| 1960 | Formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) |
| 1961 | Yuri Gagarin, a Russian cosmonaut, becomes the first human to travel into space |
| 1962 | The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of nuclear war |
| 1963 | Assassination of US President John F. Kennedy |
| 1964 | Civil Rights Act is signed into law in the United States |
| 1965 | The U.S. substantially increases its military force in Vietnam |
| 1966 | The Cultural Revolution begins in China |
| 1967 | Israel wins the Six-Day War against Arab nations |
| 1968 | Assassination of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. |
| 1969 | The Apollo 11 mission successfully lands the first humans on the moon |
