December 1960

• The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 6, a 5-ton satellite, into orbit with two dogs, Pchelka ("Little Bee") and Mushka ("Little Fly"), plus mice, insects and plants. The next day, the capsule was reported to have burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere at too steep an angle.{{cite news |title=Red Sputnik Burns Up |newspaper=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |date=3 December 1960}} According to later reports, a self-destruct system had been built to destroy the satellite if it did not re-enter at the correct time, in order to prevent it from landing outside the Soviet Union.{{cite book |first1=Rex |last1=Hall |first2=David |last2=Shayler |title=The rocket men: Vostok & Voskhod, the first Soviet manned spaceflights |publisher=Springer |year=2001 |pages=128–129}}
• The Congolese Army arrested Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Congo, while he was on his way to Stanleyville to meet his supporters.{{cite news |title=Congo Ex-Premier Nabbed in Escape |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=December 2, 1960 |page=1}} Lumumba would be moved around the country and then shot to death on January 17, 1961.{{cite book |first=Ludo |last=de Witte |author-link=Ludo De Witte |title=The Assassination of Lumumba |publisher=Verso |year=2002 |page=54}}

• In the first time since 1397 that England's highest ranking religious leader had visited the Pope, the Most Reverend Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church, talked with Pope John XXIII for about an hour at the Vatican.{{cite news |title=Pope John XXIII Receives Archbishop of Canterbury |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=December 2, 1960 |page=1}}{{cite book |first1=Edward |last1=Carpenter |first2=Adrian |last2=Hastings |title=Cantuar: the archbishops in their office |publisher=Continuum International |year=1997 |pages=501–502}}
• U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the use of one million dollars for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who had been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.

File:Richard Burton Julie Andrews Guenevere and Arthur Camelot.JPG

• Camelot, the most expensive theatrical production to that time, made its Broadway debut, at the Majestic Theatre, with Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as Lady Guinevere.{{cite book |first=Ethan |last=Mordden |author-link=Ethan Mordden |title=Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2002 |pages=26–27}}
• Redstone launch vehicle No. 3 was shipped to Cape Canaveral for the Mercury-Redstone 1A mission.{{Source attribution}} {{cite book |title=Project Mercury – A Chronology |chapter=PART II (B) Research and Development Phase of Project Mercury January 1960 through May 5, 1961 |last=Grimwood |first=James M. |series=NASA Special Publication-4001 |chapter-url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4001/p2b.htm |publisher=NASA |access-date=8 February 2023}}
• Born:
• Julianne Moore (stage name for Julie Anne Smith), American film and TV actress, winner of the 2015 Academy Award for Best Actress for Still Alice; in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
• Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player who, in 1989, became the first Soviet player to join the NHL; in Voskresensk
• Daryl Hannah, American film actress known for Splash; in Chicago{{cite book |url=http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/sweethomecookcounty/documents/2007sweethome.pdf |title=Sweet Home Cook County |publisher=Cook County Clerk |page=9 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528132937/http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/sweethomecookcounty/documents/2007sweethome.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2016 |access-date=31 May 2023}}

• The request by the Islamic Republic of Mauritania to be admitted as the 100th member of the United Nations was vetoed in the Security Council by the Soviet Union, in response to the denial of the request of Mongolia to be admitted."Africans Demand U.N. Admit Nation", Daytona Beach Morning News, December 19, 1960, p5 In 1961, Sierra Leone would become the 100th member, followed by Mongolia and Mauritania.[http://www.un.int/sierraleone/missionwelcome.html UN website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527013945/http://www.un.int/sierraleone/missionwelcome.html |date=2009-05-27 }} [https://www.un.org/en/members/growth.shtml UN website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712192515/http://www.un.org/en/members/growth.shtml |date=2014-07-12 }}
• Born: Glynis Nunn, Australian heptathlete, and 1984 Olympic gold medalist; in Toowoomba, Queensland

• In the case of Boynton v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court declared, by a 7 to 2 vote, that a law requiring permitting bus stations to exclude patrons on the basis of race, was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. The case had arisen when a law student at Howard University, Bruce Boynton, was fined for refusing to leave a "whites only" restaurant at the Trailways bus terminal in Richmond, Virginia."Negroes Win Right to Eat in Bus Depots", Chicago Daily Tribune, December 6, 1960, p10
• Born: Sarika, Indian film actress; as Sarika Thakur in New Delhi

• Public Land Order 2216 established the {{convert|498000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Izembek National Wildlife Range, which included Izembek Lagoon and its entire watershed near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula as "a refuge, breeding ground, and management area for all forms of wildlife".{{cite web |url = http://izembek.fws.gov/establishment.htm |title = Alaska – Izembek National Wildlife Refuge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227042628/http://izembek.fws.gov/establishment.htm |archive-date=27 February 2010 |url-status=dead}}
• U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton issued Public Land Order 2214, reserving {{convert|9500000|acre|km2|sigfig=2}} of land as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.[http://www.fws.gov/info/pocketguide/arcticrefuge50.htm "Arctic Refuge's 50th Anniversary"], U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

• At the request of the government of Dade County, Florida, the U.S. government opened the first federal Cuban Refugee Center, located in Miami, with a staff of 14. By the end of 1961, the center had 300 employees.Roger Daniels, Guarding the golden door: American immigration policy and immigrants since 1882 (Macmillan, 2005) p195
• The United Nations Security Council was called into session by the Soviet Union, to consider Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba."Appeal of Soviet to Aid Lumumba Up in U.N. Today", New York Times, December 7, 1960, p1
• The QH-50 DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter), a drone that could be guided by remote control, made its first successful unmanned landing, descending upon the USS Hazelwood.[http://www.gyrodynehelicopters.com/dash_history.htm "The DASH Weapon System"], GyrodyneHelicopters.com
• Died: Clara Haskil, 65, Romanian classical pianist

• The government of Burma (now Myanmar) ratified a treaty with the People's Republic of China to define the boundary between the two nations. Burma agreed to cede 60 square miles of its northernmost territory to China, including three villages, and China ceded the 100 square mile "Mengmao triangle" at the juncture of two rivers southeast of the Burmese city of Bhamo.{{cite news |title=Burma Ratifies Red Chinese Border Treaty |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 9, 1960 |page=I-8}}
• Hayato Ikeda, who had been Prime Minister of Japan since July 19 after the resignation of Nobusuke Kishi, formed a new government following the parliamentary election of November 20.{{cn|date=January 2024}}
• The government of Congo-Leopoldville ordered a blockade of all United Nations surface transportation in the central African nation.{{cite news |title=Congolese Blockade Stuns U.N.— All Military Surface Transport Faces Paralysis |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 9, 1960 |page=I-1}}
• The North Dakota Agricultural College was officially renamed North Dakota State University.[http://library.ndsu.edu/archives/general-info/ndsu-history NDSU History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828062852/http://library.ndsu.edu/archives/general-info/ndsu-history |date=2009-08-28 }}

• The first episode of the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street aired in Britain. It was originally planned to be a 16-part series but became such a success that, running five times or more per week,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1061044.stm |title=40 Years on the Street |first=William |last=Gallagher |work=BBC News |date=December 8, 2000}} it continued past its 10,000th episode in its 60th anniversary year. William Roache who played Ken Barlow in the first episode would still be in the show to this day.
• Entrepreneur Tom Monaghan and his brother James took over the operation of "DomiNick's Pizza" store at 301 West Cross Street in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1965, after the original owner declined to allow the use of his name for other locations, Tom Monaghan renamed his restaurant Domino's Pizza.{{cite book |first=James |last=Leonard |title=Living the Faith: A Life of Tom Monaghan |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2012 |pages=41–55}}
• NASA's Spacecraft No. 7 was delivered to Cape Canaveral for the Mercury 3 mission intended to be the first to put an American astronaut into space. Shepard would be launched in Mercury 3 on May 5, 1961, on a suborbital, 15-minute flight, reaching an altitude of {{convert|116.5|mi}}.
• Japan and the Philippines signed a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, their first ever. Japanese military forces had invaded the Philippines in World War II and had occupied the islands until the end of the war.{{cite news |title=Philippines, Japan Sign Amity Treaty |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 9, 1960 |page=I-1}}
• French President Charles de Gaulle's visit to French Algeria was marked by bloody European and Muslim mob riots in Algeria's largest cities, resulting in 127 deaths.{{cite news |title=Screaming Algerian Mob Blasted by Tanks |newspaper=Pasadena Star-News |date=December 10, 1960 |page=1}}{{cite news |title=Troops in Algiers Kill 61 in Rioting |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 12, 1960 |page=1}}
• Born: Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, American animator, producer, and voice actor known for creating the Disney Channel cartoons Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law; in Santa Monica, California{{cite web |last=Marsh |first=Jeff |url=https://www.tiktok.com/@mmonogram/video/6948196985643994373 |publisher=@mmonogram |date=April 6, 2021 |title=Why do they call you "Swampy"? |via=TikTok}}

File:Hyperion (1930-1960).jpg

• Died: Hyperion, 30, British thoroughbred racehorse who won the British Triple Crown (2,000 Guineas Stakes, Epsom Derby and St Leger Stakes) in 1943 and later a champion sire.

• The first underwater park within the United States, the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, was formally dedicated. The park covers {{convert|178|sqmi|km2|sigfig=2}} and protects coral reefs, seagrass, and mangroves inside its boundaries.{{Cite web |url=http://www.flkeys-diving.com/NationalMarineSanctuary/aboutNMS.html |title=Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary site |access-date=2010-04-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017165645/http://www.flkeys-diving.com/NationalMarineSanctuary/aboutNMS.html |archive-date=2010-10-17 |url-status=dead }}
• Born: Kenneth Branagh, Northern Irish actor and film director; in Belfast

• Richard Paul Pavlick, a 73-year-old postal clerk from New Hampshire, loaded his car with dynamite and then parked outside the Kennedy family estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and prepared to kill President-elect John F. Kennedy, waiting for Kennedy to depart for Sunday mass. Pavlick changed his mind after seeing that Kennedy was accompanied by his wife and two small children.[http://www.newstatesman.com/200011270016 "JFK: the assassin who failed"], by Philip Kerr, New Statesman, November 27, 2000 Pavlick was arrested four days later by Palm Beach city police.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=b3gsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KMwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7111,2522541&dq=richard+pavlick&hl=en "Man Accused of Plotting to Assassinate Kennedy"], Spartanburg (SC) Herald-Journal, December 17, 1960, p1

• Television came to the South American nation of Ecuador as Red Telesistema de Ecuador (RTS) began regular broadcasting at 5:00 in the afternoon on Channel 4 in Guayaquil. José Rosenbaum, a German-born radio station owner in Ecuador, had purchased three cameras and other TV equipment while visiting a trade fair in West Germany and then spent more than a year with engineers in setting up the station.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160312073039/https://www.eluniverso.com/2010/12/05/1/1421/rts-50-anos-sintonia.html " "RTS: 50 años Sintonia"] (RTS: 50 Years of Broadcasting), El Universio (Guayaquil), December 5, 2010
• The revision of the most commonly used Spanish-language version of the Holy Bible, the Reina-Valera, was released, and would soon outsell the original. The original version had been published in 1569. A more recent, but not as popular, revision would be released in 1995. Calvin George, The History of the Reina-Valera 1960 Spanish Bible (Literatura Bautista, 2004) p35

• In the U.S. presidential election, the Texas board of canvassers awarded all 24 of that state's disputed electoral votes to Democratic Party candidate John F. Kennedy, bringing his total from 249 to 273, three more than the 270 required to win. The decision came two hours after federal judge Ben C. Connally rejected a Republican lawsuit seeking a recount."Texas Recount is Denied; 24 Kennedy Electors OK'd", San Antonio Express, December 13, 1960, p1
• While Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia was visiting Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard staged a coup d'etat, taking many of the Imperial staff hostage, including Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, who was proclaimed as King (rather than Emperor). The coup failed within a few days, and Haile Selassie reigned as emperor until another coup in 1975.Saheed A. Adejumobi, The History of Ethiopia (Greenwood Press, 2006) p102
• Commander Leroy A. Heath and his navigator, Lt. Henry L. Monroe (Bombardier/Navigator), established a new world record for highest altitude attained in an airplane, reaching {{convert|91,450.8|ft|m}} in an A3J Vigilante. and breaking the former mark in 1957 of {{convert|70,310|ft|m}} by over {{convert|4|mi|km|0}}. [http://www.historycentral.com/navy/chron/part09/ipage_5.htm HistoryCentral.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070812102229/http://www.historycentral.com/navy/chron/part09/ipage_5.htm |date=2007-08-12 }}
• Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Honduras founded Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana (SICA), the Central American Integration System, often called the Central American Common Market.[http://www.sica.int/sica/resena_sica_en.aspx?IdEnt=401&IdmStyle=2&Idm=2 SICA History]
• Died:
• Isaac Foot, 80, British politician, former Secretary of Mines (1931–1932)
• John Charles Thomas, 69, American operatic baritone

• The first "Tied Test" in the history of Test cricket took place at the end of the match in Brisbane between the West Indies and Australia. At the end of the First Innings on December 10, Australia had a 505–453 lead. In the Second Innings, however, the West Indies had outscored Australia 284 to 232. When Australia's last batter, Lindsay Kline, came up for the 7th and final ball, the score had closed to 737 to 737. Kline hit the ball bowled by Wes Hall, and Ian Meckiff dashed toward the wicket for what would have been the winning run, but Joe Solomon fielded the ball and hit the stumps for the last out. "Until today," Percy Beames wrote in Melbourne's newspaper The Age, "there had not been a tie in Test cricket."{{cite news |title=TEST ENDS IN TIE ON SECOND-LAST BALL |newspaper=The Age |location=Melbourne |date=December 15, 1960 |page=24}}
• The five-member electoral board of Illinois, with a majority of Republican members, unanimously certified the results of the November 6 popular balloting in the U.S. presidential election and awarded Democrat John F. Kennedy the state's 27 electoral votes. The board had considered Republican charges of voter fraud in Cook County and denied a request for a further election recount. Before the award of the Illinois block, Kennedy had 273, three more than the necessary 270 needed to win.{{cite news |title=Kennedy Illinois Win OK'd |newspaper=San Mateo Times |location=San Mateo, California |date=December 14, 1960 |page=1}}
• In Stanleyville, Congo, Antoine Gizenga proclaimed himself to be the successor to Patrice Lumumba. For four months, Gizenga's forces controlled the Orientale and Kivu provinces, called Free Republic of the Congo, but on April 17, he surrendered in return for a post as a vice premier in the central government.{{cite book |first=John E. |last=Jessup |title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945–1996 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1998 |page=239}}
• By a vote of 89–0, the UN General Assembly Resolution 1514, the "Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples" was adopted by the UN member nations. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and five other nations abstained.[https://www.un.org/Depts/dpi/decolonization/declaration.htm UnitedNations.org]
• The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) was created by the signing of an international convention by 18 European nations and the United States and Canada.[http://www.oecd.org/document/7/0,3343,en_2649_201185_1915847_1_1_1_1,00.html OECD website]
• Born: Ebrahim Raisi, 8th President of Iran from 2021 until his death in a helicopter crash in 2024; in Mashhad

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• In a royal wedding at the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral in Brussels, King Baudouin of Belgium married Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragon. Earlier in the day, the two had married in a private civil ceremony at the royal palace.{{cite news |title=Baudoin Weds in 2 Ceremonies |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 16, 1960 |page=1}}
• After a 19-month experiment in democracy, King Mahendra of Nepal deposed the elected government and restored the absolute monarchy[http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/0/a1cd2664867a6b3841256324004e75e1?Opendocument U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights] based on the Panchayat system. Prime Minister B. P. Koirala, who had taken office on May 27, 1959 as the Himalayan kingdom's first elected head of government, was arrested on orders of King Mahendra, along with 11 other government ministers."King Takes Over in Nepal, Orders Cabinet Seized", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 15, 1960, p.2
• Died: Seyum Mangasha, 74, Ethiopian prince and military commander, was killed by rebels during an attempted military coup against the Emperor's government.

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• In the collision of two airliners over New York City, 136 people were killed, including eight people on the ground who were struck by falling debris. United Air Lines Flight 826 from Chicago, with 77 passengers and seven crew, was outside its designated holding pattern for circling New York's Idlewild Airport, and collided with TWA Flight 266 {{convert|5200|ft|m}} over Staten Island at 10:37 a.m.[http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19601216-0 Aviation Safety Database]. The United DC-8 jet crashed in Brooklyn at the intersection of 7th Avenue and Sterling Place. Stephen Baltz, 11, was pulled conscious from the wreckage, but died the next day. The TWA plane, a Lockheed Super-Constellation with 39 passengers and five crew, had been on its way from Columbus, Ohio, to New York's La Guardia airport, and crashed on a vacant area at the Miller Field U.S. Army base on Staten Island. In addition to the 128 passengers and crew on both planes, eight more people on the streets of Brooklyn were killed by the falling debris.[https://web.archive.org/web/20170224055214/http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1960/12/17/ "WORST AIR CRASH KILLS 133]; 19 FROM CHICAGO AREA DIE— O'Hare Jet Collides with Liner Over N.Y.", Chicago Daily Tribune, December 17, 1960, p1[http://www.brooklyneagle.com/archive/category.php?category_id=23&id=25228 "On This Day in History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911074928/http://www.brooklyneagle.com/archive/category.php?category_id=23&id=25228 |date=2011-09-11 }}, Brooklyn Daily Eagle online

• At 2:10 in the afternoon, a U.S. Air Force plane crashed into a crowded street in Munich, West Germany, killing 32 people on the ground and all 20 people on board the airplane. The plane, whose 13 passengers were American college students returning home, lost power after takeoff and clipped the steeple at the St. Paul's Church, then fell onto a streetcar on Martin Greif Straße, near the intersection with Bayerstraße.{{cite news |title=U.S. Plane Falls in Munich; 50 Die |newspaper=Reading Eagle |location=Reading, Pennsylvania |date=December 17, 1960 |page=1}}
• Died: Abebe Aregai, 57, Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 1957, was killed by machine-gun fire as the army stormed the Genetta Leul palace where he was being held hostage by rebels.

• The National Museum of India was opened in New Delhi.[http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/history.html National Museum, New Delhi History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100328061518/http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/history.html |date=March 28, 2010 }}
• Born: Léhady Soglo, Beninese politician who ran for president of Benin in 2006 after his father, former president Nicéphore Soglo, was barred from participating; in Paris

• A fire killed 46 people and injured 150 others as it swept through the {{USS|Constellation|CV-64}}, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier up to that time, while Constellation was under construction at the Brooklyn Navy Yard."Blazing Ship Traps Dozens", Pasadena Star-News, December 19, 1960, p1; "Carrier Death Toll 46", December 20, 1960, p1{{cite web |title=Casualties: US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel Killed and Injured in Selected Accidents and Other Incidents Not Directly the Result of Enemy Action |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/c/casualties-usnavy-marinecorps-personnel-killed-injured-selected-accidents-other-incidents-notdirectly-result-enemy-action.html |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |date=7 December 2022 |access-date=8 February 2023}}
• John F. Kennedy was elected as the 35th President of the United States, as the 534 people who had been selected (on November 8) to serve in the Electoral College met in their respective states' capitals. Democratic candidate Kennedy received 300 votes, 31 more than the 269 needed to win, and Republican challenger Richard M. Nixon had 219. U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd received 15 votes, from all 8 of Mississippi's slate of unpledged electors (a ticket which finished ahead of Kennedy and Nixon), six from Alabama pledged to Kennedy, and one from Oklahoma pledged to Nixon.{{cite news |title=Electors Certify Kennedy Victory |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 20, 1960 |page=1}} Hawaii's 3 electors had not been certified, pending a recount of the popular vote, but were awarded to Kennedy prior to the January 6, 1961, tabulation.
• Representatives of twelve African nations, that had formerly been colonies of France, met in Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo and agreed to form an international organization. The African and Malagasy Union, consisting of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo ("Congo-Brazzaville"), Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey (now Benin), Gabon, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) came into existence on September 12, 1961.{{cite book |editor1-first=Amos J. |editor1-last=Peaslee |editor1-link=Amos J. Peaslee |editor2-first=Dorothy Peaslee |editor2-last=Xydis |title=International Governmental Organizations: Constitutional Documents |volume=1 |publisher=Brill Archive |year=1974 |page=1162}}

File:MR-1A liftoff.jpg

• The uncrewed Mercury-Redstone 1A rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral in a repeat of the unsuccessful November 21, 1960, launch of Mercury-Redstone 1. The first successful mission of the Mercury program was made to qualify the spacecraft for launch into space, and to qualify the flight system for the next phase, launching a non-human living creature (in this case, a chimpanzee) into space. Almost all flight sequences were satisfactory, other than that the launch vehicle cut-off velocity was slightly higher than normal. The spacecraft reached a maximum altitude of {{convert|130.68|mi}}, a range of {{convert|234.8|mi}}, and a speed of {{convert|4,909.1|mph}}.
• Born: Mike Lookinland, American actor who played as the youngest brother, Bobby Brady, on The Brady Bunch; in Mount Pleasant, Utah{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/mike-lookinland-21330059|title=Mike Lookinland: Actor, Television Actor (1960–)|work=Biography.com|publisher=A&E Networks|access-date=April 10, 2019}}

File:FNL Flag.svg

• The National Liberation Front (NLF) was created as a Communist political organization in South Vietnam, to oppose the government of President Ngo Dinh Diem, who gave the group the nickname "Viet Cong". As the NLF gained adherents, it began carrying out military attacks against the South Vietnamese Army, and against U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.{{cite book |first=James |last=DeFronzo |title=Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements |edition=3d. |publisher=Westview Press |year=2007 |pages=165–166}}

File:Richard Baer.jpg

• Major Richard Baer, the Nazi commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, was arrested in Aumühle, near Hamburg in West Germany, after 15 years as a fugitive. Baer had been posing as "Karl Egon Neuman", a gardener on the estate of the last Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, since 1945.{{cite news |title=Nazi Death Camp Chief Captured |newspaper=Pasadena Star-News |date=December 21, 1960 |page=1}}
• Redstone launch vehicle No. 2 was delivered to Cape Canaveral for the Mercury-Redstone 2 mission (chimpanzee "Ham" flight).
• Born: Pedro Abrunhosa, Portuguese singer-songwriter; in Porto

• Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and his cabinet of ministers were dismissed from his job as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia by his older brother, King Saud, who assumed the job as head of government in addition to his monarchial role as head of state.{{cite news |title= |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 22, 1960 |page=I-4}} Faisal retained his position as Crown Prince and would regain the position of Prime Minister on October 31, 1962, which he would continue during his reign as king upon Saud's death on November 2, 1964.
• In the Japanese city of Kumamoto, a fire on the third floor of a cabaret killed 14 people, nine of whom were hostesses, at a party to celebrate the end of the year. The fire spread to adjacent houses and left 100 people homeless.{{cite news |title=14 Die in Japan Cabaret Place |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 22, 1960 |page=I-2}}
• All nine crew on a U.S. Navy P2V Neptune patrol plane were killed when the aircraft plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean at a point {{convert|67|mi}} south of the Canadian town of Argentia, Newfoundland.{{cite news |title=Navy Plane, 9 Aboard, Falls in Sea |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 22, 1960 |page=I-2}}
• Eileen Derbyshire, 30, first played the role of Emily Bishop on the British soap opera Coronation Street. She would portray the character for more than fifty years.

• The Vostok-K rocket made its maiden flight, carrying a satellite with two dogs, Kometa and Shutka. An attempt to put the payload into orbit failed when the third stage failed seven minutes into launch, but the dogs survived the landing.[http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm "Soyuz Chronology"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100107163113/http://astronautix.com/lvs/soyuz.htm |date=2010-01-07 }}, Astronautix.com
• The crash of Philippine Air Lines Flight 85 killed 28 of the 37 people aboard. The twin-engine DC-3 took off from Cebu City at the start of a scheduled flight to Davao on Mindanao Island when one of its engines failed.{{cite news |title=28 Killed in Philippine Plane Crash |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=December 22, 1960 |page=I-1}}[https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19601222-0 Aviation Safety Database]
• Massachusetts U.S. Senator John F. Kennedy resigned from his job in preparation for his January 20 inauguration as President of the United States."Kennedy Resigns His Senate Seat", New York Times, December 23, 1960, p1
• Born:
• Uncle Luke (stage name for Luther Campbell), American rapper for 2 Live Crew; in Miami{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/06/sports/football/luther-campbell-has-a-new-gig-and-a-new-rap-for-his-players.html|title=Luther Campbell Has a New Gig, and a New Rap for His Players|last=Bishop|first=Greg|date=2012-11-05|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-26|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
• Jean-Michel Basquiat, American musician and graffiti painter (d. 1988); in New York City{{Cite news|last=Bosworth|first=Patricia|date=August 9, 1998|title=Hyped to Death|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/08/09/books/hyped-to-death.html|access-date=April 4, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{subscription required}}
• Tyrell Biggs, American heavyweight boxer, 1984 Olympic gold medalist; in Philadelphia
• Died: Sir Ninian Comper, 96, Scottish architect

• After the news came out that Israel was building a nuclear reactor, with assistance from France, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser warned in a nationwide speech that the United Arab Republic would go to war "if we become sure that Israel is building an atom bomb." Nasser added "We shall take every step in order to preserve our country and to destroy our enemy.""Nasser Threatens Israel on A-Bomb", New York Times, December 24, 1960, p1 Nasser later pledged to send Egypt's army to destroy the Dimona Nuclear Centre.Maria Rost Rublee, Nonproliferation Norms: Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint (University of Georgia Press, 2009) p109
• Born: Miyuki Miyabe, Japanese author; in Tokyo

• The Boston Celtics set an NBA record for most rebounds by a team, 109 rebounds, in a 150–106 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons. Only 2,046 people turned out to Boston Garden to watch the Christmas Eve game.{{cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/history/records/regular_rebounds.html |title=NBA Regular Season Records |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140705063539/http://www.nba.com/history/records/regular_rebounds.html |archive-date=5 July 2014 |website=NBA.com}}
• A roof collapse killed 21 coal miners in Iran at the Shemshak mine, {{convert|40|mi}} northeast of Tehran.{{cite news |title=Iran Fixes Mine Cave-In Toll at 21 |agency=AP |newspaper=Arizona Republic |location=Phoenix, Arizona |date=December 26, 1960 |page=1}}
• Born:
• Charles Ng, Hong Kong-born serial killer who committed numerous crimes in the United States with his accomplice Leonard Lake; in British Hong Kong{{cite web |title=Charles Ng Biography |url=http://www.biography.com/people/charles-ng-11735781#synopsis |website=biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130110909/http://www.biography.com/people/charles-ng-11735781#synopsis |archive-date=30 November 2016 |access-date=29 November 2016}}
• Carol Vorderman, English television presenter; in Bedford

• The Asian nation of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) announced that the Soviet Union had agreed to provide Ceylon $33,600,000 in financial aid over the next 10 years."Soviet Aids Ceylon", Daily News (New York), December 26, 1960, p.16
• Born: Qubilah Shabazz, second daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz; in New York City{{cite book|last=Rickford|first=Russell J.|author-link=Russell J. Rickford|title=Betty Shabazz: A Remarkable Story of Survival and Faith Before and After Malcolm X|year=2003|publisher=Sourcebooks|location=Naperville, Illinois|isbn=1-4022-0171-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/122 122]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/bettyshabazzrema00rick/page/122}}

• Eleven days after ending an experiment with an elected government, Nepal's absolute monarch, King Mahendra Bir Birkam installed a new government with himself as Prime Minister and nine people as cabinet ministers, including Nepal's Ambassador to the U.S., Rishikesh Shah, and former Foreign Minister Tulsi Giri."Cabinet Installed By Nepalese King", Washington Star, December 26, 1960, p.6
• The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Green Bay Packers, 17–13, to win the 1960 NFL championship."EAGLES WIN NFL TITLE: Clock Stops Packers in 17 to 13 Tilt", Milwaukee Sentinel, December 27, 1960, p1 The AFL title game, between the Houston Oilers and the Los Angeles Chargers, would not take place until New Year's Day 1961.
• In the Soviet Union, all 17 people aboard an Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-18 turboprop were killed when the flight was preparing to land at Ulyanovsk after its departure from Kuybyshev.[https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19601226-0 Aviation Safety Database]
• Born: Andrew Graham-Dixon, English art historian; in London
• Died: Tetsuro Watsuji, 71, Japanese philosopher

• After being forced to leave West Germany, The Beatles made a triumphant return to Liverpool, playing at the ballroom at the Litherland Town Hall. Author Hunter Davies, who wrote the authorized biography of the band, commented that "If it is possible to say that any date was the watershed, this was it. All their development, all their new sounds and new songs, suddenly hit Liverpool that evening. From then on, as far as a devoted fanatical following was concerned, they never looked back."Hunter Davies, The Beatles (1968, W. W. Norton & Company, 1996) p92

• Rebels in the Congo attacked a train that was transporting 300 passengers from Elisabethville to their homes in Katanga Province, many of them schoolchildren and their mothers. Although the train was guarded by UN soldiers from Sweden, it was besieged by hundreds of Baluba tribesmen at Luena, then again at Bukima. At least 20 passengers were killed, and others raped and kidnapped."Rebel Tribesmen in Congo Massacre 20 Aboard Train", San Antonio Express, December 29, 1960, p1
• Yakov Zarobyan became first secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia.
• Born:
• Chad McQueen, former American actor and race-car driver, son of actor Steve McQueen; in Los Angeles{{cite web|url=http://blogs.motortrend.com/1012124/editorial/on-the-mend-chad-mcqueen-returns-to-daytona/index.html|title=On the mend, Chad McQueen returns to Daytona|last=Stone|first=Matt|date=January 26, 2007|work=MotorTrend Magazine|publisher=Source Interlink Media|accessdate=May 8, 2009}}
• Dev Benegal, Indian film director; in New Delhi

• A former U.S. Defense Department employee was arrested by the FBI after taking almost 200 classified documents from the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group division at the Pentagon."200 Secret Papers Stolen From Pentagon", San Antonio Express, December 30, 1960, p1 Arthur Rogers Roddey, a mathematician who had top secret clearance, was sentenced to eight years in prison on March 22, 1961."Ex-Pentagon Aide Sentenced to 8 Years for Document Theft", New York Times, March 23, 1961, p1
• Born:
• David Boon, Australian cricketer; in Launceston, Tasmania
• Dave Pelzer, American author; in Daly City, California

• In the Mexican city of Chilpancingo in the state of Guerrero, government troops fired into a crowd of anti-government demonstrators, killing 13 people and wounding 37 others. The protest began after a Mexican Army officer shot and killed a man who was tacking up a poster criticizing the Governor of Guerrero."Mexican Troops Fire on Crowd, Killing 13", Los Angeles Times, December 31, 1960, p.I-3
• The Third Test match of the series between India and Pakistan began at Eden Gardens, Calcutta.{{cite web |url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakvind/engine/match/62885.html |title=Full Scorecard of Pakistan vs India 3rd Test 1960/61 – Score Report |website=ESPNcricinfo.com}}
• Died: Angelo Donati, 75, Italian banker, philanthropist and diplomat known for saving thousands of French Jews from extermination during World War II.

==December 31, 1960 (Saturday)==

• In the tiny principality of Andorra, Francesc Cairat (Francisco Cayrat) retired after five terms and 15 years as the First Syndic, the chief executive officer as selected by the General Council for a term of three years. He was succeeded by Julià Reig Ribó, who would serve two terms, ending in 1966. The nominal co-princes of Andorra at the time were Ramon Iglesias i Navarri (Spain's Bishop of Urgel) and Charles de Gaulle (President of France)."Andorra— Heads of State", in Heads of States and Governments Since 1945, by Harris M. Lentz (Routledge, 2014) p31
• After 12 years, compulsory national service came to an end in the United Kingdom.[https://archive.today/20120919151144/http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/recruits-report-National-Service-duty/article-217655-detail/article.html] "The last recruits report for their National Service duty", ThisIsExeter.co.uk, July 12, 2008 For 12 years after the National Service Act 1948 took effect, men and boys aged 17 to 21 could be drafted into the armed forces during peacetime for an 18-month tour, followed by four years of reserve duty.
• Born: John Allen Muhammad, American spree killer who killed 10 people in the Beltway sniper attacks in 2002; in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (executed, 2009)

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1960

*1960-12