“1960 – the first year of a new decade – has slipped from the last page of the calendar. But can we call it history yet? The veil of time is still too thin to have dulled the sheen of achievement, and the cutting edges of tragedy….1960 has meant something to each of us; to some, its highlights are reflected in the shiny surfaces of progress. Some see 1960’s most unforgettable moment etched in fire, or in pain. All of these -- the good and the bad, the happy and the sad -- have left, as well as memories, vivid records captured by the eye of the television news camera.”

• Some 137 years after an 1823 constitutional bill had proclaimed its construction, Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil is inaugurated. Built by President Kubitschek deep in the interior of the country, it is largely inaccessible.

• The horror film genre is redefined with the release of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The infamous shower scene remains one of the most unforgettable scenes ever filmed.

• By shining a high-powered flash lamp on a ruby rod with silver-coated surfaces, Theodore Maiman creates the first laser.

• The first televised presidential debates take place in the United States. Those that hear the debates on radio feel that Nixon is the winner, but television viewers like what they see in the tanned and fit looking Kennedy and proclaim him the winner by a large margin. And while the televised debates are popular, they would not be used again until 1976.