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John Fitzgerald Kennedy becomes President
John Fitzgerald Kennedy became the 35th president of the U.S at the age of 43 and was the youngest and first Roman Catholic president ever. In 1947, at 29, he entered the 80th Congress and was criticised for his "youthful appearance and relaxed, informal style." In 1948 and 1950, he was reelected to the House of Representatives and ran for the Senate in 1952. In 1956, he nearly became vice-president. On January 2, he announced his candidacy for president. Kennedy won 303 electoral votes. -
The First person in the world travels into Outer Space
Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. he was the first person to travel into Outer Space and coompleted one orbit of Earth on the 12th April. -
Construction of The Berlin Wall begins
The Berlin Wall was constructed to cut off any access to the West. By August of 1961, an average of 2000 East Germans fled into the West every day. Between 1949 and 1961, 2.5 million Germans had crossed into West Germany. -
Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War
During WW2, Japan invaded Vietnam which leads to the formation of the Viet Minh (League for the Independence of Vietnam) under their political leader: Ho Chi Minh. After their defeat, Bao Dai became Emperor of Japan. Though both sides wanted a unified Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh wanted a nation that followed communism while Bao wanted a nation with close ties with the West. Australia became involved with the war in mid-1962. 60,000 served in the war -
The 1st Beatles' single-Love Me Do
At this time, there were not many fans outside of Manchester and Liverpool. The song was written by Lennon-Mccartney and was recorded on 6th June and 11th September. It was released on 5th October (UK) and 1oth January (US.) Paul McCartney (vocals, bass), John Lennon (vocals, harmonica, acoustic rhythm guitar), George Harrison (acoustic rhythm guitar), Ringo Starr (drums, tambourine), Ringo Starr (drums), and Andy White (drums) all contributed in the song. The song hit Number 17 around the UK. -
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Kennedy's motorcade was diving down Dealey Plaza when 5 mins from its destination, 3 shots were fired at 12:30 pm. One bullet hit the president's neck, another other caused a fatal head wound and the last hit the Democratic governor. 70 mins after the attack, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested. But less than 48 hours after the assassination, Oswald was dead. The shots were fired from the 6th floor of the Texas School Book Depository. -
Mariner 4
NASA's Mariner 4, was the first spacecraft to take photos of another planet from space. The spacecraft was launched on 28/11/1964 and its mission ended 21/12/1967. It provided information for future missions to Mars and though initially planned to last for 8 months, it orbited for 3 years. Insyruments used included: imaging system, helium magnetometer, plasma probe, cosmic-ray telescope, cosmic-ray detector and a cosmic dust detector.