Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century
Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
Years: 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 - 1960 - 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
Events:
- January 1 - Independence of Cameroon
- January 11 - Chad declares its independence.
- January 23 - Jacques Piccard[?] and Don Walsh[?] in the bathyscaphe[?] USS Trieste break a depth record when they descend to the bottom of Challenger Deep 35,820 feet (10,750 meters) below sea level in the Pacific Ocean.
- January 25 - The National Association of Broadcasters[?] reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disk jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records
- February 9 - Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- February 13 - Nuclear testing: France tests its first atomic bomb.
- February 21 - Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.
- March 6 - Vietnam War: The United States announces that 3,500 American troops are going to be sent to Vietnam.
- March 21 - Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville[?], South Africa: Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
- March 22 - A.L. Schawlow[?] & C.H. Townes[?] receive the first patent for a laser.
- April 1 - The United States launches the first weather satellite[?], TIROS-1.
- April 27 - Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
- May 9 - Reproductive rights[?]: The Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill.
- May 10 - The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus completes the first under water circumnavigation of the earth.
- May 11 - In Buenos Aires four Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann who was using the assumed name "Ricardo Klement."
- May 15 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
- May 16 - Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- May 23 - Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
- May 27 - In Turkey, General Cemal Gürsel[?] leads a military coup d'etat removing President Celal Bayar[?] and the rest of the democratic government.
- June 20 - Independence of Mali and Senegal
- November - John F. Kennedy defeats Richard M. Nixon in the U.S. presidential election
- July 1 - A Soviet MiG fighter north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea shot down a six-man RB-47[?] crew. Two young United States Air Force officers survived and were imprisoned in Moscow's dreaded Lubyanka[?] prison. (see RB-47H shot down[?])
- July 4 - With the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state earlier in the year, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- December 1 - Patrice Lumumba, the deposed premier of the Republic if the Congo[?] was arrested by troops of Col. Joseph Mobutu
- December 1 - A 5-ton Soviet space ship containing animals, insects and plants was launched into orbit. The spacecraft burned up upon re-entry.
- December 2 - The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Geoffrey Francis Fisher, talked with Pope John XXIII for about an hour in the Vatican. It was the first time in more than 500 years that a head of the Anglican church[?] had visited the Pope.
- December 2 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees in Florida. Cuban refugees were arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
- December 4 - Admission to the United Nations of Mauritania was vetoed by the USSR.
- December 5 - Pierre Lagaillarde[?], who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, failed to appear in a Paris court. He was reported to have fled with 4 fellow defendants to Spain en route to Algeria.
- December 7 - The United Nations Security Council was called into session by the USSR to consider the Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
- December 9 - French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria was marked by bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria's largest cities, killing 127 people.
- December 12 - A Federal Court ruling that Louisiana's anti-integration laws were unconstitutional[?] was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- December 13 - While the Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was on a visit to Brazil, a revolt against his rule was carried out by his Imperial Guard. The rebels proclaimed the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfa-Wossen.
- December 14 - Antione Gizenga[?] proclaimed in Stanleyville[?] in the Republic of the Congo that he had assumed the premiership.
- December 15 - King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Deva of Nepal deposed the government and took power into his own hands.
- December 16 - U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter announced that the United States would commit five atomic submarines and 80 Polaris missiles[?] to NATO by the end of 1963.
- December 16 - A collision of a United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super-Constellation[?] over New York City killed 128 on planes and 6 on the ground.
- December 17 - Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia suppressed the revolt that started on December 13 and gave power back to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolved his son of any guilt.
- December 19 - Fire swept through the USS Constellation, the U.S.'s largest aircraft carrier, while it was under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, injuring 150 and killing 50.
- December 20 - Discoverer XIX[?] was launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Caifornia[?]. It was designed to measure radiation.
- December 27 - France set off its third nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggan[?], Algeria.
- December 31 - The farthing coin[?], used in Great Britain since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender[?].
Art, Culture & Fashion
- 1960 in film
- 1960 in literature
- 1960 in music
- 1960 in sports
- 1960 in television
- February 11 - Jack Paar[?] walks off his TV show because his monologue had been edited the night before, in favor of a three minute news update. Parr walked out at the beginning of the show, announced that he was quiting, said "There's got to be a better way to make a living," and walked off the stage. After network executives personally apologized, Parr returned to the show a month later. His first show back started with the words "As I was saying before I was interrupted..."
- American Presidential Candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon debate live on television. The candidates behavior during the debate most likely altered the outcome of the election. In addition to being the first Presidential debates to be broadcast on television, the debates also marked the first time "split screen" images were used by a network.
- The Andy Griffith Show premieres
- Hanna Barbara[?]'s The Flintstones make their debut
- 90% of homes in the United States now own a television set, and over one hundred million television sets in use worldwide
Births:
- January 3 - Joan Chen[?], actress
- January 4 - Michael Stipe, singer for R.E.M.
- January 6 - Nigella Lawson, celebrity chef, writer
- January 6 - Howie Long[?], American football star
- January 11 - Stanley Tucci[?], actor
- January 12 - Oliver Platt[?], actor
- January 13 - Kevin Anderson[?], actor
- January 22 - Michael Hutchence, musician ("INXS") (+ 1997)
- January 24 - Nastassja Kinski, actress
- January 29 - Greg Louganis, Olympics gold medalist in swimming
- February 11 - Richard A Mastracchio[?], astronaut.
- February 19 - Prince Andrew, second son of Queen Elizabeth II
- February 29 - Tony Robbins[?], motivational speaker
- March 4 - Mykelti Williamson[?], actor
- March 7 - Ivan Lendl[?], tennis player
- March 13 - Adam Clayton, bassist for the rock band U2
- March 21 - Ayrton Senna, automobile racer (+ 1994)
- March 26 - Marcus Allen[?], American football star
- April 4 - Hugo Weaving, actor
- April 26 - Roger Taylor, musician ("Duran Duran")
- May 10 - Bono, singer of U2
- May 18 - Yannick Noah[?], tennis player
- May 21 - Jeffrey Dahmer, serial killer
- September 9 - Hugh Grant, actor
- October 30 - Diego Maradona, soccer player
- November 10 - Neil Gaiman, author
- November 25 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., lawyer and journalist (+1999)
Deaths:
Nobel Prizes: