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SNCC formed
The SNCC was formed to enable students to make their own decisions about priorities and tactics. -
First televised Presidential debate
Nixon and Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy. The first-ever televised debate between presidential candidates. An estimated total of sixty to seventy million viewers watched the first and the successive debates, which came to be known as “the Great Debates.” -
First airing of “The Flintstones”
The flinstones TV show aired for the first time and quickly became a hit. -
President Kennedy is elected
Kennedy ran in the 1960 presidential election. His campaign gained momentum after the first televised presidential debates in American history, and he was elected president, defeating Republican opponent Richard Nixon. -
Roger Maris of the Yankees breaks Babe Ruth’s single season home run record
Maris hit 61 home runs during the 1961 season breaking Babe Ruth's MLB single season home run record of 60 home runs at the time. -
Russians send the first man into space
Yuri Gagarin from the Soviet Union was the first human in space. The flight lasted 108 minutes. -
Berlin Wall is constructed
The Berlin Wall became the symbol of the Cold War and a tangible manifestation of the world's separation into two distinct ideological blocks. -
SDS releases its Port Huron statement
Proposed a new form of “participatory democracy” to rescue modern society from destructive militarism and cultural alienation. -
Marilyn Monroe dies
Her death was officially ruled a probable suicide by the Los Angeles County coroner's office, based on information about her overdosing and being prone to mood swings and suicidal idealization. -
James Meredith registers at Ole Miss
James Meredith officially became the first African American student at the University of Mississippi. He was guarded twenty-four hours a day by reserve U.S. deputy marshals and army troops. -
“Dr. No” the first James Bond movie premiers
Adapted for film by the British movie production company Eon Productions in 1962. Directed by Irish filmmaker Terence Young and starring Scottish-born actor Sean Connery as Bond, Dr. No launched one of the most successful film franchises in history. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
Kennedy blockaded Cuba on October 22, 1962. The two sides stood on the brink of nuclear war, but Khrushchev capitulated six days later and the missiles were dismantled. In return, Kennedy disbanded its own missile sites in Turkey. -
Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech
A public speech that was delivered by American civil rights activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. -
John F Kennedy is assassinated
The 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. -
The Beatles arrive in the United States
The band disembarked from a Pan Am Boeing 707 at the recently renamed John F. Kennedy airport, and were greeted by thousands of American fans. -
The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan
The Beatles made several appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, including three in February 1964 that were among their first appearances in front of an American audience. -
New York World’s Fair begins
A world's fair that held over 140 pavilions and 110 restaurants representing 80 nations -
Lyndon B Johnson defeats Barry Goldwater
Johnson beat Goldwater in the general election, winning over 61% of the popular vote. Johnson became the only Democrat between 1944 and 1976 to win a majority of the popular vote. -
Malcolm X assassinated
An African American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a popular figure during the civil rights movement, was shot multiple times and died from his wounds in Manhattan, New York City. -
Watts race riots
Took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. Marquette Frye, a 21-year-old African-American man, was pulled over for drunken driving. -
“Star Trek” TV show airs
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise. -
Thurgood Marshall nominated to the Supreme Court
Nominated by Johnson to replace the retiring Justice Tom Clark, who left the Court after his son, Ramsey Clark, became Attorney General. Johnson said Marshall was “best qualified by training and by very valuable service to the country". -
San Francisco “Summer of Love” begins
social phenomenon when as many as 100,000 people, mostly young people sporting hippie fashions of dress and behavior, converged in San Francisco's neighborhood of Haight-Ashbury. -
First NFL Football Super Bowl
Played between the Packers and Kansas City. Kansas City prevailed over the Packers. -
Tet Offensive
North Vietnamese and communist Viet Cong forces launched a coordinated attack against a number of targets in South Vietnam. The U.S. and South Vietnamese militaries sustained heavy losses before finally repelling the communist assault. -
Boxer Muhammed Ali refuses military service
With the United States at war in Vietnam, Ali refused to be inducted into the armed forces, saying “I ain't got no quarrel with those Vietcong." -
Beatles release Sgt. Pepper’s album
the song is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composition, extended form, psychedelic imagery, record sleeves, and the producer in popular music. -
LSD declared illegal by the U.S. government
LSD being viewed as a cultural threat to American values and the Vietnam war effort, and it was designated as an illegal for medical as well as recreational use substance. -
Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated
Ray rented a room at a Memphis rooming house near the Lorraine Motel. That day, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated as he stood on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel. -
American astronauts land on the moon
America is the first country to land on the moon -
Protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
A series of protests against the United States' involvement in the Vietnam War that took place prior to and during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois. Lasted for seven days. -
Richard Nixon is elected
He was the 37th president of the United States and a member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and as the 36th vice president from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Stonewall riots
A gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, was raided by police. But instead of responding with the routine compliance the NYPD expected, patrons and a growing crowd decided to fight back. -
Woodstock concert
A music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York. -
The Rolling Stones host the Altamont music festival
Hosted at the Altamont Speedway outside of Tracy, California. Approximately 300,000 attended the concert, with some anticipating that it would be a "Woodstock West".