REMEMBERING 1962 - THE YEAR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

The movie was, of course, Dr. No, the first in the most enduring and popular film franchise of all time, still going strong today. Although less gadget-crazy than its successors, the first James Bond film established the formula (mysteriously deformed ;but superhuman villain, nifty secret lair, Bond girl in jeopardy, etc.) for much of what was to come. And it was part of a larger upheaval that magical year -- in movies, pop music, politics, and more -- that marks the true beginning of what we mean when we talk about the Sixties.

The environmental movement was also born that year. In 1959, Rachel Carson received a letter from a friend mentioning the death of many birds in her area after an aerial DDT spray to kill mosquitos. Although Carson had been concerned about the chemical since the forties, the letter galvanized her to write Silent Spring.

A promising folk singer/songwriter, Robert Zimmerman, released his first album, Bob Dylan. The Beatles released their first single, Love Me Do, and the Rolling Stones did their first live shows.

While Kennedy was averting a nuclear disaster by finessing the Cuban missile crisis, Nixon proclaimed that we wouldn't have him to kick around any more after the loss of the California governor's race.

Other notable events of 1962:

• The Interrobang is invented
• The Pill is approved by the FDA
• Fruit Loops are introduced
• The first use of silicone breast implants by Houston plastic surgeons
• The first Taco Bell opens
• The audio cassette is invented. The original use is for dictation machines, but within a few years it is the medium of choice for music
• The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies, and calls for all UN member states to cease military and economic relations with the nation
• The Space Needle opens in Seattle
• Federal troops take control when riots result after African-American James Meredith attempts to register at the University of Mississippi
• Marilyn Monroe dies of overdose
• Diet Right and Tab make their first appearance
• John Glenn orbits the earth
• Andy Warhol paints his first Campbell's Soup can
• Stan Lee and Steve Ditko introduce Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15
• Supreme Court bans prayer in public schools

Movies

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Dr. No

Lawrence of Arabia

To Kill a Mockingbird

Lolita

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Manchurian Candidate

Cape Fear

Books:

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee

TV

The Beverly Hillbillies

Gunsmoke

The Lucy Show

Candid Camera

The Andy Griffith Show

Check out the opening scene of Dr. No:

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