Date in year · 1960 · The 1960s

March 21, 1960

On March 21, 1960, apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180. 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.

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What happened

On March 21, 1960

  1. 1960 Apartheid: Sharpeville massacre, South Africa: Police open fire on a group of black South African demonstrators, killing 69 and wounding 180.

    South African system of racial segregation

    Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on baasskap, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. Under this minoritarian system, white citizens held the highest status, followed by Indians, Coloureds and black Africans, in that order.

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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