Date in year · 1960 · The 1960s

August 1, 1960

On August 1, 1960, dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France. The year's #1 song was "Theme from A Summer Place" by Percy Faith. Rudi Völler, Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova, Gustavo Petro would arrive in the same year.

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1960

1960s

Around 1960

The year in brief

1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1960th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 960th year of the 2nd millennium, the 60th year of the 20th century, and the 1st year of the 1960s decade.

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What happened

On August 1, 1960

  1. 1960 Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France.

    1600–1904 kingdom in West Africa

    The Kingdom of Dahomey was a West African kingdom located within the present-day Republic of Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. It developed on the Abomey Plateau among the Fon people in the early 17th century and became a regional power in the 18th century by expanding south to conquer key cities like Whydah belonging to the Kingdom of Whydah on the Atlantic coast, which granted it unhindered access to the Atlantic Slave Trade.

  2. 1960 Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan.

    Capital of Pakistan

    Islamabad is the capital city of Pakistan. 3 million. Built as a planned city in the 1960s and established in 1967 along the Margalla Hills, Islamabad replaced Karachi as Pakistan's national capital.

Elsewhere that year

Other moments from 1960

The class of 1960

Others born in 1960

Rudi Völler 1960– German footballer and manager
Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova 1960– Ukrainian runner
Gustavo Petro 1960– Colombian politician, 34th and current President of Colombia
Frank Viola 1960– American baseball player and coach
Debbie Flintoff-King 1960– Australian hurdler and coach
Mart Laar 1960– Estonian historian and politician, 9th Prime Minister of Estonia

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