1960s Timeline

  • Newport Jazz Festival

    Newport Jazz Festival
    The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years.
  • Nixon-Kennedy Debates (1st on Television)

    Nixon-Kennedy Debates (1st on Television)
    The first presidential debate was held at WBBM-TV, Chicago on Monday September 26, 1960. Howard K. Smith moderated the debate with Sander Vanocur, Charles Warren, Stuart Novins and Bob Fleming as panelists. Questions were restricted to internal or domestic American matters.
  • The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

    The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
    The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Southeast Asia Resolution, Pub. L. 88–408, 78 Stat. 384, enacted August 10, 1964, was a joint resolution that the United States Congress passed on August 7, 1964, in response to the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
  • The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

    The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
    On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.
  • The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show

    The Beatles Appear for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show
    The Night That Changed Music Forever: The Beatles' American Debut on The Ed Sullivan Show turns 60. Sixty years ago, on February 9, 1964, four lads from Liverpool took to the stage for their first televised performance in America, forever altering the course of music history.
  • Operation Rolling Thunder

    Operation Rolling Thunder
    Operation Rolling Thunder was a gradual and sustained aerial bombardment campaign conducted by the United States 2nd Air Division, U.S. Navy, and Republic of Vietnam Air Force against North Vietnam from 2 March 1965 until 2 November 1968, during the Vietnam War.
  • The Beatles Break Up

    The Beatles Break Up
    the breakup of The Beatles was due to numerous factors: money problems and the death of Brian Epstein, divergent creative visions, and burgeoning artistic impulses. The breakdown of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership played a pivotal role.
  • March on the Pentagon

    March on the Pentagon
    The March on the Pentagon was a massive demonstration against the Vietnam War on October 21, 1967. The protest involved more than 100,000 attendees at a rally by the Lincoln Memorial. Later about 50,000 people marched across the Potomac River to The Pentagon and sparked a confrontation with paratroopers on guard.
  • Mai Lai Massacre

    Mai Lai Massacre
    The My Lai massacre was a war crime committed by United States Army personnel on 16 March 1968, involving the mass murder of unarmed civilians in Sơn Tịnh district, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War.
  • Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention

    Riots at the Chicago Democratic Convention
    The 1968 Democratic National Convention was held August 26–29 at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
  • Woodstock

    Woodstock
    Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, 40 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock.
  • Chicago 8 Trial

    Chicago 8 Trial
    A riot breaks out during the Democratic National Convention of 1968. A group of eight men are arrested and put on trial for conspiring to incite the riot, including Abbie Hoffman (Michael Lembeck), the noted political prankster. Throughout his court battle, Hoffman frequently feuds with Judge Julius.
  • Kent State Protest

    Kent State Protest
    The Kent State shootings were the killing of four and wounding of nine unarmed college students by the Ohio National Guard on the Kent State University campus.
  • Roe vs. Wade

    Roe vs. Wade
    Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States generally protected a right to have an abortion.