February 20 - Lieutenant Colonel John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth in the Mercury space capsule.
July 10 - Telstar 1 is launched as the first private communications satellite which allows live television to be transmitted between Europe and America
July 11 - The first U.S. television programs are broadcast by the BBC via satellite.
August 27 - NASA launches Mariner 2 spacecraft to explore Venus.
September 30 - President Kennedy uses the National Guard and the U.S. Marshals to escort and protect James H. Meredith as he becomes the first African-American student to register at the University of Mississippi. An extremely violet riot breaks out and it takes the military several days to restore order.
October 22 - President Kennedy announces that the U.S.S.R. has installed missiles in Cuba.
November 2 - President Kennedy announces that the U.S.S.R. is dismantling the missile sites in Cuba.
November 7 - Eleanor Roosevelt, former first lady, and one of America's most admired women, dies.
November 20 - The U.S.S.R. agrees to remove bombers from Cuba, and the U.S. lifts the blockade.
December 14 - Mariner 2 flies close to Venus and discovers that the planet has a heavy atmosphere consisting mostly of carbon dioxide.
