Adolph Coors III, the chairman of the board of the
Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped in the United States, and his captors demand a ransom of $500,000. Coors is later found murdered, and
Joseph Corbett Jr. is indicted for the crime.
May 10 – The nuclear submarine
USS Triton, under the command of Captain
Edward L. Beach Jr., completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the
Earth.
July 21 –
Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II, having made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.
July 25 – The Woolworth's counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina, the subject of a sit-in that sparked sit-ins and pickets across the southern United States in February 1960, serves its first black customer.
August 16 –
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over
New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m). He sets world records for: high-altitude jump;
free-fall by falling 16 miles (26 km) before opening his
parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance, 982 km/h (614 mi/h). These records would stand unbeaten for over 60 years.
September 1 – Disgruntled
railroad workers effectively halt operations of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasts two days).
September 30 – Animated sitcom The Flintstones airs its first episode on the
ABC network in the United States, becoming Hanna-Barbera's first television series episode lasting half an hour.
October
October 7 –
Frank McGee hosts the second presidential debate.
October 12 –
John F. Kennedy speaks before the Ministerial Association of
Houston, Texas, saying, in part, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the American President, should he be Catholic, how to act; and where no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote."
December 2 – U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1 million for the relief and resettlement of
Cubanrefugees, who have been arriving in
Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
December 11 – MGM's The Wizard of Oz is rerun on
CBS only a year after its previous
telecast, thus beginning the tradition of annual telecasts of the film in the United States.
December 13 – Navy Commander Leroy Heath (Pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator) establish a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27,874.2 metres) in an
A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000-kilogram payload, besting the previous record by over 4 miles.
December 16
U.S. Secretary of State
Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit five atomic submarines and eighty
Polaris missiles to
NATO by the end of 1963.
December 19 – Fire sweeps through the
USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a
Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.
Adolph Coors III, the chairman of the board of the
Coors Brewing Company, is kidnapped in the United States, and his captors demand a ransom of $500,000. Coors is later found murdered, and
Joseph Corbett Jr. is indicted for the crime.
May 10 – The nuclear submarine
USS Triton, under the command of Captain
Edward L. Beach Jr., completes the first underwater circumnavigation of the
Earth.
July 21 –
Francis Chichester, English navigator and yachtsman, arrives in New York aboard Gypsy Moth II, having made a record solo Atlantic crossing in 40 days.
July 25 – The Woolworth's counter in
Greensboro, North Carolina, the subject of a sit-in that sparked sit-ins and pickets across the southern United States in February 1960, serves its first black customer.
August 16 –
Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over
New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m). He sets world records for: high-altitude jump;
free-fall by falling 16 miles (26 km) before opening his
parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance, 982 km/h (614 mi/h). These records would stand unbeaten for over 60 years.
September 1 – Disgruntled
railroad workers effectively halt operations of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history (the event lasts two days).
September 30 – Animated sitcom The Flintstones airs its first episode on the
ABC network in the United States, becoming Hanna-Barbera's first television series episode lasting half an hour.
October
October 7 –
Frank McGee hosts the second presidential debate.
October 12 –
John F. Kennedy speaks before the Ministerial Association of
Houston, Texas, saying, in part, "I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the American President, should he be Catholic, how to act; and where no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote."
December 2 – U.S. President
Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the use of $1 million for the relief and resettlement of
Cubanrefugees, who have been arriving in
Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
December 11 – MGM's The Wizard of Oz is rerun on
CBS only a year after its previous
telecast, thus beginning the tradition of annual telecasts of the film in the United States.
December 13 – Navy Commander Leroy Heath (Pilot) and Lieutenant Larry Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator) establish a world altitude record of 91,450.8 feet (27,874.2 metres) in an
A3J Vigilante carrying a 1,000-kilogram payload, besting the previous record by over 4 miles.
December 16
U.S. Secretary of State
Christian Herter announces that the United States will commit five atomic submarines and eighty
Polaris missiles to
NATO by the end of 1963.
December 19 – Fire sweeps through the
USS Constellation, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, while it is under construction at a
Brooklyn Navy Yard pier, killing 50 and injuring 150.