Tables of History : A.D. 1960

Tables of History : A.D. 1960 - 1979

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800-899 | 900-999 | 1000-1099 | 1100-1199
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1920-1939 | 1940-1959 | 1960-1979 | 1980-1999
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Bay of Pigs invasion fails
American-backed Cuban exiles invade Cuba, landing at the Bay of Pigs. The invasion fails.
In Viet Nam, the Viet Cong carry out an offensive in Kontum province, and capture Phuoc Vinh

The Cuban Missile Crisis
U.S. blockades Cuba over Soviet missile sites on the island. World on brink of war.
Second Vatican Council begins
U.S. "military advisors" in Viet Nam reorganised
The "advisors" become US Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), under the command of Gen. Paul D. Harkins
Australian troops arrive in Viet Nam

Battle of Ap Dac
U.S. and South Vietnamese troops defeated.
Ngo Dinh Diem deposed and murdered in military coup
General Duon Van Minh becomes South Viet Nam's new leader.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas
Kennedy is succeeded by his Vice President, Lyndon B. Johnson.

U.S. President Johnson approves secret military operations against North Viet Nam
Military coup in South Viet Nam brings Nguyen Khanh to power
Tonkin Gulf Resolution approved by Congress
The resolution, the closest the U.S. ever got to declaring war on North Vietnam, was issued following several incidents between U.S. and North Vietnamese naval vessels, and gave the President wide-reaching authority to act in defence of South Viet Nam and the American troops stationed there.
Khruschev steps down
At a meeting of the Central Committee on October 15, Nikita Khruschev is accused of nepotism and poor personal conduct, and is forced to resign his posts as Premier and party chairman to Aleksei Kosygin and Leonid Brezhnev.
Renewed bloody fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriots
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is founded
In Saudi Arabia, King Saud is deposed and replaced by his brother, Faisal
In the U.S.A., civil rights legislation bans racial discrimination
Murders of four civil rights activists in Mississippi lead to FBI arrests of several locals, including the local sheriff. Baptist minister Martin Luther King, one of the leaders of the civil rights movement, is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

This chronology's author born
Peter Ravn Rasmussen, author of this chronology, is born in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Second Vatican Council ends

Man lands on the Moon
The first manned lunar expedition, Apollo 11, leads to the landing of Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the Moon.
In Spain, Franco names Prince Juan Carlos as his successor as head of state
ARPANET established
The precursor of the Internet, the ARPANET connects four U.S. universities: Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah.

Apollo 17, the last lunar mission
In Denmark, King Frederik IX dies, and is succeeded by his daughter, Queen Margrethe II
In Bangladesh, Mijibur Rahman becomes first prime minister

In Spain, Franco dies and the monarchy is restored
Prince Juan Carlos becomes king
In Greece, a plebiscite abolishes the monarchy
In Bangladesh, prime minister Mijibur Rahman takes the presidency, and is shortly thereafter murdered in a military coup

In Spain, King Juan Carlos names Adolfo Suárez as prime minister
The new prime minister initiates a reform process that is to lead to democratic elections, after more than forty years of dictatorship.

Anthrax incident in the USSR
An accidental release of anthrax from a biowarfare laboratory in Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg) in the Soviet Union kills at least 64 people.

Last modified: July 20, 2001