THE '60s

Turbulent, fun and enigmatic, the 1960's were years when Americans mentally and socially grew like never before.

So what happened in the "crazy Sixties"?

Here is a list of some of the more interesting events that marked the decade as well as inventions that greatly influenced people’s lives:

• The first televised presidential debate was held between Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John Kennedy. Kennedy won the election by one of the closest margins in history.

• The soviets have sent the first man into space and the Americans need a man in space, too.  The event came on May 5, 1961.  Alan Shepard was sent to space in the "Freedom 7". Kennedy also wanted to have a man on the moon and back before the decade was over.


• In 1963, the Washington-Moscow "hot line" communications link opened.


• President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22 1963.  Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was never sent to trial.  While being moved by police to a different jail, a man named Jack Ruby shot Oswald.  Who killed President Kennedy nobody knows for sure. 

• Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee.  Two months later, Robert Kennedy, John F. Kennedy's brother was assassinated, too. 

• July 20, 1969, 4:18 p.m., one of the biggest events of history happened.  Apollo 11 landed on the moon, astronauts aboard.  Neil Armstrong's famous speech for the historical steps "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."


• The cigarette boxes came out with a warning printed on them: "Smoking can be hazardous to your health".  It had not occurred to the US government to give the warning that smoking lead to cancer and lung problems. 

• The first oral contraceptive (Enovid) was marketed.


• Popular books included "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller, and "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.


• A famous music festival Woodstock took place in 1969


• The "Twist" was the most popular dance back in the 60's. People thought it became so popular because it helped them let go of the Cold War tension.


• On TV, "The Andy Griffith Show" debuted. Also, "The Flintstones", "The Roaring Twenties", and "Surfside Six" made their bow. Westerns ruled, with 11 on ABC, 9 on NBC, and 8 on CBS.


• During the decade, women started wearing mini skirts, leather boots and fake eyelashes. Men wore Paisley shirts, velvet trousers and high collared Regency jackets. Men also began to wear their hair long. 


• Timothy Leary was famous for doing research on the drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) including experimenting with it himself.


• Ken, Barbie's boyfriend, made his debut.


• Aluminum cans came out, but 90% of soft drinks and 50% of beer were still in bottles.


• The first laser was built at Hughes Aircraft.


• Electric wristwatches debuted.

• Douglas Englehart of Stanford University developed the computer mouse along with a five key "corded" keyboard in 1964.


• The first hand-held calculator was invented in 1967 by Texas Instruments, at a cost of $2,500 a piece.


• The first cash dispensing machine is installed by First Philadelphia Bank in 1968.

In this courseware we decided to take a look back and tackle some of the most important aspects of the 1960s in the USA. The content consists of the following lessons in which you can find out more about these topics:

• Political situation
• Countercultures
• Literature
• Art
• Music
• Cinema & TV