1960 - What happened in 1960 ?

January 1960

Friday 01:

The Republic of Cameroon achieves independence from France and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Saturday 09:

Construction of the Aswan Dam begins in Egypt.

Saturday 23:

The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record when by descending to the deepest point in the Pacific Ocean. (The depth was measured to be 35,813 ft (10,916 m) but later measurements show it to be 35,798 ft (10,911 m))

Monday 25:

The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records.

February 1960

Monday 01:

Four black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Monday 08:

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor".

Sunday 21:

Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.

Sunday 28:

End of 10th Winter Olympic Games in Squaw Valley, California

Monday 29:

An earthquake in Morocco kills over 3,000 people and nearly destroys Agadir in the southern part of the country.

March 1960

Saturday 05:

Elvis Presley is discharged from the United States Army.

Saturday 12:

A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea kills 68.

Monday 21:

Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180

Tuesday 22:

Arthur Leonard Schawlow & Charles Townes receive the first patent for a laser.

Friday 25:

In London, United Kingdom, Jacqueline Boyer wins the fifth Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Tom Pillibi".

April 1960

Friday 01:

The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1.

Tuesday 19:

Students in South Korea hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against their president Syngman Rhee, eventually forcing him to resign.

Thursday 21:

Founding of the Orthodox Baha'i faith in Washington, DC.

Wednesday 27:

Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.

May 1960

Monday 09:

Reproductive rights: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill.

Tuesday 10:

The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.

Wednesday 11:

1960 - The first contraceptive pill is made available on the market.

Sunday 15:

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.

Monday 16:

Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.

June 1960

Thursday 16:

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho opens in New York

Friday 17:

Ted Williams becomes the fourth member of the 500 home run club with a home run at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.

Monday 20:

Independence of Mali and Senegal.

Thursday 23:

1960 - Japan signs security treaty with the U.S.

Thursday 30:

Congo gains independence from Belgium.

July 1960

Friday 01:

Independence of Somalia.

Monday 04:

Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act).

Monday 11:

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published.

Tuesday 12:

Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.

August 1960

Monday 01:

Communist PAI is banned in Senegal.

Friday 05:

Burkina Faso, then known as "Upper Volta", became independent from France

Saturday 06:

Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.

Tuesday 16:

Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,330 m). He sets unbeaten (as of 2003) world records for: high-altitude jump; free-fall by falling 16 miles (25.7 km) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed by a human without an aircraft, 614 mi/h (982 km/h).

Wednesday 17:

Gabon gains independence from France.

September 1960

Thursday 01:

Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the history of the company.

Monday 05:

Muhammad Ali wins the gold medal in boxing at the Rome Olympic Games.

Saturday 10:

Mickey Mantle hits what is thought to be the Major League baseball's longest home run, sending the ball an estimated 643 feet.

Sunday 11:

Young Americans for Freedom meeting at home of William F. Buckley, Jr. promulgates the Sharon Statement.

Friday 30:

The last episode of "The Howdy Doody Show" airs on NBC.

October 1960

Saturday 01:

Nigeria gains independence from the United Kingdom.

Tuesday 04:

An Eastern Airlines Lockheed L-188 Electra flying from Boston crashes, killing 62 people after a bird strike.

Wednesday 12:

Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a General Assembly of the United Nations meeting to protest discussion of Soviet Union policy toward Eastern Europe

Friday 14:

U.S. presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps.

Monday 24:

Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing 165. Among the dead is Field Marshall Mitrofan Nedelin, whose death is reported to have occurred in a plane crash.

November 1960

Friday 04:

Filming wraps on The Misfits, starring Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable -- the last film for both.

Tuesday 15:

The Polaris missile is test launched.

Wednesday 23:

The long-running serial, Ma Perkins, airs its last episode on CBS radio.

Monday 28:

Mauritania becomes independent of France.

Wednesday 30:

Production of the De Soto automobile brand ceases.

December 1960

Friday 09:

Coronation Street first airs on televisions across the United Kingdom.

Friday 16:

A United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super-Constellation collide over New York City, killing 134

Tuesday 20:

National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed

Saturday 31:

The farthing coin, used in Britain since the 13th century, ceases to be legal tender.