Western Samoa becomes independent

Interstate Commerce Commission rules prohibiting racial segregation in interstate bus travel and terminal facilities took effect. Freedom Riders had forced public attention onto the gap between...

Local organizations formed the Albany Movement in Georgia to challenge segregation across community life. Students, churches, voting-rights organizers and women’s groups contributed to the...

Tanganyika gained independence from British administration of the UN trust territory. Julius Nyerere became prime minister of the independent state. Political sovereignty ended a system of external...

Luthuli accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, where the award for 1960 was presented in December 1961. He used the occasion to draw attention to South Africans resisting apartheid. International...

Umkhonto we Sizwe announced its existence through a manifesto and attacks on state installations. Its statement justified a turn to armed resistance by citing repression and the closure of peaceful...

The ceasefire negotiated by France and Algerian representatives at Evian took effect after agreements concluded on 18 March. It opened a path toward self-determination following the independence...

The Commonwealth Electoral Act received assent, extending the option of federal electoral enrolment to Indigenous Australians previously excluded. Some Indigenous people already held voting rights, so...

Algeria marked its independence on 5 July following a referendum and French recognition on 3 July. The victory ended French colonial sovereignty after a prolonged liberation struggle. It changed...

Jamaica became independent following decades of labour mobilization, nationalist politics and constitutional change. Sovereignty shifted authority from colonial government to Jamaican institutions....

Trinidad and Tobago gained independence under Prime Minister Eric Williams. In his independence address, Williams rejected second-class citizenship based on race, colour or creed. Independence gave...