- February 8
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 9
- First flight of Boeing 727 jet. [1]
- February 11
- US Central Intelligence Agency Domestic Operations Division is created. [1]
- February 14
- US launches communications satellite Syncom 1. [1]
- February 19
- The publication of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique launches the feminist movement in the United States. [5]
- USSR informs US President John Kennedy it is withdrawing several thousand troops from Cuba. [1]
- February 21
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- February 22
- US President John Kennedy issues Executive Order creating the Presidential Medal of Freedom. [602.34]
- March 13
- Russians make two reconnaissance flights over Alaska. [1]
- March
- The governor of New Hampshire, USA, authorizes a state lottery. [80.246] [187.387]
- March 18
- US Supreme Court's Miranda Decision: defendants must have lawyers. [1]
- March 20
- First "Pop Art" exhibition (New York City, New York). [1]
- March 21
- Alcatraz federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay, California closed. [1]
- March 31
- Los Angeles, California, ends streetcar service after 90 years. [1]
- April 1
- New York City's newspapers resume publishing after a 114-day strike. [1]
- April 2
- Explorer 17 attains Earth orbit (254/914 km). [1]
- April 8
- 35th Academy Awards - Lawrence of Arabia, Anne Bancroft and Gregory Peck win. [1]
- April 9
- Sir Winston Churchill is proclaimed an honorary U.S. citizen, in White House ceremony. [1]
- April 10
- American atomic-powered submarine Thresher sinks 220 miles east of Boston, Massachusetts. [1]
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 11
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 12
- Birmingham, Alabama, police use dogs and cattle prods on peaceful demonstrators. [1]
- April
- In the USA, New Hampshire establishes a state lottery. [80.344]
- April 16
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail in Alabama. [5]
- April 24
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- April 28
- 17th Tony Awards: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum win. [1]
- May 1
- First American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest. [1]
- May 7
- SETC Telstar 2 launched (apogee 6,700 miles (10,800 km)). [1]
- May 8
- US President John Kennedy offers Israel assistance against aggression. [1]
- May 9
- US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 11
- Racial bomb attacks in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. [1]
- May 12
- Race riot in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. [1]
- May 15
- The final Mercury mission is launched, with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper - who becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space. [1] [5]
- May 16
- Gordon Cooper completes 22 orbits in Faith 7, ends US Project Mercury. [1]
- May 17
- US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site. [1]
- May 24
- First Lockheed A-12 to crash, US Central Intelligence Agency pilot Ken Collins ejects safely. [1]
- May 26
- In Los Angeles, California, the 15th Annual Emmy Awards are presented, hosted by Joey Bishop, Arthur Godfrey, and Chet Huntley.
- Outstanding Single Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Trevor Howard for Invincible Mr. Disraeli
- Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Series (Lead): E.G. Marshall for The Defenders
- Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Kim Stanley for episode "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" of Ben Casey
- Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead): Shirley Booth for Hazel
- Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor: Don Knotts for The Andy Griffith Show
- Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actress: Glenda Farrell for episode "A Cardinal Act of Mercy" of Ben Casey
- Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy: John Rich for The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Drama: Stuart Rosenberg for episode "The Madman" of The Defenders
- Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy: Carl Reiner for The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Outstanding Writing Achievement in Drama: Robert Thom and Reginald Rose for episode "The Madman" of The Defenders
- Outstanding Achievement in Composing Original Music: Robert Russell Bennett for episode "He Is Risen" of Project XX
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Music: Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall
- Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Musical Program or Series: Carol Burnett for Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall and for An Evening with Carol Burnett
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Variety: The Andy Williams Show
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama: The Defenders
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming: Disneyland
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Humor: The Dick Van Dyke Show
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News Commentary or Public Affairs: David Brinkley's Journal
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Panel, Quiz or Audience Participation: The General Electric College Bowl
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of News: The Huntley-Brinkley Report
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography for Television: John S. Priestley for Naked City
[1] [182]
- June 4
- US President John Kennedy signs into law Public Law 88-36, repealing the Silver Purchase Act, prohibiting any further issuance of silver certificates, and authorizes $1 Federal Reserve notes for the first time, to replace the $1 silver certificates. [388.188] [420.84] [428.42] [498.66]
- June 11
- Governor Wallace tries to prevent blacks registering at University of Alabama. [1]
- US President John Kennedy says segregation is morally wrong and that it is "time to act". [1]
- June 12
- African-American civil rights leader Medgar Evers (age 37) is gunned down in the driveway of his home in Jackson, Mississippi, USA. [1] [129]
- June 17
- US Supreme Court rules against Bible reading/prayer in public schools. [1]
- June 20
- Joseph Self, murderer, executed in Washington state (last for 25 years). [1]
- US and USSR agree to set up "Hot Line". [1]
- June 23
- The Enchanted Tiki Room attraction opens in Adventureland at Disneyland. This is the first attraction with sophisticated Audio-Animatronic figures, 225 of them. [6]
- June 26
- USA President John F. Kennedy speaks the famous words "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) on a visit to West Berlin. [1] [5]
- June 27
- US President John Kennedy spends first full day in Ireland. [1]
- US Air Force Major Robert A Rushworth in X-15 reaches 86,900 metres altitude. [1]
- July 1
- US postal service institutes the "zip" (Zone Improvement Plan) code. [1] [5]
- July 19
- NASA civilian test pilot Joe Walker in X-15 reaches 105 km altitude. [1]
- July 25
- US, Russia, and England sign nuclear test ban treaty. [1]
- July 26
- US Syncom 2, first geosynchronous communications satellite, is launched. [1]
- August 22
- NASA civilian test pilot Joe Walker in X-15 reaches altitude of 67 miles (106 km). [1] [5]
- August 28
- 200,000 demonstrate for equal rights in Washington, DC. [1]
- Martin Luther King Jr gives his "I have a dream" speech at Lincoln Memorial. [1]
- August 30
- Hot Line communications link between Washington DC and Moscow begins. [1]
- September 2
- Alabama Governor George C Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee high school. [1]
- September 14
- Mary Ann Fischer, in Aberdeen, South Dakota, gives birth to America's first surviving quintuplets, four girls and a boy. [1]
- September 15
- Four children killed in bombing of a black Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. [1]
- September
- The US Treasury begins selling silver at $1.293 per ounce, to stabilize price. [582.50] [588.72]
- September 24
- US Senate ratifies treaty with Britain and USSR limiting nuclear testing. [1]
- September 27
- At 10:59 AM the census clock records US population at 190,000,000. [1]
- October 7
- Bobby Baker resigns as US Senate Democratic secretary. [1]
- October 10
- Treaty banning atmospheric nuclear tests signed by US, United Kingdom, USSR. [1]
- October
- Stack's sells the second part of the George Walton coin collection for US$640,101. The total of the two auctions is US$874,837, a world record for a single collection of coins at public auction. [548.30]
- October 22
- 225,000 students boycott Chicago schools in Freedom Day protest. [1]
- October 31
- Leaking propane gas explodes, kills 64 at "Holiday on Ice" (Indiana). [1]
- November 2
- Notes of the Federal Reserve are released bearing no promise to pay in "lawful money". [541.36]
- November 22
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, is assassinated while traveling through Dallas, Texas, in an open-top convertible. Lee Harvey Oswald is arrested for the murders of Kennedy and Officer J.D. Tippit. Vice President Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as the 36th president at 2:39 p.m. [1] [129]
- November 24
- Jack Ruby fatally shoots suspected President John Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald at Dallas police headquarters in Dallas, Texas. First live murder on TV. [1] [129]
- November 25
- Deceased US President John F. Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. [1]
- November 29
- US President Lyndon Johnson sets up Warren Commission to investigate assassination of President John F. Kennedy. [1]
- December 8
- Three fuel tanks explode when jetliner is struck by lightning, crashing near Elkton Maryland; only case of lightning-caused crash, 81 die. [1]
- December 22
- Official 30-day mourning period for US President John F Kennedy ends. [1]
- December 26
- US furnishes cereal to USSR. [1]
- December 30
- US President Lyndon Johnson signs Public Law 88-256, approving placement of John Kennedy's portrait on the half dollar coin. [1] [388.80] [567.81]
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