April 1
Tiros 1 (First US weather satellite) launched.

May 1
The Soviets shoot down a US U-2 reconnaissance aircraft (right) and capture the pilot, Capt. Gary Powers, embarrassing the Eisenhower administration, who deny the existence of spy flights. Powers is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment (7 at hard labor) in a highly publicized show trial. Though Powers is later traded for a captured Soviet spy some 21 months later, the incident leads to heightened Cold War tensions and deepens the sense of mistrust between East and West.

June 20
Floyd Patterson defeats Ingemar Johansson in the fifth round of a rematch, to become the first fighter to regain the heavyweight boxing crown.

August 12
The US launches Echo I, the world's first communication satellite.

August 25-September 11
Rome, Italy is host to the Olympic games. The USSR will take 43 Golds to 34 by the US. The Soviets will also lead in Silver and Bronze medals. A brash young boxer from Louiville, Kentucky will easily win all four of his light-heavweight bouts, the final against three-time European champ Zbigniew Pietrzykowski, of Poland. He will embark on a pro career the following year. Eventually, Cassius Marcellus Clay (right) will win the World Heavyweight Title from Sonny Liston and go on to be one of the greatest boxers of all time. He will be known the world over as Muhammad Ali.

September 26, - October 7, 13, 21
The televised Nixon-Kennedy presidential election debates are a first. Depending on whether one heard the debates on radio or watched them on television, it was hard to say who had won. LOOKING relaxed and fit on TV, JFK seemingly outclassed the dour, dark chinned and pale Nixon, who was suffering a cold and refused makeup prior to the broadcast. On radio, however, Nixon SOUNDED more assured and authoritative, particularly in the realm of foreign policy, his specialty.
 

October 13
The Pirates defeat the Yankees 10-9 to win the World Series in seven games, in Pittsburgh.

1960s Dance Craze!
It's the age of Bandstand on TV, broadcast live from Philadelphia every weekday afternoon at four, featuring area high school kids dancing to tunes either played on disc or lip synched by performers...Former South Philadelphia chicken plucker, Ernest Evans, aka Chubby Checker (above left), introduces The Twist at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. The hit was Number One in two different years, the first pop song to earn that distinction. Other Philadelphia artists of the late 1950s and early 1960s to win number one hits, and for some, national careers are Bobby Rydell (above right) singing Wild One, Volare, Wildwood Days, film: Bye-Bye Birdie), Fabian Forte (Tiger), Frankie Avalon (Venus), DeeDee Sharpe (above center) for her Mashed Potatoes, The Orlons (The Wah-Watusi, South Street), The Dovells (The Bristol Stomp).

The Economy in 1960
US GDP (in 1998 dollars): $526.6 billion; Federal spending is $92.19 billion, the Federal debt stands at $290.5 billion...The unemployment rate is 5.5% and a first class stamps costs 4 cents.

Deaths:
Boris Pasternak, author, Doctor Zhivago
Emily Post, etiquette authority
Lawrence Tibbett, baritone