What happened in 1960

“The Theme From ‘A Summer Place’”

Percy Faith And His Orchestra · 9 weeks at #1 in 1960

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1. Jan 4El PasoMarty Robbins2 wks
2. Jan 18Running BearJohnny Preston3 wks
3. Feb 8Teen AngelMark Dinning2 wks
4. Feb 22The Theme From "A Summer Place"Percy Faith And His Orchestra9 wks
5. Apr 25Stuck On YouElvis Presley With The Jordanaires4 wks
6. May 23Cathy's ClownThe Everly Brothers5 wks
7. Jun 27Everybody's Somebody's FoolConnie Francis2 wks
8. Jul 11Alley-OopHollywood Argyles1 wk
9. Jul 18I'm SorryBrenda Lee3 wks
10. Aug 8Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot BikiniBrian Hyland1 wk
11. Aug 15It's Now Or NeverElvis Presley With The Jordanaires5 wks
12. Sep 19The TwistChubby Checker1 wk
13. Sep 26My Heart Has A Mind Of Its OwnConnie Francis2 wks
14. Oct 10Mr. CusterLarry Verne1 wk
15. Oct 17Save The Last Dance For MeThe Drifters3 wks
16. Oct 24I Want To Be WantedBrenda Lee1 wk
17. Nov 14Georgia On My MindRay Charles1 wk
18. Nov 21StayMaurice Williams & The Zodiacs1 wk
19. Nov 28Are You Lonesome To-night?Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires5 wks

Dates are the first chart week at #1 in 1960; weeks count only those in 1960.Find the #1 song on your birthday →

1. Feb 8The official groundbreaking of the Walk of Fame took place in Hollywood, Los Angeles, in California.
2. Jun 16Psycho, a psychological horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, premiered.
3. Jun 26Madagascar gains its independence from France.
4. Jul 4The 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state over ten months prior (August 21, 1959), in accordance with the Flag Acts.
5. Aug 5Burkina Faso, then known as Upper Volta, becomes independent from France.
6. Aug 6Cuban Revolution: Cuba nationalizes American and foreign-owned property in the nation.
7. Aug 7Ivory Coast becomes independent from France.
8. Aug 16Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
9. Aug 19Cold War: In Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union, downed American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the Soviet Union for espionage.
10. Sep 8In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1).
11. Nov 8John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, who would later be elected president in 1968 and 1972.
12. Nov 9Robert McNamara is named president of the Ford Motor Company, becoming the first non-Ford family member to serve in that post. He resigns a month later to join the newly elected John F. Kennedy administration.
13. Nov 28Mauritania becomes independent of France.
14. Dec 16A United Air Lines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collide over Staten Island, New York and crash, killing all 128 people aboard both aircraft and six more on the ground.

Event summaries from Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Each links to its article.

• U.S. President

  Dwight D. Eisenhower

• UK Prime Minister

  Harold Macmillan

• Prime Minister of Canada

  John Diefenbaker

• President of France

  Charles de Gaulle

• German Chancellor

  Konrad Adenauer

• Prime Minister of Japan

  Nobusuke Kishi → Hayato Ikeda

• Soviet leader

  Nikita Khrushchev

Everyone who held the office at some point in 1960, from Wikidata.

A selection of the best-documented titles on Wikidata, by first release year; not a box-office ranking.

• Michael StipeAmerican singer-songwriter and producer · Jan 4
• Gia CarangiAmerican supermodel (died 1986) · Jan 29
• James SpaderAmerican actor and producer · Feb 7
• Jim KellyAmerican football player and businessman · Feb 14
• Tony RobbinsAmerican author and motivational activist · Feb 29
• Jennifer GreyAmerican actress and dancer · Mar 26
• John SchneiderAmerican actor and country singer · Apr 8
• Valerie BertinelliAmerican actress · Apr 23
• Tony GoldwynAmerican actor and director · May 20
• Jeffrey DahmerAmerican serial killer (died 1994) · May 21

From Wikipedia’s “On this day”, CC BY-SA 4.0.