1960's Trivia

The 1960s are remembered fondly by many people. So many things happened in the 1960s that we now take for granted as part of 1960s trivia.

For the first time in 1962, a city reached a population of over ten million people. Do you know what city it was? The city that had more people than any other city at the time was Tokyo, Japan. In 1964, Nikita Khrushchev was kicked out of the office of Soviet Premier. Who replaced him? He was replaced by Aleksei Kosygin. 1967 was the first year a heart transplant was performed. Dr. Christiaan Barnard performed this surgery in South Africa.

The year 1965 added a new piece of 1960’s trivia to American history. That was the first year American troops were sent to Vietnam when 3,500 Marines were sent to secure the base in Da Nang.

No 1960s trivia would be complete without some facts about the drug culture that became prevalent in the last years of the 60s. Timothy Leary was famous for doing research on the drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) including experimenting with it himself. He also coined a famous quote of the decade – “Turn on. Tune in. Drop out.” Many American teenagers went to San Francisco for the “Summer of Love.” It was a summer at offered free love, drugs and acceptance.

1960s trivia about music is very interesting. The 1960s were famous for many surfer bands like the Beach Boys, the Ventures and Jan & Dean. The sounds of those bands music will forever be linked to California beaches, bikinis and hot rods. By the end of the decade, the music had turned darker. Bands like the Jefferson Airplane and the Rolling Stones began to question authority. Many of the musical icons of the 60s were dead of drug overdoses before the end of the decade including Jim Morrison (lead singer of The Doors), Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin.