The Media Room : 1962

• The top-rated television shows for 1962 were :
  • The Beverly Hillbillies
  • The Andy Griffith Show
  • The Dick Van Dyke Show

• February 14, 1962 : First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy gives "A Tour of the White House" via television. Over 46 million people tune in.

• February 20, 1962 : John Glenn soars into orbit aboard the Mercury spacecraft, Friendship 7, and becomes the first person to orbit the earth.

  Back home, Walter Cronkite' s enthusiastic reporting pushes him into the limelight, too.

• August 5, 1962 : Actress Marilyn Monroe is found dead, an apparent suicide.

• November 5, 1962 : Rachel Carson's book, Silent Spring, an assessment of the dangers of pesticides and insecticides, tops the non-fiction bestseller list.

• The Academy Awards for 1962 go to :
  • Best Actor : Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Best Actress : Anne Bancroft in The Miracle Worker
  • Best Film : Lawrence of Arabia

 On to 1962 Popular Culture Room

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