Congo's independence crisis begins and the country descends into civil war and chaos. UN Peacekeeping force is sent to maintain order.

British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan makes "wind of change" speech in South Africa, acknowledging the growth of African nationalism and the need to accommodate it.

Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa occurs. Police kill anti-apartheid demonstrators organized by the Pan-Africanist Congress.

Nigeria becomes independent.

Ghana becomes a republic with Nkrumah as president, and the country gradually moves towards dictatorship.

 

IDA Articles of Agreement signed by Tunisia, becoming the 37th member of IDA.

 

US breaks diplomatic ties with Cuba.

Sino-Soviet break becomes public.

UN condemns apartheid in South Africa; South Africa withdraws from British Commonwealth and becomes a republic.

Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba by anti-Castro Free Cuban forces supported by the CIA fails.

President Trujillo, dictatorial ruler of Dominican Republic, is assassinated, leading to the establishment of a short-lived democratic regime in 1962.

East German government builds the Berlin Wall overnight on August 13 to halt access to the West.

Tanganyika becomes independent under prime minister Julius Nyerere.

First humans are launched into space: Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepherd.

Trans-Siberian Railway electrified.

Tanganyika Conference convened to protect African wildlife.

 

First funding for Jordan: Credit 0018 - Amman Water Supply Development Board Project.

 

The government of Burma is seized by the military.

Uganda achieves full self-government within the British Commonwealth; Prime Minister Milton Obote then overturns the constitution and declares a Republic.

China attacks India across the disputed border of Tibet.

Cuban missile crisis begins when the US discovers that Soviet nuclear missile bases are being built in Cuba. US President Kennedy establishes a blockade of Cuba. Soviet missiles are withdrawn from Cuba, and US missiles are withdrawn from Turkey.

Rachel Carson writes Silent Spring, contributing to popular concern over the environmental problems of industrial society.

 

First funding for Morocco: Loan 0329 - Banque Nationale de Developpement Economique Project.

 

Congo crisis is largely resolved with the defeat of separatist movement of Moise Tshombe.

Organization of African Unity is established.

Federation of Malaya is created.

Amid opposition from all leading African groups, the Central African Federation dissolves.

Reverend Martin Luther King leads March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Black African leader Nelson Mandela is tried under the Suppression of Communism act in South Africa.

President Ngo Dinh Diem of South Vietnam is assassinated in a US supported coup.

US President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas, Texas; Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.

 

First funding for Tanzania: Credit 0045 - School Construction Equipment Project.

 

1964

Northern Rhodesia achieves independence as Republic of Zambia under president Kenneth Kaunda. Nyasaland becomes independent state of Malawi with Hastings Banda as Prime Minister.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is formed.

Indian Prime Minister Nehru dies.

Revolts in Congo as UN forces leave the country. Dictatorial rule established under General Mobutu (Mobutu Sese Seko).

Military coup in Brazil inaugurates period of dictatorial military regimes, extending until 1985.

Nikita Khrushchev removed as Soviet leader, replaced by Leonid Brezhnev and Aleksei Kosygin.

North Vietnamese forces become involved with a US ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. The US Congress passes the gulf of Tonkin resolution giving President Johnson wide powers to respond militarily.

Britain grants licenses for oil and gas development in the North Sea.

 

Ladislaus von Hoffmann appointed IFC director of investments, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

 

1965

US forces intervene in the Dominican Republic in a conflict which extends until 1966.

Algeria's president Ben Bella is deposed.

Angered by British demands for Black African participation in government, Rhodesia issues Unilateral Declaration of Independence, which is denounced as illegal by the British government, which imposes an oil embargo on Rhodesia.

US combat troops arrive in Vietnam. Regular US bombing of North Vietnam begins.

In Indonesia, the army massacres hundreds of thousands of civilians following an abortive coup.

Ferdinand Marcos is elected President of the Philippines.

Singapore becomes an independent republic.

Indo-Pakistani war breaks out over Pakistani aid to Muslims in Kashmir.

Ralph Nader's Unsafe at any Speed launches his career as consumer advocate.

Soviet and American astronauts conduct first space walks.

 

World Bank's Articles of Agreement amended to allow Bank to make loans to the IFC of up to four times IFC's unimpaired subscribed capital and surplus.

 

1966

In China, Mao launches the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.

UN orders first mandatory general economic sanctions against Rhodesia.

General Suharto takes power from Sukarno in Indonesia.

In Ghana, a military coup overthrows Nkrumah.

Indira Ghandi, daughter of Nehru, becomes Prime Minister of India.

Milton Obote leads a coup and declares himself president of Uganda.

British Guiana becomes the independent state of Guyana.

First soft lunar landings made (by USSR and US).

 

Cyprus becomes the 23rd member of ICSID.

 

1967

Six-day war between Israel and an alliance of Arab states (Egypt, Jordan, and Syria) ends in Israeli victory and occupation of Sinai, the Old City of Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights.

European Community (EC) comes into being with the merger of the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Commission, and the European Coal and Steel Community.

Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is established.

Che Guevara, Marxist guerilla leader, is killed in Bolivia.

Anti-Vietnam war demonstrations in Washington, D.C.

British withdraw from Aden, last possession in the Middle East.

First heart transplant takes place in South Africa. Cryosurgery developed.

 

IFC Articles of Agreement signed by Mauritania, becoming the 85th member of IFC.

 

1968

The Tet Offensive in Vietnam discredits US military leaders' assurances that war is almost won; President Johnson announces he will not seek re-election.

Martin Luther King (April 4 ) Robert Kennedy (June 3) are assassinated in United States. Anti-war demonstrations disrupt Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Racial violence erupts across US Richard Nixon elected president of US

Student protests turn violent in Paris and other European cities. In Mexico City, student protesters are killed by police on the eve of the Summer Olympics.

In Peru, a military coup brings a left-wing junta to power.

USS Pueblo captured by the North Koreans.

Britain announces complete military withdrawal from east of Suez.

Intelsat 3, the first of a new generation of communications satellites is launched.

 

World Bank arranges private placement of DM 400 million ($100 million) with the Rheinische Girozentrale und Provinzialbank, Dusseldorf, in cooperation with other German bank (the Bank's first savings bank issue).

 

1969

Yasser Arafat becomes head of the PLO.

Outbreaks of violence in Northern Ireland.

Fighting breaks out between Chinese and Soviet forces along the border.

US and USSR begin negotiations to limit strategic arms.

US astronauts land on moon. Mariner space probes send back pictures of Mars.