- January 30
- US Central Intelligence Agency okays Lockheed to produce a new U-2 aircraft (Oxcart). [1]
- February 1
- Four students stage first civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworths store. [1]
- February 8
- US Congress opens hearings looking into payola. [1]
- February 16
- US nuclear submarine USS Triton sets off on underwater round-world trip. [1]
- February 19
- Bil Keane's Family Circus cartoon strip debuts. [1]
- February 29
- First Playboy Club, featuring bunnies, opens in Chicago, Illinois, USA. [1]
- John Kennedy makes "missile gap" the US Presidential campaign issue. [1]
- March 4
- American baritone singer Leonard Warren dies of a massive stroke during a performance of Verdi's La Forza del Destino at the New York's Metropolitan Opera. [1] [467]
- March 11
- Pioneer 5 launched into solar orbit between Earth and Venus. [1]
- March 14
- Fourteen die in a train crash in Bakersfield, California, USA. [1]
- March 15
- Key Largo Coral Reef Preserve established (first underwater park). [1]
- National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona dedicated. [1]
- March 17
- US President Dwight Eisenhower forms anti-Castro-exile army under the US Central Intelligence Agency. [1]
- March 23
- Explorer 8 fails to reach Earth orbit. [1]
- March 24
- US appeals court rules D.H. Lawrence's novel Lady Chatterly's Lover not obscene. [1]
- March 25
- First guided missile launched from nuclear powered submarine (Halibut). [1]
- April 1
- RCA TIROS (TV and Infra-Red Observation 'weather' Satellite) I launched. [1]
- April 4
- 32nd Academy Awards - Ben-Hur, Charlton Heston, and Simone Signoret win. [1]
- April 10
- US Senate passes landmark Civil Rights Bill. [1]
- April 11
- First weather satellite launched (Tiros 1). [1]
- April 13
- Transit 1B, first navigational satellite, placed in Earth orbit. [1]
- April 15
- Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), organizes at Shaw University. [1]
- April 17
- American Samoa sets up a constitutional government. [1]
- April 24
- 14th Tony Awards: Miracle Worker and Fiorello! win. [1]
- April 27
- First atomic powered electric-drive submarine launched (Tullibee). [1]
- May 1
- Russia shoots down American pilot Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk. [1] [129]
- May 6
- US President Dwight Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960. [1]
- May 7
- USSR announces Francis Gary Powers confessed to being a US Central Intelligence Agency spy. [1]
- May 9
- US is first country to use the birth control pill legally. [1]
- US sends U-2 spy plane over USSR. [1]
- May 10
- US atomic submarine USS Triton completes first circumnavigation of globe under water. [1]
- May 13
- First launch of Delta satellite launching vehicle; it fails. [1]
- May 16
- Big four summit in Paris, France collapses as USSR levels spy charges against USA. [1]
- Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser in Malibu, California, USA. [5]
- May 17
- First atomic reactor system to be patented, JW Flora, Canoga Park, California, USA. [1]
- May 19
- Alan Freed and eight other disk jockeys accused of taking radio payola. [1]
- US Air Force Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222m. [1]
- June 17
- Fire consumes the El Rancho Vegas casino resort, on the Las Vegas Strip. [386.31]
- June 20
- In Burbank, California, the 12th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Fred Astaire.
- Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming: The Huckleberry Hound Show,
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Series: Robert Stack for The Untouchables,
- Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series: Jane Wyatt for Father Knows Best,
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama: Playhouse 90,
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor: The Art Carney Special,
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News: The Huntley-Brinkley Report,
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Public Service: The Twentieth Century,
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Variety: The Fabulous Fifties,
- Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor: Laurence Olivier for The Moon and Sixpence,
- Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress: Ingrid Bergman for Startime.
[175]
- June 27
- Chlorophyll "A" synthesized at Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [1]
- June 28
- 26.42 cm (10.40 inches) of rainfall in Dunmor, Kentucky, USA (state 24-hour record). [1]
- (month unknown)
- Casino/resort operators on the Las Vegas Boulevard agree to abandon segregationist policies. [187.401]
- July 4
- America's new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood first unfurled. [1]
- July 6
- Dr Barbara Moore completes a 3,207-mile walk from Los Angeles to New York City. [1]
- July 7
- USSR shoots down a US aircraft over Barents sea. [1]
- July 8
- CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers is charged with espionage by the Soviet Union. [129]
- July 13
- US Democratic National convention nominates Senator John F Kennedy for president. [1]
- July 20
- First submerged submarine to fire Polaris missile (George Washington). [1]
- July 27
- Vice President Richard Nixon nominated for president at Republican convention in Chicago, Illinois. [1]
- August 4
- Rocket propelled US Air Force research aircraft sets record at 2,150 MPH. [1]
- August 7
- Students stage kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta, Georgia churches. [1]
- August 9
- Race riot in Jacksonville, Florida, USA. [1]
- August 10
- Discoverer 13 launched into orbit; returned first object from space. [1]
- August 12
- Echo I, first communications satellite, is launched. [1] [5]
- US Air Force Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 41,600m. [1]
- August 17
- CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers is found guilty of espionage by the Soviet Union, sentenced to ten years in prison. [1] [129]
- August 18
- First commercially-produced oral contraceptive marketed by G.D. Searle Drug Company of Skokie, Illinois, called Enovid 10. [55.25]
- First photograph bounced off a satellite, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. [1]
- August 31
- Agricultural Hall of Fame established. [1]
- September 17
- Cuba nationalizes American-owned banks. [437.80]
- September 24
- The USS Enterprise aircraft carrier is launched at Newport News, Virginia. This is the world's first nuclear-powered carrier, also the most powerful warship ever built, at 300,000 horsepower, the longest at 1101.5 feet, and costliest at US$445 million. The ship was designed to accomodate 100 aircraft. [1] [55.13]
- September 26
- First of four televised US Presidential debates take place: Richard Nixon and John Kennedy (Chicago, Illinois). [1]
- Longest speech in United Nations history (4 hours, 29 mins, by Fidel Castro). [1]
- September 30
- The Flintstones premieres on US TV (first prime time animation show). [1]
- October 3
- San Francisco's White House department store is first to accept BankAmericard credit card. [1]
- October 4
- Courier 1B launched; first active repeater satellite in orbit. [1]
- October 5
- Eastern Air Lines' Electra turbo-prop crashes in Boston Harbor (61 die). [1]
- October 13
- Third US presidential debate with Richard Nixon in Hollywood and John Kennedy in New York. [1]
- October 14
- US Peace Corps first suggested by John Kennedy. [1]
- October 19
- Martin Luther King Jr arrested in Atlanta, Georgia sit-in. [1]
- The US imposes an embargo on exports to Cuba. [1]
- October 20
- First fully mechanized post office opened, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. [1]
- October 21
- John Kennedy and Nixon clash in fourth and final presidential debate (New York City). [1]
- October 25
- First electronic wrist watch placed on sale, New York City. [1]
- October 29
- Chartered C46 carrying California State's football team crashes, kills 16. [1]
- November 8
- John Kennedy (Massachusetts-Democrat-Senator) beats Vice President Richard Nixon (Republican) for US President. [1]
- November 12
- Mercury-Redstone 1 test launch fails at 10 cm altitude. [1]
- November 18
- Copyright office issues its ten-millionth registration. [1]
- November 23
- Tiros 2, a weather satellite is launched. [1]
- November 25
- First atomic reactor for research and development opens, Richland, Washington. [1]
- Final radio broadcast of "Amos 'n' Andy" airs. [129]
- December 3
- Frederick Loewe/Alan Jay Lerner's Camelot premieres at Majestic Theater in New York City for 873 performances. [1]
- December 16
- 134 die as United DC-8 and TWA Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York City, New York. [1]
- December 19
- Fire aboard USS Constellation, under construction in Brooklyn, New York (50 die). [1]
- Mercury-Redstone 1A reaches 210 km in test flight. [1]
- Year
- Total amount of legal bets on horse racing in the USA: US$3 billion. [80.188]
- Total New York state bets on all forms of animal racing: over US$1 billion. [80.205]
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