1962 CE

The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of nuclear war; astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7; actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead in Los Angeles; the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile sees Brazil defeat Czechoslovakia; the Sino-Indian War erupts along the Himalayan border; the Ole Miss riot of 1962 breaks out over James Meredith's enrollment; Telstar enables the first live transatlantic TV broadcast; the Évian Accords end the Algerian War, granting Algeria independence; and Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single NBA game.

Geopolitics & Diplomacy

January 13 – Albania allies itself with the People's Republic of China.source
February 15 – Urho Kekkonen is re-elected president of Finland.source
March 8–12 – In Geneva, France and the Algerian FLN begin negotiations.source
March 18 – Évian Accords: France and Algeria sign an agreement in Évian-les-Bains, ending the Algerian War.source
March 23 – The Scandinavian States of the Nordic Council sign the Helsinki Convention on Nordic Co-operation.source
April 3 – Jawaharlal Nehru is elected de facto Prime Minister of India, for the fourth time.source
April 8 – In France, the Évian Accords are adopted in a referendum, with a majority of 90%.source
May 6 – Antonio Segni is elected President of the Italian Republic.source
May 31 – The British West Indies Federation is officially wound up (under terms of the U.K. West Indies Act of 18 April) due to internal dissention.source
June 15 – Students for a Democratic Society in the United States complete the Port Huron Statement.source
June 17 – The OAS signs a truce with the FLN in Algeria, but a day later announces that it will continue the fight on behalf of French Algerians.source
June 25 – İsmet İnönü of the CHP forms the new government of Turkey (27th government, coalition partners; YTP and CKMP).source
July 1 – 1962 Algerian independence referendum in French Algeria: Supporters of Algerian independence win a 99% majority in a referendum.source
July 25 – The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed in Geneva.source
July 31 – Algeria proclaims independence; Ahmed Ben Bella is the first President.source
August 15 – The New York Agreement is signed, transferring the Dutch West New Guinea colony to Indonesia.source
August 16 – Algeria joins the Arab League.source
August 31 – The Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago becomes fully independent of the United Kingdom's British Empire.source
September 1 – A referendum in Singapore supports the Malayan Federation.source
October 5 – The French National Assembly censures the proposed referendum to sanction presidential elections by popular mandate; Prime Minister Georges Pompidou resigns, but President de Gaulle asks him to stay in office.source
Slavery in Saudi Arabia is abolished.source
December 7 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his formerly autocratic power to several advisory and legislative councils.source
December 9 – Tanganyika (modern-day Tanzania) becomes a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations, with Julius Nyerere as president.source
December 19 – Britain acknowledges the right of Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi) to secede from the Central African Federation.source

Conflict & Security

January 12 – The Indonesian Army confirms that it has begun operations in West Irian.source
January 24 – The Organisation armée secrète (OAS, a right-wing paramilitary organization opposed to Algerian independence) bombs the French Foreign Ministry.source
January 27 – The Soviet government changes all place names honoring Molotov, Kaganovich and Georgy Malenkov.source
February 3 – A United States embargo against Cuba is announced.source
February 7 – The United States embargo against Cuba comes into effect, prohibiting all U.S.-related Cuban imports and exports.source
March 2 – A military coup in Burma brings General Ne Win to power.source
March 19 – An armistice begins in Algeria; however, the OAS continues its terrorist attacks against Algerians.source
March–May – Yi–Ta incident: At least 60,000 Chinese citizens migrate from the People's Republic of China to the Soviet Union, predominantly (but not exclusively) ethnic Kazakhs.source
May 1 – Norwich City F.C. wins the English Football League Cup, beating Rochdale in the final.source
May 23 – Ruben Jaramillo, Mexican peasant leader, and his wife and children, are gunned down by the Mexican army and federal police in Xochitepec, Morelos, Mexico.source
June 30 – The last soldiers of the French Foreign Legion leave Algeria.source
July 13 – In what the press dubs the "Night of the Long Knives", United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses one-third of his Cabinet.source
August 11 – King Kong vs. Godzilla is released in Japan, becoming the first Godzilla and King Kong film in colour. It also becomes the 3rd film in both franchises.source
August 22 – Petit-Clamart attack: An assassination attempt is made against French President Charles de Gaulle by machine-gunning his car in the Paris suburbs. The mastermind, Jean Bastien-Thiry, will later be executed.source
August 24 – A group of armed Cuban exile terrorists fire at a hotel in Havana from a speedboat.source
October 16 – Cuban Missile Crisis begins when U.S. President Kennedy is told of photographs (taken from U-2 flights) showing Soviet nuclear weapon installations being constructed on Cuba in the Caribbean. A stand-off ensues for 12 days between the United States and the Soviet Union, threatening the world with nuclear war.source
October 27 – Cuban Missile Crisis: Vasily Arkhipov, executive officer of Soviet submarine B-59, refuses to launch nuclear torpedoes against the U.S. Navy. This event is widely regarded as crucial in averting a worldwide nuclear war.source
The first black student, James Meredith, registers at the University of Mississippi, escorted by Federal Marshals to protect him from official obstruction and violent segregationalist protest, the "Ole Miss riot of 1962".source
November 20 – Cuban Missile Crisis: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ends the blockade of the island.source
November 21 – The Sino-Indian War ends with a Chinese victory with India surrendering Aksai Chin to China.source
December 2 – Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to make a pessimistic public comment on the war's progress.source
December 8 – The North Kalimantan National Army revolts in Brunei, in the first stirrings of the Indonesian Confrontation.source
December 24 – Cuba releases the last 1,113 participants in the Bay of Pigs Invasion to the U.S., in exchange for food worth $53 million.source
December 30 – United Nations troops occupy the last rebel positions in Katanga; Moise Tshombe moves to South Rhodesia.source

Exploration & Expansion

February 18 – 1962 NHRA Winternationals: Carol Cox becomes the first woman allowed to race at a National Hot Rod Association national event in the United States; she wins in the Super Stock class.source
March 15 – Katangan Prime Minister Moise Tshombe begins negotiations to rejoin the Congo.source
May 1 – Dayton Hudson Corporation opens the first of its Target discount stores, in Roseville, Minnesota.source
July 30 – Trans-Canada Highway officially opens throughout the 4645 mi between St. John's, Newfoundland, and Victoria, British Columbia, by completion of the Rogers Pass section, making it at this time the world's longest uninterrupted highway.source
November 17 – Dulles International Airport, in Washington, D.C., is dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.source

Religion & Belief

January 3 – The office of Pope John XXIII announces the excommunication of Fidel Castro for preaching communism and interfering with Catholic churches in Cuba.source
May 25 – The new Coventry Cathedral is consecrated in England. On 30 May, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem is premiered here.source
October 11 – Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years.source
December 8 – The first period of the Second Vatican Council closes.source

Technology & Infrastructure

February 14 – First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House.source
May 5 – Twelve East Germans escape to the West via a tunnel under the Berlin Wall.source
July 23 – Telstar relays the first live trans-Atlantic television signal.source
July 25 – The first attack helicopter company, Utility Tactical Transport Helicopter Company, of the United States Army is formed on Okinawa Island, Japan.source
August 24 – Indonesia officially launches television with the establishment of TVRI television network or Televisi Republik Indonesia (Indonesian National Channel), broadcasting the opening of the 1962 Asian Games.source
September 12 – The first Kohl's department store chain is opened in Brookfield, Wisconsin.source
Johnny Carson takes over as permanent host of NBC's The Tonight Show on television, a post he will hold for 30 years.source
November 3 – Earliest recorded use of the term "personal computer", in the report of a speech by computing pioneer John Mauchly in The New York Times.source
November 24 – The first episode of That Was the Week That Was, the groundbreaking satirical comedy program hosted by David Frost, is broadcast on BBC Television in the United Kingdom.source
November 26 – Mies Bouwman starts presenting the first live TV-marathon fundraising show (Open Het Dorp in the Netherlands), which lasts 23 hours non-stop.source
December 15 – Storm over the North Sea: Belgian pirate radio station Radio Uylenspiegel is knocked off the airwaves, never to operate again.source

Science & Discovery

January 26 – U.S. spacecraft Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon; it later misses the Moon by 22,000 mi km.source
February 4 – First successful winter ascent of the Matterhorn's north face, by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter, is completed.source
February 4–5 – During a new moon and solar eclipse, an extremely rare grand conjunction of the classical planets occurs (it includes all five of the naked-eye planets plus the Sun and Moon), all of them within 16° of one another on the ecliptic. The total solar eclipse of February 5, 1962 is visible in Asia, Australia and the Pacific Ocean, and is the 49th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130.source
February 10 – Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, in Berlin.source
February 20 – Project Mercury: Aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes.source
April 21 – The Century 21 Exposition World's Fair opens in Seattle, United States. This is also the Opening Day of the Seattle Space Needle.source
May 6 – A test of a W47 warhead fired from a Polaris missile – the only time a nuclear missile has been test fired with its warhead detonated – occurs near Palmyra Atoll south of Hawaii.source
May 24 – Project Mercury: Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth 3 times, in the U.S. Aurora 7 space capsule.source
July 10 – AT&T's Telstar, the world's first commercial communications satellite, is launched into orbit and activated the next day.source
July 14 – Norma Nolan of Argentina is crowned Miss Universe 1962.source
July 17 – Nuclear testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation, at the Nevada Test Site.source
July 22 – Mariner program: The U.S. Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed.source
July 31 – Solar eclipse of July 31, 1962: An annular solar eclipse is visible in South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa and the Indian Ocean, and is the 36th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 135.source
August 13 – First successful ascent of the Matterhorn's west face, by Renato Daguin and Giovanni Ottin.source
August 18 – Norway launches its 1st sounding rocket, Ferdinand 1, from Andøya Space Center and becomes a space nation.source
August 27 – NASA launches the Mariner 2 space probe.source
September 12 – President John F. Kennedy, in his "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University, reaffirms that the U.S. will put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.source
September 29 – The Canadian Alouette 1, the first satellite built outside the United States and the Soviet Union, is launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.source
October 3 – Project Mercury: Mercury-Atlas 8 – U.S. astronaut Walter Schirra orbits the Earth six times, in the Sigma 7 space capsule.source
November 1 – The Soviet Union begins dismantling its missiles in Cuba.source
December 14 – U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 passes by Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet.source

Health & Medicine

March 7 – Ash Wednesday Storm: A snow storm batters the Mid-Atlantic.source
April 18 – The Commonwealth Immigrants Act in the United Kingdom removes free immigration from the citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, requiring proof of employment in the U.K. This comes into effect on 1 July.source
July 1 – A heavy smog develops over London.source
1962–1965 rubella epidemic, originating in Europe and spreading to the United States.source

Crime & Justice

February 12 – Six members of the Committee of 100 of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the U.K. are found guilty of a breach of the Official Secrets Act.source
March 24 – OAS leader Edmond Jouhaud is arrested in Oran.source
April 7 – Milovan Đilas, author and former vice-president of Yugoslavia is re-arrested.source
April 13 – OAS leader Edmond Jouhaud is sentenced to death in France.source
April 14 – A Cuban military tribunal convicts 1,179 Bay of Pigs attackers.source
April 20 – OAS leader Raoul Salan is arrested in Algiers.source
May 14 – Milovan Đilas is given a further sentence in Yugoslavia, for publishing Conversations with Stalin.source
May 23 – Raoul Salan, founder of the French terrorist Organisation armée secrète, is sentenced to life imprisonment in France.source
June 12 – Alcatraz escape attempt: Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin escape from the Alcatraz Island prison in the United States; it is never confirmed that they make it ashore.source
August 5 – Anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela is arrested by the South African government near Howick, and charged with incitement to rebellion. On November 7, he is sentenced to imprisonment.source
August 17 – East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin, leading to mass protests on the Western side.source
October 22 – John Vassall, a former clerical officer in British naval intelligence, is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after admitting to passing secret material to the Soviet Union.source
October 26 – Spiegel affair: German police occupy the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg.source
November 1 – The comic book antihero Diabolik first appears in Italy.source
November 2 – Greville Wynne, a British trader acting as a courier for MI6, is arrested by the KGB in Budapest and imprisoned in Moscow after confessing to espionage.source
November 5 – West German defense minister Franz Josef Strauß is relieved of his duties over the Spiegel affair due to his alleged involvement in police action against the magazine.source
November 26 – Spiegel affair: German police end their occupation of the offices of Der Spiegel.source
December 14 – Leonardo da Vinci's early 16th-century painting the Mona Lisa is assessed for insurance purposes at US$100 million before touring the United States for several months, the highest insurance value for a painting in history. However, the Louvre, its owner, chooses to spend the money that would have been spent on the insurance premium on security instead.source

Disasters & Accidents

January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the worst Dutch rail disaster.source
January 30 – Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas" are killed when their famous seven-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit.source
February 7 – Luisenthal Mine Disaster: A coal mine explosion in Saarland, West Germany, kills 299.source
March 1 – American Airlines Flight 1 (a Boeing 707) crashes on takeoff at New York International Airport, after a rudder malfunction causes an uncontrolled roll, resulting in the loss of control of the aircraft, with the loss of all 95 on board.source
March 16 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation chartered by the United States Military Air Transport Service, and carrying mainly United States Army personnel bound for South Vietnam, vanishes over the western Pacific Ocean, with the loss of all 107 on board (no wreckage or bodies are ever found).source
April 26 – The U.S. Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the far side of the Moon without returning any scientific data.source
May 3 – Mikawashima train crash: 160 die in a triple-train disaster near Tokyo.source
May 22 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes near Unionville, Missouri, after the in-flight detonation of a bomb near the rear lavatory in a suicide bombing committed as insurance fraud; all 45 passengers and crew aboard are killed.source
June 3 – Air France Flight 007 (a Boeing 707) crashes on take-off at Orly Airport in Paris; 130 of 132 people on board are killed, 2 flight attendants survive. Most victims are cultural and civic leaders of Atlanta.source
June 22 – Air France Flight 117 (a Boeing 707 jet) crashes into terrain during bad weather in Guadeloupe in the West Indies, killing all 113 on board, the airline's second fatal accident in just 3 weeks, and the third fatal 707 crash of the year.source
September 23 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 923, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation registered as N6923C, ditched into the Atlantic Ocean killing 28 occupants out of 76 on board. The remaining 48 were rescued six hours later.source
November 5 – A coal mining disaster in Ny-Ålesund kills 21 people; the Norwegian government is forced to resign in the aftermath of this accident, in August 1963.source
November 23 – United Air Lines Flight 297 crashes in Columbia, Maryland due to a bird strike, killing all 17 on board.source

Climate & Environment

February 17 – Heavy storms and high tides result in the North Sea flood of 1962 on Germany's North Sea coast, mainly around Hamburg; more than 300 people die and thousands lose their homes.source
September 1 – Typhoon Wanda strikes Hong Kong, killing at least 130 and injuring more than 600.source
September 26 – The North Yemen Civil War erupts.source
September 27 – A flash flood in Barcelona, Spain, kills more than 440 people.source
October 8 – Spiegel affair: German magazine Der Spiegel publishes an article revealing NATO criticism of the Bundeswehr (West German defence forces)' poor preparedness; a political scandal erupts.source
October 20 – The Sino-Indian War, a border dispute involving two of the world's largest nations (India and the People's Republic of China), erupts into fighting.source
December 30 – An unexpected storm buries Maine under five feet of snow, forcing the Bangor Daily News to miss a publication date for the only time in history. The same day, also, the Netherlands are covered with several feet of snow.source

Culture & Society

January 15 – French designer Yves Saint Laurent launches his own fashion house.source
February 11 – The inaugural 24 Hours of Daytona sports car endurance race is run as a 3-hour event, at Daytona Beach, Florida, United States.source
March 18 – "Un premier amour", sung by Isabelle Aubret (music by Claude-Henri Vic, lyrics by Roland Stephane Valade), wins the Eurovision Song Contest 1962 (staged in Luxembourg) for France.source
April 9 – The 34th Academy Awards Ceremony is held in the United States; West Side Story wins Best Picture.source
May 2 – S.L. Benfica beats Real Madrid 5–3 at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam to win the 1961–62 European Cup in association football.source
May 14 – Juan Carlos of Spain marries the Greek Princess Sophia in Athens.source
May 30 – The 1962 FIFA World Cup begins in Chile.source
June 11 – U.S. President John F. Kennedy gives the commencement address at Yale University.source
June 17 – Brazil beats Czechoslovakia 3–1, to win the 1962 FIFA World Cup.source
June 25 – Engel v. Vitale: The United States Supreme Court rules that mandatory prayers in public schools are unconstitutional.source
June 25 – MANual Enterprises v. Day: The United States Supreme Court rules that photographs of nude men are not obscene, decriminalizing nude male pornographic magazines.source
June 26 – A 2-day steel strike begins in Italy in support of increased wages and a five-day working week.source
July 12 – The Rolling Stones make their debut at London's Marquee Club, opening for Long John Baldry.source
July 19 – The first annual Swiss & Wielder Hoop and Stick Tournament is held.source
September 19 – Atlantic College opens its doors for the first time in Wales, marking the birth of the pioneering United World College educational movement.source
September 22 – Bob Dylan premieres his song "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall", at Carnegie Hall in New York City.source
November 6 – Apartheid: The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation.source
November 25 – The 1962 Bavarian state election is held.source
December 8 – The 1962–63 New York City newspaper strike begins, affecting all of the city's major newspapers; it will last for 114 days.source
December 10 – David Lean's epic film Lawrence of Arabia, featuring Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins and Anthony Quinn, premieres in London; 6 days later, it opens in the U.S.source

Births

February 6 – Axl Rose, American musician, singer-songwriter of Guns N' Rosessource
February 15 – Srettha Thavisin, Thai businessman and politician, 30th Prime Minister of Thailandsource
April 12 – Sheila Kennedy, American model, actress and contestant on Big Brother 9source
April 13 – Hillel Slovak, Israeli-American guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (d. 1988)source
April 16 – Antony Blinken, American diplomat, 71st United States Secretary of Statesource
May 17 – Ferenc Krausz, Hungarian-born attosecond physicist, Nobel Prize laureatesource
May 31 – Dina Boluarte, Peruvian politician, 64th President of Perusource
June 12 – Jordan Peterson, Canadian clinical psychologist and professor of psychologysource
August 18 – Felipe Calderón, Mexican politician, 50th President of Mexicosource
September 2 – Keir Starmer, British politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdomsource
November 1 – Anthony Kiedis, American rock singer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)source
November 12 – Naomi Wolf, American author, feminist and political consultantsource
November 28 – Jon Stewart, American actor, comedian, media critic and television personality, host of The Daily Show (1999–2015)source
December 21 – Steven Mnuchin, 77th United States Secretary of the Treasurysource

Deaths

March 15 – Arthur Compton, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)source
May 23 – Rubén Jaramillo, peasant leader, assassinated by the Mexican Army (b. 1900)source
June 2 – Vita Sackville-West, English writer and landscape gardener (b. 1892)source
June 4 – William Beebe, American naturalist, ornithologist, marine biologist and entomologist (b. 1877)source
July 6 – William Faulkner, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)source
July 26 – George Preca, Maltese Roman Catholic priest and saint (b. 1880)source
July 29 – Sir Ronald Fisher, English-born statistician and geneticist (b. 1890)source
August 5 – Death of Marilyn Monroe: Actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead aged 36 from an overdose of sleeping pills and chloral hydrate at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles; it is officially ruled a "probable suicide" (the exact cause has been disputed).source
August 9 – Hermann Hesse, German-born writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1877)source
August 26 – Dušan Simović, Yugoslav general, 18th Prime Minister of Yugoslavia (b. 1882)source
October 6 – Tod Browning, American film director (b. 1880)source
November 7 – Eleanor Roosevelt, American politician, diplomat and activist, First Lady of the United States (b. 1884)source
November 8 – Willis H. O'Brien, American stop motion animator (b. 1886)source
November 18 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1885)source