1960s Timeline

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Dec 15, 2022

Archbishop of Liverpool: Pope John XXIII Is a “Very Sick Man”

Dec. 15, 1962 - The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Liverpool, Dr. John Heenan, said today that Pope John XXIII (pictured with Jacqueline Kennedy in March) is “a very sick man but so very brave.” Dr. Heenan recently returned from the Vatican, where he attended the Ecumenical Council. In London, the mass-circulation newspaper News of the World asserted the 81-year-old Pope has cancer. The paper said the Pope himself knows that he has little time to live. It added: “If he lasts a

Dec 9, 2022

Actor Dick Powell Has Cancer

Dec. 9, 1962 - Actor Dick Powell (pictured with his wife June Allyson) has canceled his television appearances for the remainder of the 1962-63 season on his doctors’ orders. For several months, Mr. Powell has been undergoing cobalt treatment for cancer of the throat and lymph glands. A spokesman for Mr. Powell, who acts as host of Four-Star Productions’“Dick Powell Show” and sometimes takes the leading role in it, said today the actor’s physician had not ordered the 57-year-

Nov 15, 2022

Charles Laughton Ill with Cancer

Nov. 15, 1962 - Charles Laughton, ill with cancer since January, was described today as in “quite serious condition” from the spreading malignancy. The 63-year-old Academy Award winner underwent surgery in June at Holllywood’s Cedars of Lebanon Hospital for removal of vertebrae to which the malignancy had spread. Until recently, the actor had been holding his own and remained cheerful and confident despite his serious illness. After the surgery, Mr. Laughton began receiving c

Sep 27, 2022

Dick Powell Suffering from Cancer

Sept. 27, 1962 - Dick Powell (pictured), a highly successful singer and actor before becoming one of television’s major producers, is suffering from cancer. Mr. Powell, 57, said today he was being treated for cancer in his neck and chest. The president of Four Star Television entered St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., Sept. 13 and was under treatment there 7 days. He left the hospital to convalesce at his home, planning to resume work on six more shows for NBC. “I h

Jun 22, 2022

American Cancer Society Urges Curbs on Marketing Cigarettes to Youth

June 22, 1962 - The American Cancer Society decided today to urge college presidents and the Federal Trade Commission to help curb the promotion of smoking among college students. The society’s 74-member board of directors voted unanimously for a proposal aimed to combat “the apparently intensified promotional campaign in colleges to increase the sale of cigarettes to college students.” The proposal said that the sponsoring of televised college athletic events by tobacco comp

May 25, 2022

Federal Agencies To Examine Link of Cigarette Smoking to Cancer

May 25, 1962 - Two Federal agencies are preparing reports dealing with the possible connection between cigarette smoking and cancer. The first agency, the Federal Trade Commission, has ordered one of its bureaus to draw up a report to help it decide whether cigarette companies should be compelled to include in their advertising a warning about the possible health hazards in cigarette smoking. The second, the Public Health Service, is preparing a report for President Kennedy o

Mar 7, 2022

British Report Links Cigarette Smoking to Lung Cancer

Mar. 7, 1962 - “Cigarette smoking is a cause of lung cancer” and probably contributes to the development of other diseases, the Royal College of Physicians reported in London today. The report said that health hazards associated with cigarette smoking were so great that preventive steps should be taken promptly. The college, a 444-year-old organization of the élite of British medicine, called on the Government to curb the rising consumption of tobacco, especially cigarettes.

Oct 31, 2021

Rayburn Goes Home to End His Days Among Friends and Neighbors

Oct. 31, 1961 - House Speaker Sam Rayburn (pictured last May) went home to Bonham, Texas by ambulance today. The Democratic leader had spent 30 days at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Exploratory surgery on Oct. 5 disclosed an incurable form of cancer. Today was gray and dreary as Mr. Rayburn left the hospital covered with a blanket. His face was thin and drawn and yellow-gray, a startling contrast to his once ruddy, healthy appearance. It was the first time in ne

Sep 20, 2021

Former Film Star Marion Davies Given Last Rites

Sept. 20, 1961 - Marion Davies (pictured in 1935) has been given the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church and was reported to be near death today after a long illness. A church spokesman confirmed that the 61-year-old actress had been given the last rites at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Hollywood, where she has been confined since May. When Joseph P. Kennedy, father of the President, learned of her illness in June, he had three New York specialists flown to her bedside fo

Aug 20, 2021

Percy W. Bridgman, Nobel Prize-Winning Physicist, Commits Suicide

Aug. 20, 1961 - Percy W. Bridgman, a retired Harvard University professor and a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was found dead at his summer home in Randolph, N.H., this morning. He was 79. A medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. Professor Bridgman had been suffering from cancer. State Police said Professor Bridgman shot himself with a .22 caliber sawed-off rifle. His wife found the body. A note he had left read: "It isn't decent for society to make a man do this thing h

Jul 13, 2021

Robert Soblen Guilty of Spying for Communists

July 13, 1961 - Dr. Robert Soblen (left) was found guilty in New York today of wartime espionage for the Soviet Union. The defendant, haggard and pale from the effects of lymphatic leukemia, a form of incurable blood cancer, faces a possible death sentence. However, it was generally assumed that the 66-year-old psychiatrist would be spared the death penalty. Medical experts have said he may have only a year to live. Soblen, slouched in a large contour chair, groaned and burie