1960s

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Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century

Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s - 1960s - 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

Table of contents

1 Events and trends

1.1 Technology
1.2 Science
1.3 War, peace and politics
1.4 Economics
1.5 Culture
1.6 Others

2 World leaders

3 Writers and intellectuals

4 Sports figures

5 Entertainers

6 Infamous

Events and trends

The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around the world. Many of the trends of the 1960s were due to the demographic changes brought about by the baby boom generation and the dissolution of European colonial empires. (See The Sixties.)

Technology

USSR puts first man (Yuri Gagarin) and first woman (Valentina Tereshkova) in space
The United States puts man on Earth's Moon
Geosynchronous satellites revolutionize global communications.
Start of the development of algorithmic information theory

Science

Discovery of plate tectonics revolutionises understanding of continental drift
Rise of the science of ecology in the awareness of the intelligentsia

War, peace and politics

Cultural Revolution in mainland China causes political and economic chaos.
Civil War begins in Nigeria
Six-Day War between Israelis and Arabs.
Beginning of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Berlin Wall built, in 1961.
Bay of Pigs Invasion
Civil rights movement; end of official segregation and disenfranchisement of African-Americans
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Vietnam War and protests, leading to Kent State University shootings in May, 1970
Suppression of uprising in Czechoslovakia
United Nations imposes sanctions against South Africa in protest at Apartheid.
Students protesting perceived problems with the status-quo suppressed with violence by police and soldiers in USA, France, Mexico, Czechoslovakia.
The Quiet Revolution (Révolution tranquille) begins in Quebec - precipitous decline of the Roman Catholic church, liberalism, social-democratic programs, and the birth of modern Quebec nationalism
The rise of radical feminism

Economics

Many countries in Western Europe experience high economic growth (4 to 8% per year).

Culture

Worldwide expansion of surrealism.
Rock and roll develops, diversifies, and becomes very hip. The Beatles eclipse Elvis Presley.
2001: A Space Odyssey hits movie theaters.
James Bond movies.
Hippies, drug culture & Rock and roll converge at the Woodstock Festival & Concert, 1969.
Growing popularity of religions other than Christianity in the West, and of atheism; Time Magazine asks: "Is God Dead?"
Memorable Expositions, or "World's Fairs," are held in Seattle (1962), New York (1964/1965), Montreal (1967) and San Antonio (1968).

Others

Post-Colonialism; many new or previously colonized countries achieve independence in Africa, Asia.
John F. Kennedy assassinated in 1963; his brother Robert F. Kennedy assassinated in 1968.
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated on April 4, 1968.
LBJ's Great Society program
Increase in crime, Los Angeles Watts Riot, 1965, Chicago riot, 1968 Democratic National Convention
Rise of the Baby Boom generation to adulthood; Sesame Street debuts on PBS.
First widespread availability of practical birth control pill for women; sexual revolution
Growing hegemony of liberalism and socialist ideology in some universities; reassessment of the Western canon
Widespread riots in France
Sweden abandons driving on the left side.
Early days of American gay rights movement, which explodes into the Stonewall riots of 1969
The Boston Celtics continue their record-breaking streak of NBA championships (which began in 1959) from 1960 to 1966.