1960s Timeline

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Mar 23

300 Demonstrators Picket Kennedy at Berkeley

Mar. 23, 1962 - Critics and defenders of Administration policies stuck to plans to picket President Kennedy’s visit to the University of California at Berkeley today. About 200 youths out of the total Berkeley student body of 22,000 sat silent, some reading newspapers, in front of a big poster lettered: “Mr. President: for humanity’s sake, we oppose all nuclear testing.” Perhaps 300 critics of the Administration, carrying nearly 100 signs, marched up the hill to Memorial Stad

Mar 23

President Kennedy Speaks at University of California, Berkeley

Mar. 23, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that the democratic world could look forward to the future with “a new confidence.” The tide of history, he asserted, favors freedom over totalitarianism. Mr. Kennedy sounded his note of optimism before a crowd of 86,000 persons gathered in the University of California’s football stadium in Berkeley. “The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed,” he declared, “but the liberation of the diverse

Mar 23

President Witness Missile Launch at Vanderberg Air Force Base

Mar. 23, 1962 - President Kennedy witnessed a successful launching of an Atlas-D missile at Vanderberg Air Force Base in California today. Mr. Kennedy watched from a vantage point 6,000 feet away as the slim white missile rose and arched away on a course that took it more than 5,000 miles into the Pacific. Mr. Kennedy’s only recorded comment was: “McHugh is saved.” This was a joking reference to Brig. Gen. Godfrey T. McHugh, the President’s Air Force aide, who had assured him

Mar 23

De Gaulle: Smash the Terrorists

Mar. 23, 1962 - President de Gaulle ordered today the “pitiless” repression of “the armed insurrection” in Algeria. He declared that “everything must be done immediately to smash and punish the criminal action” of the Right-wing European terrorists in Algiers and Oran. The President of France gave every indication that he was furious over the attack against the French Army by terrorists of the Secret Army Organization (OAS). This attack caused widespread shock to a large exte

Mar 22

Contralto Marian Anderson Meets President, Performs for Washington Officials

Mar. 22, 1962 - Marian Anderson, the contralto, exchanged mementos with President Kennedy today. Their meeting preceded a concert she gave in Washington tonight for top officials and diplomats. Miss Anderson presented Mr. Kennedy with her latest record, “Spirituals,” and received a reproduction of the Inauguration emblem in return. After a brief visit with the President, she had lunch with wives of Cabinet members. Miss Anderson said she did not expect the President to attend

Mar 22

VIDEO: "Airport in the Jet Age"

Mar. 22, 1962 - "Airport in the Jet Age" is an educational film about modern airplane travel. #history #1960s #historyinpictures #historylover #historybuff #HistoryInTheMaking #historychannel #HistoryLesson #historymemes #podcast #historylovers #politics #historybooks #historybook #historyphoto #historyclass #coldwar #airport

Mar 22

Air Force Ejects Bear from B-58 At Altitude of 35,000 Feet

Mar. 22, 1962 - The Air Force ejected a bear strapped inside a capsule from a B-58 traveling 870 miles an hour at an altitude of 35,000 feet yesterday. The bear and the capsule parachuted to earth unharmed 7 minutes and 49 seconds later. It was the first time in the series of such tests that a living animal had been ejected at supersonic speed. A bear was used because it is nearly the weight of a man. The new capsule, a clamshell closure around an ejection seat, is designed t

Mar 22

Mrs. Kennedy Receives Horse in Pakistan

Mar. 22, 1962 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy received a horse today from President Mohammad Ayub Khan of Pakistan. She also saw the Shalamar Gardens, of which she said: “It’s even lovelier than I dreamed.” Mrs. Kennedy spent an hour and a half at Lahore’s biggest social event of the year, the Pakistani National Horse and Cattle Show. Mrs. Kennedy gave some indication of her reaction to the hospitality shown her when she stood for 30 seconds before a microphone in the 320-year-old

Mar 22

East German Police Fire at Car of U.S. Military Mission in Berlin

Mar. 22, 1962 - East German policemen fired at a car of the U.S. military mission attached to Soviet forces in East Germany, an Army spokesman said today. The two occupants of the vehicle, an Army officer and his driver, were unhurt, although the car was struck by several bullets. Informed Allied sources said the policemen signaled the U.S. Army car to halt while it was traveling on a public highway. The Americans stopped, but the officer immediately demanded that a Soviet re

Mar 21

Nixon Rejects Kennedy's Denial of 1960 Cuban Invasion Briefing

Mar. 21, 1962 - Richard M. Nixon declined today in the face of a Presidential denial to alter his contention that Senator John F. Kennedy (pictured with Allen W. Dulles in July 1960) had taken advantage in the 1960 campaign of confidential C.I.A. briefings on Cuban invasion preparations. The former Vice President’s assertion was made this week in a magazine excerpt from a forthcoming book, “Six Crises.” He said today: “President Eisenhower [now vacationing at nearby Palm Dese

Mar 21

President Reflects on Plight of Reservists

Mar. 21, 1962 - President Kennedy (pictured aboard the PT-109 in the South Pacific in 1943) commiserated today with impatient Reservists who were mobilized in the Berlin crisis last fall and now are clamoring to be released. “There is always inequity in life,” the President observed philosophically at his news conference. Some Reservists, he noted, had been called back to active duty even after apparently fulfilling their military obligations, while others continued a “normal

Mar 21

President Optimistic on Health Care Bill for Aged

Mar. 21, 1962 - The Administration bill to add medical care for the aged to the Social Security system has a “good chance” of passage this year, President Kennedy indicated today. At his news conference, Mr. Kennedy rebuked those who argue that his bill would be the opening wedge for socialized medicine. On that point, Mr. Kennedy declared with some emphasis: “Well, it’s an old argument, when a case is lost, to argue that it’s all right here, but what’s it going to mean for t

Mar 21

Highlights From President Kennedy's Press Conference

Mar. 21, 1962 - Following are some of the highlights of President Kennedy’s press conference:  Space — The President said he was “gratified” at the interest expressed by Premier Khrushchev in space cooperation. Cuba — The President said the U.S. would defend itself if it were attacked anywhere, but that he had no information about a threat to the naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. Geneva — He said that the disarmament talks should continue, but he noted a “basic difference

Mar 21

Kennedy Sees No Evidence of Impending Cuban Attack

Mar. 21, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that he had no evidence of an impending Cuban attack on the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay. He added at his news conference that the U.S. was always prepared to defend any territory under its responsibility. The President’s statement was made in response to a question about possible plans for increasing the base’s defenses in view of reports of a Cuban military buildup. The President said that “we are always concerned about the

Mar 21

First Lady Arrives in Pakistan

Mar. 21, 1962 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy arrived in Pakistan today to a rousing welcome in which the accent was on the nation’s friendly bonds with the U.S. The President’s wife flew to Lahore after a carefree half hour with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the conclusion of her visit to India. They dabbed each other with moist red powder to mark one of the happiest of Hindu holidays. Shortly after being presented with twin tiger cubs in Mr. Nehru’s garden in New Delhi, the

Mar 21

French Battle Right-Wing Terrorists in Algeria

Mar. 21, 1962 - French military policemen battled with Right-Wing terrorists in the center of Oran, Algeria, for two hours today. European snipers fired at the gendarmes from housetops as others threw grenades out of windows at them. The gendarmes shot back and called up armored cars. At least 14 persons were injured, with casualties evenly distributed between the gendarmes and civilians. Six of the injured civilians were arrested and liable to be tried by the newly establish

Mar 21

Khrushchev Agrees to Talks on Cooperative Space Ventures

Mar. 21, 1962 - Premier Khrushchev accepted today President Kennedy’s proposal for talks between the two countries on practical cooperation in space research. In a message to Mr. Kennedy, the Soviet leader declared that problems of exploration and peaceful use of outer space “demand an extensive pooling of scientific and material resources by states.” While cautioning that cooperation in space would be limited until conclusion of an agreement on complete disarmament, Mr. Khru

Mar 20

Sociologist C. Wright Mills Dead at 46

Mar. 20, 1962 - C. Wright Mills (pictured), author and Professor of Sociology at Columbia University, died today of a heart attack in his home in Nyack, N.Y. He was 46 years old. Mr. Mills, who was on leave of absence, had just completed a book, “The Marxists,” which is scheduled for publication soon. Mr. Mills, who was once called a “somewhat angry sociologist,” was a hard-working Texan who wrote books that were both scholarly and popular. He once said: “Whether I have writt

Mar 19

Mrs. Kennedy Rides Elephant in India

Mar. 19, 1962 - Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy rode an eight-foot-high elephant around a 17th-century palace courtyard today. After the elephant had stomped about for 10 minutes, Mrs. Kennedy said, “Good-by and thank you” to both the driver and the elephant. The elephant, a 35-year-old female named Bibia (baby) raised a front leg and its trunk in salute. Later, the wife of President Kennedy went to the sprawling white home of the Maharaja of Jaipur and his Maharani, Gayatri Devi, a

Mar 19

Nixon Claims Kennedy Flouted Security Restrictions in 1960 Campaign

Mar. 19, 1962 - Richard M. Nixon has charged in a new book that President Kennedy endangered security restrictions in 1960 with his campaign call for intervention in Cuba. Mr. Nixon wrote Mr. Kennedy had been given a secret intelligence briefing in which he was told that the Eisenhower Administration was training Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba. The briefing was given by Allen Dulles, then director of the C.I.A., Mr. Nixon said. It came before Mr. Kennedy declared on Oct