1960s Timeline

May 18, 1962 - The conviction a year ago of Pete Seeger, folk singer, was unanimously reversed today by the U.S. Court of Appeals. The indictment was ordered dismissed. Mr. Seeger, who was sentenced to 1 year in prison, has been free on $2,000 bail pending appeal. The 43-year-old folk singer was charged with having refused to answer questions on Communist infiltration in the field of entertainment during a hearing in 1955 before a subcommittee of the House Un-American Activit

Mar. 3, 1962 - Three members of the American Nazi party were arrested last night and charged with wearing illegal uniforms while picketing a rally at New York’s Carnegie Hall sponsored by The Worker, a Communist newspaper. The three Nazi party members were arrested after the police had asked them to stop picketing the Seventh Avenue side of the hall while wearing khaki uniforms with Nazi armbands. They were identified as Seth Ryan, 23 years old; Anthony Wells, 24, and Paul Uh

Feb. 13, 1962 - France’s organized workers laid aside their tools today while hundreds of thousands marched in Paris in homage to the eight persons killed in last week’s Left-Wing demonstrations. With the exception of the liberation of Paris in 1944, it was the most massive outpouring in the capital since the Leftist demonstration of Feb. 12, 1934, which set the stage for the formation of the Popular Front. The demonstration which ended in deadly violence was staged last Thur

Oct. 1, 1961 - South Vietnam's struggle against armed Communist insurgents has grown from guerrilla action to "real war" in the last year, President Ngo Dinh Diem (pictured right) said today. "It is no longer a guerrilla war we have to face but a real war waged by an enemy who attacks us with regular units fully and heavily equipped and who seeks a strategic decision in Southeast Asia in conformity with the orders of the Communist International," President Diem declared. Rece

Sept. 30, 1961 - The American Communist party is moving farther underground in order to resist the Supreme Court's ruling that the party must register as an arm of the Soviet Union, J. Edgar Hoover said today. He said that Gus Hall, general secretary of the party, had been touring the country, urging members to destroy documents that might be used in prosecutions against them. The Supreme Court ruled last June 5 that the party must register with the Justice Department as a fo

Sept. 29, 1961 - The last of Havana's gambling casinos closed quietly today, minutes after Premier Fidel Castro had announced that his government was cleaning up the city. In the days of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship, Havana had about 25 gambling casinos. In other news, Castro's firing squads executed two more men today for their participation in the unsuccessful April invasion at the Bay of Pigs. Forty-six others were sentenced to long prison terms by a revolutionary trib

Sept. 29, 1961 - An American Medical Association publication came up today with a new phobia: "nucleomitophobia," or fear of atomic energy. The publication, "Today's Health," reported that public officials are receiving many calls from frantic persons who think they are "radioactive." The article quoted Dr. Milton A. Dushkin, medical director of the North Shore Hospital in Illinois. Dr. Dushkin said that people were "seeing" submarines in Lake Michigan that shot mysterious ra

Sept. 28, 1961 - An official of the Central Intelligence Agency has testified that fomenting riots, infiltrating police forces, and trying to turn the public against the police were favorite Communist tactics. The witness was Lyman B. Kirkpatrick Jr., inspector general of the CIA. He told of the seizure, in Europe, of a Communist handbook teaching techniques for riots against the police. Few demonstrators engaging in a riot realize they are being led and used by trained Commu

Sept. 27, 1961 - Here is a documentary on the Berlin Wall, the construction of which began August 13. #communism #communist #coldwar #soviet #sovietunion #USSR #politics #history #berlin

Sept. 25, 1961 - Former President Eisenhower commended President Kennedy's U.N. speech today. He said he believed "it summed up, eloquently, the peaceful aims of the American people." The general's remarks were given from the front steps of the red-brick house on the campus of Gettysburg College which he uses as an office. The former President said that it was apparent President Kennedy was standing on the same ground in foreign policy which he - General Eisenhower - had occu

Sept. 25, 1961 - President Kennedy said today that the Western powers would stand firm on West Berlin, but he emphasized that they wished to negotiate and were not committed to a "rigid formula." In a 38-minute address before the U.N. General Assembly, the President warned of the danger of a nuclear war if the Soviet Union should attempt to override Western interests and commitments without engaging in negotiations "rooted in mutual respect and concern for the rights of other

Sept. 24, 1961 - Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy said today that there "is no question" that his brother, President Kennedy, would order use of nuclear weapons if they were essential to save West Berlin's freedom. The Attorney General, on NBC's "Meet the Press," said: "If we retreat, we will never be able to stand up again. The President has said again and again that if we don't stand up in Berlin, when can we stand up?" He predicted that Premier Khrushchev would continue

\Sept. 23, 1961 - Five months have passed since Premier Fidel Castro described triumphantly on television the defeat of the anti-Castro invaders at the Bay of Pigs. However, while the control of his Government has remained strong since then, the popularity of his regime may have slipped. A peasant in Las Villas Province says, "I am going to get out. They give you no freedom. They tell you what to plant, when to kill your pigs, how much to sell for." An agricultural engineer s

Sept. 22, 1961 - For the second time this week, the Communist guerrillas known as Viet Cong launched a devastating attack in South Vietnam. An outpost in Daclac Province, guarded by a company of South Vietnam's Civil Guard, was besieged Wednesday night. The guardsmen were annihilated. Another company rushed to its aid. Since radio contact has been lost with the second company, it is believe that it, too, was annihilated. The province has been infiltrated by at least two batta

Sept. 21, 1961 - Connie Francis (pictured), Louis Armstrong, Sid Caesar, and the comedy team of Rowan and Martin are among the performers Ed Sullivan has lined up for his trip to Berlin. The TV producer and host said today he expected to leave here Sept. 30 to put on shows for military personnel in Germany. Two shows in West Berlin will be taped for telecast by CBS. Mr. Sullivan said he had not altered his plans in any way because of the recent controversy resulting from TV s

Sept. 19, 1961 - President Kennedy welcomed President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche (left) of Peru today and said their two countries stood "shoulder to shoulder" in the fight for "a world at peace, a world of law." The Peruvian President was the first head of state of another American country to visit Washington during the Kennedy Administration. Dr. Prado said he sought the closing of ranks in the Hemisphere "against infiltration by foreign and disruptive ideologies." This was a

Sept. 19, 1961 - The Soviet Union suggested today that the United Nations consider transferring its headquarters from New York to West Berlin. Moscow indicated it would support such a move if the Western powers accepted a Soviet demand to terminate the Allied occupation of West Berlin by converting it into a free city. U.S. officials and foreign diplomats in Washington have informally discussed the possibility of such a move. The feeling is that the idea is impractical, beca

Sept. 19, 1961 - President Kennedy said in a special message today that millions of persons were living under the shadow of another tyranny similar to that of the Nazis. The President's message was read by Secretary of Labor Arthur J. Goldberg after Mr. Goldberg had laid a wreath at the house where Anne Frank (pictured), the young Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis for two years, wrote the diary that made her famous. The house in Amsterdam is now a memorial. President Kennedy

Sept. 18, 1961 - More than 1,000 Communist rebels in South Vietnam attacked and burned the capital of Phuoc Vinh Province, 60 miles north of Saigon, early today. It was the largest rebel assault so far in South Vietnam's civil war. The province chief, an army major, and a large number of Government civil guardsmen were killed. About 50 wounded were rushed to Saigon hospitals after the rebels withdrew under attack. The Viet Cong held the area for several hours in pre-dawn dark

Sept. 17, 1961 - Former President Harry S. Truman talked of many things during a two-hour interview last night with David Susskind. Some of his observations during the "Open End" program: Juvenile delinquency - "There's no more in proportion to the population than there was when I grew up, only we could cover it up because there wasn't so much reporting as there is now." Coexistence - "I hate that word, because there is no such thing. You can't do anything as far as the Russi