This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1960

	January 1st	The Republic of Cameroon gained its independence from France and the United Kingdom.
	January 9th	Construction of the Aswan Dam began in Egypt. It was completed in 1970.
	January 11th	Chad declared its independence from the rule of France.
	January 12th	Canadian actor, Oliver Platt, was born in Ontario.
	January 12th	American basketball player, Dominique Wilkins, was born in Paris, France. He is considered as one of the best NBA players of all time although he won no title in the NBA, hw did win the European Clubs' Championship and the Greek Cup with the Greek team, Panathinaikos.
	January 29th	American diver, Greg Louganis, was born in California. He is one of the most renowned Olympic divers of the late 20th century, who won a total of 4 gold Olympic medals.
	February 7th	American actor, James Spader, was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
	February 13th	Italian football referee, Pierluigi Collina, was born in Bologna. Though his occupation was that of a financial advisor, he is known as having been one of the best and most recognizable football coaches in Europe.
	February 13th	France conducted its first atomic bomb test.
	February 18th	British actress, Greta Scacchi, was born in Milan, Italy. Her most famous role was in the blockbuster 1990 movie, Presumed Innocent.
	February 21st	All businesses in Cuba were nationalized by its leader Fidel Castro.
	February 29th	A strong earthquake hit Southern Morocco, killing more than 3000 people.
	March 4th	A French freighter ship exploded while docked in the harbour of Havana, Cuba. 100 people died in the explosion for which Cuban president, Fidel Castro, blamed the United States.
	March 9th	American actress, Linda Fiorentino, was born in Philadelphia.
	March 12th	A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea resulted in the death of 68 workers.
	March 21st	Brazilian formula one race driver, Ayrton Senna, was born in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He had been crowned Formula One world champion three times.
	April 2nd	British athlete, Linford Christie, was born in Saint Andrew, Jamaica.
	April 21st	The city of Brasilia, officially became the capital of Brazil.
	May 7th	The Soviet Union announced that it was holding American U-2 pilot Gary Powers. His plane was shot down during an espionage mission.
	May 22nd	An earthquake measuring 9.5 on the Richter scale, now known as the Great Chilean Earthquake, hit southern Chile. It is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded.
	May 27th	In Turkey, military forces lead a coup d'etat. General Cemal Gursel became the 4th president of Turkey as a result of the coup.
	June 16th	Alfred Hitchcock's legendary horror movie, Psycho, premiered in New York City.
	June 20th	Senegal gained its independence from the rule of France.
	June 28th	Cuba nationalized the US owned oil refineries in its territories.
	June 30th	Congo gained its independence from Belgium.
	July 1st	Somalia gained its independence, it was previously a colony of the United Kingdom.
	July 11th	The novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, was published by Harper Lee. Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1961.
	July 12th	The popular, Etch A Sketch, drawing toy went on sale for the first time.
	August 3rd	Niger became an independent country. It was previously a French colony.
	August 10th	Spanish actor, Antonio Banderas, was born in Malaga, Spain. He is probably the most successful Hispanic actor to ever work in the United States.
	August 11th	Chad declared its independence. It had previously been an autonomous member of the French Community.
	August 13th	The Central African Republic declared its independence from France.
	August 16th	Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
	August 17th	Gabon gained its independence from the rule of France.
	September 5th	Muhammad Ali, won the gold medal in boxing at the Olympic Games of Rome.
	September 9th	British actor, Hugh Grant, was born in London, England.
	September 22nd	Mali gained its independence from France.
	September 26th	The first televised debate took place in Chicago, Illinois, between US presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. The pre-election televised debate is a custom that has been established ever since.
	October 1st	Nigeria gained its independence from the United Kingdom.
	October 3rd	Niger gained independence from France.
	October 4th	An Eastern Air Lines turboprop passenger aircraft crashed after a bird strike. 62 people died in the crash.
	October 18th	Belgian actor and martial artist, Jean-Claude Van Damme, was born in Brussels. He was the European professional Karate Association's middleweight champion. Among other things he studied ballet for five years before departing for the US to pursue a film career.
	October 19th	The United States government activated an embargo on Communist Cuba. The embargo has lasted until modern times (2006).
	October 29th	Muhammad Ali (then still known as Cassius Clay) won his first professional fight in Louisville, Kentucky.
	October 30th	Argentinian footballer, Diego Armando Maradona, was born in Villa Fiorito a town in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Maradona was spotted by a talent scout at the age of 10 while he was playing football for his neighbourhood club.
	November 2nd	Greek conductor and composer, Dimitri Mitropoulos, died at the age of 64. He spent most of his career in the United States and is widely considered as one of the influential figures of 20th century 'classical' music.
	November 3rd	American volleyball player, Karch Kiraly, was born in Michigan. He is the only athlete to have won the golden olympic medal for both the sports of indoors and outdoors volleyball.
	November 9th	Robert McNamara was appointed president of the Ford Motor Company. He was the first non-Ford family member to serve in that post. He quit only a month later to join the administration of the new elected president, John F. Kennedy.
	November 16th	American actor, Clark Gable, died at the age of 59. He was one of the biggest stars of American cinema in the early period of sound movies.
	November 25th	American, John F. Kennedy, Jr., was born in Washington, D.C. He was the son of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. He died in a plane crash in 1999.
	November 28th	Mauritania gained its independence from France.
	November 30th	The DeSoto automobile brand ceases to be produced. DeSoto produced cars between 1928 and 1961 and was owned by the Chrysler Corporation.
	December 3rd	American actress, Julianne Moore, was born in Massachusetts.
	December 3rd	American actress, Daryl Hannah, was born in Chicago, Illinois. She gained worldwide fame after her participation in the cult sci-fi classic, Blade Runner.
	December 10th	Northern Irish actor and director, Kenneth Branagh, was born in Belfast. He is best known for his film adaptations of several of the works of William Shakespeare, such as Henry V and Much Ado about Nothing.
	December 16th	During a severe snowstorm over New York's Idlewild Airport, a United Airlines jet collided with a TWA jet resulting in the death of 134 people.

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