1960 Events & Facts

John F. Kennedy elected President in narrow contest over Richard Nixon
Soviet Union shoots down an American U-2 reconnaissance airplane over Soviet airspace and captures pilot Gary Powers, forcing U.S. to admit to aerial spying
Black students stage a sit-in at a lunch counter in Greensboro, NC to protest segregated seating at the establishment; the event inspires a wave of such sit-ins across the South
Belgian Congo wins independence
U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union conduct summit talks, but without results
U.S. relations with Cuba deteriorate as Castro regime seizes U.S. assets

U.S. launches:
Soviet Sputnik 5 launches two dogs into orbit and returns them safely to earth
U.S.-French team aboard the deep-sea vessel Trieste dives to a record 35,800 feet in the Pacific
First studies linking cigarette smoking with heart disease

Movies: Psycho, The Entertainer, The Apartment
Songs: Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, Let’s Do the Twist, Never on Sunday, Teen Angel, Stay, Are You Lonesome Tonight
TV Shows: Perry Mason, Bonanza, My Three Sons, The Untouchables, Andy Griffith Show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Walt Disney Presents
Books: The Affair, C.P. Snow; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Allan Sillitoe; To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee; Rabbit, Run, John Updike; The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, William L. Shirer
Pioneering rock-and-roll DJ Alan Freed arrested in national investigation of "payola" in radio industry
Presidential candidates Kennedy and Nixon engage in a televised debate that helps set the precedent for future TV political coverage
Clark Gable dies

The number of television sets in the U.S. reaches 85 million, nearly one set for every two Americans
First "Teflon" non-sticking cookware goes on sale at Macy’s in New York
First oral contraceptives made available to the public

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