1960

Today in History 05/22/18

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People looking at an enormous crack on a street due to the earthquake that struck Valdivia, Chile, on May 22, 1960 (© STF/AFP/Getty Images)(1960) Strongest earthquake ever recorded slams Chile
A magnitude 9.5 earthquake, the most powerful in recorded history, rocks the southern coast of Chile for more than 10 minutes, killing thousands, causing massive landslides, triggering volcanic eruptions, and spawning tsunamis so enormous that they cause 61 deaths in Hawaii.
The 1960 Valdivia earthquake or Great Chilean earthquake of 22 May is the most powerful earthquake ever recorded. Various studies have placed it at 9.4-9.6 on the moment magnitude scale. It occurred in the afternoon, and lasted approximately 10 minutes. The resulting tsunami affected southern Chile, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, eastern New Zealand, southeast Australia and the Aleutian Islands.
Fatalities: 5,700
Date: May 22, 1960
Areas affected: Chile, Pacific Rim
Depth: 33 km (21 mi)
Max. intensity: XII (Extreme)

1960 Valdivia earthquake
USGS ShakeMap for the May 22, 1960 Valdivia earthquake, which at an estimated magnitude of 9.5, is the strongest earthquake ever recorded.
wiki/1960_Valdivia_earthquake
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(1960) Strongest earthquake ever recorded slams Chile.
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Today in History 03/22/18

Charles Townes with his invention the maser, forerunner of the laser, during a news conference in 1955 (© AP)(1960) The laser is patented
Physicists Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes of Bell Labs are awarded a patent for the laser, or “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” Some experts will contend that physicist grad student Gordon Gould should’ve received the patent.
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term “laser” originated as an acronym for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.
Inventors: Charles H. Townes · Theodore Maiman · Gordon Gould · Nikolay Basov · Alexander Prokhorov
May treat: Acne · Sebaceous cyst

Commercial laser lines
Laser types with distinct laser lines are shown above the wavelength bar, while below are shown lasers that can emit in a wavelength range. Full lines or areas mean CW emission, dotted mean pulsed emission. The height of the line gives an indication of the maximal power/pulse energy commercially available. For the Ar+-Kr+ laser only the most important lines are labeled, the many other are shown only by a short tick, independently of their power. Note that the wavelength axis is highly distorted: up to 1000 nm it is linear in the wavelength, from then on logarithmic (with 300 px per decade up to 10 µm, then 30 px per decade). This is necessary for a good presentation of the visible region. For semiconductor lasers a solid fill shows the powers achievable with a single emitter, while horizontal lines indicate bars or stacks of bars.

Gas lasers

  Excimer laser
  Noble gas laser
  Metal vapor laser
  Chemical laser
  Molecular gas laser
  Far infrared laser

Solid state lasers

  Lanthanides
  Semiconductor laser
  Transition metals
  Organic dye in polymer host

Liquid lasers

  Dyes


 CW emission   CW emission
 pulsed emission   pulsed emission
≡≡≡  laser diode bars or stacks

wiki/Laser
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Today in History 02/13/18

This file picture taken in the 1960s near Raggane in the Algerian Sahara shows officials watching a French nuclear test (© AFP/Getty Images)(1960) France joins the ‘nuclear club’ with bomb test
Gerboise Bleue is exploded in the Algerian Sahara desert, and at 70 kilotons is the largest atomic weapon test yet seen. The French now have The Bomb, along with the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom.

Gerboise Bleue was the name of the first French nuclear test. It was an atomic bomb detonated near Reggane, in the middle of the Algerian Sahara desert on 13 February 1960, during the Algerian War (1954–62). General Pierre Marie Gallois was instrumental in the endeavour, and earned the nickname of père de la bombe A (“father of the A-bomb”).

Gerboise is the French word for jerboa, a desert rodent found in the Sahara, while blue is the first color of the French tricolor flag. The second and third bombs were named respectively “white” (Gerboise Blanche) and “red” (Gerboise Rouge), the remaining colors of the flag.


Leipzig, students from Mali
Central image Schaar 13.2.1960 Protest against Saharan bomb. A wave of outrage and protest sparked news of the explosion of the first French atomic bomb in the Sahara among African students at the Leipzig Karl Marx University. Shown here: Barry Seydou (right), a student from the Mali Federation, pointed out with excited words that his hometown is only about 300 km from the dropping point of the French atomic bomb, “the African peoples need no atomic bomb Living peace and calling for the immediate end of colonial rule in Africa. “
wiki/Gerboise_Bleue
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Today in History 02/01/18

Demonstrators (from left) David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr. and Joseph McNeil after the first lunch counter sit in, Feb 1, 1960, in Greensboro, NC (© Jack Moebes/Corbis)(1960) The Greensboro Four stage sit-in protest
Four black college students sit down at the Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, inspiring a powerful civil rights sit-in movement throughout America.
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960, which led to the Woolworth department store chain removing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States. While not the first sit-in of the Civil Rights Movement, the Greensboro sit-ins were an instrumental action, and also the most well-known sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement. These sit-ins led to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in US history. The primary event took place at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth store, now the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.
A&T four statue 2000
The February One monument and sculpture stands on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s campus and is dedicated to the actions taken by the Greensboro Four that helped spark the Civil Rights Movement in the South. Front view of the A&T Four Statue along with the Dudley building in the background
wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins
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Today in History 11/08/17

Destruction in the hall of the 'Buergerbraeukeller' in Munich, Germany, site of an attempted assassination of Adolf Hitler in November 1939 (© Gestapo/AP)(1939) Adolf Hitler narrowly makes it out alive
On the 16th anniversary of his failed coup attempt known as the Beer Hall Putsch, the Nazi leader is scheduled to speak when a bomb detonates in the hall. But Hitler, and others in the Nazi leadership, had left several minutes before the explosion.
Johann Georg Elser was a German worker who planned and carried out an elaborate assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler and other high-ranking Nazi leaders on 8 November 1939 at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich. A time bomb that Elser constructed and placed near the speaking platform failed to kill Hitler, who left earlier than expected, but killed eight people and injured over sixty-two others. Elser was held as a prisoner for over five years until he was executed at the Dachau concentration camp.
Born: Jan 04, 1903 · Hermaringen, Germany
Died: Apr 09, 1945 · Dachau concentration camp, Germany

Georg Elser
Georg Elser, Munich

wiki/Johann_Georg_Elser
John Kennedy waves to a crowd while on the campaign trail in San Antonio, Texas, in September 1960 (© AP)(1960) Americans elect youngest president ever
Democratic Senator John F. Kennedy beats Republican Vice President Richard Nixon by a slim margin to become the youngest president ever as well as the first Catholic to hold the office. Many attribute Kennedy’s win to his smooth demeanor in televised debates.
The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 1960. The Republican Party nominated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, while the Democratic Party nominated John F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator from Massachusetts. The incumbent President, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible for re-election after being elected the maximum two times allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment; he was the first President denied the choice to run for a third term by that amendment. This was the first presidential election in which residents in Alaska and Hawaii were able to participate, as both had become states in 1959.
Election year: Nov 08, 1960

Presidential County 1960
Results by county explicitly indicating the percentage for the winning candidate. Shades of blue are for Kennedy (Democratic), shades of red are for Nixon (Republican), and shades of green are for Unpledged Electors (Democratic/States’ Rights).

wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_1960
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