Wednesday, December 28, 1960: 'Where the Boys Are'

Fort Lauderdale, Florida, becomes a premier spring break destination for college students after the release of the movie "Where the Boys Are." Its stars include Dolores Hart, Yvette Mimieux, George Hamilton and Jim Hutton. The theme song, performed by Connie Francis (also making her screen debut) is a worldwide hit.

* Movie summary (from TCM.com): @

* Watch movie trailer: @

* Listen to theme song: @

* "The Innocent Birth of the Spring Baccahanal" (2006 article from New York times; click on "multimedia"): @

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Friday, December 16, 1960: Plane crash in New York

A United Airlines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collide over New York City. 127 of the 128 people on the flights are killed; 6 people on the ground die. United passenger Steven Baltz, 11, survives but dies the next day.

* More about Steven Baltz: @

* Story about nurse who tended to Baltz (New York Times, 2002): @

* Flight paths: @

* Accident descriptions (from Aviation Safety Network): @ and @

* Front page of The New York Times (December 17): @

* "Death in the Air" (Time magazine, December 26): @

* New York Times stories marking 50th anniversary: @

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Thursday, December 15, 1960: Dalton Trumbo

The movie "Exodus" premieres, with Dalton Trumbo listed as screenwriter. Director Otto Preminger's decision to hire and credit Trumbo helped end the era of the Hollywood Blacklist, when film professionals were denied work because of their suspected ties to Communism. Trumbo was among the "Hollywood Ten," who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee; he served 10 months in federal prison as a result. (Photo is of Trumbo, left, and screenwriter John Howard Lawson heading to prison.)

* "Hollywood Blacklist" (from "Encyclopedia of the American Left"): @

* "The Inquisition in Hollywood: Politics in the Film Community 1930-1960" (book): @

* "Congressional Committees and Unfriendly Witnesses": @

* "The Hollywood Ten" (short film): @

* More about "Exodus" (from Turner Classic Movies): @

* New York Times review of "Exodus" (December 16): @

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Wednesday, December 7, 1960: Challenge to school prayer

"Madalyn Murray (later O'Hair) filed suit in the Superior Court of Baltimore, Maryland, asking the Court to rule that required Bible reading and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the city's public schools are unconstitutional." (From the book "The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair.") In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court would rule in her favor; her case had been consolidated with Abington School District v. Schempp on appeal to the high court.

* Short biography (from PBS's "God in America" series): @

* More from "The Atheist: Madalyn Murray O'Hair": @

* More about Abington case: @

* American Atheists website: @

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Saturday, December 3, 1960: 'Goodness Gracious Me!'

The comedy duet by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren peaks at No. 4 on the British popular music charts. It was recorded for the movie "The Millionairess," but was not used. The song was produced by George Martin, who in two years' time would begin producing The Beatles' records.

* Listen to the song: @

* Singles chart for December 3: @

* Summary of "The Millionairess: @

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Sunday, November 27, 1960: 'Leap Into The Void'

French artist Yves Klein publishes a four-page newspaper called Dimanche (Sunday), sold for one day only in Paris. On the front page is one in a series of photos that came to be known as "Leap Into The Void." The image was manipulated and does not show the tarpaulin and the people on the street who actually caught Klein. Still debated, it's said to represent, in part, mankind (or artists) entering space.

* Yves Klein website: @

* The four pages of Dimanche (from Klein's website): @

* More about the image (from ARTnews): @

* Entry from The Metropolitan Museum of Art: @. Part of the exhibition "Faking It: Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop": overview @ and works @

* Other photos from the montage: @

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Friday, November 25, 1960: Mirabal sisters killed

Patria, Minerva and Maria Teresa Mirabal of the Dominican Republic were sisters who actively opposed the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. They were beaten to death while going to visit Patria and Minerva's imprisoned husbands. (The sisters themselves had previously been jailed for their activities.) The government declared the sisters had died in an accident, but the public outcry turned them into symbols of resistance to the regime. (Trujillo would be assassinated in May 1961.)

In 1999 the United Nation designated November 25 as International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

* Summary from Amnesty International: @

* More about the Mirabal family: @ and @

* About "In the Time of the Butterflies" (novel based on the sisters): @

* More about U.N. designation: @

* Photo gallery: @

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Friday, November 25, 1960: Goldwater misquoted

Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, in Los Angeles for a speech to the National Interfraternity Conference, is reported to have said, "Where fraternities are not allowed, communism flourishes." The quote was widely repeated, both at the time ("Fraternities Help Curb Reds, Goldwater Says," reported The New York Times) and ever since.

What Goldwater actually said was "Where fraternities are not allowed, Keynesianism flourishes."

Goldwater was referring specifically to Harvard University, which at the time did not allow traditional Greek fraternities and which he saw as the center of Keynesianism. (Kenyesianism being the economic theory that government intervention was necessary for an economy to fully flourish; Goldwater opposed such managed capitalism and pushed for smaller, less intrusive government.)

He also said in defense of fraternities: "They are probably the greatest bastion we have for our future, the great bastion we have where we can develop leaders to take care of the protection of the Republic and our way of life."

* Summary of Keynesianism: @

* "We Are All Keynesians Now" (Time magazine, December 31, 1965): @

* "They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes & Misleading Attributions": @

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Sunday, November 20, 1960: Gifford and Bednarik

A pro football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants yields this famous photo (click on it to enlarge). Here's what happened (from ESPN.com):

"Trailing the Eagles 17-10, the New York Giants were trying to mount a late comeback at Yankee Stadium. Halfback Frank Gifford reached back to catch Charlie Conerly's pass, and he turned upfield in routine fashion. That's when Chuck Bednarik came along and changed both their lives. ... Bednarik's crushing blow to Gifford's chest left the running back on his back, out cold with a severe concussion -- and out of football the rest of that season and all the next year as well. As Eagles linebacker Chuck Weber recovered the fumble that seemed almost an afterthought to the ferocity of the hit, Bednarik stood over Gifford, pumping his right arm, doing a dance and yelling 'This ------- game is over.'

" 'I was celebrating,' Bednarik said. 'But the reason wasn't that he was down. The reason was that the hit won the game.' "

The Eagles went on to win the 1960 NFL championship.

Both men are now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

* Hall of Fame profile of Bednarik: @

* Short documentary on Bednarik: @

* Hall of Fame profile of Gifford: @

* 2010 story from The New York Times: @

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Wednesday, November 16, 1960: The death of Clark Gable

Movie star Clark Gable dies, 10 days after suffering a heart attack and 12 days after finishing his last film, "The Misfits." He was 59. "The Misfits" had been a physically demanding role for Gable, who lost some 30 pounds before filming began. He won the Academy Award for best actor in 1934 for "It Happened One Night." He was also nominated in 1935 for "Mutiny on the Bounty" and in 1939 for his best-known role, as Rhett Butler in "Gone With the Wind." (The photo is from the 1936 movie "San Francisco.")

* Short biography from Turner Classic Movies: @

* Death certificate: @

* Los Angeles Mirror front page: @

* Synopsis of "It Happened One Night": @

* Clip from "It Happened One Night" (Gable's mannerisms while eating the carrot helped inspire the persona of cartoon character Bugs Bunny): @

* Synopsis of "Mutiny on the Bounty": @

* Synopsis of "Gone With the Wind": @

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Wednesday, November 9, 1960: Robert McNamara

Robert Strange McNamara assumes the presidency of Ford Motor Company, the first president not a member of the Ford family. He would hold the job less than two months; on January 3, 1961, he became Secretary of Defense for the incoming Kennedy administration.

* Summary from History.com: @

* Article from Motor Trend: @

* Article from American Heritage: @

* "Robert McNamara: The Father of the Ford Falcon" (New York Times): @

* "Ford's Fastest Whiz Kid" (November 21, 1960 article from Time magazine): @

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Thursday, November 3, 1960: Carbon-14

Willard F. Libby, a professor at UCLA, is awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry "for his method to use carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology, geophysics and other branches of science."

* More from Nobel Prize website: @

* Time magazine article (November 1960): @

* Time article on Libby's work for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (August 1955): @

* More about carbon dating: @ and @ and @

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Wednesday, October 19, 1960: Martin Luther King arrested

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is arrested in Atlanta after taking part in a sit-in protest at a department store. He remains in jail until October 26, when he is taken to a state prison; because he had been arrested, he was found to have violated probation from a May traffic ticket in Georgia. John F. Kennedy calls King's wife to express his concern. Robert F. Kennedy calls the judge in the case and secures King's release on October 27. The end result: the Democrats are cast as the party of civil rights, and blacks vote their appreciation for Kennedy's actions. Some historians (as well as President Eisenhower) believe it helped tip the balance in the presidential election.

* Account from "The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume V": @

* Account from "The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.": @

* Account from "John F. Kennedy: A Biography": @

* "The Case of Martin Luther King" (pamphlet distributed in black churches in the days before the election; scroll down to second and third pages): @

* Transcript of King interview (October 27): @

* Audio interview about events of October 19: @

* TV interviews:

-- King (October 19): @

-- Atlanta mayor William Hartsfield (October 24): @

-- King's attorney, Donald Hollowell (October 27): @

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Thursday, October 13: Pittsburgh Pirates win World Series

In what's considered the most dramatic ending to a World Series, second baseman Bill Mazeroski hits a home run in the bottom of the 9th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates the victory over the New York Yankees, 10-9. Pittsburgh wins the series, 4 games to 3. (While a few highlights exist, video of the entire game was long thought lost; however, complete footage was discovered in September 2010 in the home of entertainer Bing Crosby, a part-owner of the Pirates at the time.)

* Series summary: @

* Audio of home run and postgame interviews: @

* Sports Illustrated story (October 24, 1960): @

* Pittsburgh Post-Gazette commemorative website: @

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September-October, 1960: Khrushchev and the U.N.

* Monday, September 19: Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev arrives in New York for what will be a contentious session of the United Nations General Assembly. Also in New York is Cuba's leader, Fidel Castro, who had arrived the day before.

-- Footage of Khrushchev and Castro arriving in New York: @

* Tuesday, September 20: The General Assembly opens. Khrushchev and Castro meet for the first time. Afterward, Khrushchev likens Castro to "a young horse that hasn't been broken. He needs some training, but he's very spirited, so we'll have to be careful."
-- Footage of Khrushchev-Castro meeting: @

* Thursday, September 22: U.S. President Eisenhower expresses strong support for the U.N.'s role, particularly its peacekeeping activities in Africa. He also asks: "Will outer space be preserved for peaceful use and developed for the benefit of all mankind? Or will it become another focus for the arms race -- and thus an area of dangerous and sterile competition?"

-- Speech: Summary @ and text @

* Friday, September 23: Speaking for nearly two and a half hours, Khrushchev accuses the West of continuing to seek colonial rule in Africa. He also says the secretary-general's post should be abolished in favor of a three-person committee representing Communist, West and neutralist blocs. After Khrushchev's speech, a New York antiques dealer presents him with an American Indian peace pipe, saying "may the leaders of our two great powers, the USSR and the USA, see in this pipe a new age ... may you and the heads of other states symbolically smoke it together." (Click here for larger view.)

-- Portion of speech: @

* Monday, September 26: Castro speaks for more than four hours. He begins his speech by saying, "Although it has been said of us that we speak at great length, you may rest assured that we shall endeavor to be brief ..."

-- Text of speech: @ and @ (printed version)

* Thursday, September 29: Khrushchev interrupts a speech by British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan, pounding on his desk with his fists and shouting, "You send your planes over our territory, you are guilty of aggression!"

-- BBC summary: @

-- Life magazine coverage: @

-- Footage: @

* Monday, October 3: Khrushchev repeats his call for the removal of Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold, who replies that by doing so he would "throw the organization to the winds."

-- Footage: @

* Sunday, October 9: Khrushchev is interviewed on the "Open End" TV program, hosted by David Susskind. The interview turns contentious, with Khrushchev at one point threatening to walk off the set. The most memorable exchange:

Khrushchev: ... Our land is sacred and sovereign, and it's only the peoples of the Soviet Union themselves that have the right to govern their land, and administer their affairs. ... Why should you try to poke your nose into our garden? Have you not enough things to do in your own country?

Susskind: You're baying at the moon. ... We believe with all our might that there are many subjugated peoples in Eastern Europe. We ask that a plebiscite be held, not in your home country, not in the Soviet Union, but in many of the countries of Eastern Europe, who are now within the Soviet orbit.

Khrushchev: Is such an expression as "baying at the moon" regarded as normal polite conversation in your country? We regard it as rude. After all, I'm old enough to be your father, and young man, it is unworthy to speak to me like this. You look pleasant enough but you do not express yourself quite courteously. I do not permit an attitude like that towards myself. I did not come here to "bark" -- I am the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the world's greatest socialist state. You will therefore please show respect for me. If you do not want to, then do not invite me for an interview. There must be courtesy, but you are accustomed to prod and knock everyone about. Ours is the kind of state which will not allow itself to be ordered about.

-- More about the near-departure: @

-- Time magazine account: @

-- Photo from interview: @

* Wednesday, October 12: Shoe-banging incident. See separate post below.

* Thursday, October 13: After a final, failed attempt to have the U.N. condemn the United States for its U-2 spy flights, Khrushchev boards a plane and departs from New York. "We are leaving in a good mood," he says.

Other resources:

* "Khrushchev in New York" (Text of speeches, appearances): @

* "Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev": @

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Wednesday, October 12, 1960: Khrushchev's shoe

At the United Nations, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev is said to have pounded his shoe on his desk after a Philippine delegate's remark about Soviet oppression of Eastern Europe. But did it really happen? The New York Times was unequivocal: "Premier Khrushchev waved his shoe today and banged it on his desk, adding to the lengthening list of antics with which he has been nettling the General Assembly." There are no photos or footage of the incident; the closest is a photo, taken by the Times, of Khrushchev seated at his desk with a shoe in front of him (click to enlarge).

-- Los Angeles Daily Mirror front page: @

-- 1988 New York Times story: @

-- 2003 New York Times story: @

-- Account by Khrushchev's granddaughter: @

-- Account from "Khrushchev: The Man and His Era" (book): @

-- Accounts from "Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev": @ (Khrushchev) and @ (bodyguard) and @ (U.N. employee)

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Monday-Friday, October 10-14, 1960: LBJ's whistle-stop tour

Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson, the Democratic candidate for vice president, begins a 5-day, 8-state, 3,500-mile campaign tour by train, starting in Culpeper, Virginia, and ending in New Orleans, Louisiana. He gives some 60 speeches along the way. (The photo at left was taken in Greenville, South Carolina; click to enlarge). The train, which the campaign called the "LBJ Victory Special," is dubbed "The Cornpone Special" by some reporters.

The day before, during an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Johnson had shown a barbed sense of humor about his own running mate when talking about the Democrats' efforts to cut federal spending. He deadpans, "And I predict, if I know anything about Senator Kennedy, that he'll continue that policy. All you have to do is go to a drugstore with him and buy a sandwich and see how long he shuffles trying to get the money to pick up the check ... find out, if he handles the government's money like he handles his own, why, we're going to have a pretty good fiscal policy."

* Photos from Greensboro, North Carolina: @

* Johnson atop "The Big Chair" in Thomasville, North Carolina: @ and @ (photo courtesy of Thomasville Times)

* Article by only black reporter on the train: @

* Account from Time magazine: @

* More about presidential campaign trains from "Safire's Political Dictionary": @ and @ (origin of word "whistlestopping")

* "Meet the Press" footage: @

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Undated: Life in 1960 (as imagined in 1939)

The New York World's Fair of 1939-1940 included an exhibit/ride called Futurama, envisioning what the United States might look like in the year 1960. It was sponsored by General Motors and designed by Norman Bel Geddes (the father of actress Barbara Bel Geddes). The ride carried passengers past miniature landscapes laid out along a vast, sophisticated highway system (including 7-lane, one-way highways, with cars kept at a safe distance from one another by radio control).

* More about Futurama: @ and @

* Watch Futurama video "To New Horizons": @

* Futurama photos: @

* ExpoMuseum (website on world's fairs): @

* More about Norman Bel Geddes: @ and @

* "Magic Motorways" (book by Norman Bel Geddes): @

* "The Dream of an Automated Highway" (from Federal Highway Administration): @

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Undated: Josef Mengele

Called "The Angel of Death" of Nazi Germany, Josef Mengele flees Argentina after the arrest of Adolf Eichmann (see post of May 11). He will make his way to Brazil, where he lives until his drowning death in 1979. Mengele and other doctors performed grisly experiments on prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

* "Israeli ex-agent: We allowed Nazi doc to escape" (news report from 2008): @

* More about Mengele: @ and @

* Entry from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: @

* Entry from www.trutv.com: @

* "Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race" exhibition: @

* "Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account" (book): @

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Saturday, October 1, 1960: The Climatron

The first geodesic dome to be built for use as a greenhouse, the Climatron opens as part of the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. The structure, covering a half-acre, incorporates the pioneering principles of inventor-engineer-futurist R. Buckminster Fuller.

* More about the Climatron: @ and @ and @

* Videos from Missouri Botanical Garden: @

* More about geodesic domes: @

* "The Birth of the Geodesic Dome": @

* More about domes in general: @

* More about R. Buckminster Fuller: @

* Buckminster Fuller Institute: @

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