"The Sixties", as they are known in both scholarship and popular culture, is a term used by historians, journalists, and other objective academics; in some cases nostalgically to describe the counterculture and revolution in social norms about clothing, music, drugs, dress, formalities and schooling. Conservatives denounce the decade as one of irresponsible excess and flamboyance, and decay of social order. The decade was also labeled the Swinging Sixties because of the fall or relaxation of social taboos especially relating to racism and sexism that occurred during this time.
The 1960s became synonymous with the new, radical, and subversive events and trends of the period. In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political change as 32 countries gained independence from their European colonial rulers.
Some commentators have seen in this era a classical Jungian nightmare cycle, where a rigid culture, unable to contain the demands for greater individual freedom, broke free of the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm. Christopher Booker charts the rise, success, fall/nightmare and explosion in the London scene of the 1960s. However, this alone does not explain the mass nature of the phenomenon.
Several nations such as the U.S., France, Germany and Britain turned to the left in the early and mid 1960s. In the United States, John F. Kennedy, a Keynesian and staunch anti-communist, pushed for social reforms. His assassination in 1963 was a stunning shock. Liberal reforms were finally passed under Lyndon B. Johnson including civil rights for African Americans and healthcare for the elderly and the poor. Despite his large-scale Great Society programs, Johnson was increasingly reviled by the New Left at home and abroad. The heavy-handed American role in the Vietnam War outraged student protestors across the globe, as they found peasant rebellion typified by Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara more appealing. Italy formed its first left-of-center government in March 1962 with a coalition of Christian Democrats, Social Democrats, and moderate Republicans. Socialists joined the ruling block in December 1963. In Britain, the Labour Party gained power in 1964. In Brazil, João Goulart became president after Jânio Quadros resigned.
Anquetil's teammate Rudi Altig took the first general classification leader's yellow jersey after winning the first stage. He lost it the following day to André Darrigade of Gitane–Leroux–Dunlop–R. Geminiani, who won stage 2a, before regaining it after winning stage three. The lead was taken by Saint-Raphaël rider Albertus Geldermans after stage six. He held it for two stages, before Darrigade took it back for the next two. Flandria rider Willy Schroeders then led the race between the end of stage nine to the end of eleven, at which point Schroeders' teammate Rik Van Looy, a major pre-race favourite, abandoned the race with an injury. The following day, British rider Tom Simpson (Gitane–Leroux) became the first rider from outside mainland Europe in history to wear the yellow jersey. He lost it to Planckaert after stage thirteen's individual time trial to Superbagnères in the Pyrenees. He held the lead for seven stages, which included the Alps. Anquetil's victory in the individual time trial of stage twenty put him in the yellow jersey, which he held until the conclusion of the race. (Full article...)
On the night of October 31, over 4,000 people were in the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum to watch a Holiday on Ice performance. While this was happening, liquefied petroleum gas was leaking from a tank that was stored with several others in a supply room underneath a part of the grandstands. Shortly after 11 p.m. ET, the gas came into contact with an electrical heating element from the concessions area, causing a major explosion that killed many seated above the room and caused significant damage to the stands. After the initial blast, while people were evacuating, a second blast caused by the remaining, unexploded tanks caused further destruction. Firefighters and other emergency responders were at the site within minutes and survivors were transported via ambulance to various hospitals in the area. The gas tanks were discovered by firefighters during cleanup operations and later testing revealed that they were the cause of the explosion. (Full article...)
George HarrisonMBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work.
This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.
Houphouët-Boigny in 1962
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (French:[feliksufwɛ(t)bwaɲi]; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first president of Ivory Coast from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to the French Parliament. He served in several ministerial positions within the French government before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and the decolonisation of Africa.
Under Houphouët-Boigny's politically moderate leadership, Ivory Coast prospered economically. This success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became known as the "Ivorian miracle"; it was due to a combination of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the West (particularly France) and development of the country's significant coffee and cocoa industries. However, reliance on the agricultural sector caused difficulties in 1980, after a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and cocoa. (Full article...)
The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Valley (now known as Olympic Valley), California, United States. The resort was chosen to host the Games at the 1956 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Squaw Valley was an undeveloped resort in 1955, so the infrastructure and all of the venues were built between 1956 and 1960 at a cost of US$80,000,000 (equivalent to $823,937,008 in 2023). The layout was designed to be intimate, allowing spectators and competitors to reach most of the venues on foot.
The 1960 Winter Games hosted athletes from 30 nations, competing in four sports and 27 events. Biathlon and women's speed skating made their Olympic debuts. Bobsled was not on the Winter Olympic program for the only time; the organizers had decided the events did not warrant the cost of building a bobsled venue after a poll indicated that only nine countries were planning to participate. These Olympics became the first to be televised live, making them accessible to millions of viewers in real time, and introduced multiple technological innovations, including instant replay. (Full article...)
... that Mily Treviño-Sauceda, the co-founder of the first national grassroots women's farmworker organization in the United States, the National Alliance of Farmworker Women, was a child farmworker in the 1960s?
... that Suzie Zuzek's impactful 1960s and 1970s textile designs for Lilly Pulitzer dresses were recovered from under floorboards?
... that in the 1960s one could have tea and toast served to your changing room at the Carlisle Turkish baths in England?
... that Romy Golan's 2021 book Flashback, Eclipse is an exploration of Italian art of the 1960s that moved away from the art created under Italian fascism?
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