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Russians send the first man into space
Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union was the first human in space. His vehicle, Vostok 1 circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour with the flight lasting 108 minutes. Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer. Unlike the early US human spaceflight programs, Gagarin did not land inside of capsule. -
SNCC formed
sought to coordinate and assist direct-action challenges to the civic segregation and political exclusion of African Americans. -
first televised presidential debate
The first-ever televised debate between presidential candidates was held on September 26, 1960. An estimated total of sixty to seventy million viewers watched the first and the successive debates, which came to be known as “the Great Debates.” -
First airing of “The Flintstones”
was the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television. The show follows the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their pet dinosaur, Dino, and they later on have a baby girl named Pebbles. -
Roger Maris of the Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s single season home run record
Maris' 60th blast came in his team's 158th game of the 1961 season. Five days later, Maris would set a new Major League single-season record of 61 home runs, a record that would hold for 37 years. His American League record still stands, for now -
Berlin Wall is constructed
The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the Cold War and a tangible manifestation of the world's separation into two distinct ideological blocs -
SDS releases its Port Huron statement
that proposed a new form of “participatory democracy” to rescue modern society from destructive militarism and cultural alienation. -
Marilyn Monroe dies
Known for playing comic "blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as well as an emblem of the era's sexual revolution -
Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States -
James Meredith registers at Ole Miss
officially became the first African American student at the University of Mississippi on October 2, 1962. He was guarded twenty-four hours a day by reserve U.S. deputy marshals and army troops, and he endured constant verbal harassment from a minority of students. -
“Dr. No” the first James Bond movie premieres
Directed by Irish filmmaker Terence Young and starring Scottish-born actor Sean Connery as Bond, Dr. No launched one of the most successful film franchises in history. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba. -
Lyndon B Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater
The election was held on November 3, 1964. Johnson beat Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61% of the popular vote. Johnson became the only Democrat between 1944 and 1976 to win a majority of the popular vote. -
John F Kennedy is assassinated
the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas -
the beatles arrive in the united states
A throng of screaming fans was on hand to greet The Beatles as they stepped triumphantly off their plane at Kennedy Airport from London for the first time -
The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan
The Beatles made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, including three in February 1964 that were among their first appearances in front of an American audience. -
New York World’s Fair begins
The 1964-65 World's Fair theme was “Peace through Understanding,” and hosted 80 countries, the United States government, 24 states, and the City of New York. Robert Moses served as president of the World's Fair Corporation and opened the fair on April 22, 1964. -
President Kennedy is elected
Kennedy ran in the 1960 presidential election. His campaign gained momentum after the first televised presidential debates in American history, and he was elected president, narrowly defeating Republican opponent Richard Nixon, the incumbent vice president. -
Malcolm X assassinated
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X, a religious and civil rights leader, was assassinated during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan. Malcolm X was just 39 years old and left behind his wife, Betty Shabazz, and six young daughters—including twins born after his death. -
Watts race riots
took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. On August 11, 1965, Marquette Frye, a 21-year-old African-American man, was pulled over for drunken driving -
“Star Trek” TV show airs
Star Trek debuted for the first time on television with “The Man Trap,” the pilot episode of Star Trek -
First NFL Football Super Bowl
On this sunny, 72-degree afternoon in the middle of Southern California, the Green Bay Packers took on the Kansas City Chiefs in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship, which would later be known as Super Bowl I. -
Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s album
the band's eighth album became the soundtrack to the "summer of love" but its appeal is timeless. -
Thurgood Marshall nominated to the Supreme Court
President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated distinguished civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall to be the first African American justice to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. -
Boxer Muhammed Ali refuses military service
Muhammad Ali Convicted for Refusing the Vietnam Draft. In an era defined by endless war, we should recognize a day in history that won't be celebrated on Capitol Hill or in the White House. On June 20, 1967, the great Muhammad Ali was convicted in Houston for refusing induction in the U.S. armed forces. -
San Francisco “Summer of Love” begins
an accident precipitated by the widespread consumption of music, television, and magazines. -
LSD declared illegal by the U.S. government
being viewed as a cultural threat to American values and the Vietnam war effort, and it was designated as a Schedule I (illegal for medical as well as recreational use) substance in 1968 -
Tet Offensive
a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War
Jan 30, 1968 – Sep 23, 1968 -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7:05 p.m. -
Robert Kennedy is assassinated
also known by his initials RFK, was an American politician and lawyer. He served as the 64th United States attorney general from January 1961 to September 1964 -
Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
protests were a series of protests against the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War that took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. -
Richard Nixon is elected
was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California -
Stonewall riots
series of violent confrontations that began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, between police and gay rights activists outside the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in the Greenwich Village section of New York City. As the riots progressed, an international gay rights movement was born. -
American astronauts land on the moon
landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, and Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon's surface six hours and 39 minutes later, on July 21 at 02:56. -
Woodstock concert
a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock. -
The Rolling Stones host the Altamont music festival
The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some anticipating that it would be a "Woodstock West".