Photo Essay: 50 Years Ago: The World in 1961

[pokerfan]

A half-century ago, much of the world was in a broad state of change: We were moving out of the post-World War II era, and into both the Cold War and the Space Age, with broadening civil rights movements and anti-nuclear protests in the U.S. In 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the 35th president of the United States, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly in space, Freedom Riders took buses into the South to bravely challenge segregation, and East Germany began construction of the Berlin Wall. That year, Kennedy gave the okay to the disastrous Bay of Pigs Invasion into Cuba and committed the U.S. to "landing a man on the Moon" with NASA's Apollo program. JFK also oversaw the early buildup of a U.S. military presence in Vietnam: by the end of 1961, some 2,000 troops were deployed there. Let me take you 50 years into the past now, for a look at the world as it was in 1961. <50 photos>





More here: http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/50-years-ago-the-world-in-1961/100172

[meegbear]

1. K&R

[brooklynite]

2. Setting aside the anti-semitism and racial trends...

...what was the appeal of dressing up in Nazi uniforms, rather than dressing in civvies or inventing an outfit of their own?

[FiveGoodMen]

3. I think one of the Nazis in that second photo is Nicholas Cage!

;)

[Ikonoklast]

16. Or D. B. Cooper.

[riverbendviewgal]

4. These pictures I have seen before

I was 13 and they very much made me who I am today..

awesome.

[frazzled]

9. I was eleven, and remember all of these things

Ban the bomb, Charlayne Hunter, Freedom Riders, the Space Needle ...

It's hard to believe it's been 50 years.

[pokerfan]

12. I was 2 and remember a little

I remember more of the Seattle World Fair the following year, especially the monorail.

http://www.alamedainfo.com/seattle_worlds_fair_1962.htm

[jwirr]

19. Yes, some old memories in those pictures. I was 20 and the mother

of two children.

[JVS]

5. The Virginia Nazis!

[pokerfan]

6. I hate Virginia Nazis!

[Blue_Tires]

13. some of those clowns are probably in the state legislature right now...

[mahatmakanejeeves]

24. George Lincoln Rockwell

had his headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. He was sassassinated while doing the laundry at a shopping center that is across the street from the new skatepark.

George Lincoln Rockwell

[stuntcat]

7. love the Louis Armstrong one!

awwww :loveya:

They're all very interesting, TY!

[seabeyond]

8. .

[WinkyDink]

10. I was there.

[Raschel]

11. Kennedy must have been very tall. He is taller than most of the people in that crowd.

[hifiguy]

18. Self-delete - wrong pic.

[onethatcares]

14. I was ten then,

that seems like such a long time ago. I remember a lot of that, but most of all I remember reading about the freedom marches and hearing about how the supporters of integration were going to destroy our nation.

jeeeezzzzzuuuuzzzzz, we haven't gone very far in 50 years have we?

[Scuba]

15. Excellent. Thanks for posting.

[hifiguy]

17. Are those time traveling teahadis in that second photo

in the OP?

[pokerfan]

20. some people just aren't happy unless they are hating

It allows them to feel superior...

[NYC Liberal]

21. At least they're honest about their bigotry, unlike the teabaggers.

I guess that's something.

[pokerfan]

22. some baggers are honest

about their racism:

[intheflow]

23. Forner NPR/CNN correspondent Charlyne Hunter-Gault in the back of

a Georgia police car for having the gall to attend college.

A 4" deep flat screen tv with the ability to record movies.

1961 was a pivot point between the old world and the new. Interesting photo essay. Thank you for posting!

[SlipperySlope]

25. Yuri Gagarin was a good person and a hero

A lot of heroes are pictured on that page. I think too many Americans don't recognize Gagarin as one because he was the "enemy" at the time.