July 1962

July 1, 1962 (Sunday)

Rwanda and Burundi, the northern and southern portions of Ruanda-Urundi, were both granted independence from Belgium on the same day. Grégoire Kayibanda of the Hutu tribe was sworn in as President of Rwanda at Kigali, and Mwambutsa IV, who had reigned as the titular leader of the Tutsi tribe since 1915, continued as King of Burundi

Supporters of Algerian independence won a 90% majority in a referendum.

Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo became President of El Salvador. He had been the only candidate in elections on April 29.

The Treaty of Nordic Cooperation of Helsinki (signed 23 March 1962) came into force.

The first Canadian Medicare plan was launched in Saskatchewan, resulting in the Saskatchewan doctors' strike. Thousands of citizens joined the protests against compulsory health care ten days later.

Bruce McLaren won the 1962 Reims Grand Prix. McClaren of New Zealand, a former rugby player turned race car driver, finished the 250-mile course in 2 hours, 2 seconds.

Died: Bidhan Chandra Roy, 80, Indian politician and Chief Minister of West Bengal since 1948.

July 2, 1962 (Monday)

The first Walmart store, opened as Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas, by Sam Walton. By 1970, there were 38 Wal-Mart stores; After 50 years, there were more than 10,000 stores in 27 countries.

July 3, 1962 (Tuesday)

France and its President, Charles de Gaulle recognized the independence of Algeria, with the signing of the declartion at a meeting of the French Cabinet.

The Chichester Festival Theatre, Britain's first large modern theatre with a thrust stage, opened. Laurence Olivier was the first artistic director.

The 1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships opened in Prague and ran until July 8.

Born:

Tom Cruise, American film actor (Risky Business, Jerry Maguire), as Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, in Syracuse, New York

Thomas Gibson, American television actor (Criminal Minds, Dharma and Greg, Chicago Hope), in Charleston, South Carolina.

July 4, 1962 (Wednesday)

The Burma Socialist Programme Party was established by Ne Win's military regime.

Born:

Neil Morrissey, English comedian and actor, in Stafford

Pam Shriver, American tennis player, winner of multiple women's doubles championships with Martina Navratilova.

July 5, 1962 (Thursday)

After Algeria's independence was recognized by France, the Oran massacre took place at Oran, the section of Algiers where most French Algerians lived. The official estimate of the death toll was 20 French Algerians and 75 Algerians killed.

The French Assembly voted 241–72 to remove the immunity against arrest and prosecution that former Prime Minister Georges Bidault had in April 1961, when he called for the overthrow of President Charles De Gaulle, clearing the way for indictment of Bidault for treason. Bidault had fled to exile in Italy.

July 6, 1962 (Friday)

Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne presented his first edition of The Late Late Show. Byrne would go on to present the talk show for 37 years making Byrne the longest running TV talk show host in history.

Died:

William Faulkner, 64, American novelist and 1950 Nobel laureate

Roger Degueldre, 37, former French Army officer who rebelled to form the OAS Delta Commandos, was executed by firing squad

July 7, 1962 (Saturday)

Alitalia Flight 771 crashed into a hill about 84 km north-east of Mumbai, killing all 94 people aboard.

A Soviet Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152 set a new airspeed record of 2,681 km/h (1,666 mph).

In Burma, the government of General Ne Win forcibly broke up a demonstration at Rangoon University, killing 15 students and wounding 27.

July 8, 1962 (Sunday)

In the most important symbolic gesture of post-war French-German unity, President Charles de Gaulle of France and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany, both devout Catholics, attended mass at the Reims Cathedral and prayed together. The Cathedral was where the Emperor common to both nations, Carolus Magnus (Charlemagne in France and Karl der Große in Germany)— had been baptizeed at Reims.

The 1962 French Grand Prix was held at Rouen-Les-Essarts and won by Dan Gurney of the United States.

Born: Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter, in Anchorage, Kentucky

Died: Georges Bataille, 64, French philosopher

July 9, 1962 (Monday)

In the Starfish Prime test, the United States exploded a 1.4 megaton hydrogen bomb in outer space, sending the warhead on a Titan missile to an altitude of 248 miles over Johnston Island. The first two attempts at exploding a nuclear missile above the Earth had failed. The flash was visible in Hawaii, 750 miles away, and scientists discovered the destructive effects of the first major manmade electromagnetic pulse (EMP), as a surge of electrons burned out streetlights, blew fuses, and disrupted communications. Increasing radiation in some places one hundredfold, the EMP damaged at least ten orbiting satellites beyond repair.

American artist Andy Warhol first presented his Campbell's Soup Cans at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.

Died: Reginald Somerset Ward, 81, English Anglican spiritualist

July 10, 1962 (Tuesday)

AT&T's Telstar, the world's first commercial communications satellite, was launched into orbit from Cape Canaveral at 3:35 a.m. local time, and activated that night. The first image transmitted between continents was a black-and-white photo of the American flag sent from the U.S. transmitter at Andover, Maine, to Pleumeur-Bodou in France.

The All-Channel Television Receiver Bill was signed into law, requiring that all televisions made in the United States to be able to receive both VHF signals (channels 2 to 13 on 30 to 300 MHz) and UHF (channels 14 to 83, on frequencies between 470 and 896 MHz). The result was to open hundreds of new television channels.

One of the spans in the Kings Bridge in Melbourne, Australia, collapsed after a 45-ton vehicle passed over it, only 15 months after the multi-lane highway bridge's opening on April 12, 1961. The collapse occurred immediately after the driver of the vehicle had passed over the span, and nobody was hurt.

Francisco Brochado de Rocha was approved as the new Prime Minister of Brazil by a 215-58vote of Parliament.

Died: Tommy Milton, 68, American racecar driver and first to win the Indianapolis 500 twice (1921, 1923), by suicide

July 11, 1962 (Wednesday)

The first person to swim across the English Channel underwater, without surfacing, arrived in Sandwich Bay at Dover 18 hours after departing from Calais. Fred Baldasare wore scuba gear and was assisted by a guiding ship in the use of oxygen tanks.

Born: Pauline McLynn, Irish actress, in Sligo

Died:

Owen D. Young, 87, American businessman who founded Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and co-founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

René Maison, 66, Belgian operatic tenor

July 12, 1962 (Thursday)

The Rolling Stones made their debut at London's Marquee Club, Number 165 Oxford Street, opening for the first time under that name, for Long John Baldry. Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Keith Richards, Ian Stewart, Dick Taylor and Tony Chapman had played together for the group Blues Incorporated before creating a new name inspired by the Muddy Waters 1950 single "Rollin' Stone".

The first telephone signals carried by satellite were made from by engineers between Goonhilly in the U.K. and Andover, Maine.

Born: Julio César Chávez, Mexican boxer, WBC champion at three levels (super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight and welterweight) between 1984 and 1996, in Ciudad Obregón

Died: James T. Blair, Jr., 60, Governor of Missouri 1957–61, along with his wife, of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning at his home, near Jefferson City, Missouri.

July 13, 1962 (Friday)

With his popularity declining, British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan fired seven senior members of his cabinet, including Chancellor of the Exchequer Selwyn Lloyd, the Lord Chancellor, the Ministers of Defence and Education, and the Secretary of State for Scotland. The move was unprecedented in United Kingdom history, and was followed by the firing of nine junior ministers on Monday. Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe would quip, "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his friends for his life." The British press would dub the event Macmillan's "Night of the Long Knives".

AT&T President Eugene McNeely inaugurated international phone calling via satellite in a conversation with French Minister of Posts, Telegraphs, and Telephones Jacques Marette. On Telstar's next orbit, McNeely spoke with Sir Ronald German, the British Post Office Director-General.

Secretary General of the United Nations U Thant arrived in Dublin, and paid tribute to Irish soldiers who fought in the Congo.

Burmese leader Ne Win left the country for a trip to Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, "for a medical check up".

July 14, 1962 (Saturday)

A 1958 Pakistan law, banning all political parties, was repealed by a National Assembly resolution, amending the Constitution of 1962. The only requirement was that a party could not "prejudice Islamic ideology or the stability or integrity of Pakistan, and could not receive any aid from a foreign nation.

In the third match of the Rugby League Test series between Australia and Great Britain, held at Sydney Cricket Ground, a controversial last-minute Australian try and the subsequent conversion resulted in an 18–17 win for Australia.

Henry Brooke became the new UK Home Secretary in Harold Macmillan's reshuffled cabinet.

The Miss Universe 1962 beauty pageant took place at Miami Beach, Florida, US, and was won by Norma Nolan of Argentina.

July 15, 1962 (Sunday)

The 1962 Tour de France concluded in Paris, and was won by Jacques Anquetil for the third time.

The Washington Post broke the story of thalidomide tablets that had been distributed in the United States, in a story by Morton Mintz under the headline "Heroine of FDA Keeps Bad Drug Off Market". As a result of the publicity, more than 2.5 million thalidomide pills, that had been distributed to physicians by the Richardson-Merrell pharmaceutical company pending approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, were recalled. Although thousands of babies were born with defects in Europe, the FDA identified only 17 known cases in the United States.

Radiation killed all six animals, sent up 24 hours earlier by NASA, in the first test of whether astronauts could safely endure prolonged exposure to cosmic rays. The two monkeys and four hamsters had been inside a space capsule that had been kept at an altitude of 131,000 feet by a balloon.

July 16, 1962 (Monday)

French explorer Michel Siffre conducted a long-term experiment of chronobiology, the perception of the passage of time in the absence of information, entering an underground cave and staying for two months. While inside, he used a one-way field telephone to signal to researchers when he was going to sleep, when he was getting up, and how much time had passed between events during his waking hours. He was brought back out on September 14, 1962, sixty days later; according to his diary, he thought only 35 days had passed and that the date was August 20.

July 17, 1962 (Tuesday)

Major Robert M. White (USAF) piloted a North American X-15 to a record altitude of 314,750 feet (59 miles, 96 km), narrowly missing the 100 kilometer altitude Kármán line that defines outer space, but passing the 50-mile altitude mark that NASA used to define the threshold of space. The record of 67 miles would be set by Joe Walker on July 19, 1963.

The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I became the final atmospheric nuclear test by the United States.

The U.S. Senate voted 52–48 against further consideration of President Kennedy's proposed plan for Medicare, government-subsidized health care for persons drawing social security benefits. Two liberal U.S. Senators had switched sides, preventing a 50–50 tie that would have been broken in favor of Medicare by Vice-President Johnson; as President, Johnson would sign Medicare into law effective July 30, 1965.

Four years after USS Nautilus had become the first submarine to reach the geographic North Pole, the Soviet Union reached the Pole with a sub for the first time, with the submarine K-3 (later renamed the Leninsky Komsomol)

The Eritrean Liberation Front staged its first major attack in seeking to separate Eritrea from Ethiopia, by throwing a hand grenade at a reviewing stand that included General Abiy Abebe (Emperor Haile Selassie's representative), Eritrean provincial executive Asfaha Woldemikael, and Hamid Ferej, leader of the Eritrean provincial assembly.

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurred.

July 18, 1962 (Wednesday)

The largest space vehicle, up to that time, began orbiting the Earth, after the communications satellite "Big Shot" was launched by the United States. After going aloft, the silvery balloon was inflated to its full size as a sphere with a diameter of 135 feet.

After Peruvian Army officers used a Sherman tank to batter down the gates of the presidential palace in Lima, they arrested Manuel Prado Ugarteche, the 73-year-old President of Peru, and replaced him with a junta led by General Ricardo Pérez Godoy. The election results of June 10 was annulled.

Typhoon Kate formed a short distance from northern Luzon.

Unpopular and unable to implement economic reforms, Ali Amini resigned as Prime Minister of Iran. He would be replaced by Asadollah Alam.

The Minnesota Twins became the first Major League Baseball team to hit two grand slams in the same inning of a game, as Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew drove in eight runs in the first inning of a 14–3 win over the Cleveland Indians. In fifty years, the feat has been accomplished six more times since then, most recently on July 16, 2006 (Mets vs. Cubs). On April 23, 1999, the St. Louis Cardinals two grand slams in the third inning were both made by Fernando Tatis.

Born: Abu Sabaya, Philippine leader of rebel group Abu Sayyaf, as Aldam Tilao in Isabela, Basilan (killed 2002)

Died:

Eugene Houdry, 70, French chemical engineer who developed high octane gasoline and the catalytic converter

Volkmar Andreae, 82, Swiss conductor and composer

July 19, 1962 (Thursday)

The first successful intercept of one missile by another took place at Kwajalein Island, with a Zeus missile passing within two kilometers of an incoming Atlas missile, close enough for a nuclear warhead to disable an enemy weapon.

Born: Anthony Edwards, American actor, in Santa Barbara, California

July 20, 1962 (Friday)

The world's first regular passenger hovercraft service was introduced, as the VA-3 began the 20-mile run between Rhyl (in Wales) and Wallasey (in England).

Tou Samouth, Communist leader of the Khmer People's Revolutionary Party in Cambodia, was arrested by government police, tortured and then killed. His successor, Saloth Sar, would go on to lead the Communist Party of Kampuchea as Pol Pot, and then exact revenge on former government employees.

Executive Order 11307 was issued, prohibiting unlicensed U.S. citizens and people under U.S. jurisdiction, from possessing or holding an interest in gold coins from outside the United States, unless the coins were of "exceptional numismatic value".

France and Tunisia reestablished diplomatic relations, a year after breaking ties following the Bizerte crisis.

Born: Jeong Han Kim, South Korean mathematician, in Seoul

July 21, 1962 (Saturday)

The United Arab Republic (Egypt) successfully fired four missiles which, President Gamal Abdel Nasser said, could strike any target "just south of Beirut", a reference to neighboring Israel. Nasser said that the Nakid El Kaher (Conqueror) missile had a range of 380 miles, which could reach all of Israel, as well as cities in Syria and Jordan, and that the El Zahir (Victory) missile had a range of 222 miles, including Tel Aviv. The missiles came as a surprise to Israel's intelligence service, the Mossad. In August, Mossad chief Isser Harel would report to Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion that German scientists were assisting in the development of 900 more missiles capable of carrying chemical and biological weapons, and would organize Operation Damocles to target the scientists on the project.

Died: G. M. Trevelyan, 86, British historian

July 22, 1962 (Sunday)

The Mariner 1 spacecraft flew erratically several minutes after launch and had to be destroyed after less than five minutes, at a cost of $4,000,000 for the satellite and $8,000,000 for the rocket. The $12 million dollar loss was later traced to the omission of an overbar in the handwritten text from which the computer programming for the rocket guidance system was drawn, which should have been written as : R ˙ n ¯ being rendered as : R ˙ n ; thus, there was no smooth function to prevent over-correction of minor variations of data on rocket velocity.

Canadian Pacific Flight 301 experienced engine problems on departure from Honolulu and returned to land on three engines, but crashed on the airfield, killing 27 of the 40 people on board.

July 23, 1962 (Monday)

Telstar relayed the first live trans-Atlantic television signal, with two 20-minute programs. The first was a set of U.S. TV shows (President Kennedy's news conference, 90 seconds of the Phillies-Cubs baseball game, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) to Eurovision (2:00 pm New York, 8:00 pm London). At 4:58 pm, New York Time, live transmission of European broadcasting was shown on all three American networks, beginning with a live picture of the clock at London's Big Ben approaching 11:00 pm.

The International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos was signed in Geneva. Under the agreement, all foreign military personnel were to withdraw within 75 days; the last Americans, advisers to the U.S. Special Forces, would leave by October 6.

While in Geneva, W. Averell Harriman of the United States met with North Vietnam's Foreign Minister, Ung Văn Khiêm in an unsuccessful attempt to talk about a similar neutrality agreement in Vietnam. Decades after the end of the Vietnam War, sources in Hanoi would reveal that the North Vietnamese Politburo had approved the pursuit of discussions, but that Khiem had not been informed of the Politburo decision that might have averted a protracted war. American and North Vietnamese diplomats would not meet again for six years.

The Saskatoon agreement brought an end to the Saskatchewan doctors' strike.

Born: Eriq La Salle, African-American TV actor, in Hartford

Died: Henry Dworshak, 67, U.S. Senator from Idaho since 1949. Dworshak was the fourth conservative Republican Senator to die in less than a year.

July 24, 1962 (Tuesday)

The first successful use of a biological valve in human heart surgery was performed by Dr. Donald Nixon Ross in London, with a subcoronary implantation of an aortic allograft.

Died:

Victor Bourgeois, 64, Belgian modernist architect

Margaret Buckley, 83, Irish Republican leader, Sinn Féin president 1937-1950

July 25, 1962 (Wednesday)

"Skyphone" service, permitting airline passengers to make telephone calls while in flight, was inaugurated. The first call was made from American Airlines Flight 941 en route from New York to Cincinnati, from stewardess Hope Patterson to the Associated Press.

The U.S. had another failure in its Operation Dominic series of nuclear tests, when a Thor missile exploded on the launch pad at Johnston Island. Although the 100 kiloton warhead was destroyed without a nuclear blast, the area was contaminated with plutonium, ending plans to routinely launch nuclear powered space probes.

Buckingham Palace, residence of the Queen of the United Kingdom, was opened to the public for the first time with the dedication of the Queen's Gallery, an art museum.

Aid to Families with Dependent Children" (AFDC) was created with the passage of the Public Welfare Amendments of 1962 to the U.S. Social Security Act, increasing the number of persons receiving federal public assistance.

The United States Army formed its first armed helicopter company, using UH-1 Hueys.

Born: Doug Drabek, Major League Baseball pitcher 1986-1998, and 1990 Cy Young Award winner; in Victoria, Texas.

Died:

Thibaudeau Rinfret, 83, Chief Justice of Canada from 1944 to 1954

Christie MacDonald, 87, Canadian-American actress and singer

Nelle Wilson Reagan, 79, mother of future U.S. President Ronald Reagan

July 26, 1962 (Thursday)

The first Soviet nuclear missiles were unloaded in Cuba at the port of Mariel; their discovery would precipitate the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The French Chef, starring Julia Child, appeared on television for the first time, as a program on the Boston public television station WGBH.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of the republic in Egypt, President Nasser declared an end to tuition in the nation's universities.

Born: Sergey Kiriyenko, Prime Minister of Russia from March to August 1998, in Sukhumi, Georgian S.S.R., U.S.S.R.

Died: Matt Cvetic, 53, American government employee who infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party, then wrote about it in I Was a Communist for the FBI.

July 27, 1962 (Friday)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began its project to acquire and restore properties in the small town of Nauvoo, Illinois, where the Mormons had been centered from 1839 to 1944. Within a year, Nauvoo Restoration, Inc., had acquired 30 of the 35 buildings still standing in Nauvoo.

Jess Oliver (Oliver Jsesperson) applied for the patent for the Ampeg B-15 Portaflex portable bass amplifier, which would become the most popular bass amplifier in the world for bands; the patent would be granted on May 11, 1965.

Inventor David P. Wagner applied for the patent for the first pharmaceutical packaging designed for compliance with dosage directions, to simplify use of birth control pills on a specific date. Wagner would receive royalties from G. D. Searle & Company and from Ortho Pharmaceutical, who would use the design for their contraceptives.

Died: Richard Aldington, 70, English poet and author

July 28, 1962 (Saturday)

The Bundesliga, the national league of West Germany's top professional soccer football teams, was created by a 103–26 vote of delegates to the German Football Association (DFB) convention at Dortmund. The Bundesliga would begin its first season on August 24, 1963 with 16 teams out of 46 applicants.

Kosmos 7 was launched by the U.S.S.R., on the first successful Soviet mission to conduct surveillance photography of the entire United States.

South Korea's President Park Chung Hee issued the memorandum "The Establishment of a Social Security System" and set about to forcibly implement programs for assistance for the elderly, disabled and unemployed in what was, at that time, a poor nation.

Race riots broke out in Dudley, West Midlands, UK.

The derailment of at Pennsylvania Railroad train at Steelton killed 19 people and injured 116. The nine-car train was carrying baseball fans to the Pirates-Phillies baseball game at Philadelphia, when the last five cars went off track, and three fell down a 40-foot embankment.

Born: Jason Sherman, Canadian playwright and screenwriter, in Montreal

July 29, 1962 (Sunday)

Sir Oswald Mosley, who had founded the British Union of Fascists and been a vocal Nazi sympathizer prior to Germany's attack on Britain in World War Two, was beaten by an angry crowd in Manchester, after leading members of his extreme right-wing Union Movement on a march through the city.

A few weeks after Algeria had attained its independence, 2,000 rebel guerrillas under the command of Colonel Si Hassan seized control of Algiers.

In the final of the 1962 Speedway World Team Cup at Slaný, Czechoslovakia, Sweden defeated Great Britain, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Born: Scott Steiner, American college and professional wrestler, as Scott Rechsteiner in Bay City, Michigan

Died: Sir Ronald Fisher, 72, English biologist

July 30, 1962 (Monday)

The Trans-Canada Highway was opened at a ceremony to mark the completion of the 92-mile-long Rogers Pass Highway through the Canadian Rockies, for the final link of the nearly 5,000-mile system between St. John's, Newfoundland and Victoria, British Columbia. B.C. Premier W. A. C. Bennett snipped a ribbon near Revelstoke.

U.S. President Kennedy agreed to halt reconnaissance flights over Soviet ships in the Caribbean Sea, after U.S.S.R. Premier Khrushchev proposed the idea "for the sake of better relations"; in the two months that followed, the ships delivered missiles to Cuba.

On the same day, President Kennedy began tape recording conversations in the White House.

Marilyn Monroe made a final telephone call to the U.S. Justice Department, six days before her death. Monroe had been a regular caller to U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and historians speculate that he told her during the eight-minute phone call that they could no longer see each other. Monroe's phone records would be confiscated by the FBI, but Kennedy's phone logs would be donated to the National Archives after his death.

Born: Alton Brown, American chef and host of Food Network show Good Eats, in Los Angeles

Died: Helge Krog, 73, Norwegian journalist

July 31, 1962 (Tuesday)

The Vietnam Era began for Australia, with the arrival of Colonel Ted Serong, followed by 30 advisers later in the week. Over ten years, ending on December 2, 1972, there would be 521 Australians killed in the war.

The professional football career of Ernie Davis, who had been the #1 choice in the 1962 NFL Draft, ended three before he was to begin play for the Cleveland Browns in the preseason College All-Star Game in Chicago. Davis had checked into the Memorial Hospital in the suburb of Evanston, Illinois on suspicion that he had the mumps, and then with mononucleosis. The next day, it was announced that he had a "blood disorder", and in October, it would be revealed that he had leukemia., the disease that would claim his life the following May 18.

An annular solar eclipse occurred.

Born:

Wesley Snipes, American film actor, in Orlando

Luis Castiglioni, Vice-President of Paraguay 2003-2007, in Itacurubí del Rosario

Died:

George Pepperdine, 76, American philanthropist and founder in 1937 of Pepperdine University

Clarence E. Willard, 79, American circus performer who could alter his height from 5'10" to 6'4" through muscle manipulation;

Niels Miller, 63, American inventor and founder of Miller Electric arc welding manufacturer;