Major Events
- Feb 20 John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7
- Mar 15 Five research groups announce the discovery of anti-matter
- Oct 11 Second Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII
- Oct 16 Cuban Missile Crisis begins as JFK is shown photos confirming the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba
- Oct 18 James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA [1]
- Oct 22 Cuban Missile Crisis: US President John F. Kennedy addresses TV about Russian missile bases in Cuba and imposes a naval blockade on Cuba, beginning the missile crisis
- Oct 24 Cuban Missile Crisis: Soviet ships approach but stop short of the US blockade of Cuba
- Oct 25 US Ambassador to the UN Adlai Stevenson demands USSR UN rep Valerian Zorin answer regarding Cuban missile bases saying "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over"
- Oct 27 Black Saturday during the Cuban Missile Crisis: An American spy plane is shot down over Cuba and the navy drops warning depth charges on Soviet submarines
- More 1962 Events
1962 in Film & TV
- Apr 24 Massachusetts Institute of Technology sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time: California to Massachusetts
- Jun 13 "Lolita" film based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring James Mason and Sue Lyon is released
- Sep 23 ABC's 1st color TV series "The Jetsons" premieres, created by Hanna-Barbera and Joseph Barbera
- Oct 5 "Dr. No", 1st James Bond film based on the novel by Ian Fleming and starring Sean Connery and Ursula Andress, premieres in London
- Oct 24 "The Manchurian Candidate", directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey, is released
- Oct 31 "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" horror film released directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, based on novel by Henry Farrell
- Dec 10 David Lean's film "Lawrence of Arabia", based on life of T. E. Lawrence and starring Peter O'Toole, premieres at Odeon Leicester Square (Academy Awards Best Picture 1963)
- Dec 25 "To Kill a Mockingbird", a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released (Gregory Peck - Best Actor Academy Awards 1963)
1962 in Music
- May 9 The Beatles sign their 1st contract with EMI Parlophone
- Jun 2 Ray Charles' cover of Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You", from his influential crossover album "Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music" hits #1 on Billboard
- Jul 12 Rolling Stones 1st performance (Marquee Club, London)
- Oct 5 The Beatles release their first record, "Love Me Do"
1962 in Sport
- Mar 2 Philadelphia center Wilt Chamberlain scores 100 points, most ever by an NBA player in a single game, in Warriors' 169-147 win over NY Knicks in Hershey; 36-of-63 from field, 28-of-32 from free-throw line
- Apr 13 Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run, a new NL record
- Jun 17 US Open Men's Golf, Oakmont CC: Jack Nicklaus wins his first major title by 3 strokes in an 18-hole playoff with Arnold Palmer
Did You Know?
Brothers John and Clarence Anglin and fellow inmate Frank Morris escape from Alcatraz Island prison, the only ones to do so
Jordan Peterson
Shinya Yamanaka
Chris Christie
Nicolás Maduro
Carles Puigdemont
Jim Carrey
Steve Irwin
Paula Abdul
Tom Cruise
Jodie Foster
Ralph Fiennes
Axl Rose
Garth Brooks
Sheryl Crow
Jon Bon Jovi
Tommy Lee
Hana Mandlikova
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Darryl Strawberry
Adam Silver
Patrick Ewing
Jerry RiceMore People Born in 1962
Fun Fact About 1962
The first official Panda crossing is opened outside Waterloo station, London.
Charles "Lucky" Luciano
Adolf Eichmann
Hermann Hesse
Eleanor Roosevelt
Niels Bohr
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Marilyn Monroe
Charles LaughtonMore 1962 Deaths
Articles About 1962
The Beatles? 'They have no future in show business'
In 1962, an unknown group called the Beatles travelled to London for a recording contract audition with one of the major record labels. They were rejected.January 1
Agent Orange in Vietnam
American C-123 spraying chemical defoliant, Agent Orange, on a dense Vietnamese jungleJanuary 12
John Glenn Orbits Earth
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, getting into his spacecraft Friendship 7 in 1962February 20
The 100-year Football Curse that Appears to be Working
S.L. Benfica has failed to win a European Championship since 1962, when former coach Béla Guttmann placed a 100 year curse on the club. Is the curse working?May 2
'The Banality of Evil'
Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann sits in the dock at his 1961 trial in JerusalemJune 1
Cuban Missile Crisis
Reconnaissance photo of Soviet missiles in Cuba shown to John F. Kennedy on October 16, 1962October 16
The Man Who Saved The World
Many people think John F. Kennedy saved the world with his handling of the Cuban missile crisis. But an unknown Russian sailor also played a dramatic role.October 27
Famous Weddings in 1962
- Mar 21 Academy award-winning British actor Rex Harrison (54) weds actress and third wife Rachel Roberts (34) in Genoa, Italy
- May 4 Actor Christopher Plummer (32) weds columnist Patricia Lewis at the Marylebone Registry office in London
- May 14 Princess Sophia of Greece weds Don Juan Carlos of Spain
Famous Divorces in 1962
- Apr 27 American actress Natalie Wood (23) divorces American actor Robert Wagner (30) after almost 5 years of marriage; they remarry in 1972
- Sep 14 American actress Janet Leigh (35) divorces American actor Tony Curtis (37) after 10 years of marriage
More 1962 Weddings
Anne Bancroft
Gregory Peck
John XXIII
Judy Garland
John F. Kennedy
Mao Zedong
Nikita Khrushchev