1960s Timeline

Oct. 28, 1961 - The Secretary of the Navy, John B. Connally Jr., may give up the office next year to run for Governor of Texas. There are persuasive forces in favor of his making the race. One is a belief among some Democrats that he could unite the perpetually warring party factions in Texas. Mr. Connally believes that he might be able to get the liberals and conservatives together. With the Republicans gaining more strength in Texas, a Democratic candidate who can hold the

Oct. 28, 1961 - Premier Khrushchev has come out in favor of the construction of a memorial in Moscow to honor the victims of the Stalinist purges. He told the 22nd congress of the Soviet Communist party today that old Bolsheviks had written letters urging the commemoration of “leading figures of the party and Government who were victims of unjustified repressions in the period of the cult of personality surrounding Stalin.” “We consider this to be a good suggestion,” the Sovi

Oct. 28, 1961 - President Kennedy called on all citizens today to observe Thanksgiving Day Nov. 23 in a manner “not only to preserve our blessings but to extend them to the four corners of the earth.” He went on: “We are grateful for the blessings of faith and health and strength and for the imperishable spiritual gifts of love and hope. We give thanks, too, for our freedom as a nation; for the strength of our arms and the faith of our friends; for our determination to stand

Oct. 28, 1961 - United States and Soviet tanks pulled back from Berlin’s dividing line today after facing each other for 16 hours through a chilly, drizzly night. They did not go far, but their withdrawal from the Friedrichstrasse crossing point on the border between West and East Berlin helped lower the tension caused by the confrontation of the wartime allies. The Russians were the first to leave. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcastlife #podcastsh

Oct. 27, 1961 - A preference for Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona for the Republican Presidential nomination in 1964 has been indicated in a poll of last year’s Republican convention delegates and alternates. The poll was conducted by Human Events, a conservative Washington newsletter. The findings of the poll showed Mr. Goldwater as the choice of 49.3 percent of those who replied to the questionnaire. Richard M. Nixon placed second, with 28.1 percent, and New York Governor

Oct. 27, 1961 - Vice President Johnson declared today that “good Americans” are unwittingly aiding the Communists by planting “seeds of doubt” about America and its institutions. In a speech at the University of Florida, Mr. Johnson said history since World War II “has made it clear that the Communists cannot compete with us in economic production or purchasing power.” The Communists recognize this, the Vice President said, and can be expected to use the strategy of trying to

Oct. 27, 1961 - Mayor Wagner (left) of New York City came to Washington today and won new support from President Kennedy for his re-election. The Mayor reported the President had voiced “enthusiastic support” of his race against State Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz. Moreover, the Mayor went on, the President had expressed confidence that “I would win.” Mayor Wagner said he had not asked the President to make a personal appearance in New York City, because “I don’t think

Oct. 27, 1961 - United States and Soviet tanks confonted each other today for the first time in history. They were less than 100 yards apart at the Friedrichstrasse crossing point on the border between West and East Berlin. As they remained in position with their guns pointed at each other, the situation was described by an American source as fraught with danger. Ten Soviet T-54 medium tanks, part of a force of 33 that moved into East Berlin last night, were drawn up in a thr

Oct. 26, 1961 - Thirty-three Soviet medium tanks, manned by Soviet troops, moved into the center of East Berlin today. It was a show of military power clearly calculated to counter the force displayed by the U.S. to assert the right of free entry into the Communist sector of the city. The tanks were manned by black-uniformed Soviet troops believed to be from the 20th Guards Division stationed near Berlin. The tanks were tentatively identified as T-54’s, the latest-model Sovie

Oct. 25, 1961 - Carl Sandburg (left), Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and biographer of Abraham Lincoln, called at the White House today to salute President Kennedy and pay his disrespects to former President Eisenhower. General Eisenhower had irritated Mr. Sandburg with a speech in New York last night that ridiculed the Peace Corps as a “juvenile experiment.” The New York speech, Mr. Sandburg said, was an “easy and careless blast.” He added: “The chances are that President Kenne

Oct. 25, 1961 - President Kennedy gave his approval today for an underground nuclear explosion in the salt caverns of New Mexico as the first step in developing peaceful uses of atomic explosives. This first experiment in non-destructive uses is expected to take place in December in a mine shaft dug to a depth of 1,200 feet in a salt formation southeast of Carlsbad, N.M. The explosion will have a force of 5 kilotons, equivalent to 5,000 tons of TNT. A primary purpose of the e

Oct. 25, 1961 - The State Department announced today that the Soviet commander in Berlin had rejected a protest by the U.S. commander against an East German order requiring all foreigners to show their passports to enter East Berlin. Lincoln White, State Department press officer, said: “We regard this as a serious development and are taking it up with the governments concerned.” Mr. White said that U.S. officials, whether in military or civilian dress, have the right to enter

Oct. 24, 1961 - The White House said today that President Kennedy would receive advice on some of his future telecasts from Fred Coe, New York television producer. Mr. Coe is a longtime friend and admirer of the President who volunteered his services, and they were accepted. During the Eisenhower Administration, Robert Montgomery, the actor, gave technical advice on most of former President Eisenhower’s telecasts. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcast

Oct. 24, 1961 - Former President Eisenhower accused the Kennedy Administration today of doing “a good job of confusing me and all my friends.” At a rally at the New York Coliseum in support of Attorney General Louis J. Lefkowitz, the Republican candidate for Mayor of New York, the former President referred to the Peace Corps as a “juvenile experiment.” Most of General Eisenhower’s criticism, however, was directed at the Kennedy Administration’s fiscal policy. He is confused a

Oct. 23, 1961 - “I don’t think anybody is unbeatable,” Governor Rockefeller (right) of New York said today when asked whether a Republican could defeat President Kennedy in 1964. He recalled that in 1958 he was told that his predecessor, Averell Harriman, a Democrat, was unbeatable. Mr. Rockefeller is visiting various parts of the country on a speaking tour. The reference to 1964 came when he was asked to comment on remarks attributed to former Vice President RIchard M. Nixon

Oct. 23, 1961 - The Soviet Union conducted the largest man-made explosion in history today by detonating a thermonuclear bomb with a force equal to 30 million tons or more of TNT. Two hours after this atmospheric explosion, a small atomic device was detonated beneath the water, the first underwater Soviet explosion to be announced. Both explosions, the 22nd and 23rd since the Soviets resumed testing on Sept. 1, were conducted in the vicinity of the island of Novaya Zemlya, th

Video: “Operation Readiness” Highlights Cold War Efforts Oct. 22, 1961 - “Operation Readiness” is a film produced by the U.S. Army about this country’s efforts to fight the Cold War. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcastlife #podcastshow #podcastlove #podcastaddict #podcasthost #history #HistoryNerd #historyinpictures #historylover #historybuff #HistoryInTheMaking #historychannel #HistoryLesson #historygeek #ColdWar #coldwarkids #ColdWarHistory #cold

Oct. 22, 1961 - Perhaps the White House’s most voracious reader since Teddy Roosevelt, President Kennedy daily digests a mountain of reports, documents, and top secret cables. He also scans American and foreign newspapers, news magazines, and scholarly works on history and current affairs. Of late, he has also dipped into best-selling fiction. Among the novels he has read recently is “Mila 18,” Leon Uris’s account of the wartime Warsaw ghetto uprising of 1943. Mr. Kennedy has

Oct. 22, 1961 - President Kennedy has given up the short cigars he favored when he first entered the White House and now smokes a new model that is approximately one inch longer. The President found that one of the shorter cigars would not last through the average high-level White House conference, hence the change. #Podcast #podcasts #podcasting #podcaster #podcasters #podcastlife #podcastshow #podcastlove #podcastaddict #podcasthost #history #HistoryNerd #historyinpictures

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.