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1960.........1970
1960
Cuban dictator Fidel Castro displays two of
his favorite things: a military uniform and a Havana cigar. The leader of the island
nation since 1959, Castro hit his political stride in the 1960s.
In 1951, endocrinologist Gregory Goodwin
Pincus began testing the hormone progesterone as a potential contraceptive. Birth control
pioneer Margaret Sanger learned of the work and helped find funding for it. When the US
Food and Drug Administration approved the first progesterone-estrogen oral contraceptive,
better known as "the Pill," in 1961, women gained control over reproduction for
the first time in history. The first battle in the sexual revolution was won.
Television, which had exploded in popularity
during the late 1940s, first played a role in politics during the 1952 presidential race,
but the Nixon-Kennedy race marked the first airing of presidential debates. The experiment
had a telling outcome: according to television viewers, the charismatic Kennedy trumped
Nixon, but radio listeners gave Nixon the nod.
U.S. Spy Plane Shot Down
A Soviet missile shoots down a CIA U-2 spy plane piloted by Francis Gary Powers caught
flying over the Soviet Union.
Hitchcock Unleashes Psycho
Innovative film director Alfred Hitchcock terrifies audiences with his movie about a
deranged
psychopath.
1961
On April 12, 1961, Soviet Air Force pilot
Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968), rode the Soviet rocket Vostok 1 into history, becoming the first
human to reach the heavens. The flight lasted 108 minutes, 89 of which were spent in a
single orbit of the Earth. The dreams of rocket scientists such as Robert Goddard and
Hermann Oberth, and of writers such as Jules Verne (From the Earth to the Moon, 1865), no
longer seemed out of reach. America entered the manned space race three weeks after the
Soviets, sending astronaut Alan Shepard (1923- ) into space - but not into orbit - aboard
the Freedom 7 on May 5, 1961. Shepard’s flight lasted 15 minutes and dunked him into
the Atlantic 302 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida. The flight topped out at 117
miles, barely half as high as the orbital flight of Soviet Yuri Gagarin, but 10 years
later Shepard went higher - commanding Apollo 14 and becoming the fifth man to walk on the
moon.
Berlin Wall Divides East From West
East Germany builds a wall through Berlin to stop the growing exodus of citizens fleeing
communism.
1962
In 1962, under the new leadership of
revolutionary Fidel Castro (1926- ), Cuba nearly became the site of a global disaster in
an event known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. In July, the US learned the Soviet Union had
been installing nuclear missiles in Cuba, within striking capability of Florida, to honor
its vow to protect the island nation. A US blockade ensued, US-Soviet tensions approached
the breaking point, and mutual disarmament pacts were finally made, narrowly averting
worldwide nuclear war.
American film actress Marilyn Monroe
(1926-1962) in a casual portrait from the 1950s. With her breathy voice, wide-eyed beauty,
and seductive appeal, Monroe captured the fantasies of millions of men around the world.
She went from photographer's model in the late 1940s to movie star in the 1950s, playing a
variety of "dumb blondes," but also gaining recognition for her comedic talents.
She died of an overdose of barbiturates in 1962, a year after finishing her last film, The
Misfits. She was 36.
1963
Russian parachutist Valentina Vladimirovna
Tereshkova (1937- ) became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963. Riding in Vostok 6,
Tereshkova orbited Earth 45 times in her 70-hour, 50-minute flight. The mission was so
secretive that Tereshkova’s mother only learned of it from the radio broadcast
announcing the launch. Tereshkova operated the craft manually on reentry and leaped out of
the capsule at 20,000 feet, riding a parachute for the final 4 miles down into Kazakhstan,
Soviet Union.
John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), 35th president
of the United States from 1960 until he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. At 43,
he was the youngest man - and the first Roman Catholic - to be elected president. During
his short term in office, he proposed a domestic program called the New Frontier, calling
for tax reform, medical care for the elderly, and the extension of civil rights to all
Americans. Though his efforts were cut short, his death united the nation in grief.
1964
The "Fab Four" - John, George, Paul, and Ringo - three months before their first
US tour. Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison began playing together in their
native Liverpool in the mid-1950s; drummer Ringo Starr joined them in 1962. Originally
inspired by American rock'n'roll artists of the 1950s, they redefined rock music, moving
from the simplicity of "Love Me Do" (their first single, released in 1962) to
the innovative, complex album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967).
American involvement in the Vietnam War
escalated in August 1964 after two US destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin reported that they
had been fired on by North Vietnamese. Congress subsequently issued the Gulf of Tonkin
Resolution, giving the president unlimited authority to intervene. Bien Hoa, near what is
now Ho Chi Minh City, was the site of the first buildup of US air power.
1964
1965
Malcolm X (1925-1965), shown here at a civil
rights rally in 1963, became a powerful speaker for the Nation of Islam - a black
separatist group that practices Islam but focuses on the rights of black Americans.
Members sometimes replaced their surnames with the letter "X," rejecting the
names given by slave owners to their enslaved ancestors. Malcolm X later left the group
and announced he had found the "true brotherhood" of man, rejecting separatism.
He was killed in 1965 by Nation of Islam gunmen.
Short Is Sexy
Fashion designer Mary Quant introduces the
miniskirt.
1967
Israel Victorious in 6-Day War
Israeli forces wipe out an Arab alliance and take control of The Gaza Strip, Sinai
Peninsula, West Bank and Golan Heights.
Doctor Makes Heartening Advance
South African surgeon Dr. Christiaan Bernard performs the first heart transplant.
The patient only lives for 18 days but the
breakthrough surgery leads to higher survival rates.
1968
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) is
pictured deep in thought during the 1965 march from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital
of Montgomery to promote voting rights for blacks. King was a principal leader of the
American civil rights movement and an unwavering advocate of nonviolent protest. His
powerful oratory and willingness to endure jail and worse inspired millions of Americans
to reevaluate their ideas about race. He was 39 when he was killed by a sniper in Memphis,
Tennessee, in April 1968.
As attorney general during the presidency of
his older brother, Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) had gained a reputation for being
sensitive to the problems of the poor and the disadvantaged. He became a leading liberal
spokesman after his 1964 election to the US Senate from New York. Kennedy was seeking the
presidency as an anti-Vietnam War candidate when he was shot to death by a Jordanian who
was incensed at his support for the Jewish state of Israel.
Soviets Crush Czechs
Soviet tanks and troops invade Czechoslovakia to end the anti-communist movement known as
the Prague Spring.
Beamon Jumps into History
American Bob Beamon wins the Olympic long jump title in Mexico City, setting a record that
will stand
for 22 years.
1969
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, August 15-17,
1969. Some 400,000 people endured torrential rain, poor facilities, and bad brown LSD at a
rented 600-acre dairy farm near Bethel, New York, for the three-day festival of fun,
frolic, drugs, and music that has since achieved legendary status. Supplies had to be
brought in by helicopter because the roads were too clogged for passage, police and
partygoers all got along, and - best of all - no one got hurt.
Astronaut Neil Armstrong took "one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind" when he stepped out of the Apollo 11
and onto the moon, July 20, 1969. For the United States, the moment was a triumphant
finish to a race that began in 1961 when the Soviet Union put the first manned spacecraft
into orbit. President John F. Kennedy promised then that the US would beat the Soviets to
the moon. Apollo's success was a welcome distraction from the growing domestic conflict
over the Vietnam War.
Internet is Born
The Department of Defense sets up four computer network nodes on university campuses and
establishes ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Net). The network will rapidly
expand into the mainstream and eventually become the Internet.
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