1.24.2013

When did "The '60s" begin?

I bring it up after reading an article in The Guardian, "October 1962: the month that modern culture was born." For the purposes of this discussion, the question is more along the lines of "Is there a month that could be considered a starting point for the issues or legacies that we now associate with the 1960s?" Here are some possible candidates. You can find links to the posts via the archive at the bottom.

* February 1960: Greensboro sit-in; "wind of change" coming to Africa. 
* May 1960: The Pill; first working laser; U-2 incident.
* November 1960: Kennedy elected president.
* January 1961: Eisenhower's "military industrial complex" speech; Kennedy inaugurated.
* April 1961: Yuri Gagarin, first man in space; Bay of Pigs; integrated circuit.
* May 1961: Kennedy moon speech; Freedom Rides. 
* August 1961: Berlin Wall; Peace Corps.
* December 1961: start of U.S. combat operations in Vietnam; first warning about thalidomide.
* March 1962: first silicone-gel breast implants; John Glenn; Cuba trade embargo.
* June 1962: School prayer ruled unconstitutional; "Silent Spring"; Port Huron Statement.
* July 1962: "Blowin' in the Wind"; Andy Warhol's soup cans; Telstar communications satellite.
* October 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis; Ole Miss integration; Beatles release "Love Me Do"; "Dr. No."  
* June 1963: Equal Pay Act; University of Alabama integration; Buddhist protests in South Vietnam ("burning monk" photo); Kennedy's "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech; U.S. and USSR agree to set up hot line.

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