ABSTRACT
In 1960, a number of African countries gained independence from France. Construction started on the Aswan Dam. Four black students staged a sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. France concluded its first atomic bomb test. An announcement was made that the US intended to send 3,500 soldiers to Vietnam. Brasília became the new capital of Brazil. President Eisenhower signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, making it law. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the birth control pill. Israel’s Mossad abducted Adolf Eichmann from hiding in Buenos Aires so that he could be tried for war crimes in World War II. A peaceful military coup d’état took place in Turkey. The first televised debate occurred between Kennedy and Nixon. Khrushchev famously banged his shoe on a table at a UN General Assembly meeting to defend criticism of Soviet policies. In 1950, 10% of American households had a television set; ten years later, the number was 90%. 1
