1960 - Wikiwand

1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1960th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 960th year of the 2nd millennium, the 60th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the 1960s decade.

From top to bottom, left to right: The U-2 incident heightens Cold War tensions after a U.S. spy plane is shot down over Soviet airspace; the 1960 Summer Olympics are held in Rome, Italy, showcasing global athletic competition against a backdrop of geopolitical rivalries; the devastating 1960 Valdivia earthquake strikes Chile with a magnitude of 9.5, becoming the most powerful earthquake ever recorded; the Congo Crisis erupts following the Congo’s independence from Belgium, leading to years of political turmoil and international intervention; Japanese socialist leader Inejirō Asanuma is assassinated on live television by a right-wing extremist, shocking the nation amid the massive Anpo protests opposing the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty; the Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho premieres, revolutionizing horror cinema with its daring narrative structure, psychological tension, and graphic violence; the Year of Africa sees seventeen African nations gain independence, reshaping global politics and accelerating the end of colonial rule; the 1960 New York mid-air collision becomes the deadliest aviation disaster in U.S. history at the time, killing 134 people and exposing critical flaws in air traffic control; and the New Orleans school desegregation crisis unfolds as young African American students, including Ruby Bridges, bravely integrate formerly all-white schools amid fierce protests.

Quick Facts

1960 in various calendars
Gregorian calendar	1960 MCMLX
Ab urbe condita	2713
Armenian calendar	1409 ԹՎ ՌՆԹ
Assyrian calendar	6710
Baháʼí calendar	116–117
Balinese saka calendar	1881–1882
Bengali calendar	1366–1367
Berber calendar	2910
British Regnal year	8 Eliz. 2 – 9 Eliz. 2
Buddhist calendar	2504
Burmese calendar	1322
Byzantine calendar	7468–7469
Chinese calendar	己亥年 (Earth Pig) 4657 or 4450 — to — 庚子年 (Metal Rat) 4658 or 4451
Coptic calendar	1676–1677
Discordian calendar	3126
Ethiopian calendar	1952–1953
Hebrew calendar	5720–5721
Hindu calendars
- Vikram Samvat	2016–2017
- Shaka Samvat	1881–1882
- Kali Yuga	5060–5061
Holocene calendar	11960
Igbo calendar	960–961
Iranian calendar	1338–1339
Islamic calendar	1379–1380
Japanese calendar	Shōwa 35 (昭和３５年)
Javanese calendar	1891–1892
Juche calendar	49
Julian calendar	Gregorian minus 13 days
Korean calendar	4293
Minguo calendar	ROC 49 民國49年
Nanakshahi calendar	492
Thai solar calendar	2503
Tibetan calendar	ས་མོ་ཕག་ལོ་ (female Earth-Boar) 2086 or 1705 or 933 — to — ལྕགས་ཕོ་བྱི་བ་ལོ་ (male Iron-Rat) 2087 or 1706 or 934

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It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.

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Events

January

January 1 – Cameroon becomes independent from France.^[1]
January 9–11 – Aswan Dam construction begins in Egypt.
January 10 – British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes the "Wind of Change" speech for the first time, to little publicity, in Accra, Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana).
January 19 – A revised version of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan ("U.S.-Japan Security Treaty" or "Anpo (jōyaku)"), which allows U.S. troops to be based on Japanese soil, is signed in Washington, D.C. by Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The new treaty is opposed by the massive Anpo protests in Japan.^[2]
January 21
- Coalbrook mining disaster: A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.
- Avianca Flight 671 crashes and burns upon landing at Montego Bay, Jamaica killing 37, the worst air disaster in Jamaica's history and the first for Avianca.
January 22
- Charles de Gaulle, President of France, dismisses Jacques Massu as commander-in-chief of French troops in Algeria.
- Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh descend into the Mariana Trench in the bathyscaphe Trieste, reaching the depth of 10,911 meters (35,797 feet), and become the first human beings to reach the lowest spot on Earth.
January 24 – A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy.

February

February 1 – Greensboro sit-ins: In Greensboro, North Carolina, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University begin a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter. Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter. The event triggers many similar non-violent protests throughout the Southern United States, and six months later the original four protesters are served lunch at the same counter.
February 3 – Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Harold Macmillan makes the Wind of Change speech to the South African Parliament in Cape Town (although he had first made the speech, to little publicity, in Accra, Gold Coast – modern-day Ghana – on January 10).
February 5 – The first CERN particle accelerator becomes operational in Geneva, Switzerland.
February 8 – Hollywood Walk of Fame is established.
February 10 – A conference about the proposed independence of the Belgian Congo begins in Brussels, Belgium.
February 11 – China–India relations: Twelve Indian soldiers die in clashes with Red Chinese troops along their small common border.
February 13 – Gerboise Bleue: France tests its first atomic bomb, in the Sahara Desert of Algeria.
February 18 – The 1960 Winter Olympics begin at the Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Placer County, California.
February 26 – Alitalia Flight 618: An airliner en route to New York crashes into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board.
February 29 – The 5.7 M_w  Agadir Earthquake shakes coastal Morocco with a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme), destroying Agadir and leaving 12,000 dead and another 12,000 injured.

March

March 5 – Alberto Korda takes his iconic photograph of Che Guevara, Guerrillero Heroico, in Havana.
March 6
- Vietnam War: The United States announces that 3,500 American soldiers will be sent to Vietnam.
- The Canton of Geneva in Switzerland gives women the right to vote.
March 17
- Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 crashes near Tell City, Indiana, killing all 63 on board.
- U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approves a covert Central Intelligence Agency plan to train a paramilitary force against Cuba, which will result in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion.^[4]
March 21 – The Sharpeville massacre in South Africa results in more than 69 black protesters shot dead by police, 300 injured.
March 22 – Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser, in the United States.
March 23 – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev meets French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
March 29 – "Tom Pillibi" sung by 18-year-old Jacqueline Boyer (music by André Popp, lyrics by Pierre Cour) wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 (staged in London) for France.

April

April 1
- Abdul Rahman of Negeri Sembilan, 1st Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Hisamuddin Alam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Alaeddin Sulaiman Shah, Sultan of Selangor.
- The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1.
- The 1960 United States census begins. There are 179,323,175 U.S. residents on this day.^[5] All people from Latin America are listed as white, including blacks from the Dominican Republic, European whites from Argentina and Mexicans who resemble Native Americans.
April 4 – At the 32nd Academy Awards Ceremony, Ben-Hur wins a record 11 Oscars, including Best Picture.
April 9 – White gunman David Pratt shoots South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd in Johannesburg, wounding him seriously.
April 12 – Eric Peugeot, the youngest son of the founder of the Peugeot Corporation, is kidnapped in Paris. He is released on April 15, in exchange for $300,000 in ransom.
April 19 – April Revolution: South Korean students hold a nationwide pro-democracy protest against President Syngman Rhee, eventually leading him to resign from office.
April 21 – In Brazil, the country's capital (Federal District) is relocated from the city of Rio de Janeiro to the new city, Brasília, in the highlands. The actual city of Rio de Janeiro becomes the State of Guanabara.
April 27 – Togo gains independence from France, with the French-administered United Nations Trust Territory being terminated.

May

May 1
- The U-2 incident: Several Soviet surface-to-air missiles shoot down an American Lockheed U-2 spy plane. Its pilot, Francis Gary Powers of the Central Intelligence Agency, is captured.
- In India, this day is declared as 'Maharashtra Divas', i.e., Maharashtra Day (also celebrated as 'Kaamgaar Divas', i.e., Workers Day).
May 3 – The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is established.
May 4 – West German refugee minister Theodor Oberländer is dismissed because of his Nazi past.
May 6 – United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960 into law.
May 10 – The U.S. nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton, under the command of Captain Edward L. Beach Jr., completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the Earth (codenamed Operation Sandblast).
May 11 – In Buenos Aires, four Mossad agents abduct fugitive Nazi German war criminal Adolf Eichmann in order that he can be taken to Israel and put on trial. This is announced on May 23 by Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion. Eichmann is convicted and executed in 1962.
May 13 – A joint Swiss and Austrian expedition makes the first ascent of the Asian mountain Dhaulagiri, the world's 7th highest.
May 14 – The Kenyan African National Congress Party is founded in Kenya, when 3 political parties join forces.
May 15 – The satellite Sputnik 4 is launched into orbit by the Soviet Union.
May 16
- Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev demands an apology from President Dwight D. Eisenhower for the U-2 reconnaissance plane flights over the Soviet Union, thus aborting their summit meeting scheduled for Paris this year.
- Theodore Maiman operates the first laser.
May 18 – Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7–3 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, and win the 1959–60 European Cup in Association football, their 5th successive victory in the competition.
May 22 – The 9.5 M_w Valdivia earthquake affects Chile with a maximum Mercalli intensity of XII (Extreme). This megathrust earthquake ruptures from Arauco to Chiloé Archipelago, causing the most powerful earthquake on record and a destructive basin-wide tsunami.
May 27 – In Turkey, a bloodless military coup d'état removes President Celâl Bayar, and installs General Cemal Gürsel as the head of state.
May 30 – Cemal Gürsel forms the new government of Turkey (its 24th government, composed mostly of so-called "technocrats").

June

June 1 – New Zealand's first television station begins broadcasting, in the city of Auckland.
June 5
- The Lake Bodom murders occur in Finland.
- The First Vatican Council, adjourned in 1870, is officially closed.
June 9 – 1960 Pacific typhoon season: Typhoon Mary kills 1,600 people in China.
June 10 – The "Hagerty Incident": As part of the ongoing Anpo protests in Japan against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, a car carrying Dwight D. Eisenhower's press secretary James Hagerty and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II is mobbed by protesters outside of Tokyo's Haneda Airport, requiring the occupants to be rescued by a U.S. Marine helicopter.^[6]
June 15
- The "June 15 Incident": As part of the massive Anpo protests against the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in Japan, radical student activists from the Zengakuren student federation attempt to storm the National Diet compound, precipitating a battle with police in which female Tokyo University student Michiko Kanba is killed.^[7]
- The BC Ferries company, later to become the second-largest ferry operator in the world, commences service between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay, British Columbia, Canada.
June 16 – Premiere of Alfred Hitchcock's landmark thriller film Psycho in the United States.
June 19 – The new U.S.-Japan Security Treaty is automatically ratified 30 days after passing the Lower House of the Diet.^[8]
June 20
- The short-lived Mali Federation, consisting of the Sudanese Republic (modern-day Republic of Mali) and Senegal, gains independence from France.
- Floyd Patterson becomes the first person to regain the world heavyweight boxing championship, with a knock-out of Ingemar Johansson in New York City.^[9]
June 22 – 1960 Quebec general election: the ruling Union nationale, led by Antonio Barrette, is defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party, led by Jean Lesage, beginning the 'Quiet Revolution' in the historically conservative Canadian province.^[10]
June 23 – Japanese prime minister Nobusuke Kishi announces his resignation.
June 24
- Joseph Kasa-Vubu is elected as the first President of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Assassination attempt of Venezuelan President Rómulo Betancourt.
June 26
- The State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland protectorate) receives its independence from the United Kingdom. Five days later, it unites as scheduled with the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somaliland), to form the Somali Republic.
- The Malagasy Republic (Madagascar) becomes independent from France.
June 28 – King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand arrives in Washington, D.C. for a 4-day royal visit to the U.S.
June 30
- The Belgian Congo receives its independence from Belgium, as the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). A civil war follows shortly.
- Public demonstrations by democratic and left forces against Italian government support of the post-fascist Italian Social Movement are heavily suppressed by police.

July

July 1
- Ghana becomes a republic, and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President.
- Cold War: A Soviet Air Force MiG-19 fighter plane flying north of Murmansk, Russia, over the Barents Sea, shoots down a six-man RB-47 Stratojet reconnaissance plane of the U.S. Air Force. Four of the U.S. Air Force officers are killed, and the two survivors are held prisoner in the Soviet Union.
- The Trust Territory of Somaliland (the former Italian Somaliland) gains its independence from Italy. Concurrently, it unites as scheduled with the five-day-old State of Somaliland (the former British Somaliland) to form the Somali Republic.
July 3 – The French Grand Prix is won by Australian Jack Brabham driving a Cooper T53.^[11]
July 4 – Following the admission of the State of Hawaii as the 50th state in August 1959, the new (and continuing) 50-star flag of the United States is first officially flown over Philadelphia.
July 10 – The Soviet Union national football team defeats the Yugoslavia national football team 2–1 in Paris to win the first UEFA European Championship.
July 11 – Congo Crisis: Moise Tshombe declares the Congolese province of Katanga independent. He requests and receives help from Belgium.
July 12 – Chin Peng is exiled from Malaysia to Thailand, and the Malayan state of emergency is lifted.
July 14 – The United Nations Security Council decides to send troops to Katanga to oversee the withdrawal of Belgian troops.
July 20 – Ceylon elects Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as its Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government (she takes office the following day).
July 21 – English navigator Francis Chichester wins the first Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, arriving in New York aboard Gypsy Moth III having made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.^[1]
July 25 – The Woolworth Company's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, the location of a sit-in that has sparked demonstrations by Negroes across the Southern United States, serves a meal to its first black customer.
July 25–28 – In Chicago, the 1960 Republican National Convention nominates Vice President Richard Nixon as its candidate for President of the United States, and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. for vice-president.

August

August 1 – Dahomey (modern-day Benin) becomes independent from France.
August 3 – Niger becomes independent from France.
August 5 – Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso) becomes independent from France.
August 6 – In the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville) (later the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Albert Kalonji declares the independence of the Autonomous State of South Kasai.
August 7
- The Ivory Coast becomes independent from France.
- The world's first standard gauge passenger preserved railway, the Bluebell Railway, opens to the public in southern England.
August 9 – The government of Laos is overthrown in a coup.
August 11 – Chad becomes independent from France.
August 13 – Ubangi-Shari becomes independent from France, as the Central African Republic. It later becomes the Central African Empire.
August 15 – Middle Congo becomes independent from France, as the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville).
August 16
- The Mediterranean island of Cyprus receives its independence from the United Kingdom.
- Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at an altitude of about 102,800 feet (31,300 meters). Kittinger sets world records for: high-altitude jump; free-fall by falling 16.0 miles (25.7 kilometers) before opening his parachute; first space dive, and fastest speed attained by a human being without mechanical or chemical assistance, about 982 k.p.h (614 m.p.h.). Kittinger survives more or less uninjured. He is also the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon, and the first man fully to witness the spherical curvature of the Earth. (Felix Baumgartner breaks his space diving record in 2012.)
August 17
- Newly named English group The Beatles begin a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in Hamburg, West Germany.
- Gabon becomes independent from France.
- The trial of American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers begins in Moscow.
August 19 – In the Soviet Union:
- Cold War: American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced in Moscow to 10 years in prison for espionage.
- Sputnik program: The satellite Sputnik 5 is launched, with the dogs Belka and Strelka (the Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. This satellite returns to Earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.
August 20 – Senegal breaks away from the Mali Federation, declaring its independence.
August 25 – The 1960 Summer Olympic Games begin in Rome.
August 29 – Hurricane Donna kills 50 people in Florida and New England.

September

September 1
- Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and 2nd Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, dies in office. He is replaced by Tuanku Syed Putra, Raja of Perlis.
- Disgruntled railroad workers effectively halt operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad in the United States, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasts two days).
September 2 – The first elections of the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration (in exile in India) are held. The Tibetan community observes this date as Democracy Day.
September 5
- 1960 Summer Olympic Games: Muhammad Ali (at this time Cassius Clay) of the United States wins the gold medal in light-heavyweight boxing.
- Congolese President Joseph Kasa-Vubu dismisses Patrice Lumumba's entire government, and also places Lumumba under house arrest.
- Poet Léopold Sédar Senghor is the first elected President of Senegal.
September 6 – Martin and Mitchell defection: William Hamilton Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, two American cryptologists, announce their defection to the Soviet Union at a press conference in Moscow.
September 8 – In Huntsville, Alabama, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (which had been activated by NASA on July 1).
September 9 – The first regular season game in the American Football League (established as a rival league to the NFL) takes place at Boston's Nickerson Field. The Denver Broncos defeat the Boston Patriots, 13–10.
September 10 – 1960 Summer Olympic Games: Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia wins the gold medal in the marathon, running barefoot in a world time, and becoming the first person from Sub-Saharan Africa to win Olympic gold.
September 14
- Colonel Joseph Mobutu takes power in Republic of the Congo via a military coup.
- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
September 18 – The first international Summer Paralympics open in Rome under the title "9th International Stoke Mandeville Games", the first quadrennial paralympic event outside of England.^[12]
September 21 – Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos nationalizes the country's electricity supply system.
September 22 – Mali, the sole remaining member of the "Mali Federation" (following the withdrawal of Senegal one month earlier), declares its full independence as the Republic of Mali.
September 26 – 1960 United States presidential debates: The two leading candidates in the 1960 United States presidential election, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, participate in the first live televised presidential debate.^[13]
September 29 – At the United Nations General Assembly, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev angrily interrupts British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, banging the desk and shouting in Russian. Macmillan drily says "I should like that to be translated, if I may".^[14]^[15]

October

October 1 – Nigeria becomes independent from the United Kingdom, and Nnamdi Azikiwe becomes its first native-born Governor General.
October 3 – Jânio Quadros is elected President of Brazil, for a five-year term.
October 7 – Nigeria becomes the 99th member of the United Nations.
October 12 – Cold War: Shoe-banging incident – Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev pounds his shoe on a desk at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, his way of protesting the discussion of the Soviet Union's policies toward Eastern Europe.^[16]
October 14
- Presidential candidate John F. Kennedy first suggests the idea for the Peace Corps of the United States.
- The Premier of New South Wales officially opens Warragamba Dam,^[17] one of the world's largest domestic water supply dams.
October 24 – Nedelin catastrophe: A large rocket explodes on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, killing at least 92 people of the Soviet space program.
c. October 31 – Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Ten makes landfall in East Pakistan, followed by a storm surge, just three weeks after a previous storm devastated the country.^[18]

November

November 8 – 1960 United States presidential election: In a close race, Democratic U. S. Senator John F. Kennedy is elected over Republican U. S. Vice President Richard Nixon, to become (at 43) the second youngest man to serve as President of the United States, and the youngest man elected to this position.
November 14
- Belgium threatens to leave the United Nations over criticism of its policy concerning the Republic of the Congo.
- Stéblová train disaster: A head-on collision between two trains in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia, kills 118 people.
November 22 – The United Nations supports the government of Joseph Kasavubu and Joseph Mobutu in the Republic of the Congo.
November 26 – 1960 New Zealand general election: The National Party defeats the governing Labour Party after only three years in office. National leader Keith Holyoake becomes Prime Minister of New Zealand for a second time.
November 28 – Mauritania becomes independent of France.

December

December – The African and Malagasy Organisation for Economic Cooperation (OAMCE – Organisation Africain et Malagache de Coopération Économique) is established.
December 1
- Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Republic of the Congo, is arrested by the troops of Colonel Joseph Mobutu.
- A Soviet satellite containing live animals (dogs Pcholka and Mushka) and plants is launched into orbit. Due to a malfunction, it burns up during re-entry.
- Striking coal miners at the Miike Coal Mine in Japan return to work, ending the unprecedented 312-day-long Miike Struggle.^[19]
December 2 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1.0 million for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who have been arriving in Florida at the rate of about 1,000 per week.
December 4 – The admission of Mauritania to the United Nations is vetoed by the Soviet Union.
December 7 – The United Nations Security Council is called into session by the Soviet Union, in order to consider Soviet demands for the Security Council to seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba.
December 8 – For the first time, Mary Martin's Peter Pan is presented as a stand-alone 2-hour special on NBC television in the United States, instead of as part of an anthology series. This version, rather than being presented live, is shown on videotape, enabling NBC to repeat it as often as they wish without having to restage it. Although nearly all of the adult actors repeat their original Broadway roles, all of the original children have, ironically, outgrown their roles and are replaced by new actors.
December 9 – French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is bloodied by European and Muslim rioters in Algeria's largest cities. These riots cause 127 deaths.
December 13
- 1960 Ethiopian coup attempt: While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Kebur Zabagna (Imperial Bodyguard) leads a military coup against his rule, proclaiming that the emperor's son, Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen Taffari, is the new emperor.
- The countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua announce the formation of the Central American Common Market.
- The U.S. Navy's Commander Leroy Heath (pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (bombardier/navigator) establish a world flight-altitude record of 91,450 feet (27,870 m), with payload, in an A-5 Vigilante bomber carrying 2,200 lb (1,000 kg), and better the previous world record by over four miles (6.4 km).^[20]
December 14
- Antoine Gizenga proclaims in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that he has taken over as the country's premier.
- The first tied test is held by the West Indian cricket team in Australia in Brisbane.
December 15
- King Mahendra of Nepal deposes the democratic government in his country and takes direct control himself.
- King Baudouin of Belgium marries Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón.
December 16
- Secretary of State Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit five nuclear submarines and eighty Polaris missiles to the defense of the NATO countries by the end of 1963.
- New York mid-air collision: A United Air Lines DC-8 collides in mid-air with a TWA Lockheed Constellation over Staten Island in New York City. All 128 passengers and crewmembers on the two airliners, and six people on the ground, are killed.
December 17 – Troops loyal to Emperor Haile Selassie in Ethiopia overcome the coup that began on December 13, returning the reins to the Emperor upon his return from a trip to Brazil. The Emperor absolves his own son of any guilt.
December 19 – Fire sweeps through the USS Constellation, to become the U.S. Navy's largest aircraft carrier, while she is under construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard; killing 50 workers and injuring 150.
December 23 – Hilkka Saarinen née Pylkkänen is murdered in the so-called the "oven homicide" case in Krootila, Kokemäki, Finland.^[21]

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
- North America: 204,152,000
- Oceania: 15,888,000

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