Events of the 1960s

• The Cold War (1947-89)
• U. S. Involvement in Vietnam (1954-75)
• Space Race (1957-69)
• Civil Rights Movement (1955-)
• Economic growth (GNP doubled from 1960 to 1970)

1960

• Feb. 1: Sit-ins began at Woolworth's in Greensboro NC
• May 1: U-2 shot down over Soviet airspace; lead to cancellation of Paris summit mtg.
• November: Kennedy narrowly defeats Nixon, after first televised debates

1961

• Apr. 17: Bay of Pigs fiasco
• May 5: Allan Shepard first American in space (suborbital)
• Aug.: Berlin Wall built
• "Camelot" opens on Broadway
• The Peace Corps is formed.

1962

• Feb. 20: John Glenn first American in orbit
• March 26: Supreme Court rules "one man, one vote"
• Oct. 1 James Meredith, first black student at U. of Arkansas, after riots
• Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, harbinger of environmental (or "ecology") movement
• Oct. 22-28: Cuban missile crisis
• Pope John XXIII opens Vatican II council
• Johnny Carson begins 30 years as host of the "Tonight Show"

1963

• ZIP codes are introduced.
• March 18: Supreme Court issues ruling that criminal defendants have right to counsel
• June 17: Supreme Court forbids mandatory prayer in schools
• July 25: Limited nuclear test ban treaty
• Aug. 28: 200,000 march on Washington for civil rights: Martin Luther King delivers "I have a dream" speech
• Nov. 22: Pres. Kennedy assassinated
• Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique, harbinger of women's movement (called women's lib)

1964

• February: The Beatles visit New York, beginning the "British Invasion", changing rock music in the U.S.
• Riots in Panama over U. S. control of canal
• June 29: Civil Rights act passed
• July: Conservatives gain control of Republican party; Goldwater wins nomination over Rockefeller
• August: Democrats nominate Johnson and Humphrey
• Aug. 7: Congress approves Gulf of Tonkin resolution
• Aug. 11: Congress approves War on Poverty bill
• Sept. 27: Warren Commission report issued; which concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in assassination of Pres. Kennedy
• Nov.: Johnson defeats Goldwater in massive landslide election
• President Johnson declares "unconditional war on poverty".
• Surgeon General declares cigarette smoking is a major health hazard.

1965

• Pres. Johnson orders continuous bombing of N. Vietnam S. of 20^th parallel
• Aug. 11-16: Watts riots
• Nov. 9-10: great NE power failure
• Vatican II council concludes

1966

• In the "Miranda" ruling, the Supreme court ruled that suspects must be read their rights before questioning.
• July 1: Congress passes Medicare bill

1967

• January:  The first Super Bowl is held in Los Angeles Coliseum:  Green Bay defeats Kansas City.
• Israel defeats Egypt, Jordan, and Syria in The Six Day War, beginning occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and Golan heights, but also reunifying Jerusalem.
• Oct. 2: Thurgood Marshall on Supreme Court

1968

• In New Hampshire primary, President Johnson wins, but not decisively, in a race with Eugene McCarthy, who runs on a "peace" platform.  Johnson then withdraws from the race, declaring, "I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president."
• Protest at Columbia University: students seize three buildings, begin to trash some professor's life work. After a week, police called in; after violent clash, protest ended, but many are horrified at police behavior.
• Jan. 23: USS Pueblo seized by N. Korea
• Jan. 30: "Tet Offensive": Viet Cong attacks Saigon and many other cities; suffer heavy casualties; Viet Cong destroyed as effective force; tactical victory for U. S. and S. Vietnam, but strategic loss
• Spring: "Prague Spring": liberalization in Czechoslovakia; crushed by Soviet invasion
• Apr. 4: Martin Luther King assassinated
• May 10: Paris peace talks began
• June 5: Robert Kennedy assassinated in Los Angeles after winning California Democrat primary
• My Lai incident
• August: Republican convention in Miami nominates Nixon on first ballot; he had been challenged by Rockefeller (on the left) and Reagan (on the right)
• August: Democrats met in Chicago to nominate Humphrey and Muskie; riots accompany convention ("Chicago 8"); traditionalists lose control of party after this convention
• Olympic games in Mexico City: two black American athletes expelled for giving "black power salute" on victors' podium; earlier, hundreds killed in riots in Mexican capital (incident not widely known)
• November: Nixon wins election in three-way race: Nixon, Humphrey, Wallace (Wallace appealed to populist Southerners who were fed up with the liberal direction of the Democrats but were unwilling to support Nixon)
• The rock musical Hair opens
• Jacqueline Kennedy marries Aristotle Onassis.

1969

• May-June: riots in Paris begun by students; led to nationwide strike; led to reorganization of U. of Paris; other reforms rejected by electoral reaction
• June: Stonewall riots: beginning of gay rights movement
• July: Chapaquiddick incident: Edward Kennedy involved in death of his passenger, Mary Jo Copechne.
• July 20: Neil Armstrong sets foot on moon
• Aug. 15-17: Woodstock music (and sex and drug) festival
• Nov. 15: March on Washington: demonstration against Vietnam war

1970

• Apr. 22: The first "Earth day" is observed.
• May 4: Four students killed at demonstration at Kent State University

Notes on music:

• The three numbers from Hair, a disgusting musical with vile words and an idiotic story, were made popular by the 5^th Dimension. "The Age of Aquarius" refers to a time when the vernal equinox will occur in the constellation Aquarius. (The 12 houses in the zodiac are named for the constellations that were there 2200 years ago. Because of the precession of the equinoxes, they have shifted.) This will happen in about 600 years. Now is the age of pisces, which is the constellation where the equinox occurs now. The event of the moon in the seventh house and Jupiter in conjunction with Mars occurred around 1912. The words to the title song seems to have been written by someone not thinking clearly; it seems like random thoughts strung together. The final number "Let the Sunshine In" is mostly a tirade against materialistic life.
• "Turn, Turn, Turn" is taken mostly from the Bible, Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. (The title words and the final words do not occur in the scriptures. )
• "The Rhythm of Life" is from the musical Sweet Charity. The heroine Charity has been invited by her date Oscar to visit The Rhythm of Life Church. Oscar belongs to a church of the month club, and this is the current selection.