60's Timeline

  • The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is Formed

    The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) is Formed

    The SNCC was established in 1960 as a result of student-led sit-ins segregated lunch counters throughout the South, and it quickly rose to prominence as the main vehicle for student involvement in the civil rights struggle
  • First Televised Presidential Debate

    First Televised Presidential Debate

    Kennedy v. Nixon.
    The power of television brought elections into Americans' Living rooms, and their first broadcast debate changed how presidential campaigns were conducted. 70 million Americans watched the debate live, turning it into an electronic spectator sport. (Paraphrased from Constitution Center)
  • First airing of “The Flintstones”

    First airing of “The Flintstones”

    When "The Flintstones" debuted on September 30, 1960, it was already prehistoric by design. The first animated primetime television program still receives references in contemporary popular culture 60 years after its premiere. In some ways, it appears even older. In other others, it seems unexpectedly modern.
  • Richard Nixon is Elected

    Richard Nixon is Elected

  • President Kennedy is Elected

    President Kennedy is Elected

    JFK was a politician from the US who presided over the country as its 35th president in 1961. He was the youngest president to take office by election and the youngest president to leave office.
  • Russians Send the First Man Into Space

    Russians Send the First Man Into Space

    In the Space Race, the Soviet Union emerged as the overwhelming winner. Yuri Gagarin, the first man to travel into space, completes one circle of the Earth while aboard the Vostok 1. Before landing in Saratov Oblast, west Russia, he spent an hour and 48 minutes in space.
  • Berlin Wall is Constructed

    Berlin Wall is Constructed

  • Roger Maris of the Yankees Breaks Babe Ruth’s Single Season Home Run Record

    Roger Maris of the Yankees Breaks Babe Ruth’s Single Season Home Run Record

    Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hit his 60th home run of the Major League Baseball campaign, tying Babe Ruth's single-season mark.
  • SDS Releases its Port Huron Statement

    A non-ideological plea for participatory democracy was made in the 25,700-word document, which was based on non-violent civil disobedience and the notion that each citizen could participate in the social decisions that affected their standard of living.
  • Marilyn Monroe Dies

  • James Meredith Registers at Ole Miss

    On October 2, 1962, James Meredith formally enrolled as the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. He was under the relentless verbal hazing of a minority of pupils while being protected by reserve U.S. deputy marshals and army personnel
  • “Dr. No” the First James Bond Movie Premiers

  • Cuban Missile Crisis Starts

    a 35-day conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union also known as the Missile Scare, the Caribbean Crisis in Russia, or the October Crisis in Cuba.
  • Cuban Missile Crisis Ends

    Kennedy had the option of conducting airstrikes against the sites where the missiles were being built, but he chose to negotiate with Khrushchev so that the Soviets would remove the missiles in exchange for the United States not invading the island. Without a doubt, by caving into Khrushchev's demands, the U.S. won the war.
  • New York World’s Fair Begins

    Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Flushing, Queens, hosts a historic world's fair pavilion. It was created in 1962 by architects Philip Johnson and Richard Foster and structural engineer Lev Zetlin for the 1964 New York World's Fair.
  • Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech

    Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist clergyman, and American civil rights leader, made his famous speech "I Have a Dream" on August 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. King demanded the abolition of racism in the US and the protection of civil and economic rights in his speech.
  • Lyndon B Johnson Defeats Barry Goldwater

  • John F Kennedy is Assassinated

  • The Beatles Arrive in the United States

  • Malcolm X is Assassinated

  • “Star Trek” TV show airs

  • The Beatles Appear on Ed Sullivan

  • Watts Race Riots

    The Watts riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising, occurred in the Los Angeles suburb of Watts and its neighboring areas from August 11 to August 16, 1965. African-American male Marquette Frye, age 21, was arrested for drunk driving on August 11, 1965.
  • San Francisco “Summer of Love” begins

    a sociological phenomenon that took place in the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco in the summer of 1967 when up to 100,000 people, predominantly young people wearing hippie trends of dress and conduct, congregated there.
  • First NFL Football Super Bowl

  • Boxer Muhammed Ali Refuses Military Service

  • Beatles Release Sgt. Pepper’s Album

  • Thurgood Marshall is Nominated to the Supreme Court

    On June 13, 1967, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Thurgood Marshall to fill the position of Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States being vacated by Tom C. Clark.
  • LSD is Declared Illegal by the U.S. government

    After using it on humans during MKULTRA, the US government outlawed it as part of the "War on Drugs." It is possible to experience negative psychological reactions including anxiety, paranoia, and delusions
  • Tet Offensive

    Tet Offensive

    South Vietnamese sites were the focus of the concerted attack by Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces
  • Martin Luther King Jr. is Assassinated

    April 4, 1968
  • Robert Kennedy is Assassinated

  • Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention Start

    a number of anti-Vietnam War protests that happened before and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
  • Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention End

  • Tet Offensive Ends

  • The Rolling Stones Host the Altamont Music Festival

  • Stonewall Riots Started

    The Stonewall riots, often referred to as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall insurrection, or just Stonewall, were a series of unplanned demonstrations by LGBT people in response to a police raid.
  • Stonewall Riots End

  • American Astronauts Land on the Moon

    American Astronauts Land on the Moon

    American astronauts Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and Neil Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, when they became the first people to set foot on the moon.
  • Woodstock Concert Starts

    a music event in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of Woodstock, from August 15 to 18, 1969.
  • Woodstock Concert Ends