What else happened in 1960?
In the news…
*Feb. 1 – Four African-American students begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C.
*Feb. 18 – The 1960 Winter Olympics open in Squaw Valley, California.
*Feb. 19 – Family Circus first appears in newspapers.
*Feb. 29 – The first Playboy Club opens in Chicago.
*Mar. 2 – Elvis Presley comes home from Germany after a two year tour of duty.
*Mar. 6 – The US announces that 3500 American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam.
*May 1 – An American U-2 spy plane is shot down by a Soviet missile over Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, is captured.
*May 9 – The FDA approves the sale of the birth control pill.
*May 11 – 4 Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
*Aug. 18 – The Beatles make their debut in Hamburg, Germany.
*Aug. 25 – The 1960 Summer Olympics open in Rome.
*Sep. 5 – Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) wins the Olympic gold medal in boxing.
*Sep. 26 – John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon participate in the first televised presidential debate.
*Oct. 12 – Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a table at a United Nations General Assembly meeting.
*Nov. 2 – Penguin Books is found not guilty of obscenity for distributing Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
*Nov. 8 – John F. Kennedy is elected President of the United States.
Famous Births…
*Jan. 4 – Michael Stipe, singer for R.E.M. and all-around cool guy.
*Jan. 20 – Will Wright, computer game designer. He created The Sims.
*Jan. 22 – Michael Hutchence, singer for INXS.
*Feb. 7 – Robert Smigel, extremely funny guy. He’s the creator of TV Funhouse and Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog.
*Feb. 7 – James Spader, cool actor. Check out Secretary and Stargate.
*Feb. 9 – Holly Johnson, singer for Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
*Feb. 20 – Joel Hodgson, very funny guy. He’s the creator and original star of MST3K.
*Feb. 28 – Dorothy Stratten, famous Playboy Playmate and murder victim.
*Mar. 13 – Adam Clayton, bassist for U2.
*Mar. 24 – Nena, cool German pop star.
*Mar. 28 – Chris Barrie, British sitcom star. He plays Arnold Rimmer on Red Dwarf.
*Mar. 29 – Marina Sirtis, very cool and very sexy actress. She was Counselor Deanna Troi on Next Gen.
*Apr. 4 – Hugo Weaving, cool Aussie actor. He was Agent Smith in the Matrix movies, Elrond the Lord of Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings movies, and V in V for Vendetta.
*May 6 – John Flansburgh, one half of They Might Be Giants.
*May 10 – Bono, singer for U2 and global humanitarian.
*May 20 – John Billingsley, cool actor. He was Dr. Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise.
*May 31 – Chris Elliott, funny guy. I really liked Cabin Boy.
*Jun. 1 – Simon Gallup, bassist for The Cure.
*Jun. 6 – Steve Vai, amazing guitarist. He played in David Lee Roth’s post-Van Halen band.
*Jun. 8 – Mick Hucknall, singer for Simply Red.
*Jun. 20 – John Taylor, bassist for Duran Duran.
*Jul. 3 – Vince Clarke, synth-pop pioneer. He was a founding member of Depeche Mode, Yaz, and Erasure.
*Aug. 1 – Chuck D, rapper with Public Enemy.
*Aug. 7 – David Duchovny, extremely cool actor. He was Fox Mulder on The X-Files.
*Aug. 11 – Antonio Banderas, very cool Spanish actor. Check out some of his early Spanish films with brilliant director Pedro Almodovar, especially Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
*Aug. 17 – Sean Penn, very cool actor. He was Jeff Spicoli, dude! Spicoli was the man!
*Sep. 4 – Damon Wayans, extremely funny guy.
*Sep. 8 – Aimee Mann, singer for Til Tuesday.
*Sep. 10 – David Lowery, singer with Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker.
*Sep. 16 – Mike Mignola, great comic book creator. He’s the creator of Hellboy.
*Sep. 22 – Joan Jett, awesome rock star.
*Oct. 16 – Bob Mould, singer and guitarist for seminal punk band Husker Du.
*Nov. 4 – Kathy Griffin, funny lady.
*Nov. 10 – Neil Gaiman, very cool comic book creator. Check out the Sandman series.
*Dec. 3 – Daryl Hannah, very hot actress.
*Dec. 3 – Julianne Moore, extremely cool, talented and beautiful actress. Check out Short Cuts, Boogie Nights and Far from Heaven.
*Dec. 10 – Kenneth Branagh, great Shakespearean actor. Check out his Hamlet.
Famous Deaths…
*Jan. 3 – Victor Sjostrom, great Swedish filmmaker. Check out The Wind.
*Jan. 4 – Albert Camus, great French author and philosopher.
*Apr. 17 – Eddie Cochran, great rockabilly artist.
*May 30 – Boris Pasternak, great Russian author.
*Nov. 5 – Mack Sennett, great director of comedy films in the silent era. He created the Keystone Kops and worked with greats like Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand.
*Nov. 5 – Ward Bond, great American character actor.
*Nov. 16 – Clark Gable, great film star of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
In the world of movies…
The Top Grossing Films of 1960
8. On the Beach
7. Solomon and Sheba
6. The Apartment
5. Suddenly, Last Summer
4. Operation Petticoat
3. Psycho (Leo’s pick for Best Picture of 1960)
2. Can-Can
1. Ben-Hur
Oscar Winners of 1960
Best Picture – The Apartment
Best Actor – Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gantry)
Best Actress – Elizabeth Taylor (BUtterfield 8)
Best Supp. Actor – Peter Ustinov (Spartacus)
Best Supp. Actress – Shirley Jones (Elmer Gantry)
Best Director – Billy Wilder (The Apartment)
Other Films released in 1960
Breathless
La Dolce Vita
Exodus
Inherit the Wind
Jazz On A Summer’s Day
The Little Shop of Horrors
The Magnificent Seven
Ocean’s Eleven
Peeping Tom
Testament of Orpheus
The Time Machine
Two Women
Village of the Damned
The Virgin Spring
In the world of television…
Shows premiering in 1960
The Andy Griffith Show (Leo’s pick for Best New TV Show of 1960)
The Flintstones
My Three Sons
Route 66
Shows ending in 1960
Howdy Doody
Most Watched Shows of 1960
10. The Jack Benny Show
9. The Price is Right
8. The Untouchables
7. Candid Camera
6. Rawhide
5. The Real McCoys
4. The Andy Griffith Show
3. Have Gun Will Travel
2. Wagon Train
1. Gunsmoke
Emmy Winners of 1960
Best Drama Series – Hallmark Hall of Fame (NBC)
Best Comedy Series – The Jack Benny Show (CBS)
Best Actor in a Series – Raymond Burr (Perry Mason)
Best Actress in a Series – Barbara Stanwyck (The Barbara Stanwyck Show)
Best Supporting Performance in a Series – Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show)
In the world of books…
Great Books published in 1960
For Your Eyes Only – Ian Fleming
Black Like Me – John Howard Griffin
To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee (Leo’s pick for Best Book of 1960)
Green Eggs And Ham – Dr. Seuss
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish – Dr. Seuss
Night – Elie Wiesel
In the world of comics…
DC Comics publishes The Brave and the Bold #28 in February, featuring the first appearance of the Justice League of America.
Charlton Comics publishes Space Adventures #33 in March, featuring the first appearance of Captain Atom.
DC Comics publishes Flash #112 in May, featuring the first appearance of the Elongated Man.
DC Comics publishes Action Comics #267 in August, featuring the first appearance of Chameleon Boy, a very cool member of the Legion of Super-Heroes.
In the world of sports…
*World Series – The Pittsburgh Pirates won 4 games to 3 over the New York Yankees.
*NBA Finals – The Boston Celtics won 4 games to 3 over the St. Louis Hawks.
*Boxing – On June 20, Floyd Patterson becomes the first boxer to win the world Heavyweight title twice, knocking out Ingemar Johansson in the 5th round.
*NFL Championship – The Philadelphia Eagles win 17-13 over the Green Bay Packers.
*AFL Championship – The Houston Oilers win 24-16 over the Los Angeles Chargers.
*College Football champs – The Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Ole Miss Rebels (shared).
*Stanley Cup – The Montreal Canadiens won 4 games to 0 over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
*Summer Olympics – The USSR wins the most medals (103) and the most gold medals (43).
*Winter Olympics – The USSR wins the most medals (21) and the most gold medals (7).
Comments and opinions are encouraged and appreciated.
