Top News Stories from 1962
World Events
World Statistics
Population: 4.378 billion
population by decade
Nobel Peace Prize:
Linus Pauling (US)
More World Statistics...
- 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.
U.S. Events
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
More U.S. Statistics...
- James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registers at University of Mississippi (Oct. 1).
- Pat Brown defeats Richard Nixon in the California gubernatorial race.
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 GiantsNBA Championship
Boston d. LA LakersStanley Cup
Toronto d. ChicagoWimbledon
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
DecidedlyNCAA Basketball Championship
Cincinnati d. Ohio St. (71-59)NCAA Football Champions
USC (11-0-0)World Cup
Brazil d. CzechoslovakiaEntertainment
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
Academy Award, Best Picture:
West Side Story, Robert Wise, producer (United Artists)
Nobel Prize for Literature:
John Steinbeck (US)
Album of the Year:
Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland (Capitol)
Song of the Year:
"Moon River," Henry Mancini
Song of the Year:
"Moon River," Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, songwriters
Miss America:
Maria Fletcher (NC)
More Entertainment Awards...
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
Science
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)
More Nobel Prizes in 1998...
- 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.
- 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
Death
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