1962 History, Trivia and Fun Facts

• World Changing Event: The Cuban Missile Crisis between The United States, The USSR, and Cuba between Oct 16, 1962, and Oct 28, 1962.
• Space Race: John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth, keeping the Space Race with the USSR about even.
• The Top Song was I Can’t Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
• The Movies to Watch include Lawrence of Arabia, The Manchurian Candidate, and Girls! Girls! Girls!
• The Most Famous Person in America was probably Elvis Presley
• Notable books include: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle and Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
• Price of a Men’s 100% Wool Suit in 1962: $45.00
  Price of a movie ticket: 70 cents
• The Funny Guys were: The Smothers Brothers
  The Funny Guy was: Ernie Kovacs
  The Funny Lady was: Moms Mabley
  The Funny Late Night Host: Johnny Carson
  The Other Funny Late Show Host: Steve Allen
  The Guy Who Had One Successful Funny Album (The First Family): Vaughn Meader
• The Superstores: Walton opened Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Woolco, Target, and Kmart also opened.
• The Crazy Conspiracy: Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her home on August 5, 1962. Did she take her own life as the news reports said? Was it the CIA? The Kennedys? The Mob?

“The Quotes:”
“Heeere’s Johnnny!”
– Ed McMahon on the ‘Tonight Show’

“With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good”
-Smucker’s Jelly

“We Try Harder”
-Avis

“Think small”
– Volkswagen

“Bond. James Bond.”
– Sean Connery, in Dr. No

The Scandals:
An overdose of sleeping pills caused Marilyn Monroe’s death. Conspiracy theories involve the mob, President John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy. Ex-husband and baseball great Joe DiMaggio took care of all funeral arrangements, although the couple divorced in 1954.

October 22-28 was probably the closest we ever came to nuclear war – The Cuban Missile Crisis was officially over on November 2.

Rock and Roll Death: ex-Beatle Stuart Sutcliff (brain hemorrhage)

Pop Culture Facts:
Telstar was launched as the first working communications satellite.

The light-emitting diode (LED) was invented Nick Holonyak while working for General Electric.

Glenn Bell’s first Taco Bell opened in Downey, California.

The first computer video game, Spacewar, was invented.

Audio cassettes were invented.

The first Vail Ski Resort opened in 1962.

The first Target (Tar-zhay) store opened in Roseville, Minnesota.

The Philips Company of the Netherlands invented and released the first audio cassette.

Do you remember, before 1962, when you could not get Goldfish Crackers at your local store? Pepperidge Farm remembers.

You could buy a fall-out shelter for as little as $100, feeding your family radiation-free for up to two weeks. Models were priced at $5000 and even higher as well.

Decca Records A&R executive Dick Rowe turned down the Beatles for a record deal and reportedly told their manager, “Guitar groups are on the way out.” He made up for the mistake by signing the Rolling Stones the following year.

Uh-oh
From 1962 to 1977, the US Nuclear Launch code was 00000000. This was due to an effort to allow the weapons to be armed and ready to launch as soon as possible.

A small town called Centralia, PA is completely abandoned because of a coal-seam fire at depths of up to 300 feet and stretch of 3,700 acres that ignited on May 27, 1962, and is only speculated to be extinguished in the year 2256.

Starfish Prime was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space. The electromagnetic pulse knocked out streetlights and alarms in Waikiki. The explosion was visible around Hawaii.

The CIA’s concern over soccer fields along the coast of Cuba led to the Cuban Missile Crisis. In September 1962, a CIA analyst noticed the fields and became concerned because, as he put it, “Cubans play baseball, Russians play soccer.”

Seattle’s Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, Monorail, Seattle Center, many other buildings were built for the 1962 World Fair.

James Dresnok was an American soldier who defected to North Korea in 1962 and lived there until he died in 2016.

The Heroes:
Frances Oldham Kelsey received the US President’s Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service in 1962 for not giving FDA approval to Thalidomide: a German medication that caused over 10,000 severe birth defects in Europe, Canada, and South America.

On October 27, 1962, Vasili Arkhipov, a senior officer on the Soviet B-59 submarine, refused permission to launch its nuclear torpedo during the Cuban Missile Crisis, avoiding World War III.

The Tanganyika, Tanzania, laughter epidemic affected 14 schools and over 1000 people. #masshysteria

The White House Correspondent’s Dinner was men-only until 1962, when JFK refused to attend unless women did.

Elephant bones were discovered under the Vatican. Decades later, it was discovered that they were the bones of Pope Leo X’s pet elephant Hanno, who died in 1516.

Constance Smith went to jail for stabbing her boyfriend in 1962. She stabbed him again in 1968 and was charged with attempted murder. They married in 1974.

The Jetsons’ original run consisted of only 24 episodes that first aired on ABC from September 1962 to March 1963. Reruns of those same 24 episodes were broadcast on Saturday mornings on ABC (1963-64), CBS (1964–65 and 1969–71), and NBC (1965–67, 1971–76, 1979–81 and 1982–83).

James Earl Jones Was in the First Production of NYC’s Shakespeare in the Park in 1962.

Marlon Brando was the first actor to command a $1 million salary, for his starring role in 1962’s Mutiny on the Bounty.

The shortest Oscar Speech ever was given by Patty Duke in 1962, who at age 16, the youngest person to accept an Oscar in a competitive category, said “Thank You”, and walked off the stage.

Decca Records turned down a band auditioning with them, by saying “guitar groups are on the way out”. The band they turned down: the Beatles.

A question mark superimposed onto an exclamation mark, often seen as ?!, is called an Interrobang. Martin K. Speckter is credited with inventing the mark in 1962, making it the first new punctuation mark to be introduced in 300 years. It hasn’t caught on (yet).

McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish was created in 1962 for Catholics abstaining from meat on Fridays during Lent.

The Sedan Crater in Nevada, created in August 1962 using a 104 Kiloton nuclear blast, was used by Apollo astronauts in February 1965 to train on geological formations similar to those they might encounter on the moon’s surface.

The first modem was invented in 1962 and had a speed of 300 bits per second.

The 1996 movie Mars Attacks was based on a set of controversial trading cards from Topps.

The record for most interceptions in a season is 42, in 1962, by Houston Oiler George Blanda.

The Habit:
Spacewar!, a 1962  scientist-only lab game, became the Galaxy game, the first coin-operated video game.

Limbo!
Reading Rachel Carson’s book, ‘Silent Spring’, which started the environmentalist movement.

1962 Billboard Number One Songs:
December 18, 1961 – January 12, 1962:
The Lion Sleeps Tonight – The Tokens

January 13 – January 26:
The Twist – Chubby Checker

January 27 – February 16:
Peppermint Twist – Part I – Joey Dee & the Starliters

February 17 – March 9:
Duke Of Earl – Gene Chandler

March 10 – March 30:
Hey! Baby – Bruce Channel

March 31 – April 6:
Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You – Connie Francis

April 7 – April 20:
Johnny Angel – Shelley Fabares

April 21 – May 4:
Good Luck Charm – Elvis Presley

May 5 – May 25:
Soldier Boy – The Shirelles

May 26 – June 1:
Stranger On The Shore – Mr. Acker Bilk

June 2 – July 6:
I Can’t Stop Loving You – Ray Charles

July 7 – July 13:
The Stripper – David Rose

July 14 – August 10:
Roses Are Red (My Love) – Bobby Vinton

August 11 – August 24:
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka

August 25 – August 31:
The Loco-Motion – Little Eva

September 1 – September 14:
Sheila – Tommy Roe

September 15 – October 19:
Sherry – The Four Seasons

October 20 – November 2:
Monster Mash – Bobby ‘Boris’  Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers

November 3 – November 16:
He’s A Rebel – The Crystals

November 17 – December 21:
Big Girls Don’t Cry – The Four Seasons

December 22, 1962 – January 11, 1963:
Telstar – The Tornadoes