Year by year · 20th century

1960

1960 in world history: 20 events, 6 births, 16 deaths, 1 work, 2 states founded and 13 that came to an end. 307 recorded states existed that year.

Events

  1. 1 February

    Greensboro sit-in begins at a Woolworth's lunch counter

    Four Black students sat at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and stayed after being refused service. Sit-ins spread across the South, and Woolworth's desegregated the counter that July.

  2. 5 March

    Alberto Korda photographs Che Guevara

    At a Havana memorial for victims of a ship explosion, Korda captured Guevara's gaze in a photograph later titled 'Guerrillero Heroico'. It became one of the most reproduced images in the world.

  3. 21 March

    Police kill 69 protesters at Sharpeville

    South African police fired on an unarmed crowd protesting against the pass laws, killing 69 people. The government banned the ANC and PAC, and 21 March is now Human Rights Day in South Africa.

    South Africa

  4. 21 April

    Brasília is inaugurated as Brazil's capital

    Built in under four years to plans by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, Brasília replaced Rio de Janeiro as capital. It was meant to draw development into Brazil's interior.

    Rio de JaneiroBrazil

  5. 1 May

    Soviet missile downs a US U-2 spy plane

    A U-2 piloted by Francis Gary Powers was shot down near Sverdlovsk. Washington's initial cover story collapsed when Moscow produced the pilot, wrecking the Paris summit two weeks later.

    MoscowParis

  6. 9 May

    FDA says it will approve the first contraceptive pill

    The US Food and Drug Administration announced it would license Enovid for contraception. The pill gave women far greater control over fertility and transformed family life.

  7. 16 May

    Theodore Maiman operates the first laser

    At Hughes Research Laboratories in California, Maiman produced a pulse of red laser light from a ruby crystal. Lasers went on to transform medicine, communications and industry.

  8. 23 May

    Ben-Gurion announces the capture of Adolf Eichmann

    Israel's prime minister told the Knesset that Eichmann, a principal organiser of the Holocaust, had been found and was in Israeli custody. Mossad agents had seized him in Argentina.

    Argentina

  9. 11 August

    Chad becomes independent from France

    Chad gained independence, with François Tombalbaye as its first president. It was one of 17 African countries to win independence in 1960, the 'Year of Africa'.

  10. 1 October

    Nigeria gains independence from Britain

    Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, became independent from Britain with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as prime minister. It was one of seventeen African states to win independence in 1960, the 'Year of Africa'.

    Nigeria

  11. Event

    Sharpeville massacre

    The Sharpeville massacre took place on 21 March 1960 in the township of Sharpeville, south of Johannesburg, when police fired on a crowd protesting against the pass laws in a campaign led by the Pan Africanist Congress, killing 69 people.

ProfileState295 states with a known seat in 1960Open the atlas at 1960 →

In the profiles

Wars and longer events

Born in 1960 6

Died in 1960 16

Works 1

States founded 2

States that came to an end 13

Great speeches

Lumumba's Independence Day SpeechPatrice Lumumba

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). 1960. In The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1960
MLA
“1960.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1960. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “1960.” The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1960.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘1960’, The Epoch Institute, Year by Year. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/years/1960 (Accessed: ).