1960s Timeline

Oct. 31, 1961 - Former President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman arrived in Washington today for a 3-day round of events that will include dinner and an overnight stay at their old address, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Truman, 77, said President Kennedy was doing a “grand” job, and added: “It’s nice to have a fellow in the White House who can make up his mind.” The Trumans will be guests of the President and Mrs. Kennedy at a dinner tomorrow night at which 40 persons will be presen

Oct. 31, 1961 - House Speaker Sam Rayburn (pictured last May) went home to Bonham, Texas by ambulance today. The Democratic leader had spent 30 days at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. Exploratory surgery on Oct. 5 disclosed an incurable form of cancer. Today was gray and dreary as Mr. Rayburn left the hospital covered with a blanket. His face was thin and drawn and yellow-gray, a startling contrast to his once ruddy, healthy appearance. It was the first time in ne

Oct. 30, 1961 - Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev warned Britain today that that nation “may be among the first to experience the destructive power of nuclear blows” in the event of war. The warning was necessary, he said in a letter to members of Parliament, because of the presence in Britain of an American Polaris submarine base and American bombers equipped with nuclear weapons. Mr. Khrushchev’s letter arrived hours after British scientists at Kew Gardens Observatory had confir

Oct. 30, 1961 - A White House statement on the Soviet Union’s explosion of a large nuclear device today cast doubt on the military significance of such a weapon. The statement read, in part: “There is no mystery about producing a 50-megaton bomb, nor is there any technical need for testing such a weapon at full-scale detonation in order to confirm the basic design. The U.S. Government considered this matter carefully several years ago and concluded that such weapons would not

Oct. 30, 1961 - Dismay and outrage spread through much of the world today as the Soviet Union carried out its huge nuclear explosion. Many of the declarations said that “terror weapons” would not work as blackmail. It was the Vatican radio that probably reflected the feelings of most of mankind outside the Communist bloc. The Vatican radio termed the blast an “insane decision, morally, politically, and socially” that “shows the true face of communism — a face without the ligh

Oct. 30, 1961 - Richard M. Nixon advised Governor Rockefeller today to prove himself the Republican party’s strongest Presidential candidate in 1964 by actively competing in state primaries. Mr. Nixon said that he would not endorse any individual Republican for his party’s Presidential nomination until all the potential nominees “have been tested in the primaries.” Mr. Nixon said he would not enter any state primaries in 1964. He told a news conference in Syracuse, N.Y., that

Oct. 30, 1961 - The Soviet Union detonated the most powerful man-made explosion in history today by setting off a hydrogen bomb with a force of up to 50 megatons. The White House denounced the test as a “political” act designed to incite “fright and panic in the cold war.” The explosion, which Premier Khrushchev had said would be the climax of an intensive series of Soviet atomic tests, took place at 3:30 a.m. EST in the vicinity of Novaya Zemlya Island, the Soviet proving gr

Oct. 29, 1961 - Vice President Johnson said in New York today that the United States was prepared to “stand on our rights to preserve our integrity, decency, and way of life.” The Vice President made this declaration at a meeting of the Italian Board of Guardians in the Astor Hotel, where Rep. Victor L. Anfuso of Brooklyn, an old colleague of Mr. Johnson’s in Congress, was honored. “The enemies of freedom-loving people know they can never destroy America militarily so they ar

Oct. 29, 1961 - President Kennedy told the people of Oklahoma today of his determination to keep the nation free while continuing its progress. He dramatized that progress by attending a ceremony opening the Ouachita National Forest Road in Oklahoma. It gives access to a previously untapped scenic and recreational area in southeastern Oklahoma. To 25,000 Oklahomans gathered at the ceremony, Mr. Kennedy declared: “In the Sixties, as the United States carries the standard of fr

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

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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