What happened in the 1960s?
The swinging sixties brought Beatlemania, civil rights marches, the Cold War at its tensest and the Moon landing.
97 events, oldest first.
Timeline of The 1960s
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1960
Abebe Bikila wins the Olympic marathon barefoot
He ran through the streets of Rome without shoes.
History of sport
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1960
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho is released
It is said to be the first American film to show a toilet being flushed.
Pop culture history
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1960
Belka and Strelka return from orbit
One of Strelka's puppies was later given to President Kennedy's daughter.
History of exploration
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1960
Coronation Street first airs
It is the world's longest-running TV soap opera.
Pop culture history
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1960
Dr. Martens boots go on sale in Britain
The air-cushioned sole was designed by a German army doctor after a skiing injury.
Food & brand history
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1960
Häagen-Dazs is founded in New York
The Danish-sounding name was made up - it doesn't mean anything.
Food & brand history
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1960
Nigeria gains independence
It is now Africa's most populous country.
Politics & society history
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1960
The contraceptive pill is approved in the US
Within five years, millions of American women were using it.
Science & technology history
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1960
The first Domino's opens
It was first called DomiNick's.
Food & brand history
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1960
The first laser is built
Early sceptics called it 'a solution looking for a problem'.
Science & technology history
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1960
The first Paralympic Games
They grew out of a sports event for injured Second World War veterans at Stoke Mandeville.
History of sport
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1960
The Flintstones first airs
It was the first animated series shown in prime time on American TV.
Pop culture history
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1960
The Trieste dives to the deepest point in the ocean
Its two-man crew spent about 20 minutes on the bottom, nearly 11 km down.
History of exploration
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1960
The Valdivia earthquake
It is the strongest earthquake ever recorded.
Natural history & deep time
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1960
The world's first female prime minister
Sri Lanka's Sirimavo Bandaranaike took office 19 years before Margaret Thatcher.
Politics & society history
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1960
To Kill a Mockingbird is published
Harper Lee's friends gave her a year's wages so she could write full time.
Art & literature history
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1961
Sprite is launched
It was Coca-Cola's answer to 7 Up.
Food & brand history
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1961
The Bay of Pigs invasion fails
The CIA-backed landing in Cuba collapsed within three days.
Modern history
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1961
The Berlin Wall is built
It went up almost overnight, starting with barbed wire on 13 August.
Politics & society history
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1961
The Jaguar E-Type is launched
Enzo Ferrari reportedly called it the most beautiful car ever made.
Food & brand history
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1961
The WWF is founded
Its panda logo was inspired by Chi Chi, a giant panda at London Zoo.
Natural history & deep time
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1961
Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space
His flight lasted 108 minutes, and he ejected and landed by parachute.
History of exploration
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1962
Algeria wins independence from France
It followed an eight-year war of independence.
Politics & society history
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1962
Andy Warhol makes his Marilyn Diptych
He began his Marilyn pictures weeks after the star's death.
Art & literature history
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1962
Andy Warhol shows his Campbell's Soup Cans
Each of the 32 canvases shows a different flavour.
Art & literature history
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1962
Rachel Carson publishes Silent Spring
Her book helped lead to a US ban on the pesticide DDT.
Natural history & deep time
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1962
Spider-Man first appears
He debuted in the final issue of a comic called Amazing Fantasy.
Pop culture history
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1962
Taco Bell opens
Founder Glen Bell had previously run hot dog stands.
Food & brand history
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1962
Telstar relays the first live transatlantic TV
An instrumental named after it, by the Tornados, topped the US charts.
Science & technology history
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1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis
For 13 days, the world was closer to nuclear war than ever before.
Politics & society history
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1962
Walmart opens its first store
Sam Walton opened it in Rogers, Arkansas.
Food & brand history
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1962
Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a game
No TV cameras recorded the record-breaking game.
History of sport
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1963
Disney's The Sword in the Stone is released
It was the last Disney animated film released in Walt Disney's lifetime.
Pop culture history
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1963
Doctor Who first airs
The first episode aired the day after President Kennedy was assassinated.
Pop culture history
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1963
Kenya gains independence
Jomo Kenyatta became its first prime minister, and later president.
Politics & society history
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1963
Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
The 'dream' passage was partly improvised after singer Mahalia Jackson urged him on.
Politics & society history
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1963
President Kennedy is assassinated
He was shot while riding in an open-top car in Dallas.
Modern history
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1963
The compact cassette is introduced
Philips let other manufacturers use the design for free, helping it spread worldwide.
Science & technology history
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1963
The island of Surtsey rises from the sea
Scientists have studied how life colonises the new island ever since.
Natural history & deep time
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1963
The Mona Lisa is shown in the United States
Over a million people queued to see it in Washington and New York.
Art & literature history
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1963
The pull-tab drinks can goes on sale
Ermal Fraze invented it after a picnic where nobody had brought a can opener.
Food & brand history
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1963
Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space
Before becoming a cosmonaut, she was a textile worker and amateur parachutist.
History of exploration
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1964
Cassius Clay wins his first world heavyweight title
He beat Sonny Liston and soon afterwards changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
History of sport
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1964
G.I. Joe is launched
Hasbro called it an 'action figure' so boys would play with a doll.
Pop culture history
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1964
Japan's first bullet train runs
The line opened just nine days before the Tokyo Olympics.
Science & technology history
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1964
Mary Poppins is released
Author P. L. Travers disliked the film's animated sequences.
Pop culture history
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1964
Nutella goes on sale
Its ancestor was a hazelnut paste invented to stretch scarce cocoa after the Second World War.
Food & brand history
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1964
Pop-Tarts go on sale
Kellogg's rushed them out after rival Post announced its own toaster pastry.
Food & brand history
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1964
The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show
About 73 million Americans watched.
Pop culture history
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1964
The Ford Mustang is launched
It sold more than 400,000 in its first year.
Food & brand history
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1964
The Great Alaska earthquake
It is the most powerful earthquake recorded in North America.
Natural history & deep time
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1964
The US Civil Rights Act is signed
It outlawed discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin.
Politics & society history
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1965
Alexei Leonov makes the first spacewalk
His suit ballooned so much that he had to let air out to squeeze back inside.
History of exploration
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1965
Bob Dylan goes electric at Newport
Part of the folk crowd booed.
Pop culture history
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1965
Gatorade is invented
It was created for the University of Florida's football team, the Gators.
Food & brand history
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1965
Gordon Moore makes his famous prediction
Moore's law predicted that the number of transistors on a chip would keep doubling.
Science & technology history
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1965
Singapore becomes independent
It was expelled from Malaysia, and its leader wept on television.
Politics & society history
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1965
The first Subway opens
It began as 'Pete's Super Submarines' in Connecticut.
Food & brand history
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1965
The Sound of Music film is released
The real von Trapp family escaped Austria by train, not over the mountains.
Pop culture history
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1965
The US Voting Rights Act is signed
It banned literacy tests used to stop Black Americans voting.
Politics & society history
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1966
China's Cultural Revolution begins
Schools and universities were closed for years.
Modern history
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1966
Doritos go on sale nationwide
They were first made at a restaurant inside Disneyland.
Food & brand history
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1966
England wins the football World Cup
Months earlier the trophy was stolen - and found under a hedge by a dog named Pickles.
History of sport
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1966
Indira Gandhi becomes India's prime minister
She was the daughter of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
Politics & society history
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1966
Star Trek first airs
It was cancelled after three seasons and only became a huge hit in reruns.
Pop culture history
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1966
Twister is launched
Critics accused it of being 'sex in a box', but sales soared after it appeared on TV.
Pop culture history
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1967
Celtic win the European Cup
Every player in the team was born within about 50 km of Glasgow.
History of sport
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1967
One Hundred Years of Solitude is published
Gabriel García Márquez pawned household items to post the manuscript.
Art & literature history
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1967
The Beatles release Sgt. Pepper
Its cover features dozens of famous faces, from Marilyn Monroe to Karl Marx.
Pop culture history
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1967
The Big Mac is introduced
It was invented by a McDonald's franchisee near Pittsburgh.
Food & brand history
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1967
The first human heart transplant
Christiaan Barnard performed it in Cape Town; the patient lived for 18 days.
Science & technology history
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1967
The first Super Bowl
Even with tickets priced at $6 to $12, about a third of the seats were empty.
History of sport
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1967
The Outer Space Treaty is signed
It bans any nation from claiming the Moon or planets.
Politics & society history
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1967
The Six-Day War
Israel took the Sinai, Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights in under a week.
Modern history
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1968
Apollo 8 photographs Earthrise
Its crew were the first people ever to see the Earth rise over the Moon.
History of exploration
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1968
Bob Beamon's long jump stuns the Olympics
He jumped 8.90 metres, beating the world record by 55 cm.
History of sport
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1968
Intel is founded
Its name is short for 'integrated electronics'.
Food & brand history
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1968
London Bridge is sold to an American businessman
Robert McCulloch rebuilt it, stone by stone, in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
Modern history
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1968
Manchester United win the European Cup
They won it ten years after the Munich air disaster.
History of sport
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1968
Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated
The night before, he had said, 'I may not get there with you.'
Modern history
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1968
Mexico City hosts the Olympics
It was the first Olympics held in Latin America.
History of sport
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1968
Planet of the Apes is released
Its make-up designer received an honorary Oscar for the ape faces.
Pop culture history
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1968
Pringles are launched
The man who designed the Pringles can had some of his ashes buried in one.
Food & brand history
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1968
Soviet tanks crush the Prague Spring
Czechoslovakia's reforms had promised 'socialism with a human face'.
Modern history
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1968
The Black Power salute at the Olympics
Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised gloved fists on the podium in Mexico City.
History of sport
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1968
The computer mouse is first demonstrated
The first mouse had a casing carved from wood.
Science & technology history
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1968
The Fosbury Flop wins Olympic gold
Dick Fosbury's backwards technique took over high jumping within a decade.
History of sport
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1969
Apollo 11 lands on the Moon
Neil Armstrong's spacesuit was sewn by seamstresses from the bra-maker Playtex.
History of exploration
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1969
Golda Meir becomes Israel's prime minister
She had grown up in Milwaukee and worked there as a teacher.
Politics & society history
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1969
Pelé scores his 1,000th goal
He scored it from a penalty at the Maracanã.
History of sport
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1969
Robin Knox-Johnston sails solo nonstop around the world
He was the only one of nine starters to finish the race.
History of exploration
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1969
Scooby-Doo first airs
His name was inspired by Frank Sinatra singing 'doo-be-doo-be-doo'.
Pop culture history
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1969
Sesame Street first airs
Caroll Spinney played Big Bird for nearly 50 years.
Pop culture history
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1969
The first ARPANET message is sent
The network crashed after the first two letters, 'LO', of the word 'LOGIN'.
Science & technology history
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1969
The Stonewall riots
The New York uprising helped launch the modern gay rights movement.
Politics & society history
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1969
The Woodstock festival takes place
It was held on a dairy farm in Bethel, about 40 miles from the town of Woodstock.
Pop culture history
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1969
Wendy's opens
Dave Thomas named it after his daughter.
Food & brand history
Think you know your history?
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