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First Televised Presidential Debates
Seventy million American viewers watched the first of four televised presidential debates between candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. -
Eichmann Trial
After being found and captured in Argentina, Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann, known as the architect of the Final Solution, was put on trial in Israel in 1961. Eichmann was found guilty and sentenced to death. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The bay of pigs invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA. -
The Berlin Wall Built
Just past midnight during the night, East German soldiers and construction workers headed to the border of West and East Berlin. While most Berliners were sleeping, the workers quickly constructed a barrier made of concrete posts and barbed wire along the border. -
Rachel Carson Publishes Silent Spring
Silent Spring is an environmental science book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin. The book documented the detrimental effects of indiscriminate use of pesticides on the environment, particularly on birds -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Known as the October Crisis or The Missile Scare in Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis in the former USSR was a 13-day confrontation in October 1962 between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Makes His "I Have a Dream" Speech
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States. Delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, the speech was a defining moment of the American Civil Rights Movement. -
President John F. Kennedy's Assassination
The youth and idealism of America in the 1960s faltered as its young President, John F. Kennedy, was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. Two days later, Oswald was shot and killed by Jack Ruby during a prisoner transfer. -
The Beatles
The Beatles shaped not only music but also an entire generation. People mimicked all that they did, including haircuts, clothing, and outlook. Their style and innovative music set the standard for all musicians to follow. -
Warren Report on JFK's Assassination Issued
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson on November 29, 1963 to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy that had taken place on November 22, 1963. Its 889-page final report was presented to President Johnson on September 24, 1964 and made public three days later. -
U.S. Sends Troops to Vietnam
In response to the Gulf of Tonkin Incident of August 2 and 4, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, per the authority given to him by Congress in the subsequent Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, decided to escalate the Vietnam Conflict by sending U.S. ground troops to Vietnam. -
First Super Bowl
The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated
At 6:01 p.m. on April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was hit by a sniper's bullet. King had been standing on the balcony in front of his room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, when, without warning, he was shot. The .30-caliber rifle bullet entered King's right cheek, traveled through his neck, and finally stopped at his shoulder blade. -
Robert Kennedy Assassination
Shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot three times by Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan after giving a speech at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. -
Neil Armstrong Becomes the First Man on the Moon
As part of the Apollo 11 mission, astronaut Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar module (nicknamed Eagle) and stepped out onto the ladder. Once at the bottom of the ladder, Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon and became the very first man on the moon.
