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Roger Maris of the Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s single season home run record
He tops former Yankees great Babe Ruth, who hit 60 home runs in 1927. -
New York World’s Fair begins
On April 30, 1939, a very hot Sunday, the fair had its grand opening, with 206,000 people in attendance. -
First televised Presidential debate
The first general election presidential debate was 1960 United States presidential debates, held on September 26, 1960, between U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy, the Democratic nominee, and Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican nominee, in Chicago at the studios of CBS's WBBM-TV. -
SNCC formed
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in April 1960 by young people dedicated to nonviolent, direct action tactics -
First airing of “The Flintstones”
"The Flintstones" was already prehistoric by design when it premiered Sept. 30, 1960. -
President Kennedy is elected
In a closely contested election, Democratic United States Senator John F. Kennedy defeated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, the Republican Party nominee. -
Russians send the first man into space
On April 12, 1961, Gagarin was launched into orbit by a Vostok rocket and became the first man in space. After completing one orbit, the spacecraft's automatic controls brought him safely back to Earth. -
Berlin Wall is constructed
Overview. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Germany from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on August 13, 1961, the Wall completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. -
SDS releases its Port Huron statement
The Port Huron Statement is a 1962 political manifesto of the American student activist movement Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). ... Under Walter Reuther's leadership, the UAW paid for a range of expenses for the 1962 convention, including use of the UAW summer retreat in Port Huron. -
Marilyn Monroe dies
On August 5, 1962, movie actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her home in Los Angeles. ... 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 Howard Meredith was born on June 25, 1933, in Kosciusko, Miss., ... Meredith was finally allowed to register for courses on Oct. 1, 1962. -
“Dr. No” the first James Bond movie premiers
On May 8, 1963, 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
"I Have a Dream" is a public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In the speech, King called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. -
John F Kennedy is assassinated
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling through Dallas, Texas. -
The Beatles arrive in the United States
The Bettles, a very popular British Band at the time, arrives in America for the first time. -
The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan
Sullivan and his producers swiftly recognized that The Beatles were something monumental by the end of 1963. He made sure that their first live televised performance in the US would be on his show, and, on February 9th, 1964, the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show. -
Lyndon B Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater
It was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1964. Incumbent Democratic United States President Lyndon B. Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee. With 61.1% of the popular vote, Johnson won the largest share of the popular vote of any candidate since the largely uncontested 1820 election. -
First NFL Football Super Bowl
On January 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) smash the American Football League (AFL)'s Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, in the first-ever AFL-NFL World Championship, later known as Super Bowl I, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. -
Malcolm X assassinated
Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964, he was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. -
Watts race riots
The Watts Rebellion, also known as the Watts Riots, was a large series of riots that broke out August 11, 1965 -
Boxer Muhammed Ali refuses military service
When Ali arrived to be inducted in the United States Armed Forces, however, he refused, citing his religion forbade him from serving. The cost for his refusal would prove to be drastic: the stripping of his heavyweight title, a suspension from boxing, a $10,000 fine, and a five-year prison sentence. -
“Star Trek” TV show airs
This is the first television series in the Star Trek franchise, and comprises 79 regular episodes over the series' three seasons. -
Thurgood Marshall nominated to the Supreme Court
President Johnson nominated Marshall in June 1967 to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark, who left the Court after his son, Ramsey Clark, became Attorney General. -
San Francisco “Summer of Love” begins
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people. -
Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s album
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26 May 1967, it spent 27 weeks at number one on the Record Retailer chart in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the United States. -
Tet Offensive
The Tet Offensive was an attack carried out by the Vietcong all of Vietnam. They attacked all major enemies cities, including the American Embassy. -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesman and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. -
Robert Kennedy is assassinated
Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, and as a U.S. Senator from New York from January 1965 until his assassination in June 1968. -
Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
Protest activity against the Vietnam War took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. In 1968, counterculture and anti-Vietnam War protest groups began planning protests and demonstrations in response to the convention, and the city promised to maintain law and order. -
LSD declared illegal by the U.S. government
LSD was declared a "Schedule I" substance, legally designating that the drug has a "high potential for abuse" and is without any "currently accepted medical use in treatment." LSD was removed from legal circulation. -
Richard Nixon is elected
He unsuccessfully ran for president in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy. Nixon then lost a race for governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968, he ran for the presidency again and was elected. -
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. -
American astronauts land on the moon
On this date, the Apollo 11 space mission landed American Astronauts on the moon. At this time these were the only men who had ever stepped foot on the moon. -
Woodstock concert
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to simply as Woodstock, was a music festival held August 15–18, 1969. -
The Rolling Stones host the Altamont music festival
The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture rock concert in the United States, held on Saturday, December 6, 1969, at the Altamont Speedway.