| January 1 | Briggs Stadium is renamed Tigers Stadium |
| January 1 | Houston Oilers beat LA Chargers 24-16 in AFL championship game |
| January 1 | Largest check issued, National Bank of Chicago to Sears ($960.242 billion) |
| January 1 | Russia introduces a new ruble worth $1.11 |
| January 2 | 1st AFL Championship Game, Houston Oilers beat LA Chargers 24-16 |
| January 2 | Hawaii's, then all time low temperature, 14 degrees F recorded atop Haleakale |
| January 3 | Adam Clayton Powell elected Chairman of House Education and Labor |
| January 3 | U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba |
| January 4 | Longest recorded strike ends-33 yrs-Danish barbers' assistants |
| January 5 | U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba |
| January 7 | 1st NFL Playoff Bowl (runner-up bowl)-Detroit beats Cleveland 17-16 |
| January 7 | Trucial States (now UAE) issue their 1st postage stamps |
| January 8 | Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Yvor Winters |
| January 9 | Twins agree on $500,000 payment to AA for Minn/St. Paul territory |
| January 11 | Racial riot at University of Georgia |
| January 12 | "Show Girl" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City for 100 performances |
| January 12 | U.N. genocide pact goes into effect |
| January 14 | Chicago Bear Willard Dewveall becomes 1st NFLer to join AFL |
| January 15 | NFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 35-31 |
| January 15 | Suggs wins LPGA Sea Island Women's Golf Invitational Open |
| January 15 | Supremes signed with Motown Records |
| January 16 | "Conquering Hero" opens at ANTA Theater New York City for 8 performances |
| January 16 | Russian espionage ring detected in Great Britain |
| January 17 | Eisenhower allegedly orders assassination of Congo's Lumumba |
| January 18 | Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins 1 seat by a single vote and parliament by a single seat |
| January 19 | 1st episode for "Dick Van Dyke Show" is filmed |
| January 20 | Arthur M Ramsay becomes archbishop of Canterbury |
| January 20 | Francis Poulenc's "Gloria," premieres in Boston |
| January 20 | Robert Frost recites "Gift Outright" at John F. Kennedy's inauguration |
| January 20 | Yugoslav ex-vice-president Milovan Djilas flees |
| January 21 | "Conquering Hero" closes at ANTA Theater New York City after 8 performances |
| January 21 | KIFI TV channel 8 in Idaho Falls, Idaho (NBC) begins broadcasting |
| January 21 | Portuguese rebels seize cruise ship Santa Maria |
| January 23 | Supreme Court rules cities and states have right to censor films |
| January 23 | Venezuela adopts constitution |
| January 24 | Edward Albee's "American Dream," premieres in New York City |
| January 24 | Lazard Brothers Ltd draw a check for $334,867,807.68 |
| January 25 | 1st live, nationally televised presidential news conference (John F. Kennedy) |
| January 25 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA Naples Pro-Am Golf Tournament |
| January 25 | Military coup in El Salvador |
| January 25 | Walt Disney's "101 Dalmations" released |
| January 26 | 1st woman "personal physician to president"-JG Travell |
| January 26 | "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" by Elvis Presley peaks to #1 |
| January 27 | "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV |
| January 28 | Republic of Rwanda proclaimed |
| January 29 | U.S. Female Figure Skating championship won by Laurence Owen |
| January 29 | U.S. Male Figure Skating championship won by Bradley Lord |
| January 30 | Bobby Darin is youngest performer to headline a TV special on NBC |
| January 30 | John F. Kennedy asks for an Alliance for Progress and Peace Corp |
| January 30 | KAET TV channel 8 in Phoenix, Arizona (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| January 30 | Lance Gibbs takes hat-trick (Mackay, Grout, Misson) at Adelaide |
| January 31 | David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel |
| January 31 | Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2 |
| January 31 | Houston voters approve bond to finance luxury domed stadium |
| January 31 | Kanhai completes twin tons (117 and 115) vs. Australia at Adelaide |
| January 31 | NATO Secretary-General Paul-Henri Spaak says he'll resign |
| January 31 | USAF launches Samos spy satellite to replace U-2 flights |
| February 1 | 1st full-scale test of U.S. Minuteman ICBM is successful |
| February 1 | British minister Enoch Powell makes medical insurance more expensive |
| February 1 | Mackay and Kline hang on for 100 minutes for cricket draw vs West Indies |
| February 2 | Prince Bernhard opens new RAI building in Amsterdam |
| February 3 | 6th largest snowfall in New York City history (17.4" (44.2cm)) |
| February 4 | Sputnik 7 launches into Earth orbit; probable Venus probe failure |
| February 6 | "Jail, No Bail" Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill SC |
| February 6 | KOAP TV channel 10 in Portland, OR (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| February 7 | Jane Fonda made her acting debut in the NBC drama "A String of Beads" |
| February 9 | Joseph Ileo appointed premier of Congo |
| February 10 | AFL's LA Chargers move to San Diego |
| February 10 | Niagara Falls hydroelectric project begins producing power |
| February 10 | Walter Piston's 7th Symphony, premieres |
| February 11 | Robert Weaver sworn in with then highest federal post by a black |
| February 11 | Trial of Adolf Eichmann begins in Jerusalem |
| February 12 | Celtic Bill Russell grabs 40 rebounds to beat Warriors 136-125 |
| February 12 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA St. Petersburg Golf Open |
| February 12 | Mushtaq Mohammad scores 1st Test Cricket century at 17 years 82 days |
| February 12 | U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 toward Venus |
| February 13 | Frank Sinatra launches Reprise label under Warner Bros Records |
| February 13 | Soviet Union fires a rocket from Sputnik V to Venus |
| February 14 | Element 103, Lawrencium, 1st produced in Berkeley California |
| February 14 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA Royal Poinciana Golf Invitational |
| February 15 | Australia beat WI 2-1 in one of best Test Cricket series ever |
| February 15 | Entire U.S. figure skating team of 18, dies in Belgian Sabena 707 crash |
| February 16 | 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Va |
| February 16 | China uses it's 1st nuclear reactor |
| February 16 | U.S. satellite Explorer 9 is launched |
| February 18 | Henk van der Grift becomes world champion skater |
| February 19 | Albania disavows Chinese "Revisionism" |
| February 19 | Henk van der Grift (Netherlands) becomes world champ all-round skater |
| February 21 | Friedrich Durrenmatt's "Die Physiker," premieres in Zurich |
| February 21 | Gabon adopts constitution |
| February 21 | Mercury-Atlas 2 reentry Test reaches 172 km |
| February 24 | Explorer 10 fails to reach Earth orbit |
| February 25 | Niagara ends St. Bonaventura's 99-game home basketball win streak |
| February 25 | Paul Bikle in glider climbs from 1208 m at release to record 14,10 |
| February 28 | John F. Kennedy names Henry Kissinger special advisor |
| March 1 | Cellist Jacqueline du President debut in Wigmore Hall |
| March 1 | President Kennedy establishes the Peace Corp |
| March 2 | "13 Daughters" opens at 54th St. Theater New York City for 28 performances |
| March 3 | King Hassan II's ascends to throne of Morocco |
| March 4 | Paul-Henri Spaak resigns as Secretary-General of NATO |
| March 6 | 1st London minicabs introduced |
| March 6 | Dutch guilder revalued 4.74% |
| March 6 | Dutch Queen Juliana celebrates 12 year government jubilee |
| March 8 | Jean Kerr's "Mary, Mary," premieres in New York City |
| March 8 | U.S. nuclear submarine Patrick Henry arrives at Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from South Carolina in a record underseas journey of 66 days 22 hours |
| March 9 | 1st animal returned from space, dog named Blackie aboard Sputnik 9 |
| March 9 | Mine cave-in in Japan, kills 72 |
| March 9 | Sputnik 9 carries Chernushka, a dog, into orbit |
| March 9 | Supremes release "I Want A Guy" and "Never Again" |
| March 11 | Then NHL record 40 penalties, Black Hawks and Maple Leafs (20 each) |
| March 12 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Miami Golf Open |
| March 13 | Elizabeth Gurley Finn (70) becomes President of U.S. Communist Party |
| March 13 | Floyd Patterson KOs Ingemar Johansson in 6 for heavywgt boxing title |
| March 13 | John F. Kennedy sets up the Alliance for Progress |
| March 13 | Landslide in U.S.S.R., kills 145 |
| March 13 | Old type, black and white notes cease to be legal tender |
| March 13 | Pablo Picasso (79) marries his model Jacqueline Rocque (37) |
| March 14 | George Weiss becomes President of New York Mets |
| March 15 | South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth |
| March 17 | New York DA arrests professional gamblers who implicate Seton Hall players |
| March 17 | South Africa leaves British Commonwealth |
| March 18 | Poppin' Fresh Pillsbury Dough Boy introduced |
| March 21 | Art Modell purchases Cleveland Browns for then record ($3,925,000) |
| March 21 | Beatles' 1st appearance at the Cavern Club |
| March 24 | New York Senate approves $55M for a baseball stadium at Flushing Meadows |
| March 25 | "13 Daughters" closes at 54th St. Theater New York City after 28 performances |
| March 25 | 23rd NCAA Men's Basketball Champion: Cincinnati beats Ohio State 70-65 (OT) |
| March 25 | 3rd place game is one of the wildest contests in NCAA Tournament history as St. Joseph's defeats Utah 127-120 in 4 overtimes |
| March 25 | Elvis Presley performs live on the USS Arizona |
| March 25 | Explorer 10 launched into elongated Earth orbit (177/181,000 km) |
| March 25 | "Gypsy" closes at Broadway Theater New York City after 702 performances |
| March 25 | Sputnik 10 carries a dog into Earth orbit; later recovered |
| March 26 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA Golden Circle of Golf Festival |
| March 27 | Belgium government of Eyskens resigns |
| March 27 | Failed assassination attempt on King Saif al-Islam Achmad of Yemen |
| March 29 | 23rd Amendment ratified, allows Washington D.C. residents to vote for president |
| March 29 | After a 4 year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted on treason charge |
| March 29 | KCPT TV channel 19 in Kansas City, Missouri (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| March 30 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 169,600' (51,690 m) |
| March 31 | Aklilou Habtewold becomes 1st premier of Ethiopia |
| April 1 | Jim Bakker marries Tammy Faye |
| April 3 | Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia is sold to J Schleifer Properties |
| April 3 | "Happiest Girl in the World" opens at Martin Beck New York City for 97 performances |
| April 5 | Barbra Streisand appears on "Jack Paar Show" |
| April 5 | Dutch governor Platteel installs New Guinea Council |
| April 8 | British liner "Dara" explodes in Persian Gulf, kills 236 |
| April 8 | "Show Girl" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City after 100 performances |
| April 10 | 25th Golf Masters Championship: Gary Player wins, shooting a 280 |
| April 10 | Adolf Eichmann tried as a war criminal in Israel |
| April 10 | Dutch foreign minister Luns talks to John F. Kennedy about New Guinea |
| April 10 | New Washington Senators loses 1st regular-season game 4-3 to White Sox |
| April 11 | 15th NBA Championship: Bos Celtics beat St. Louis Hawks, 4 games to 1 |
| April 11 | Austrian 4th and last government of Raab resigns |
| April 11 | Bob Dylan's 1st appearance at Folk City, Greenwich Village |
| April 11 | Israel begins Adolf Eichmann WW II war crimes trial |
| April 12 | 3rd Grammy Awards: Theme From a Summer Place, Ray Charles wins 4 |
| April 12 | Douglas MacArthur declines offer to become baseball commissioner |
| April 12 | Yuri Gagarin becomes 1st person to orbit Earth in Vostok 1 |
| April 13 | "Carnival!" opens at Imperial Theater New York City for 719 performances |
| April 13 | U.N. General Assembly condemns South Africa's apartheid |
| April 14 | 1st live television broadcast from Soviet Union |
| April 14 | Cuban-American invasion army departs Nicaragua |
| April 14 | U.S. element 103 (Lawrencium) discovered |
| April 15 | "Music Man" closes at Majestic Theater New York City after 1375 performances |
| April 16 | 15th Tony Awards: Becket and Bye Bye Birdie win |
| April 16 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA Dallas Civitan Golf Open |
| April 16 | Stanley Cup: Chicago Blackhawks beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 2 |
| April 17 | 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs attempt to overthrow Castro |
| April 17 | 33rd Academy Awards - "Apartment," Burt Lancaster and Liz Taylor win |
| April 19 | 65th Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:23:39 |
| April 20 | American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt flight |
| April 21 | Dirk U. Suffocated chosen as Secretary-General of NATO |
| April 21 | French army revolts in Algeria |
| April 21 | USAF Major Robert M. White takes X-15 to 32,000 m |
| April 22 | Uprising of French parachutist of General Salan/Challe in Algeria |
| April 23 | Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Babe Didrikson Zaharias Golf Open |
| April 23 | "Tenderloin" closes at 46th St. Theater New York City after 216 performances |
| April 24 | John F. Kennedy accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs |
| April 24 | Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is raised |
| April 25 | France performs nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds Algeria |
| April 25 | Mercury/Atlas rocket lifted off with an electronic mannequin |
| April 25 | Premier Moise Tsjombe of Katanga arrested in Congo |
| April 25 | Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit |
| April 25 | Unmanned Mercury test explodes on launch pad |
| April 25 | "Young Abe Lincoln" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City for 27 performances |
| April 26 | French paratroopers' revolt suppressed in Algeria |
| April 26 | Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961 |
| April 27 | NASA launches Explorer 11 into Earth orbit to study gamma rays |
| April 27 | NFL officially recognizes Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio |
| April 27 | Sierra Leone declares independence from U.K. |
| April 28 | Lieutenant Colonel Gueorgui Mossolov takes E-66A to 34,714 m altitude |
| April 28 | Warren Spahn pitches 2nd no hitter at 41 beats San Francisco Giants, 1-0 |
| April 29 | ABC's "Wide World of Sports, debuts |
| April 30 | 1st shuttle flights between Washington D.C., Boston and New York City begin (Eastern) |
| April 30 | Lee Harvey Oswald marries Marina Prusakova in Minsk U.S.S.R. |
| April 30 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Titleholders Golf Championship |
| April 30 | Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba receives Lenin-Peace Prize |
| April 30 | San Francisco Giant Willie Mays hits 4 home runs in a game |
| May 1 | 1st U.S. airplane hijacked to Cuba |
| May 1 | Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba |
| May 1 | Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee for To Kill a Mockingbird |
| May 1 | Tanganyika granted full internal self-government by Britain |
| May 3 | Warren Spahn pitches a 2 hitter after pitching a no hitter |
| May 4 | 13 Freedom riders began bus trip through South |
| May 4 | 1st on-the-road Spacemobile lecture given. |
| May 4 | CORE begins freedom rides from Washington, D.C. |
| May 4 | Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather reach 34,668 m (record) in balloon |
| May 4 | South Africa ANC-leader John Nkadimeng arrested |
| May 5 | Alan Shepard becomes 1st American in space (aboard Freedom 7) |
| May 6 | 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04 |
| May 6 | Omer Vanaudenhove chosen chairman of Belgium Liberal Party |
| May 7 | Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Open |
| May 7 | "Young Abe Lincoln" closes at Eugene O'Neill New York City after 27 performances |
| May 8 | 1st practical sea water conversion plant - Freeport, Texas |
| May 8 | Alan Shepard receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Washington |
| May 9 | Baltimore Oriole Jim Gentile hits 2 grand slams (9 RBIs) vs Minnesota Twins |
| May 9 | FCC Chairman Newton N Minow criticizes TV as a "vast wasteland" |
| May 9 | Jim Gentile is 4th to hit grand slams in consecutive innings |
| May 10 | "Beyond the Fringe," premieres in London |
| May 12 | Botvinnik wins world chess championship for 3rd time |
| May 14 | Bus with 1st group of Freedom Riders bombed and burned in Alabama |
| May 14 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Columbus Golf Open |
| May 15 | 36 Unification church couples wed in Korea |
| May 15 | "Bonanza" by Al Caiola Orchestra hits #19 |
| May 15 | Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Mater et Magistra |
| May 16 | 13rd Emmy Awards: Jack Benny Show, Raymond Burr and Barbara Stanwyck |
| May 17 | Castro offers to exchange Bay of Pigs prisoners for 500 bulldozers |
| May 18 | "Donnybrook!" opens at 46th St. Theater New York City for 68 performances |
| May 19 | New pier opens in Scheveningen |
| May 20 | 87th Preakness: Johnny Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 1:57.6 |
| May 20 | Henzes opera "Elegy for Young Lovers," premieres in Schwetzingen |
| May 20 | Mauritania adopts constitution |
| May 20 | White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery, Alabama |
| May 21 | Governor Patterson declares martial law in Montgomery |
| May 22 | 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Needle in Seattle), opens |
| May 22 | "Mother-In-Law" by Ernie K-Doe hits #1 |
| May 22 | "Touchables In Brooklyn" by Dickie Goodman hits #42 |
| May 24 | 27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi |
| May 24 | Explorer (12) fails to reach Earth orbit |
| May 25 | John F. Kennedy sets goal of putting a man on Moon before the end of decade |
| May 25 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 32,770 m |
| May 26 | Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee establishes in Atlanta |
| May 26 | USAF bomber flies Atlantic in a record of just over 3 hours |
| May 27 | 1st black light is sold |
| May 27 | Fiorentina wins 1st Europe Cup II in Florence |
| May 27 | Ralph Boston of U.S., sets then long jump record at 27' " |
| May 28 | Amnesty International founded (Nobel Peace Prize 1977) |
| May 28 | Last trip (Paris to Bucharest) on Orient Express (after 78 years) |
| May 28 | Record 27 home runs hit in 7 AL games |
| May 30 | Dutch DC-8 crashes after takeoff at Lisbon, 62 die |
| May 30 | Maris hits his 10th and 11th of 61 home runs |
| May 31 | Benfica wins 6th Europe Cup 1 at Bern |
| May 31 | Chuck Berry's amusement park, Berryland in St. Louis, opens |
| May 31 | John F. Kennedy visits Charles de Gaulle in Paris |
| May 31 | Judge Irving Kaufman orders Board of Ed of New Rochelle, to integrate |
| May 31 | Union of South Africa becomes a republic, leaves Commonwealth |
| June 1 | FM multiplex stereo broadcasting 1st heard |
| June 3 | 93rd Belmont: Braulio Baeza aboard Sherluck wins in 2:29.2 |
| June 3 | John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev meet in Vienna |
| June 3 | "Wildcat" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 172 performances |
| June 4 | Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Western Golf Open |
| June 8 | English prince Edward, Duke of Kent, weds Katharine Worsley |
| June 8 | Milwaukee sets record of 4 consecutive home runs (Eddie Mathews, Hank Aaron Joe Adcock and Frank Thomas) |
| June 8 | Test Cricket debut of William Morris Lawry, vs. England at Edgbaston, 57 |
| June 9 | Ryne Duren sets AL record with 7 straight strikeouts against Red Sox |
| June 11 | Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Triangle Round Robin Golf Tournament |
| June 11 | Norm Cash becomes 1st Det Tiger to hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium |
| June 11 | Roger Maris hits 19th and 20th of 61 home runs |
| June 12 | An ailing Bill Veeck sells his interest in White Sox to Arthur Allyn |
| June 12 | Dutch Lockheed Electricity "Sirius" accident at Cairo, kills 20 |
| June 13 | "Billy Barnes People" opens at Royale Theater New York City for 8 performances |
| June 14 | 106 degrees F, hottest temperature in San Francisco |
| June 15 | Expansion Washington Senators are 30-30, latest date an expansion team will be at .500, Washington will lose their next 10 games |
| June 16 | Dave Garroway is fired as Today Show host |
| June 16 | Discoverer 25 launched |
| June 16 | Soviet ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects to West in Paris |
| June 17 | 61st U.S. Golf Open: Gene Littler shoots a 281 at Oakland Hills Michigan |
| June 17 | "Billy Barnes People" closes at Royale Theater New York City after 8 performances |
| June 17 | Russian ballet dancer Rudolph Nureyev defects to west in Frankfurt |
| June 18 | CBS radio cancels "Gunsmoke" |
| June 18 | KBMT TV channel 12 in Beaumont, Texas (ABC) begins broadcasting |
| June 18 | Mary Lena Faulk wins LPGA Eastern Golf Open |
| June 19 | Charlie Finley, changes A's manager Joe Gordon (26-33) for Hank Bauer |
| June 19 | Kuwait declares independence from U.K. |
| June 19 | "Little Egypt (Ying-Yang)" by Coasters peaks at #23 |
| June 19 | New York Yankee Roger Maris hits his 25th of 61 home runs |
| June 19 | U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision in Md's constitution requiring state office holders to believe in God |
| June 22 | Beatles record Aint She Sweet, Cry for a Shadow, When the Saints Go Marching In, Why, Nobody's Child and My Bonnie, in Hamburg |
| June 22 | Moise Tsjombe freed from prison in Congo |
| June 23 | Antarctic Treaty goes into effect |
| June 23 | Cubs Ernie Banks ends his 717 consecutive-games-played streak |
| June 23 | Phillies overcome 9-0, losing 11-2 they score 4 in 8th and 6 in 9th |
| June 23 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 32,830 m |
| June 24 | Beatles record "If You Love Me Baby" |
| June 24 | "Happiest Girl in the World" closes at Martin Beck New York City after 97 performances |
| June 24 | Iraq demands dominion over Kuwait |
| June 25 | Baltimore and California use a record 16 pitchers in a game (8 each) in 14 inns |
| June 25 | Iraq announces that Kuwait is a part of Iraq (Kuwait disagrees) |
| June 28 | Phils and San Francisco set then record longest night game (5h11m) 7-7 15 inn tie |
| June 29 | Launch of Transit 4a, with 1st nuclear power supply (SNAP-3) |
| June 29 | Willie Mays is 4th major leaguer with 3 or more home runs twice in a season |
| June 30 | Buddy Rogers beats Pat O'Conner in Chicago, to become NWA champ |
| June 30 | Explorer (12) fails to reach Earth orbit |
| July 1 | 16th U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by Mickey Wright |
| July 1 | Haleakala National Park forms in Hawaii |
| July 1 | KNDU TV channel 25 in Richland-Pasco-Kennew, WA (NBC) 1st broadcast |
| July 2 | Maris hits 29th and 30th en route to 61 homers |
| July 5 | 80 die in collisions in Algiers |
| July 5 | KUSD TV channel 2 in Vermillion, SD (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| July 5 | St. Louis Cardinal Bill White hits 3 home runs and a double |
| July 6 | Portuguese ship explode near Mozambique, kills 300 |
| July 7 | 75th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats Chuck McKinley (63 61 64) |
| July 7 | James R. Hoffa elected chairman of Teamsters |
| July 8 | Fred Trueman takes 5-0 in 24 balls to rip through Aussies |
| July 8 | Portuguese steamer "Save" breaks up off Mozambique, 227 die |
| July 11 | 30th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-4 in 10 at Candlestick Pk, SF |
| July 11 | Gene Kiniski beats Verne Gagne in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ |
| July 14 | Astro's Eddie Matthews hits home run #500 |
| July 14 | Finland's Miettunen government forms |
| July 14 | Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Mater et magistrate |
| July 15 | 90th British Golf Open: Arnold Palmer shoots a 284 at Royal Birkdale |
| July 15 | "Donnybrook!" closes at 46th St. Theater New York City after 68 performances |
| July 15 | Spain accept equal rights for men and women |
| July 16 | Kathy Cornelius wins LPGA Tippecanoe Golf Open |
| July 16 | Ralph Boston of U.S., sets then long jump record at 27' 2" |
| July 17 | John Chancellor becomes news anchor of Today Show |
| July 17 | Roger Maris loses a home run (of his 61) due to a rain-out in 5th |
| July 18 | Commissioner Ford Frick rules Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in 154-game sched in 1927, must be broken in 1st 154 of 162 games |
| July 19 | 1st in-flight movie shown, TWA |
| July 21 | Launch of Mercury 4 (Liberty Bell) with Grissom |
| July 22 | WBNB TV channel 10 in Charlotte Amaile, VI (CBS) begins broadcasting |
| July 23 | Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Cosmopolitan Golf Open |
| July 23 | Bricusse and Newley's musical "Stop the world I want to ...," premieres |
| July 24 | Beginning of a trend, a U.S. commercial plane is hijacked to Cuba |
| July 24 | Edwin Newman becomes news anchor of Today Show |
| July 24 | Roger Maris hits 4 home runs, in a doubleheader |
| July 25 | Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 and 40 in a doubleheader |
| July 29 | Phillies lose 1st of 23 straight games |
| July 29 | Wallis and Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory |
| July 30 | 43rd PGA Championship: Jerry Barber shoots a 277 at Olympia Fields IL |
| July 30 | Judy Kimball wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open |
| July 31 | 31st All Star Baseball Game: 1-1 tie ends by rain at Fenway, Boston |
| July 31 | Israel welcomes its 1,000,000th immigrant |
| August 1 | Benaud rips through England team for Aussie win at Old Trafford |
| August 1 | East Germany limits traffic to West Berlin |
| August 1 | New San Francisco Hall of Justice opens |
| August 1 | Whitney Young, Jr. named executive director of National Urban League |
| August 2 | Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club |
| August 2 | Cyrille Adula becomes premier of Congo |
| August 2 | St. Louis Cardinals (NFL) beat Toronto Argonauts (CFL) 36-7 in Toronto |
| August 4 | 108 degrees F, Spokane, WA |
| August 4 | 28th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Philadelphia 28, All-Stars 14 (66,000) |
| August 5 | 118 degrees F (48 degrees C), Ice Harbor Dam, Washington (state record) |
| August 5 | Chicago Bears (NFL) beat Montreal Alouettes (CFL) 34-16 in Montreal |
| August 6 | 1st case of motion sickness in space reported |
| August 6 | Gherman S Titov, 2nd Russian in space aboard Vostok 2 (17 orbits) |
| August 6 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open |
| August 7 | Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2 |
| August 7 | Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts U.S.S.R. economy will surpass U.S. |
| August 8 | Ham Tigercats (CFL) beat Buff Bills (NFL) 38-21 in Hamilton, Ontario |
| August 8 | Verne Gagne beats Gene Kiniski in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ |
| August 9 | James B Parsons is 1st black appointed to Federal District Court |
| August 10 | England applies for membership in European Common Market |
| August 11 | Warren Spahn records victory #300, beats Cubs 2-1 |
| August 13 | Construction on Berlin Wall begins in East Germany |
| August 13 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA Kansas City Golf Open |
| August 14 | Philadelphia Phillies lose 17th straight game |
| August 16 | 250,000 West Berliners demonstrate against East Berlin |
| August 16 | Martin L. King protests for black voting right in Miami |
| August 17 | Building of Berlin Wall begins |
| August 17 | Kennedy administration establishes Alliance for Progress |
| August 18 | Construction on Berlin Wall completed |
| August 19 | U.S. vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson visits West Berlin |
| August 20 | East Germany begins erecting 5' high wall along the border with the west to replace the barbed wire put up Aug 13 |
| August 20 | Phillies set then dubious record of 23 straight loses, beat Braves |
| August 21 | Jomo Kenyatta freed in Kenya |
| August 22 | Maris hits his 50th of 61 homers |
| August 23 | Belgium sends troops to Rwanda-Urundi |
| August 23 | East Germany imposed new curbs on travel between West and East Berlin |
| August 23 | U.S. lunar probe Ranger 1 reaches 190 km from Earth, falls back |
| August 24 | Former nazi leader Johannes Vorster becomes South Africa's minister of justice (if the shoe fits...) |
| August 24 | Windward Islands' Airways International (Winair) forms |
| August 25 | Brazilian president Janio Quadros, resigns |
| August 26 | Official International Hockey Hall of Fame opens in Toronto |
| August 27 | Francis the Talking Mule is mystery guest on "What's My Line" |
| August 27 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Spokane Women's Golf Open |
| August 30 | J B Parsons is 1st African American judge of a U.S. District Court |
| August 30 | Last Spanish troops leave Morocco |
| August 30 | Oriole Jack Fisher walks 12 LA Angels in a 9 inning game |
| August 30 | U.S.S.R. says it will resume nuclear testing |
| August 31 | Amsterdam National Ballet forms |
| September 1 | 1st conference of neutral countries held in Belgrade |
| September 1 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| September 4 | Carol Burnette-Richard Hayes Show premieres on CBS radio |
| September 4 | U.S. authorizes Agency for International Development |
| September 5 | John F. Kennedy begins underground nuclear testing |
| September 5 | President Kennedy signs law against hijacking (death penalty) |
| September 5 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| September 6 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Kapustin Yar U.S.S.R. |
| September 9 | Maria Beale Fletcher (NC), 19, crowned 34th Miss America 1962 |
| September 10 | 75th U.S. Womens Tennis: Darlene R Hard beats Ann Haydon Jones (63 64) |
| September 10 | 81st U.S. Mens Tennis: Roy Emerson beats Rodney G Laver (75 63 62) |
| September 10 | Mickey Mantle becomes 7th to hit home run # 400 |
| September 10 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 11 | Bob Dylan's 1st New York performance |
| September 12 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A. Walker takes X-15 to 34,840 m |
| September 12 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 13 | Battles between United Nations and Katanga troops in Congo |
| September 13 | "Car 54 Where are You?" premieres on TV |
| September 13 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 13 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| September 13 | Unmanned Mercury-Atlas 4 launched into Earth orbit |
| September 14 | Dmitri Shostakovich becomes member of CP of U.S.S.R. |
| September 14 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 15 | 61st U.S. Golf Amateur Championship won by Jack Nicklaus |
| September 15 | Hurricane Carla strikes Texas with winds of 175 mph |
| September 16 | CDU loses West German election |
| September 16 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 16 | WLKY TV channel 32 in Louisville, Kentucky (ABC) begins broadcasting |
| September 17 | Minnesota Vikings' 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13) |
| September 17 | Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days," premieres in New York City |
| September 17 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| September 18 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 20 | After 84 1/3 innings Bill Fischer gives up a base on balls |
| September 20 | James Meredith refused access as a student in Mississippi |
| September 20 | Roger Maris hits home run # 59 and barely misses # 60 in game 154 of the season. Yankees clinch pennant #26 |
| September 20 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| September 21 | Antonio Abertondo swims English Channel round trip (44 miles) |
| September 22 | Antonio Albertondo (Argentina) at 42, completes 1st "double" crossing swim of English Channel in 43 hours 10 min |
| September 22 | Jim Gentile's ties record of 5 grand slams in a year |
| September 23 | 1st movie to become a TV series - How to Marry a Millionaire |
| September 23 | Ernie Banks ends 717 consecutive-games-played streak |
| September 24 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Sacramento Valley Golf Open |
| September 25 | KTPS TV channel 62 in Tacoma, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| September 26 | "From the Second City" opens at Royale Theater New York City for 87 performances |
| September 26 | Roger Maris hits home run number 60 off Jack Fisher, tying Babe Ruth's record |
| September 27 | Sandy Koufax sets NL strikeout season record at 269 |
| September 27 | Sierre Leone becomes 100th member of U.N. |
| September 28 | "Doctor Kildare," debuts on NBC-TV |
| September 28 | "Hazel," starring Shirley Booth debuts on NBC-TV |
| September 28 | "Purlie Victorious," a farce by Ossie Davis, opens on Broadway |
| September 28 | Syria withdraws from United Arab Republic |
| September 28 | Ted Williams hits a home run on his last at bat |
| September 28 | USN Comdr Forrest S Petersen takes X-15 to 30,720 m |
| September 28 | Walt Disney's movie "Grey Friars Bobby" premieres |
| September 29 | Bob Dylan's 1st recording session-backup harmonica for Caroline Hester |
| September 29 | "Detectives," TV Crime Drama; moves to NBC-TV |
| September 29 | Mamum Kuzbari becomes premier of Syria |
| October 1 | A believed extinct volcanco erupts in Tristan da Cunha |
| October 1 | East and West Cameroon merge as Federal Republic of Cameroon |
| October 1 | KGIN TV channel 11 in Grand Island, NB (CBS) begins broadcasting |
| October 1 | Mickey Wright wins LPGA Mickey Wright Golf Open |
| October 1 | Premiere of Dmitri Shostakovitsch' 12nd Symphony |
| October 1 | Roger Maris sets record of 61 home runs off of Tracy Stallard |
| October 1 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| October 1 | WOLO TV channel 25 in Columbia, South Carolina (ABC) begins broadcasting |
| October 1 | WYAH TV channel 27 in Portsmouth, Virginia (IND) begins broadcasting |
| October 2 | "Ben Casey" premieres on NBC-TV |
| October 2 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 2 | WETA TV channel 26 in Washington, D.C. (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| October 2 | WHRO TV channel 15 in Hampton-Norfolk, Virginia (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| October 3 | "Dick Van Dyke Show" premieres on CBS-TV |
| October 3 | KMED (now KTVL) TV channel 10 in Medford, OR (CBS) begins broadcasting |
| October 3 | "Mr Ed" premieres |
| October 3 | "Sail Away" opens at Broadhurst Theater New York City for 167 performances |
| October 4 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 4 | Whitey Ford's 3rd straight World Series shutout |
| October 5 | China and Nepal sign treaty |
| October 6 | John F. Kennedy advises Americans to build fallout shelters |
| October 6 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear tests at Kapustin Yar and Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 7 | 15th NHL All-Star Game: All-Stars beat Chicago 3-1 at Chicago |
| October 7 | "Bye Bye Birdie" closes at Martin Beck Theater New York City after 607 performances |
| October 8 | Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Bill Brannin's Swing Parade Golf Tournament |
| October 8 | U.S. Constellation crashes at Richmond, Virginia, 74 die |
| October 8 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 8 | Whitey Ford breaks Babe Ruth's World Series record of 29 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, running his streak to 32 |
| October 9 | New York Yankees beat Cincinnati Reds, 4 games to 1 in 58th World Series |
| October 9 | Tanganyika becomes independent within British Commonwealth |
| October 9 | U.S. members of Communist Party obliged to report themselves to Police |
| October 9 | Volcano eruptions on Tristan de Cunha (South Atlantic) |
| October 9 | World Series scoreless pitching streak Yankees beat Reds 4 games to 1 |
| October 9 | Yank Whitey Ford breaks Ruth record of 29 2/3 consecutive inning |
| October 10 | Expansion draft to stock Houston Astros and New York Mets |
| October 10 | "Milk and Honey" opens at Martin Beck Theater New York City for 543 performances |
| October 10 | Otis M Smith appointed to Michigan Supreme Court |
| October 10 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| October 11 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test |
| October 11 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 66,100m |
| October 12 | "Let It Ride" opens at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City for 68 performances |
| October 12 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. |
| October 14 | 14th Ryder Cup: U.S., 14 -9 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes, England |
| October 14 | "How to Succeed in Business" opens at 46th St. New York City for 1415 performances |
| October 17 | 22nd congress of CPSU opens in Moscow |
| October 17 | Battle of Paris - police kill 210 Algerians |
| October 17 | NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 33,100 m |
| October 17 | NY Museum of Modern Art hangs Henri Matisse's "Le Bateau" upside-down It wasn't corrected until December 3rd |
| October 18 | Emergency crisis proclaimed in South Vietnam due to commun attack |
| October 21 | Barbra Striesand opens in "Another Evening with Harry Stones" |
| October 21 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan U.S.S.R. |
| October 22 | 75,000 Flemings demand equal rights and Flemish language in Belgium |
| October 22 | Louise Suggs wins LPGA San Antonio Golf Civitan |
| October 23 | "Kwamina" opens at 54th St. Theater New York City for 32 performances |
| October 23 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 24 | "Evening with Yves Montand" opens at John Golden New York City for 55 performances |
| October 25 | U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. |
| October 26 | 1st Saturn launch vehicle made a flight test |
| October 27 | 1st Saturn launch vehicle makes an unmanned flight test |
| October 27 | American Basketball League starts play |
| October 27 | Outer Mongolia and Mauritania become 102nd and 103rd members of UN |
| October 28 | "Fiorello!" closes at Broadhurst Theater New York City after 796 performances |
| October 28 | Ground broken for Municipal (Shea) Stadium for New York Mets |
| October 29 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| October 30 | Soviet Party Congress unanimously approves a resolution removing Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb in Red Square |
| October 30 | Soviet Union tests a 58 megaton hydrogen bomb |
| October 30 | U.N. unanimously elects U Thant acting Secretary General of the U.N. |
| October 31 | Federal judge rules that Birmingham, Alabama, laws against integrated playing fields are illegal |
| October 31 | Hurricane Hattie, kills 400 in British Honduras |
| November 2 | "Kean" opens at Broadway Theater New York City for 92 performances |
| November 2 | Max Frisch' "Andorra," premieres in Zurich |
| November 3 | General Assembly unanimously elects U Thant acting secretary general |
| November 4 | Karamanlis becomes premier of Greece |
| November 5 | India's premier Nehru arrives in New York |
| November 5 | St. Louis Cardinals Bill Stacy, returns 2 interceptions for TDs vs Dallas |
| November 6 | U.S. government issues a stamp honoring 100th birthday of James Naismith |
| November 7 | France performs underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria |
| November 8 | Whitey Ford is voted Cy Young Award winner over Warren Spahn |
| November 9 | Paddy Chayefsky's "Gideon," premieres in New York City |
| November 9 | PGA eliminates caucasians only rule |
| November 9 | USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 30,970m |
| November 11 | Congolese soldiers murder 13 Italian United Nations pilots |
| November 11 | Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovitsj kicked out of Russia's Communist Party |
| November 11 | Stalingrad renamed Volgograd |
| November 13 | WCBB TV channel 10 in Augusta, ME (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| November 15 | Comet C/1961 T1 (Seki) approaches within 0.1019 AUs of Earth |
| November 15 | Roger Maris is voted AL MVP |
| November 15 | U.N. bans nuclear arms |
| November 16 | Great Britain limits immigration from Commonwealth countries |
| November 18 | "Gay Life" opens at Shubert Theater New York City for 113 performances |
| November 18 | John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam |
| November 18 | "Kwamina" closes at 54th St. Theater New York City after 32 performances |
| November 18 | U.S. Ranger 2 launched to Moon; failed |
| November 19 | Houston George Blanda passes for 7 touchdowns vs New York Titans (49-13) |
| November 20 | WPLG TV channel 10 in Miami, Florida (ABC) begins broadcasting |
| November 22 | Frank Robinson is 1st to win MVPs in both major leagues |
| November 22 | Producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman announce expensive publicity campaign to make Sean Connery (James Bond) a star |
| November 22 | St. Louis Hawk Bob Pettit sets NBA record, hitting 19 of 19 free throws |
| November 25 | NBA's Bob Cousy becomes 2nd player to score 15,000 points |
| November 26 | For 2nd time in his career, St. Louis' Jerry Norton has 4 interceptions |
| November 26 | Pro Baseball Rules Committee votes 8-1 against legalizing the spitball |
| November 27 | Gordie Howe becomes 1st to play in 1,000 NHL games |
| November 27 | KHAW TV channel 11 in Hilo, HI (NBC) begins broadcasting |
| November 28 | Ernest Davis is 1st black to win Heisman Trophy |
| November 28 | General Meeting of United Nations debates about New-Guinea |
| November 28 | Martin Walser's "Der Abstecher," premieres in Munich |
| November 29 | Freedom Riders attacked by white mob at bus station in Miss |
| November 29 | John A McCone replaces Allen W Dulles as 6th director of CIA |
| November 29 | Mercury-Atlas 5 carries a chimp (Enos) to orbit |
| November 30 | Billy Williams of the Cubs is voted NL Rookie of Year |
| November 30 | U.S.S.R. vetoes Kuwaits application for United Nations membership |
| December 2 | Fidel Castro declares he's a Marxist, and will lead Cuba to Communism |
| December 2 | Wind Bell, journal of San Francisco Zen Center, begins publishing |
| December 3 | Anton Geesink becomes 1st not-Japanese judo world champion |
| December 3 | Beatles meet future manager Brian Epstein |
| December 3 | George Blanda of Houston Oilers kicks 55-yard field goal |
| December 3 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| December 4 | Floyd Patterson KOs Tom McNeeley in 4 for heavyweight boxing title |
| December 4 | Museum of Modern Art hangs Matisse's Le Bateau upside down for 47 days |
| December 4 | Smallest New York Knick, 49th St. MSG crowd-1,300 (snowstorm) |
| December 4 | Tanganyika becomes 104th member of UN |
| December 4 | WXGeorgia TV channel 8 in Waycross, Georgia (PBS) begins broadcasting |
| December 6 | 27th Heisman Trophy Award: Ernie Davis, Syracuse (HB) |
| December 8 | Antwerp Belgium diocese forms |
| December 8 | Larry Costello scores 32 consecutive pts without a miss (NBA rec) |
| December 8 | South Africa vs. New Zealand, Durban debuts for Eddie Barlow and Peter Pollock |
| December 8 | Wilt Chamberlain scores the 2nd highest total in the NBA - 78 |
| December 9 | "From the Second City" closes at Royale Theater New York City after 87 performances |
| December 9 | "Let It Ride" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater New York City after 68 performances |
| December 9 | SS Col Adolf Eichmann found guilty of war crimes in Israel |
| December 9 | Tanganyika gains independence from Britain takes name Tanzania |
| December 9 | Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 67 points vs NY |
| December 10 | Dr. Ruth marries Fred Westheimer |
| December 10 | Houston Oiler Billy Cannon gains record 373 yards against Titans |
| December 10 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Carlsbad New Mexico (underground) |
| December 10 | U.S.S.R. and Albania break diplomatic relations |
| December 11 | Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel |
| December 11 | Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii," album goes to #1 and stays #1 for 20 weeks |
| December 11 | John F. Kennedy provides U.S. miltary helicopters and crews to South Vietnam |
| December 11 | "Please, Mr. Postman" by Marvelettes, released |
| December 12 | Ham radio satellite Oscar 1 launched with military Discoverer 36 |
| December 12 | Martin Luther King, Jr. and 700 demonstraters arrested in Albany, Georgia |
| December 13 | Beatles sign a formal agreement to be managed by Brian Epstein |
| December 13 | Gideon Hausner in Jerusalem demands death penalty for Adolf Eichmann |
| December 13 | Jimmy Dean's Big Bad John album is country music 1st million $ seller |
| December 14 | Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" is 1st country song to get a gold record |
| December 15 | Adolf Eichmann convicted of crimes against humanity in Israel |
| December 15 | Equal access rule, political parties get TV broadcasting time |
| December 15 | John F. Kennedy visits Puerto Rico |
| December 15 | L J Suenens appointed archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels |
| December 16 | "Evening with Yves Montand" opens at John Golden New York City after 55 performances |
| December 17 | Disgruntled employee set fire to a circus tent in Niteroi Brazil |
| December 17 | India seizes Goa and 2 other Portuguese colonies |
| December 17 | Niteroi Circus of Rio de Janeiro catches fire; 323 die |
| December 18 | Britain's EMI Records originally rejects the Beatles |
| December 18 | For 2nd cons year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year |
| December 18 | India annexes Portuguese colonies of Goa, Damao and Diu |
| December 18 | KAIL TV channel 53 in Fresno, California (IND) begins broadcasting |
| December 18 | Wilt Chamberlain of NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores 78 points vs LA |
| December 19 | British government begins decimal coin system |
| December 19 | Indonesian President Sukarno proclaims general mobilization |
| December 21 | Beatles record "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Ready Teddy" |
| December 21 | John F. Kennedy and British Prime Minister MacMillan meet in Bermuda |
| December 22 | U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site |
| December 23 | Fidel Castro announces Cuba will release 1,113 prisoners from failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion for $62M worth of food and medical supplies |
| December 23 | KICU TV channel 43 in Visalia-Fresno, California (IND) begins broadcasting |
| December 23 | Train accident in Italy, 70 die |
| December 24 | Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game |
| December 27 | Belgium and Congo resume diplomatic relations |
| December 27 | Styne/Comden/Green's musical "Subways are for Sleeping," premieres |
| December 27 | "Subways Are for Sleeping" opens at St. James Theater New York City for 205 performances |
| December 28 | Tennessee Williams' "Night of the Iguana," premieres in New York City |
| December 30 | Moscow: premier of Dmitri Sjostakovitch' 4th Symphony (out 1936) |
| December 31 | 1st performance of Beach Boys |
| December 31 | Beach Boys play their debut gig under that name |
| December 31 | Failed coup by Syrian group in Lebanon |
| December 31 | Green Bay Packers shutout New York Giants 37-0 in NFL championship game |
| December 31 | "lrma La Douce" closes at Plymouth Theater New York City after 527 performances |
| December 31 | Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion |
