1960
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1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar).
1960 is known as the "year of Africa."
Contents
Events
January
- January — State of emergency is lifted in Kenya — Mau Mau Rebellion is officially over
- January 1 — Independence of Cameroon
- January 9-11 — Aswan High Dam construction begins in Egypt
- January 14 — Reserve Bank and Commonwealth Bank are created
- January 19 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan signed in Washington
- January 21 — Mine collapses at Coalbrook, South Africa — 437 dead
- January 22 — In France, president Charles de Gaulle fires Jacques Massun, commander-in-chief for the French troops in Algeria
- January 22-23 — Jacques Piccard and Donald Walsh descend into the Marianas Trench in the bathyscape Trieste, reaching the depth of 10,916 meters
- January 23 — Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh in the bathyscaphe USS Trieste break a depth record when they descend to the bottom of Challenger Deep 35,820 feet (10,750 meters) below sea level in the Pacific Ocean
- January 24 — A major insurrection in Algiers against French colonial policy
- January 25 — The National Association of Broadcasters reacts to the Payola scandal by threatening fines for any disc jockeys who accepted money for playing particular records
February
- February 1 — In Greensboro, N.C., four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South, and six months later the original four protesters are served lunch at the same counter.
- February 5 — Particle accelerator of CERN inaugurated in Geneva, Switzerland
- February 9 — Joanne Woodward receives the first star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- February 9 — Adolph Coors III, chairman of the board of the Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped and captors demand $500,000. Coors is later found dead and Joseph Corbett, Jr. is indicted.
- February 10 — In Brussels, conference about Congo independence begins
- February 11 — 12 Indian soldiers die in clashes with Chinese troops at the border
- February 11 — The airship ZPG-3W is destroyed in a storm in Massachusetts
- February 13 — Nuclear testing: France tests its first atomic bomb in Sahara
- February 18 — 1960 Winter Olympics open in Squaw Valley, California.
- February 29-March 1 night — Earthquake totally destroys Agadir, Morocco.
March
- March 3 — Elvis Presley returns home from Germany after being away on duty for 2 years
- March 6 — Vietnam War: The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers are going to be sent to Vietnam
- March 6 — Canton of Geneva in Switzerland gives women the right to vote
- March 21 — Apartheid: Massacre in Sharpeville, South Africa: Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
- March 22 — Arthur Leonard Schawlow & Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser.
- March 23 — Nikita Khrushchev meets Charles De Gaulle in Paris
April
- April 1 — Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
- April 1 — The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1
- April 4 — First three female priests ordained in Sweden.
- April 12 — Eric Peugeot, youngest son of founder of Peugeot is kidnapped in Paris. Kidnappers release him April 15 in exchange for $300,000 ransom.
- April 13 — USA launches navigation satellite Transat I-b.
- April 16 — Gunman David Pratt attacks South African Prime Minister Verwoerd in Johannesburg and wounds him seriously.
- April 18 - On the campaign trail in West Virginia, Senator John F. Kennedy says, in reply to a question about his Roman Catholic faith, "I don't think that my religion is anyone's business."
- April 21 — In Brazil, The Country's capital (Federal District) is shifted from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília. The Estado da Guanabara (State of Guanabara) is founded to succeed Rio de Janeiro as the Brazilian Federal District.
- April 27 — Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
May
- May 1 - In India, 1st May is declared as 'Maharashtra divas' i.e. Maharashtra Day. The same day is also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas' i.e. Workers Day.
- May 1 — Soviet missile shoots down an American U-2 spy plane; the pilot Francis Gary Powers is captured.
- May 4 — West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is fired because of his Nazi past.
- May 9 — Reproductive rights: The Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill
- May 10 — The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus completes the first under water circumnavigation of the Earth
- May 11 — In Buenos Aires four Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann who was using the assumed name "Ricardo Klement".
- May 13 — First ascent of Dhaulagiri, world's 7th highest mountain.
- May 14 — Kenyan African National Congress party is founded in Kenya when three political parties join forces
- May 15 — Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit
- May 16 — Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from US President Dwight D. Eisenhower for U-2 spy plane flights over the Soviet Union, thus ending a Big Four summit in Paris.
- May 16 — Theodore Maiman operates the first laser.
- May 20 — In Japan, police carry away Socialist members of the Diet. Parliament then approves a security treaty with the USA.
- May 22 — Great Chilean Earthquake: Chile's subduction fault ruptures from Talcahuano to Península de Taitao, loosing a tsunami and one of the greatest earthquakes on record
- May 23 — Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
- May 27 — In Turkey, a bloodless military coup d'état removes President Celal Bayar and installs General Cemal Gürsel as the head of state.
June
- June 4 — Lake Bodom murders in Finland.
- June 9 — Typhoon Mary kills 1600 in Fukien province of China
- June 15 — Violent demonstrations in Tokyo University — police arrest 182; 589 injured
- June 15 — BC Ferries, the second largest ferry operator in the world starts service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.
- June 20 — The Mali Federation between Senegal and Sudanese Republic (now Mali) gains independence from France
- June 23 — Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi announces his resignation.
- June 24 — Joseph Kasavubu elected the first president of independent Congo
- June 24 — Avro 748 first flight at Woodford, UK
- June 26 — British Somaliland gains independence from UK — 5 days later it unites with the former Italian Somaliland to create modern Somali Republic
- June 30 — Belgian Congo gains independence from Belgium — civil war follows
- June 30 - Public demonstrations of democratic and left forces against support of Italian government to post-fascist Italian Social Movement heavily suppressed by police
July
- July 1 — A Soviet MiG fighter north of Murmansk in the Barents Sea shot down a six-man RB-47. Two United States Air Force officers survived and were imprisoned in Moscow's dreaded Lubyanka prison. (see RB-47H shot down)
- July 4 — Following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state the previous year, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- July 10 — The Soviet Union beat Yugoslavia 2-1 to win the first European Football Championship
- July 11 — Moise Tshombe declares the Congolese province of Katanga independent; he receives Belgian help.
- July 11 - Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for U.S. President at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.
- July 12 — Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
- July 14 — United Nations decides to send troops to Katanga to oversee Belgian troops withdrawal
- July 20 — Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first female head of government.
- July 21 — Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II — he has made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days
- July 27 — OECD founded
August
- August — Stanley Clifford Weyman, US impostor, is killed when he tries to prevent a robbery
- August 5 — Burkina Faso declares independence from France
- August 6 — Cuban Revolution: In response to a United States embargo, Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
- August 6 — In Congo, Albert Kalonji declares independence of Autonomous State of South Kasai
- August 7 — Côte d'Ivoire becomes independent.
- August 11 — Chad becomes independent.
- August 16 — Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,333 m). He sets unbeaten (as of 2005) world records for: high-altitude jump; free-fall by falling 16 miles (25.7 km) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance, 982 km/h (614 mi/h).
- August 16 — Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom
- August 17 — Gabon gains independence from France
- August 17 — Trial of U-2 pilot Gary Powers begins in Moscow
- August 18 — Enovid, the first commercially produced oral contraceptive, is launched in Skokie, Illinois
- August 19 — Cold War: In Moscow, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage
- August 19 — Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5 with the dogs Belka and Strelka (Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. The spacecraft returns to earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.
- August 20 — Senegal breaks from the Mali federation, declaring independence.
- August 25 — 1960 Summer Olympics open in Rome. USS Seadragon (SSN-584) surfaces at the north pole where the crew plays softball.
- August 29 — September 13 — Hurricane Donna kills 50 in Florida-New England area
September
- September 1 — Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.
- September 1 — Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the history of the company (event lasted 2 days)
- September 5 — Cassius Clay wins the gold medal in boxing at the Rome Olympic Games.
- September 5 — Congo president Joseph Kasavubu fires Patrice Lumumba's government and places him under house arrest
- September 8 — In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1)
- September 14 — Colonel Joseph Mobutu takes power in Congo in a military coup
- September 14 — Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela form OPEC
- September 26 — The two leading US presidential candidates, Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy, participate in the first televised presidential debate.
October
- October 1 — Nigeria gains independence — Nnamdi Azikiwe is the first native Governor General
- October 3 — Jânio Quadros, elected president of Brazil, for a five-year term.
- October 5 — White South Africans vote to make the country a republic.
- October 7 — Second notable flood in Horncastle
- October 12 — Cold War: Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a General Assembly of the United Nations meeting to protest discussion of Soviet Union policy toward Eastern Europe.
- October 12 — Otoya Yamaguchi assassinates Inejiro Asanuma, chairman of Japanese Socialist Party
- October 14 — US presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps
- October 24 — Rocket explodes in Baikonur space center during fueling — 91 dead
- October 26 - Robert F. Kennedy calls Coretta Scott King, wife of Dr. Martin Luther King, and secures his release from jail on a traffic violation.
- October 29 — In Louisville, Kentucky, Cassius Clay (who later took the name Muhammad Ali) wins his first professional fight
- October 30 — Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
November
- November 1 — While campaigning for President of the United States, John F. Kennedy announces his idea of the Peace Corps.
- November 2 — Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley's Lover case.
- November 8 — U.S. presidential election, 1960: In a close race, John F. Kennedy is elected over Richard M. Nixon, becoming the youngest man elected to that office.
- November 13 — Sammy Davis, Jr. marries Swedish actress May Britt. Interracial marriage is still illegal in 31 US states out of 50.
- November 15 — The Polaris missile is test launched
- November 22 — United Nations supports government of Joseph Kasavubu and Joseph Mobutu in Congo
- November 28 — Mauritania becomes independent of France
- November 30 — Production of the DeSoto automobile brand ceases
December
- December 1 — Patrice Lumumba, the deposed premier of the Congo was arrested by troops of Col. Joseph Mobutu.
- December 1 — A 5-ton Soviet space ship containing animals, insects and plants was launched into orbit. The spacecraft burned up upon re-entry.
- December 2 — The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Geoffrey Francis Fisher, talked with Pope John XXIII for about an hour in the Vatican. It was the first time in more than 500 years that a head of the Anglican church had visited the Pope.
- December 2 — U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees in Florida. Cuban refugees have been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
- December 2 — Congolese soldiers arrest Patrice Lumumba.
- December 4 — Admission to the United Nations of Mauritania was vetoed by the USSR.
- December 5 — Pierre Lagaillarde, who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, failed to appear in a Paris court. He was reported to have fled with 4 fellow defendants to Spain en route to Algeria.
- December 7 — The United Nations Security Council was called into session by the USSR to consider the Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
- December 9 — French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria was marked by bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria's largest cities, killing 127 people.
- December 12 — A Federal Court ruling that Louisiana's anti-integration laws were unconstitutional was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- December 13 — While the Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was on a visit to Brazil, an unsuccessful revolt against his rule is carried out by his Imperial Guard. The rebels proclaim the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen.
- December 13 — Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras found the Central American Common Market.
- December 14 — Antoine Gizenga proclaims in Stanleyville in the Congo that he has assumed the premiership.
- December 14 — OECD formed in Paris.
- December 15 — King Mahendra of Nepal deposes the government and takes power into his own hands.
- December 15 — Royal wedding in Belgium: King Baudouin of Belgium marries Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon.
- December 16 — U.S. Secretary of State Christian Herter announced that the United States would commit five atomic submarines and 80 Polaris missiles to NATO by the end of 1963.
- December 16 — 1960 New York air disaster: United Airlines DC-8 collides with a TWA Super-Constellation over Staten Island, New York City. All 128 passengers and crew on both planes were killed, as were 6 persons on the ground.
- December 17 — Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia suppress the revolt that started on December 13 and give power back to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
- December 19 — Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, the U.S.'s largest aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, injuring 150 and killing 50.
- December 20 — Discoverer XIX is launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, to measure radiation.
- December 27 — France sets off its third nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggane, Algeria.
Births
January-February
- January 2 - Christian Bartolf, German author and scientist
- January 2 - Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
- January 4 - Michael Stipe, American singer (R.E.M.)
- January 6 - Nigella Lawson, British chef and writer
- January 6 - Howie Long, American football player
- January 12 - Oliver Platt, Canadian actor
- January 13 - Kevin Anderson, American actor
- January 22 - Michael Hutchence, Australian musician (INXS) (d. 1997)
- January 28 - Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
- January 29 - Greg Louganis, American diver
- January 29 - Gia Carangi, American model (d. 1986)
- January 29 - Sean Kerly, British field hockey player
March
- March 4 - Mykelti Williamson, American actor
- March 7 - Joe Carter, baseball player
- March 7 - Ivan Lendl, Czech tennis player
- March 8 - Finn Carter, American actress
- March 13 - Adam Clayton, Irish bassist (U2)
- March 14 - Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- March 18 - Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
- March 21 - Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
- March 23 - Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
- March 24 - Nena Kerner, German singer
- March 26 - Marcus Allen, American football player
- March 27 - Hans Pflügler, former German footballer
- March 29 - Marina Sirtis, British actress
April
- April 2 - Linford Christie, British athlete
- April 3 - Elizabeth Gracen, American beauty queen, actress, and model
- April 4 - Jane Eaglin, English soprano
- April 4 - Hugo Weaving, Australian actor
- April 11 - Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television show host
- April 14 - Brad Garrett, American actor
- April 18 - Neo Rauch, German painter
- April 19 - Frank Viola, baseball player
- April 26 - Roger Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- April 28 - John Cerutti, baseball player and announcer (d. 2004)
- April 29 - Phil King, British bassist
May
- May 6 - Roma Downey, Northern Irish actress
- May 6 - John Flansburgh, American musician (They Might Be Giants)
- May 10 - Bono, Irish singer (U2)
- May 18 - Jari Kurri, Finnish hockey player
- May 18 - Yannick Noah, French tennis player
- May 20 - John Billingsley, American actor
- May 21 - Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer and murder victim (d. 1994)
- May 22 - Hideaki Anno, anime director famous for the series Neon Genesis Evangelion
June
- June 6 - Gary Graham, American actor
- June 6 - Steve Vai, American guitarist
- June 8 - Mick Hucknall English singer and songwriter (Simply Red)
- June 16 - Peter Sterling, Australian rugby player
- June 17 - Michael Monroe, Finnish singer (Hanoi Rocks)
- June 20 - John Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- June 25 - Dario de Judicibus, Italian writer
- June 28 - John Elway, American football player
July
- July 3 - Vince Clarke, English songwriter (Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and Erasure)
- July 5 - Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor
- July 13 - Ian Hislop, British broadcaster and editor of Private Eye
- July 17 - Jan Wouters, Dutch football player and manager
- July 18 - Anne-Marie Johnson, American actress
- July 21 - Ezequiel Viñao, Argentine-born composer
- July 21 - Fritz Walter, German football player
August
- August 4 - José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
- August 7 - David Duchovny, American actor
- August 8 - Ulrich Maly, German politician and Mayor of Nuremberg
- August 10 - Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor
- August 14 - Sarah Brightman, English soprano singer and actress
- August 17 - Sean Penn, American actor
- August 19 - Morten Andersen, American football player
- August 24 - Cal Ripken, Jr., baseball player
- August 26 - Branford Marsalis, American musician
September-October
- September 6 - Bob Stoops, American football coach
- September 6 - Michael Winslow, American actor and comedian
- September 9 - Hugh Grant, English actor
- September 10 - Colin Firth, English actor
- September 16 - John Franco, baseball player
- September 17 - Damon Hill, English race car driver
- October 5 - Daniel Baldwin, American actor
- October 7 - Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
- October 24 - Jaime Garzón, Colombian journalist and comedian (d. 1999)
- October 30 - Diego Maradona, Argentine footballer
November
- November 3 - Karch Kiraly, American volleyball player
- November 10 - Neil Gaiman, English author
- November 11 - Peter Parros, American actor
- November 11 - Stanley Tucci, American actor and film director
- November 25 - Amy Grant, American musician
- November 25 - John F. Kennedy, Jr., American lawyer and journalist and son of President John F. Kennedy (d. 1999)
- November 26 - Harold Reynolds, baseball player and broadcaster
- November 27 - Yulia Tymoshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine
December
- December 2 - Rick Savage, English bassist (Def Leppard)
- December 4 - Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
- December 10 - Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and director
- December 14 - Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
- December 18 - Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- December 19 - Mike Lookinland, American actor
- December 24 - Carol Vorderman, British TV presenter
- December 27 - Maryam d'Abo, British actress
- December 31 - John Allen Muhammad, American serial killer
Deaths
January-June
- January 4 — Albert Camus, French writer, Nobel Prize laureate (automobile accident) (b. 1913)
- January 12 — Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
- January 24 — Edwin Fischer, Swiss pianist and conductor (b. 1886)
- February 3 — Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
- February 10 — Aloysius Stepinac, Catholic prelate (b. 1898)
- February 11 — Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
- February 29 — Walter Yust, American encyclopædia editor (b. 1894)
- March 2 — Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (b. 1874)
- March 9 — Jack Beattie, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)
- April 1 — Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, King of Malaysia (b. 1895)
- April 17 — Eddie Cochran American singer (b. 1938)
- April 24 — Max von Laue, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1879)
- May 3 - Masa Niemi, Finnish actor, famous as Pätkä in the Pekka ja Pätkä films (b. 1914)
- May 8 — J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
- May 11 — John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
- May 30 — Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1890)
- May 31 — Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (b. 1890)
- June 14 — Ana Pauker, Romanian communist politician (b. 1893)
- June 25 — Tommy Corcoran, baseball player (b. 1869)
- June 27 — Lottie Dod, English athlete (b. 1871)
July-December
- July 15 — Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (b. 1897)
- August 29 — Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (b. 1888)
- September 1 — Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, King of Malaysia (b. 1898)
- September 9 — Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (b. 1911)
- November 2 — Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (b. 1896)
- November 5 — Mack Sennett, Canadian film producer and director (b. 1880)
- November 5 — Johnny Horton, American country singer (b. 1925)
- November 7 - A.P. Carter, American singer, songwriter (b. 1891)
- November 16 — Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
- December 26 — Watsuji Tetsuro, Japanese philosopher (b. 1889)
Nobel prizes
- Physics — Donald Arthur Glaser
- Chemistry — Willard Frank Libby
- Physiology or Medicine — Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Peter Brian Medawar
- Literature — Saint-John Perse
- Peace — Albert John Luthuli
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