 | Portal maintenance status:(May 2019)
|
The 1960s Portal
The 1960s became synonymous with the new, radical, and subversive events and trends of the period. In Africa the 1960s was a period of radical political change as 32 countriesgained independence from their European colonial rulers. Some commentators have seen in this era a classicalJungian nightmare cycle, where a rigid culture, unable to contain the demands for greaterindividual freedom, broke free of the social constraints of the previous age through extreme deviation from the norm.Christopher Booker charts the rise, success, fall/nightmare and explosion in the London scene of the 1960s. However, this alone does not explain the mass nature of the phenomenon. Several nations such as the U.S., France, Germany and Britain turned to theleft in the early and mid 1960s. In the United States,John F. Kennedy, aKeynesian and staunchanti-communist, pushed for social reforms. His assassination in 1963 was a stunning shock. Liberal reforms were finally passed underLyndon B. Johnson including civil rights forAfrican Americans and healthcare forthe elderly andthe poor. Despite his large-scaleGreat Society programs, Johnson was increasingly reviled by theNew Left at home and abroad. The heavy-handed American role in theVietnam War outraged student protestors across the globe, as they found peasant rebellion typified byHo Chi Minh andChe Guevara more appealing. Italy formed its first left-of-center government in March 1962 with a coalition ofChristian Democrats,Social Democrats, and moderateRepublicans.Socialists joined the ruling block in December 1963. In Britain, theLabour Party gained power in 1964. In Brazil,João Goulart became president afterJânio Quadros resigned.
|
| Credit: Warren K. Leffler |
Featured biography -show another
George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist ofthe Beatles. Known as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison played a significant role in shaping the band's musical direction and later established a successful solo career, particularly through his interest in non-Western musical influences.
Although most of the band's songs were written byJohn Lennon and Paul McCartney, most Beatles albums from 1965 onwards contained at least two Harrison compositions, including "Taxman", "Within You Without You", "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Something" and "Here Comes the Sun". Harrison's earliest musical influences includedGeorge Formby andDjango Reinhardt; subsequent influences wereCarl Perkins,Chet Atkins andChuck Berry. By 1965, he had begun to lead the Beatles intofolk rock through his interest inBob Dylan andthe Byrds, and towardsIndian classical music through his use of Indian instruments, such as thesitar, which he had become acquainted with on the set of the filmHelp!. He played sitar on numerous Beatles songs, starting with "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". Having initiated the band's embrace ofTranscendental Meditation in 1967, he subsequently developed an association with theHare Krishna movement. Harrison's first marriage to modelPattie Boyd in 1966 ended in divorce in 1977. In the following year he marriedOlivia Arias, with whom he had a son,Dhani. (Full article...)
Selected biography -show another
Félix Houphouët-Boigny (French:[feliksufwɛ(t)bwaɲi]; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately calledPapa Houphouët orLe Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the firstpresident ofIvory Coast from 1960 until his death in 1993. Atribal chief, he worked as a medical aide, union leader, and planter before being elected to theFrench Parliament in 1945. He served in several ministerial positions within theGovernment of France before leading Ivory Coast following independence in 1960. Throughout his life, he played a significant role in politics and thedecolonisation of Africa.
Under Houphouët-Boigny's politicallymoderate leadership, Ivory Coast prospered economically. This success, uncommon in poverty-ridden West Africa, became known as the "Ivorian miracle"; it was due to a combination of sound planning, the maintenance of strong ties with the West (particularly France) and development of the country's significant coffee and cocoa industries. However, reliance on the agricultural sector caused difficulties in 1980, after a sharp drop in the prices of coffee and cocoa. (Full article...)
.jpg)
TheMarch on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as theMarch on Washington or theGreat March on Washington) was held inWashington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rights ofAfrican Americans. At the march, several popular singers of the time, includingMahalia Jackson andMarian Anderson, performed and many of the movement's leaders gave speeches. The most notable speech came from the final speaker,Martin Luther King Jr., standing in front of theLincoln Memorial, as he delivered his historic "I Have a Dream" speech in which he called for an end to legalizedracism andracial segregation.
The march was organized byBayard Rustin andA. Philip Randolph, who built an alliance of civil rights, labor, and religious organizations that came together under the banner of "jobs and freedom." Estimates of the number of participants varied from 200,000 to 300,000, but the most widely cited estimate is 250,000 people. Observers estimated that 75–80% of the marchers were black. The march was one of the largestpolitical rallies for human rights in United States history.Walter Reuther, president of theUnited Auto Workers, was the most integral and highest-ranking white organizer of the march. (Full article...)
 | You are invited to participate inWikiProject History, agroup of editors dedicated to developing and improving articles aboutHistory. If interested, add your name to ourlist of members |
 | Consider becoming a member ofWikiProject The Beatles, a WikiProject that aims to expand and improve coverage of The Beatles on Wikipedia. Please feel free tojoin. |
The followingWikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
