The Classes of 1961, 1962 and 1963 are planning a joint reunion July 31, August 1, 2, and 3. This is during the week of the 2008 Fall River County Fair and Rodeo. For more information, please email admin@edgemontalumni.info and we will send you information on who to contact. More information will be posted as it becomes available.
As mentioned in an eariler post, the class of 1958 is also planning a Reunion during that time. See the blog post from March 15th for more information.
A Look Back At 1961, 1962 & 1963
John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States. Alan Shepard becomes the first American in space. The Vietnam War begins. Elvis Presley and the Beatles are big.
1961 in a Nutshell
- Jan 3 - President Eisenhower announces that the U.S. is severing diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba.
- Jan 17 - Eisenhower’s final State of the Union Address of his presidency. He warns of the increasing power of a “military-industrial complex”.
- Jan 20 - John F. Kennedy becomes the 35th President of the United States.
- Jan 25 - Walt Disney’s “101 Dalmations” released.
- Jan 26 - “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley reaches #1.
- Jan 30 - President Kennedy gives his first State of the Union Address.
- Jan 31 - Ham, a male chimpanzee, is launched into space aboard the Mercury-Redstone 2 capsule (NASA).
- Mar 1 - President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corps.
- Mar 18 - Poppin’ Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy makes his debut.
- Mar 29 - The 23rd Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, which allows Washington, D.C. residents to vote.
- Apr 12 - Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, becomes the first human in space.
- Apr 17 - The Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba.
- Apr 20 - Fidel Castro announces that the Bay of Pigs invasion has been defeated.
- Apr 11 - Adolf Eichmann on trial for crimes against humanity (WWII), in Jerusalem, Israel.
- Apr 16 - Stanley Cup: Chicago Blackhawks beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 2
- Apr 17 - 33rd Academy Awards - “Apartment” (best picture) Burt Lancaster (best actor) and Liz Taylor (best actress)
- Apr 26 - Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
- May 5 - Alan Shepard becomes the 1st American in space.
- May 25 - Apollo program: President Kennedy announces his goal to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.
- Jun 25 - Iraq announces that Kuwait is a part of Iraq (Kuwait disagrees)
- Jun 27 - Kuwait requests British help; the United Kingdom sends in troops.
- Jul 2 - Ernest Hemingway commits suicide in Sun Valley, Idaho.
- Jul 21 - Gus Grissom becomes the second American to go into space.
- Aug 5 - The Six Flags over Texas theme park officially opens to the public.
- Aug 10 - Britain applies for membership in the European Economic Community.
- Sep 17 - Minnesota Vikings’ 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13)
- Aug 13 - Construction of the Berlin Wall begins.
- Oct 01 - Baseball player Roger Maris of the New York Yankees hits his 61st home run.
- Oct 03 - “Dick Van Dyke Show” & “Mr Ed” premieres on TV
- Oct 06 - President Kennedy advises Americans to build fallout shelters
- Oct 27 - A standoff between Soviet and American tanks in Berlin.
- Nov 10 - Catch-22 is first published by Joseph Heller.
- Nov 17 - Michael Rockefeller, son of New York Governor, and later Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, disappears in the jungles of New Guinea.
- Nov 18 - President Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam.
- Nov 27 - Gordie Howe becomes 1st to play in 1,000 NHL games
- Dec 11 - Vietnam War officially begins - U.S. helicopters arrive in Saigon.
- Dec 11 - Elvis Presley’s “Blue Hawaii” album goes is #1.
- Dec 14 - Jimmy Dean’s “Big Bad John” is the 1st country song to get a gold record
1962 in a Nutshell
- Jan 4 - New York City introduces a subway train that operates without a crew on board.
- Jan 8 - Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is exhibited in the U.S. for the 1st time, at the National Gallery of Arts in Washington, D.C.
- Jan 9 - Cuba and the Soviet Union sign a trade pact.
- Jan 9 - NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks
- Feb 3 - The U.S. announces trade embargo against Cuba.
- Feb 23 - Friendship 7 inspected by President Kennedy and Astronaut John Glenn.
- Feb 10 - Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Berlin.
- Feb 14 - 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV
- Feb 20 - John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
- Mar 2 - Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points in a single basketball game.
- Apr 9 - 34th Academy Awards - “West Side Story,” Sophia Loren and Max Schell win
- Apr 16 - Walter Cronkite begins anchoring CBS Evening News
- Apr 22 - Stanley Cup: Toronto Maple Leafs beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4 games to 2
- May 15 - U.S. Marines arrive in Laos
- May 24 - Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule.
- Jun 1 - Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel for WWII war crimes.
- June 9 - Tony Bennett debuts in concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City
- Jun 11 - Three prisoners use spoons to successfully escape from Alcatraz although there is no evidence that they survived.
- Jul 10 - The world’s first commercial communications satellite (Telstar) is launched into orbit.
- Jul 23 - The Telstar satellite relays the first live television signal.
- Aug 5 - Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles.
- Aug 11 - Beach Boys release their “Surfin’ Safari” album.
- Sep 12 - President Kennedy reaffirms that the U.S. will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.
- Sep 23 - 1st color TV series (ABC), The Jetsons
- Sep 26 - TV series “Beverly Hillbillies” premieres (CBS)
- Oct 1 - Johnny Carson hosts his 1st Tonight Show with Joan Crawford as guests
- Oct 14 - Pictures of Soviet missile silos in Cuba, taken by US spy planes.
- Oct 14 - Cuban Missile Crisis begins: A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons.
- Oct 16 - Yankees beat San Francisco Giants (4 games to 3) in the World Series.
- Oct 22 - In a televised address, U.S. President John F. Kennedy announces the existence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.
- Oct 28 - Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet Union leader Khrushchev announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.
- Nov 6 - Nixon tells the press he won’t be available to kick around any more
- Nov 20 - U.S.S.R. agrees to remove bombers from Cuba, and U.S. lifts blockade
- Dec 16 - David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia” premieres
- Dec 20 - Osmond brothers debut on Andy Williams Show
1963 in a Nutshell
- Jan 7 - 1st class postage raised from 4 cents to 5 cents.
- Jan 29 - Jim Thorpe, Red Grange and George Halas elected to football hall of fame.
- Feb 9 - 1st flight of Boeing 727 jet.
- Feb 25 - Beatles release their 1st single in U.S. “Please Please Me” .
- Feb 27 - Mickey Mantle (NY Yankees) signs a baseball contract worth $100,000 .
- Mar 5 - Country music superstar Patsy Cline is killed in a plane crash.
- Mar 13 - Russia sends 2 reconnaissance flights over Alaska.
- Mar 21 - The Alcatraz Island federal penitentiary in San Francisco Bay closes.
- Apr 8 - 35th Academy Awards - “Lawrence of Arabia,” Anne Bancroft and Gregory Peck win.
- Apr 10 - Thresher, U.S. atomic-powered submarine, sinks 220 miles east of Boston.
- May 8 - Dr. No, the first James Bond film, was shown in US theaters.
- May 15 - NASA launches Gordon Cooper on the last Mercury mission.
- Jul 1 - ZIP Codes are introduced in the U.S.
- Jul 9 - 34th All-Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-3 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland (MVP: Willie Mays)
- Aug 7 - Jacqueline Kennedy becomes the 1st, First Lady to give birth, while in the White House, since Mrs. Cleveland
- Aug 28 - Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I Have A Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
- Sep 2 - CBS and NBC expand network news from 15 to 30 minutes
- Sep 7 - The Pro Football Hall of Fame opens in Canton, Ohio.
- Sep 28 - “Little Deuce Coupe” by The Beach Boys peaks at #15
- Oct 6 - Los Angeles Dodgers sweep New York Yankees, in 60th World Series
- Nov 22 - President John F. Kennedy is assassinated, in Dallas, Texas and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in as the 36th President.
- Nov 24 - Assassin of John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald, is shot dead by Jack Ruby in Dallas, Texas on live national television.
- Nov 25 - U.S. President Kennedy is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
- Nov 26 - 29th Heisman Trophy Award: Roger Staubach, Navy (QB)
- Dec 26 - “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There” are released in the U.S., marking the beginning of full-scale Beatlemania.
