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The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is sci-fi anthology series created by Rod Serling that aired on CBS from 1959 until 1964. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist. A popular and critical success, it introduced many Americans to serious science fiction and abstract ideas through television and also through a wide variety of Twilight Zone literature. -
Period: to
1960-1969
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The Flinstones
Meet The Flintstones in this prehistoric Hanna-Barbera production. Primetime's first animated series was also the longest running until The Simpsons came along. Not so coincidentally, the two shows aren't all that different--even if the former emerged in the sixties, the latter in the eighties. -
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is a sitcom that aired on CBS from 1960 until 1968 about a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife (Don Knotts), a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier), and a young son, Opie. -
1960 Presidential Election
Richard Nixon and JFK square off in the First Televised Presidential Debates. JFK won the popular vote by a slim 100,000 votes. But, won the Electoral college with 303 votes. Nixon 7 years later, was elected in the 1968 election and eventually was impeached from office in 1974. -
Construction of Berlin Wall Begins
The construction of the Berlin Wall begins by the Soviet block. Segregating the German city previously held in four sectors by Allied forces, including the United States. The wall would last for twenty-eight years, before eventually, being visited by President Reagan and telling Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall". -
The Dick Van Dyke Show
Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore's collaboration created one of the funniest couples in TV history. The Dick Van Dyke Show was based on producer Carl Reiner's experiences working for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, giving this classic sit-com a very authentic experience of what life was like back in the early 1960's -
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Based on Truman Capote's novel, this is the story of a young woman in New York City who meets a young man when he moves into her apartment building. He is with an older woman who is very wealthy, but he wants to be a writer. She is working as an expensive escort and searching for a rich, older man to marry. -
Desegregation of the University of Mississppi
Three thousand troops work to stop riots, eventually allowing James Meredith to enter the University of Mississippi as the first black student under guard by Federal marshals. White supremarcy groups such as the KKK targeted him. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
In Dallas, Texas, during a motorcade through downtown, President John F. Kennedy is mortally wounded by assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn into office later that day. Two days later, Oswald was himself killed on live national television by Jack Ruby while being transported in police custody. -
British Invasion
Beatlemania hits the shores of the United States with the release of I Want to Hold Your Hand, which becomes the Liverpool group's first North American hit. One week later, their first U.S. album Meet the Beatles is released. -
Dr. Strangelove
Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 political satire black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The film was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick, stars Peter Sellers and George C. Scott, and features Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, and Slim Pickens. Production took place in the United Kingdom. The film is loosely based on Peter George's thriller novel Red Alert (1958). -
The Pink Panther
In this first film of the beloved comic series, dashing European thief Sir Charles Lytton (David Niven) plans to steal a diamond, but he's not the only one with his eyes on the famous jewel known as the "Pink Panther." His nephew George (Robert Wagner) also aims to make off with the gem, and to frame Charles for the crime. Blundering French police inspector Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers) intercedes, but finds his career -- and his freedom -- jeopardized. -
Bewitched
Bewitched enjoyed great popularity, finishing as the number two show in America during its debut season. The show continues to be seen throughout the world in syndication and was the longest-running supernatural-themed sitcom of the 1960s–1970s era. -
Watts Race Riots
On August 11, 1965, an African-American motorist was arrested for suspicion of drunk driving. A minor roadside argument broke out, and then escalated into a fight. The community reacted in outrage to allegations of police brutality that soon spread, and six days of looting and arson followed. Los Angeles police needed the support of nearly 4,000 members of the California Army National Guard to quell the riots, which resulted in 34 deaths and over $40 million in property damage. -
First US Black Senator in 85 Years
The first black United States Senator in eighty-five years, Edward Brooke, is elected to Congress. Brooke was the Republican candidate from Massachusetts and former Attorney General of that state. -
First Black Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall is sworn into office as the first black Supreme Court Justice. -
Martin Luther King is killed
Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while standing on a motel balcony by James Earl Ray. -
The Moon Landing
The Apollo program completes its mission. Neil Armstrong, United States astronaut, becomes the first man to set foot on the moon four days after launch from Cape Canaveral. His Apollo 11 colleague, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. accompanies him.
