1962 Events

World Events

• France transfers sovereignty to new republic of Algeria (July 3).
  
• Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR to build missile bases in Cuba; Kennedy orders Cuban blockade, lifts blockade after Russia backs down (Aug.-Nov.).
  
• Pope John XXIII opens Second Vatican Council (Oct. 11).
  
• Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners of 1961 invasion attempt (Dec. 24).
  
• Burundi, Jamaica, Western Samoa, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago become independent.
  World Statistics
  
  Population: 3.136 billion
  
  Nobel Peace Prize:
  Linus Pauling (US)

U.S. Events

• James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registers at University of Mississippi (Oct. 1).
  
• Pat Brown defeats Richard Nixon in the California gubernatorial race.
  U.S. Statistics
  
  President: John F. Kennedy
  Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
  Population: 186,537,737
  Life expectancy: 70.1 years
  Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 20.2
  Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 18.6
  Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.8

Economics

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $585.2 billion
Federal spending:   $106.82 billion
Federal debt:   $302.9 billion
Consumer Price Index:   30.2
Unemployment:   6.7%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.04

Sports

World Series
NY Yankees d. San Francisco Giants (4-3)

NBA Championship
Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3)

Stanley Cup
Toronto d. Chicago (4-2)

Wimbledon
Women: Karen Susman d. V. Sukova (6-4 6-4)
Men: Rod Laver d. M. Mulligan (6-2 6-2 6-1)

Kentucky Derby Champion
Decidedly

NCAA Basketball Championship
Cincinnati d. Ohio St. (71-59)

NCAA Football Champions
USC (11-0-0)

World Cup
Brazil d. Czechoslovakia (3-1)

Entertainment

Events

• Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose at age 36.
  
• The first transatlantic television transmission occurs via the Telstar Satellite, making worldwide television and cable networks a reality.
  
• Government regulations force studios out of the talent agency business.
  
• Johnny Carson takes over hosting duties of The Tonight Show.
  

Movies

• Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, Divorce-Italian Style
  

Books

• James Baldwin, Another Country
  
• Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths, Ficciones
  
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
  
• Robert Frost, In the Clearing
  
• Günter Grass, The Tin Drum
  
• Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’ Nest
  
• Sylvia Plath, The Colossus and Other Poems
  
• Anne Sexton, All My Pretty Ones
  
• William Stafford, Traveling through the Dark
  
• Richard Yates, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness
  

Entertainment Awards

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O’Connor
Music: The Crucible, Robert Ward
Drama: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows

Oscars awarded in 1962
Academy Award, Best Picture: West Side Story, Robert Wise, producer (United Artists)

Nobel Prize for Literature: John Steinbeck (US)

1962 Emmy Awards

1962 Tony Awards

Grammys awarded in 1962
Record of the Year: “Moon River,” Henry Mancini
Album of the Year: Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland (Capitol)
Song of the Year: “Moon River,” Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, songwriters

Miss America: Maria Fletcher (NC)

Science

• Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., is first American to orbit Earth — three times in 4 hours 55 minutes (Feb. 20). Background: US Staffed Space Flights
  
• Mariner II, the first interplanetary probe, reaches Venus. Background: US Unstaffed Planetary and Lunar Programs
  
• Unimation introduces the first industrial robot.
  
• The commercially sponsored Telstar communications satellite is launched.
  

Nobel Prizes in Science

Chemistry: Max F. Perutz and John C. Kendrew (UK), for mapping protein molecules with X-rays

Physics: Lev D. Landau (USSR), for his theories about condensed matter

Physiology or Medicine: James D. Watson (US), Maurice H. F. Wilkins, and Francis H. C. Crick (both UK), for determining structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Deaths

• Niels Bohr
  
• William Faulkner
  
• Ernie Kovacs
  
• Eleanor Roosevelt

RETURN TO THE NOSTALGIA WEB PAGE