Date in year · 1960 · The 1960s

January 21, 1960

On January 21, 1960, little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia, with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey, on board. 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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Year

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.

Read the full year of 1960 →

What happened

On January 21, 1960

  1. 1960 Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia, with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey, on board.

    1960 launch escape system test in the U.S. Mercury program

    S. Mercury program. The mission also carried a female rhesus monkey named Miss Sam in the Mercury spacecraft.

  2. 1960 Avianca Flight 671 crashes at Montego Bay, Jamaica airport, killing 37 people.

    1960 aviation accident

    Avianca Flight 671, registration HK-177, was a Lockheed Constellation that crashed and burned on landing at Montego Bay Airport, Montego Bay, Jamaica, on 21 January 1960. The flight had originated at Miami International Airport, Florida. The aircraft operating the flight was a Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation used by Avianca for its Bogotá-Montego Bay routes.

  3. 1960 A coal mine collapses at Holly Country, South Africa, killing 435 miners.

    1960 mineshaft collapse at Clydesdale Colliery, South Africa

    The Coalbrook mining disaster was the worst mining accident in the history of South Africa. The disaster occurred in the Coalbrook coal mine of Clydesdale Colliery on 21 January 1960 at around 19:00 when approximately 900 pillars caved in, almost 180 metres (590 ft) underground. The mine is situated in the Northern Free State, 21 kilometres (13 mi) south west of Vereeniging.

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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