The 1960's at a Glance

Source: Wikipedia

Fads: Skateboards, Barbie dolls, G.I. Joe

Fashion: Crew Cuts, Bouffant Hair, the Afro, Miniskirts, hot pants, go-go boots, longer hair for men, bell bottoms,

Slang: A Gas (great time), All show and no go, Blast( great time), Bread (money), Brody, Cherry (clean car), Chick, Cruising, Dibs, Drag, Flip Flops, Flower Child, Lay Rubber, Going Steady, Hep , Hip, Hodad, Jacked Up, Lay it on me, Make Out, Old lady (mother), Old man (father), Outta Sight, Pig (police), Primo, Scratch (money), Shotgun ( front passenger in a car), Steady (boy friend or girl friend), The most, Thongs (footwear then), Zits

President John F. Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson take office in 1961; Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
Substantial American forces first arrive in Vietnam in 1961.
President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.
Lyndon Johnson becomes president and presses civil rights legislation; college attendance soars.

Man walks on the Moon in July 1969, and Richard Nixon telephones the astronauts on the Moon, then later cuts the space program.

The assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968.
The assassination of presidential candidate Senator Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1968

1960 XVII Summer Olympics - Rome, Italy
1960 VIII Winter Olympics - Squaw Valley, USA
1964 XVIII Summer Olympics - Tokyo, Japan
1964 IX Winter Olympics - Innsbruck, Austria
1968 XIX Summer Olympics - Mexico City, Mexico
1968 X Winter Olympics - Grenoble, France

Source: Baby Boomers Headquarters

Germany is divided into two separate and highly unequal countries

Alan Shepard becomes the first American to fly into space aboard the "Freedom 7."

The whole nation watches with excitement as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris compete against each other in an effort to break Babe Ruth's home run record.

John Glenn orbits the earth three times in the "Friendship 7." The first seven astronauts are scheduled to fly in the Mercury series of space flights. After that, the Gemini series. And then, the Apollo series... to the moon! - 1962.

Marilyn Monroe dies

Johnny Carson begins a 30-year reign as host of the "Tonight Show."

The Beatles led the "British invasion" by landing in New York, and proceeded to change rock music forever. - 1964.

Three U.S. astronauts (Grissom, Chaffee, White) die in a fire on the launch pad during a practice session.

With hundreds of American soldiers dying every week, the "troop strength" in Vietnam increases to 475,000. - 1967.

The U.S. wins the space race convincingly by landing a man on the moon. "Houston... Tranquility Base, here; the Eagle has landed."

Half a million party-goers sludge through the mud to experience four days of rock n' roll at an event called Woodstock.