Born in 1960
Turns 66 in 2026
Gifts for someone born in 1960
1960 Front PageTheir name. The news from their year.Unframed from $51.50Add their name
Their birth chartThe sky as astrology reads it, cast for one birth.Unframed from $51.50
The Years We Were BornThe whole family, together in years.Unframed from $51.50
Our Story timelineTheir life, told in your words.Unframed from $51.50
Front Page: New Zealand edition. The year is filled in; add their name in the editor. “Your name” is a placeholder. Light news is selected. A new keepsake, not an original newspaper.
BACK TO 1960 · New Zealand
A little history to go with their gift.
Four Black freshmen began the Greensboro sit-in at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter on 1 February, and other students joined similar protests. In September, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon met in Chicago for a presidential debate carried to audiences by television.
What happened in 1960?
Kennedy and Nixon meet in a nationally televised debate
Television carried the Chicago encounter between the two major-party presidential candidates to audiences across the country.
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Four freshmen sit down at a Greensboro lunch counter
Four Black freshmen began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Wilma Rudolph wins three Olympic track gold medals
Wilma Rudolph won three track and field gold medals at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games.
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum · Olympic Studies Centre, International Olympic Committee
John F. Kennedy wins the 1960 presidential election
John F. Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election.
National Archives and Records Administration, Office of the Federal Register · The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara
Firsts and new ideas
The first laser changes optical technology
Theodore Maiman demonstrated the first working laser in 1960, producing a concentrated beam from a ruby crystal.
Stanford University School of Engineering · Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
TIROS-1 sends cloud pictures down from orbit
TIROS-1 launched from Cape Canaveral on April 1, 1960, and sent cloud images from orbit.
NASA Science · National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Number ones and music in 1960
Chart positions belong to the country and chart named in each record.
Elvis takes “It’s Now or Never” to No. 1
Elvis Presley reshaped the melody of “O Sole Mio” into a pop recording that reached No. 1 in the United States and the United Kingdom during 1960.
Official Charts Company · Billboard (scan hosted by Lesve archive)
The Everly Brothers reached No. 1 on the Hot 100
Billboard’s May 23, 1960 Hot 100 ranked The Everly Brothers’ “Cathy’s Clown” No. 1.
Billboard (digital issue scan hosted by World Radio History)
Prices and everyday money in 1960
New Zealand figures in the money of the time. Units and sources matter: these are not today's prices.
| Item or measure | Then | Unit and source |
|---|---|---|
| Average weekly wage payout per person | £15 14s 10.44d | NZP per week; aggregate payout divided by full-time employees plus half part-time employees Department of Statistics, New Zealand |
| Westland Centennial: The Explorer (single 2d stamp) | 2d | one stamp, face value 2d New Zealand Post Collectables |
Planning the birthday
Someone born in 1960 turns 66 in 2026. Before their birthday they are one year younger. Choose the birth year for the print; add the full date in the editor if you know it.
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