September 1960

[September 1], 1960 (Thursday)

• The lights of Times Square were turned off for one minute, and London's West End lights were dimmed in recognition of the contribution of lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, who died on August 23.
• Disgruntled maintenance workers went on strike and halted operations of the Pennsylvania Railroad, marking the first shutdown in the company's history. The walkout ended two days later.
• Mercury spacecraft No. 6 was delivered to Cape Canaveral for the Mercury-Atlas 2 uncrewed mission.
• A five-day ban was imposed on West Germans entering East Berlin.
• Born: Eric Adams, American politician and former police officer, 110th Mayor of New York City, in office since 2022; in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York City
• Died:
• *Dr. Francis Townsend, 93, American activist whose "Townsend Plan" for the elderly was an influence upon the creation of the Social Security system.
• *Sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah, 62, the head of state and monarch of the Federation of Malaya as Yang di-Pertuan Agong, died on the day that he was scheduled to officially take office. Hisamuddin had become the Sultan of Selangor, one of the Federation's states, in 1938, and was selected to be the new monarch in April.

  [September 2], 1960 (Friday)

• In the Summer Olympics, Wilma Rudolph, who had overcome childhood polio, won the women's 100 meter dash with a time of 11.0 seconds. Although faster than the world record of 11.3, Rudolph's mark was not official because the wind had been blowing faster than. Rudolph earned three golds, including the dash and the 4 × relay. In the long jump competition, Ralph Boston of the United States broke the Olympic record that had been set in 1936 by Jesse Owens. Boston was short of the world record of 26 feet inches that he had set on August 12.
• Near Grafenwöhr, West Germany, 16 American soldiers were killed and 26 injured when an 8-inch howitzer shell crashed into them during a morning roll call. The shell had been overloaded with charge and went miles beyond its target.
• Aeroflot Flight 804 crashed while bringing back 13 passengers and five crewmen from the Soviet Air Force's Arctic base at Mys Shmidta.
• Born:
• *Doug Polen, American motorcyclist and 1993 world motorcycling champion; in Detroit
• *Eric Dickerson, NFL running back and Hall of Famer; in Sealy, Texas

  [September 3], 1960 (Saturday)

• In the bloodiest day of fighting since the Congo became independent of Belgium, more than 300 people were killed and 700 wounded as Congolese troops invaded the "Mining State" that had been declared by Albert Kalonji in the Kasai Province. Government troops loyal to Patrice Lumumba had retaken the cities of Mwene Ditu and Laputa, while Kasai rebels were marching to defend the major city of Bakwanga.
• The first Hardee's Restaurant was opened, by Wilber Hardee, as a drive-in in Greenville, North Carolina. By 1997, when the parent company of California's Carl's Jr. chain purchased the eastern chain, Hardee's would have 3,152 franchises in 40 U.S. states and 10 foreign nations.

  [September 4], 1960 (Sunday)

• Before a crowd of 100,000 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid of Spain defeated Peñarol of Uruguay, 5 to 1, to win the first Intercontinental Cup soccer football championship. The Intercontinental Cup was the product of an agreement between UEFA and CONMEBOL to create a faceoff between the winners of the European Champions' Cup and the new South American club championship, the Copa Libertadores; as with the continental championships, the intercontinental winner was being determined by the aggregate score of two matches, one in each club's home field. In the first match, played at Montevideo on July 3, Uruguayan and Spanish teams had a 0 to 0 draw.
• Hurricane Donna struck Puerto Rico, where it killed 107 people before moving northward through the United States, where it killed 22 more people before dying down by September 13.
• The 1960 Italian Grand Prix at Monza was won by Phil Hill.
• Born: Damon Wayans, American comedian; in New York City
• Died: William F. O'Neil, 75, multimillionaire founder of General Tire

  [September 5], 1960 (Monday)

• In the Congo, President Joseph Kasavubu announced on Radio Leopoldville that he had fired Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. An hour later, Lumumba announced on the same station that he intended to stay, and then fired Kasavubu. Congo's Army Chief of Staff Joseph Mobutu sent troops to place Lumumba under house arrest while contemplating the future of Kasavubu's regime.
• Cassius Clay of the United States defeated Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland to win the gold medal in the Olympic light heavyweight boxing competition. Franco De Piccoli of Italy was the Olympic heavyweight boxing medalist.
• Died: Earl K. Long, 65, former Governor of Louisiana, died nine days after being elected to Congress. Long had gone to the hospital after polls closed on August 27.

  [September 6], 1960 (Tuesday)

• The Manifesto of the 121 was published in the French magazine Vérité-Liberté, calling on the government of France to recognise the justice of the Algerian independence movement. It was signed by leading cultural figures, including Jean-Paul Sartre, François Truffaut and Simone Signoret.
• At the men's 400 metre dash, the Olympic record of 45.9 seconds was broken by the first four finishers. Otis Davis of the U.S. and Carl Kaufmann of Germany were both credited with a new world record of 44.9, Malcolm Spence of South Africa at 45.5, and Milkha Singh of India at 45.6.
• William H. Martin and Bernon F. Mitchell, two National Security Agency cryptologists who had been missing since June 24, were introduced as defectors to the Soviet Union at a press conference in Moscow's House of Journalists.
• Died: György Piller, 61, Hungarian world champion fencer

  [September 7], 1960 (Wednesday)

• Crown Prince Constantine II of Greece and his two teammates won a gold medal in sailing at the Summer Olympics, competing at Naples in their yacht, the Nirefs. The future Greek King's elder sister, the future Queen Sofía of Spain, was on the sailing team as a reserve.
• U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower sought to improve relations with Panama and ordered that the flag of Panama would be flown next to the flag of the United States in the American-owned Canal Zone. The first Panamanian flag in the Zone would be raised on September 21 and was protested by members of Congress who felt that the flag raising was the first step in returning the territory to the Panamanians; flags would not be raised elsewhere until January 10, 1963.
• All 31 people on Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 205 were killed when the DC-6 broke up over Uruguay during a heavy thunderstorm, and crashed on a ranch near the town of Dieciocho de Julio. The flight had departed from Asunción in Paraguay and was on its way to Buenos Aires when the propeller on its No. 3 engine came loose and struck the No. 4 engine.
• Protestant minister Norman Vincent Peale served as the head of The National Conference of Citizens for Religious Freedom, speaking for 150 Protestant clergymen in opposition to the election of John F. Kennedy, a Roman Catholic, as President of the United States.
• Died: Wilhelm Pieck, 84, President of East Germany since the nation's creation in 1949. The office was abolished following his death.

  [September 8], 1960 (Thursday)

• The Richardson-Merrell pharmaceutical company submitted an application to the FDA for approval of selling thalidomide in the United States, which it intended to market under the name Kevadon, beginning on March 6, 1961.
• President Eisenhower formally dedicated Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The MSFC had opened two months earlier on July 1.
• Born: Stefano Casiraghi, Italian businessman, second husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco; in Como
• Died:
• *Feroze Gandhi, 48, Indian politician, died of a heart attack, his second in two years, at the Willingdon Hospital in Delhi. Both his widow, Indira Gandhi and his son, Rajiv Gandhi, would serve as Prime Minister of India.
• *Oscar Pettiford, 37, jazz bassist, died from an illness similar to the polio virus

  [September 9], 1960 (Friday)

• The new American Football League made its debut with eight teams, as the visiting Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots, 13 to 10. After barely surviving during its first four seasons, the AFL would merge with the older National Football League in 1966, bringing all of its teams in to the NFL in 1970.
• At the 1960 Summer Olympics, India's men's field hockey team was defeated for the first time ever in Olympic competition, as Nasir Ahmad gave Pakistan scored a goal for a 1–0 upset. Since 1928, India had not only won 30 games in a row, it had outscored its opponents 197 goals to 8, until meeting Pakistan in the finals.
• Born:
• *Bob Stoops, American football coach at the University of Oklahoma, known for coaching the Oklahoma Sooners to the NCAA national championship in the 2000 college football season; in Youngstown, Ohio
• *Hugh Grant, English film actor; in Hammersmith, London
• Died:
• *Jussi Björling, 49, Swedish operatic tenor, died of cardiomegaly.
• *Ralph G. Brooks, 62, Governor of Nebraska since 1959 and the Democratic nominee for the November election for U.S. Senator A few hours earlier, Brooks, who had been hospitalized since late August for congestive heart failure, had been asked if he intended to withdraw his name from the ballot because of his illness, and issued the statement "I am sticking in the fight."

  [September 10], 1960 (Saturday)

• In a game against the Detroit Tigers, Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees hit a home run over the roof and out of Tiger Stadium. The distance was not measured until June 22, 1985, when it was determined to have been a record at, surpassing Mantle's 1953 hit of at Washington. Some observers doubt the measure, concluding that "it is impossible to hit a baseball that distance".
• Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the Olympic marathon, setting a world record and running the entire 26 miles and 385 yards while barefoot, becoming the first person from Sub-Saharan Africa to win an Olympic gold medal.
• ITV inaugurated regular television broadcasts of English professional soccer football matches, starting with the telecast of a Football League First Division match between Blackpool and visiting Bolton Wanderers. The Wanderers won the match, 1–0.
• Yugoslavia defeated Denmark to win the gold medal at the Olympic soccer football finals, 3 to 1.
• Color television broadcasting began in Japan.
• Born: Margaret Ferrier, Scottish politician and MP suspended from the British House of Commons in 2020 for violating the UK's COVID-19 regulations; in Glasgow
• Died:
• *Edith Nourse Rogers, 79, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts since 1925
• *Sir Harold Gillies, 78, New Zealand physician and pioneer in plastic surgery