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SNCC formed
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in April 1960 by young people dedicated to nonviolent, direct action tactics. -
First televised Presidential debate
The first televised presidential debate took place on Sept. 26, 1960, between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy. The first televised debate is considered among the most important in American history not just because of its use of a new medium but its impact on the presidential race that year. -
First Airing of “The Flintstones”
The Flintstones was an extremely popular cartoon of the 60s and was widely known and loved. -
Kennedy is Elected
John F. Kennedy was officially elected president of The United States on November 8th, 1960. -
Russians send the first man into space
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin becomes the first human being to travel into space, aboard the spacecraft Vostok 1. -
The Construction of the Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was built to separate East Berlin and West Berlin in Germany during the Cold War. It still is partially standing today. -
Roger Maris of the Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s single season home run record
Roger Maris of the Yankees beats Babe Ruth's record single season home runs, with the new number then standing at 59. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
In the fall of 1962 the US found that the Soviet Union started construction of missile bases in Cuba. This was a huge threat to the U.S. since the missiles had the potential to reach the United States. Also, communism has now lurched even closer to the U.S., now that Cuba is communist. -
SDS Releases its Port Huron Statement
Without being Marxist or pro-communism, the Port Huron conference denounced anti-communism as being a social problem and an obstruction to democracy. -
Marilyn Monroe Dies
The movie actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home in Los Angeles. She was discovered lying nude on her bed, face down, with a telephone in one hand. Empty bottles of pills, prescribed to treat her depression, were littered around the room. After a brief investigation, Los Angeles police concluded that her death was “caused by a self-administered overdose of sedative drugs and that the mode of death is probable suicide.” -
James Meredith registers at Ole Miss
James Meridith was a black man who attempted to enroll at an all white university called University of Mississippi. This caused massive outrage and riots at Ole Miss, ending with two people dead with hundreds wounded and many arrested. Kennedy called out 31,000 members of the National Guard and other forces to interfere with the altercation. -
“Dr. No” the first James Bond movie premiers
With the release of Dr. No, North American moviegoers get their first look–down the barrel of a gun–at the super-spy James Bond (codename: 007), the immortal character created by Ian Fleming in his now-famous series of novels and portrayed onscreen by the relatively unknown Scottish actor Sean Connery. -
Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speach promoted a vision of a world where people of all races could live in harmony with one another with equality. This speech was performed infornt over over 250,000 people and was so impactful that it ended up changing laws and bringing Dr. King's dream to life. -
Assassination of JFK
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in his car by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas Texas. -
The Beatles Arrive in the United States
The British band came to the U.S. to mourn the loss of President John F. Kennedy. While in the U.S. they starred on Ed Sullivan’s massively popular Sunday-night variety show. This was the Beatle's debut in the United States. -
The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan
It is estimated that 73 million Americans were watching that night as the Beatles made their live U.S. television debut. -
New York World’s Fair Begins
At the World's Fair, inventions of many kinds came together. Mustangs, videoconferrencing, push-button telephones, etc. -
Lyndon B Johnson Defeats Barry Goldwater
Democratic Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Republican Barry Goldwater in one of the largest landslides in U.S. history. -
Malcolm X assassinated
Malcom X was a black nationalist who spoke up for black voices across America and blamed racism for the injustices rather than all white people. While he was speaking in Washington Heights, Manhattan, he was shot and killed Infront of his pregnant wife and four daughters. He was 39 years old. -
Watts Race Riots
AKA the Watts Rebellion, occurred in Los Angeles, California. The riot took 34 lives and injured 1,032 people. There were nearly 4,000 arrests and $40 million in property damage in what was until that point, the largest urban rebellion in the United States in the 1960s. -
“Star Trek” TV Show Airs
CBS Paramount Television released "Star Trek", the SciFi movie that took place in the 23rd century. -
San Francisco "Summer of Love" Begins
Artist Michael Bowen advertised his event in the underground newspaper the San Francisco Oracle as "A Gathering of Tribes for the Human Be-In." He hoped to bring together the "tribes" of the psychedelic San Francisco hippies and the Berkeley anti-war activists. The event drew in more than 20,000 people to enjoy peace, love, music and psychedelics (drugs). -
First NFL Football Super Bowl
Football was and still is an emensly popular American sport. The first Super Bowl featured the AFL Kansas City Chiefs and NFL Green Bay Packers. The game was originally called the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game.” But later on the name was changed to the "Super Bowl", which we still call it today. -
Boxer Muhammed Ali Refuses Military Service
Boxing champion Muhammad Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army. He was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title. Ali, a Muslim, cited religious reasons for his decision to forgo military service. -
The Beatles Release Sgt. Pepper’s Album
This album sparked new technology for albums and exceeded the norms. The album had 8 tracks and could not be skipped through. The only reason the disc needed to be touched was to be turned over. Also, the music was vibrant and full of color and life, and set a vibe surrounding the Beatles. -
Thurgood Marshall Nominated to the Supreme Court
Appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Thurgood Marshall is to fill the seat of retiring Supreme Court Associate Justice Tom C. Clark. Marshall was honorably the first African American in history to sit on America’s highest court. -
The Tet Offensive
Attacks committed by the North Vietnamese in the early stages of the Vietnam War. North Vietname deployed around 85,000 troops to attack three cities in South Vietnam. The North in the end won. -
Martin Luther King Jr. is Assasinated
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a huge voice for equal rights amoung people of color and whites. He advocated for peaceful protest against segregation. His assassination led to an outroar of anger among Black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the civil rights era. -
Assassination of Robert Kennedy
Robert Kennedy was shot and killed by Sihran Sihran at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary. -
Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
In Chicago, Illinois delegates flowed into the International Amphitheatre to nominate a Democratic Party presidential candidate. Tens of thousands of protesters swarmed the streets to rally against the Vietnam War and the political status quo. -
LSD Declared Illegal by the U.S. Government
Over time, the drug became a symbol of the 1960s counterculture, eventually joining other hallucinogenic and recreational drugs at rave parties. LSD was also tested by the government on soldiers. The drug was banned due to its sides effects including the "trips". -
Nixon is elected
37th U.S. President Richard Nixon, was elected on November 5th, 1968, and held office until 1974. -
Stonewall riots
New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay club located in Greenwich Village in New York City. The raid sparked a riot among bar patrons and neighborhood residents as police roughly hauled employees and patrons out of the bar, leading to six days of protests and violent clashes with law enforcement outside the bar on Christopher Street, in neighboring streets and in nearby Christopher Park. This was a giant spark for the gay rights movement. -
Apollo 11 Moon Landing
America landed on the moon in the Apollo 11 rocket in 1969. We were the first country to achieve this and this allowed America to shoot ahead in the "space race". -
Woodstock Concert
The Woodstock Music Festival hosted 500,000 people for a three day concert in Bethel, NY. Despite a lot of sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and rain, Woodstock was a peaceful celebration and earned its hallowed place in pop culture history. -
The Rolling Stones Host the Altamont Music Festival
The free concert was a disaster, everything that could've gone wrong, went wrong. With the Hells Angels biker gang “hired” as security, downer drugs proliferating, violence was in the air. During the Airplane’s set, singer Marty Balin jumped off the four-foot stage to attempt to intervene in a fight, only to be knocked out cold by an Angel. Most famously, when the Stones finally took the stage, the violence boiled, resulting in the stabbing death of a young black man, Meredith Hunte.