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President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960
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Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy is elected president of the United States. His margin of victory over Republican candidate Richard M. Nixon is just over 100,000 votes. Kennedy wins 300 Electoral College votes to Nixon’s 219.
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In a congressional address, President John F. Kennedy pledges to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
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President John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson is sworn in as president the same day.
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President Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The act outlaws discrimination in public facilities, such as parks, and in public accommodations, such as hotels and restaurants, and it prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, or gender.
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North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launch a massive assault on South Vietnamese towns and American outposts on the Lunar New Year or Tet. American and South Vietnamese forces eventually repel the attack and recapture most territories lost. The Tet Offensive, however, reveals that the communist forces are still strong and, thus, American administration claims that the war is nearing conclusion are discredited.
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Richard Nixon became the first American president to visit China. Nixon opened the communist nation to American trade and reopened diplomatic relations. This isolated the Soviet Union. As a result, the Soviets began to bargain with the United States. Both sides entered into a new era of agreement and peaceful coexistence known as Détente.
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First broadcast of Saturday Night Live. John Belushi (Samurai Tailor), Chevy Chase (Weekend Update anchor), Jane Curtin (co-anchor), Larraine Newman (Hippy chick), Dan Akroyd (Fred Garvin, male prostitute), Gilda Radner (Rosanne Rosanna Danna and Emily Latella), and Garrett Morris (Chico Escuela) are first and best cast.
