Tuesday, September 12, 1961: The Mercury 13 (updated)

Five days before they were to begin flight simulation training in Pensacola, Florida, the 13 members of the privately funded Woman in Space program received the following telegram, effectively ending their hopes of joining the U.S. space effort.

Regret to advise arrangements at Pensacola cancelled Probably will not be possible to carry out this part of program. You may return expense advance allotment to Lovelace Foundation c/o me Letter will advise of additional developments when matter cleared further= W Randolph Lovelace II MD

* Earlier blog post (from 1960): @

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Monday, September 11, 1961: Hurricane Carla

With top winds estimated at 150 miles per hour, the eye of Hurricane Carla makes landfall between Port O'Connor and Port Lavaca, Texas. Half a million people had evacuated the Texas coastline; as a result, the death toll was a relatively low 46. The hurricane was also noteworthy in that it marked the first time a television reporter -- Dan Rather, working for CBS's Houston affiliate, KHOU-TV -- provided continuous live reports from Galveston Island while riding out the storm.

Photo by Flip Schulke

* Summary (from National Weather Service, Corpus Christi, Texas): @

* U.S. Weather Bureau advisories and bulletins (PDF): @

* "In the Eye of a Mighty Storm" (Life magazine, September 22): @

* Weather Bureau film: @

* Newsreel: @

* "Hurricane Carla Aftermath" (silent footage): @ and @

* "Rather in the Eye of the Storm" (CBS video): @

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Wednesday, September 6, 1961: National Reconnaisance Office

From The Washington Post's "Top Secret America" series:

The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) was established in September 1961 as a classified agency of the Department of Defense. The existence of the NRO and its mission of overhead (satellite) reconnaissance were declassified in September 1992. Headquartered in Chantilly, Va., the NRO designs, builds and, with the Air Force, operates the nation's reconnaisance satellites, which are the main collection assets for geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) source data. The satellites also provide significant signals intelligence (SIGINT) data.

* More from Washington Post series: @

* Background and relevant documents (from National Security Archive): @

*"Out of the Black: The Declassification of the NRO" (from National Security Archive): @

*"The 16 Members of the U.S. Intelligence Community" (from www.mentalfloss.com): @

* "Space-Based Reconnaissance" (from Army Space Journal): @

* NRO website: @

* More links (from Federation of American Scientists): @

* Post from August 18, 1960: Spy pictures from space: @

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Monday, September 4, 1961: Nixon's hole-in-one

The former vice president, who narrowly lost the 1960 presidential race, hits a hole-in-one on No. 3 (155 yards) at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles. "It's the greatest thrill of my life -- even better than being elected," Nixon says. His playing partners that Labor Day were the actor Randolph Scott, former California Rep. Donald Jackson and longtime friend Bebe Rebozo. (Photo by Corbis Images)

* Excerpt from "First Off The Tee" (book by Don Van Natta Jr.): @

* Hole-in-one facts (from www.nationalholeinoneregistry.com): @

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Undated: 'Boredom at Work'

Produced by the Oklahoma State Department of Health, "Boredom at Work: Part 1, The Empty Life" is an educational film that (in the words of an Amazon.com review) "is ostensibly about psychological 'boredom,' which resembles modern depression. The film depicts several dramatizations of different people who are bored with their lives and have developed some neurotic compensating behavior or other problem." It would be followed by "The Search for Zest," which according to an audiovisual guide, "shows the successful outcome when such (psychiatric) consultation finally follows."

* Watch "The Empty Life" (from Prelinger Archives): @

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September 1961: Stax Records

Satellite Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, changes its name to Stax Records, the word "Stax" combining the first two letters of the last names of company owners Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton. The first single released on the soul label was the Mar-Keys' "The Morning After," a follow-up to their earlier Satellite hit, "Last Night."

Note: I couldn't pinpoint the exact date of the name change. The earliest mention I could find is in the September 11 issue of Billboard magazine.

* Short history (from www.bluescentric.com): @

* Timeline (from www.staxmuseum.com): @

* "Birth of Stax": (by Robert Gordon): @

* Jim Stewart biography and timeline (from Rock and Roll Hall of Fame): @ and @

* "Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records" (book by Rob Bowman): @

* Lesson plan for teachers (from www.pbs.org; includes links to artists' websites): @

* Listen to "Morning After": @

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Thursday-Friday, August 31-September 1, 1961: Soviet nuclear testing

* August 31: Citing the Berlin crisis and France's nuclear testing, the Soviet Union announces to the world that it is ending its three-year moratorium on testing and will detonate a nuclear weapon the next day. (Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev had informed the Soviet nuclear community on July 10 of his decision.)

* September 1: A 16-kiloton device is detonated at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in central Asia.

Time magazine cover from September 8.

* "Early record on text moratoriums" (from Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 1986): @

* Excerpt from "The Nuclear Express: A Political History of the Bomb and is Proliferation": @

* Excerpt from "President Kennedy: Profile of Power": @

* atomicarchive.com: @

* Semipalatinsk website: @

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Wednesday, August 30, 1961: Integration of Atlanta schools

Nine black students begin classes at four high schools (Grady, Murphy, Brown and Northside) scattered across Atlanta, Georgia. The transition is without incident, unlike integration in New Orleans (November 1960; go here for entry) or the University of Georgia (January 1961; go here). But in terms of sheer numbers, integration in Atlanta would progress very slowly for the next few years. As the 1961 school year began, other Southern cities were also experiencing trouble-free integration -- Dallas and Galveston, Texas; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Little Rock, Arkansas.

Note about the photo: Murphy High School has a Civil War marker outside the building's front entrance. It reads: AN UNEXPECTED CLASH / July 22, 1864. The attack by Walker's & Bate's divs. (Hardee's A.C.) [Confederate symbol] struck the two brigades, Mersy's & Rice's, of Sweeny's 16th A.C. div. [Union symbol] enroute to support the 17th in E. Atlanta. Walker's troops came up Sugar Cr. valley from the S.; Bate's from the high ground eastward. Sweeny's men hastily formed defensively -- Rice facing E., Mercy S., the apex of the lines atop the hill where Laird's 14th Ohio Battery was posted and where Murphy High School stands. Blodgett's Missouri Battery H was at Rice's center, facing E. Though greatly outnumbered, Sweeny managed to hold the position, thereby foiling Hardee's thrust at the Federal rear. (Photo from Atlanta History Center.)

* Short summary from Atlanta magazine: @

* "Atlanta Public Schools Desegregate" (segment from WABE-FM, Atlanta): @

* Audio of President Kennedy's August 30 press conference: @

* "Prepared for Peace" (Time magazine, August 25): @

* "Southern Milestones" (Time magazine, September 8): @

* "With the Police on an Integration Job" (Life magazine, September 15): @

* Atlanta Public Schools timeline (through 1999): @

* More about the Sibley Commission (from New Georgia Encyclopedia) : @

* "Atlanta in the Civil Rights Movement, 1960-65" (from Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education): @

* Excerpt from "Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement": @

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Monday-Wednesday, August 28-30, 1961: Peace Corps

Background: Earlier entries on the Peace Corps, from October 14, 1960 and March 1, 1961.

Monday, August 28: President Kennedy hosts ceremony for the first group of Peace Corps volunteers. (Audio: @; video: @)

Tuesday, August 29: The volunteers leave for the African nations of Ghana and Tanganyika. (Left, members of Ghana I, before leaving Washington.)

Wednesday, August 30: Volunteers arrive.

* Timeline (from www.peacecorps.gov): @

* Founding Documents of the Peace Corps" (from National Archives): @

* Peace Corps News (Vol. 1, No. 1, June 1961): @

* First-person account of leaving for Ghana: @

* Peace Corps Ghana: @

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August: LSD-sex study

"The Use of L.S.D. 25 (D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) in the Treatment of the Sexual Perversions" is published in the Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal.

Excerpts:

"A large room was provided, furnished with a comfortable couch, two arm-chairs, table and chair, radiogram -- with a selection of classical, light opera, musical comedy and dance music -- together with books of photographs such as 'The Family of Man.' "

"... it was felt desirable to ensure the efficacy of the drug by giving a large dose. Patients arrived at the department from the ward, having had a light breakfast at 8:00 a.m. and were immediately given 200 microgrammes of L.S.D. 25 in a glass of water."

"We feel that success is possible when (a) the patient is of above average intelligence, and (b) the patient genuinely wishes to be rid of the perversion."

* Complete text: @

* The Albert Hofmann Collection: LSD & Psilocybin References: @

* "Psycholytic and Psychedelic Therapy Research: A Complete International Biography": @

* More about LSD from U.S. National Library of Medicine: @

* Erowid LSD (Acid) Vault: @

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Wednesday, August 23, 1961: Gravity assist

Michael Minovitch, a graduate student at UCLA working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the summer, presents a technical paper titled "A Method for Determining Interplanetary Free-Fall Reconnaissance Trajectories." In it he describes how a planet's gravity can be used to propel or "slingshot" a spacecraft past other planets and into deeper space. (The first spacecraft to employ the maneuver was Mariner 10 in 1973. The more famous Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched in 1977; at left are their paths.)

* More about Minovitch: @

* Minovitch's website: @

* "A Method for Determining Interplanetary Free-Fall Reconnaissance Trajectories" (PDF): @

* "A Gravity Assist Primer" (from Jet Propulsion Laboratory): @

* "The Voyage of Mariner 10" (from NASA): @

* "Mariner 10 to Venus and Mercury" (from JPL): @

* "Voyager -- The Interstellar Mission": (from JPL): @

* Excerpt from "Voyager: Seeking Newer Worlds in the Third Great Age of Discovery": @

* Excerpt from "Ambassadors from Earth: Pioneering Explorations with Unmanned Spacecraft": @

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Friday, August 18, 1961: Timothy Leary on 'How To Change Behavior'

Harvard psychology professor Timothy Leary delivers a lecture at the International Congress of Applied Psychology in Copenhagen, Denmark. The lecture, "How To Change Behavior," talks about changing behavior through changing (expanding) consciousness and the role of psilocybin in achieving such a state.

* Text of lecture: @

* Blog post from August 9, 1960 (when Leary first ingested psilocybin mushrooms): @

* The Psychedelic Library: @

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August 1961: Berlin Wall (a photo timeline)

* Saturday, August 12, 1961: East German leader Walter Ulbricht signs the order authorizing the closing of the border with West Germany. On that day, a wife passes her son to her husband, who is standing in West Berlin. (Original caption and photo sequence: @)

* August 13: At 2 a.m. local time, the wall begins as a barbed-wire fence. (BBC story: @; account in The Guardian newspaper: @)

* August 14: Brandenburg Gate is closed. In this photo from late August, West Berlin police look across the East-West border. (Short history of Brandenburg Gate: @)

* August 15: East German soldier Conrad Schumann defects to the West by hopping over the barbed wire (More on Schumann: @ ; footage of defection: @)

* August 17: The United States, Britain and France issue their first formal protest to the Soviet Union. At left, the front page of the Bild Zeitung newspaper from August 16. The headline reads, "The West does NOTHING!" (August 17 protest by U.S. and Soviet reply the following day: @)

* August 18: The barbed-wire barrier is augmented by concrete blocks. (Facts and figures, including layout of fortications: @)

* August 20: From Stars and Stripes: "West Berliners cheer as a 1,500-man U.S. Army convoy from the 1st Battle Group rolls past the ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Church. The troops were sent to join the 11,000-man garrison already in the beleaguered city by President John F. Kennedy in a show of solidarity." (The convoy went 110 miles through East German territory, starting near Mannheim and traveling along the autobahn.)

* August 22: The first death, as Ida Seikmann dies from injuries suffered when she jumped from her third-floor apartment window. The photo is of a monument put up in her honor. (More on Seikmann: @ and @)

* August 24: Günter Liftin is shot dead while trying to escape East Berlin by swimming across the Spree Canal. (More on Liftin: @)

* August 26: All crossing points closed for West Berlin citizens. From The New York Times: "The East Germans began issuing permits for West Berliners to visit East Berlin at two West Berlin stations of the Communist-operated elevated railway. The permits were handed out at the ticket offices until West Berlin police told the Communists to close them. ... The Allied commandants supported the action of the West Berlin city authorities. It was understood that the action would create hardships for some West Berliners, but the authorities decided to accept this rather than permit the East Germans to get in a thin wedge of sovereignty on West Berlin territory."

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Berlin Wall resources

-- Websites

* Berlin Wall Memorial: @

* www.berlin.de: @

* www.chronik-der-mauer.de: @

* www.berlin-life.com: @

* www.dailysoft.com: @

* German Historical Museum, Berlin: @

* Cold War International History Project: @

* "A Concrete Curtain: The Life and Death of the Berlin Wall": @

* "Berlin Wall: Past & Present": @

* NATO: @

* Britain's National Archives: @

* Cold War Museum timeline: @

-- Books

* "The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989": @

* "Kennedy and the Berlin Wall": @

* "Berlin 1961": @ (author's website)

-- Life magazine

* August 25: @

* September 1: @

* September 8: @

-- Photos

* Before and after, from Spiegel Online: @

* From The Guardian newspaper: @

* From The Independent newspaper: @

* From boston.com: @

* From pmgtg.com: @

-- Videos

From archive.org:

* August 31 newsreel: @

* Comparison of life newsreel: @

* 1962 film from U.S. Information Agency: @

* U.S. Army footage, September (silent): @

* U.S. Air Force footage, August and December (silent): @

From Critical Past:

* Events after World War II: @

* Background: @

* "Berlin 1961": @

* "Halt Refugees: Reds Tighten Border Control": @

* "Border Crisis: Allies Protest Pact Violation": @

* "Berlin Drama: East Germans Jump to Freedom": @

From British Pathe:

* "Berlin Crisis": @

* "Berlin Tension": @

* "Berlin Wall of Shame": @

* "Ever Ready in Berlin": @

* "Berlin Wall": @

From The Guardian:

* First of five short films, with links to others: @

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Saturday, August 12, 1961: 'The Phantom Tollbooth'

Norton Juster's "The Phantom Tollbooth" is published. Ostensibly a children's book, it tells of a young boy named Milo and his journey through a magical kingdom, all described in rich wordplay.

* Summary and analysis (from www.sparknotes.com): @

* Interviews with Juster, from 2001 -- Salon: @ and The Purple Crayon: @

* Essay by author Michael Chabon (2011, from The New York Review of Books): @

* Infographics (from www.janavendno.com): @

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