The Beatles' audition at Decca Records is unsuccessful
Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand
Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro
Tony Sheridan and The Beatles produce 'My Bonnie' and 'The Saints'
Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the U.S.A. for the first time
Golfer Jack Nicklaus, aged 21, makes his first pro appearance, coming 50th
A trade pact is agreed between Cuba and the Soviet Union
The DeHavilland Trident makes its maiden flight
Volcano Huascaran erupts in Peru, killing 4,000
Albania allies itself with the People's Republic of China
Yves Saint-Laurent, protégé of Christian Dior sets up his Paris fashion house
British weather services begin issuing centigrade temperatures with Fahrenheit equivalents
The U.S. spacecraft Ranger 3 goes off course, missing the moon by 20,000 miles
Britain and America walk out of Nuclear test ban talks with the Soviet Union in Geneva
Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas" are killed when their famous seven-person pyramid collapses

Duane Eddy marries singer Miriam Johnson
Don Everly marries Hollywood starlet Venetia Stevenson
Neptune and Pluto align for the first time in 400 years
US announces a trade embargo on Cuba
The Sunday Times becomes the first paper to print a colour supplement
Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation opened
American spy pilot Gary Powers is exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolf Abel
An Essex schoolboy claims the world record for 'The Twist' after dancing non-stop for 33 hours
Jackie Kennedy conducts a televised tour of the White House
James Hanratty is sentenced to death for the 'A6' murder
John Glenn in the Mercury 'Friendship 7' becomes the first American to orbit the Earth
Football League founder members Accrington Stanley play their last game, versus Rochdale, at Peel Park before winding up with debts of £60,000
The Commonwealth Immigrants Bill is passed in London, establishing a quota system

The Beatles make their radio debut on 'Teenager's Turn - Here We Go'
An American Airlines Boeing 707 crashes on takeoff at NY International Airport, killing all on board
In India, President Nehru's Congress Party wins the general election
There is a military coup in Burma
The British Antarctic Territory is created in the South Atlantic
Malta becomes fully independent
The Beatles record their debut performance for BBC Radio Manchester wearing matching suits
5 research groups simultaneously announce the discovery of anti-matter
The first Russian 'Cosmos' satellite is launched
France and Algeria sign an agreement in Evian ending the Algerian War
A 300 year-old skull is discovered beneath 10 Downing Street
Scandinavian States of Nordic Council sign the Helsinki Convention on Nordic Co-operation
Mick Jagger and Keith Richards perform as Little Boy Blue & The Blue Boys

The Income Tax Act, 1961 comes into force
Push-button 'Panda' road crossings are introduced
James Hanratty is executed at Bedford Prison for the A6 murder
Two London gangs, the Mussies from Muswell Hill and the Finchley Boys, have a battle resulting in several stabbings. Mussie Peter Quaife (later of The Kinks) escapes by clinging to the underside of a parked car
Stuart Sutcliffe dies of a brain haemorrhage in Hamburg
Georges Pompidou becomes president of France
Jerry Lee Lewis' 3 year old son accidentally drowns in their swimming pool
Chuck Berry is transferred to Leavenworth Federal Prison
Brian "Liquorice" Locking replaces Jet Harris in the Shadows
Stirling Moss is seriously injured crashing his Lotus 7 in a race at Goodwood
President Kennedy announces U.S.A. are resuming atmospheric atomic testing
The first British satellite 'Ariel' is launched
The American spacecraft Ranger 4 crashes on the dark side of the moon

Prince Charles enters Gordonstoun school
Don and Phil Everly are discharged from the U.S. Marines
The French carry out their first underground nuclear experiment in the Sahara
The government warns it will fine pedestrians not using the new 'Panda' crossings
12 East Germans escape to the West via a tunnel under the Berlin Wall
The first nuclear warhead is fired from Polaris submarine 'Ethan Allen'
The last trolleybus runs in London
Laser beams are successfully reflected from the moon for the first time
The Beatles sign their first recording contract with EMI Parlophone
Juan Carlos marries the Greek Princess Sophia in Athens
The first reattachment of a human limb is performed in America
Scott Carpenter orbits the Earth three times in the Aurora 7 space capsule
The New Coventry Cathedral, designed by Basil Spence, is consecrated
Adolf Eichmann is hanged in Israel, executed for Nazi war crimes

Britain's first legal casino is opened at The Metropole, Brighton
Only two stewardesses survive an Air France Boeing 707 air crash at Orly Airport in Paris - 130 die
The Beatles meet producer George Martin for the first time at EMI's Abbey Road studios
England lose the 1962 football World Cup quarter final 3-1 to Brazil in Chile
Frank Morris, John and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to successfully escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island, digging their way out with spoons
Albert DeSalvo, The Boston Strangler, murders Anna Slesers, his first victim
Brazil retain the football World Cup beating Czechoslovakia 3-1 in Santiago
The Vickers VC10 makes its maiden flight
Police 5 is seen on television for the first time
The French Foreign Legion leaves Algeria
Rwanda and Burundi gain independence

The 137th and last annual 'Players vs Gentlemen' cricket match is held at Lord's
Island Records is formed
Fidel Castro visits Moscow
The government's Immigration Bill becomes law
Algeria becomes independent from France
Telstar, the first proper telecommunications satellite, is put into orbit and President Lyndon B.Johnson takes the first telephone call 'from space'
The first motorway opens in Ireland
The first TV signals are beamed between U.S.A. and France via Telstar
Fred Baldasare becomes the first man to swim The Channel underwater
The "Small Boy" nuclear test 'Little Feller I' is the last atmospheric test detonation at the Nevada Test Site
The Rolling Stones make their first appearance at the Marquee Club, Soho
Two manned spacecraft (USSR) are in space together for the first time
The borehole for the Mont Blanc tunnel is completed
The world's first experimental hovercraft passenger service opens between Moreton, Wirral and Rhyl
The Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically after launch and has to be destroyed
An 18 minute live transmission is beamed to 16 European countries via Telstar
The Mariner I spacecraft launched to Mars falls into the Atlantic Ocean

Marilyn Monroe, aged 36, is found dead from a drink and drugs overdose
Jamaica becomes independent
An experimental hovercraft service is launched between Portsmouth and Ryde
Soviet cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev begins a 94-hour flight
Two Soviet Vostok spacecraft orbit simultaneously
The last 10 feet of the 7.5 mile Mont Blanc tunnel is completed
Ringo Starr becomes the drummer for The Beatles
East German border guards kill 18-year-old Peter Fechter as he attempts to cross the Berlin Wall into West Berlin. His friend Helmut Kulbeik makes it across
British Fascist leader Colin Jordan is jailed for nine months for inciting a riot during a speech
Beatle John Lennon secretly marries Cynthia Powell
The spacecraft Mariner II is launched towards Venus
An assassination attempt is made on General de Gaulle in Paris
Trinidad and Tobago becomes independent

Channel Television launches to 54,000 households in the Channel Islands
London sees fierce street battles between East Enders and Oswald Mosley's Fascists
The Soviet Union agrees to send arms to Cuba
The Beatles have their first official recording session with George Martin, in London
A U2 spy plane used by Taiwan is shot down in China
The Beatles record 'Love Me Do' and 'PS I Love You' with Andy White on drums
Ringo Starr replaces Pete Best as drummer for The Beatles
President Kennedy declares the USA will put a man on the moon by the end of the decade
Distillers agree to pay £250,000 for research into damage done by Thalidomide
29 refugees escape by tunnelling under the Berlin Wall
The Ford Cortina is launched
Sonny Liston beats Floyd Patterson to become World Heavyweight Boxing Champion
Civil war breaks out in Yemen
TV comedy series 'The Beverly Hillbillies' premieres on CBS in the USA
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched

The Beatles release their first record for E.M.I. 'Love Me Do'
Alf Ramsey succeeds Walter Winterbottom as England football manager
The first black student James Meredith registers at the University of Mississippi
The first James Bond film 'Dr. No' premieres in London
Elizabeth Lane becomes the first female high court judge
Uganda becomes independent within the Commonwealth
Spacecraft Mariner II reveals the existence of solar 'winds'
A U-2 flight over Cuba takes photos of Soviet nuclear weapons being installed
Martin Luther King Jr. is named the Nobel Peace Prize winner in Stockholm
A stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba puts the world under threat of a nuclear war
The Hyde Park underpass opens in London, causing huge traffic jams
The Beatles make their first television appearance
Cliff Richard debuts on the Ed Sullivan Show
The spy William Vassall is jailed for 18 years
President Kennedy appears on U.S. television to announce the siting of Soviet missiles in Cuba, 90 miles from the U.S.A.
The trial of Nelson Mandela begins
Kruschev capitulates and orders the Cuban rockets to be dismantled and returned to the Soviet Union, ending the 'Cuban Missile Crisis'
Singer Michelle Phillips marries film star Dennis Hopper - it only lasts a couple of weeks

Prince Philip opens the Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia
The Soviet Union launches the first spacecraft to Mars
The Soviets begin dismantling their missiles in Cuba
Greece enters the European Common Market
The British government halves the purchase tax on cars in a bid to boost the economy
Saudi Arabia breaks off diplomatic relations with Egypt
The UN passes a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies
Eleanor Roosevelt dies
Richard M. Nixon loses the California governor's race and quits politics
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment
President J.F.Kennedy dedicates Dulles International Airport in Washington DC
The Cuban Missile Crisis ends and sanctions on Cuba are lifted
The first test flight of the Boeing 727 takes place
Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands dies
An agreement is signed between Britain and France to develop Concorde
The UN elects U Thant of Burma as the new United Nations Secretary-General

The Rolling Stones are formed
DJ Alan Freed goes on trial in New York on 'payola' charges
Start of the four-day smog cloud which brings London to a standstill
Bill Wyman joins the Rolling Stones
The North Kalimantan National Army revolts in Brunei
Tanganyika (Tanzania) becomes a republic within the Commonwealth, with Julius Nyerere as President
Mariner II sends back the first close-up pictures of Venus
Actor Charles Laughton dies
The Beatles make their first British TV appearance (on People & Places)
Britain acknowledges Nyasaland's (Malawi) right to secede from the Central African Federation
Daman and Diu and Goa are freed from the Portuguese by the Indian Army
The Osmond brothers make their debut on The Andy Williams Show
The U.S.A. agrees to sell Polaris missiles to Britain
The "Big Freeze" commences in Britain - there are no frost-free nights until March 5th 1963
Blond guitarist Heinz Burt announces he is leaving The Tornados to pursue a solo career