No matter the decade named, the actual numerical years do not coincide with the cultural decades which bleed one into another. Culturally The 1960s began in November of 1963 with the assassination of John F. Kennedy and ended in August of 1974 with the resignation of Richard Nixon. For this project to work properly we adhere to the numerical definitions rather than the cultural.
The Cultural Sixties
It begins...
The Cultural Sixties began with the assassination of John F Kennedy in 1963. The Beatles invaded in 1964 changing our music and our culture. Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali and became the athlete of the century. The Rolling Stones hit big with Satisfaction in 1965. Bob Dylan turned on the Beatles who began putting more thought into their music and lyrics which gave rise to what is said to be the greatest studio album of all time, Sargent Peppers Lonely Heartclub Band. In 1966 the war in Vietnam was building into a political problem on the homefront. 1966 gave us the hippies and the music which were to define the decade. In 1967 Israel wins the 6 Day War in the Middle East, Senator Eugene McCarthy entered the race for President giving the struggling peace movement momentum. In 1968Lyndon Johnson refused to run again for President, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated and the Vietnam war escalating. 1968 also had Americans orbiting the moon while riots dominated the Democratic Convention in Chicago. In 1969 Richard Nixon became President, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon, Jimi Hendricks played Woodstock and bikers killed a fan at a free Stones concert at Altamont Speedway and Easy Rider with Jack Nicholson became a hit. In 1970 the United States begins B-52 bombing of Cambodia, in protest four students were shot by the National Guard at Kent State Univeristy. 1970 was also the year the Beatles broke up and Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin die in drug-related deaths. 1971 In 1972 came All in the Family with Archie Bunker. In 1974 Richard Nixon resigned and The Sixties ended with President Gerald Ford's words, "Our long national nightmare is over."
...it ends
Tom Brokaw discusses his book Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today
Synopsis of the Sixties Pages
1960 was the year of the Kennedy Nixon Debates, Nikita Khrushchev pounding his shoe and Fidel Castro.
1960 televsion introduced us to The Andy Griffith Show with Don Knotts as Deputy Barney Fife and the Flintstones.
1960 music had us listening to The Twist by Cubby Checker, Ray Charles with Georgia on my Mind and Hit the Road Jack, the Ventures, Take Five by Dave Brubeck and Elvis Presley returned from the Army. Bye Bye Birdie was a hit on broadway and Berry Gordy began Motown Records.
1960 movies had us watching Yul Brynner and The Magnificent Seven, Alfred Hitchcock and Pshyco, Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield 8, Spencer Tracy as Clarence Darrow in Inherit the Wind and Kirk Douglas in Spartacus.
1960 books had us reading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee which won the Pulitzer Prize, and we were introduced to John Updike, James Michener, Barry Goldwater, and recited Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. The Miracle Worker made stars of Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke.
1960 cars gave us the rear engine Corvair as car of the year and A.J, Foyt won the Indianapolis 500.
1960 sports had Cassuis Clay and Wilma Rudolph as the stars of the 1960 Olympics. On the sports pages we read of Bill Mazeroski, Pete Rozelle, The Dallas Cowboys, Norm van Brocklin, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Floyd Patterson, Arnold Palmer, Wilt Chamberlain and Red Auerbach.
1960 technology gave us the birth control pill as Enovil 10, the copy machine began to replace the mimeograph, we listened to Chatty Cathy, fiddled with Etch-a-Sketch and played with Legos.
1961 was the year John F. Kennedy became President and Dwight Eisenhower made his military industrial complex farwell speech. Hurricane Carla hit the gulf coast, yuri gagarin became the first man in space, and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
1961 televsion introduced us to Rob and Laura Petre on the Dick Van Dyke Show with Mary Tyler Moore, Mr. Ed the talking horse, Shirley Booth winning an Emmy for Hazel, Vince Edwards as Ben Casey and E.G. M Marshall in the defenders.
1961 music had us listening toMoon River by Andy Williams, Ben E. King singing Stand By Me and we first heard of Bob Dylan. The radio was full of Patsy Cline, Gary U.S. Bonds, Ray Charles, The Temptations and The Beach Boys. Frank Sinatra began Reprise Records, and Camelot reigned on Broadway with Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet.
1961 movies had us watching West Side Story was the movie of the year with George Chakiris and Rita Moreno, Jeff Chandler and Earnst Hemingway died. Elvis Presely gave us Blue Hawaii, Maximilian Schell won awards for Judgement at Nurenburg, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift give their last preformances in The Misfits and Paul Newmnan and Jackie Gleason star in The Hustler.
1961 books had us reading Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Stranger in a Strange land by Robert A. Heinlein, and Black Like Me by John Griffin. Bob Newhart is the comedian of the year
1961 cars gave us the 1961 Continental looking good and the 1961 Pontiac Tempest is the car of the year.
1961 sports had the New York Yankess win the World Series and we are talking about Roger Maris, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle. Fran Tarkenton leads the new Minnesota Vikings and Bear Bryant and the Crimson Tide win big.
1961 technology gave us the Seattle Space Needle, Barbie finds a boyfriend in Ken, the Duncan yo-yo makes a comback, we hear of a burger place called Mcdonald's, quasars are discovered and we first brush our teeth with an electric toothbrush.
1962 President Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy find a way out of the Cuban Missile Crisis. James Meredith is shot, the Good Pope John the XXIII dies, we see our first Wal-mart and Linus Carl Pauling wins the Nobel Prize.
1962 televsion introduced us to Walter Cronkite who brings us the CBS evening news, The Beverly Hillbillies have us laughing at Max Baer Jr, Buddy Ebsen and Irene Ryan. We watch The Jetsons, Combat with Vic Morrow, McHale's Navy with Earnest Borgnine and Tim Conway and Johnny Carson takes over The Tonight Show.
1962 music had us listening to The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Tony Bennett tops the charts.
1962 movies had us watching Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird, Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia and Fank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey and Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate. Other movies are Cape Fear with Robert Mitchum, A Touch of Mink with Doris Day and Cary Grant. Lolita, with Sue Lyon, Shelly Winters and James Mason is naught. The first Bond movie Dr. No with Sean Connery and Ursula Andress. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford scare us in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. Robert Preston stars in The Music Man, John Wayne in The Longest Day and we meet Lee Marvin as Liberty Valance with Jimmy Stewart. Marilyn Monroe kills herself and Ernie Kovacs is killed
in a car wreck.
1962 books had us reading Silver Spring by Rachel Carson who first awakens us to the environment, Ken Kesey comes out with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, James Cavell gives his first book on the Orient, King Rat, Milton Friedman writes Capitalism and Freedom, and Helen Gurley Brown defines Feminism with Sex and the Single Girl. Paul Scofield is the Man for all Seasons, Elaine May and Mike Nichols make us laugh and Vaughn Meader does his impressions of the First Family.
1962 cars gave us the 1962 Buick Special is the car of the year.
1962 sports had the World Series is won again by the New York Yankees, Sonny Liston is the heavyweight champ, Wilt Chamerlain is Mr. Basketball, The World Cup is won by Brazil and the NFL campionship is won by the Green Bay Packers.
1962 technology gave us our first Tab and Diet Rite colas, Alan Shepard and John Glenn go to space, light emitting diodes LEDs are invented, women receive their first silicone breast implants as we all play with the Slinky.
1963 President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald who is assassinated by Jack Ruby. Martian Luther King Jr. makes his I have a Dream speech. In Britian they pull off The Great Train Robbery and Minister John Profumo falls in affair with Christine Keeler. The Vatican elects Pope Paul VI, Governor George Wallace blocks schools to Blacks, Medger Evers is assasssinated and the nuclear sub USS Thresher sinks.
1963 televsion introduced us toBarry Morse chasing David Janssen who chases a one armed man in The Fugitive. We are also watching My Favorite Martian, Petticoat Junction, Patti Duke twice, Wild Kingdom and Monty Hall Let's Make a Deal.
1963 music had us listening to Tony Bennett sang I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Peter, Paul and Mary hit big, Bobby Bare does Detroit City, Dion Dimucci and the Belmonts sing Ruby Ruby and who can forget Louie Louie by The Kingsman. Little Stevie Wonder has a hit while James Brown at The Apollo becomes a classic album.
1963 movies had us watching Albert Finney was Tom Jones, Steve Mcqueen made The Great Escape and Shirley Maclaine and Jack Lemon got The Apartment. We met Sidney Poitier saw Peter Sellers in The Pink Panther while Alfred Hitchcock gave us The Birds. Francis Ford Coppola arrived with Dementia 13 and old hands Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison gave us Cleopatra.
1963 books had us reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, does his first laugh fest with Cat's Cradle, Aldous Huxley writes Brave New World and John le Carré gives us The Spy who Came in from the Cold. Sandy Dennis wins a Tony for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Allan Sherman and Bill Cosby are funny.
1963 cars gave us the 1963 Rambler by American Motors as car of the year, we see the first Buick Riviera and Studebaker Avanti and Parnelli Jones wins at Indy.
1963 sports had Sandy Koufax on top of the game, Sonny Liston knocks out Floyd Patterson, and the Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio.
1963 technology gave us the zip code, Harvey Ball invents the Smiley Face, the touch tone phone replaces dialing, the Easy Bake Oven is toy of the year and we start taking Valium.
1964 brings us Beatlemania, President Lyndon Johnson declares War on Poverty passes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and beats Barry Goldwater for the Presidency. In South Africa Nelson Mandela is imprisoned while here at home civil rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney are murdered in Mississippi. Nikita Khrushchev is replaced by Leonid Brezhnev, the Gulf of Tonkin affair begins our war in Vietnam and Martin Luther King Jr wins the Nobel Peace Prize.
1964 televsion introduced us to our first tv spies with Robert Vaughn and David McCallum in The Man from UNCLE, Bob Denver, Alan Hale Jr., and the rest are marooned on Gilligan's Island. The Addams Family with Carolyn Jones, John Astin and Jackie Coogan is hilarious and Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al make The Munsters fun. Bewitched with Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York is a hit and we frist hear the ticking theme song of Jeopardy.
1964 music had us listening to Meet the Beatles with the song I Want to Hold Your Hand begins the British Invasion of The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark Five, Chad and Jeremy, Herman's Hermits The Animals and The Kinks. Louis Armstrong has a hit with Hello Dolly, People is a big hit for Barbra Streisand, the Supremes are on top at Motown and Stan Getz gives us The Girl From Ipanema. Roger Miller sings Dang Me and Chug a lug while Bob Dylan correctly informs us that The Times they are a Changing.
1964 movies had us watching Peter Sellers, Sterling Hayden, George C. Scott in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. Sean Connery stars in Goldfinger with Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore, Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady. George Peppard and Carol Baker star in The Carpetbaggers and we see our first Spaghetti Western by Segrio Leone with A Fistful of Dollars starring Clint Eastwood. Blake Edwards has Inspector Clouseau (Peter Sellers) return with Elke Summers and Herbert Lom in A Shot in the Dark. Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret have an affair while filming Viva Las Vegas.
1964 books had us reading Saul Bellow who gives us Herzog, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan do the play after the Fall with Barbra Loden and Jason Robards Jr., Thomas Berger gives us Jack Crabb in Little Big Man, Dick Gregory writes the N-Word book and Bill Cosby is again the funny man of the year.
1964 cars gave us the 1964 and a half Ford Mustang in introduced, the muscle cars come with the Pontiac GTO, Richard Petty wins at Indy and race car drivers Glenn "Fireball" Roberts and Joe Weatherly are killed in crashes.
1964 sports had Yankees new Manager Yogi Berra lose the 1964 world series to the St. Louis Cardinals. Cassius Clay knocks out Sonny Liston to become not only the Greatest but also Muhammad Ali. The XVIII Olympiad is held in Tokyo, Japan where Smockin Joe frazier wins a gold metal and we first hear of Peggy Flemming.
1964 technology gave us Bill Lear's Stereo 8 track in cars and the first business computer with the IBM System/360. We are playing with G.I. Joe, the Thingmaker, Creepy Crawlers and Troll dolls.
In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare bill and the Voting Rights Act which Governor George Wallace doesn't like. The war in Vietnam grows giving us a new hero in General Westmoreland while we begin B-52 carpet bombing of North Vietnam. We have race riots in Watts, Bloody Sunday in Montgomery, Alabama, Griswold v. Connecticut gives us some privacy in our bedrooms and Winston Churchill passes away.
1965 televsion introduced us to Robert Culp and Bill Cosby in I Spy, Get Smart with Barbara Feldon and Don Adams has us in stitches, as does Larry Storch and Ken Berry in F Troop, as does Hogan's Heroes with Richard Dawson and Bob Crane. Green Acres with Eddie Albert, Eva Gabor, Pat Buttram, Tom Lester, Alvy Moore, and Arnold the pig is about as funny as it gets. We watch I Dream of Jeannie with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, Lost in Space with Jonathan Harris, June Lockhart, Guy Williams, Angela Cartwright, Billy Mumy and Robbie the Robot, and The Dean Martin Show is a hit.
1965 music had us listening to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones look for Satisfacton, Bob Dylan gives us Like a Rolling Stone at the Newport Jazz Festival, and at the Filmore in San Francisco the The Warlocks play and change their name to The Greatful Dead. Sonny and Cher come on the scene with I Got You Babe, You Lost that Loving Feeling by The Righteous Brothers becomes the most played song on the radio of all time and Phil Spector is putting his wall of sound into various productions. We listen to Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Sam the Sham and Pharaohs, James Brown, The Byrds, Tom Jones and King of the Road Roger Miller.
1965 movies had us watching Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music, What's New Pussycat introduces us to Woody Allen with Peter Sellers and Peter O'Toole, David Lean directs Doctor Zhivago with Julie Christie, Omar Sharif, Geraldine Chaplin, Rod Steiger and Alec Guinness. Sidney Poitier and Shelly Winters give great performances in A Patch of Blue, Lee Marvin steals the show in Cat Ballou and Clint Eastwood in part two of Sergio Leone's Dollar Trilogy, A Few Dollars More. A Thousand Clowns with Jason Robards, Barry Gordon, Barbra Harris and Martin Balsam is a good movie.
1965 books had us reading James Michener gives the big book The Source, Frank Herbert gives us Dune, Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. does God Bless You Mr. Rosewater. Truman Capote writes In Cold Blood, Alex Haley gives us The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Robin Moore with The Green Berets, Bill Cosby wins yet another comedy Grammy and Neil Simon's The Odd Couple with Walter Matthau is a hit on broadway.
1965 cars gave us Pontiacs as the car of the year, Jimmy Clark and Mario Andretti win races and we hear of Big Daddy Don Garlits.
1965 sports had Sandy Koufax still on top as is Muhammad Ali, the Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series and the Green Bay Packers with Paul Hourning win the NFL championship.
1965 technology gave us the Mini Skirt is invented by Mary Quant, we are introduced to Soft contact lenses and we are playing with See 'n Say, Operation and the Spirograph.
Lyndon Johnson begins bombing Hanoi and Haiphong and we begin hearing about Baby Boomers while Bobby Seale and Huey Newton form the Black Panther Party. Betty Friedan begins the National Organization for Women (NOW), Charles DeGaule withdraws from NATO, Richard Speck kills 9 nurses in Chicago and Charles Whitman kills 14 from the tower at the University of Texas.
1966 televsion introduced us to Gene Roddenberry's show Star Trek with William Shatner as Captain Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. Boris Karloff brings The Grinch to life, and Adam West and Burt Ward come on the scene as Batman and Robin. Don Kirshner invents The Monkees played by Michael Nesmith, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork, Mission Impossible stars Barbara Bain and Marlo Thomas is That Girl. Soap opera Dark Shadows stars Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins, and Chuck Barris gives us the The Newlywed Game with Bob Eubanks.
1966 music had us listening to the Beach Boys' album Pet Sounds with Brian Wilson and their hit Good Vibrations, Herb Alpert is at the top, The Beatles give us Revolver and Rubber Soul and John Lennon says they are bigger than Jesus. George Harrison marries Patti Boyd leaving Eric Clapton odd man out. The first Acid Test takes place at the Filmore with Merry Pranksters Ken Kesey and Neil Cassidy as the Greatful Dead play. The Mamas and the Papas hit the top of the charts, Bob Dylan come out with Blonde on Blonde with Robbie Robertson and Devon Helm who form The Band. The Temptations are on top with Ain't Too Proud To Beg and Frank Sinatra has the song of the year with Strangers in the Night.
1966 movies had us watchingSteve McQueen starred with Mako in The Sand Pebbles, Sergio Leone's Dollar Trilogy ends with The Good, the Bad and the Ugly starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach. We suffer through Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with Elizabeth Taylor and Sandy Dennis and are cheered up by The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming with Alan Arkin, Carl Reiner, Brian Keith and Jonathan Winters. We see our first spy spoof with Our Man Flint starring James Coburn and Lee J. Cobb. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a SciFi hit with Oskar Werner and Julie Christie. Michael Caine appears with Shelley Winters in Alfie, and also from Britian, Georgy Girl with Lynn Redgrave, James Mason and Alan Bates and Marlin Brando does his own speghetti western with The Appaloosa.
1966 books had us readingJacqueline Susann give us the best seller Valley of the Dolls, Tai-Pan by James Clavell, The Magus by John Fowles and Larry McMurtry gives us the Last Picture Show. A Thousand Days by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. wins the Pulitizer Prize and Bill Cosby wins another Grammy.
1966 cars gave us the Batmobile and the Oldsmobile Toronado, the first with front wheel drive as the car of the year, Graham Hill, Mario Andretti and Richard Petty win the races.
1966 sports had The World Cup going to England starring Geoff Hurst, The Baltimore Orioles win the World Series, Frank Robinson is MVP and Muhammad Ali refuses the draft.
1966 technology gave us Michael E. DeBakey transplanting a heart for Marcel L. DeRudder, the Astrodome is built with a field of Astroturf as we play Twister and Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots.
Lyndon Johnson is in ever more trouble over the Vietnam war as protests insure around the nation with 100s of thousands and Dr. Benjamin Spock and Allen Ginsberg are arrested. Senator Eugene McCarthy begins running for President as the Peace candidate. Our first black Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall retires. Israel wins the 6 day war and fires upon the USS Liberty. Harlem's congressman Adam Clayton Powell is thrown out of congress and voted right back in. Jimmy Hoffa is in trouble, China gets the hydrogen bomb and Albert DeSalvo and Richard Speck are found guilty for their crimes.
1967 televsion gave us the big new show of the year, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. It was also the year for The Flying Nun with Sally Field, The Carol Burnett Show with Harvey Korman and Vicki Lawrence, The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan. Other new shows were Ironside with Raymond Burr and Barbara Anderson, Mannix with Mike Conners and Gail Fisher and it was the first year for the Phil Donahue Show. It was also the year that the Corporation for Public Broadcasting began.
1967 music gave us the to album of all time, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles and John Lennon wrote All You Need is Love for the first global satelite hook up. Their manager Brian Epstein passed away and Magical Mystery Tour hit the charts.The Rolling Stones had to change the lyircs to Let's Spend the Night Together on the Ed Sullivan Show while Beach Boy Carl Wilson was indicated for draft evasion. We first heard of the Turtles, Pink Floyd, The Doors,Jethro Tull, Cream, The Jeffereson Airplane and Grace Slick who gaves us Psychedelic. Jimi Hendrix burned his guitar to Purple Haze while The Who blew up the stage for My Generation. On the gentlier side Up Up and Away by the 5th Dimension was the song of the year, Glen Campbell had a hit with Gentle on My Mind and Bobby Gentry with something about a bridge. Motown gave us Soul Man with Sam and Dave, Respect with Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight and the Pips doing I Heard it Through the Grapevine as Otis Redding sang Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay. Cabaret was the musical of the year.
1967 movies had us going to see The Graduate with the Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack directed by Mike Nichols and starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross. Bonnie and Clyde was the second big hit of the year with Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Michael J. Pollard, Gene Hackman and Estelle Parsons. Cool Hand Luke with Paul Newman, George Kennedy and Strother Martin gave some memorably moments. One Million Years B.C brought us our first look at Rachel Welch. In the Heat of the Night with Rod Steiger was the best movie of the year. The spy spoof Casino Royale with David Niven, Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress and Woody Allen had us laughing while The Dirty Dozen with Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine made stars of John Cassavetes and Telly Savalas.
1967 books was the year Gabriel García Márquez gave us his masterpiece One Hundred Years of Solitude. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin scared us, The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton entertained us, The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron taught us as did Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. Bill Cosby won the Grammy again for his album Revenge an we were introduced to Richard Pryor.
1967 cars had the Mercury Cougar as the car of the year and following the success of the pony car, the Ford Mustang, General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Camero and the Pontiac Firebird. At the races A.J. Foyt won at Indy and Mario Andretti at NASCAR.
1967 sports had the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox at the World Series with Bob Gibson and Carl Yastrzemski the stars. The Philadelphia 76ers were king of the NBA again with Wilt Chamberlain. The Oakland Raiders won the AFC while the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys fought it out in The Ice Bowl. The Packers won and went on to win Super Bowl II and Vince Lombardi resigned. Muhammad Ali claimed to be a conscientious objector but was indicted for draft dodging. Jack Nicklaus, Don January, Catherine Lacoste and Kathy Whitworth were the big names in golf, and the UCLA Bruins won the rose bowl and the Toronto Maple Leafs the Stanley Cup.
1967 technology we had the sad accident on the launching pad with Apollo 1 where we lost Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee. Dr. Christiaan Barnard did tahe first heart transplant, the Boeing 737 came off the production line, we discovered the frist pulsar star and found the code to DNA. Toys of the year were Spirograph, KerPlunk and Action Boy.
