The Classic Movie Blog Association is sponsoring the Gene Kelly Centennial Blogathon from August 20 - 25 and this is my contribution to the event. Please click here for links to the other participating blogs.
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1960 was the year that
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| Echo I |
- an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia and its pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was imprisoned there
- young Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) won the gold medal in the light heavyweight competition at the Summer Olympics in Rome
- Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and John Updike's Rabbit, Run were published
- NASA launched the first communications satellite, Echo I, into space
- the first working laser was built by American T. H. Maiman
- #1 hit songs of that year included the Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown," The Drifters' "Save the Last Dance for Me" and Percy Faith's version of the theme from A Summer Place
- on TV, Western series ruled the ratings, with Gunsmoke, Wagon Train and Have Gun Will Travel ranked one, two and three for the year
- Camelot, starring Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet, debuted on Broadway
- John F. Kennedy was elected the 35th President of the United States
