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The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was formed by Ella Baker in 1960 at Shaw University. The group went on to be a major civil rights organization that protested through nonviolent actions.
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John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon were the first two candidates to every have a presidential debate on television. Since then, presidential debated have been filmed for every election after.
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The Flintstones first aired in 1960. The show became an instant hit and aired for six years.
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On January 20th 1961 John F Kennedy took office. Shortly after Kennedy delivered his inauguration speech where he famously said "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country".
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Yuri Alekseyevich was the first man to launched into space and orbit the plantet. He was in space for 89 minutes.
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The Soviet Union was angry that East Germans were leaving and moving to West Germany (which was operated by the United States). To stop people from leaving the Soviet Union constructed the Berlin Wall which separated East and West Germany.
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Roger Maris became the first major league baseball player to hit more than 60 home runs in one season.
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Based the book "Dr.No" written by Ian Fleming. James Bond films would go on to film many more successful spy movies.
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The Students for a Democratic Society wrote the Port Huron statement expressing their dissatisfaction with Michigan University.
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Marilyn Monroe was killed by the Kennedy family because she had been having an affair with John and possibly some of his brothers.
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James Meredith registered at the University of Mississippi which at the time was an all white university. This sparked outrage among southerns and prompted riots.
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Ultimately serving as a test to John F Kennedy in the beginning of her presidency, the Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union. The US learned the Soviet Union had missiles in Cuba and demanded the Soviet Union remove these weapons.
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During the March of Washington MLK delivered his "I have a dream" speech where he detailed the hope he has for his children's future treatment in the US. This speech remains famous even today and is watched in many history classes.
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While in a parade driving through Texas John F Kennedy was shot in the back of the head killing him.
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The Beatles arrived in the United States and were welcomed by a group of screaming fans. Their popularity in the United States was extremely large and grew through out the 60's.
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The Beatles made their first appearance on American television live on the Ed Sullivan show. Over 73 million people tuned into watch.
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In 1964 in Queens New York the World fair began to help bring happiness to a nation grieving about the loss of JFK.
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The North Vietnamese attacked the USS Maddox ship in international waters. This incident prompted the United States to become more involved in the Vietnam war.
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Lyndon B Johnson won the 45th presidential election as a democratic nominee. Johnson earned 61% of the popular vote which was the highest percentage since the 1820s election.
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A popular civil rights activist who was a bit more violent and extreme than MLK was shot while preparing to speak.
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The watts riot lasted five days in Los Angeles and was prompted after the arrest of a black man Marquette Fryer. Police arrested him on suspicions of driving while intoxicated.
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Star Trek first aired on NBC in September of 1966. The series was very successful and remained in TV until 1969.
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Inspired by Alan Ginsberg and Gary Snyder 30,000 plus people came together to take part in the counterculture of the time.
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At Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles the first ever championship game between the NFL and ALF was played. The Green bay packers beat the Kansas City chiefs 35-10.
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In 1967 famous boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be drafted into the military. He cited religious reasons in hopes of being exempted from service.
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The 8th album released by the Beatles which remained number one on the Billboard top LPs chart in the US for 15 weeks.
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Held in Monterrey California it was a three day pop music festival.
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After Tom Clark a leaning conservative justice left the bench Thurgod Marshall a liberal was appointed by Lyndon B Johnson to fill his seat.
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LSD a hallucinogenic drug frequently used by hippies and those apart of the counterculture movement in the 60's became illegal in 1968.
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Considered a turning point in the war, it was when the North Vietnamese (the Vietcong) attacked South Vietnamese cities and villages.
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Martin Luther king was assassinated on his hotel balcony in Memphis Tennessee. He was the most prominent leader of the civil rights movement and his death started riots all over the US.
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Post delivering a speech in California, on his way out Robert Kennedy was shot in the head. Had he not been killed he most likely would have won the democratic nominee and later the US presidency.
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Nixon successfully defeated democratic nominee Hubert Humphrey and won the 46th presidential election.
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An eight day riot taking place outside the center escalated to a full blown police riot. The protesters were passionately protesting against the Veitnam war.
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While trying to recreate Woodstock on the west coast it went horribly wrong when fights broke out at the concert. The stones are partially to blame as they hired Hells Angels as security.
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The stonewall riots were demonstrated by the gay community. They were sparked because of the gay community's outrage that the police were not protecting them.
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Millions of Americans watched on their televisions as US astronauts were the first men to ever walk on the moon. In doing so the US had won the space race against the Soviet Union.
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The Manson family traveled to Los Angels and targeted a random house to murder people. They happened to break into Roman Polanski's home and murdered his pregnant wife, Sharon Tate and her friends. Polanski himself was not home at the time. The Manson family also infamously wrote Helter Skleter on the wall.
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A free concert held at a dairy farm in upstate NY with some of the most popular musicians of the time. The concert celebrated three days of love and peace through music.
