The year in history
1962
Someone born in 1962 turns 64 in 2026
1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1962nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 962nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 62nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1960s decade. The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. The major American retailers Walmart, Kmart, and Target open their first stores.
What happened in 1962
Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
First successful winter ascent of the Matterhorn's north face, by Hilti von Allmen and Paul Etter, is completed.
Ash Wednesday Storm: A snow storm batters the Mid-Atlantic.
A Cuban military tribunal convicts 1,179 Bay of Pigs attackers.
Raoul Salan, founder of the French terrorist Organisation armée secrète, is sentenced to life imprisonment in France.
İsmet İnönü of the CHP forms the new government of Turkey (27th government, coalition partners; YTP and CKMP).
Mariner program: The U.S. Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed.
Norway launches its 1st sounding rocket, Ferdinand 1, from Andøya Space Center and becomes a space nation.
A flash flood in Barcelona, Spain, kills more than 440 people.
Spiegel affair: German police occupy the offices of Der Spiegel in Hamburg.
Dulles International Airport, in Washington, D.C., is dedicated by President John F. Kennedy.
Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, who died on November 28, is buried at the Nieuwe Kerk (Delft).
Famous people born in 1962
Ginette Amara
Central African academician, veterinarian and politician.
January 3 →
Chris Chelios
American ice hockey player
January 25 →
Sheryl Crow
American singer-songwriter
February 11 →
Grant Show
American actor
February 27 →
Matthew Broderick
American actor and singer
March 21 →
Sheila Kennedy
American model, actress and contestant on Big Brother 9
April 12 →
Maia Morgenstern
Romanian actress
May 1 →
Lise Lyng Falkenberg
Danish writer
May 17 →
Brandon Cruz
American child actor and punk rocker
May 28 →
Olga Charvátová
Czech alpine skier
June 11 →
Kari Takko
Finnish ice hockey player
June 23 →
Predrag Bjelac
Serbian actress
June 30 →
Joan Osborne
American singer-songwriter
July 8 →
Rita Rätsepp
Estonian actress and psychologist
July 17 →
Sergey Kiriyenko
Russian politician and statesman, 31st Prime Minister of Russia
July 26 →
Ariel López Padilla
Mexican actor
August 12 →
Roger Kingdom
American hurdler
August 26 →
Dino Merlin
Bosnian singer-songwriter, musician and producer
September 12 →
Chunky Pandey
Indian actor
September 26 →
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Russian baritone (d. 2017)
October 16 →
Yahya Sinwar
(Hamas political leader) (d 2024)
October 29 →
Steve Altes
American humorist
November 13 →
Jon Stewart
American actor, comedian, media critic and television personality, host of The Daily Show (1999–2015)
November 28 →
Richard Jewell
American security guard and media figure (d. 2007)
December 17 →