1960s Timeline

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May 24

President Kennedy Congratulates Astronaut Scott Carpenter

May 24, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that the courage of Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter and the skill and initiative of his rescuers was “heart-warming to all of us.” The President conveyed his congratulations to Commander Carpenter by radiotelephone shortly after the astronaut had arrived aboard the carrier Intrepid by helicopter. The President also authorized NASA to bestow upon Comdr. Carpenter its distinguished service medal. During the call, President Kenned

May 24

Carpenter's Overshoot Attributed to Capsule Angle

May 24, 1962 - The overshoot of Lieut. Comdr. Carpenter’s space capsule (pictured left) was said to have been caused by the fact that the nose of the Aurora VII capsule was pointed too high at the time the retro or braking rockets fired to slow its speed and bring it out of orbit. It was not until about an hour after receipt of Lieut. Comdr. Carpenter’s last spoken message as he descended from space that a plane sighted the astronaut bobbing in the ocean in a bright orange li

May 24

🚨Commander Carpenter Is Second American to Orbit the Earth

May 24, 1962 - Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter became today the second American astronaut to orbit the earth. His three-orbit trip ended, however, with a global audience suffering almost an hour’s anxiety about his safe return. It was three hours from the time his space capsule landed until he was plucked from a life raft by a rescue helicopter. And it was hours later before the capsule was picked up by the destroyer Pierce. Tonight, on Grand Turk Island in the British W

May 24

South Vietnamese 7th Division Inflicts Heavy Casualties on Viet Cong

May 24, 1962 - The South Vietnamese Seventh Division continued today to inflict heavy casualties on a Communist guerrilla force trapped on the southern edge of the marshy Plain of Reeds. After a two-day battle, the guerrillas had lost 95 dead in their worst defeat in the Mekong delta region since last July, when 169 members of a Communist battalion were hunted down and slain in Kien Tuong Province. Thirty-five guerrillas, including ten wounded, were captured in the latest bat

May 24

Assassination Plotters Sentenced to Death in South Vietnam

May 24, 1962 - In Saigon today, a special military tribunal sentenced three Vietnamese to death for having plotted to assassinate the United States Ambassador, Frederick E. Nolting Jr. (pictured right in 1961 with Vice President Johnson and South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem), with a hand grenade last July 8. The grenade, which was thrown at the Ambassador’s car, did not go off. Defense attorneys maintained, to no avail, that it had been intended as a warning only and t

May 24

President Kennedy Helps Lay Cornerstone on Rayburn Building

May 24, 1962 - President Kennedy, using a silver trowel, helped lay the cornerstone today of the $70 million Sam Rayburn House office building. The new block-long, four-story building is being built across from the Capitol. The President paid tribute to Mr. Rayburn, who was Speaker of the House longer than anyone else until his death Nov. 16. “His great skill and lasting contribution,” said the President, was his ability to achieve harmony between Congress and the Executive b

May 23

Don Drysdale Overpowers Mets as Dodgers Win, 3-1

May 23, 1962 - The Mets, from their remote position in ninth place, made a heroic effort tonight in Los Angeles to make their presence felt in the National League pennant race — to no avail. Don Drysdale (right), the Dodgers’ towering right-hander, overpowered them with a four-hitter. Roger Craig (left), a onetime Dodger himself, made a noble bid to match this. But after maintaining a 1-1 tie for seven innings, Roger weakened in the eighth. The Dodgers jammed two runs across

May 23

Yanks Score 9 Runs in 8th Inning, Top Athletics, 13-7

May 23, 1962 - Maybe it was the sight of Mickey Mantle. Maybe it was Kansas City pitching. Attribute it to what you may, the Yankees snapped out of their scoring lethargy today with a resounding boom at Yankee Stadium. In their biggest inning of the season, the Bombers poured nine runs across the plate in the eighth. The thrust of the explosion projected them from three runs behind into a 13-7 victory over the Athletics. By winning, they preserved their narrow American League

May 23

Mickey Mantle Released from Hospital

May 23, 1962 - Released from Lenox Hill Hospital at noon, Mickey Mantle appeared in the Yankee dressing room on crutches at 1:15 p.m. today. He chatted with his teammates for a while, then remained to watch the game on television. Of the torn right thigh muscle he suffered last Friday night, Mickey said: “It just has to heal. It doesn’t feel too bad right now. I can walk without crutches if I drag the leg, but not if I bend it.” Mantle will take daily whirlpool treatment at t

May 23

NFL Gives Pete Rozelle Five-Year Contract and a Raise

May 23, 1962 - The NFL increased the salary of its commissioner, Pete Rozelle, by $10,000 to $60,000 a year today. Rozelle was awarded a new five-year contract plus a $10,000 bonus at a meeting of league officials at New York’s Plaza Hotel. The action followed a report by Rozelle that average sales throughout the league were up 10%. “There is every reason to believe we will have our first year of four million paid attendance,” said Rozelle. The biggest boost in advance sales

May 23

Highlights from President Kennedy's Press Conference

May 23, 1962 - Following are the highlights of President Kennedy’s news conference today: Refugees — He disclosed that a limited number of Chinese refugees would be admitted to the U.S. on an emergency basis. Food aid to refugees in Hong Kong will continue. But the President said that American aid could not get at the basic problem, which he called food shortages in China, a country of 650 million persons. Asia — Asked whether the American troop commitment to Thailand was lik

May 23

President Kennedy Asked About Health Risks of Cigarette Smoking

May 23, 1962 - President Kennedy promised reporters today to give them an answer next week on the Government’s attitude toward studies linking cigarette smoking with cancer and heart disease. A reporter asked him whether he and his medical advisors agreed or disagreed with the findings of the studies and what, if anything, “should or can the Federal Government do in these circumstances.” The President referred to the recent decline in the price of tobacco company stock by say

May 23

Sen. Javits Supports Gov. Rockefeller for President in 1964

May 23, 1962 - Senator Jacob K. Javits today became the first prominent Republican political leader to propose Governor Rockefeller as the Republican Presidential nominee in 1964. The New York Republican told a National Press Club luncheon that Mr. Rockefeller “has exclusive priority as far as I am concerned” among Republican Presidential hopefuls. “As everybody who knows me knows, I have been partial to Governor Rockefeller and his views,” Senator Javits declared. Senator Ja

May 23

Primary Competitor Says Nixon Cannot Win Gubernatorial Contest

May 23, 1962 - Richard M. Nixon cannot win the governorship of California, his rival in the Republican primary, Joseph C. Shell, declared today. “We cannot afford to hitch our fortunes to falling stars,” said Mr. Shell, leader of the Republican minority in the State Assembly. “Victory is our goal. The governorship of California is not a consolation prize.” The Republican candidate added: “This is a trip to Sacramento, not to Washington” and “Mr. Nixon has had very little expe

May 23

President Kennedy Defends Medical Bill

May 23, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that the Administration did not plan to ask Congress in a year or two to extend medical care coverage through Social Security to doctor’s bills. Some opponents of the King-Anderson Bill, now before Congress, have charged that the coverage of hospital expenses for the aged as provided in the measure is only the initial step toward covering all ages and all medical expenses. Questioned about this today, the President said: “This bill

May 23

Four U.S. Officers Wounded in Vietnam

May 23, 1962 - A son of General Lucius D. Clay, President Kennedy’s former representative in Berlin, was among four U.S. officers wounded today in South Vietnam during an attempt to block the escape of a force of Communist Viet Cong guerrillas. Lieut. Col. Frank B. Clay (pictured), the general’s son, was wounded in the arm, leg, and neck when the guerrillas fired on a helicopter that was pursuing them. Using two lightly armed U.S. Army helicopters, Col. Clay tried to cut off

May 22

Yanks Top Angels, 2-1

May 22, 1962 - Life without Mickey Mantle continues to pose difficulties for Manager Ralph Houk and the Yankees. Tonight, it took the defused Bombers 12 innings to subdue the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1. The victory, in which four New York pitchers shared a one-hitter, enabled the Yankees to regain the American League lead. They are 13 percentage points ahead of the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland, which had been first, lost to Baltimore and dropped to third. In the game at Yankee Sta

May 22

President Kennedy Presented with Madison Papers

May 22, 1962 - Two sets of the first two volumes of the papers of James Madison were presented to President Kennedy today. Mr. Kennedy described President Madison as “perhaps the most underrated, from the point of view of his contribution, of any of our Founding Fathers.” Five historians gave Mr. Kennedy one set of the papers for himself and another for the White House library. They cover the first 30 years of the life of the fourth President. Prof. William T. Hutchinson of t

May 22

A.M.A. Launches Counterattack on Medical Bill

May 22, 1962 - The American Medical Association fired a television salvo last night against President Kennedy’s program for medical care for the elderly through Social Security. It urged the plan’s defeat in Congress, calling it “a cruel hoax and a delusion.” The organization of 185,000 physicians hired 190 television stations for the hour-long broadside and complained it had been “blacked out in Boston, the President’s hometown,” by a refusal of stations to carry its program

May 21

Koufax Pitches 5-Hitter as Dodgers Maul Giants, 8-1

May 21, 1962 - Sandy Koufax scored his fifth victory with a 5-hitter, and Tom Davis drove in 3 runs with a homer and a double today as the Dodgers defeated the league-leading Giants in Los Angeles, 8-1. A crowd of 45,192 watched the game. The third-place Dodgers, who had lost three straight, now trail the Giants by three and a half games. Koufax, who hadn’t won since April 28, pitched his fourth complete game and struck out 10 batters. He walked only one. This was the 33rd ti