Dag Hammarskjold Dies in Air Crash

Dag Hammarskjold Dies in Air Crash

https://youtu.be/MBqNgtAf4TQ In September 1961 Secretary-General of the UN Dag Hammarskjold, was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Hammarskjold was flying to negotiate a cease-fire in the Congo where a rebellion was openly being backed by...

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Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba

Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba

https://youtu.be/T-jZ4ZUR6Qw In April 1961 ~1500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba (Invasión de Playa Girón) in an attempt to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Without any of the promised air support from the United States, the...

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UN Condemns South African Apartheid

UN Condemns South African Apartheid

https://youtu.be/odXAghDLWKM In April 1961 the UN General Assembly condemned South Africa's apartheid policy. Leading the resistance to South Africa’s policy of apartheid in the 20th century, Nelson Mandela was incarcerated by the South African government...

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JFK Announces Peace Corps Formation 

JFK Announces Peace Corps Formation 

President Kennedy proposed the Peace Corps as a means to improve America's global image and leadership in the Cold War. Established within three months of Kennedy's 1960 election, the Peace Corps garnered both bipartisan and popular support, particularly...

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Ask not what your country can do for you … JFK

Ask not what your country can do for you … JFK

In January 1961 John F. Kennedy made a stirring inaugural address from the steps of the US Capital. "... In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this...

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Patrice Lumumba Assasinated

Patrice Lumumba Assasinated

In January 1961 Patrice Lumumba, the 1st premier Congo, was murdered after 67 days in office. The US and Joseph Mobutu (Congolese politician and military officer) were implicated but no conclusive proof has emerged. In 2000 the Belgium Parliament opened an...

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Eisenhower’s “Military-Industrial Complex” Speech 

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...

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US Severs Diplomatic Relations with Cuba

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....

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JFK Elected President

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...

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House Un-American Activities Committee Protest

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...

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Civil Rights Act of 1960

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...

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Protests Force South Korean President to Resign

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,...

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Eisenhower Visits India

Eisenhower Visits India

https://youtu.be/vAcxBX225kw?t=6 In December 1959 President Dwight Eisenhower visited India and met with President Rajenda Prasad and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. In an address to the  Indian Parliament, Eisenhower said: “ We who are free, and who prize our...

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Antarctic Treaty

Antarctic Treaty

In December 1959 representatives of 12 countries signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington DC setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity.Source: Wikipedia

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Khrushchev & Eisenhower Meet at Camp David 

Khrushchev & Eisenhower Meet at Camp David 

  In September 1959 Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev made an extended visit to the USA. While visiting Los Angeles, Khrushchev was infuriated when barred from visiting Disneyland because of security concerns. Khruschev and President Eisenhower met at Camp David in...

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Uprising in Tibet

Uprising in Tibet

https://youtu.be/cxSDhng2PQg Encyclopedia Britannica In March 1959 a revolt erupted in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which had been under the effective control of the People's Republic of China since 1951. The uprising occurred amid general Tibetan...

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Alaska Becomes 49th State

Alaska Becomes 49th State

In January 1959, President Eisenhower signed a special proclamation admitting the territory of Alaska into the Union as the 49th and largest state. Although indigenous peoples inhabited the region for centuries, Europeans first discovered Alaska in 1741. Russian...

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Fidel Castro’s Forces Triumphant

Fidel Castro’s Forces Triumphant

Fidel and Raul Castro formed an underground movement in the early 1950s to overthrow the brutal and corrupt regime of the dictator Fulgencio Batista, under whose rule Cuba had become a haven for organized crime. After an unsuccessful rising against Batista in 1953 the...

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Independence Day

Independence Day

https://youtu.be/XRLRKNXVuTY Independence Day (Fourth of July) is a federal holiday commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. Congress declared that the thirteen American...

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Loving v. Virginia Landmark Court Case

Loving v. Virginia Landmark Court Case

Loving v. Virginia was a 1958 Supreme Court case that struck down state laws banning interracial marriage in the United States. With the help of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Richard and Mildred Loving, a white man and Black woman whose marriage was...

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De Gaulle Returns to Power

De Gaulle Returns to Power

In May 1958  during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence (1954–1962) Charles de Gaulle returned to power after a twelve-year absence. De Gaulle's newly formed cabinet was approved by the National Assembly by 329 votes against 224,...

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Venezuelan Protesters Attack Nixon Cavalcade

Venezuelan Protesters Attack Nixon Cavalcade

In April-May1958, on a goodwill trip to Latin America, Vice President Richard Nixon engaged in angry debates with student groups in Peru and Uruguay. Then, in Caracas, Venezuela, a large crowd pelted his car, smashing the windows. Nixon escaped from the crowd and...

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USSR Declares Atomic Testing Halt 

USSR Declares Atomic Testing Halt 

https://youtu.be/QrNN5ZhsC1I   In March 1958 the Soviet Union declared it was halting tests of atomic and hydrogen bombs. It called on the other nuclear powers, the United States and Britain, to do the same. Moscow warned that it would resume testing if their example...

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