World Events
Posted in 1960
- South Africa: Police open fire on black African demonstrators protesting against Pass Laws which require them to carry identity cards at all times - 63 are killed and more than 360 injured in Sharpeville and Langa townships. The massacre draws the world's attention to the brutalities of apartheid.
- Development of the laser.
- International agreement to reserve Antarctica for scientific research.
- US property in Cuba is seized and Cuba becomes aligned with Communist powers.
- John F Kennedy is the youngest man ever elected as President of the USA.
- An earthquake collapses the Moroccan city of Agadir, followed seconds later by a tidal wave and then fires as the waters recede. More than 1,000 people are killed and 40,000 left homeless.