August 1960

[August 1], 1960 (Monday)

• At a dinner at the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, Communist Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai proposed negotiating a peace treaty with the United States, to create "a non-nuclear zone in Asia and the Western Pacific" region. A press officer for the U.S. State Department rejected the idea as "another meaningless propaganda gesture".
• The Republic of Dahomey, formerly part of French West Africa as French Dahomey, became independent, with Hubert Maga as its first president. In 1975, it would change its name to the Republic of Benin.
• Typhoon Shirley struck Taiwan, killing 126 people.
• Born:
• *Chuck D, American rapper, leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy; in Long Island, New York
• *Professor Griff, American rapper, spoken word artist, lecturer and former member of Public Enemy; in Roosevelt, New York
• *Micheál Martin, Irish politician, Taoiseach, in Cork

  [August 2], 1960 (Tuesday)

• The Continental League, proposed as a third major league for baseball, came to an end after CL President Branch Rickey and co-founder William Shea concluded a meeting in Chicago with representatives of the National League and American League. The NL and AL, each with eight teams, had been confronted with the proposed eight team CL. By agreement, each established league would place franchises in proposed CL cities. For 1962, three Continental sites had franchises, with the National League adding the New York Mets and the Houston Colt.45s, while the American League allowed its Washington Senators to relocate to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as the Minnesota Twins. In later years, teams would be placed in Atlanta, Dallas, Toronto and Denver. Buffalo, New York, was the only Continental site that would still be without a major league team nearly 60 years later.

  [August 3], 1960 (Wednesday)

• Hector Trujillo resigned abruptly as president of the Dominican Republic. The brother of de facto leader Rafael Trujillo had served as a figurehead and was succeeded by Joaquín Balaguer.
• A fire at the Soviet research center at Mirny Station in Antarctica, fed by gale-force winds and hampered by a lack of equipment, killed eight meteorologists.
• The Republic of Niger, formerly part of French West Africa as the Colony of Niger, became independent, with Hamani Diori as its first president.
• Redstone launch vehicle No. 1 was delivered to Cape Canaveral for the uncrewed Mercury 1 mission to be launched in November.

  [August 4], 1960 (Thursday)

• NASA test pilot Joseph A. Walker became the fastest man in history as he flew a North American X-15 at a speed of, breaking a record set in 1956 by Milburn Apt, who had been killed while flying a Bell X-2.
• Born: José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011; in Valladolid

  [August 5], 1960 (Friday)

• The Republic of Upper Volta, formerly part of French West Africa as French Upper Volta, became independent, with Maurice Yaméogo as its first president. In 1984, the nation changed its name to Burkina Faso.
• Died: Arthur Meighen, 86, Prime Minister of Canada from 1920 to 1921, and briefly in 1926

  [August 6], 1960 (Saturday)

• In response to a United States embargo against Cuba, Fidel Castro nationalized American and foreign-owned property in the nation.

  [August 7], 1960 (Sunday)

• Côte d'Ivoire, formerly part of French West Africa, became independent of France, with Félix Houphouët-Boigny as its first president.
• The Bluebell Railway, in Sussex, England, began regular operation as the first standard gauge steam-operated passenger preserved railway in the world.
• Born: David Duchovny, American actor, producer, novelist, and singer-songwriter; in New York City

  [August 8], 1960 (Monday)

• The Mining State of South Kasai, with its capital at Bakwanga, seceded from the rest of the Republic of the Congo, by declaration of Chief Albert Kalonji. Congolese troops recaptured Bakwanga two weeks later on August 24.

  [August 9], 1960 (Tuesday)

• The government of Laos was overthrown in a coup led by Captain Kong Le, and supported by rebellious units within the Laotian Army. Prime Minister Samsonith was in Luang Prabang, making preparations for the funeral of the late King of Laos, when the army units struck in Vientiane. Former Premier Souvanna Phouma formed a new cabinet on August 15, and civil war was averted after the new King asked, on August 29, that a new ministry be created, and to include members of the old regime. The legislature approved the new ministry on August 31.
• Voters in a referendum in Alaska elected against moving the state capital from Juneau to a new site to be constructed between the Cook Inlet and Fairbanks.

  [August 10], 1960 (Wednesday)

• U.S. Navy frogmen successfully recovered the satellite Discoverer 13, marking the first retrieval of a satellite after twelve previous attempts had failed. Although plans to make the first mid-air capture failed, the recovery opened the era of the spy satellite.
• The Wright Air Development Center requested that NASA Headquarters provide the center with pertinent working papers and reports on Project Mercury, especially on human factor aspects, for possible application in the X-20 Dyna Soar program.
• The Institute of Heraldry was created under United States Army General Order Number 29.
• The Canadian Bill of Rights became effective.
• Born: Antonio Banderas, Spanish actor and director; in Málaga

  [August 11], 1960 (Thursday)

• The Republic of Chad, formerly part of French Equatorial Africa as French Chad, became independent, with François Tombalbaye as its first president.
• Representatives of NASA, McDonnell Aircraft Corporation, Air Force Ballistic Missile Division, Space Technology Laboratories, and Convair met at Cape Canaveralto discuss the recent Mercury-Atlas 1 mission malfunction. James A. Chamberlin of the Space Task Group was appointed chairman of a joint committee to resolve the problems and to provide a solution prior to the Mercury-Atlas 2 mission.
• The Mercury spacecraft landing system qualification test program was completed.

  [August 12], 1960 (Friday)

• NASA successfully launched Echo 1, the first communications satellite. Weighing, Echo was a Mylar balloon, inflated after it reached orbit when the Sun's heat converted powders inside the balloon into gas. A pre-recorded message from U.S. President Eisenhower was transmitted from Goldstone, California, bounced off of Echo, and received at a station in Holmdel, New Jersey. The largest satellite launched up to that time, Echo was big enough that it could be seen from the Earth as it orbited at an average altitude of.
• USAF Major Robert M. White set a record by flying an X-15 rocket plane to an altitude of 136,500 feet, besting the mark of set by Iven C. Kincheloe in an X-2 in 1956.
• Dr. Seuss published the popular children's book, Green Eggs and Ham, which has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide as of 2019.

  [August 13], 1960 (Saturday)

• The Central African Republic, formerly Ubangi-Shari in the colony of French Equatorial Africa, became independent, with David Dacko as its president.
• Typhoon Wendy killed at least 18 people in central Japan.

  [August 14], 1960 (Sunday)

• North Korea's chairman Kim Il Sung made his first proposal for the reunification of his nation and South Korea under a "North–South Confederation" or "Confederal Republic of Koryo". The plan, proposed again in 1971, 1980 and 1991, envisioned both nations initially keeping their political systems, with a "Supreme National Committee" to guide cultural and economic development.

  [August 15], 1960 (Monday)

• The Republic of the Congo, an autonomous colony of France since 1958, formerly known as the French Congo or a part of French Equatorial Africa, attained independence under that name, becoming the second nation to use that name. In that the Belgian Congo was also referred to as the Republic of the Congo, reference to the nation's capital was made as Congo, to distinguish it from Congo , and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Former Roman Catholic priest Fulbert Youlou became the nation's first president.

  [August 16], 1960 (Tuesday)

• Joseph Kittinger parachuted from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet over a period of 4 minutes and 38 seconds before opening his parachute; and fastest speed by a human without motorized assistance. On October 14, 2012, Felix Baumgartner of Austria would break all of Kittinger's records except for the longest duration for a free-fall, plunging 128,100 ft ( in 4 minutes, 19 seconds.
• After 82 years as a British colony, the Mediterranean island of Cyprus was proclaimed independent by its last British Governor, Sir Hugh Foot. The new state, populated by Cypriots of Greek and Turkish descent, had Greek Cypriot Archbishop Makarios III as its president, and Turkish Cypriot Fazıl Küçük as its vice-president. The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia would remain as British Overseas Territories.
• A three-day design engineering inspection of Mercury spacecraft No. 7 began, as the astronauts requesting changes in the control panel for easier pilot operation.

  [August 17], 1960 (Wednesday)

• While campaigning for the presidency in Greensboro, North Carolina, Richard Nixon bumped his left knee on a car door. What seemed, at first, to be a minor injury, led to a painful infection and Nixon's hospitalization on August 29. Nixon was kept at Walter Reed Hospital for 11 days, until asking to be discharged early on September 9 after a poll showed that John F. Kennedy had taken a lead over him in voter preferences. His injury, his nearly two-week absence from the campaign trail, and his continued illness would be cited by historians as a factor in his defeat, from the loss of momentum after his nomination to his poor appearance in the first televised presidential debate.
• The first successful running of a computer program written in COBOL was carried out on an RCA 501 computer. COBOL, the "Common Business Oriented Language", was an improvement in the adaptation of the FLOW-MATIC computer language developed by Grace Hopper.
• All 27 people aboard Aeroflot Flight 36 were killed when the Il-18 airliner caught fire while approaching Moscow after departing Cairo. The airplane crashed near Kiev.
• Gabon, formerly part of French Equatorial Africa, was granted independence from France.
• In Argentina, after the capture of Adolf Eichmann by Israel, members of the neo-Nazi Tacuara group shot at Jewish students, injuring 15-year-old Edgardo Trilnik.
• Born: Sean Penn, American actor, screenwriter, and politician; in Santa Monica, California