1. Marc Riboud, Magnum Photo 2. Marc Riboud, Magnum Photo 3. AP/Horst Faas 4. STF/AFP/Getty Images 5. AP photo 6. 60 iconic moments from the 1960s 7. Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll defined the 1960s. But the decade was also a time of pivotal change — politically, socially and technologically. 8. 1967 Woburn Abbey. Hippies enjoy themselves at the 1967 Woburn Abbey Love In. 9. The 'Greensboro Four‘. On February 1, 1960, four African-American college students made history just by sitting down at a whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. Service never came for the "Greensboro Four," as they came to be known, and their peaceful demonstration drew national attention and sparked more "sit-ins" in Southern cities. 10. Elvis discharged from the military. Elvis Presley's musical heyday was in the 1950s, but he remained a major star in the 1960s. Here, Presley, 25, is pictured with his future wife, Priscilla, shortly before his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1960. Presley served two years in the Army 11. Sharpeville massacre in South Africa. Wounded people in South Africa's Sharpeville township lie in the street on March 21, 1960, after police opened fire on black demonstrators marching against the country's segregation system known as apartheid. At least 180 black Africans, most of them women and children, were injured and 69 were killed in the Sharpeville massacre that signaled the start of armed resistance against apartheid. 12. The laser is born. Theodore Maiman pours liquid nitrogen into a cooling unit around one of the first experimental lasers in his laboratory in Santa Monica, California. Maiman's ruby laser, created on May 16, 1960, is considered to be one of the top technological achievements of the 20th century. It paved the way for fiber-optic communications, CDs, DVDs and sight-restoring surgery. 13. FDA approves birth-control pill. On June 23, 1960, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Enovid, the first birth-control pill for women. 14. Nixon-Kennedy debate. The first televised presidential debate was on September 26, 1960, and it involved U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon, left, and Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The debate is largely credited with helping to make a star out of Kennedy, who won the election later that year. 15. Bay of Pigs invasion. Cuban leader Fidel Castro, lower right, sits inside a tank near Playa Giron, Cuba, during the Bay of Pigs invasion on April 17, 1961. On that day, about 1,500 CIA-backed Cuban exiles landed at Cuba's Bay of Pigs in hopes of triggering an uprising against Castro. It was a complete disaster for President John F. Kennedy's fledgling administration. 16. 'Sex and the Single Girl'. Helen Gurley Brown, editor of Cosmopolitan magazine, published her book "Sex and the Single Girl" in 1962. The book helped spark the sexual revolution and popularized the notion that the modern woman could "have it all," including a successful career and a fulfilling sex life. 17. First interactive video game. In 1962, Massachusetts Institute of Technology students Steve Russell, Martin "Shag" Graetz and Alan Kotok created "Spacewar!" which is widely considered the first interactive video game. Dueling players fired at each other's spaceships using early versions of joysticks. This photo shows the three "Spacewar!" inventors playing the game at Boston's Computer Museum in 1983. 18. 'Turn on, tune in, drop out'. The drug LSD became popular in the 1960s, leading the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to designate it an experimental drug in 1962. Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary, pictured here, became an advocate for the drug, coining the phrase, "Turn on, tune in, drop out." 19. First James Bond movie. Before Daniel Craig or Pierce Brosnan, there was Sean Connery, who starred in the first James Bond film, "Dr. No," in 1962. With the most recent Bond film released in 2012 ("Skyfall"), the James Bond series is the longest running film series of all time. 20. Marilyn Monroe dies. Actress Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her apartment on August 5, 1962, at the age of 36. Officials ruled her death as probable suicide from sleeping pill overdose, but to this day there remain many conspiracy theories.

• published: 28 Oct 2014
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