July 1962

January – February – March – April – May – June  – July – August – September – October – November – December

The following events occurred in July, 1962

July 1, 1962 (Sunday)

• Rwanda and Burundi gain independence.
• Supporters of Algerian independence win a 99% majority in a referendum.
• Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo becomes President of El Salvador.
• A heavy smog develops over London.
• The Treaty of Nordic Cooperation of Helsinki (signed 23 March 1962) comes into force.
• The first Canadian Medicare plan is launched in Saskatchewan, resulting in great protests by doctors.
• Bruce McLaren wins the 1962 Reims Grand Prix.
• Died: Bidhan Chandra Roy, 80, Indian politician

July 2, 1962 (Monday)

• Charles de Gaulle accepts Algerian independence; France recognizes it the following day.
• The first Walmart store, then known as Wal-Mart (which is still the corporate name), opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

July 3, 1962 (Tuesday)

• Opening of Chichester Festival Theatre, Britain's first large modern theatre with a thrust stage. Laurence Olivier is the first artistic director.
• The 1962 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships open in Prague.
• Born: Tom Cruise, American actor, in Syracuse, New York

July 4, 1962 (Wednesday)

• The Burma Socialist Programme Party is established by Ne Win's military regime.
• Born: Neil Morrissey, English actor, in Stafford; Pam Shriver, American tennis player, in Baltimore

July 5, 1962 (Thursday)

• Algeria becomes independent from France. On the same day, the Oran massacre takes place, when somewhere between 95 and 3,500 Europeans and Algerians are killed by an armed mob.
• George Ignatieff replaces Jules Léger as Canada's ambassador to NATO.

July 6, 1962 (Friday)

• Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne presents his first edition of The Late Late Show. Byrne goes on to present the talk show for 37 years, making it the longest running in the world.

July 7, 1962 (Saturday)

• A Soviet Air Force Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-152 sets a new airspeed record of 2,681 km/h (1,666 mph).
• In Burma, the government of General Ne Win forcibly breaks up a demonstration at Yangon University, killing 15 students.
• Alitalia Flight 771 crashes into a hill about 84 km north-east of Mumbai, killing all 94 people aboard.

July 8, 1962 (Sunday)

• The 1962 French Grand Prix is held at Rouen-Les-Essarts and won by Dan Gurney of the USA.
• Born: Joan Osborne, American singer-songwriter, in Anchorage, Kentucky
• Died: Georges Bataille, 64, French writer

July 9, 1962 (Monday)

• American artist Andy Warhol presents his Campbell's Soup Cans exhibit in Los Angeles.

July 10, 1962 (Tuesday)

• AT&T's Telstar, the world's first commercial communications satellite, is launched into orbit, and activated the next day.

July 11, 1962 (Wednesday)

• The Chinese Maritime Institute is founded in Taiwan.
• In the British peerage, the Hooper Baronetcy, of Tenterden in the County of Kent, is created for Frederic Hooper, Managing Director of the Schweppes Group of Companies.
• Born: Pauline McLynn, Irish actress, in Sligo
• Died: René Maison, 66, Belgian operatic tenor

July 12, 1962 (Thursday)

• The Rolling Stones make their debut at London's Marquee Club, Number 165 Oxford Street, opening for Long John Baldry.
• Macel Leilani Wilson wins the Miss USA 1962 beauty pageant at Long Beach, California.

July 13, 1962 (Friday)

• In what the press dubs "the Night of the Long Knives", United Kingdom Prime Minister Harold Macmillan dismisses one-third of his Cabinet. Casualties included the Chancellor of the Exchequer Selwyn Lloyd.
• Secretary General of the United Nations U Thant arrives in Dublin, and pays tribute to Irish soldiers who fought in the Congo.
• Burmese leader Ne Win leaves the country for a trip to Austria, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, "for a medical check up".

July 14, 1962 (Saturday)

• In the third match of the Rugby League Test series between Australia and Great Britain, held at Sydney Cricket Ground, a controversial last-minute Australian try and the subsequent conversion result in a 17-18 defeatfor Great Britain.
• Henry Brooke becomes the new UK Home Secretary in Harold Macmillan's reshuffled cabinet.
• The Miss Universe 1962 beauty pageant takes place at Miami Beach, Florida, USA, and is won by Norma Nolan of Argentina.

July 15, 1962 (Sunday)

• The 1962 Tour de France concludes in Paris, and is won by Jacques Anquetil for the third time.

July 16, 1962 (Monday)

An education strike takes place in Goulburn, New South Wales, where, in response to a demand for the installation of three extra toilets at a local Catholic Primary School, the local community closes down the schools and sends the children to Government schools.

July 17, 1962 (Tuesday)

• Nuclear testing: The "Small Boy" test shot Little Feller I becomes the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site.
• Major Robert M. White (USAF) pilots the North American X-15 to a record altitude of 314 750 feet (59 miles, 96 km).
• A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs.

July 18, 1962 (Wednesday)

• Ricardo Pérez Godoy becomes President of Peru in a coup d'état, replacing Manuel Prado Ugarteche.
• Typhoon Kate forms a short distance from northern Luzon.
• Died: Volkmar Andreae, 82, Swiss conductor and composer

July 19, 1962 (Thursday)

• The First Annual Swiss & Wielder Hoop and Stick Tournament is held.
• Born: Anthony Edwards, American actor, in Santa Barbara, California

July 20, 1962 (Friday)

• France and Tunisia reestablish diplomatic relations.
• The world's first regular passenger hovercraft service is introduced between Rhyl (in Wales) and Wallasey (in England).
• The Roman Catholic Diocese of Chitré is established in Panama.

July 21, 1962 (Saturday)

• The Roman Catholic Dioceses of Juigalpa and Chitré are erected.

July 22, 1962 (Sunday)

• Mariner program: The Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed.
• Canadian Pacific Flight 301 experiences engine problems on departure from Honolulu Airport and returns to land on three engines, but crashes on the airfield, killing 27 of the 40 people on board.

July 23, 1962 (Monday)

• Telstar relays the first live trans-Atlantic television signal.
• International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos is signed in Geneva.

July 24, 1962 (Tuesday)

• Opening of the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta, Indonesia.
• The new Anglican diocese of Jesselton (Sabah), including Labuan, is established.
• Died: Victor Bourgeois, 64, Belgian modernist architect; Margaret Buckley, 83, Irish Republican leader

July 25, 1962 (Wednesday)

• The US Army forms its first armed helicopter company, using UH-1 Hueys.
• The Holy Ghost Fathers elect Marcel Lefebvre as their Superior General.
• Died: Christie MacDonald, 87, Canadian-American actress and singer

July 26, 1962 (Thursday)

• Born: Sergey Kiriyenko, Russian politician, in Sukhumi, Georgia

July 27, 1962 (Friday)

• Died: Richard Aldington, 70, English poet and author

July 28, 1962 (Saturday)

• A locust swarm threatens New Delhi.
• Race riots break out in Dudley, West Midlands, UK.

July 29, 1962 (Sunday)

• In the final of the 1962 Speedway World Team Cup at Slaný, Czechoslovakia, Sweden defeat Great Britain, Poland and Czechoslovakia.
• Died: Sir Ronald Fisher, 72, English biologist

July 30, 1962 (Monday)

• The Trans-Canada Highway opens

July 31, 1962 (Tuesday)

• Algeria proclaims independence; Ahmed Ben Bella is the first President.
• A crowd assaults the rally of Sir Oswald Mosley's right-wing Union Movement in London.
• An annular solar eclipse occurs.
• Born: Luis Castiglioni, Paraguayan politician, in Itacurubí del Rosario