1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. It was the first year of the 1960s. The year 1960 is also known as the "Year of Africa."
Events
January
See also January 1960
February
See also February 1960
March
See also March 1960
April
See also April 1960
May
See also May 1960
- May 1
- A Soviet missile shoots down an American Lockheed U2 spy plane; the pilot Francis Gary Powers is captured.
- In India, May 1 is declared as 'Maharashtra Divas', i.e., Maharashtra Day (also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas', i.e., Workers Day).
- May 3 – European Free Trade Association (EFTA) established.
- May 3 – The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical, opens at New York City's Sullivan Street Playhouse where it would play for 42 years.
- May 4 – West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is fired because of his Nazi past.
- May 6 – President Dwight Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
- May 9 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announces that it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making it the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill.
- May 10 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton, under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach, Jr., completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the Earth.
- May 11 – In Buenos Aires, 4 Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi Adolf Eichmann, who was using the alias "Ricardo Klement".
- May 13 – A Swiss/Austrian expedition makes the first ascent of Dhaulagiri, the world's 7th highest mountain.
- May 14 – The Kenyan African National Congress Party is founded in Kenya, when 3 political parties join forces.
- May 15 – Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
- May 16
- May 20 – In Japan, police carry away Socialist members of the Diet; Parliament then approves a security treaty with the United States.
- May 22 – Great Chilean Earthquake: Chile's subduction fault ruptures from Talcahuano to Taitao Peninsula, causing a tsunami and one of the greatest earthquakes on record. Seismographs in Valdivia crash.
- May 23 – Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann has been captured.
- May 27 – In Turkey, a bloodless military coup d'état removes President Celal Bayar and installs General Cemal Gürsel as head of state.
- May 30 - Cemal Gürsel forms the new government of Turkey (24rd government, composed mostly of technocrats)
June
See also June 1960
July
See also July 1960
- July 1
- July 4 – Following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state the previous year, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- July 10 – The Soviet Union beats Yugoslavia 2–1 to win the first European Football Championship.
- July 11
- July 12 – Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded.
- July 13 – U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy is nominated for President at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.
- July 14 – The United Nations decides to send troops to Katanga to oversee Belgian troop withdrawal.
- July 20 – Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
- July 21 – Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II, having made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.
- July 25 - The Woolworth's counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, the subject of a sit-in which sparked sit-ins and pickets across the southern United States in February 1960, serves its first black customer.
- July 25–28 – In Chicago, the Republican National Convention nominates U.S. Vice President Richard M. Nixon for President and Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. for Vice President.
- July 27 – The OECD is founded in Paris.
August
See also August 1960
September
See also September 1960
October
See also October 1960
November
See also November 1960
December
See also December 1960
- December – African and Malagasy Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OAMCE) (Organisation Africain et Malagache de Coopération Économique).
- December 1
- Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Congo, is arrested by troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu.
- A 5-ton Soviet spacecraft containing animals, insects and plants is launched into orbit; it burns up upon re-entry.
- December 2
- December 4 – The admission to the United Nations of Mauritania is vetoed by the USSR.
- December 5
- December 7 – The United Nations Security Council is called into session by the Soviet Union, to consider Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
- December 9
- French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is marked by bloody European and Muslim mob riots by in Algeria's largest cities, resulting in 127 deaths.
- The first episode of the long-running drama Coronation Street airs. It was originally planned to be a 16-part drama but became such a success that it is still running 5 times or more per week.
- December 12
- December 13
- While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard revolts against his rule, proclaiming the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, as Emperor.
- Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras found the Central American Common Market.
- Navy Commander Leroy Heath (Pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator) establish a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27,874.2 metres) in an A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000 kilogram payload, besting the previous record by over 4 miles.
- December 14
- December 15
- December 16
- December 17 – Troops loyal to Haile Selassie I in Ethiopia suppress the revolt that began December 13, giving power back to their leader upon his return from Brazil. Haile Selassie absolves his son of any guilt.
- December 19 – Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.
- December 20 – Discoverer XIX is launched into polar orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, to measure radiation.
- December 27 – France sets off its 3rd nuclear test blast at its atomic proving grounds at Reggane, Algeria.
Undated
Ongoing
World population
- World population: 3,021,475,000
- Africa: 277,398,000
- Asia: 1,701,336,000
- Europe: 604,401,000
- Latin-America: 218,300,000
- Northern America: 204,152,000
- Oceania: 15,888,000
Births
January–February
- January 2 – Naoki Urasawa, Japanese manga author and artist
- January 3 – Sandeep Marwah, Indian filmmaker
- January 4 – Michael Stipe, American rock singer (R.E.M.)
- January 6
- January 10
- January 12
- January 13
- January 20 – Will Wright, American computer game designer
- January 22 – Michael Hutchence, Australian rock musician (INXS) (d. 1997)
- January 23 – Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and skysurfing pioneer (d. 1998)
- January 28 – Robert von Dassanowsky, American cultural historian, writer, and producer
- January 29
- February 2 – Jari Porttila, Finnish sports journalist
- February 3
- February 7 – James Spader, American actor
- February 13
- February 14 – Jim Kelly, American football player
- February 16 – Cherie Chung, Hong Kong actress
- February 19 – Prince Andrew, Duke of York
- February 21
- February 23 – Naruhito, Crown Prince of Japan
- February 27 – Andrés Gómez, Ecuadorian tennis player
- February 28 – Dorothy Stratten, Canadian model and actress (d. 1980)
- February 29 – Richard Ramirez, American serial killer
March–April
- March 2 – Hector Calma Filipino basketball player
- March 4
- March 7
- March 8 – Finn Carter, American actress
- March 10 – Anne MacKenzie, Scottish broadcaster
- March 12 – Minoru Niihara, Japanese singer
- March 13 – Joe Ranft, American animator (d. 2005)
- March 14 – Kirby Puckett, American baseball player (d. 2006)
- March 16 – Jenny Eclair, British comedian, actress and novelist
- March 18 – Richard Biggs, American actor (d. 2004)
- March 20 – Norm Magnusson, American artist
- March 21 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (d. 1994)
- March 23 – Nicol Stephen, Scottish politician
- March 24 – Nena Kerner, German singer
- March 26 – Marcus Allen, American football player
- March 27
- April 1 – Michael Praed, British actor
- April 2 – Linford Christie, British athlete
- April 3 – Elizabeth Gracen, American beauty queen, actress, and model
- April 4 – Hugo Weaving, Australian actor
- April 11 – Jeremy Clarkson, English journalist and television show host
- April 13 – Rudi Voller, German footballer and manager
- April 14 – Brad Garrett, American actor
- April 16
- April 18 – Neo Rauch, German painter
- April 19 – Frank Viola, American baseball player
- April 23 – Valerie Bertinelli, American actress
- April 25 – Michael Lohan, American stockbroker and reality television star, father of Lindsay Lohan
- April 28
May–June
- May 4
- May 6 – Roma Downey, Irish-born actress
- May 10 – Bono, Irish rock singer (U2)
- May 14
- May 15 – Julian Jarrold, English film & television director & producer
- May 16 – Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician
- May 18
- May 20 – John Billingsley, American actor
- May 21 – Jeffrey Dahmer, American serial killer (d. 1994)
- May 22 – Hideaki Anno, Japanese director
- May 23 – Linden Ashby, American actor
- May 31 – Greg Adams, Canadian ice hockey player
- June 4 – Bradley Walsh, English comedian and actor
- June 6 – Steve Vai, American guitarist
- June 8 – Mick Hucknall, English rock singer and songwriter (Simply Red)
- June 12 – Corynne Charby, French model, actress and singer
- June 14 – Peter Mitchell, Australian news reader
- June 16 – Peter Sterling, Australian rugby player
- June 17 – Michael Monroe, Finnish rock singer (Hanoi Rocks)
- June 18 – Kevin Drinkell, English footballer
- June 21 – Kevin Harlan, American sports announcer
- June 22 - Erin Brockovich, American environmental activist
- June 28 – John Elway, American football player
- June 30 – Tony Bellotto, Brazilian guitarist and writer
July–August
- July 3 – Perrine Pelen, French alpine skier
- July 4 – Sid Eudy, American professional wrestler
- July 5 – Pruitt Taylor Vince, American actor
- July 7 – Kevin A. Ford, American astronaut
- July 8 – Thilo Martinho, German composer, singer-songwriter
- July 9 – Charles Gavin, Brazilian drummer and producer
- July 13 – Ian Hislop, British journalist and broadcaster
- July 14
- July 17
- July 19 – Atom Egoyan, Armenian-Canadian film maker
- July 21
- August 1 – Chuck D, American rapper (Public Enemy)
- August 4
- August 7 – David Duchovny, American actor
- August 8 – Ulrich Maly, German politician and Mayor of Nuremberg
- August 10
- August 12 – Laurent Fignon, French road bicycle racer
- August 13 – Phil Taylor, English darts player
- August 14 – Sarah Brightman, English soprano singer and actress
- August 17 – Sean Penn, American actor
- August 19 – Morten Andersen, American football player
- August 23 – Chris Potter, Canadian actor and musician
- August 24 – Cal Ripken, Jr., American baseball player
- August 26 – Branford Marsalis, American musician
- August 30 – Chalino Sanchez, Mexican musician (d. 1992)
September–October
- September 1 – Joseph Williams, American singer and film score composer
- September 2 – John S. Hall, American poet and spoken-word artist
- September 6 – Bob Stoops, American football coach
- September 7 – Phillip Rhee, American actor, producer and writer
- September 9 – Hugh Grant, English actor
- September 10 – Colin Firth, English actor
- September 14 – Callum Keith Rennie, Canadian actor
- September 16
- September 17 – Kevin Clash, American actor and puppeteer
- September 19 – Yolanda Saldívar, American murderer of tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez
- September 22 – Joan Jett, American rock musician and vocalist
- October 4 – Billy Hatcher, American baseball player
- October 5 – Antonio de Oliveira Filho, Brazilian footballer
- October 6 – Richard Jobson, Scottish rock singer-songwriter, filmmaker, and television presenter (Skids)
- October 7 – Kyosuke Himuro, Japanese singer
- October 9 – Maddie Blaustein, American voice actress (d. 2008)
- October 12 – Alexei Kudrin, Russian Minister of Finance
- October 17 – Guy Henry, English actor
- October 18 – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor
- October 24
- October 26 – Jouke de Vries, Dutch–Frisian politician
- October 28 – Landon Curt Noll, American astronomer, cryptographer, and mathematician
- October 29 – Finola Hughes, British actress
- October 30 – Diego Armando Maradona, Argentine footballer
- October 31 - Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran
November–December
- November 3 – Karch Kiraly, American volleyball player
- November 3 – Francis Beckwith, American Catholic philosopher
- November 4 – Frl. Menke, German pop singer
- November 5 – Tilda Swinton, British actress
- November 9 – Joëlle Ursull, Guadeloupean singer
- November 10 – Neil Gaiman, English author
- November 11 – Stanley Tucci, American actor and film director
- November 17 – Jonathan Ross, English television presenter
- November 18 – Kim Wilde, English singer and gardener
- November 20 – Marc Labrèche, Canadian actor and television host
- November 25
- November 26 – Harold Reynolds, American baseball player and broadcaster
- November 27
- November 30
- December 3
- December 4 – Glynis Nunn, Australian athlete
- December 5 – Brian Bromberg American jazz bassist and composer
- December 9 - Jeff "Swampy" Marsh American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor
- December 10
- December 14 – Bob Paris, American bodybuilder and gay rights advocate
- December 18 – Kazuhide Uekusa, Japanese economist
- December 24 – Carol Vorderman, British television presenter
- December 27
- December 28 – John Fitzgerald, Australian tennis player
- December 29 – Dave Pelzer, American author
- December 31
Deaths
January–June
- January 1 – Margaret Sullavan, American actress (b. 1909)
- January 3 – Victor Sjöström, Swedish actor (b. 1879)
- January 4
- January 5 – Donald Knight, English cricketer (b. 1894)
- January 7 – Dorothea Chambers, English tennis champion (b. 1878)
- January 9 – Elsie J. Oxenham, British children's novelist (b. 1880)
- January 12 – Nevil Shute, English writer (b. 1899)
- January 24
- January 25 – Diana Barrymore, American stage & film actress (b 1921)
- January 27 – Osvaldo Aranha, Brazilian politician (b. 1894)
- January 28 – Zora Neale Hurston, American folklorist and author (b. 1891)
- January 30 – J. C. Kumarappa, Indian economist (b. 1892)
- February 2 – Jagadguru Swami Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji Maharaja, Hindu teacher (b. 1884)
- February 3 – Fred Buscaglione, Italian singer and actor (b. 1921)
- February 6 – Jesse Belvin, American R&B singer (b. 1932)
- February 7 – Igor Kurchatov, Soviet physicist (b. 1903)
- February 9 – Jaroslav Joseph Polivka, Czech structural engineer (b. 1886)
- February 10 – Aloysius Stepinac, Croatian Catholic prelate (b. 1898)
- February 11 – Ernő Dohnányi, Hungarian conductor (b. 1877)
- February 20 – Leonard Woolley, British archaeologist (b. 1880)
- February 21
- February 29 – Melvin Purvis, American lawman (b. 1903)
- February 29 – Walter Yust, American encyclopedia editor (b. 1894)
- March 2 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (b. 1874)
- March 4 – Leonard Warren, American opera singer (b. 1911)
- March 9 – Jack Beattie, Irish politician (b. 1886)
- March 11 – Roy Chapman Andrews, American explorer, adventurer and naturalist (b. 1884)
- March 13 – Yosef Zvi HaLevy, Israeli rabbi and judge (b.1874)
- March 26 – Ian Keith, American actor (b. 1899)
- April 1 – Tuanku Abdul Rahman ibni Almarhum Tuanku Muhammad, King of Malaysia (b. 1895)
- April 5
- April 17 – Eddie Cochran, American rock singer (b. 1938)
- April 24
- April 25 – Hope Emerson, American actress (b. 1897)
- May 2 – Caryl Chessman, American criminal (b. 1921)
- May 3 – Masa Niemi, Finnish actor (b. 1914)
- May 8 – J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
- May 11 – John D. Rockefeller Jr., American philanthropist (b. 1874)
- May 12 – Prince Aly Khan, Pakistani United Nations ambassador (b. 1911)
- May 14 – Lucrezia Bori, Spanish opera singer (b. 1887)
- May 23 – Georges Claude, French inventor (b. 1870)
- May 27
- May 30 – Boris Pasternak, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (declined) (b. 1890)
- May 31 – Walther Funk, German Nazi politician (b. 1890)
- June 4
- June 14 – Ana Pauker, Romanian communist politician (b. 1893)
- June 17 – Arthur Rosson, English film director (b. 1886)
- June 18 – Shalva Aleksi-Meskhishvili, Georgian politician (b. 1884)
- June 19 – Chris Bristow, English race car driver (b. 1937)
- June 20
- June 25 – Tommy Corcoran, American baseball player (b. 1869)
- June 27 – Lottie Dod, 88, English tennis player; Wimbledon women's champion, 1887-88, 1891-93 (b. 1871)
July–December
- July 6 – Aneurin Bevan, Welsh politician (b. 1897)
- July 14 – Maurice, 6th duc de Broglie, French physicist (b. 1875)
- July 15
- July 16 – John P. Marquand, American novelist (b. 1893)
- July 22 – Buddy Adler, American film producer (b. 1909)
- July 24 – Hans Albers, German actor and singer (b. 1891)
- July 26 – Cedric Gibbons, Irish-American art director (b. 1893)
- July 29 - Hasan Saka, ex prime minister of Turkey (b. 1885)
- August 5 – Arthur Meighen, ninth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1874)
- August 10 – Frank Lloyd, American film director (b. 1886)
- August 22
- August 23
- August 27 – Stanley Clifford Weyman, U.S. impostor (b. 1890)
- August 29 – Vicki Baum, Austrian writer (b. 1888)
- September 1 – Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, King of Malaysia (b. 1898)
- September 8
- September 9 – Jussi Björling, Swedish tenor (b. 1911)
- September 11 – Edwin Justus Mayer, American screenwriter (b. 1896)
- September 20 – Ida Rubinstein, Russian ballet dancer (b. 1885)
- September 23 – Kathlyn Williams, American actress (b. 1879)
- September 24 – Mátyás Seiber, Hungarian composer (b. 1905)
- September 27 – Sylvia Pankhurst, English suffragette (b. 1882)
- October 11 – Richard Cromwell, American actor (b. 1910)
- October 15
- October 21 – Ma Hongbin, Chinese warlord (b. 1884)
- October 31 – H. L. Davis, American author (b. 1894)
- November 2 – Dimitri Mitropoulos, Greek conductor, pianist, and composer (b. 1896)
- November 5
- November 6 – Erich Raeder, German World War II naval leader (b. 1876)
- November 7 – A.P. Carter, American singer and songwriter (b. 1891)
- November 12 – Lord Buckley, American monologist (b. 1906)
- November 14 – Walter Catlett, American actor (b. 1889)
- November 16 – Clark Gable, American actor (b. 1901)
- November 19 – Phyllis Haver, American actress (b. 1899)
- November 20 - Ya'akov Cohen, Israeli poet (b. 1881)
- November 24 – Grand Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas II (b. 1882)
- November 25 – The Mirabal Sisters, three Dominican revolutionaries (b. 1924, 1926, 1935)
- November 28 – Richard Wright, American novelist (b. 1908)
- December 2 – Fritz August Breuhaus de Groot, German architect, interior designer and designer (b. 1883)
- December 13 – John Charles Thomas, American opera singer (b. 1891)
- December 14 – Gregory Ratoff, Russian actor and director (b. 1897)
- December 26
Nobel Prizes
Academy Awards
- Best Picture: Ben-Hur, Sam Zimbalist (producer)
- Best Foreign Language Film: Orfeu Negro, France
- Best Director: William Wyler, Ben-Hur
- Best Actor: Charlton Heston, Ben-Hur
- Best Supporting Actor: Hugh Griffith in Ben-Hur
- Best Actress: Simone Signoret, Room at the Top
- Best Supporting Actress: Shelley Winters, The Diary of Anne Frank
- Best Story and Screenplay: Pillow Talk by Russell Rouse, Clarence Greene, Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Room at the Top by Neil Paterson
- Best Original Song: "High Hopes" from A Hole in the Head
- Best Scoring of a Comedy or Dramatic Picture: Ben-Hur, Miklos Rozsa
- Best Scoring of a Musical Picture: Porgy and Bess, Andre Previn and Ken Darby
Notes
External links
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