Observation — 1960, Eyes In The Sky Began

Known as the U-2 Incident, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s only real scandal was lying about a U.S. spy plane that was shot down over Russia. Nikita Khrushchev boycotted a Paris summit in protest. However another dirty little secret is that Eisenhower sent 900 military advisors to Vietnam in what would become Lyndon’s War.  Space started to get crowded with a multitude of satellites. Nazi Adolf Eichmann was found hiding in Argentina by the Israelis. He was executed two years later.  Fidel Castro nationalized oil companies and banks.  John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participated in the first televised debate by presidential nominees. Nixon won the debate according to radio listeners. Kennedy was the choice for TV viewers and, in the end, voters. Ted Williams hit his final home run. Laser technology was realized. Lillian Hellman’s play, Toys in The Attic, opened on Broadway. The Pulitzer Prize for literature was given to Allen Drury for Advise and Consent.  The Mystery Writers of America chose Celia Fremlin’s The Hours Before Dawn as Best Mystery. Other notable books included To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, Rabbit by John Updike, Set The House on Fire by William Styron.  Best movies?  Psycho, The Apartment, The Sundowners, Sons and Lovers, Spartacus, La Dolce Vita and The Magnificent Seven. What we listened to was “Theme From A Summer Place” by Percy Faith, "He’ll Have to Go” by Jim Reeves, “Cathy’s Clown” by the Everly Brothers and “I’m Sorry” by Brenda Lee.  Johnny Cash gave the first of many concerts behind bars. 1960 saw the births of RuPaul, Hugh Grant, Kenneth Branagh, Julianne Moore, Tilda Swinton and Jean Michel Basquiat and Chubby Checker’s “The Twist,” and the twist itself.  Departures included Albert Camus, Zora Neale Hurston, Oscar Hammerstein II, Boris Pasternak and Clark Gable. If you were around, what were you doing during the year of the metal rat?