WHAT ALL HAPPENED APRIL TO SEPTEMBER 1960
Find out what all happened April to September 1960

In Huntsville, Alabama, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower formally dedicates the Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA had already activated the facility on July 1). (8. September 1960)

At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Abebe Bikila becomes the first sub-Saharan African to win a gold medal, winning the marathon in bare feet. (10. September 1960)

Madagascar gains its independence from France. (26. June 1960)

Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Act). (4. July 1960)

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is founded. (14. September 1960)

In Chicago, the first televised debate takes place between presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. (26. September 1960)

Two cryptographers working for the United States National Security Agency left for vacation to Mexico, and from there defected to the Soviet Union. (25. June 1960)

Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve in present-day Tanzania to begin her famous study of chimpanzees in the wild. (14. July 1960)

Orlyonok, the main Young Pioneer camp of the Russian SFSR, is founded. (12. July 1960)

USS George Washington a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first ballistic missile while submerged. (16. July 1960)

Chad declares independence. (11. August 1960)

USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched. (24. September 1960)

The Netherlands and West Germany sign an agreement to negotiate the return of German land annexed by the Dutch in return for 280 million German marks as Wiedergutmachung. (8. April 1960)

Cyprus gains its independence from the United Kingdom. (16. August 1960)

The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4. (15. May 1960)

The Sudanese Republic is renamed Mali after the withdrawal of Senegal from the Mali Federation. (22. September 1960)

In Turkey, a military coup removes President Celal Bayar and the rest of the democratic government from office. (27. May 1960)

Congo Crisis: With CIA help, Mobutu Sese Seko seizes power in a military coup, suspending parliament and the constitution. (14. September 1960)

The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth. (10. May 1960)

Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd, Prime Minister of South Africa and architect of apartheid, narrowly survives an assassination attempt by a white farmer called David Pratt in Johannesburg. (9. April 1960)