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U2 Plane Shot Down
Soviet Russia shoots down U.S. spy plane. Pilot Francis Gary Powers is detained for two years. -
Students Protest HUAC Tactics
Students and teachers organize a protest the powerful (HUAC) in San Francisco. Police use fire hoses and clubs to remove demonstrators, injuring and arresting many. -
Kennedy Elected
John F. Kennedy wins presidency in tightest election since 1884. -
Bay of Pigs: Failed Invasion of Cuba
CIA-backed Cuban exiles launch a failed attempt to remove Fidel Castro from power. An international embarrassment, the episode puts Kennedy's leadership in question. -
Kennedy Warns of Possible Nuclear Attack
President Kennedy advises citizens to be ready for nuclear attack, and build family bomb shelters. -
USSR Tests Hydrogen Bomb
The Soviet Union fires a 50-megaton hydrogen bomb, the biggest explosion in history. -
First SDS Convention
The convention yields a '60s student manifesto, the Port Huron Statement: Agenda for a Generation. -
Nixon Loses Governor's Race
Nixon blames his California defeat on the media, saying, "You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." -
"Hot-Line" Phones Installed
A pari of "hot line" phones are installed in the Oval Office and Kremlin, a direct result of the prior year's crisis in Cuba. -
JFK Assassinated
President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon Johnson is quick sworn in as President.