1960s Timeline

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Oct 22, 2021

U.S. Soldiers with Fixed Bayonets Escort Diplomat into East Berlin

Oct. 22, 1961 - Nine armed United States soldiers moved into East Berlin twice today to enforce the right of an American diplomat to enter the Communist-held sector. The diplomat had been stopped by East German border guards. It was the first time armed U.S. troops had crossed into the Communist sector of Berlin during the current crisis. The soldiers, a military police patrol, advanced from West Berlin to provide an escort for E. Allan Lightner Jr., assistant chief of the U.

Oct 21, 2021

Kennedy to Witness Amphibious Exercises in San Diego

Oct. 21, 1961 - President Kennedy will witness Navy and Marine Corps amphibious exercises at San Diego, Calif., on Nov. 18, the White House said today. Mr. Kennedy’s appearance at San Diego will be an extension of a Western speaking trip already announced. He will speak at Seattle and Phoenix on Nov. 16 and 17. In Newport, R.I., where the President is spending the weekend with Mrs. Kennedy and their two children, he will have lunch tomorrow with Adlai E. Stevenson, chief del

Oct 21, 2021

Kennedy Spokesman: Anyone Who Attacks U.S. Will Be Destroyed

Oct. 21, 1961 - The U.S. is so strong and its power so well-deployed that an aggressor making a sneak nuclear attack would invite self-destruction, an Administration spokesman said today. Roswell Gilpatric (pictured between President Kennedy and Robert McNamara), Deputy Secretary of Defense, said the Government’s confidence in its ability to deter Communist action was based on an appreciation of the military power of each side. Mr. Gilpatric’s remarks were cleared at the high

Oct 21, 2021

General Taylor Tours Fighting Zones in South Vietnam

Oct. 21, 1961 - Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem) and his chief aides made an extensive air and ground tour of fighting zones in South Vietnam today. They had a look at the enemy, through binoculars, where the Ben Hai River separates the embattled South from Communist-ruled North Vietnam. General Taylor was described as “impressed” with the training of the Vietnamese soldiers and the strength of the fortifications he had observed.

Oct 19, 2021

East German Communists Reward Children for Informing

Oct. 19, 1961 - The Communists are offering prizes to children who betray people, including family members, trying to escape from East Germany. Footballs and track suits have been handed out to young informers in the border area. The vigilant youngsters are all members of the Young Pioneers (pictured), the junior Communist youth movement for 10 to 14-year-olds. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcastlife #podcastshow #podcastlove #podcastaddict #podcast

Oct 19, 2021

North Vietnamese Delegation Assails U.S. on Taylor Trip

Oct. 19, 1961 - The Communist North Vietnamese delegation at the Laotian conference in Geneva assailed the United States today for having sent Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured) to South Vietnam. A spokesman for the delegation said that the general’s mission was another step toward what he called the U.S. plan for “torpedoing the peaceful reunification of Vietnam.” Should the U.S. send troops to South Vietnam, “it will have to accept all the responsibility and the consequences

Oct 18, 2021

Eisenhower: West Embraces Spiritual Values that Communists Deny

Oct. 18, 1961 - Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (pictured the day before his inauguration in 1953) said today that the Western world should capitalize on its “unique” spiritual strength in the Cold War with the Communist world. In a speech delivered at the annual dinner of the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation in New York, the general asserted that the West had a greater appeal to world opinion than the Communist because it was committed to spiritual values that the C

Oct 18, 2021

Highlights of Khrushchev Speech in Moscow

Oct. 18, 1961 - Following are highlights of Premier Khrushchev’s speech yesterday at the 22nd congress of the Soviet Communist party in Moscow: - World’s Future: The downfall of imperialism and the triumph of socialism are inevitable. - United States: “American capitalism has passed its prime and is declining.” - Wages: By 1970, no workers in the Soviet Union will be receiving low wages. - Steel: By 1970, Soviet steel output will exceed present U.S. production by 55 million m

Oct 18, 2021

President Diem Places South Vietnam in “State of Emergency”

Oct. 18, 1961 - President Ngo Dinh Diem (pictured) placed South Vietnam in a “state of emergency” today after announcing that Col. Hoang Thuy Nam, his chief liaison officer with the International Control Commission, had been murdered by Viet Cong guerrillas. Colonel Nam was kidnapped by a Viet Cong band Oct. 1 while he was driving near his farm 12 miles north of Saigon. His body, which a coroner’s report said showed evidence of torture, was discovered yesterday in the Saigon

Oct 17, 2021

U.S. to Soviets: Don’t Explode 50-Megaton Weapon

Oct. 17, 1961 - The U.S. called upon the Soviet Union today to reconsider the planned explosion of a fifty-megaton atomic weapon. Such an explosion would serve “no legitimate purpose,” a statement by the White House said. The statement said that the testing of a 50-megaton bomb was not essential for either military or technical reasons and would only have the effect of adding to the radioactive fallout produced by the current intensive series of atomic tests by the Soviet Uni

Oct 17, 2021

Eisenhower Talks Fallout Shelters, Nuclear War

Oct. 17, 1961 - Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (pictured in Warsaw in 1945) said today that he did “not know the right answer to give the people” on whether to build fallout shelters. He said he had been urged to build a shelter on his farm at Gettysburg and that he would do it “if I were not so deeply certain that it would alarm the people.” General Eisenhower was asked if the fact that both the Communists and the West had atomic bombs would preclude the use of nuclea

Oct 17, 2021

Khrushchev Addresses 22nd Congress of Soviet Communist Party

Oct. 17, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev said today that he would withdraw his deadline for a German peace treaty this year if the Western powers showed readiness to negotiate on Berlin and Germany. Mr. Khrushchev made his offer in an address opening the 22nd congress of the Soviet Communist party. He coupled this proposal with an announcement that the Soviet Union would probably end its tests of nuclear weapons this month with the explosion of a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb. Such a bo

Oct 16, 2021

U.S. Eighth Infantry to Assist on “The Longest Day”

Oct. 16, 1961 - Seven hundred troops of the U.S. Eighth Infantry Division will be brought to Normandy from West Germany next week to help make a motion picture. A spokesman for the U.S. European Command said today the Defense Department had approved a request for the troops from Darryl F. Zanuck, the producer. The spokesman said supplying of troops was common when the Defense Department felt the armed services would benefit from the publicity. He added that the Berlin crisis

Oct 16, 2021

President Kennedy Meets with Finland President Kekkonen

Oct. 16, 1961 - President Urho K. Kekkonen (left) of Finland assured President Kennedy today that his country’s main purpose was “the maintenance of our independence and the safeguarding of our national way of life.” Mr. Kennedy, in a toast to the Finnish visitor at a White House luncheon, told him: “We admire your country. We admire its courage in war, and we admire its courage in peace.” Mr. Kennedy, who is interested in physical fitness and athletic prowess, called attenti

Oct 16, 2021

Communist Viet Cong on the Move in South Vietnam

Oct. 16, 1961 - According to reports, a Viet Cong unit of battalion strength overwhelmed a South Vietnamese civil guard garrison last Wednesday night near Dato, a strategically placed town in the crucial central region of the country. The Communists hope to establish a Red “liberation government” among the primitive mountain tribesmen there. The Reds are said to have gained the tribes’ confidence by adopting their ways, even to the extent of filing their teeth in the mountain

Oct 15, 2021

New York Teachers: Nuclear Drills “Utter Futility”

Oct. 15, 1961 - New York’s Empire State Federation of teachers today called nuclear-shelter drills in public schools “utter futility.” “Drills in many schools provide no shelter whatsoever,” the federation said in a resolution. “Pupils are merely led to nearby corridors from their classrooms.” The federation said such shelter would provide no protection whatsoever against the blast, heat, or radiation from a nuclear explosion. The program “has psychologically bad effects on p

Oct 15, 2021

Production Increasing for M-14 Rifle

Oct. 15, 1961 - After years of delays and deficiencies in the program to equip Army troops with the new M-14 rifle, officials say that production and distribution of the weapon are on course. The officials noted that the Berlin garrison, combat units of the Seventh Army, the 101st Airborne Division in this country, and various training units had the new semi-automatic weapon that was adopted in 1957 to replace the M-1 of World War II and Korea. President Kennedy, answering cr

Oct 15, 2021

General Taylor Leaves for South Vietnam

Oct. 15, 1961 - Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor (pictured) left for South Vietnam today and indicated that the U.S. would be reluctant to commit troops against Communist-backed guerrillas there “unless absolutely necessary.” His remarks appeared to reflect a tendency on the part of Administration sources to pull back from earlier warnings of the possible use of U.S. troops in the fighting. These sources are now stressing the possibility that teams of experienced troops, perhaps of 1,

Oct 14, 2021

Nixon Modifies Pessismistic Remarks on ’64 Election

Oct. 14, 1961 - Richard M. Nixon said today that current polls show President Kennedy “riding high” politically. But he added that “anyone would be foolish to assume this will be the situation in three years.” The prepared statement appeared to modify more pessmistic remarks about the 1964 presidential election recently attributed to Mr. Nixon. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcastlife #podcastshow #podcastlove #podcastaddict #podcasthost #history #Hi

Oct 14, 2021

President Kennedy Meets the Press

Oct. 14, 1961 - Pierre Salinger (pictured right), presss secretary, said today that the White House was paying for the series of luncheons President Kennedy is giving for newspaper editors and publishers with funds from the Presidential entertainment allowance. Mr. Kennedy had the third such session in Washington today, with 21 newspapermen from Missouri as his guests. Previously, he had entertained groups from Kentucky and New Jersey. “The President likes to meet with editor