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Wikipedia / 1962

The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, the closest the world came to a nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. The major American retailers Walmart, Kmart, and Target open their first stores.

Events

January

January 15

February

February 7

March

March 18

April

May

May 1

May 2

May 6

May 14

May 23

June

June 17

June 25

July

July 1

July 25

July 31

August

August 5

August 24

September

September 1

September 12

October

October 1 In the United States:

October 8

October 22

  • Cuban Missile Crisis: In a televised address, U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba and the U.S. naval blockade of the island.

  • John Vassall, a former clerical officer in British naval intelligence, is sentenced to 18 years imprisonment after admitting to passing secret material to the Soviet Union.

  • October 24 Cuban Missile Crisis: The first confrontation occurs between the U.S. Navy and a Soviet cargo vessel; the vessel changes course.

  • October 26 Spiegel affair: German police occupy the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg.

  • October 27 Cuban Missile Crisis: Vasily Arkhipov, executive officer of Soviet submarine B-59, refuses to launch nuclear torpedoes against the U.S. Navy. This event is widely regarded as crucial in averting a worldwide nuclear war.

October 28

  • Cuban Missile Crisis ends: Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. In a secret deal between Kennedy and Khrushchev, Kennedy agrees to the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The fact that this deal is not made public makes it look as though the Soviets have backed down.

  • A referendum in France favors the election of the president by universal suffrage.

  • October 31 The United Nations General Assembly asks the United Kingdom to suspend enforcement of the new constitution in Southern Rhodesia (modern-day Zimbabwe), but it comes into effect on November 1.

November

November

November 1

November 5

November 26

December

December 8

December 11

  • In West Germany, a coalition government of Christian Democrats, Christian Socialists and Free Democrats is formed.

  • The last execution by hanging is carried out in Canada.

December 14

  • U.S. spacecraft Mariner 2 passes by Venus, becoming the first spacecraft to transmit data from another planet.

  • Leonardo da Vinci's early 16th-century painting the Mona Lisa is assessed for insurance purposes at US$100million before touring the United States for several months, the highest insurance value for a painting in history. However, the Louvre, its owner, chooses to spend the money that would have been spent on the insurance premium on security instead.

  • December 15 Storm over the North Sea: Belgian pirate radio station Radio Uylenspiegel is knocked off the airwaves, never to operate again.

  • December 19 Britain acknowledges the right of Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi) to secede from the Central African Federation.

  • December 24 Cuba releases the last 1,113 participants in the Bay of Pigs Invasion to the U.S., in exchange for food worth $53million.

December 30

Undated

  • Around 20,000 Harkis, indigenous Muslim Algerians who fought as auxiliary soldiers on the French side in the Algerian War, with their families flee Algeria for metropolitan France fearing unofficial reprisals in their home country.

  • The laser diode is invented.

  • Slavery in Yemen is abolished.

Ongoing

Births

January

January 4

January 7

January 17

January 21

January 22

January 23

January 30

February

February 5

February 7

February 9

  • Lolo Ferrari, French actress (d. 2000)

  • Zoë Lund, American musician, model, actress, author, producer, political activist and screenwriter (d. 1999)

  • Dennis Padilla, Filipino comedian, TV host, radio broadcaster and actor

  • Dany Roland, Argentine-born Brazilian drummer, sound designer, actor, film director and record producer

February 10

February 12

February 13

February 17

February 21

February 22

February 27

March

March 2

March 6

March 10

March 12

March 21

March 23

March 25

March 30

April

April 12

April 13

April 15

April 20

April 22

April 23

April 26

May

May 2

May 5

May 9

May 14

May 17

May 18

May 20

May 26

May 27

May 28

May 31

June

June 1

June 7

June 10

June 11

June 13

June 18

June 21

June 22

June 23

June 24

June 25

June 26

June 27

June 29

June 30

July

July 1

July 2

July 3

July 6

July 7

July 8

July 9

July 10

July 11

July 13

July 14

July 15

July 16

July 19

July 20

July 21

July 22

July 23

July 24

July 26

July 29

July 30

July 31

August

August 1

August 4

August 13

August 16

August 18

August 19

August 21

August 24

August 26

August 29

August 31

September

September 8

September 11

September 17

September 19

September 24

September 25

September 26

October

October 1

October 2

October 12

October 13

October 14

October 16

October 18

October 19

October 25

October 26

October 27

October 29

October 30

November

November 1

November 3

November 6

November 11

November 12

November 14

November 23

November 27

November 28

December

December 1

December 9

December 11

December 12

December 17

December 22

December 25

December 27

December 28

Unknown date

Deaths

January

January 16

February

February 5

February 6

February 17

February 19

March

March 1

March 20

March 24

April

April 10

April 15

May

May 13

June

June 6

June 15

June 19

July

July 2

July 6

July 26

July 29

August

August 6

August 23

September

September 4

September 7

September 19

September 23

October

October 2

October 16

October 27

November

November 14

November 18

November 26

November 28

December

4.12.1962 Famous Hindi writer Annapurnanand died.

December 13

December 24

Date unknown

Nobel Prizes

References