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Diner "sit-ins"
Blacks begin sit ins on febuaray 1, at lunch counters. -
Fidel Castro signs agreement
Fidel Castro signs an agreement at with the first Soviet deputy premier Anastas I in Havana on February 13. -
Soviets shoot down spy plane
On May 1 the Soviet Union shoot down U.S. U-2 spy plane flown by Gary Powers. -
JFK the new president
John F. Kennedy, becomes the 43 President, by beating Vice President Nixon. He was the first Roman Catholic president to be elected. Nixon gets 219 to Kennedy%u2019s 303 electoral votes in November 8. -
JFK inauguration
On January 20, John F. Kennedy is inaugurated in to presidency of the United States. -
Dalai Lama
On March 9 the Dalai Lama appeals to the United Nations to restore the independence of Tibet. -
Berlin wall
The Berlin Wall is built from August 15-17. -
John Steinbeck
The Nobel Prize for Literature is given to John Steinbeck. -
Marilyn Monroe
On August 5, Marilyn Monroe dies from an overdose of sleeping pills, at the age of 36. -
The beatles
The Beatles have their first big success with a recording of "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Their long hair and music is very popular. -
Martin Luther King Jr
Martin Luther King, Jr., went to jail for leading demonstrations in Birmingham on April 12. -
pope John
Pope John XXIII dies June 3 at age 81 after a 5-year papacy. -
Martin Luther Kings "I have a dream" speach
I have a dream," says Martin Luther King, Jr., in a ceremony August 28 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. "I have a dream that one day, on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood." -
Earthquake
The worst earthquake felt anywhere in the world since 1960 rocks Alaska March 28. The quake measures 9.2 on the Richter scale , it creates a seismic "tidal" wave (tsunami) in the southwest part of the state, and the 220-foot high wave is the largest such wave ever recorded. -
Elvis
Elvis Presley releases his new song, %u201CBlue Christmas.%u201D -
Martin luther King
Martin Luther King wins the Nobel Peace Prize on October 14. -
Vietnam
The B-52 bomber is used for the first time in Vietnam in early June. -
Famine
India is hit by the worst famine in 20 years and has to import 8 million tons of wheat from the United States. -
Vietnam
On February 2, L.B.J. offers to halt the bombing of North Vietnam if the North Vietnamese stop infiltrating South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh, the North Vietnam leader, refuses the offer. -
Martin Luther Kings Death
Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist, is assassinated on April 4, in Memphis, Tennessee. MLK is assassinated as he steps onto his balcony at a Memphis, Tennessee motel room. As a result of his death race riots are erupting in several cities around the world. After his assassination, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley instructs city police force to shoot to kill after looting stirs up in the city. -
Racial Discrimination
The end of racial discrimination is passed by congress in the Civil Rights Act of 1968 on April 11. -
Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby becomes the first black man to star in a comedy program since 1953. He plays a high school gym teacher in The Bill Cosby Show.
