January
Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand
Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board
The first record by The Beatles "My Bonnie" with Tony Sheridan is released by Polydor
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time (National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC)
Trade pact between Cuba and the Soviet Union
Avalanche on Nevado Huascarán in Peru; 4000 deaths
Volcano erupts in the Peruvian Andes and causes an avalanche that buries 3000
Albania allies itself with the People's Republic of China
Military coup in the Dominican Republic
Counter-coup in the Dominican Republic - old government returns except for the new president Rafael Bonnely
The Organization of American States (OAS) suspends Cuba's membership
East German government readopts conscription
OAS bomb in French foreign ministry
Mafioso Lucky Luciano dies at Naples Airport
Ranger 3 is launched to study the moon. The space probe later missed the moon by 22,000 miles
Soviet government changes all place names honoring Molotov, Kaganovich and Georgi Malenkov
Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas" are killed when their famous seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit, Michigan

February
For the first time in 400 years Neptune and Pluto align
US announces its trade embargo with Cuba
The Sunday Times becomes the first paper to print a colour supplement
Latin American Gnostic master Samael Aun Weor declares the advent of the New Age of Aquarius
French President Charles De Gaulle calls for allowing Algeria to be an independent nation
Negotiations between U.S. Steel and the U.S. Commerce Department are underway.
The United States Government bans all US-related Cuban imports and exports
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation opens
Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Berlin
Six members of the Committee of 100 of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament are found guilty of a breach of the Official Secrets Act
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy takes television viewers on a tour of the White House
Urho Kekkonen re-elected president of Finland
Heavy storm flood on Germany's North Sea coast, mainly around Hamburg, more than 300 people die, thousands losing their homes
Flooding in North Sea coasts
While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the Earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes becoming the first American to orbit the Earth
12 European countries form European Space Agency

March
An American Airlines Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff at New York International Airport after its rudder separates from the tail, with loss of all life on board
Military coup in Burma
In Geneva, France and Algerian FLN begin negotiations
Katangan prime minister Moise Tshombe begins negotiations to rejoin Congo
Armistice begins in Algeria
France and Algeria sign an agreement in Evian ending the Algerian War. 
Armistice in Algeria - however, Organisation de l'armée secrète continues its terrorist attacks against Algerians
Scandinavian States of Nordic Council sign Helsinki Convention on Nordic Co-operation
OAS leader Edmond Jouahud arrested in Oran
France shortens the term for military service from 26 to 18 months.

April
Nehru elected de facto prime minister of India
James Hanratty is hanged in Bedford Gaol for A6 murder - many believe he was innocent
Belgium reforms diplomatic relations with Congo
Author Milovan Djilas arrested in Yugoslavia
In France, the Évian Accords are adopted in a referendum with a majority of 90%.
In Los Angeles, the first MLB game is played at Dodger Stadium.
OAS leader Edmond Jouhaud sentenced to death in France
Cuban military tribunal convicts 1179 Bay of Pigs attackers
Commonweath Immigration Bill in the United Kingdom removes free immigration from the citizens of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations
OAS leader Raoul Salan arrested in Algiers
Seattle's Century 21 World's Fair opened.
The Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon

May
OAS bomb explodes in Algeria - this and other attacks kill 110 and injure 147
12 East Germans escape via a tunnel under the Berlin Wall
Juan Carlos marries the Greek Princess Sophia in Athens
Milovan Djilas, former vice-president of Yugoslavia, is given further sentence for publishing Conversations with Stalin
Drilling for new Montreal, Quebec subway commences
Founder of the French terrorist Organisation de l'armée secrète, Raoul Salan, is sentenced to life imprisonment in France
In Olima, Peru, unpopular referee ruling in a Peru-Argentina soccer match leads to riot and panic - 300 dead, over 500 injured
Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule
Consecration of the new Coventry cathedral
Negotiations between OAS ja FLA lead to real armistice
Adolf Eichmann hanged in Israel

June
An air crash at Orly Airport in Paris - 130 dead, two stewardesses survive
President John F. Kennedy, gives commencement address at Yale University.
Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to apparently successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island. There is no conclusive evidence that they survived the attempt.
Students for a Democratic Society complete the Port Huron Statement
OAS signs a truce with FLN in Algeria but a day later announces that it will continue the fight for French Algeria
Brazil beat Czechoslovakia 3-1 to win the 1962 World Cup
The United States Supreme Court rules in Engel v. Vitale that prayers in public schools are unconstitutional
Two-day steel strike begins in Italy in support of increased wages and 5-day working week
Last soldiers of the French Foreign Legion leave Algeria.

July
Independence of Rwanda and Burundi
Supporters of Algerian independence win 99% majority in referendum
Another heavy smog over London
Charles De Gaulle accepts Algerian independence - France recognizes it the next day
Algeria becomes independent from France.
Irish broadcaster, Gay Byrne, presents his first edition of The Late Late Show. Byrne would go on to present the show for 37 years making it the longest running talk show in the world
AT&T's Telstar, the world's first commercial communications satellite, is launched into orbit - it is activated the next day
The Rolling Stones make their debut at London's Marquee Club, number 165 Oxford Street, opening for Long John Baldry
In what the press dubs "the Night of the Long Knives" United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses one-third of his Cabinet
Nuclear testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site
French and Tunisia reform diplomatic relations
Mariner program: Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed
Telstar relays the first live trans-Atlantic television signal
Locust swarm threatens Delhi
Algeria proclaims independence; Ahmed Ben Bella is the first President
Crowd assaults the rally of the right-wing Union Movement of Sir Oswald Mosley in London.

August
Film actress and sex icon, Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles, California home after apparently overdosing on sleeping pills
South African government arrests Nelson Mandela in Howick and charges him with incinement to rebellion
Jamaica becomes independent
The Netherlands recognizes that Irian Jaya is part of Indonesia
Algeria joins the Arab League
East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin
Failed assassination attempt against Charles De Gaulle
John Lennon secretly marries Cynthia Powell
Group of armed Cuban refugee fire at hotel in Havana from a speedboat
NASA launches the Mariner 2 space probe
Trinidad and Tobago become independent

September
Referendum in Singapore supports Malayan Federation
Typhoon Wanda strikes Hong Kong, at least 130 died and more than 600 were wounded.
Soviet Union agrees to send arms to Cuba
Newly independent Algeria, by referendum, adopts a Constitution.
President John F. Kennedy declares the USA will get a man on the moon by the end of the decade
Malaysia formed with Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, and North Borneo
Border conflict between China and India erupts into fighting
New Musical Express, a British music magazine, publishes a story about two 13 year old schoolgirls, Sue and Mary, releasing a disc on Decca, adding, "A Liverpool group, The Beatles, have recorded 'Love Me Do' for Parlophone, set for October 5 release."
Civil war erupts in Yemen
Flash flood in Barcelona, Spain kills more than 440.
Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring released, giving rise to the modern environmentalist movement
Prime minister Ahmed Ben Bella founds the first government in Algeria
The Canadian Alouette 1, the first satellite built outside the United States and Soviet Union, is launched from Vandenberg American Force Base in California
CBS broadcasts the final episodes of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, marking the end of the Golden Age of Radio.

October
Pictures of Soviet missile silos in Cuba, taken by US spy planes
The first black student James Meredith registers in University of Mississippi escorted by Federal marshals
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
Algeria is accepted into United Nations
Uganda becomes independent within the British Commonwealth of Nations
Der Spiegel publishes an article on a NATO exercise criticizing the weakness of the West German army (the offices of the paper are occupied by the police)
Second Vatican Council: Pope John XXIII convenes the first ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church in 92 years
Infamous Columbus Day Storm strikes the U. S. Pacific Northwest with wind gusts up to 170 mph (270 km/h); 46 dead, 11 billion board feet (26 million m³) of timber blown down, $230 million U.S. in damages
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens on Broadway.
Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed. A stand-off then ensues the next day between the United States and the Soviet Union, putting the entire world under threat of a nuclear war
Spiegel scandal - German police occupies Der Spiegel offices in Hamburg
Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba
A referendum in France favours the election of the president by universal suffrage
The UN General Assembly requests the United Kingdom to suspend enforcement of the new constitution in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), but the constitution comes into effect on November 1.

November
Soviets begins dismantling their missiles in Cuba.
First Personal computer invented.
Franz Josef Strauß, the West German defence minister, is relieved of his duties over the Spiegel affair because it is alleged that he was involved in police action against the magazine.
Saudi Arabia breaks off diplomatic relations with Egypt following a period of unrest partly caused by the defection of several Saudi princes to Egypt.
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.
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.
Richard M. Nixon loses the California governor's race. In his concession speech, he states that this is his "last press conference" and that "you won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any more"
In Washington, DC, US President John F. Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport.
Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, US President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
Spiegel scandal - German police ends its occupation of Der Spiegel offices.
Charles De Gaulle orders Georges Pompidou to form a government.
An agreement is signed between Britain and France to develop the Concorde supersonic airliner.
The United Nations General Assembly elects U Thant of Burma as the new UN Secretary-General.

December
Vietnam War: After a trip to Vietnam at the request of US President John F. Kennedy, US Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield becomes the first American official to not make an optimistic public comment on the war's progress
Prince Rainier III of Monaco revises the principality's constitution, devolving some of his formerly autocratic power to several advisory and legislative councils.
Closing of first period of Second Vatican Council
In Brunei sheik Azaharin rebels - it lasts only one day
North Kalimantan National Army revolts in Brunei - first stirrings of Indonesian Confrontation
Tanganyika (now Tanzania) becomes a republic within the Commonwealth, with Julius Nyerere as president
Formation in West Germany of coalition government of Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists, and Free Democrats
US spacecraft Mariner 2 flies by Venus, becoming the first probe to successfully transmit data from another planet
Britain acknowledges the right of Nyasaland (now Malawi) to secede from the Central African Federation
The last foreign-occupied territory of India, Daman and Diu integrated into India
"Big Freeze" in Britain - no frost-free nights until March 5, 1963
Cuba releases last of the 1113 participants of the Bay of Pigs Invasion to USA in exchange of food worth $53 million
United Nations troops occupy the last rebel positions in Katanga; Moise Tshombe moves to South Rhodesia

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