John F. Kennedy was elected the youngest President in the United States on 9 November 1960. During his stay in office his administration tried to overthrow Castro's revoluntionary government in Cuba. They were not successful and Castro pushed the US out on 19 April, 1961. President Kennedy and Premier Krushchev in 1962 came close to the brink of World War III over Soviet Missles in Cuba. Kennedy was not going to back down this time with US U-2 planes flying over Cuba and US battle ships blocking any ships entering Cuba without first being inspected. On 28 October 1962, Russian ships turned back home and all missles in Cuba were taken out of the country. On 22 November, 1963 John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas, TX. Lee Harvey Oswald was found to be the man the pulled the trigger from the School Book Depository.
|
Yuri Gargarin on 12 April, 1961 orbited the earth becoming the first man in space. His ride in space was 108 minutes. This started the space race with the United States.
|
Martin Luther King pledged to continue the struggle for equal rights and insists on a "passive resistance and the weopon of love are effective means of fighting bigotry and racism". On 28 August 1963 King spoke to more than 250,000 people who walked on the streets of Washington and met at the Lincoln Memorial. Here he spoke those famous words, "I have a dream, It is a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. I have a dream that the sons of former slaves and the sons of slave owners will sit together at the table of brotherhood". On July 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act which was the most radical civil rights law in US history.
|
On 11 July 1962, a satellite was launched by the Americans called Telstar. This would be the first time live broadcasting is possible because of the satellite.
|
The world is struck by Beatlemania. The Beatles have sky rocketed to first place with "She Loves You", selling over a million copies of their record.
|
On 14 October 1964, Nikita Khrushchev, 70 years old, was ousted out of power and exciled by Leonid Brezhnev. The communist party had tricked him to come back from vacation and was arrested with 15 offenses against him.
|
Pandit Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, died on 27 May, 1964 of a heart attack. He established the parliamentary government and was known for his "neutralist" foreign affair policies. He was loved by his people and the world.
|
Malcolm X, a black nationalist leader was gunned down on 21 February 1965 in New York. At one time he was the leader of the Organization for Afro-American Unity.
|
Sir Winston Churchill at the age of 90, died in January 1965. He was well known as the greatest wartime prime minister. 350 million people watch the funeral on television and the Queen of England attended the funeral, being the first time a monarch attended a funeral of a subject.
|
President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, was overthrown on 24 February 1966 while on a state visit to China. He was once a national hero who led opposition to British colonial rule and became the Prime Minister of Ghana..
|
On 15 December 1966 Walt Disney died. He was the creator of Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and did motion picture movies which included Snow White, Pinocchio, and Fantasia.
|
Indira Gandhi, age 48, became the new Prime Minister of India on 19 January 1966. She is the daughter of Jarwaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India but is not related to Mahatma Gandhi.
|
Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy's brother, was shot on 6 June 1968 while in Los Angeles. He had just won the California primary for the President of the US.
|
On 21 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were the first men to land on the moon. Armstrong was the first man to leave the Eagle, and his first words were, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind".
|
Golda Meir, who helped found the state of Israel became Prime Minister on 17 March 1969. She was known as Goldie Myerson in the United States, and in 1921 moved to Palestine from Milwaukee. She is very keen on the diplomatic affairs with their Arab neighbors.
|
The leader of communist Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh died on 3 September 1969 of a heart attack at the age of 79. He symbolized the struggle to reunite Vietnam.
|
Yassir Arafat has become the new chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization on 3 February 1969. The PLO represents those who's homeland was lost when the state of Israel was established.
|