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Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Soviet Russia in a U-2 Spyplane. He was later released through a prisoner exchange of him and a Soviet Spy.
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JFK and Richard Nixon have the first televised presidential debate which served to increase JFK's popularity and eventually win him the presidency.
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A popular comedy show about a talking horse first aired in 1961. Who doesn't like a talking horse?
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President John F. Kennedy created the volunteer program known as the Peace Corp. Generally the program helps with economic and social assistance.
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A CIA plan to overthrow the communist regime in Cuba was put into play. 1,400 Cubans forced out of the country landed at the Bay of Pigs. The operation ultimately failed when air support was cancelled due to the presidents desire for a "covert" operation.
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The Berlin Wall was built around West Berlin to seperate West Berlin from the rest of East Germany.
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One of the earliest known digital video game was released.
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After recon flights over Cuba, missile sights were discovered. The next 13 days were right at the edge of war as America and Russia were both ready to start launching nuclear ICBMs and to have mutually assured destruction. The Soviet Union eventually backed down and pulled the missile sights out of Cuba.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech in Wahsington D.C. on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
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John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling in a motorcade in Dallas. Oswald was later killed by Jack Ruby. This assasination is oftentimes thought of as a conspiracy, however no one has proven one way or the other if it was a conspiracy theory.
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President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which made it illegal segregation in public facilities, created the Equal Employment Oppotunity Commission, and protected the voting rights of African Americans.
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In the Gulf of Tonkin, North Vietnamese patrol boats attacked an American destroyer. This attack led to another destroyer sent in and the two destroyers attacked nearby North Vietnamese gunboats which could be seen on the ships radar and sonar.
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Lyndon B. Johnson was elected president, defeating the Republican candidate Barry Goldwater.
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The astronauts of Apollo 1 died in a tragic fire which created a setback for NASA. The astronauts were Gus Grisson, Edward H. White, and Roger B. Chaffee.
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During what was thought to be a period of peace due to the local Vietnamese holiday of Tet, the North Vietnamese launched an offensive against the Americans. Their attack was not entirely successful but the added fact that American televison saw the fighting live opened up the possibility that the Vietnam war was to end in a bloody stalemate. This caused the public to protest the war and the troops in Vietnam were eventually withdrawn.
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Richard Nixon won the presidency against Hubert Humphrey (Democrat) and George Wallace (American Independent).
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Arpanet which was before the Internet was introduced. eventually it changed and evolved into the world wide web that we know today.
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Matin Luther King, Jr. was assasinated by a sniper's bullet. He who preached nonviolence was killed by violence in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first men to walk on the Moon. This completes Kennedy's vow to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
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One of the largest known festivals of all time occured outside the town of Bethel. It attracted 500,000 people.
