Contemporary
Freedom Rides (1961): Challenging Segregated Interstate Buses
Hundreds of riders were attacked or jailed, but the campaign led the Interstate Commerce Commission to ban segregation in interstate bus travel from 1 November 1961.
Region
Americas
Contemporary
Alan Shepard and Freedom 7 (1961): First American in Space
Shepard completed a 15-minute suborbital flight, the first American human spaceflight, and was safely recovered.
Contemporary
Cuban Missile Crisis (1962): Thirteen Days on the Nuclear Brink
The Soviet Union withdrew its missiles from Cuba in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba and a secret promise to remove US Jupiter missiles from Turkey.
Contemporary
Telstar 1 (1962): First Live Transatlantic Satellite TV
Telstar 1 proved that an orbiting satellite could relay live television, telephone calls and data between continents, opening the age of satellite communications.
Contemporary
John Glenn and Friendship 7 (1962): First American to Orbit
Glenn completed three orbits in just under five hours and returned safely, the first American to orbit the Earth.
Contemporary
Silent Spring (1962): Rachel Carson and the Fight Against DDT
The book changed public attitudes to pesticides, prompted a presidential science review and helped lead to the US ban on most uses of DDT in 1972.
Contemporary
The Feminine Mystique (1963): Betty Friedan's Second Wave
The bestselling book helped spark second-wave feminism in the United States and led to the founding of the National Organization for Women in 1966.
Contemporary
16th Street Baptist Church Bombing (1963) in Birmingham
Four girls were killed; three Klansmen were eventually convicted of murder, in 1977, 2001 and 2002.
Contemporary
Measles Vaccine (1963): John Enders and a Childhood Killer
The first live measles vaccine was licensed in the United States, beginning a steep fall in measles cases and deaths that spread worldwide as vaccination expanded.
Contemporary
Birmingham Campaign (1963): Children's Crusade and Bull Connor
An agreement of 10 May 1963 began desegregating Birmingham's stores, and the national outcry led President Kennedy to propose a major civil rights bill.
Contemporary
March on Washington (1963): Jobs, Freedom and 'I Have a Dream'
A peaceful crowd of about 250,000 heard King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, building national pressure that helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Prehistory
Deinonychus and the Dinosaur Renaissance: Ostrom's 1964 Find
Deinonychus showed that some dinosaurs were agile, active predators and revived the theory that birds descend from dinosaurs.