The following events occurred in December 1960:
December 1, 1960 (Thursday) The Congolese Army arrested Patrice Lumumba, deposed premier of the Congo, while he was on his way to Stanleyville to meet his supporters. Lumumba would be moved around the country and then shot to death on January 17, 1961. The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 6, a 5-ton satellite, into orbit with two dogs, Pchelka ("Little Bee") and Mushka ("Little Fly"), plus mice, insects and plants. The next day, the capsule was reported to have burned up on re-entry into the atmosphere at too steep an angle. According to later reports, a self-destruct system had been built to destroy the satellite if it did not re-enter at the correct time, in order to prevent it from landing outside the Soviet Union.
December 2, 1960 (Friday) The Most Rev. Geoffrey Francis Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church, talked with Pope John XXIII for about an hour at the Vatican, marking the first time since 1397 that England's highest ranking religious leader had visited the Pope. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized the use of $1M for the relief and resettlement of Cuban refugees, who had been arriving in Florida at the rate of 1,000 a week.
December 3, 1960 (Saturday)
Redstone launch vehicle No. 3 was shipped to Cape Canaveral for the Mercury-Redstone 1A mission. Camelot, the most expensive theatrical production to that time, made its Broadway debut, at the Majestic Theatre, with Richard Burton as King Arthur and Julie Andrews as Lady Guinevere. Born: Daryl Hannah, American film actress, in Chicago Igor Larionov, Russian ice hockey player who, in 1989, became the first Soviet player to join the NHL; in Voskresensk Julianne Moore, American actress, in Fort Bragg, North Carolina
December 4, 1960 (Sunday) The Islamic Republic of Mauritania had applied to be the 100th member of the United Nations, but the request was vetoed in the Security Council by the Soviet Union, on grounds that Mongolia had been denied admission. In 1961, Sierra Leone would become the 100th member, followed by Mongolia and Mauritania. Born: Glynis Nunn, Australian heptathlete, and 1984 Olympic gold medalist; in Toowoomba, Queensland
December 5, 1960 (Monday) In the case of Boynton v. Virginia, the U.S. Supreme Court declared, by a 7 to 2 vote, that a law requiring permitting bus stations to exclude patrons on the basis of race, was unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause. The case had arisen when a law student at Howard University, Bruce Boynton, was fined for refusing to leave a "whites only" restaurant at the Trailways bus terminal in Richmond, Virginia. Born: Sarika, Indian film actress (as Sarika Thakur), in New Delhi
December 6, 1960 (Tuesday) U.S. Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton issued Public Land Order 2214, reserving of land as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Public Land Order 2216 established the Izembek National Wildlife Range, which included Izembek Lagoon and its entire watershed near the tip of the Alaska Peninsula as "a refuge, breeding ground, and management area for all forms of wildlife."
December 7, 1960 (Wednesday) The United Nations Security Council was called into session by the Soviet Union, to consider Soviet demands that the U.N. seek the immediate release of former Congolese Premier Patrice Lumumba. The QH-50 DASH (Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter), a drone that could be guided by remote control, made its first successful unmanned landing, descending upon the USS Hazelwood. At the request of the government of Dade County, Florida, the U.S. government opened the first federal Cuban Refugee Center, located in Miami, with a staff of 14. By the end of 1961, the center had 300 employees. Died: Clara Haskil, 65, Romanian classical pianist
December 8, 1960 (Thursday) Hayato Ikeda began his second term as Prime Minister of Japan. The North Dakota Agricultural College was officially renamed North Dakota State University