Topics
Understanding our world and that of our enemies
Eisenhower’s “Military-Industrial Complex” Speech
As President of the United States for two terms, Eisenhower had slowed the push for increased defense spending despite pressure to build more military equipment during the Cold War arms race. Nonetheless, the American military services and the defense industry had...
US Severs Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
The United States severed diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 3, 1961, citing unwarranted action by the Government of Cuba that placed crippling limitations on the ability of the United States Mission to carry on its normal diplomatic and consular functions....
Timeline of Life in America – 1960
Airliners Collide Midair Over New York
In December 1960 a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild Airport (now JFK) in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground were...
JFK Elected President
Sen. John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in the US presidential elections as the first Roman Catholic to win the office. The Democratic ticket of Kennedy and Johnson received 49.72% of the popular vote to 49.55% given to Republicans Richard Nixon and Henry...
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho
In 1960 Alfred Hicthcock's psychological horror thriller PSYCHO prompted me to keep my dog in the bathroom while showering.
US Reveals USSR Had Bugged American Embassy
A covert listening device (bug) was concealed inside a wooden gift of America's Great Seal given by Russia to the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945. Although not reported then, the device was extensively investigated and imitated by US...
Save The Last Dance For Me
https://youtu.be/vYgxbYlhUnw Throughout the 50-60s The Drifters had six number-one R&B hits: Money Honey (1953) Honey Love (1954) Adorable (1955) There Goes My Baby (1959) Save The Last Dance For Me (1960) Under The Boardwalk (1964).
Earthquake in Chile
In May 1960 Chile experienced the largest earthquake recorded in the 20th century with a magnitude of 9.5 on the Richter scale. Originating off the southern coast of Chile, the earthquake left two million people homeless, injured at least 3,000, and...
TV Commercials 1960
https://youtu.be/3kHPFjEcsFE https://youtu.be/jCKxWQCs3f0 https://youtu.be/PZFoJiqmW2s https://youtu.be/zWIykzZ8cMg https://youtu.be/1p9Yz5aJPpI
FDA Approves First Oral Birth Control Pill
https://youtu.be/jChyGqk0BO8 In May 1960, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cleared Enovid, an oral contraceptive developed by G.D. Searle and Company, for commercial use. By June 23, “the Pill” — as the oral contraceptive was commonly known — was on the...
House Un-American Activities Committee Protest
In May 1960 protesters decried the presence of the House Un-American Activities Committee in the San Francisco City Hall. After protesters were denied entrance, the police attacked and swept them out of City Hall's rotunda with fire hoses. 64 people were arrested, and...
Adolf Eichmann Captured in Buenos Aires
In May 1960 Israeli soldiers captured Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires. Eichmann was taken to Israel where he was tried, found guilty and hung in 1962. Source: Wikipedia
Civil Rights Act of 1960
https://youtu.be/9ppTiyxFSs0 The Civil Rights Act of 1960 was a United States federal law establishing federal inspection of local voter registration polls. The act introduced penalties for anyone who obstructed someone's attempt to register...
The Fantasticks
https://youtu.be/H3iEoZdImpY In May 1960 the musical "The Fantasticks" opened at the Sullivan Street Playhouse in Greenwich Village. Its feature song "Try to Remember" became very popular.
U2 Spy Plane Incident
https://youtu.be/4dFx7hSGyHI In May 1960 a Soviet missile shot down an American U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers while conducting photographic aerial reconnaissance deep inside Soviet territory near Sverdlovsk. In February 1962,...
The Cranes Are Flying
Source: The Cranes are flying trailer - Google Search https://youtu.be/IkINuHcP6us TheSoviet film The Cranes Are Flying won the Palme d'Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.
Protests Force South Korean President to Resign
Syngman Rhee, hardline anti-communist and pro-American, was president of South Korea from 1948 to 1960. Rhee's government was characterised by authoritarianism, limited economic development, and growing public opposition. After his opponent died,...
First Kidney Dialysis Shunt
https://youtu.be/xG82t_a3-i0 In March 1960 the first kidney dialysis shunt, developed by Dr. Belding H. Scribner, was planted in a kidney patient in Seattle Washington. The process, enabling ambulatory dialysis, first developed in the 1940s by Dr. Willem J. Kolff, had...
Thanksgiving Day Parade 1960
https://youtu.be/_gjDT5GwQXQ
French Ship Explodes in Havana
In March 1960 the French cargo ship “La Coubre" exploded in Havana Harbor while a cargo of Belgian grenades and munitions was being unloaded. 136 people were killed, and many were injured. Fidel Castro alleged the explosion was an act of sabotage by the...
USA Olympic Hockey Team Defeats Soviets
https://youtu.be/jdUsoyZy2aA In February 1960 the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif. The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.
Gerboise Bleue – French Nuclear Test
https://youtu.be/V_vt3c34z3U?t=4 In February 1960, during the Algerian War (1954-62) France detonated an atomic bomb in the middle of the Algerian Sahara desert. Gerboise is the French word for a desert rodent found in the Sahara. The color Bleue came from the first...
WW2 Vets 1960 Interviews
Route 66
https://youtu.be/0K3FqWShn28?t=62 Route 66 premiered on CBS in October 1960 and ran until March 1964, for a total of 116 episodes. The show followed two young men traversing the United States in a Chevrolet Corvette convertible and...