On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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Major breakthrough in cracking chem code governing heredity seen in Drs Tsugita and Fraenkel-Conrat discovery of link between mutation and specific change in composition of molecule; nucleic acid role noted
J Reston repts conf periled by Khrushchev misconception that Eisenhower seeks to avoid Berlin settlement
USIA Dir Allen says Powers, in admitting mission, acted as ordered, TV program; says US will try to assure fair trial; denies Herter said US would continue U-2 flights; justifies original statement by NASA
6th vol in Harvard series, Freight and the Metropolis by B Chinitz, pub; sees area share of US foreign trade continuing to drop for next 25 yrs but says NY will contine as nation's foremost port; details; table
D Cardwell (Chicago) pitches no-hitter against St Louis
1960Landon Deireragea, Nauruan politician, Nauruan Speaker of Parliament[†]
Landon Deireragea is a Nauruan politician.
1960Bruce Norris, playwright[†]
Bruce Norris is an American character actor and playwright associated with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago. His play Clybourne Park won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
1960S. Shanmuganathan, Sri Lankan commander and politician (died 1998)[†]
Sarawanabavanandan Shanmuganathan was a Sri Lankan Tamil militant, politician and Member of Parliament.
1960Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser (a ruby laser), at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California.[†]
Theodore Harold Maiman was an American engineer and physicist who is widely credited with the invention of the laser. Maiman's laser led to the subsequent development of many other types of lasers. The laser was successfully fired on May 16, 1960. In a July 7, 1960, press conference in Manhattan, Maiman and his employer, Hughes Aircraft Company, announced the laser to the world. Maiman was granted a patent for his invention, and he received many awards and honors for his work. His experiences in developing the first laser and subsequent related events are recounted in his book, The Laser Odyssey, later being republished in 2018 under a new title, The Laser Inventor: Memoirs of Theodore H. Maiman.
In 1960, the world population was approximately 3,015,470,894 people[†]