1962

World Statistics
Population: 3.136 billion
Nobel Peace Prize: Linus Pauling
Nobel Prize for Literature: John Steinbeck

World Events
* France transfers sovereignty to new republic of Algeria.
* Cuban Missile Crisis: USSR to build missile bases in Cuba; President Kennedy
orders Cuban blockade, lifts blockade after Russia backs down.
* Pope John XXIII opens Second Vatican Council.
* Adolph Eichmann executed in Israel.
* On Christmas Eve, Cuba releases 1,113 prisoners of the failed 1961 invasion attempt.
* Burundi, Jamaica, Western Samoa, Uganda, and Trinidad and Tobago become independent.

U.S. Statistics
President: John F. Kennedy
Vice President: Lyndon B. Johnson
Population: 186,537,737
Life expectancy: 70.1 years
Homicide Rate: 4.8 (per 100,000)
Federal spending: $106.82 billion
Federal debt: $302.9 billion
Cost of a first-class stamp: $0.04

U.S. Events
* James H. Meredith, escorted by federal marshals, registers at University of Mississippi.
* Pat Brown defeats Richard Nixon in the California gubernatorial race.
* Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, Jr. is first American to orbit Earth, three times in 4 hours 55 minutes.
* Marilyn Monroe dies of a drug overdose at age 36.
* The first transatlantic television transmission occurs via the Telstar Satellite, making worldwide television and cable networks a reality.
* Johnny Carson takes over hosting duties of The Tonight Show, replacing Jack Paar.
* Unimation introduces the first industrial robot.
* Mariner II, the first interplanetary probe, reaches Venus.
* The commercially sponsored Telstar communications satellite is launched.
* NY Yankees d. San Francisco Giants (4-3)
* Miss America: Maria Fletcher, North Carolina.

Pulitzer Prizes
Drama: Frank Loesser & Abe Burrows, "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying"
Fiction: Edwin O'Connor, The Edge of Sadness
History: Lawrence H. Gibson, The Triumphant Empire: Thunderclouds Gather in the West
International Reoprting: Walter Lippmann, "New York Herald Tribune Syndicate"
National Reporting: Nathan G. Caldwell & Gene S. Graham, "Nashville Tennessean"
Public Service: "Panama City (FL) News-Herald"

Top Music
1. "Peppermint Twist-Part I," Joey Dee
2. "Duke of Earl," Gene Chandler
3. "Hey! Baby," Bruce Channel
4. "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You," Connie Francis
5. "Johnny Angel," Shelley Fabares
6. "Good Luck Charm," Elvis Presley
7. "Soldier Boy," The Shirelles
8. "Stranger on the Shore," Acker Bilk
9. "I Can't Stop Loving You," Ray Charles
10. "The Stripper," David Rose and His Orchestra

Top Movies
1. Spartacus
2. West Side Story
3. Lover Come Back
4. That Touch of Mink
5. El Cid
6. The Music Man
7. King of Kings
8. Hatari
9. The Flower Drum Song
10. The Interns

Popular Books
Fiction
1. Ship of Fools, Katherine Anne Porter
2. Dearly Beloved, Anne Morrow Lindbergh
3. A Shade of Difference, Allen Drury
4. Youngblood Hawke, Herman Wouk
5. Franny and Zooey, J. D. Salinger
6. Fail Safe, Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler
7. Seven Days in May, Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey III
8. The Prize, Irving Wallace
9. The Agony and the Ecstasy, Irving Stone
10. The Reivers, William Faulkner
Nonfiction
1. Calories Don't Count, Dr. Herman Taller
2. The New English Bible: The New Testament
3. Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, New Edition
4. 0 Ye Jigs & Juleps! Virginia Cary Hudson
5. Happiness Is a Warm Puppy, Charles M. Schulz
6. The Joy of Cooking, Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer
7. My Life in Court, Louis Nizer
8. The Rothschilds, Frederic Morton
9. Sex and the Single Girl, Helen Gurley Brown. Bernard Geis
10. Travels with Charley, John Steinbeck

Popular Television Shows
1. The Beverly Hillbillies (CBS)
2. Candid Camera (CBS)
3. The Red Skelton Show (CBS)
4. Bonanza (NBC)
5. The Lucy Show (CBS)
6. The Andy Griffith Show (CBS)
7. Ben Casey (ABC)
8. The Danny Thomas Show (CBS)
9. The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS)
10. Gunsmoke (CBS)