1962. Courtesy National Archives.
Official Souvenirs
America's Best History
President Richard Nixon. Courtesy National Archives.
ABH Travel Tip
Seniors. Don't forget the America the Beautiful Senior Pass, formerly known as the Golden Age Passport, the over 62 years of age admittance pass to you, your spouse, and family to hundreds of National Park Service sites, including Rocky Mountain National Park above. At only $10, this one time fee, is one of the great bargains in historic travel. Pick one up at the nearest National Park or Monument.
