Events 1 - 200 of 464
- Jan 1 Rwanda granted internal self-government by Belgium
- Jan 1 United States Navy SEALs established.
- Jan 1 Western Samoa gains independence from New Zealand Susuga Malietoa Tanumafili II becomes co-chief of Western Samoa
- Jan 3 Ground is broken for the Houston Astrodome, a multi-purpose domed stadium, in Houston, Texas
Excommunication
Jan 3 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
- Jan 4 1st automated (unmanned) subway train in New York City
- Jan 7 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to John Hall Wheelock [1]
- Jan 8 Dutch express train crashes into slow commuter train, 93 die (Neth)
- Jan 9 Mister M (Dr X) beats Verne Gagne in Minn, to become NWA champ
- Jan 9 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 10 Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy 7 villages & kill 3,500
- Jan 11 Landslide at dormant volcano Huascaran in Peru kills an estimated 4,000
- Jan 12 Operation Chopper begins, America's first combat mission in the Vietnam War
Agent Orange in Vietnam
Jan 12 Operation Ranch Hand begins, a US Air Force operation to spray South Vietnamese forests with defoliants such as Agent Orange
Historic Event
Jan 17 NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,690m
- Jan 18 Southern University, Baton Rouge, closed due to demonstrations
- Jan 18 US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas
- Jan 18 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 21 Snow falls in San Francisco
- Jan 22 The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership.
Historic Event
Jan 23 British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR
- Jan 23 Libya, Morocco, Algeria. and Tunisia plan to form United Arab Maghreb; planning continues until an agreement is reached in 1989
- Jan 24 28 refugees escape from East to West Germany
- Jan 26 Canadian Marine Service renamed Coast Guard
- Jan 26 US launches Ranger 3, misses Moon by 22,000-mi (37,000-km)
- Jan 28 Johanne Relleke gets stung by bees 2,443 times in Rhodesia & survives
- Jan 30 2 members of Flying Wallendas' high-wire act killed when their 7-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit
- Jan 30 Laughter epidemic begins at a girls' mission school in Kashasha, Tanganyika, goes on to affect 14 schools and over 1000 people
Historic Event
Jan 30 UN General Assembly censures Portugal over Angola
- Jan 30 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Jan 31 General Charles P Cabell, USAF, ends term as deputy director of CIA
- Jan 31 Samuel Gravely assumes command of destroyer escort "USS Falgout", first African American to command a combat ship
- Feb 2 8 of 9 planets align for 1st time in 400 years
- Feb 2 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Feb 3 US President John F. Kennedy bans all trade with Cuba except for food & drugs
- Feb 4 US female Figure Skating championship won by Barbara Roles
- Feb 4 US male Figure Skating championship won by Monty Hoyt
- Feb 5 French President de Gaulle calls for Algeria's independence
- Feb 5 Suit to bar Englewood NJ from "racial segregated" schools, filed
- Feb 5 Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all within 16 degrees
- Feb 6 Schoolman Athletic Field in the Bronx named
- Feb 7 Gas explosion in Luisanthal coal mine Voelklingen Germany kills 298
- Feb 7 US President JFK begins blockade of Cuba by banning all Cuban imports and exports.
- Feb 8 In Paris, 8 people killed at a protest against independence for the French colony Algeria
- Feb 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Feb 9 Jamaica signs agreement to become independent
- Feb 9 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Feb 10 Jim Beatty sets American indoor mile record (3:58.9) in LA
- Feb 10 USSR swaps spy Francis Gary Power to US for Rudolph Abel
- Feb 12 Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia
Historic Event
Feb 14 US 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV
John Glenn Orbits Earth
Feb 20 John Glenn becomes the 1st American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7
Historic Event
Feb 25 Robert F. Kennedy visits Netherlands
Theater Premiere
Feb 26 Arthur Kopit's play "Oh, Dad, Poor Dad . . ." premieres in NYC
- Feb 26 US Supreme court disallows race separation on public transportation
Assassination Attempt
Feb 27 South Vietnam President Ngô Đình Diệm's palace bombed by dissident air pilots in a failed assassination attempt
- Feb 28 WMGM-AM in New York City changes call letters to WHN
- Mar 1 American Airlines 707 plunges nose first into Jamaica Bay, NY, killing 95
- Mar 1 Kresge Corporation openes the first Kmart store in Garden City, Michigan
- Mar 1 US and British nuclear test experiment in Nevada
- Mar 2 In Burma, the army led by General Ne Win seizes power in a coup
- Mar 2 President John F. Kennedy announces US will resume above ground nuclear testing
- Mar 3 British Antarctic Territory forms
- Mar 4 AEC announces 1st atomic power plant in Antarctica in operation
- Mar 5 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Mar 6 St Louis vote to build a new downtown stadium for the Cardinals
- Mar 6 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- Mar 6 US promise Thailand assistance against communist aggression
- Mar 7 Ground-breaking report "Smoking and Health" published by the British Royal College of Physicians, first major report to warn of the dangers of smoking
- Mar 7 Launch of OSO 1, 1st astronomy satellite (solar flare data)
- Mar 8 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
Historic Event
Mar 9 Egyptian President Nasser declares Gaza belongs to Palestinians
- Mar 9 US advisors in South-Vietnam join the fight
- Mar 12 Dutch Premier De Quay announces secret talks with Indonesia
- Mar 13 Yugoslavia grants 1,000 prisoners amnesty
- Mar 14 Disarmament conference opens in Geneva without France
- Mar 15 Donald Jackson of Canada is 1st to land a triple lutz ice skate jump
- Mar 15 Five research groups announce the discovery of anti-matter
- Mar 16 1st launching of Titan 2-rocket
- Mar 16 US Super-Constellation disappears above Pacific Ocean, kills 167
- Mar 18 Algerian War ends after 7½ yrs (250,000 die), Ben Bella flees
- Mar 19 Archbishop Suenens of Mechelen-Brussels appointed cardinal
- Mar 21 Dutch RC bishop Beckers declares himself in favor of birth control
- Mar 21 Yogi the bear becomes the 1st creature to be ejected at supersonic speeds by the US military testing ejection seats
- Mar 23 JFK visits San Francisco
- Mar 23 Wake Forest coach "Bones" McKinney becomes 2nd person to play and coach
- Mar 25 French OAS-leader ex-general Jouhaud arrested
- Mar 26 US Supreme Court backs 1-man-1-vote apportionment of seats in state legistature
- Mar 27 Ann Jellicoe's play "Knack" premieres in London
- Mar 27 Archbishop Rummel ends race segregation in New Orleans Catholic schools
- Mar 28 Military coup in Syria, President Nazim al-Kudsi flees
- Mar 29 Argentine President Arturo Frondizi flees from the army
- Apr 2 The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London.
- Apr 3 Lt General Marshall S Carter, USA, becomes deputy director of CIA
- Apr 5 Herb Gardner's "Thousand Clowns" premieres in NYC
- Apr 5 Mgr J Daems appointed bishop of Antwerp
- Apr 5 NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 54,600 m
- Apr 5 St Bernard Tunnel finished-Swiss/Italians workers shake hands
Historic Event
Apr 7 Yugoslav ex-president Milovan Djilas returns to jail
- Apr 8 Accords of Evian (Algeria) accepted by referendum in France
- Apr 9 US President JohnF. Kennedy throws out 1st ball at Washington's new DC Stadium
- Apr 12 San Mateo County withdraws from BART (San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit) district
- Apr 13 US steel industry forced to give up price increases
- Apr 14 Demonstration for sovereign status of New Guinea in Amsterdam
Election of Interest
Apr 14 Georges Pompidou becomes Prime Minister of France after the resignation of Michel Debré
Historic Event
Apr 19 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 46,900m
- Apr 20 NASA civilian pilot Neil Armstrong takes X-15 to 63,250 m
- Apr 20 New Orleans Citizens Co gives free 1-way ride to blacks to move North
- Apr 20 OAS-leader ex-general Salan arrested in Algiers
- Apr 21 Century 21 Exposition opens in Seattle, Washington
- Apr 22 Pirates tie then record of 10 straight wins to start season
- Apr 23 Ranger 4, 1st US satellite to reach Moon launched from Cape Canaveral
- Apr 24 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested
- Apr 25 Cleve sends Harry Chiti to Mets for a player to be named later, on June 15 the Mets send Chiti back to Cleveland
- Apr 25 Lion & Tiger Veldt at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated (Cleveland, Ohio)
- Apr 25 US Ranger spacecraft crash lands on Moon
- Apr 25 US resumes above ground nuclear testing, at Christmas Island
- Apr 26 1st Lockheed A-12 flies
- Apr 26 Ariel 1 Launch (1st UK Satellite)
- Apr 26 Ranger 4 crash lands on (backside of) Moon
- Apr 26 US and UK launch Ariel; 1st international payload
- Apr 27 Arnold Wesker's "Chips with Everything" premieres in London
- Apr 27 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- Apr 29 16th Tony Awards: "A Man For All Seasons" & "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" win
- Apr 30 NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 75,190 m
- May 1 1st French underground nuclear test in the Sahara at Ecker, Algeria
- May 1 JFK authorizes Area Redevelopment Act (ARA)
- May 2 OAS strikes in Algeria
- May 2 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 3 Express train crashed into wreckage of a commuter train & a freight, killing 163, injuring 400 in Tokyo, Japan
- May 4 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 6 1st nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine (Ethan Allen)
Election of Interest
May 6 Antonio Segni elected President of Italy
- May 6 Pathet Lao breaks cease fire and conquer Nam Tha Laos
- May 6 US performs nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
- May 7 Pulitzer prize awarded to Theodore H. White (Making of President 1960)
- May 7 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 8 1st Atlas Centaur Launch
- May 8 London trolley buses (electrically powered buses using overhead supply) go out of service
Historic Event
May 8 Oskar Schindler and his wife Emilie Schindler are honored for saving 1200 Jews during WWII, in a ceremony on the Avenue of the Righteous, Jerusalem
- May 9 Laser beam successfully bounced off Moon for 1st time
- May 9 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 11 Antonio Segni becomes President of Italy
- May 11 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 11 US sends troops to Thailand
- May 12 Grevelingen dam closes in major project to protect the southwest of the Netherlands from flooding
- May 12 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 14 Ex-president of Yugoslavia Milovan Djilas sentenced to 5 years in jail
- May 14 Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan elected second President of India
- May 14 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
- May 15 US marines arrive in Laos
- May 17 Marin County withdraws from BART district
- May 19 Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
- May 19 US performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
- May 21 3 more Cleveland HR set AL record for most HR (26) over 8 games
- May 22 Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board
- May 22 Major Robert A Rushworth, USAF, takes X-15 to 30,600m
- May 22 Netherlands telephone network becomes completely automated
- May 23 OAS leader general Raoul Salan sentenced to life
- May 23 Scott Carpenter orbits Earth 3 times in US Aurora 7
- May 24 M Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 launched into Earth orbit
- May 25 US performs nuclear test at Christmas Island (atmospheric)
- May 25 US unions AFL-CIO starts campaign for 35-hour work week
- May 28 Suit alleging de facto school segregation filed in Rochester, NY
- May 28 US stock market drops $20.8 B in 1 day
- May 30 69 killed in bus crash (Ahmedabad India)
- May 31 The West Indies Federation, made up of former British Caribbean territories, dissolves
- Jun 1 Oscar 2 (ham radio satellite) launched into Earth orbit
'The Banality of Evil'
Jun 1 SS officer Adolf Eichmann is executed in Israel after being found guilty of war crimes
- Jun 1 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 40,420 m
- Jun 3 Air France Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff from Paris, kills 130
Historic Event
Jun 3 Lee Harvey Oswald arrives by train in Oldenzaal, Netherlands
- Jun 4 Lee Harvey Oswald departs Rotterdam on SS Maasdam to US
- Jun 7 NASA civilian test pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 31,580 m
- Jun 8 Jim Beatty runs world record 2 mile (8:29.8)
- Jun 9 Warner Bros "Bill of Hare" with Bug Bunny premieres in USA
- Jun 11 Brothers John and Clarence Anglin and fellow inmate Frank Morris escape from Alcatraz Island prison, the only ones to do so
- Jun 11 US President John F. Kennedy accepts an honorary degree from Yale
- Jun 12 Laos Prince Souvanna Phouma forms coalition government
- Jun 12 USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 56,270 m
- Jun 13 Norway named ombudsman
- Jun 14 Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler, murders Anna Slesers, his first victim
- Jun 14 The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris - later becoming the European Space Agency
- Jun 15 South Africa passes a bill setting death penalty for many crimes