-
Pope John XXIII announces his intention of calling an ecumenical council
-
Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba
-
The first weather satellite is launched
-
US U-2 spy plane is shot down over Russia
-
Pope John authorises the setting up of commissions and secretariates to prepare for the Second Vatican Council
-
John F. Kennedy is elected president of the U.S.A
-
Yuri Gargarin of the USSR becomes the first person to orbit the earth
-
The unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs
-
Alan Shepard makes the first manned US space flight
-
Michael Ramsay is appointed archbishop of Canterbury
-
The Berlin Wall is constructed
-
The bishops of the world are formally summoned to the Second Vatican Council
-
US blockade of Cuba - USSR withdraws missiles from Cuba
-
Marilyn Monroe dies
-
Norms and procedures for the Council are established
-
Uganda becomes independent
-
First Session of the Council meets
-
Civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham Alabama lead to the arrest of Martin Luther King
-
Pope John Paul XXIII dies
-
Pope Paul VI is elected and announces his plan to continue the Council.
-
The first artifical heart takes over patient's circulation during surgery
-
A nuclear test ban treaty is signed by the US, the Soviet Union and Great Britain
-
The Second session of the Council meets
-
President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas and replaced by Lyndon Johnson
-
Constitutions on the Sacred Liturgy and Decree on the Means of Social Communication are issued
-
The United Nations Peace force takes over in Cyprus
-
Pope Paul VI meets Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in the Holy Land
-
Beatlemania sweeps North America on their first visit
-
The Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions is established
-
Race riots break out across US in reaction to the enforcement of civil rights laws
-
The Third session of the Council meets
-
The film My Fair Lady with Audrey Hepburn is released
-
Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches, and Decree on Ecumenism are issued
-
Martin Luther King Jr. wins the Nobel Peace Prize
-
-
Winston Churchill dies aged 90
-
Malcolm X shot dead in New York City
-
The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews is released
-
Leonov becomes the first astronaut to walk in space
-
-
The Fourth session of the Council is held
-
Pope Paul VI addresses the United Nations assembly in New York
-
Decree Concerning the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, Decree on Renewal of Religious Life, Decree on Priestly Training, Declaration on Christian Education, and Decleration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions are issued.
-
Rhodesia declares independence and Britain responds with an oil embargo
-
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation and Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity are issued
-
A Prayer Service for Promoting Christianity is held at Saint Paul Outside the Walls
-
Decleration on Religious Freedom, Decree on the Mission Activity of the Church, Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World are issued.
-
The Second Vatican Council is solemnly ended. An extraordinary Jubilee year is proclaimed to familiarise the faithful with the Council's teachings.