Historical Events in April 1960

Election of Interest

Apr 1 U Nu elected premier of Burma

Apr 2 Cuba buys oil from USSR
Apr 2 KPEC TV channel 56 in Lakewood Center-Tacoma, WA (PBS) 1st broadcast
Apr 2 Mabry Harper catches a world record 25lb Walleye at Cedar Bluff on the Cumberland River in Tennessee
Apr 3 Earthquake at Havre, Belgium

Music Recording

Apr 3 Elvis Presley records ‘It's Now Or Never’, ‘Fever’ and ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ at RCA studios in Nashville, Tennessee

Academy Awards

Apr 4 32nd Academy Awards: "Ben-Hur", Charlton Heston & Simone Signoret win

Apr 4 Oscar awarded to Dutch director Bert Haanstra for documentary "Glass"
Apr 4 Project Ozma begins at Green Bank radio astronomy center
Apr 4 Senegal declares independence from France
Apr 8 Netherlands and Germany sign accord concerning war casualties
Apr 8 US Senate passes Civil Rights Bill with measures against discriminatory voting practices
Apr 9 14th NBA Championship: Bost Celtics beat St Louis Hawks, 4 games to 3
Apr 9 South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd survives an assassination attempt by David Pratt despite being twice shot in the face

US Masters Golf

Apr 10 24th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: 1958 champion Arnold Palmer birdies the final 2 holes to win by 1 stroke over runner-up Ken Venturi

Apr 10 Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill

Sports History

Apr 12 MLB Chicago White Sox owner Bill Veeck debuts "Exploding Scoreboard" at Chicago's Comiskey Park

Apr 13 US Department of Defense places "Transit 1B", 1st navigational satellite, in orbit around Earth
Apr 14 1st underwater launching of Polaris missile

Music History

Apr 14 American record company Motown, founded by Berry Gordy Jr, is incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit. Michigan

Founder of Motown Records and Songwriter Berry Gordy

Music Premiere

Apr 14 Lee Adams and Charles Strouse's musical "Bye Bye Birdie", starring Dick Van Dyke, Chita Rivera, and Dick Gautier, opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC; runs for 607 performances

Apr 14 Stanley Cup Final, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, ON: Montreal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-0 for a 4 game sweep; 5th consecutive title
Apr 15 Guy Carawan sings "We Shall Overcome" to a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh - popularising the song as a protest anthem
Apr 15 Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), organizes at Shaw U
Apr 17 American Samoa sets up a constitutional government

Baseball Trade

Apr 17 MLB Cleveland Indians trade reigning home run champion Rocky Colavito to Detroit Tigers for reigning AL batting champion Harvey Kuenn; fans are unhappy

Apr 18 64th Boston Marathon won by Paavo Kotila of Finland in 2:20:54
Apr 19 Baseball uniforms begin displaying players' names on their backs
Apr 19 Comiskey Park's famed "exploding" scoreboard begins operating
Apr 20 "From A to Z" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances
Apr 21 Brasilia becomes capital of Brazil
Apr 21 Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, D.C.
Apr 24 14th Tony Awards: "The Miracle Worker" (play) & "Fiorello!" (musical) win
Apr 24 Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed
Apr 24 Record 4 grand slams hit today
Apr 25 1st submerged circumnavigation of Earth completed by USS submarine Triton in 60 days, 21 hours
Apr 27 1st atomic powered electric-drive submarine launched (Tullibee)

Syngman Rhee Resigns

Apr 27 South Korean President Syngman Rhee resigns after 12 years in power

First President of South Korea Syngman Rhee

Apr 27 Togo (formerly French Togo) declares independence from French administration
Apr 28 Webster and Fain's musical "Christine", based on Hilda Wernher's novel "My Indian Family", opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 12 performances
Apr 28 WIPM TV channel 3 in Mayaguez, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting