1962

Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar.

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In the Chinese Zodiac, the "year" of the Ox ended on February 4, 1962 and the "year" of the Tiger began on February 5, 1962.

Events of 1962

January 1 - Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
January 1 - The United States Navy SEALs are activated. SEAL Team One is commissioned in the Pacific Fleet and SEAL Team Two in the Atlantic Fleet.
January 1 - The Beatles have their first and only audition for Decca Records (named The Decca audition).
January 2 - NAACP Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins praises U.S. President John F. Kennedy's "personal role" in advancing civil rights.
January 3 - Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
January 4 - New York City introduces a subway train that operates without a crew on board.
January 5 - The Beatles' first record, "My Bonnie" with Tony Sheridan, is released by Polydor.
January 8 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C..

Jan. 8: Mona Lisa in D.C.

January 8 - Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the worst Dutch rail disaster.
January 9 - Cuba and the Soviet Union sign a trade pact.
January 10 - An avalanche on Nevado Huascarán in Peru causes 4,000 deaths.
January 12 - The Indonesian Army confirms that it has begun operations in West Irian.
January 13 - Albania allies itself with the People's Republic of China.
January 15 - Portugal abandons the U.N. General Assembly due to the debate over Angola.
January 16 - A military coup occurs in the Dominican Republic.
January 19 - A counter-coup occurs in the Dominican Republic; the old government returns except for the new president Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly.
January 22 - The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership.
January 24 - The East German government readopts conscription.
January 24 - The Organisation armée secrète (OAS) bombs the French Foreign Ministry.
January 26 - Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon; it later misses the Moon by 22,000 miles.
January 27 - The Soviet government changes all place names honoring Molotov, Kaganovich and Georgi Malenkov.
January 30 - Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas" are killed, when their famous 7-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit, Michigan.

February 3 - The United States embargo against Cuba is announced.
February 4 - The Sunday Times becomes the first paper to print a colour supplement.
February 4–5 - During a new moon and solar eclipse, an extremely rare grand conjunction of the classical planets occurs (it includes all 5 of the naked-eye planets plus the Sun and Moon), all of them within 16° of one another on the ecliptic. At the precise moment of the new moon/solar eclipse, 5 celestial bodies (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter) are clustered within 3° of each other, with the Earth in close conjunction with them. Taken in totality, this grand conjunction includes the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, with the Earth also in alignment with the Sun and Moon at the exact moment of the new moon/solar eclipse (8 celestial bodies in total).
February 5 - French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence.
February 6 - Negotiations between U.S. Steel and the United States Department of Commerce begin.

Feb . 23: Friendship 7 inspected by President Kennedy and Astronaut John Glenn.