September 1960

September 1, 1960 (Thursday)

Disgruntled workers effectively halted operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasted two days).

The lights of Times Square were turned off for one minute, and London's West End lights are dimmed in recognition of the contribution of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, who died on August 23.

A five-day ban was imposed on West Germans entering East Berlin.

Died:

Dr. Francis Townsend, 93, American activist whose "Townsend Plan" for the elderly was an influence upon the creation of the Social Security system.

Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, Sultan of Selangor and the second Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, 62, after only four months in office

September 2, 1960 (Friday)

In the Summer Olympics, Wilma Rudolph, who had overcome childhood polio, won the women's 100 meter dash with a time of 11.0 seconds. Although faster than the world record of 11.3, Rudolph's mark was not official because the wind had been blowing faster than 2.0 m/s. Rudolph earned three golds, including the 200 m dash and the 4 × 100 m relay. In the long jump competition, Ralph Boston of the United States broke the Olympic record that had been set in 1936 by Jesse Owens. Boston was 4 inches short of the world record of 26 feet  11 ³⁄₄ inches (8.21 m) that he had set on August 12.

Near Grafenwöhr, West Germany, 16 American soldiers were killed and 26 injured when an 8-inch howitzer shell crashed into them during a morning roll call. The shell had been overloaded with charge and went  4 ¹⁄₂ miles beyond its target.

Born:

Eric Dickerson, NFL running back and Hall of Famer, in Sealy, Texas;

Doug Polen, American motorcyclist and 1993 world motorcycling champion, in Detroit

September 3, 1960 (Saturday)

In the bloodiest day of fighting since the Congo became independent of Belgium, more than 300 people were killed and 700 wounded as Congolese troops invaded the "Mining State" that had been declared by Albert Kalonji in the Kasai Province. The cities of Mwene Ditu and Laputa had been retaken by government troops loyal to Patrice Lumumba, while Kasai rebels were marching to defend the major city of Bakwanga (now Mbuji-Mayi).

September 4, 1960 (Sunday)

Hurricane Donna struck Puerto Rico, where it killed 107 people before moving northward through the United States, where it killed 22 more people before dying down by September 13.

The 1960 Italian Grand Prix at Monza was won by Phil Hill.

Born: Damon Wayans, American comedian, in New York City.

Died: William F. O'Neil, 75, multimillionaire founder of General Tire

September 5, 1960 (Monday)

In the Congo, President Joseph Kasavubu announced on Radio Leopoldville that he had fired Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. An hour later, Lumumba announced on the same station that he intended to stay, and then fired Kasavubu. Congo's Army Chief of Staff Joseph Mobutu sent troops to place Lumumba under house arrest while contemplating the future of Kasavubu's regime.

Cassius Clay of the United States (later Muhammad Ali), defeated Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland to win the gold medal in the Olympic light heavyweight boxing competition. Franco De Piccoli of Italy was the Olympic heavyweight boxing medalist.

Died: Earl K. Long, 65, former Governor of Louisiana, died nine days after being elected to Congress. Long had gone to the hospital after polls closed on August 27.

September 6, 1960 (Tuesday)

William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, two National Security Agency cryptologists who had been missing since June 24, were introduced as defectors to the Soviet Union at a press conference in Moscow's House of Journalists.

1960 Summer Olympics: At the men's 400 metre dash, the Olympic record of 45.9 seconds was broken by the first four finishers. Otis Davis of the US and Carl Kaufmann of Germany were both credited with a new world record of 44.9 (with Davis winning gold by 0.02 seconds), Malcolm Spence of South Africa at 45.5, and Milkha Singh of India at 45.6.

Died: György Piller, 61, Hungarian world champion fencer

September 7, 1960 (Wednesday)

Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 205 broke up over Uruguay during a heavy thunderstorm and crashed on a ranch near the town of Dieciocho de Julio, killing all 31 persons on board. The DC-6 had departed from Asunción in Paraguay and was on its way to Buenos Aires when the propeller on its No. 3 engine came loose and struck the No. 4 engine.

U.S. President Eisenhower sought to improve relations with Panama and ordered that the flag of Panama would be flown next to the flag of the United States in the American-owned Canal Zone. The first Panamanian flag in the Zone would be raised on September 21, and was protested by members of Congress who felt that the flag raising was the first step in returning the territory to the Panamanians, and flags would not be raised elsewhere until January 10, 1963.

Crown Prince Constantine II of Greece and his two teammates won a gold medal in sailing at the Summer Olympics, competing at Naples in their yacht, the Nirefs. The future Greek King's elder sister, the future Queen Sofía of Spain, was on the sailing team as a reserve.

Died: Wilhelm Pieck, 84, President of East Germany since the nation's creation in 1949. The office was abolished following his death.

September 8, 1960 (Thursday)

The Richardson-Merrell pharmaceutical company submitted an application to the FDA for approval of selling thalidomide in the United States, which it intended to market under the name Kevadon, beginning on March 6, 1961.

Born: Stefano Casiraghi, Italian businessman, second husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco, in Como (killed 1990 in powerboat accident)

Died:

Feroze Gandhi, 48, Indian politician. Both his widow, Indira Gandhi and his son, Rajiv Gandhi, would serve as Prime Minister of India.

Oscar Pettiford, 37, jazz bassist

September 9, 1960 (Friday)

The Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots 13–10, in Boston, to win the first game of the new American Football League.

The first Hardee's Restaurant was opened, as a drive-in in Greenville, North Carolina.

1960 Summer Olympics: The India men's field hockey team had never lost a game in Olympic competition since it first competed in 1928, had a 30–0 record and had outscored its opponents 197–8, until meeting Pakistan in the finals. A goal by Nasir Ahmad gave Pakistan a 1–0 victory, bringing India's streak to an end.

Born:

Hugh Grant, English film actor, in Hammersmith, London

Bob Stoops, American football coach University of Oklahoma, in Youngstown, Ohio

Died:

Jussi Björling, 49, Swedish operatic tenor

Ralph G. Brooks, 62, Governor of Nebraska since 1959 and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senator

September 10, 1960 (Saturday)

Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the Olympic marathon, setting a world record (2 hours, 15 minutes, 16.2 seconds) and running the entire 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195 km) while barefoot.

In a game against the Detroit Tigers, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hit a home run over the roof and out of Tiger Stadium. The distance was not measured until June 22, 1985, when it was determined to have been a record at 643 feet, surpassing Mantle's 1953 hit of 565 feet at Washington. Some observers doubt the measure, concluding that "it is impossible to hit a baseball that distance".

Yugoslavia defeated Denmark to win the gold medal at the Olympic football finals, 3–1.

ITV inaugurated regular television broadcasts of English professional soccer football matches, starting with the telecast of a Football League First Division match between Blackpool and visiting Bolton Wanderers. The Wanderers won the match, 1-0.

Color television broadcasting began in Japan.

Died:

Sir Harold Gillies, 78, New Zealand physician and pioneer in plastic surgery

Edith Nourse Rogers, 79, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts since 1925

September 11, 1960 (Sunday)

For the ninth day in succession, Hurricane Donna had maximum sustained winds of at least 115 mph (185 km/h).

U.S. senators James Eastland and Thomas Dodd accused the State Department of complicity in Fidel Castro's invasion of Cuba.

The 1960 Summer Olympics closed in Rome.

The government of Laos declared a national emergency.

The Act of Bogotá was adopted by an 18–1 vote at the Inter-American Conference on Economic Aid.

September 12, 1960 (Monday)

Against the advice of his campaign staff, presidential candidate John F. Kennedy had accepted an invitation to speak to Protestant ministers in Houston on the question of whether a Roman Catholic President could operate independently of the Vatican. In a famous address, Kennedy won over his audience, commenting, "I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party's candidate for president who happens also to be a Catholic." The next day, the Houston ministers described the address as "the most complete, unequivocal and reassuring statement which could be expected of any person in his position,". Kennedy's opponent, Richard M. Nixon, a Quaker, commented that he could conceive of no circumstances which might ever require either himself or Kennedy to have a conflict between religion and the presidency.

September 13, 1960 (Tuesday)

In Washington, D.C., charges were filed against a Tennessee bank and 27 individuals said to have used economic pressure to prevent black people from voting.

Lee Harvey Oswald's honorable discharge from the United States Marines, granted on September 11, 1959, was revised to an "undesirable discharge" (rather than a bad conduct discharge or a dishonorable discharge, which require a court martial), based on bringing "discredit to the Marine Corps through adverse newspaper publicity" since defecting to the Soviet Union.

September 14, 1960 (Wednesday)

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, was created at the conclusion of a conference in Baghdad between representatives from Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

In the Congo, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, the 30-year-old Army Chief of Staff, staged a military coup, while allowing Joseph Kasavubu to continue as president. Two days later, Mobutu gave the Soviet Union's forces 48 hours to depart.

September 15, 1960 (Thursday)

Cuba nationalized its signature industry, seizing 16 cigar factories, 14 cigarette factories and 20 tobacco warehouses. Those manufacturers who could depart got a new start in other nations, and the famed "fine Cuban cigars" were replaced by Dominican, Nicaraguan, Honduran and other cigars.

Died: Héctor Castro, 55, disabled Uruguayan footballer who overcame the loss of an arm to help Uruguay win its first World Cup in 1930.

September 16, 1960 (Friday)

Joseph Kasavubu, President of the Republic of the Congo expelled two Communist ambassadors from the country.

Two dogs, Pal'ma and Malek, were launched into space aboard an R-2 rocket by the USSR.

Amos Alonzo Stagg retired from coaching football after a career that had started in 1890, commenting that "For the past 70 years I have been a coach. At the age of 98 years, it seems a good time to stop." After two years at Springfield College, Stagg became the first head coach of the University of Chicago football team and remained there for 41 seasons. Forced to leave at age 70, he then guided College of the Pacific for 13 years. At age 85, he became an assistant to his son, the head coach at Susquehanna College, and then volunteered as an assistant at Stockton College in California.

September 17, 1960 (Saturday)

East African Airways commenced a jet service with Comet 4 aircraft between London and Nairobi.

Born: Damon Hill, English racing driver, in Hampstead, London

Died: John Brallier, 83, for many years believed to have been, in 1895, the very first professional American football player (although it was later determined that William Heffelfinger had turned pro in 1892). Brailler's death came on the 40th anniversary of the founding of the National Football League.

September 18, 1960 (Sunday)

In elections in Sweden, the liberal Social Democrats, led by Prime Minister Tage Erlander, kept control of the Riksdag, winning 116 of the 232 seats.

September 19, 1960 (Monday)

Nikita Khrushchev and other Communist Bloc leaders arrived in the United States on the Soviet ocean liner Baltika, which docked at New York City at 9:20 a.m. Accompanied by János Kádár of Hungary, Todor Zhivkov of Bulgaria, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej of Romania, Khrushchev stepped off the ship to a mixture of cheers and boos, and then was driven to the Soviet consulate. Khrushchev and other leaders had arrived for the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, and could travel to New York at any time under the terms of the United Nations Treaty. Though the United States government could not bar Khrushchev, it asked television networks to minimize coverage of the Khrushchev's visit, and restricted him from traveling outside of Manhattan and Long Island.

World Airways Flight 830 crashed three minutes after takeoff from Agana, Guam, killing 80 of the 94 persons on board. The DC-6B had been chartered by the United States Air Force to take military personnel and their dependents from Clark Air Force Base (in the Philippines) back to the United States, and had crashed into the side of Mt. Barrigada The crash was the first in the 12-year history of World Airways.

Pakistan and India signed the Indus Waters Treaty, agreeing to share the waters of the Indus River and its tributaries.

September 20, 1960 (Tuesday)

The opening of the new term of the United Nations General Assembly brought an unprecedented number of the world's leaders to New York City. The first ever meeting between Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Cuba's Fidel Castro took place, not in Moscow or Havana, but at the Hotel Theresa in Harlem, where Castro and his entourage were staying during their visit. Fifteen new members were admitted to the U.N., with the newly independent African nations of Dahomey, Upper Volta, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo (Leopoldville), Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Madagascar, Niger, Somalia, Togo, Mali and Senegal, bringing that body's membership to 98.

Died: Ida Rubinstein, 74, Russian ballerina, in Vence, France

September 21, 1960 (Wednesday)

Dr. Albert Starr, along with Dr. Dwight Harken, performed the first successful implantation of an artificial mitral valve. The Starr-Edwards valve, designed by retired engineer Miles Edwards and Dr. Starr, was implanted into Philip Amundson, a 52-year-old farmer, in surgery at the University of Oregon. Amundson survived for ten years before dying in an accident.

In Malaya, Tuanku Syed Putra of Perlis was elected as the third Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Died: Dr. Ernest Goodpasture, 73, Vanderbilt University professor who, in 1931, invented the method of mass production of vaccines using fertilized chicken eggs, but never patented the process.

September 22, 1960 (Thursday)

The Federation of Mali, led by Modibo Keïta, acknowledged the withdrawal of Senegal a month earlier, withdrew from the French Community, and declared full independence from France as the Republic of Mali. September 22 is now celebrated as Mali's Independence Day.

Stanley William Fitzgerald, who had been placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives only two days earlier, was arrested in Portland, Oregon, after a citizen recognized him from a photograph in a newspaper.

Born: Isaac Herzog, Israeli politician, Chairman of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset since 2003; in Tel Aviv

September 23, 1960 (Friday)

In an address at the United Nations, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev surprised the gathered world leaders by calling for the Secretary-General to be replaced by a "troika", a three-member panel drawn from the Western nations, the Communist nations, and the non-aligned (Third World) nations. The proposal was never seriously considered.

September 24, 1960 (Saturday)

USS Enterprise, the first atomic-powered aircraft carrier in history, and the largest ship ever built up to that time, was launched at Newport News, Virginia, after being christened by Mrs. William B. Franke, wife of the U.S. Secretary of the Navy.

The Howdy Doody Show presented its 2,343rd and final episode, after a run that started on NBC on December 17, 1947. After the marionette Howdy Doody, and host Buffalo Bob Smith, gave their farewells, Clarabell the Clown— who had used pantomime and honking horns to communicate, but had never spoken— surprised his audience by saying, "Goodbye, kids."

The Dallas Cowboys played their first NFL game, losing 35–28 to the team they would face in three Super Bowls (1976, 1979 and 1996), the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Died: Mátyás Seiber, 55, Hungarian composer, in an automobile accident in South Africa

September 25, 1960 (Sunday)

Geothermal energy was used to generate electricity for the first time in the United States, as a power unit was placed online by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), drawing power from steam generated at The Geysers in northern California.

In baseball, the New York Yankees clinched the American League pennant with a 4–3 in over the Boston Red Sox. The day before, the Pittsburgh Pirates won the National League pennant for the first time in 33 years, despite a 4–2 loss to Milwaukee, after the St. Louis Cardinals were eliminated by a 5–0 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

Born: Ihor Belanov, Ukrainian footballer (USSR National Team, 1985–90), in Odessa.

Died:

Emily Post, 87, American author best known for her works on etiquette

Ruth Rowland Nichols, 59, American aviation pioneer, by suicide

September 26, 1960 (Monday)

The two leading U.S. presidential candidates, Republican Richard M. Nixon and Democrat John F. Kennedy, participated in the first televised presidential debate, which took place in Chicago at the television studios of WBBM-TV. The one-hour-long event began at 8:30 pm local time. The first debate demonstrated the power of a television image in influencing voter choices, with Kennedy appearing tan and charismatic, while Nixon, due in part to a poor makeup (and a recent hospitalzation), looked unkempt and tense. A special act of Congress was passed in order to allow the American television and radio networks to broadcast the debate without having to provide equal time to other presidential candidates.

September 27, 1960 (Tuesday)

Mexico nationalized its electric industry, with the Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) buying out the three existing private companies.

Died: Sylvia Pankhurst, 78, English suffragette leader

September 28, 1960 (Wednesday)

Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox retired from major league baseball, playing in Boston against the Baltimore Orioles. In his very last at bat, Williams closed his career with his 521st home run and a 5–4 win.

In Cuba, Fidel Castro created the "CDRs"—"Comites para la Defensa de la Revolucion" ("Committees for the Defense of the Revolution")—with volunteers reporting to the government about any counterrevolutionary behavior by their neighbors'. Officially, there were more than 100,000 CDRs and 88% of the adult Cuban population were members in 1996.

Born: Jennifer Rush, singer (The Power of Love), (as Heidi Stern) in Queens, New York

Died: Elivera M. Doud, 92, mother of First Lady Mamie Eisenhower and mother-in-law of U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower

September 29, 1960 (Thursday)

At the United Nations General Assembly, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev angrily interrupted British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Ever the gentleman, Macmillan calmly waited for Khrushchev to finish the harangue in Russian, smiled and commented, "I should like that to be translated", then finished his address.

My Three Sons made its television debut, with Fred MacMurray as the widowed father of the Douglas family. The series from 1960 to 1965 on ABC and from 1965 to 1972 on CBS.

Died: Mahmoud Harbi, 39, French Somalia (Djibouti) nationalist, in a plane crash

September 30, 1960 (Friday)

At 8:30 pm EST, American television viewers were invited to meet The Flintstones, "a modern Stone Age family", with the premiere of the cartoon as a prime time series on ABC.

Born: Blanche Lincoln, U.S. Senator for Arkansas 1999 to 2011; in Helena, Arkansas.

Died: James Squillante, 42, a New York City mobster who controlled local garbage collection, was last seen alive by a witness. Squillante had vanished from public view on September 23, and was presumed to have been murdered by a rival.