1960s Timeline

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Oct 20

Pentagon Denies Possibility of “Accidental War”

Oct. 20, 1962 - Administration officials said today that the Government was spending vast sums of money to improve existing precautions against accidental general war. At the same time, these officials asserted that the kind of accident dramatized in a new novel was virtually impossible. They said the novel distorted the airborne bomber alert system now in use. The novel, “Fail-Safe,” is by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler. It has attracted considerable notice at the Pentago

Jul 17

(VIDEO) JFK and Secretary Rusk Talk Test Ban Negotiations

July 10, 1962 - In the wake of a U.S. nuclear test on the fringes of outer space, President Kennedy and Secretary Dean Rusk comment on test ban negotiations with the Soviet Union. Click here for complete news report. #JFK #nuclear #nuclearwar #nuclearblast #coldwar

Jul 8

(VIDEO) Secretary of State Dean Rusk on Nuclear Inspections

July 8, 1962 - Secretary of State Dean Rusk discusses new technologies for detecting nuclear tests. #nuclearwar #war #coldwar #1960s #russia

Nov 10, 2021

Texas Congressman Says U.S. has up to 40,000 Nukes

Nov. 10, 1961 - The United States has 35,000 to 40,000 nuclear weapons in its stockpile, equivalent to 35 billion tons of TNT, Representative Bruce Alger (pictured right last year), Republican of Texas, said today. He told the Petroleum Engineers Club in Dallas that he could disclose the facts without jeopardizing security. The equivalent of 16 billion tons of TNT in this stockpile is available for immediate retaliation, he declared. To transport these, the U.S. has 6,000 mis

Oct 31, 2021

What if a 50-Megaton Bomb Exploded Over Manhattan?

Oct. 31, 1961 - If exploded in the air over downtown Manhattan, a 50-megaton bomb would destroy homes as far away as Passaic, N.J. and ignite fires as far away as West Point, N.Y. Beneath its massive fireball, the bomb, with its hurricane-like blast wave and intense burst of radiation, would cause total destruction to buildings and life within about a five-mile circle encompassing lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Hoboken, and Jersey City. The intense heat of the explosion would cau

Sep 16, 2021

U.S. and Soviets Each Detonate Nuclear Devices

Sept. 16, 1961 - The United States and the Soviet Union detonated nuclear devices today. Both were announced in Washington by the Atomic Energy Commission. The U.S. test, the second in two days, was again fired underground in Nevada. It was described as being of "low yield." The Soviet test was fired in the atmosphere at Novaya Zemlya, a Siberian test center, and was the 11th since Moscow broke the 3-year-old unofficial moratorium on nuclear tests. Like the others, it was fir

Sep 15, 2021

TV: "Twilight Zone" Season Three Premiere Tonight

Sept. 15, 1961 - On tonight's Season Three premiere of "The Twilight Zone," two survivors of an apocalyptic battle, a man (Charles Bronson) and a woman (Elizabeth Montgomery) from opposing sides, approach each other suspiciously. 10 p.m. on #CBS. #tv #classictv #classictelevision #scifi #sciencefiction #fantasy #war #nuclearwar

Sep 15, 2021

🚨U.S. Resumes Atomic Testing with Underground Blast in Nevada

Sept. 15, 1961 - The United States resumed atomic testing today by setting off a small underground explosion in Nevada. It was the first atomic weapons test by the U.S. since Oct. 30, 1958, when testing was voluntarily suspended in a futile attempt to reach a test-ban agreement with the Soviet Union. In announcing the explosion, President Kennedy (pictured at the Vienna Summit with Premier Khrushchev in June) said the U.S. had been "forced reluctantly" to renew testing becaus

Sep 15, 2021

President Kennedy Urges Home Fallout Shelters

Sept. 15, 1961 - President Kennedy is spurring Americans to build home fallout shelters to cut the nation's losses in case of nuclear war. But of 14 high officials who sit with Mr. Kennedy on the National Security Council or in his Cabinet, none has built a shelter. The White House has an elaborate bomb shelter, built during the Truman Administration. Mr. Kennedy has several secret shelters available within a 2-hour drive or a 20-minute helicopter trip from Washington. Vice P

Sep 12, 2021

Soviets Conduct Yet Another Atomic Test

Sept. 12, 1961 - The Soviet Union conducted the seventh atomic test in its current series by detonating a multi-megaton device in the atmosphere early today at its Arctic proving ground. The Atomic Energy Commission said the detonation, presumably of a hydrogen bomb, took place in the vicinity of the island of Novaya Zemlya (pictured). The island, which lies between the Barents and Kara Seas, has been used by the Soviets in recent years to test large thermonuclear weapons. On

Sep 10, 2021

Pope John XXIII Prays for the "Human Family"

Sept. 10, 1961 - Pope John XXIII called on the leaders of the East and West today to negotiate their differences and remove the threat of war that hangs over the world. The Pope urged the leaders to "face squarely the tremendous responsibilities they bear before the tribunal of history and, what is more, before the judgment of God." Pope John ended his appeal by asking all believers to pray for peace, saying, "Let us pray with one another and for one another and for all the s

Sep 9, 2021

Khrushchev Blames West for Soviet Nuclear Tests

Sept. 9, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev declared today that nuclear testing could be ended only by Western acceptance of Soviet proposals for a German peace treaty and complete disarmament. The Soviet rejected President Kennedy's proposal for outlawing nuclear testing in the atmosphere. Premier Khrushchev insisted that the Soviet Union had resumed nuclear testing only because the Western powers were threatening war in response to the Soviet proposal for a German peace treaty. "Wei

Sep 7, 2021

Nehru after Khrushchev Meeting: "Foul Winds of War Are Blowing"

Sept. 7, 1961 - Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of India talked for two hours today with Premier Khrushchev at the Kremlin and came out gloomy. "Once again the foul winds of war are blowing," Mr. Nehru said. "There are atomic tests and the world grows fearful. Once the door of war is opened, life on earth will be completely extinguished. It is strange that when man has the power to improve the lot of humanity and to open the doors of progress, the ghost of war should fall on

Sep 6, 2021

Russians Explode Nuclear Device East of Stalingrad

Sept. 6, 1961 - The Atomic Energy Commission announced today that the Soviet Union had detonated a fourth nuclear device in the atmosphere. A brief announcement said the explosion took place this morning east of Stalingrad. Stalingrad, in southeast European Russia, is an industrial and agricultural area, but several hundred miles to the east there are areas of sparsely populated desert. Traces of radioactive fallout from the earlier Asian blasts have been detected in Alaska,

Sep 5, 2021

🚨Kennedy Orders Resumption of Nuclear Weapons Tests

Sept. 5, 1961 - President Kennedy ordered today the resumption of nuclear weapons tests by the United States. He specified that the tests should take place "in the laboratory and underground, with no fallout." The decision was taken after the Atomic Energy Commission announced that the Soviet Union had exploded a third nuclear device in five days. The President said in a statement that the U.S. had "no other choice." The President's statement signaled the end of a voluntary u

Sep 4, 2021

Americans Coast to Coast Fear Nuclear War

Sept. 4, 1961 - From New York to Los Angeles, civil defense authorities report a rise in the American citizen's fear of nuclear war. Thousands of persons within bomb-blast distance of potential nuclear targets are seeking guidance on ways to survive an attack. Spurred by President Kennedy's words and Soviet achievements, they have sought advice from the Government and commercial builders of bomb shelters. Examples of apathy and fatalism were found everywhere. One resident of

Sep 4, 2021

🚨Soviets Explode Second Nuclear Bomb in Three Days

Sept. 4, 1961 - A new Soviet nuclear test took place early today over Central Asia, the Atomic Energy Commission announced. It was the second Soviet nuclear explosion in three days. It appears that the device today was considerably smaller than the one detonated Friday. The estimate of Friday's detonation placed that device in the power range of between 100 and 500 kilotons. Although Premier Khrushchev has said the Soviet Union can develop a bomb in the 100 megaton range - eq

Sep 2, 2021

Most Americans See No Protection Against Nuclear 'Super-Bomb'

Sept. 2, 1961 - If the respondents to a New York Times survey are typical, Americans feel that protection against a Russian super-bomb at this time is virtually hopeless. Some of those interviewed felt that instant death was preferable to survival in a world of horror. Leo Bienvenu, an engineer in Westport, Conn., said: "I think building a bomb shelter is useless. I'd rather see my wife and two children killed outright than starve to death because every living thing would be

Aug 31, 2021

Chinese Communists Support Soviet Nuclear Tests

Aug. 31, 1961 - Communist China issued a statement today expressing support for the Soviet Union's decision to resume nuclear tests. The statement said that Communist China regarded the Soviet decision as a "cooling dose for hot-headed war plotters but a powerful inspiration to all peoples striving for world peace." The statement, broadcast by Beijing radio, charged that the Western powers, "especially U.S. imperialism and West German militarism," were "fanning up war hysteri

Aug 9, 2021

Khrushchev Warns of "Mega-Bomb"

Aug. 9, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev warned today that the Soviet Union was capable of constructing a rocket with an explosive warhead equivalent to 100 million tons of TNT. He asserted that the Soviet Union wanted peace and disarmament and preferred to sink all weapons into the sea. But, he added, if war breaks out, the Soviet Union will utilize all armaments at its disposal. U.S. officials said that the warhead Mr. Khrushchev described was indeed possible and that it would be