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| 1960 |
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| Cold war developments included plans for a summit meeting between Eisenhower and Khrushchev; it was cancelled when a U.S. high-altitude spy plane, a U-2, was discovered and shot down by the Soviets. | 1 |
| Independence achieved by 17 countries in AFRICA during the year. | 2 |
| UN peacekeeping force deployed in the newly independent Congo following the outbreak of severe civil strife. The force was finally withdrawn in 1964. | 3 |
| The Second UN Conference on the Law of the Sea added to existing agreements on the use of ocean resources. | 4 |
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| 1961 |
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| Cold war developments included the VIENNA SUMMIT CONFERENCE (June) between U.S. president Kennedy and Soviet premier Khrushchev, at which many issues were discussed; the construction of the BERLIN WALL (Aug.) revealed the continuing tension over Germany and Soviet concern about the large numbers of refugees fleeing to the West. | 5 |
| The World Food Program for dealing with problems of hunger and famine relief was established. | 6 |
| The Assembly of the World Council of Churches met in Delhi, India, and the International Missionary Council was formally integrated into the organization. | 7 |
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| April |
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| Yuri Gagarin, Soviet astronaut, became the FIRST HUMAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH. | 8 |
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| Sept |
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| The Conference of Non-Aligned Nations in Belgrade was attended by 25 states and established a continuing organizational structure. UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld was killed in an airplane crash in the Congo. | 9 |
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| Nov |
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| U THANT OF BURMA named acting secretary general of the UN and subsequently elected (1962) to a four-year term. | 10 |
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