December 16, 1962
By the winter of 1962, Kennedy was in the White House and the federal minimum wage stood at $1.15/hr — the administration was pushing a $5.7 billion space budget for 1964, with three-quarters of it directed toward the goal of landing men on the Moon. On television, "The Dick Van Dyke Show" had taken the Emmy for best comedy, while Chubby Checker's "The Twist" sat at the top of the music charts, with Americans across the country picking up the dance in living rooms and on television variety programs. The Green Bay Packers held the NFL championship that winter, and on February 4th, astronomers marked a rare grand conjunction of all five naked-eye planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — aligned within 16 degrees of one another on the ecliptic, an event that would not repeat in comparable form for generations.
On the cover
Magazine Covers — December 16, 1962
NY Times Headlines — Week of December 16, 1962
Norstad Opposed In Satellite Job; Dispute Arises Over Report On Presidency Of Space Communications Unit White House View Norstad Opposed In Satellite Job 20 Persons Considered
Satellite Project Shifted From Military To Civilians; Scientists Balk At Secrecy Pentagon Loses A Space Dispute
'64 Space Budget Set At 5.7 Billion, A 2-Billion Rise; Administration Will Spend 75% Of Fund On Project To Land Men On Moon Nuclear Rocket Waits Some Construction Also Is Held Up, But A Balanced Program Is Assured Posed Two-Fold Problem '64 Space Budget Set At 5.7 Billion Would Preserve Balance
World Events — December 1962
Time Person of the Year — 1962
On the radio
Billboard Charts — December 16, 1962
Grammy Awards
On the bookshelf
On the television
Nielsen Top 10 — 1962–63 Season
Emmy Winners — 1962
At the movies
Box Office & Oscar Winners — December 16, 1962
Ebert 4-Star Films — December 16, 1962
On the field
Sports Champions — December 16, 1962
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