1960s Timeline

Aug. 24, 1961 - The will of Ernest Hemingway, written in his own hand in stilted legal language, was filed for probate today in New York Surrogates Court. The author, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Ketchum, Idaho, on July 2, left his entire estate to his widow Mary. The estate consists of cash, securities, real estate in this country and abroad, and the copyrights to all his published and unpublished works. It also included original handwritten manu

Aug. 20, 1961 - Percy W. Bridgman, a retired Harvard University professor and a Nobel Prize-winning physicist, was found dead at his summer home in Randolph, N.H., this morning. He was 79. A medical examiner ruled the death a suicide. Professor Bridgman had been suffering from cancer. State Police said Professor Bridgman shot himself with a .22 caliber sawed-off rifle. His wife found the body. A note he had left read: "It isn't decent for society to make a man do this thing h

Aug. 12, 1961 - Fred Morrison, the father of Janet Leigh, the movie actress, was found dead in his business office in Beverly Hills today, apparently from an overdose of pills. The police said that Mr. Morrison, an insurance broker, had left a suicide note indicating trouble with his wife, Helen. Miss Leigh (pictured being consoled by husband Tony Curtis after hearing the news) was on the French Riviera visiting Joseph P. Kennedy, father of President Kennedy, when the tragedy

Aug. 1, 1961 - The death certificate concerning Ernest Hemingway (pictured in 1935) was filed in Ketchum, Idaho today. It said the author had died of "a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the head." Blaine County Coroner Ray McGoldrick said he had left blank the space that would have shown whether the death was an accident or a suicide. Mr. Hemingway's body was found July 2 in a foyer off the living room of his Ketchum hunting lodge. He had been killed by a blast from both barre

July 7, 1961 - Mrs. Mary Hemingway (left) will meet four newsmen tomorrow morning to "clear up historical inaccuracies" about her late husband. She will talk to representatives of UPI, the AP, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and Time Magazine. The Post-Intellligencer said in a copyrighted dispatch today that Mr. Hemingway had "deliberately ended his own life" early last Sunday. It said it had learned the details "authoritatively," and that Mr. Hemingway had "placed the

July 5, 1961 - The family of Ernest Hemingway (pictured with his father in 1928) was reunited today for the author's funeral tomorrow. Mr. Hemingway will be buried in the cemetery in Ketchum, Idaho. Patrick Hemingway, one of the author's three sons, arrived today from Africa. Two other sons, a brother, and three sisters arrived earlier. Mr. Hemingway's fourth wife, Mary, was at home with him when he killed himself Sunday with a shotgun. The writer's sister, Mrs. Sterlin

July 3, 1961 - The death of Ernest Hemingway (pictured in 1959) brought tears, shock, and mourning to Madrid today. In the city's cafés and dimly lit bars, the author's friends, admirers, and critics discussed the life and death of the author, who formerly lived in Spain and was known there as "Don Ernesto." The newspaper Hoja de Lunes said in a front-page story that Mr. Hemingway was "a great lover of our country, the bullfights, and Spanish literature." #literature #b

July 3, 1961 - There will be no inquest in the shotgun death of Ernest Hemingway (pictured in 1952), authorities in Blaine County, Idaho, said today. The author was found dead yesterday morning at his home. He had head wounds, and a double-barrel, 12-gauge shotgun lay next to his body. His fourth wife, Mary, stated that his death had been accidental. Sheriff Frank L. Hewitt said Mr. Hemingway had fired both barrels of the 12-gauge shotgun into his head. Coroner Ray McG

July 2, 1961 - President Kennedy mourned today the death of Ernest Hemingway, whom he called one of America's greatest authors and "one of the great citizens of the world." The President, who is spending the July 4th weekend in Hyannis Port, Mass., with his family, issued a statement after hearing of Mr. Hemingway's death: "From his first emergence as one of the bright literary stars in Paris during the twenties, as a chronicler of the "Lost Generation” which he was to

July 2, 1961 - Ernest Hemingway was found dead this morning of a shotgun wound to the head at his home in Ketchum, Idaho. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning author would have been 62 on July 21. His wife stated that Mr. Hemingway, an expert on firearms, killed himself accidentally while cleaning the weapon. Mr. Hemingway's body, clad in a robe and pajamas, was found by Mrs. Hemingway in the foyer of their house. A double-barreled, 12-gauge shotgun lay beside him. Mrs.