Undated: 'Little Boxes'

Written by Malvina Reynolds, the song mocks suburban development and residents; Reynolds wrote the song after driving through Daly City, California, just south of San Francisco. A version by Pete Seeger would reach No. 70 on Billboard's Hot 100 music charts in February 1964. The term "ticky-tacky" -- in the context of the song, meaning low-quality building materials used for standardized housing -- also entered the language (and dictionaries).

Photo by Rondal Partridge ("Housing, Daly City, California, late 1960s"). More of Partridge's work: @ and @

* Entry from "Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems": @

* Lyrics as published in Broadside magazine (February 1963, PDF): @

* Remembrance of Reynolds by her daughter: @

* History of Daly City: @

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Undated: Thalidomide in the U.S.

Public awareness about thalidomide increases dramatically, with news reports and congressional hearings about the drug's risks: that expectant mothers taking the sedative might give birth to deformed babies. (Thalidomide sales had already been halted throughout Europe.)

July 15: The Washington Post publishes a front-page story about thalidomide, largely about the efforts of Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey of the Food and Drug Administration, who worked to prevent her agency from approving the drug for use in the United States. Other news outlets quickly follow up on Morton Mintz's reporting.

* Text of story: @

* "Morton Mintz on the collapse of Congressional oversight" (from www.neimanwatchdog.org): @

* 2012 interview with Mintz: @

July 30: The FDA provides details on thalidomide distribution. From The New York Times: "A total of 1,229 physicians in thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia and one in Canada received test samples of thalidomide, a drug blamed for thousands of birth defects in Europe. ... It has been estimated by Government officials that hundreds or perhaps thousands of Americans were given the drug on an experimental basis. ... A drug concern may make arrangements with doctors for the experimental use of a new drug without Federal approval. The law merely requires that the company keep a record of the shipments and that they be labeled 'caution, new drug limited by Federal law to investigate use.' This was the procedure used by the W.S. Merrell Company of Cincinnati, a reputable drug concern that held exclusive United States rights to distribute thalidomide. The company notified physicians last March to cease giving the drug."

Later estimates indicate that about 2.5 million samples were given out to some 20,000 patients.

August: Dr. Helen Taussig's "The Thalidomide Syndrome" is published in Scientific American. The report provides a history of the drug, discusses its effects on fetuses, and includes Taussig's observations in West Germany, where thalidomide (brand name Contergan) had been much more widely used. She writes: "The one-third who are so deformed that they die may be the luckier ones."

* Profile of Taussig (from National Library of Medicine): @

August 1: President Kennedy opens his press conference with a statement about thalidomide and pending drug legislation. In answer to a follow-up question, Kennedy says, "Every woman in this country, I think, must be aware that it is most important that they check their medicine cabinet, that they do not take this drug, that they turn it in."

* Text: @

* Audio: @

August 7: President Kennedy awards Dr. Kelsey the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service.

* Kennedy's remarks (from www.jfklink.com): @

* 1957 executive order creating the award (from archives.gov): @

August 10: Life magazine's cover story carries this headline: "The Full Story of the Drug Thalidomide / The 5,000 Deformed Babies ... The Woman Who Saved Thousands ... The Moral Questions of Abortion and Euthenasia." The article includes the warning box at left and the story of an Arizona woman, Sherri Finkbine, who went to Sweden for an abortion rather than bear the child, which after the operation was found to be severely deformed. (Finkbine had the abortion on August 18).

* Text of Life magazine story: @

In October, Congress would pass, and Kennedy would sign, legislation that strengthened the rules for drug safety and required manufacturers to prove their drugs' effectiveness.

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* "Dark Remedy: The Impact of Thalidomide and Its Revival as a Vital Medicine" (Trent D. Stephens and Rock Brynner, 2001): @

* "Protecting America's Health: The FDA, Business, and One Hundred Years of Regulation" (Philip J. Hilts, 2004): @

* "Reputation and Power: Organizational Image and Pharmaceutical Regulation at the FDA" (Daniel P. Carpenter, 2010): @

* "Thalidomide Crisis & Drug Regulation" (exhibit at Emory Libraries, Atlanta, Georgia): @

* "Thalidomide and Political Engagement in the United States and West Germany" (from Social History of Medicine, 2002): @

* "Congressman's Report" (from Arizona Rep. Morris K. Udall, August 17, 1962): @

Previous posts about thalidomide:

* William S. Merrell Co. submits drug application (September 8, 1960): @

* Letter in The Lancet raises concerns (December 16, 1961): @

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Thursday, July 12, 1962: The Rolling Stones

Billed as "Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones," the band -- Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Dick Taylor, Mick Avory and Ian Stewart -- gives its first public performance, at the Marquee club in London. The set list, steeped in blues and R&B, includes "Dust My Broom" and "Got My Mojo Working."

* Excerpt from "Old Gods Almost Dead: The 40-Year Odyssey of the Rolling Stones" (Stephen Davis, 2001): @

* "Start It Up: The 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones' first gig" (The Guardian newspaper, July 2012): @

* Short biography from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: @

* Band's official website: @

* " 'Dust My Broom': The Story Of A Song" (from Jas Obrecht Music Archive): @

* Anniversary of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards Dartford meeting (BBC, October 2011): @

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July 1962: Martin Luther King's first letter from jail

On Tuesday, July 10, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Ralph Abernathy are jailed in Albany, Georgia, on charges stemming from their arrest in December 1961 during a civil rights protest. While being held, King writes "A Message From Jail," making several of the same arguments -- and, in some cases, using nearly the very same language -- that he would later put forth in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," written in April 1963. (King and Abernathy were released on July 12; King's letter was written as his regular column for the New York Amsterdam News, where it appeared July 21.)

"A Message From Jail"

This is the heart of civil disobedience. Some of our critics complain that our non-violent method fosters disrespect for the law and encourages "lawlessness." Nothing could be further from the truth. Civil disobedience precludes that the non-violent resistor in the face of unjust and/or immoral law cannot in all good conscience obey that law. His decision to break that law and willingly pay the penalty evidences the highest respect for the law.

"Letter from Birmingham Jail"

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

* Text of "A Message From Jail" (from The King Center, Atlanta, Georgia): @

* Text (from "The Empire State of the South," Christopher C. Meyers, 208): @
* Text of "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford, California): @

Albany Movement

* From King Research and Education Institute: @

* From Civil Rights Digital Library: @

* From Civil Rights Movement Veterans website: @

* From The New Georgia Encyclopedia: @

* Albany Civil Rights Institute: @

* Interview with Albany police chief Laurie Pritchett (for "Eyes on the Prize" documentary): @
* Interview with Laurie Pritchett (from Documenting the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): @

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Tuesday, July 10, 1962: Telstar

July 10, from United Press International:

CAPE CANAVERAL -- The United States successfully rocketed the world's first international communications satellite, Telstar, into orbit today in an effort to open a new era of global radio and "live" television.

The 170-pound moonlet began a wide-swinging journey around earth within 10 minutes after its launching at 4:35 a.m. EDT aboard a three-stage Delta rocket.

Circling earth every two hours and 20 minutes as a "switchboard in the sky," Telstar ... is considered one of the most significant advances in communications since the invention of the telephone 86 years ago.

July 11, from United Press International:

ANDOVER, Maine -- The dream of global television came closer to reality Tuesday night when an orbiting Telstar communications satellite unexpectedly beamed images from space into receivers in France and England.

The reception Tuesday night of pictures relayed by the Telstar to stations in Goonhilly, England, and Pleumeur-Boudou, France ... came as a surprise and a delight to scientists at "Space Hill" in Andover, Maine ...

Possibly millions of Americans listened to "The Star Spangled Banner" and saw the American flag -- framed against the 18-story communications dome at Andover -- on their television sets in the first TV transmission relayed from space.

The impluses, sent from Andover and amplified 10 billion times inside the instrument-packed ball circling the earth, appeared clear and vivid when they came back to earth.

Reception in France and England was an unexpected bonus. The French tracking station reported that the image was as clear as though it had been sent from 20 or 25 miles away. The sound also was clearly received.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story, which you are reading, was also transmitted 3,000 miles into space and back via the Telstar satellite.

The United Press International and Associated Press both sent dispatches aloft from Andover, Maine and bounced them off Telstar at the rate of more than 1,000 words per minute. This story was one of them.

As an indication of the speed of transmission, the above paragraph was sent on its journey more than 3,000 miles into space and 3,000 miles back in less time than it took you to read it.

* Entry from Britannica.com: @

* telstar50.org: @

* "1962: Satellite Transmission" (from AT&T): @

* Bell Labs Telstar 50th Anniversary Celebration (includes link to PDF of "Original 1962 Overview of the Telstar I Project"): @

* "Telstar Signals New Era" (St. Petersburg Times, July 11): @

* "Telstar Spins, Chatters" (Spokane Daily Chronicle, July 11): @

* "Telstar and the future" (New Scientist, July 19; scroll down for a second article, "Telstar sets some diplomatic problems"): @

* "Telephone a Star" (National Geographic, May 1962, PDF): @

* "Maine and the Space Age" (from Maine Memory Network): @

* Telstar covers (from National Postal Museum): @

Videos:

* A Day in History: Telstar Brings World Closer" (newsreel): @

* "TV from Space" (newsreel): @

* "Telstar!" (from Bell System): @

* "Kennedy on Telstar: Europe Sees News Conference" (newsreel): @

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Monday, July 9, 1962: Andy Warhol's soup cans

The first one-man exhibition for artist Andy Warhol opens at Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, consisting of 32 silk-screened portraits of Campbell's soup cans.

From the September 1962 issue of Artforum magazine -- what's said to be the first published review of the exhibition (by Henry T. Hopkins):

Andy Warhol, Ferus Gallery: To those of us who grew up during the cream-colored thirties with "Big-Little Books," "Comic Books," and a "Johnson and Smith Catalogue" as constant companions, when "good, hot soup" sustained us between digging caves in the vacant lot and having "clod" fights without fear of being tabbed as juvenile delinquents; when the Campbell Soup Kids romped gaily in four colors on the overleaf from the Post Script page in The Saturday Evening Post, this show has particular significance. Though, as many have said, it may make a neat, negative point about standardization it also has a positive point to make. To a tenderloin oriented society it is a nostalgic call for a return to nature. Warhol obviously doesn't want to give us much to cling to in the way of sweet handling, preferring instead the hard commercial surface of his philosophical cronies. But then house fetishes rarely compete with Rembrandt in esthetic significance. However, based on formal arrangements, intellectual and emotional response, one finds favorites. Mine is Onion.

Photos: The top photo, taken by Seymour Rosen, shows how the works were arranged at the 1962 show: like cans on a supermarket shelf. The bottom photo shows how they have been more typically displayed over the years, most recently at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where the set is part of the permanent collection.

* "Campbell's Soup Cans" (from Museum of Modern Art): @

* Warhol's 32 Soup Flavors" (from Smithsonian Libraries, Washington): @

* "The Origin of Andy Warhol's Soup Cans or the Synthesis of Nothingness" (from www.warholstars.org): @

* Abstract Expressionism, 1962 timeline (from www.warholstars.org): @

* www.warhol.org (Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh): @

* www.warhola.com (The Andy Warhol Family Album): @

* "Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol" (book by Tony Scherman and David Dalton, 2010): @

* "Andy Warhol and the Can That Sold the World" (book by Gary Indiana, 2010): @

* Announcement for exhibition opening: @

* Essays for 2002 show at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles: @

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Monday, July 9, 1962: 'Blowin' in the Wind'

Bob Dylan records "Blowin' in the Wind" for Columbia Records in New York. The song would appear on his album "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan," released in May 1963. It borrows part of its melody from "No More Auction Block" (also known as "Many Thousand Gone"), a Negro spiritual dating back 100 years.

* Song entry from www.bobdylan.com: @

* Excerpt from "Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973" (Clinton Heylin, 2009): @

* Song as published in Broadside magazine #6, late May 1962 (PDF): @

* Dylan live performance (Montreal, July 2, 1962): @

* Listen to Paul Robeson sing "No More Auction Block": @

* Entry from BBC Radio's "Sold on Song": @

* More about the song's origins (from www.folkarchive.de): @

Earlier posts

* First album (March 19, 1962): @

* At Gerde's Folk City (September 26, 1961): @

* Arriving in New York (January 24, 1961): @

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July 1962: Algerian independence

July 1: Residents of Algeria vote on this question: "Do you want Algeria to become an independent state, cooperating with France, according to the conditions defined by the declaration of March 19?" Nearly 6 million people vote; more than 99% of them vote "oui." (A similar April 8 referendum in France had been approved by nearly 91% of the nearly 20 million voters.)

July 3: French President Charles de Gaulle signs an agreement recognizing Algeria as an independent country.

July 5: Algeria's provisional government proclaims the country's independence, 132 years to the day of France's invasion of Algeria. (July 5 is still celebrated as the country's national holiday.)

Photo shows women in line to vote. (From Magnum Photos)

* "Independent Algeria" (from exhibition at musée de l’Armée, Paris): @

* "Algeria - What Now" (newsreel): @

* Official Algerian announcement of results (PDF): @

* "America Salutes Algerian Independence" (short documentary): @

* "Algeria: France's Undeclared War" (book by Martin Evans, 2011): @

* algerie.com: @
* Country Studies: Algeria (from The Library of Congress): @

* Earlier post on Paris massacre (October 17, 1961): @

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Monday, July 2, 1962: Wal-Mart

Sam Walton opens his first Wal-Mart store in Rogers, Arkansas. Called "Wal-Mart Discount City," the store marks Walton's entry into a large-scale, high-volume retail business; he had previously operated several Ben Franklin five-and-dime stores.

* www.walmart50.com: @

* Entry from encyclopediaofarkansas.net: @

* Photo from opening day (from Rogers Historical Museum): @
* Wal-Mart entries from pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com: @
* Timeline (from www.walmartstores.com): @

* A visual timeline of chain's growth (from projects.flowingdata.com): @

* "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" (PBS, 2004): @

* "The Wal-Mart Effect" (book by Charles Fishman, 2006): @

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June 1962: A one-way trip to the moon

Among the many technological questions in the space race was this: How, exactly, to put a man on the moon? From the book "Chariots For Apollo: A History of Manned Lunar Spacecraft" (NASA, 1979):

Another approach was the proposal to send a spacecraft on a one-way trip to the moon. In this concept, the astronaut would be deliberately stranded on the lunar surface and resupplied by rockets shot at him for, conceivably, several years until the space agency developed the capability to bring him back! ... In June 1962, John M. Cord and Leonard M. Seale, two engineers from Bell Aerosystems, urged in a paper presented an Institute of Aerospace Sciences meeting in Los Angeles that the United States adopt this technique for getting a man on the moon in a hurry. While he waited for NASA to find a way to bring him back, they said, the astronaut could perform valuable scientific work. Cord and Seale, in a classic understatement, acknowledged that the would be a very hazardous mission, but they argued that "it would be cheaper, faster and perhaps the only way to beat Russia." There is no evidence that Apollo planners ever took this idea seriously.

* "One-Way Space Man" (by David S.F. Portree, www.wired.com, April 2012): @

* "Summary of proposal" (discussion board, www.alternatehistory.com): @

* Excerpt from "This New Ocean: The Story of the First Space Age" (William E. Burrows, 1999): @

* Excerpt from "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void" (Mary Roach, 2011): @

* "Chariots for Apollo": @

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Wednesday, June 27, 1962: Christo and Jeanne-Claude

The artists install "Wall of Oil Barrels -- The Iron Curtain," blockading rue Visconti, a Paris street, with 89 oil barrels. It is their response to both the Berlin Wall and the barricades set up in Paris during Algeria's war for independence.

* Details from christojeanneclaude.net: @ and @
* Excerpt from "Christo and Jeanne-Claude: A Biography" (Bert Chernow, 2002): @

* Entry from "The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art" (Joan Marter, editor in chief, 2011): @

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Monday, June 25, 1962: Engel v. Vitale

The U.S. Supreme Court rules that voluntary prayer in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment prohibition of a state establishment of religion. New York state's Board of Regents had written and authorized a voluntary nondenomination prayer that could be recited by students at the beginning of each school day. In 1958-59 a group of parents that included Steven Engel in Hyde Park, N.Y., objected to the prayer ... and sued the school board president, William Vitale. The prayer which proponents argued was constitutional because it was voluntary and promoted the free exercise of religion (also protected in the First Amendment, was upheld by New York's courts, prompting the petitioners to file a successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. ... The decision, the first in which the Supreme Court had ruled unconstituional public school sponsorship of religion, was unpopular with a broad segment of the American public. (from www.britannica.com)

The prayer in question: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country."

The vote was 6-1, with Justices Byron White and Felix Frankfurter not taking part in the decision. (The case was argued on April 3, but White did not take his seat until April 16. Frankfurter suffered a stroke on April 5, leading to his retirement in August.)

Photo from Corbis Images, taken June 27, 1962, the day after the ruling, in San Antonio, Texas.

* Text of ruling, including links to concurring opinion from Justice William O. Douglas and dissenting opinion from Justice Potter Stewart (from www.law.cornell.edu): @

* Short summary and link to audio of oral arguments (from www.oyez.com): @

* Entry from www.uscourts.gov: @

* Entry from "The Encyclopedia of American Law" (David Andrew Schultz, 2002): @

* "Prayer and Scripture Reading in Public Schools: (from www.firstamendmentstudies.org): @

* "Atheists vs. Evangelists: The School Prayer Decision of 1962" (The Saturday Evening Post, 2012): @

* "Engel v. Vitale: Prayer in the Schools" (book by Susan Dudley Gold, 2006): @

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Monday, June 18, 1962: X-rays from outer space

From the book "Atlas of Astronomical Discoveries" (Govert Schilling, 2010):

In the summer of 1962, the first source of cosmic X-rays is discovered, heralding the birth of high-energy astrophysics. ... On June 18, 1962, a Geiger counter is sent into space for the first time, on board the U.S. Air Force's Aerobee sounding rocket. The rocket flight, from White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, lasts less than six minutes, with the rocket reaching a maximum height of about 130 kilometers. Yet in those few minutes the Geiger counter does register X-rays coming from the direction of the constellation Scorpius. It is already known that the Sun emits X-rays, but Scorpius X-1 is the first X-ray source outside the solar system.

Photo of Aerobee payload from Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (details: @)

* NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory: @

* NASA's High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center: @

* X-Ray Group, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge: @

* "X-Ray Vision" (Discover magazine, 2005): @

* "A midlife crisis for X-ray astronomy" (Nature magazine, June 2012): @

* Entry on X-ray astronomy from www.astronomyca.com: @

* From the book "Exploring the X-Ray Universe" (Philip A. Charles and Frederick D. Seward, 1995): @

* From the book "The Invisible Sky: Rosat and the Age of X-Ray Astronomy" (B. Aschenbach, Hermann Michael-Hahn and Joachim Truemper, 1998): @

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Saturday, June 16, 1962: 'Silent Spring'

The first of three installments of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" is published in the June 16 issue of The New Yorker magazine. The book examines man-made threats to the environment and wildlife, especially from the widespread use of chemical pesticides. Carson had worked as a marine biologist, with three well-received books on ocean life to her credit. "Silent Spring" would be published in book-length form on September 27, increasing environmental awareness and activism.

* First installment (from archives.newyorker.com): @

* Second installment (June 23): @

* Third installment (June 30): @

* Virtual exhibition from Environment & Society Portal: @

* Rachel Carson page from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: @

* "The Story of 'Silent Spring' " (from National Resources Defense Council): @

* "Power in the Pen" (from The Pop History Dig): @

* New York Times book review (September 23): @

* "Rachel Carson and JFK, an Environmental Tag Team" (Audubon magazine, 2012): @

* Episode of "Bill Moyers Journal" (PBS, 2007): @

* Silent Spring Institute: @

* Rachel Carson Council: @

* www.rachelcarson.org: @

* www.silentspringmovie.com: @

* DDT fact sheets from National Pesticide Information Center: @ and @

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Friday, June 15, 1962: The Port Huron Statement

We are people of this generation, bred in at least modest comfort, housed now in universities, looking uncomfortably to the world we inherit. ... 

If we appear to seek the unattainable, as it has been said, then let it be known that we do so to avoid the unimaginable.
     -- the opening and closing words of the Port Huron Statement, the founding document of the Students for a Democratic Society, which met June 11-15 in Port Huron, Michigan.

In 1962, college students who had been active in the civil rights movement and the peace movement created Students for a Democratic Society. SDS represented what was called the New Left. At its organizing meeting in Port Huron, Michigan, SDS adopted a manifesto drafted by Tom Hayden, a graduate student at the University of Michigan. The Port Huron Statement was a wide-ranging critique of American society -- of racial injustice, the dangers of nuclear war, the failure to develop peaceful atomic energy, the Cold War, the maldistribution of wealth, the political apathy of students, and the exhaustion of liberal ideology.

     -- From the 2000 book "The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation" (edited by Diane Ravitch)

* Original draft and final version (from www.sds-1960s.org): @ 

* PDF (1964 edition): @
* "Port Huron Statement" (University of Michigan): @
* "The New Left" (from www.digitalhistory.uh.edu): @
* "The Port Huron Statement at 50" (New York Times, March 2012): @
* "The Port Huron Statement: Still Radical at 50" (from In These Times magazine): @

* "The Port Huron Statement @ 50" (New York University): @
* "The Port Huron Statement Today" (comic book, Paul Buhle and Gary Dumm, 2012): @

* Tomhayden.com: @

* 2010 video of Hayden speech: @ 

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Thursday, June 14, 1962: The Boston Strangler

Anna Slesers, 55, is found dead in her Boston apartment, strangled by the cord on her bathrobe. Her death is the first attributed to the Boston Strangler. In 1965, Albert DeSalvo would confess to killing Slesers and a dozen other women, though the ensuing years would see doubt cast as to whether he had committed all the crimes.

* From "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers" (2010 book by Michael Newton): @

* From "Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters" (2004 book by Peter Vronsky): @

* From www.trutv.com: @

* From massmoments.org: @

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