1960s Trivia: Fun Facts From The Decade

Trivia from the 1960s, all of it dateable and checkable.

Every fact below has its year in brackets, so you can read the fact out, hide the year and use it as a quiz round - or leave the year in and use it for a birthday card or a reminiscence session.

For the same decade laid out year by year, use the 1960s calendar linked at the bottom.

Years covered in the 1960s

• 1960 - Coronation Street began, national service ended and the sixties had not started yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1960
• 1961 - The Beatles started playing the Cavern and Yuri Gagarin went into space. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1961
• 1962 - Love Me Do, the first James Bond film and the Cuban missile crisis. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1962
• 1963 - The big freeze, Beatlemania, Doctor Who and the assassination of President Kennedy. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1963
• 1964 - Top of the Pops, pirate radio, mods and rockers, and BBC Two. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1964
• 1965 - Churchill's funeral, the 70mph limit and the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1965
• 1966 - England won the World Cup, and then Aberfan happened in October. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1966
• 1967 - Sgt. Pepper, Radio 1, colour television and the summer of love. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1967
• 1968 - Manchester United in Europe, Dad's Army and a year of protest. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1968
• 1969 - The moon landing, the Beatles on the roof and the end of the decade. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1969
• That is every 1960s year we have written up so far: 1960 to 1969.

News facts from the 1960s

• National service ended, with the last conscripts called up in 1960. (1960)
• Yuri Gagarin became the first person in space on 12 April. (1961)
• The Cuban missile crisis in October brought the world closer to nuclear war than at any other point. (1962)
• The big freeze lasted from Boxing Day 1962 until March, with snow lying for weeks. (1963)
• Harold Wilson won the October general election for Labour. (1964)
• Winston Churchill died on 24 January and had a state funeral watched by millions. (1965)
• The Aberfan disaster on 21 October killed 116 children and 28 adults when a colliery spoil tip slid onto a school. (1966)
• Radio 1 launched on 30 September with Tony Blackburn. (1967)
• Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in April and Robert Kennedy in June. (1968)
• Apollo 11 landed on the Moon on 20 July, and Neil Armstrong stepped out in the early hours of 21 July UK time. (1969)

More from the news

• The farthing had already gone; pounds, shillings and pence continued. (1960)
• The Berlin Wall was built in August. (1961)
• The Sunday Times launched Britain's first colour supplement in February. (1962)
• The Great Train Robbery took place on 8 August. (1963)
• Radio Caroline began broadcasting from a ship in March. (1964)
• The 70mph motorway speed limit was introduced as a trial in December. (1965)
• Harold Wilson won a second general election in March with a large majority. (1966)
• The pound was devalued in November. (1967)
• Student protests spread across Europe, with demonstrations in Grosvenor Square in March and October. (1968)
• Troops were deployed in Northern Ireland in August. (1969)

Television and film in the 1960s

• Coronation Street began on 9 December. (1960)
• The Avengers began on ITV. (1961)
• Dr. No opened in October and James Bond was on screen for the first time. (1962)
• Doctor Who began on 23 November, the day after the Kennedy assassination, and the first episode was repeated a week later. (1963)
• Top of the Pops began on 1 January. (1964)
• The Sound of Music was released and ran in some cinemas for years. (1965)
• Cathy Come Home was broadcast in November and led directly to the growth of Shelter. (1966)
• BBC Two began colour broadcasts on 1 July, starting with Wimbledon. (1967)
• Dad's Army began on 31 July. (1968)
• BBC One and ITV began colour broadcasts in November. (1969)

Music in the 1960s

• Cliff Richard and the Shadows were the biggest British act of the year; 'Apache' by the Shadows was one of the year's best sellers. (1960)
• Elvis Presley's 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?' and 'Wooden Heart' were both number ones. (1961)
• The Beatles released 'Love Me Do' in October; it reached the top twenty rather than the top. (1962)
• The Beatles had three number ones in the year and two of the year's biggest sellers. (1963)
• The Beatles and the Rolling Stones both had number ones; 'Can't Buy Me Love' sold in enormous numbers. (1964)
• The Beatles' 'Help!' and 'Ticket to Ride' were both number ones. (1965)
• 'Green, Green Grass of Home' by Tom Jones was the year's best-selling single. (1966)
• Engelbert Humperdinck's 'Release Me' was the year's best-selling single and famously kept the Beatles' 'Penny Lane' off the top. (1967)
• The Beatles' 'Hey Jude' was the year's best-selling single. (1968)
• 'Sugar, Sugar' by the Archies was the year's best-selling single. (1969)

Sport in the 1960s

• Burnley won the First Division title. (1960)
• Tottenham Hotspur won the league and FA Cup double. (1961)
• Brazil won the World Cup in Chile; England reached the quarter-final. (1962)
• Manchester United won the FA Cup. (1963)
• Match of the Day began on BBC Two in August. (1964)
• Manchester United won the league. (1965)
• England beat West Germany 4-2 after extra time at Wembley on 30 July, with a Geoff Hurst hat-trick. (1966)
• Celtic became the first British club to win the European Cup, in Lisbon in May. (1967)
• Manchester United beat Benfica at Wembley in May to become the first English club to win the European Cup. (1968)
• Leeds United won their first league title. (1969)

Everyday life in the 1960s

• The Mini was becoming a common sight two years after launch. (1960)
• The Beatles played the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the first time in February. (1961)
• The winter that followed, from December, became the big freeze of 1962-63. (1962)
• Beatle haircuts, collarless jackets and screaming crowds were on every news bulletin by the autumn. (1963)
• Scooters, parkas and Carnaby Street defined mod style. (1964)
• The mini skirt became mainstream, largely through Mary Quant's shops. (1965)
• World Cup Willie was the first World Cup mascot and was on everything. (1966)
• The summer of love, psychedelia and Carnaby Street were the year's images. (1967)
• The first and second class post system began in September. (1968)
• Families stayed up through the night to watch the moon landing on black and white sets. (1969)

How to use these as a quiz round

• Read the fact without the year and ask for the year - closest answer wins the point.
• Ten facts makes a round. Mix news with television and music so nobody sweeps it.
• For a care home or reminiscence session, use the everyday life facts first - they get the most talk.
• Anyone born in 1960 turns 50 in 2010, 60 in 2020 and 70 in 2030.

Shop birthday cards

How to write it so it lands

• Hide the bracketed year and you have a guess-the-year round ready to go.
• For a card, use the year they were born rather than the decade.
• In a reminiscence session, stop on whatever gets a reaction rather than finishing the list.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 1960
• Look back to 1961
• Look back to 1962
• Look back to 1963
• Look back to 1964
• Look back to 1965
• Look back to 1966
• Look back to 1967
• Look back to 1968
• Look back to 1969
• 1960s calendar: year by year
• The 1960s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 1960s
• 1960s party playlist
• Playground games by region
• Knock down ginger
• Conkers rules
• Marbles rules
• School dinners we all remember
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• Guess the year quiz
• Care home reminiscence quiz
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Sympathy and bereavement cards
• Sympathy cards guide
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What are some fun facts about the 1960s?

Coronation Street began, national service ended and the sixties had not started yet. The lists above give the news, television, music, sport and everyday facts for every year from 1960 to 1969, each with its date.

What good 1960s quiz questions are there?

Any fact on this page works as a question if you read it out and ask for the year. Ten of them makes a round, and the answers are already in the brackets.

Where do these facts come from?

They are the same checked facts used on our year pages - real, dateable events only. The official UK singles chart begins in November 1952, so earlier years list popular songs rather than chart positions.

Do you sell anything to do with this decade?

We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK, including milestone birthday cards. This page is free to read and free to copy.