•  Humble ISD History

    1960s Major Events of the Decade 

    1960

    • Democrat John F. Kennedy wins the U.S. Presidential Election after defeating Republican Richard Nixon.
    • The Organization of Petroleum Countries (OPEC) is created.
    • TIROS-1, the first weather satellite, is launched by the U.S.

    1961

    • Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person in space. One month later, Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space.
    • Construction on the Berlin Wall begins in an effort to separate East and West Berlin. 
    • The Bay of Pigs invasion is an unsuccessful U.S. backed operation to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba.
    • The Peace Corps is created. 

    1962

    • The Cuban Missile Crisis has the world on the edge of another World War as the United States and USSR come close to launching nuclear attacks.
    • James Meredith becomes the first African-American student to enroll at the University of Mississippi.   
    • The comic book character of Spider-Man makes his debut in the Amazing Fantasy #15 comic.
    • The Beatles release their first single, "Love Me Do," in the United Kingdom.
    • Sam Walton opens the first Wal-Mart store in Arkansas.

    1963

    • United States President John F. Kennedy is assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald. 
    • U.S. Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr. gives his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
    • The United States begins to use Zip Codes.
    • The BBC broadcasts the very first episodes of the iconic television show "Doctor Who."

    1964

    • United States President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law.
    • NASA's Mariner 4 space probe successfully approaches Mars and becomes the first spacecraft to take images of a planet from deep space.
    • Sidney Poitier wins the Academy Award for "Best Actor"becoming the first black actor to win that honor.
    • The computer coding language BASIC (Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is introduced.
    • The Ford Motor Company begins to produce and sell the Ford Mustang.

    1965

    • The Voting Rights Act is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson.
    • Soviet Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov becomes the first person to perform a space walk.
    • Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a peaceful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama.
    • The Vietnam War escalates and opposition to it begins to mount as anti-Vietnam protests become more common.

    1966

    • The first episode of the popular television show "Star Trek" airs.
    • The Soviet Union's Luna 9 unmanned spacecraft lands on the Moon.
    • The Houston Astrodome is built with the dome measuring 710 ft diameter.
    • All cigarette packets in the United States must carry the health warning "Caution! Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."

    1967

    • Rolling Stone publishes its first magazine issue.
    • The Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs play against each other in the first Super Bowl, with the Packers winning 35 to 10.
    • Thurgood Marshall is appointed to the Supreme Court and becomes the first African American.

    1968

    • Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in April by James Earl Ray.
    • The Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed into law by President Johnson.
    • Richard Nixon wins the United States presidential election.
    • The first manned Apollo mission, Apollo 7, is launched by NASA.

    1969

    • Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first men to arrive on the Moon during NASA's Apollo 11 mission.
    • The Woodstock music festival takes place in New York and features such acts as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, and The Who.
    • AARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet, relays its first communications between UCLA and Stanford. 
    • The popular children's television show "Sesame Street" debuts.