Events 1 - 200 of 605
- Jan 1 A photograph of a South African boy in a torn vest is published in the Daily Herald; it was illegal to employ a 'native' under 18 in the mines under the Native Labour Regulation Act
- Jan 1 Bank of France issues new franc, worth 100 times the value of existing francs
- Jan 1 Cameroon (French Cameroon) gains independence from France
Johnny Cash's Prison Show
Jan 1 Johnny Cash plays first of many free concerts behind bars at San Quentin Prison, California; Merle Haggard among the inmate audience
- Jan 1 Montserrat adopts constitution
- Jan 2 1st redshank old world shore bird reported in North America (Halifax)
- Jan 2 John Reynolds sets age of solar system at 4,950,000,000 years
Sessions' 4th Symphony
Jan 2 Roger Sessions' 4th Symphony, in honor of the Minnesota Centennial, premieres by the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Antal Doráti
J.F.K. Announces Candidacy
Jan 2 Senator John F. Kennedy, announces his candidacy for the US Presidency
- Jan 4 European Free Trade Association forms in Stockholm
- Jan 5 Continental League, a proposed third baseball major league, gets an assurance of congressional support from NY Senator Kenneth Keating
- Jan 9 Construction of the Aswan High Dam begins in Egypt
- Jan 10 Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Delmore Schwartz
- Jan 11 LaMar Clark sets pro boxing record of 44 consecutive knockouts
Schayes 1st to 15,000 Points
Jan 12 Syracuse National Dolph Schayes is the 1st NBA player to score 15,000 points
- Jan 14 The Reserve Bank of Australia is established
- Jan 14 Tuindorp-Oostzaan in Northern Amsterdam, flooded
Howe Leading Scorer
Jan 16 Detroit right wing Gordie Howe scores a goal and assist in his 888th career game, a 3-1 win at home over Chicago; becomes NHL's all-time leading scorer, with 947 points passing Montreal's Maurice Richard
- Jan 18 Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes in Virginia, killing all 50 people on-board
- Jan 18 US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
US-Japanese Security Pact
Jan 19 Eisenhower & Premier Kishi sign US-Japanese Security pact
Lumumba Sentenced
Jan 20 Patrice Lumumba sentenced to 6 months in Belgian Congo jail for inciting an anti-colonial riot
- Jan 21 Little Joe 4 suborbital Mercury test reaches 16 km
- Jan 21 Rock falls traps 437 at Coalbrook, South Africa; 417 die of methane poisoning
- Jan 22 Paul Pender beats Sugar Ray Robinson for middleweight boxing title
- Jan 23 US Navy bathyscaphe "Trieste", crewed by Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and USN Lieutenant Don Walsh, becomes first manned vessel to reach bottom of Pacific Ocean (10,916 m) in the Mariana Trench; craft was designed by Auguste Piccard, father of the pilot, in 1953 for the French Navy [1]
- Jan 24 Algeria uprises against French President de Gaulle
Chamberlain's Record Rookie Score
Jan 25 Wilt Chamberlain scores 58 points, the most ever by an NBA rookie, as Philadelphia Warriors beat Detroit Pistons, 127-117 at Bethlehem, PA
- Jan 26 High-school basketball sensation Danny Heater scores 135 points
- Jan 26 Oakland Raiders enter the American Football League
"The Goon Show" Ends
Jan 28 "The Goon Show"'s final episode on BBC radio
- Jan 28 1st photograph bounced off Moon, Washington, D.C.
"La fille mal gardée"
Jan 28 New version of "La fille mal gardée" (1789) choreographed by Frederick Ashton debuts with the Royal Ballet with Nadia Nerina debuts at Covent Garden, London
- Jan 28 NFL announces Dallas Cowboys (1960) & Minnesota Vikings (1961) franchises
- Jan 29 Baseball's new Continental League awards its 8th, and last, franchise to Buffalo, New York
- Jan 30 African National Party is founded in Chad
- Jan 30 CIA OKs Lockheed to produce a new U-2 aircraft (Oxcart)
- Jan 30 Dutch communist trade union EVC'58 disbands
- Jan 30 Riot curtails third days play at Port-Of-Spain WI v England
- Feb 1 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina
Feb 1 Australian Championships Men's Tennis: In a classic all-Australian final Rod Laver beats Neale Fraser 5-7, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6, 8-6; Laver's first Grand Slam title
- Feb 1 Extreme right-wing rebels in Algiers surrender
- Feb 2 Michale Eufemia sinks 625 balls in pool match without a miss
Macmillan's "Winds of Change" Speech
Feb 3 British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes his famous "wind of change" speech in Africa, against the apartheid regime, angering South African politicians
- Feb 4 Giants move their offices to Candlestick Park
- Feb 4 Lionel Bart's musical comedy "Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'be" opens at Garrick Theatre, London; runs for 886 pefromances
- Feb 4 Voters fail to elect a new Baseball Hall of Fame member
- Feb 7 Old handwriting found in at Qumran, near the Dead Sea
Hoagy Carmichael Hollywood Star
Feb 8 American "Stardust" composer and character actor Hoagy Carmichael receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Russell's 50 Rebounds
Feb 8 Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
House of Windsor
Feb 8 Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issues an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor"
- Feb 8 US Congress opens hearings looking into payola
- Feb 9 AFL & NFL agree verbally to a no tampering pact
Lincoln, the Great Commoner
Feb 10 Charles Ives' composition "Lincoln, the Great Commoner" premieres
- Feb 12 Chinese army kills 12 Indian soldiers
- Feb 13 France becomes the 4th nuclear nation by exploding their 1st device, a 70 kilo-ton "Gerboise Bleue" atomic bomb in the French Algerian Sahara desert [1]
Music Recording
Feb 13 Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label, after a failed attempt to buy the Verve label;
- Feb 14 2nd Daytona 500: Junior Johnson survives a 37 car crash on Turn 4 to win driving a John Masoni owned Chevrolet
- Feb 14 Marshal Ayub Khan elected President of Pakistan
- Feb 16 US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
Sports History
Feb 18 Continental League President Branch Rickey and Toronto team owner Jack Kent Cooke announce the opening date of their new baseball league as April 18, 1961
- Feb 18 VIII Winter Olympic Games open in Squaw Valley, California
- Feb 18 Walter O'Malley, LA Dodger owner, purchases Chavez Ravine for $494,000
- Feb 19 Bil Keane's "Family Circus" cartoon strip debuts
- Feb 19 Protest strike in Poznan, Poland
- Feb 19 Swedish cross country skier Sixten Jernberg follows his 50k gold medal in Cortina d'Ampezzo (1956) with victory in 30k event at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics
- Feb 19 Three time Canadian world champions Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul win the pairs figure skating Olympic gold medal at Squaw Valley, California
- Feb 20 Soviet females sweep the 10k cross country event at Squaw Valley; first medal sweep for the Soviets at a Winter Olympics; Maria Gusakova wins from Lyubov Kozyreva and Radya Yeroshina
- Feb 21 Biathlon debuts at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; Klas Lestander from Sweden becomes the first Olympic champion ahead of Finland's Antti Tyrväinen and Soviet Aleksandr Privalov
- Feb 22 German skier Georg Thoma becomes the first non-Nordic athlete to win the Nordic combined event at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics
- Feb 23 Carol Heiss wins the women's figure skating gold medal at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; US takes the singles double after David Jenkins wins men's event
- Feb 23 Demolition begins on Brooklyn's Ebbets Field (opened in 1913)
- Feb 24 Austria goes 1-2 in the men's slalom at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; Ernst Hintersteer wins gold ahead of teammate Hias Leitner
Music Premiere
Feb 25 John Cage's musical composition "Music for Amplified Toy Pianos" premieres in Middletown, Connecticut
- Feb 26 David Jenkins wins the men's figure skating gold medal at the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics; US takes the singles double after Carol Heiss wins women's event
- Feb 26 USA's David Jenkins wins Olympic Gold for men's figure skating
Film & TV History
Feb 26 Vera Miles stars in"Mirror Image" episode of CBS anthology series "The Twilight Zone"
- Feb 26 Verne Gagne beats Doctor X in Omaha, to become NWA wrestling champ
- Feb 27 Oil pipe line from Rotterdam to Ruhrgebied opens
Olympic Games
Feb 27 US Olympic Ice Hockey Team beats USSR 3-2 en route to gold medal
- Feb 27 Veikko Hakulinen of Finland wins his 3rd career Olympic cross country gold medal as part of Finland's 4 x 10k relay team at Squaw Valley, CA; winner: 50k (Oslo, 1952) and 30k (Cortina d’Ampezzo, 1956)
- Feb 28 Home team United States wins its first Olympic ice hockey gold medal at Squaw Valley; with 9-4 win over Czechoslovakia
- Feb 28 VIII Winter Olympic Games close in Squaw Valley, California
- Feb 29 Agadir earthquake in Morocco kills a third of the population (12,000-15,000)
- Feb 29 JFK makes "missile gap" the presidential campaign issue
- Feb 29 KRET TV channel 23 in Richardson, TX (PBS) begins broadcasting
- Mar 3 9th largest snowfall in NYC history (14.5")
- Mar 4 French freighter "La Coubre" explodes in Havana Cuba, killing 100
- Mar 5 Ice Dance Championship at Vancouver won by Denny & Jones (GRB)
- Mar 5 Ice Pairs Championship at Vancouver won by Wagner & Paul (CAN)
Famous Photo
Mar 5 Iconic photograph 'Guerrillero Heroico' taken of Che Guevara at a memorial service in Havana, by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda, possibly the most reproduced photo in history
- Mar 5 The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis originates when Alister Hardy publicly announces his idea that ape-human divergence may have been due to a coastal phase.
- Mar 5 Worlds Ladies' Figure Skating Champions in Vancouver won by Carol E Heiss (USA)
Sukarno Disbands Parliament
Mar 6 President Sukarno of Indonesia disbands existing parliament and replaces it with a new grouping, half appointed by himself
- Mar 7 Dutch Builders strike for CLA
Purple Noon
Mar 10 French-Italian crime film "Purple Noon" premieres starring Alain Delon, directed by René Clément, based on the novel "The Talented Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith
- Mar 10 USSR agrees to stop nuclear testing
- Mar 11 Pioneer 5 launched into solar orbit between Earth & Venus
- Mar 13 LPGA Titleholders Championship Women's Golf, Augusta CC: Fay Crocker of Uruguay wins by 7 strokes ahead of Kathy Cornelius
- Mar 13 NFL's Chicago Cardinals moves to St Louis
- Mar 13 White Sox unveil new road uniforms with players' names above number
- Mar 14 14 die in a train crash in Bakersfield, California
- Mar 14 Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA playoff record of 53 points in Warriors' 132-112 win over Syracuse Nationals at Philadelphia Civic Center
- Mar 15 Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve, also known as John D. Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, established as 1st underwater park, off the coast of Florida
- Mar 16 Dedication of National Observatory at Kitt Peak, in the Quinlan Mountains of the Arizona-Sonoran Desert, Tohono O'odham Nation lands of Arizona dedicated
- Mar 17 US President Eisenhower forms anti-Castro-exile army under the CIA
- Mar 17 WSLA (now WAKA) TV channel 8 in Selma, AL (CBS) begins broadcasting
- Mar 21 Sharpeville Massacre: Police kill 72 in South Africa & outlaws ANC
Historic Invention
Mar 22 1st patent for lasers granted to Arthur Schawlow & Charles Townes
- Mar 23 NASA's Explorer (8) fails to reach Earth orbit
- Mar 25 First guided missile launched from a nuclear powered submarine (USS Halibut)
- Mar 25 Ford Frick voids Indians-Red Sox deal as Sam White retires
- Mar 25 Italian government Tambroni forms
Event of Interest
Mar 25 US Court of Appeal Judge Frederick van Pelt Bryan, in New York City, rules D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover" is not obscene, overturning ban imposed by US postal Service
- Mar 26 Iraq executes 30 after attack on Prime Minister Abd al-Karim Qasim
- Mar 26 Orioles-Reds series planned for Havana is moved to Miami
- Mar 26 USC captures NCAA swimming title
- Mar 28 Pope John appoints the first Japanese, African & Filipino cardinals
- Mar 28 Scotch whisky factory explodes burying 20 fire fighters in Glasgow, Scotland
Music Premiere
Mar 29 Darius Milhaud's 9th Symphony, premieres by the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and with conductor Mario di Bonaventura
- Mar 31 First Nations people first granted the right to vote in Canada, without giving up their Indian status, in repeal of part of Canada Elections Act [1]
- Mar 31 Gore Vidal's play "Best Man" premieres in NYC (Melvyn Douglas - Tony for Best Actor)
- Apr 1 1st weather satellite launched (TIROS 1)
- Apr 1 2nd French atom bomb explodes (Sahara)
- Apr 1 Census determines the resident population of the United States to be 179,245,000
- Apr 1 France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds, Algeria
U Nu
Apr 1 U Nu elected premier of Burma for the third time
- 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
- Apr 3 Elvis Presley records ‘It's Now Or Never’, ‘Fever’ and ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’ at RCA studios in Nashville, Tennessee
- 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 South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd survives an assassination attempt by David Pratt despite being twice shot in the face
- 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
- 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 19 Baseball uniforms begin displaying players' names on their backs
- Apr 19 Comiskey Park's famed "exploding" scoreboard begins operating
- 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
- Apr 27 Togo (formerly French Togo) declares independence from French administration
- Apr 28 WIPM TV channel 3 in Mayaguez, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting
- May 1 India's Bombay state split into Gujarat & Maharashtra states
- May 2 Allen Drury wins Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel "Advise and Consent"
- May 2 US House of Representative investigating committee, looking into payola questions in broadcasting
- May 3 Musical "Fantasticks" by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, opens in Greeenwich Village, NYC, becomes “the longest-running musical in the universe”
Event of Interest
May 3 The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- May 4 1st great Delta dam closes, North-South Beveland
- May 6 Students attack Dutch embassy in Jakarta
- May 6 Trotsky's murderer Jacques Mornard (Ramon Mercader) freed from prison after serving 19 years 8 months in Mexico
- May 6 US President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960
- May 7 Dodgers Larry & Norm Sherry are baseball's 10th brother battery
- May 7 LA Dodger Norm Sherry's 11th HR wins the game for brother Larry
- May 7 USSR announces Francis Gary Powers confesses to being a CIA spy
- May 8 1st performance of Ferde Grofé's "San Francisco Suite", with Grofé conducting, in San Francisco
- May 8 USSR & Cuba resume diplomatic relations
- May 9 Nigeria becomes a member of British Commonwealth
- May 9 The United States becomes the first country to legalize the birth control pill
- May 10 John F. Kennedy wins presidential primary in West Virginia
- May 10 US atomic submarine USS Triton completes 1st submerged circumnavigation of the globe
- May 11 French liner "France" launched
- May 12 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra's 1957 Cy Coleman hit "Witchcraft", and Frank performs Presley's 1956 classic "Love Me Tender"
- May 13 1st launch of Delta satellite launching vehicle; it failed
- May 13 Phillies lose 3rd consecutive 1-0 game
- May 13 WOLE TV channel 12 in Aguadillo, PR
- May 14 USSR launch 1st (unmanned) space capsule
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