Love Me Do: A Collaborative Timeline (1960-2020).

Basic Rules
1. The timeline will go month by month, with the goal of covering as many days as possible. We are aiming for this to be one of the most comprehensive collaborative timelines ever, so I’d love to see this packed full of detail.

2. Due to the detailed nature of the timeline, there will be days when multiple events occur. The formatting of the timeline will be conducive to this. I’d prefer to see as many detailed entries that don’t end in “…” as possible. We will go one month at a time.

3. One thing that a lot of these past projects lack is pictures – feel free to include them, but remember that forum rules limit posters to three images a day. Try and keep the size of the image limited as to avoid stretching the page.

4. Elections are tricky; therefore, results of major elections in ATL – such as UK General Elections or US presidential races – will be determined by consensus after weighing what events have transpired and how they’d affect the timeline's politics. I will not consider any posts that contain election related items until we've reached the actual election period.

5. Finally, @Addemup and I will retain veto power just to ensure the project stays on a realistic path, but all decisions will be made with the input of our contributors.

So, with that in mind, here we go! Anyone/Everyone is welcome to make a contribution. Up first is the month of February 1960. Once the month has been filled out, we'll move on to the next one.
 
Chapter 1: January, 1960.
Friday, January 1, 1960:
  • The Republic of Cameroon is finally granted independence by the Fifth French Republic at exactly midnight, with celebrations occurring in the designated capital. The Marxist insurgency there still wages on however, killing about forty people by the end of the new nation's first day as an independent state. Meanwhile, the country's new Prime Minister, a former social worker named Ahmadou Ahijo, looks towards reuniting the British controlled region of Cameroon into the newly independent state.
  • The Doomsday Clock is set back four minutes, from the previous "two minutes to midnight" to six.
Saturday, January 2nd, 1960:
  • At the Senate Caucus room in Washington, Senator John F. Kennedy (D-MA) formally announces his intention to run for president. When he is asked about whether his being a Roman Catholic would affect his chances of winning the nomination, he responds by expressing his hope that "the only issue that is truly relevant in the question of a candidate's religion is whether or not he believes in the separation of church and state."
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Senator John Kennedy formally announces his presidential campaign.​

  • Friedrich "Fitz" Alder, socialist politician and the assassin of Austrian Prime Minister Karl von Stürgkh, dies in his home in Zurich, Switzerland, at age 80.
Sunday, January 3rd, 1960:
  • The CBS Sports Spectacular makes its debut at 4:00 EST, initially hosted by basketball player John "Bud" Palmer. The aim of the show is to air "sports seldom seen," with the first broadcast airing a basketball game between the Harlem Globetrotters and the Baltimore Rocket.
Monday, January 4th, 1960:
  • The European Free Trade Association Treaty is signed in Stockholm by the countries of Austria, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, creating a six-member alternative to the seven-member European Economic Community. The treaty is to take effect on March 4.
  • The steel strike of 1959 is settled under the mediation of Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his staff.
  • Banks in France begin issuing the revalued nouveau franc, which is roughly equivalent to five US dollars.
  • French author Albert Camus is nearly killed when a sports car he was riding as a passenger in crashes into a tree. His publisher and the driver of the sports car, Michel Gallimard, did not survive; Camus survived almost completely unscathed.
Tuesday, January 5th, 1960:
  • British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan embarks on an international tour that will cover all of Britain's current and former colonies in order to increase unity amongst the Commonwealth nations.
  • The French newspaper Le Monde breaks the news of a confidential report detailing the French military's torture practices in Algeria. The report's findings spark outrage among the left in France, and sparks sporadic protests across the country as well.
  • A 1.5 million dollar trust fund set up by Benjamin Franklin's will in 1791 to assist young artisans is prematurely split between the state governments of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, primarily due to the fact that there were no longer any artisans who would benefit.
Wednesday, January 6th, 1960:
  • An emergency room intern at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore becomes the first person to save a life with CPR.
  • National Airlines Flight 2511 explodes in midflight and later crashes into a swamp at around 2:30 A.M. near Bolivia, North Carolina.
  • The six-year ban on political parties in Iraq is finally lifted via the newly enacted Associations Law.
Thursday, January 7, 1960:
  • President Eisenhower delivers his final State of the Union address, in which he describes a new era of peace brought by the threat of nuclear submarines armed with UGM-27 Polaris ballistic missiles. Ironically, one of the Polaris missiles, using its own internal guidance system, failed on reaching its target just a few hours after the closing of President Eisenhower's speech. The President believes the advent of the nuclear submarine will keep the theory of "mutually assured destruction" relevant as the Soviet's nuclear capacity threatens to outpace the United States.
  • Meanwhile, the Soviet Union announces that it will be conducting a long-range rocket test over the northern Pacific Ocean, warning other nations not to send ships between a specific area between January 20th and February 20th. Upon learning of this, President Eisenhower's Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., lodges a formal protest at the UN, though both President Eisenhower and General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev are well aware that nothing can be done.
  • Construction begins on the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in Egypt, as President Gamal Abdel Nasser of the United Arab Republic pushed a button to explode 10 tons of dynamite. The dam will be one of the largest construction projects in the history of the African continent, though there are fears by environmental activists that the construction of the dam will have irreversible effects on Egyptian agriculture.
Friday, January 8, 1960:
  • An American defector to the USSR by the name of Lee Harvey Oswald arrives in the city of Minsk, Belarus, and begins work as a metal worker in the Byelorussian Radio and Television Factory. He had previously defected in October, 1959, but has since grown disillusioned with life in the USSR, claiming that he receives "meager wages" with "nowhere to spend it" in his diary.
  • David Cooper Nelson becomes the first convict to be executed in New Mexico's gas chamber.
  • Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria dies at age 90. He was a pretender to the extinct Kingdom of Two Sicilies, and his title passes to his son Alfonso.
Saturday, January 9, 1960:
  • Kenneth Kaunda, the 35-year-old leader of the Zambian National African Congress, is released from prison on the orders of the British Governor of Northern Rhodesia, Sir Evelyn Hone. This occurs just a few weeks before Prime Minister Macmillan will come to Lusaka.
  • American President Richard M. Nixon officially becomes a candidate for President after entering his name for the New Hampshire primary ballot, officially signaling his entry into the race for the Republican nomination for the President of the United States.
Sunday, January 10, 1960:
  • American Secretary of the Army Wilber M. Bucker says in a press conference that the US would "defend the islands of Quemoy and Matsu from communist Chinese aggression if and only if the need arises." This marks a change in American policy towards the People's Republic of China, and the issue of whether or not the USA should go to war against China over the two islands would become an important issue in the burgeoning presidential campaign.
Monday, January 11, 1960:
  • Senator Theodore F. Green (D-RI) of Rhode Island announces that he would not be running for reelection that year. He is 92 years old and presently stands as the oldest person to ever serve in Congress.
  • Senator Wayne Morse (D-OR) declares his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination, putting him in a small field that also includes Senators John Kennedy (D-MA) and Hubert Humphrey (D-MN).
  • The first discussions are held in the White House on the matter of covertly overthrowing the Castro regime in Cuba. However, despite hours of debate among top intelligence and military officials, no consensus is made by the end of the day.
Tuesday, January 12, 1960:
  • The movie Scent of Mystery is released in theaters, and the first to feature "Smell-O-Vision". It is met with moderately favorable reviews.
  • After seven years, Kenya's colonial Governor Patrick Renison lifts the state of emergency; with the Mau-Mau insurgency dying down, the emergency regulations had set curfews, restricted travel, and required the licensing of printing presses. The end of the emergency in Kenya quickly restores a sense of peace in the east African colony.
Wednesday, January 13, 1960:
  • The Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs is a abolished and replaced by 15 independent agencies for each republic; it is the latest move towards reform by Khrushchev, who is beginning to run afoul of the old guard left over from Stalin's leadership. There are whispers among the Kremlin that the General Secretary may face an internal coup in the party, but in the interim, his position still is secure.
  • At a press conference, President Eisenhower is asked by a reporter if he plans to endorse Vice President Nixon; Ike dodges the question, dancing around the issue during the widely televised conference. This emboldens other Republicans considering a run, including Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), who are also pondering a presidential campaign.
Thursday, January 14, 1960:
  • The Central Bank of Australia officially begins operation, as does the ten-member Central Bank Board that governs it. This body, based on the American Federal Reserve system, will govern Australia's monetary policy autonomously.
  • John L. Lewis retires from his position of President of the United Mine Workers of America after almost forty years. He is succeeded by Thomas Kennedy, who has previously served as the Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania in the mid-thirties.
Friday, January 15, 1960:
  • The Supreme Soviet of the USSR gives their unanimous assent for their leader, Nikita Khrushchev, to reduce the size of the Soviet armed forces by about two fifths. The reduction was put in place as part of Khrushchev's plan to shift expenditures to nuclear weapons.
  • Seven Chicago policemen are arrested following the revelation that they had assisted in burglarizing businesses in areas that they had previously been assigned to patrol. This becomes the catalyst for a campaign in Chicago to address police corruption and brutality in the city.
  • The first televised anime is broadcast in Japan.
Saturday, January 16, 1960:
  • Nobusuke Kishi, the current Prime Minister of Japan, avoids a rioting crowd of several hundred Zengakuren while attempting to depart from Tokyo's Hanenda Airport in order to sign an unpopular treaty with the Americans. He is later successful in leaving on an airplane.
  • Meanwhile in America, it is announced that US President Eisenhower would be taking a ten-day tour of Western Europe to increase solidarity among the NATO powers from June 10 to June 19, 1960.
Sunday, January 17, 1960:
  • The investigation of Chicago's police department continues, arresting a further four policemen involved with the business burglaries by the end of the first day.
Monday, January 18, 1960:
  • Capital Airlines Flight 20 crashes near Charles City, Virginia, while en route from Washington to Norfolk. Most of the forty-six passengers and all four crew members are killed on impact, though Charles City County Emergency services are able to rescue a few of them.
  • Major General Jacques Masseu, the commander of the French Army in Algeria, criticizes his boss, President Charles De Gaulle, in an interview with a West German newspaper, saying "maybe the army made a mistake" by installing De Gaulle as President of France.
Tuesday, January 19, 1960:
  • The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan was signed at the White House President Eisenhower and Japan's Prime Minister Kishi. Whether or not Japan's National Diet would ratify the unpopular treaty remains unclear, and protests break out across the country in response to the treaty's signing.
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President Eisenhower and Prime Minister Kishi sign a treaty formalizing the alliance.​

  • California Governor Edmund Brown enters the Democratic primary race, though his candidacy is limited to California where he is standing as a "favorite son" candidate.
Wednesday, January 20, 1960:
  • 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.
  • With Inauguration a year away, President Eisenhower prepares for his final year in office. Meanwhile, polling conducted by Gallup shows Vice President Nixon as the favorite for the Republican nomination and Senator John F Kennedy as the frontrunner on the Democratic side.
Thursday, January 21, 1960:
  • 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.
  • Secretary of State Christian Herter expresses an interest in including the People's Republic of China in disarmament talks, though he insists that the Eisenhower administration's policy of not recognizing Mao's regime in Peking remains firm.
  • In one of the worst mining disasters in history, 437 South African miners are killed when a large section of the mine collapses, trapping them deep underground as methane gas begins to leak in.
Friday, January 22, 1960:
  • French President de Gaulle removes Major General Masseu from his post, following the latter criticizing the former in a German newspaper interview. European Algerians are outraged, and right-wingers across France break out in protest in support of the General.
  • Sugar Ray Robinson maintains his world middleweight boxing title after defeating Paul Bender by fifteen points.
Saturday, January 23, 1960:
  • Undersea explorer Jacques Piccard, along with US Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh, descend into the Mariana Trench only to be never heard from again. It is widely accepted in the scientific community that the weight of the water pressure cracked the submarine-like device, killing both Piccard and Walsh instantly.
  • As many as 10,000 European residents in Algeria, including members of the French home guard, barricade portions of the city of Algiers and withdrew behind them. This begins a siege that may last for who knows how long...
Sunday, January 24, 1960:
  • Japanese author Ashihei Hino commits suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills at the age of 52.
  • Local Algerian police clashes with the demonstrators who are currently besieging the Algerian capital, killing around 12 people and injuring around 70 more. Over 5,000 European settlers erect barricades around the city, sealing off their neighborhoods from the remainder of the city.
Monday, January 25, 1960:
  • Belgium agreed to grant its colony, the Belgian Congo, independence, setting the date to be July 30, and letting elections be held in June. A new generation of colonial leaders across all ideological spectrums begin competing quietly in order to gain control of the mineral blessed central African colony.
Tuesday, January 26, 1960:
  • After 22 ballots to select the new National Football League Commissioner, Marshall Leahy had the ten out of twelve votes that he needed to be elected.
Wednesday, January 27, 1960:
  • Following Japan's signing of the new security treaty with the United States, the Soviet Union announced that it was cancelling plans to return the island of Hamobai to the Japanese.
  • Senator Olin Johnson (D-SC) calls on the Eisenhower administration to refer their plans to protect voting rights to the Senate Judiciary Committee during an address to the Senate. Johnson, a segregationist "Dixiecrat," is hoping to delay Eisenhower's agenda until after the election in order to prevent the outgoing Eisenhower administration from taking action.
  • Despite facing pressure from some advisers to enter the Presidential race to match Senator Kennedy and enter the presidential race, Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson (D-TX) affirms his intention to not campaign in the primaries and instead begins whipping delegates in line ahead of the Democratic presidential convention, which will take place in Las Angeles in July.
Thursday, January 28, 1960:
  • China and Burma sign an agreement specifying the borders between their nations.
Friday, January 29, 1960:
  • Facing a challenge from the rebelling European settlers in Algeria, France's President Charles de Gaulle made a televised address to the people of France, stating that he would not give in to the settlers and directed the Army to end the rebellion. About two-thirds of the French Army heeded his call to do so, with the final third either reluctant or sympathetic with the Algerian settlers.
  • 17 year old Joseph McNeil, a freshman in college, is turned away from a bus terminal's restaurant on account of his skin color. After telling some friends of the incident, they resolve to take action.
Saturday, January 30, 1960:
  • J.C. Kumarappa, the "father of Ghandian economics", dies.
  • Joseph McNeil and three other students stage the first "sit-in" when they sit down at a Woolworth's dining counter. Despite harassment from other patrons, they refuse to back down and are eventually arrested.
  • At Tafiq along the Israeli-Syrian border, Israeli troops open fire on soldiers of the United Arab Republic (the union of Egypt and Syria), forcing President Nasser to deploy troops in the Sinai peninsula in response.
Sunday, January 31st, 1960:
  • With the New Hampshire primary just over a month away, both Senator Kennedy and Vice President Nixon both are heading towards overwhelming victories. Neither candidate has any serious opposition on the primary ballot, though there is a minor draft effort trying to lure Nelson Rockefeller into the race. Rockefeller had previously floated a presidential bid, but firmly took himself out of the race in late 1959.
The World as of January 31st, 1960:
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Credit to @Addemup for inspiring this project and for allowing me to co-manage it. February 1960 is now open for contributions; I'll compile them in the coming days. Seeing as there is a limit of three images per day, I think it's best that we publish a world map at the end of each month rather than each week.
 
This looks pretty good! I'll start:

Tuesday, February 2, 1960:
  • Punxsutawney Phil is reported to have not seen his shadow for the first time in a decade, supposedly meaning that there is going to be an "early spring".
 
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Wednesday, February 3rd, 1960:
  • Senator Stuart Symington (D-MO) enters his name onto the New Hampshire primary ballot with the intention of being the "anti-Kennedy" in the state that other declared candidates (Humphrey, Morse, Brown) and prospective candidates (Johnson) have largely ignored. Symington is immediately considered the underdog in the Granite State, which borders Senator Kennedy's home state of Massachusetts.
  • Before a session of the South African Parliament, British Prime Minister Macmillan makes the "Winds of Change" speech, telling the all-white assembly that "The winds of change are blowing through this continent, and whether any of us like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact."
  • The French Senate votes 206-59 to allow President Charles de Gaulle to rule by decree in order to dismantle the power of French settlers in Algeria. The National Assembly had approved the measure the day before, with a vote of 423-93. "We almost saw a collapse of the Republic this week," Prime Minister Michel Debre told the senators in an attempt to get them to pass it.
  • U.S. President Eisenhower announced at a news conference that the United States of America should make nuclear weapons available to its allies. He urged the amending of the Atomic Energy Act in order to permit the U.S. to do this.
  • Italian comedian Fred Buscaglione is tragically shot and killed while riding in his car by a man working for the Sicilian mafia. His whimsical portrayal of mobsters in film would be later attributed as the motive behind his killing.
Thursday, February 4, 1960:
  • After a brief interview, French President de Gaulle fires Jacques Soustelle from his position as Deputy Prime Minister for Algeria. He was the first of the French Algerians to be dismissed as part of de Gaulle's rule by decree.
  • The communist sympathizing leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro, welcomes Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Anastas Mikoyan as the beginning of a state visit to Cuba. Castro's aim is to bring Cuba into the Soviet orbit in order to both protect his regime from the United States and gain economic support.
Friday, February 5, 1960:
  • The CERN particle accelerator is inaugurated in Geneva, Switzerland.
Saturday, February 6, 1960:
  • In the first elections in Burma since the military coup two years prior, former Prime Minister U Nu's party captures 140 of the 250 contested seats. He is set to take office on April 11.
  • Jesse Belvin, African-American singer/songwriter, is almost killed in an auto accident four hours after preforming in a concert with Sam Cooke and Jackie Wilson. He recovers nearly unscathed.
Sunday, February 7, 1960:
  • About twenty people are killed and forty more injured in a railroad derailment near Sewell, Chile. The train had been carrying coal miners and their families on an outing at the time of the derailment.
  • Igor Kurchatov, nuclear physicist and father of the Soviet atomic bomb project, dies of a cardiac embolism.
  • Presidential candidate Senator John Kennedy is introduced to Judith Campbell Exner by Frank Sinatra; the two will within a month embark on a romantic affair.
Monday, February 8, 1960:
  • The Hollywood Walk of Fame begins with over a thousand names of past and present celebrities being added.
  • Amon Ndoffu II, King of Sanwi, declares an independent kingdom six months before the French colony of Côte d'Ivoire was scheduled to become an independent nation; he is murdered later that day when Ivorian troops attempt to arrest him along with his Prime Minister.
Tuesday, February 9th, 1960:
  • Adolph Coors III is murdered near his Colorado home during a botched kidnapping; his body is found with two gunshot wounds to the chest near his truck. A police inquiry into the circumstances of death is commenced immediately.
 
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