January 1962 calendar

Events

• 01 Jan 1962 Western Samoa achieves independence from New Zealand; its name is changed to the Independent State of Western Samoa.
• 02 Jan 1962 Nighttime version of Password with Allen Ludden premieres on CBS
• 03 Jan 1962 Ground is broken for the Houston Astrodome
• 04 Jan 1962 1st automated (unmanned) subway train
• 05 Jan 1962 Tony Sheridan and beatles produce My Bonnie andThe Saints
• 07 Jan 1962 Assassination attempt on Indonesian president Sukarno fails.
• 08 Jan 1962 Golfer Jack Nicklaus, 21, first pro appearance, comes in 50th.
• 09 Jan 1962 NFL prohibits grabbing of face masks.
• 10 Jan 1962 Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy seven villages and kill 3,500.
• 11 Jan 1962 Volcano Huascaran in Peru, erupts; 4,000 die
• 12 Jan 1962 The Indonesian Army confirms that it has begun operations in West Irian.
• 13 Jan 1962 Do Re Mi closes at St. James Theater NYC after 400 performances
• 14 Jan 1962 NFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 31-30.
• 15 Jan 1962 50th Australian Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats R Emerson (8-6, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4).
• 16 Jan 1962 Shooting begins on Dr No
• 17 Jan 1962 A NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to 40,690 m
• 18 Jan 1962 Southern University closed due to demonstrations
• 19 Jan 1962 A counter-coup occurs in the Dominican Republic the old government returns except for the new president Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly.
• 20 Jan 1962 Kean closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances
• 21 Jan 1962 JFK arrives in Uruguay
• 22 Jan 1962 The East German government readopts conscription.
• 23 Jan 1962 Libya, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia plan to form United Arab Maghreb.
• 24 Jan 1962 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles
• 26 Jan 1962 Twist is impure and bans it from all Catholic schools
• 27 Jan 1962 Family Affair opens at Billy Rose Theater NYC for 65 performances
• 28 Jan 1962 Johanne Relleke gets stung by bees 2,443 times in Rhodesia and survives.
• 30 Jan 1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
• 31 Jan 1962 Gen Charles P Cabell, USAF, ends term as Deputy Director of CIA

Famous Birthday

• Jim Carrey

  Canadian-born actor and stand-up comedian.

• Marie Trintignant

  French actress, and daughter of noted actor Jean-Louis Trintingnant and actress/director Nadine Marquand Trintingant.

• Peter Steele

  Peter Steele was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative.

• Abdullah II of Jordan
• Isabelle Nanty
• Margherita Buy

  Italian actress who is a seven-time David di Donatello Awards winner and seven-time Nastro d'argento winner.

• Philippe Vercruysse
• Telma Lip

  Brazilian transvestite from the time he was a teen, considered a rival to gorgeous model Roberta Close.

• Anna LaCazio
• Mary Kay Letourneau
• Abigail Johnson
• Richard Roxburgh

  Australian actor and producer.

• Nicholas Turturro

  American actor director producer and screenwriter.

• Patrick Cassidy

  American actor and noted family, the son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy.

• Bruno Martini
• Mo Hayder
• Harlan Coben

  American author.

• Sebastian Junger

  American writer, the author of a best-selling first novel, "The Perfect Storm," 1997, the story of the 1991 sinking of a Gloucester, MA...

• Robin Guthrie

  Scottish singer, bass player, guitar, keyboard and drums for the group, "Cocteau Twins;" one of the founding members from it's inception in...

• Guillermo Fariñas
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Famous Deaths

• Kenneth MacKenna

  Actor (Men Without Women), dies of cancer at 62.

• Raymond Moulaert

  Composer, dies at 86.

• Snub Pollard

  Actor (Limelight, Arizona Days), dies of cancer at 72.

• Fran Lhotka

  Composer, dies at 78.

• Jacob "Jaap" Nanninga Dutch painter (France

  North Africa), dies at age 57.

• LeRoy B Shield

  US pianist/composer (Union Pacific Suite), dies at age 68.

• Emanuel Stickelberger

  Swiss writer (Holbein in England), dies at age 77.

• Charles "Lucky" Luciano

  New York City, New York Mafia gangster, dies at age 65.

• Ivan Mestrovic

  Croatian sculptor (Born 1883).

• Frank Hurley

  Australian photographer (Born 1885).

• Gerrit Achterberg

  Dutch poet (Dead End), dies at age 56.

• Robinson Jeffers

  American writer and poet whose stories and lyric poems were heavily influenced with dark pessimism about the value of human individuality.

• Andre Lhote

  French sculptor and painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life.

• Lucky Luciano

  Sicilian-American gangster.

• Manuel de Abreu

  Brazilian physician and poet (d. 1962).

• Hans Lammers

  German judge and politician (d. 1962).

• Stanley Lord

  captain of the SS Californian the night of the Titanic disaster (Born 1877).

• Hermann Lux

  German footballer and manager (d. 1962).

• Ariadna Tyrkova-Williams

  Russian-American activist journalist and politician (d. 1962).

• Fritz Kreisler

  Austrian-born violinist and composer.

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Top #5 songs in the USA

1. The Tokens - The Lion Sleeps Tonight
2. Chubby Checker - The Twist
3. Joey Dee & the Starliters - Peppermint Twist - Part 1
4. Bobby Vee - Run To Him
5. Barbara George - I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)

Top #5 songs in the UK

1. Elvis Presley - Return To Sender
2. Cliff Richard - The Young Ones
3. Frank Ifield - Lovesick Blues
4. Mr Acker Bilk - Stranger On The Shore
5. Danny Williams - Moon River