What happened in 1960
89 entries recorded for 1960, listed by date. That was 66 years ago.
1960 at a glance
- Years ago
- 66 (as of 2026)
- Century
- 20th century
- Decade
- 1960s
- Generation born
- Baby Boomers
- Entries here
- 89
- Breakdown
- 88 historical events · 1 deaths
January
- January 1
East House mass shooting
Three men were killed and two wounded in a mass shooting at a public house in Sheffield, England.
- January 6
Associations Law
The Associations Law comes into force in Iraq, allowing registration of political parties.
- January 6
National Airlines Flight 2511
National Airlines Flight 2511, traveling from New York City to Miami, exploded in mid-air due to a bomb placed by an unknown party, resulting in the deaths of all 34 people on board.
- January 9
President of Egypt
President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser opens construction on the Aswan Dam by detonating ten tons of dynamite to demolish twenty tons of granite on the east bank of the Nile.
- January 14
Reserve Bank of Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia, the country's central bank and banknote issuing authority authorized by the 1959 Reserve Bank Act, is established.
- January 23
Bathyscaphe
The bathyscaphe USS Trieste breaks a depth record by descending to 10,911 metres (35,797 ft) in the Pacific Ocean.
- January 24
Algerian War
Algerian War: Some units of European volunteers in Algiers stage an insurrection known as the "barricades week", during which they seize government buildings and clash with local police.
- January 28
National Football League
The National Football League announces expansion teams for Dallas to start in the 1960 NFL season and Minneapolis-St. Paul for the 1961 NFL season.
- January 30
African National Party
The African National Party is founded in Chad, through the merger of traditionalist parties.
February
- February 1
Civil rights movement
Civil rights movement: Four African-American students staged the first of more than five months of sit-ins at an F. W. Woolworth lunch counter (pictured) in Greensboro, North Carolina, to protest the company's policy of racial segregation.
- February 3
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan speaks of "a wind of change", signalling that his Government is likely to support decolonisation.
- February 8
Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II issues an Order-in-Council, proclaiming the House of Windsor and declaring that her descendants will take the name Mountbatten-Windsor.
- February 8
Groundbreaking
The official groundbreaking of the Walk of Fame took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, in California.
- February 13
Nashville sit-ins
African-American college students staged the first of the Nashville sit-ins (sign at protest pictured) at three lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee, as part of a nonviolent direct-action campaign to end racial segregation in the U.S.
- February 18
Gertrude Vanderbilt (actress)
Gertrude Vanderbilt, American stage actress (born c. 1885)
- February 19
T-7 (rocket)
China successfully launches the T-7, its first sounding rocket.
- February 26
Alitalia
A New York-bound Alitalia airliner crashes into a cemetery in Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
- February 26
Kyiv
A Kyiv-bound Aeroflot airliner crashes on approach to Snilow Airport in Lviv, killing 32 of the 33 people on board.
- February 29
1960 Agadir earthquake
The deadliest earthquake in Moroccan history (damaged building pictured) struck the city of Agadir, killing at least 12,000 people.
March
- March 5
Alberto Korda
Cuban photographer Alberto Korda took his iconic photograph Guerrillero Heroico of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara.
- March 9
Belding Hibbard Scribner
Dr. Belding Hibbard Scribner implants for the first time a shunt he invented into a patient, which allows the patient to receive hemodialysis on a regular basis.
- March 15
Atlanta University Center
Students from the Atlanta University Center, inspired by similar actions in Greensboro, North Carolina, began occupying lunch counters in Atlanta, Georgia.
- March 16
African Americans
African American civil rights activists in Savannah, Georgia, conducted a sit-in, commencing the Savannah Protest Movement.
- March 17
Dwight D. Eisenhower
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the National Security Council directive on the anti-Cuban covert action program that will ultimately lead to the Bay of Pigs Invasion.
- March 17
Northwest Airlines Flight 710
Northwest Airlines Flight 710 explodes and crashes near Cannelton, Indiana, killing 63.
- March 21
Sharpeville
Police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire on a group of unarmed black demonstrators who were protesting pass laws, killing 69 people and wounding 180 others.
- March 21
Apartheid
Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.
April
- April 8
Netherlands
The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung.
- April 13
Transit (satellite navigation system)
The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
- April 15
Shaw University
At Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ella Baker leads a conference that results in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the principal organizations of the civil rights movement in the 1960s.
- April 21
Brasília
Brasília, a planned city primarily designed by architect and urban planner Lúcio Costa, was officially inaugurated, replacing Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazil.
- April 25
United States Navy
The U.S. Navy submarine Triton completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the world.
- April 28
Sibley Commission
The Sibley Commission issued their final report, urging the government of the U.S. state of Georgia to abandon its strategy of massive resistance and legalize some instances of school integration.
May
- May 1
Cold War
Cold War: U-2 incident: Francis Gary Powers, in a Lockheed U-2 spyplane, is shot down over the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Soviet Union, sparking a diplomatic crisis.
- May 3
Off-Broadway
The Off-Broadway show The Fantasticks premiered, eventually becoming the world's longest-running musical, with 17,162 performances across 42 years.
- May 5
Netherlands Carillon
The Netherlands Carillon was inaugurated in Arlington, Virginia, on the 15th anniversary of Dutch Liberation Day.
- May 7
Cold War
Cold War: U-2 Crisis of 1960: Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that his nation is holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers.
- May 9
Food and Drug Administration
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would approve the use of Searle's Enovid, the first combined oral contraceptive pill.
- May 16
Theodore Maiman
American physicist Theodore Maiman operated the first working laser at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu.
- May 22
1960 Valdivia earthquake
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded, registering approximately 9.5 Mw, struck near Valdivia, Chile, generating tsunamis that reached Hawaii and Japan.
June
- June 16
Psycho (1960 film)
Psycho, a psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, premiered.
- June 17
Nez Perce
The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty.
- June 20
Mali Federation
The Mali Federation gained independence from France, but dissolved into Mali and Senegal two months later.
- June 24
Venezuela
Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt is injured in an assassination attempt.
- June 25
Cryptography
Two cryptographers working for the U.S. National Security Agency left on vacation to Mexico, and proceeded to defect to the Soviet Union.
- June 30
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo gained independence from colonial rule, beginning a period of instability that would lead to the dictatorship of Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.
July
- July 1
Kwame Nkrumah
Ghana became a republic, with Kwame Nkrumah as its first president.
- July 8
Francis Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.
- July 11
To Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird, a novel by Harper Lee featuring themes of racial injustice and the loss of innocence in the Deep South of America, was published.
- July 12
Orlyonok
Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
- July 14
Jane Goodall
Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her study of chimpanzees in the wild.
- July 14
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 1-11
Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 1-11 ditched off Polillo Island in the Philippines, killing one person and injuring 44 others.
- July 21
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Bandaranaike (pictured) was sworn in as prime minister of Ceylon, becoming the world's first democratically elected female head of government.
- July 28
Volkswagen Act
The German Volkswagen Act comes into force.
August
- August 3
Niger
Niger gains independence from France.
- August 6
Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
- August 9
South Kasai
South Kasai secedes from the Congo.
- August 9
Albert Kalonji
Led by Albert Kalonji, South Kasai declared its unilateral secession from the Republic of the Congo.
- August 12
Project Echo
Echo 1A, NASA's first successful communications satellite, is launched.
- August 13
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic declares independence from France.
- August 16
Cyprus
Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- August 16
Joseph Kittinger
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico, United States, at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.
- August 17
Aeroflot Flight 036
Aeroflot Flight 036 crashes in Soviet Ukraine, killing 34.
- August 23
Congo Crisis
Congo Crisis: In order to stop the secession of South Kasai from the Republic of Congo, Armée Nationale Congolaise forces launched an invasion of South Kasai.
- August 29
Air France Flight 343
Air France Flight 343 crashed while attempting to land at Yoff Airport, Dakar, killing all 63 occupants.
September
- September 10
Abebe Bikila
At the Summer Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win a gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet.
- September 10
Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon
Running barefoot in the marathon event at the Rome Olympics, Abebe Bikila became the first athlete from sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal.
- September 22
Mali
The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation.
- September 24
USS Enterprise (CVN-65)
USS Enterprise, the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.
- September 26
United States presidential debates
In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
- September 30
The Flintstones
The Flintstones animated sitcom premieres on ABC television.
October
- October 4
Eastern Air Lines Flight 375
Eastern Airlines flight 375 crashes on takeoff from Boston's Logan International Airport, killing 62 people of the 72 aboard.
- October 12
Japan Socialist Party
Japan Socialist Party leader Inejirō Asanuma (pictured) was assassinated during a live television recording by a far-right ultra-nationalist using a short sword.
- October 12
Nikita Khrushchev
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reportedly pounded his shoe on a desk during a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in protest at a speech by Philippine delegate Lorenzo Sumulong.
- October 19
United States embargo against Cuba
The United States imposes a near-total trade embargo against Cuba.
- October 24
Nedelin catastrophe
Nedelin catastrophe: An R-16 ballistic missile explodes on the launch pad at the Soviet Union's Baikonur Cosmodrome space facility, killing over 100 people, including Field Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.
- October 29
Curtiss C-46 Commando
A C-46 airliner carrying the Cal Poly Mustangs football team crashed during takeoff from Toledo Express Airport in Ohio, U.S., resulting in 22 deaths.
- October 30
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
At the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Michael Woodruff performed the first successful kidney transplantation in the United Kingdom.
November
- November 4
Kasakela chimpanzee community
At the Kasakela Chimpanzee Community in Tanzania, Jane Goodall observes chimpanzees creating tools, the first-ever observation in non-human animals.
- November 11
1960 South Vietnamese coup attempt
A coup attempt by the Army of the Republic of Vietnam against President Ngô Đình Diệm was crushed after he falsely promised reform, allowing loyalists to rescue him.
- November 14
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges and the McDonogh Three became the first black children to attend an all-white elementary school in Louisiana as part of the New Orleans school desegregation crisis.
- November 25
Mirabal sisters
Three of the four Mirabal sisters, who opposed the dictatorship of military strongman Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, were beaten and strangled to death.
December
- December 13
Haile Selassie
With Haile Selassie (pictured), Emperor of Ethiopia, out of the country, four conspirators staged a coup attempt to install Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen on the throne.
- December 13
Emperor of Ethiopia
While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor.
- December 14
Ian Meckiff
Australian cricketer Ian Meckiff was run out on the last day of the first Test match between Australia and the West Indies, resulting in the first tied Test in cricket history.
- December 15
Richard Paul Pavlick
Richard Pavlick is arrested for plotting to assassinate U.S. President-Elect John F. Kennedy.
- December 15
Mahendra of Nepal
King Mahendra of Nepal suspends the country's constitution, dissolves parliament, dismisses the cabinet, and imposes direct rule.
- December 16
United Airlines
A United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and six more on the ground.
- December 23
Oven homicide
Hilkka Saarinen née Pylkkänen is murdered in the so-called "oven homicide" case in Krootila, Kokemäki, Finland.
Questions about 1960
What happened in 1960?
This site records 89 entries for 1960, including East House mass shooting on January 1. They are listed below by date.
How long ago was 1960?
66 years ago, counting from 2026. Anyone born in 1960 turns 66 this year.
Which century is 1960 in?
1960 falls in the 20th century, in the 1960s.
Which generation was born in 1960?
Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Born in the post-war birth surge.
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