Dates 1960s 295

1961-1970

By snakasone15
  • Bay of Pigs Debacle

    Bay of Pigs Debacle

    The plot to overthrow Fidel Castro goes disastrously, leading many to question Kennedy's abilities as Commander in Chief
  • Alan Shepard becomes the first American in Space

    Alan Shepard becomes the first American in Space

  • John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth

    John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth

  • Silent Spring published

    Silent Spring published

    Written by Rachel Carson, the book revealed the hazards of DDT and helped to garner public opinion against the pesticide.
  • Cuban Missle Crisis

    Cuban Missle Crisis

    America and the Soviet Union come closer to nuclear war than ever before
  • Martin Luther King Delivers his "I Have a Dream" Speech in Washington, DC

    Martin Luther King Delivers his "I Have a Dream" Speech in Washington, DC

    Over 200000 people listen to his oration on equality as he speaks from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall
  • President Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas

    President Kennedy Assassinated in Dallas

    Lyndon Johnson assumes the presidency
  • Watts race riots

    Watts race riots

    After five days, 34 people are dead, and 200 million dollars in property has been damaged
  • First public burning of a draft card

    First public burning of a draft card

  • Veterans Stage Anti-War Rally

    Veterans from previous wars burn discharge and draft papers in protest of the Vietnam war. Hostility towards the war continues to grow.
  • Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black Supreme Court Justice

    Thurgood Marshall becomes the first black Supreme Court Justice

  • North Vietnamese Launch Tet Offensive

    North Vietnamese Launch Tet Offensive

    While the American military is taken by surprise, they win the battle; in numbers. Psychologically and politically, it is a Vietcong victory.
  • Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, become the first men to walk on the moon

    Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, become the first men to walk on the moon

  • Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced

    Policy of "Vietnamization" Announced

    The American military begins to make plans to leave Vietnam

  • The internet (Arpanet) is invented

    Engineers at Advanced Research Projects Agency at the U.S. Department of Defense connect the IMP at UCLA to the one at Stanford Research Institute.
  • Kent State Incident

    Kent State Incident

    National Guardsmen fire on an anti-war demonstration, killing four students.