January 19-21, 1960
Tuesday, January 19, 1960
- The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan was signed at the White House by U.S. President Eisenhower and Japan's Prime Minister Kishi. Whether or not Japan's National Diet would ratify the unpopular treaty is another matter.
- Miss Sam, a rhesus monkey, was launched on board the rocket Little Joe 1B from Wallops Island, Virginia, reaching an altitude of about 50,000 feet before crashing in the nearby Chesapeake Bay nine minutes after launch. Miss Sam did not survive the impact.
- The Soviet Union successfully test-fires the first ICBM, which explodes on impact on the waters of the North Pacific Ocean at about 2:00 A.M. Moscow time.