Where Were You in '62?
The world of the play: Connecticut in 1962
Who Am I This Time? takes place in what some consider to be the last days of the post-World War II years of American optimism and prosperity, September 1962.
John F. Kennedy has been president for a little over a year. The Civil Rights movement is about one year away from gaining widespread national attention. The Vietnam conflict is underway, but we’re still a few years from substantial boots on the ground in Vietnam. A stamp costs 4 cents. Song of the year is “Moon River” by Johnny Mercer, made popular by Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn. The Yankees are poised to win the World Series (which they do in October). |
Timeline of Events 1962
Jan 24: Jackie Robinson is 1st African American elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Feb 10: Prisoner exchange of US Pilot Francis Gary Powers for “Rudolph Abel” in Berlin (the basis for the movie Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks) Feb 14: US 1st lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts White House tour on TV Feb 20: John Glenn becomes 1st American to orbit the Earth, aboard Friendship 7 Mar 22: I Can Get It For You Wholesale opens at Shubert NYC, marking Barbra Streisand’s Broadway debut Apr 9: 34th Academy Awards: West Side Story wins Best Picture Apr 10: NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits his 375th HR Apr 16: Walter Cronkite begins anchoring CBS Evening News Jul 2: Sam Walton opens his first Walmart Jul 5: Algeria gains independence after 132 years of French rule Jul 12: Rolling Stones 1st performance Aug 4: Nelson Mandela captured by South African police; he will spend 27 years in prison Aug 5: Marilyn Monroe dies Aug 11: Beach Boys release "Surfin' Safari" Sep 23: ABC's 1st color TV series - The Jetsons by Hanna-Barbera first broadcast |
Oct 1: James Meredith becomes the 1st black student at the University of Mississippi after winning a case with the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the school to integrate, and Kennedy sends Federal Marshalls to escort the college freshman
Oct 1: Johnny Carson hosts his 1st Tonight Show Oct 5 The Beatles release their first record, "Love Me Do" Oct 5 Dr. No, 1st James Bond film, premieres in London Oct 13 Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens on Broadway Oct 22: Cuban Missile Crisis US President John F. Kennedy addresses TV about Russian missile bases in Cuba and imposes a naval blockade on Cuba, beginning the missile crisis Oct 25 John Steinbeck awarded Nobel Prize for Literature Nov 20 Cuban Missile Crisis Ends USSR agrees to remove bombers from Cuba, & US lifts blockade Dec 25 To Kill a Mockingbird, a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released |
What’s Around the Corner…
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech, The assassination of JFK, and the Birmingham Church Bombing will all take place in 1963.
In 1964, the Beatles come to America and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allows for direct US involvement in Vietnam
Malcolm X is assassinated in 1965 and the First US Marines land in Danang
Spring of 1968 will see the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, both before the age of 45
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” Speech, The assassination of JFK, and the Birmingham Church Bombing will all take place in 1963.
In 1964, the Beatles come to America and Gulf of Tonkin Resolution allows for direct US involvement in Vietnam
Malcolm X is assassinated in 1965 and the First US Marines land in Danang
Spring of 1968 will see the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, both before the age of 45