Portal:1960s

Nguyễn Khánh, the leader of the coup, in 1964

Before dawn on 19 December 1964, a coup d'état took place when the ruling military junta of South Vietnam led by General Nguyễn Khánh dissolved the High National Council (HNC) and arrested some of its members. The HNC was an unelected legislative-style civilian advisory body they had created at the request of the United States—South Vietnam's main sponsor—to give a veneer of civilian rule. The dissolution dismayed the Americans, particularly the ambassador, Maxwell D. Taylor, who engaged in an angry war of words with various generals including Khánh and threatened aid cuts. They were unable to do anything about the fait accompli that had been handed to them, because they strongly desired to win the Vietnam War and needed to support the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. Instead, Taylor's searing verbal attacks were counterproductive as they galvanized the Vietnamese officers around the embattled Khánh. At the time, Khánh's leadership was under threat from his fellow generals, as well as Taylor, who had fallen out with him and was seeking his removal.

The genesis of the removal of the HNC was a power struggle within the ruling junta. Khánh, who had been saved from an earlier coup attempt in September 1964 by the intervention of some younger generals dubbed the Young Turks, was indebted to them and needed to satisfy their wishes to stay in power. The Young Turks disliked a group of older officers who had been in high leadership positions but were now in powerless posts, and wanted to sideline them completely. As a result, they decided to hide their political motives by introducing a policy to compulsorily retire all general officers with more than 25 years of service. The chief of state Phan Khắc Sửu, an elderly figure appointed by the military to give a semblance of civilian rule, did not want to sign the decree without the agreement of the HNC, which mostly consisted of old men. The HNC recommended against the new policy, and the younger officers, led by I Corps commander General Nguyễn Chánh Thi and Air Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, disbanded the body and arrested some of its members along with other politicians. (Full article...)

Astronauts Elliot See and Charles Bassett

On February 28, 1966, a Northrop T-38 Talon from NASA crashed at Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, killing two Project Gemini astronauts, Elliot See and Charles Bassett. The aircraft, piloted by See, crashed into the McDonnell Aircraft building where their Gemini 9 spacecraft was being assembled. The weather was poor with rain, snow, fog, and low clouds. A NASA panel, headed by the Chief of the Astronaut Office, Alan Shepard, investigated the crash. While the panel considered possible medical issues or aircraft maintenance problems, in addition to the weather and air traffic control factors, the end verdict was that the crash was caused by pilot error.

In the aftermath of the crash, the backup crew of Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan were moved up to the primary position for the Gemini 9 mission, scheduled for early June. Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin, who had formerly been the backup crew for Gemini 10, became the mission's backup crew and through the normal rotation were assigned as prime crew for Gemini 12. Without the Gemini experience, it is unlikely that Aldrin would have been assigned to the Apollo 11 mission, during which he became the second person to walk on the Moon. (Full article...)

• ... that several thousand people lived on Washington's National Mall (pictured) for six weeks in 1968 as part of the Poor People's Campaign?
• ...that the Uruguayan Invasion was a musical phenomenon of the 1960s distinctly similar to the British Invasion, with rock bands from Uruguay rapidly gaining popularity in Argentina?
• ... that The New York Times credited the success of promoter Gary Kurfirst's 1968 New York Rock Festival featuring Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and The Doors as inspiring the 1969 Woodstock Festival?

Harrison in 1968

George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Known as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison played a significant role in shaping the band's musical direction and later established a successful solo career, particularly through his interest in non-Western musical influences.

Although most of the band's songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions, including "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun". Harrison's earliest musical influences included George Formby and Django Reinhardt; subsequent influences were Carl Perkins, Chet Atkins and Chuck Berry. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles into folk rock through his interest in Bob Dylan and the Byrds, and towards Indian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as the sitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the film Help!. He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Having initiated the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with the Hare Krishna movement. Harrison's first marriage to model Pattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he married Olivia Arias, with whom he had a son, Dhani. (Full article...)

Houphouët-Boigny in 1962

Félix Houphouët-Boigny (French: [feliks ufwɛ(t) bwaɲi]; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first president of Ivory Coast from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to the French Parliament in 1945. He served in several ministerial positions within the Government of France before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonisation of Africa.

Under Houphouët-Boigny's politically moderate leadership, Ivory Coast prospered economically. This success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became known as the "Ivorian miracle"; it was due to a combination of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the West (particularly France) and development of the country's significant coffee and cocoa industries. However, reliance on the agricultural sector caused difficulties in 1980, after a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and cocoa. (Full article...)

The 1960 Summer Olympics (Italian: Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad (Italian: Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 (Italian: Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awarded the administration of the 1908 Summer Olympics. However, following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1906, the city had no choice but to decline and pass the honour to London. The Soviet Union won the most gold and overall medals at the 1960 Games.

The 1st Paralympic Games were held in Rome in conjunction with the 1960 Summer Olympics, marking the first time such events coincided. (Full article...)

• ... that jorts, despite being worn by frumpy dads, are also associated with 1960s counterculture, punks, rappers, skaters, and "Brat summer"?
• ... that Reedsburg Municipal Airport had a water runway during the 1960s for use by the builder of Lake Redstone?
• ... that Isabel Garcés provided a comical counterpoint to "child prodigy" protagonists in many 1960s musical comedy films?
• ... that Japanese actress Junko Ikeuchi was known as the "Queen of TV Dramas" from the 1960s to the 1980s?
• ... that Nejishiki was a manga with a following among the 1960s avant-garde movement?
• ... that the historic water stream Seil Amman was roofed to make way for a road in the 1960s?