News and Events of 1962

 

World Events

 

World Statistics

 

Population: 3.136 billion
population by decade

Nobel Peace Prize:
Linus Pauling (US)

More World Statistics...

 

• France transfers sovereignty to new republic of Algeria (July 3).
• Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR to build missile bases in Cuba; Kennedy orders Cuban blockade, lifts blockade after Russia backs down (Aug.-Nov.).
• Pope John XXIII opens Second Vatican Council (Oct. 11).
• Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners of 1961 invasion attempt (Dec. 24).
• Burundi, Jamaica, Western Samoa, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago become independent.

 

U.S. Events

 

U.S. Statistics

 

President: John F. Kennedy
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Population: 186,537,737
Life expectancy: 70.1 years
Violent Crime Rate (per 1,000): 20.2
Property Crime Rate (per 1,000): 18.6
Homicide Rate (per 100,000): 4.8

More U.S. Statistics...

 

• James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registers at University of Mississippi (Oct. 1).
• Pat Brown defeats Richard Nixon in the California gubernatorial race.

 

Economics

 

US GDP (1998 dollars):   $585.2 billion
Federal spending:   $106.82 billion
Federal debt:   $302.9 billion
Consumer Price Index:   30.2
Unemployment:   6.7%
Cost of a first-class stamp:   $0.04

 

Sports

 

World Series

 

NY Yankees d. San Francisco Giants (4-3)

 

NBA Championship

 

Boston d. LA Lakers (4-3)

 

Stanley Cup

 

Toronto d. Chicago (4-2)

 

Wimbledon

 

Women: Karen Susman d. V. Sukova (6-4 6-4)
Men: Rod Laver d. M. Mulligan (6-2 6-2 6-1)

 

Kentucky Derby Champion

 

Decidedly

 

NCAA Basketball Championship

 

Cincinnati d. Ohio St. (71-59)

 

NCAA Football Champions

 

USC (11-0-0)

 

World Cup

 

Brazil d. Czechoslovakia (3-1)

 

Entertainment

 

Entertainment Awards

 

Pulitzer Prizes
Fiction: The Edge of Sadness, Edwin O'Connor
Music: The Crucible, Robert Ward
Drama: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows

 

Oscars awarded in 1962
Academy Award, Best Picture: West Side Story, Robert Wise, producer (United Artists)

 

Nobel Prize for Literature: John Steinbeck (US)

 

1962 Emmy Awards

 

1962 Tony Awards

 

Grammys awarded in 1962
Record of the Year: "Moon River," Henry Mancini
Album of the Year: Judy at Carnegie Hall, Judy Garland (Capitol)
Song of the Year: "Moon River," Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, songwriters

 

Miss America: Maria Fletcher (NC)

 

Events

 

• Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose at age 36.
• The first transatlantic television transmission occurs via the Telstar Satellite, making worldwide television and cable networks a reality.
• Government regulations force studios out of the talent agency business.
• Johnny Carson takes over hosting duties of The Tonight Show.

 

Movies

 

• Lawrence of Arabia, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, Divorce-Italian Style

 

Books

 

• James Baldwin, Another Country
• Jorge Luis Borges, Labyrinths, Ficciones
• Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
• Robert Frost, In the Clearing
• Günter Grass, The Tin Drum
• Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo' Nest
• Sylvia Plath, The Colossus and Other Poems
• Anne Sexton, All My Pretty Ones
• William Stafford, Traveling through the Dark
• Richard Yates, Eleven Kinds of Loneliness

 

Science

 

Nobel Prizes in Science

 

Chemistry: Max F. Perutz and John C. Kendrew (UK), for mapping protein molecules with X-rays

 

Physics: Lev D. Landau (USSR), for his theories about condensed matter

 

Physiology or Medicine: James D. Watson (US), Maurice H. F. Wilkins, and Francis H. C. Crick (both UK), for determining structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

 

• Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr., is first American to orbit Earth—three times in 4 hours 55 minutes (Feb. 20). Background: US Staffed Space Flights
• Mariner II, the first interplanetary probe, reaches Venus. Background: US Unstaffed Planetary and Lunar Programs
• Unimation introduces the first industrial robot.
• The commercially sponsored Telstar communications satellite is launched.

 

Deaths

 

Niels Bohr

 

William Faulkner

 

Ernie Kovacs

 

Eleanor Roosevelt