Dark Earth Timeline

Was Berlin wrecked like OTL during the war.

Was the Imperial Guard the same size as the Waffen SS ore was it smaller.

Was there a rivalry going on between them, also congratulations on becoming a lieutenant.

1962

January
January 1: Establishment of the first two teams of US Navy Sea, Air and Land special forces.
January 2: 100 renowned astronomers and scientists from around the world publish an open letter to newspapers across the Free World calling for a coordinated effort to search for intelligent alien life beyond our own solar system.
January 3: Opening of Alamein, an epic Technicolour war film depicting the eponymous British victory of 1942 in North Africa, starring Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Richard Burton, Kenneth More and Richard Todd.
January 4: The Committee of Imperial Defence issues a secret report on the British Empire's position in Egypt, concluding that the optimal course of action in the middle and long term is to concentrate necessary forces in two main areas, around Alexandria and the Suez Canal base area. The political gains from withdrawing from the regions around Cairo would be significant, with air bases in Libya, Israel and Jordan providing capable replacements.
January 5: German police and security services arrest a number of suspected members of ODESSA in coordinated dawn raids across the country.
January 6: The United States Department of Defense introduces a unified Tri-Service aircraft designation system for the US Army, US Air Force and US Navy, aligning nomenclature on a consistent basis.
January 7: Introduction of flavoured crisps to the British domestic market by Golden Wonder; the initial four flavours are cheese and onion, roast chicken, beefsteak and smoked bacon.
January 8: 91 people are killed in a train crash in Harmelen in the Netherlands.
January 9: The Lord Chancellor indicates that there will be no revision to current British legislation prohibiting lotteries.
January 10: The Nevado Huscaran avalanche kills 4000 in Peru.
January 11: President Kennedy authorises a new series of air strikes against the Pathet Lao in Laos, incorporating USN carrier aircraft for the first time.
January 12: Royal assent is given to the Malta and Gibraltar Acts, formally integrating both territories as intrinsic components of the United Kingdom.
January 13: Argentina announces a new capital ship design competition, attracting interest from American, British and European shipyards.
January 14: In what is later termed the Battle of the Arafura Sea, two Royal Netherlands Navy destroyers engage and sink four Indonesian torpedo boats attempting to land commandos in Western New Guinea.
January 15: A Parliamentary subcommittee delivers a report that advocates firmly against metrification.
January 16: A military coup in the Dominican Republic deposes President Joaquín Balaguer.
January 17: Indonesia announces a major mobilisation of its armed forces to counter what it describes as Dutch aggression and calumny.
January 18: The British Army begins competitive testing of four prototypes of an armoured infantry fighting vehicle at Bovington.
January 19: Imperial Japanese Navy patrol planes searching for signs of Godzilla discover a new island 1500km north of Marcus Island.
January 20: Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies announces a limited mobilisation of Australian forces in light of Indonesian sabre rattling and indicates that Australia will not allow a conflict to develop within its sphere of vital interest.
January 21: Signing of the Anglo-Greek Agreement on the Ionian Islands, providing for the full transfer of sovereignty by 1965 and preserving British basing rights. The agreement is greeted with great enthusiasm in Constantinople and Athens, resolving one of the outstanding areas of disagreement between the British Empire and Byzantine Greece.
January 22: The German Air Ministry announces that the Luftverteidigungskraft will be majorly expanded over the next four years to a strength of 250,000 and new missiles procured for its armament.
January 23: Launch of the large aircraft carrier Montezuma at Veracruz, Mexico.
January 24: A British wizard claims that he is capable of parting the English Channel in a public lecture in Wolverhampton and is briefly detained for questioning by the Security Service.
January 25: The Soviet Union unveils a new long range ballistic missile in Moscow.
January 26: 17 steelworkers in Brazil are killed in a freak accident.
January 27: Arrival of a US Navy task force in Townsville, Australia, in response to a request for defensive support.
January 28: A tin miner in Rhodesia survives 2443 bee stings.
January 29: Outbreak of a strange epidemic of contagious laughter in a girls school in Tanganyika, British East Africa.
January 30: Establishment of two USMC Amphibious Corps assigned to the USN Atlantic and Pacific Fleets.
January 31: Malta is struck by a freak snowstorm, grounding aircraft and bringing transport to a standstill.

February
February 1: U.S. Secretary of Defense Dr. Clark Savage announces the deployment of a squadron of B-52 bombers to Northern Australia on an extended goodwill visit.
February 2: A USAF C-123 Provider is shot down over South Vietnam whilst conducting a defoliation mission.
February 3: The French Army begins experimental testing of a magical strength potion formula recently rediscovered from ancient Gallic records.
February 4: A rare Grand Conjunction of the planets leads to many bizarre predictions of imminent global collapse and the end of civilisation.
February 5: The Times becomes the first British newspaper to be printed entirely in colour.
February 6: President Kennedy classifies the initial findings of the USAF's Project Blue Book on the grounds of national security.
February 7: The Luisenthal Mine Disaster in the Saar kills 299 miners.
February 8: The United States and Britain reach an agreement for American nuclear testing on Christmas Island in the Pacific.
February 9: Open rioting in Algiers is suppressed by French troops in a 12-hour long operation, followed by the city being placed under martial law.
February 10: Britain and Germany sign a major new aircraft deal.
February 11: Maiden flight of the Skoda Phönix J.3 supersonic jet fighter in Austria-Hungary.
February 12: 42 year-old Sergei Ivanovich Alekseyev is promoted to the Politburo.
February 13: An anonymous article in the New York Times claims that energy generated by nuclear fusion will be commercially available in the United States by 1972.
February 14: First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy conducts a televised tour of the White House.
February 15: A masked bank robber in Cleveland drives off pursuing police with a concealed flamethrower.
February 16: Storms on North Sea coast of Germany
February 17: Defense Secretary Savage outlines the details of the Kennedy Administration's strategic policy of flexible response in an address to the American Bar Association.
February 18: Voting in the Indian General Election begins, with the process set to last until the end of February.
February 19: Foreign Secretary Lord Wooster indicates that Britain would be prepared to transfer control of the Arab Legion to a putative Arab Union under certain circumstances.
February 20: Retirement of British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Harold MacMillan.
February 21: Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev dance together for the first time in the Royal Ballet's production of Giselle.
February 22: Archaeologists discover what is suspected to be the secret true tomb of Ramesses II in the Valley of the Kings.
February 23: Prime Minister Eden announces a Cabinet reshuffle, with Sir Oliver Stanley promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Hailsham replacing him as Home Secretary and Enoch Powell appointed Secretary of State for India.
February 24: The Japanese aircraft carrier Hosho and her escorts arrive at Subic Bay to prepare for operations with the US-lead PATO naval task force off South Vietnam.
February 25: U.S. scientists begin breeding a predatory wasp designed to combat African killer bees slowly progressing through Brazil.
February 26: The Netherlands announces it has conducted an underground nuclear test in Australia in cooperation with its British Commonwealth allies.
February 27: Britain and Egypt sign a major new arms sales agreement, including over 600 Centurion tanks.
February 28: End of the Indian General Election, where over 300 million people cast their votes in the world's largest democratic exercise.

March
March 1: The first Kmart store is opened in Garden City, Michigan.
March 2: Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Philadelphia Warriors scores a record 100 points in a basketball game.
March 3: Two USN carrier task forces are moved into the South Atlantic in the build up to Congolese independence.
March 4: Sir Rama Vikramaditya Singh's Democratic-United coalition emerges as the largest political grouping from the Indian general election and forms a government with the support of the Moderates.
March 5: A USAF B-58 sets several new flight records flying from New York City to Los Angeles and back in under two hours for each trip.
March 6: Beginning of the vast Ash Wednesday storm on the Atlantic seaboard of the United States
March 7: Publication of a comprehensive report by the Royal College of Surgeons on the health effects of smoking.
March 8: The United States provides a formal public security guarantee to Thailand, stating that they will go to war in their defence in the event of communist aggression or insurgency.
March 9: NASA begins construction of a major spacecraft manufacturing facility in Indiana in support of the Orion Program.
March 10: The British Army issues a requirement for two new theatre level ballistic missile to complement the Blue Water, with ranges of 500 and 1250 miles respectively.
March 11: 25 Chilean border guards are found dead at their posts along the Argentine border without apparent cause.
March 12: The West Indies sign a defence cooperation agreement with the United States.
March 13: Dismissal of the Prime Minister of Persia by the Shah as his anti-corruption drive is stalled.
March 14: Farmers and walkers in Buckinghamshire report sighting an enormous lion strolling peacefully through the countryside.
March 15: President Kennedy calls for the passage of a Consumer Bill of Rights in an address to a joint session of Congress.
March 16: The McDonnell Aircraft Company and Regianne sign an agreement for licensed production of the F-4 Phantom II for the Regia Aeronautica.
March 17: A Lockheed Constellation carrying U.S. Army en route to the Philippines disappears without a trace shortly after take off from Guam.
March 18: The Emperor of Korea arrives in Washington D.C. for a brief state visit.
March 19: TASS reports that five young Soviet dragons have reached full maturity.
March 20: The RAF accepts the first preproduction Avro Vindicators into test service.
March 21: Taco Bell is founded in Arizona.
March 22: 'The Man Who Could Not Be Killed', who survived several attempts at execution in 1954, disappears from his cell in Texas.
March 23: Soviet deployment of the R-12 Dvina/SS-4 Sandal reaches its peak level of 596 missiles.
March 24: The formal independence of the Congo is proclaimed in a tense ceremony in Léopoldville amid heavy security.
March 25: A flight of Royal Air Force TSR-2s testing a new experimental sorcerously aided magnetic anomaly detector over the northern reaches of the Gulf of Suez discovers the remains of a large number of chariot wheels on the seabed.
March 26: Heavy fighting takes place in cities across Algeria as coordinated actions by the FLN are met with heavy French responses.
March 27: New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller signs legislation to permit the beginning of construction of a World Trade Center in Manhattan.
March 28: Anti-Western riots paralyse Baghdad for much of the day before the Iraqi Army moves to restore order.
March 29: Three wandering warrior monks foil an attempted bank robbery in Lancashire through the use of Ecky Thump.
March 30: Prime Minister Eden announces that British-lead Commonwealth Brigade will be dispatched to South Vietnam to provide military advice and assistance against the growing Communist insurgency.
March 31: Signing of a new Anglo-Libyan Defence Agreement in Tripoli, including a new series of basing rights and the provision of modern aircraft.

April
April 1: Unveiling of the Stridsvagn-125 main battle tank in Stockholm. The 65t vehicle is armed with a Bofors 125mm gun and reportedly has protective armour equivalent to the heaviest tanks in the West.
April 2: A Gallup poll finds that if an election were to be held, the Labour Party would be the best positioned party to form a government.
April 3: The Governor of Hawaii declares a "state of food emergency" as a dockside strike paralyses the delivery of foodstuffs.
April 4: John Kenneth Galbraith, U.S. Ambassador to India, proposes direct negotiations between North Vietnam and South Vietnam in a letter to a President Kennedy.
April 5: Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter suffers a debilitating stroke.
April 6: Leonard Bernstein sparks a controversy with his remarks before a New York Philharmonic Concert featuring Glenn Gould.
April 7: Yugoslav police launch a major investigation into a suspected nest of vampires in Belgrade.
April 8: Decomissioning of the last monitor in Royal Naval service, HMS Roberts, from its role as fleet gunnery training ship.
April 9: The 34th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles. West Side Story wins Best Picture and Maximillian Schell and Sophia Loren win Best Actor and Best Actress.
April 10: Introduction of the first regular passenger hovercraft service between Ireland and Wales
April 11: Famed actor Bela Lugosi reports that Count Dracula paid a midnight call upon him at his Hollywood residence and complimented him on his screen portrayals, leaving an autographed picture. The FBI and LAPD stage a major search, but fail to find any sign of the infamous vampire.
April 12: Detectives from Scotland Yard's Flying Squad arrest a number of petty London criminals after a botched train robbery. They are convicted and sentenced to terms of 10 years imprisonment.
April 13: Negotiations between President Kennedy and the management of the five major US steel corporations finally result in a withdrawal of planned price rises.
April 14: The Mexican Defence Ministry produces a report on the defence of the Empire, finding that there is no means of providing an effective defence against the United States in the event of conflict.
April 15: Special Branch detectives arrest a number of British fascists who are subsequently charged with treachery.
April 16: Walter Cronkite replaces Douglas Edwards as anchorman of the CBS Evening News.
April 17: Initiation of the Strategic Hamlet Project in South Vietnam under American and French auspices.
April 18: A strange, glowing fireball explodes in the skies above Eureka, Utah, providing a spectacle visible across the western United States.
April 19: The Bristol Buckingham twin rotor helicopter enters service with the British Army and Royal Air Force in something of an atmosphere of controversy, with some experts claiming that it is an unnecessary duplication of the capabilities of the Fairey Rotodyne and others observing that it represents a less costly compliment to the larger gyroplane.
April 20: Swedish and Norwegian radio detect garbled reports of a fire on a British floating ice station in the Arctic.
April 21: Diplomats of the Great Powers gather in Geneva to discuss an atmospheric test ban treaty.
April 22: The Soviet nuclear icebreaker Lenin leaves Murmansk for the Arctic.
April 23: Death of Emiliano Zapata, Mexican general and politician, in Mexico City
April 24: French Premier De Gaulle announces that a reinforced division of the French Foreign Legion will be deployed to the Far East to support collective security and defend against the menace of expanding Communist insurgency.
April 25: Flashing lights appear across the night sky of France and Germany.
April 26: General Secretary Stalin announces that the Soviet Constitution of 1936 is to be revised.
April 27: Soviet and American vessels cooperate in the attempted rescue of the personnel aboard the stricken ice station.
April 28: Oskar Schindler is honored on his 54th birthday at the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and proclaimed a righteous gentile.
April 29: President and Mrs. Kennedy host a White House for 184 scientists, writers, teachers, wizards and intellectuals, with the President remarking that it was "the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge ever gathered at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone."
April 30: NASA test pilot Joe Walker sets a new record altitude for a conventional rocket plane, taking the X-15 to an altitude of 72.48 miles.

May
May 1: Opening of the first Target discount store in St. Paul, Minnesota.
May 2: Canadian Prime Minister Sir William Richardson announces that Canada will not longer test any nuclear devices in the atmosphere.
May 3: A collision between three trains near Mikawashima in Tokyo kills 160 people.
May 4: An attempted coup in Venezuela is crushed by loyalist Army forces, with hundreds being arrested in the aftermath.
May 5: Totenham Hotspur win the FA Cup Final at Empire Stadium in front of a crowd of 160,000, beating Burnley FC 3-1.
May 6: The British Army begins testing a number of different medium calibre weapons for potential use on the planned Mechanised Armoured Combat Vehicle.
May 7: Detroit becomes the first American city to install traffic cameras and control traffic flow through electronic computing engines.
May 8: Leader of the Opposition Stanley Barton proposes the use of geases on petty criminals to prevent recidivism.
May 9: The Costa Rican Government agrees to lease an offshore island to a reclusive British millionaire for scientific research.
May 10: Unveiling of the Triumph Spitfire at the Royal London Motor Show.
May 11: Retired General Douglas MacArthur delivers a memorable speech to West Point cadets as he accepts the Sylvanus Thayer Award.
May 12: Nine men are killed by sharks off Newport, California, after their boat sinks on an ill-fated fishing trip.
May 13: The Dutch government delivers a back channel message to Indonesia via the Brazilian Embassy, stating that it is willing to discuss their differences over the issue of Western New Guinea and the Moluccas peaceably, but that any further aggression will be met with an overwhelming response, an offhand reference to the Netherlands' new atomic capacity.
May 14: Prince Juan Carlos of Spain marries Princess Maria Gabriella of Italy in Madrid.
May 15: An armed robber is executed in the electric chair in Texas.
May 16: A battalion of US Marines arrives into Thailand for scheduled joint exercises.
May 17: Former musician and soldier turned priest Elvis Presley holds the first service at his small church near Memphis.
May 18: Clashes between British and Chinese border guards occur along the Hong Kong-Chinese border.
May 19: The Swedish Air Ministry issues a development contract for an advanced fighter-bomber to complement the Draken, Svard and English Electric Lightning in RSwAF service.
May 20: A large Soviet advisory mission arrives in North Vietnam in a heavily escorted convoy.
May 21: US weather sorcerers propose a new hurricane prevention device.
May 22: Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after the explosion of an onboard bomb, killing all 45 passengers and crew.
May 23: Dr. Ronald A. Malt successfully reattches the severed arm of a 12 year-old boy in Massachusetts.
May 24: NASA scientists estimate that current world supplies of cavorite will last until 2005.
May 25: The Prime Ministers of Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon sign a memorandum of understanding in Baghdad regarding an Arab Union.
May 26: Canadian officials launch a series of major immigration raids across the country.
May 27: Beginning of Centralia coal mine fire in Pennsylvania, which will rage for five months before being extinguished by a costumed individual.
May 28: Werewolf detectors are installed in British airports.
May 29: Stock prices across the Western world fall at the highest level since the Great Depression.
May 30: Opening of 1962 World Cup in Chile.
May 31: A train collision near Voghera, Italy, kills 62 people.

June
June 1: The Soviet Union raises prices of consumer goods by 20%. Workers at the Novocherkassk Electric Locomotive Factory walk out on strike in response.
June 2: Soviet troops fire upon protesters in Novocherkassk, killing over a hundred people.
June 3: Air France 007, a Boeing 707, crashes in Paris, killing all on board.
June 4: Harold J. Powers wins the Republican gubernatorial primary in California.
June 5: An agile man wearing a spider themed costume is arrested by the NYPD for repeated trespass and criminal damage.
June 6: The annual Eglington Tournament opens in Scotland.
June 7: Kennedy announces a programme of tax cuts at a White House press conference, with rates to be slashed by up to 25% across the board.
June 8: The Soviet government authorises the construction of a major hydroelectric dam on the Angara River in Siberia.
June 9: Agricultural production in Iraq, Jordan and Syria breaks all previous records.
June 10: Ronald Reagan formally joins the Repiblican Party, stating that 'I did not leave the Democratic Party; it left me.'
June 11: Three prisoners successfully escape from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary using a combination of ingenious decoys and a rubber raft made out of raincoats.
June 12: A budding driving enthusiast, 16 year-old George Lucas, is badly injured in a car crash in California, losing his sight.
June 13: Protests are held in Tehran against the policies of the Shah's government.
June 14: President Kennedy authorises a series of active measures to enforce the ban on the Communist Party of the USA.
June 15: US Department of Magic wizards begin testing several new powerful anti-hurricane spells
June 16: Persian police arrest hundreds in a wave of raids across the capital city.
June 17: England defeat Brazil 4-2 in the World Cup Final at the Estadio Nacional in Santiago in front of a crowd of 83,622 spectators.
June 18: The Royal Canadian Air Force issues a requirement for a supersonic fighter-bomber.
June 19: Large protests through the streets of Tehran against corruption and the repression of dissent.
June 20: Field Marshal Erwin Rommel arrives in Britain for discussions with the Imperial General Staff and a meeting with one-time foe Earl Montgomery of El Alamein.
June 21: Persian street protests break out into open rioting in Tehran and other major cities. The Shah orders the Imperial Guard to suppress the disorder, which they do so with extreme heavy handed action. Martial law is declared.
June 22: Air France Flight 117, a Boeing 707, crashes while attempting to land at Guadeloupe in the French West Indies.
June 23: Unrest continues to wrack Persia with attacks on loyalist troops in the countryside around Tehran and massive civil disobedience. The Communist Tudeh Party advocates a united popular front against the Shah. Indian Army forces move up to the Persian border and Royal Marines are landed at Abadan.
June 24: The Shah of Persia appeals to the United States and Britain for support in suppressing the uprising and invokes the Baghdad Pact. British paratroopers are flown in from Egypt and President Kennedy declares that Persia will not be allowed to fall to Communism. Rebel villages hit by IPAF air strikes.
June 25: General Secretary Stalin states that the Soviet Union in no way supports the Popular Front in Persia and denounced the Tudeh as Trotskyists. Advance formations of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division and British 4th Airborne Division begin arriving at bases around Tehran, freeing up loyal troops to suppress the rebels.
June 26: Loyalist troops and paramilitaries pour into Tehran and other Persian cities, suppressing the last gasps of the abortive uprising. USAF and RAF fighters fly combat air patrols over Persian air space.
June 27: A new experimental light ASW aircraft carrier is laid down at Armstrong Whitworth's Elswick shipyard.
June 28: Four separate Lutheran churches unite to form the Lutheran Church of America, with over 10,000 congregations and 8 million members.
June 29: The Shah announces new elections and a wave of reforms, as thousands of his opponents are rounded up and detained whilst the country is placed under strict martial law. British, American and Indian forces continue to move into the country to defend against any external aggression.
June 30: Release of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, an epic Technicolor historical film starring Richard Todd as King Arthur, Elizabeth Taylor as Guinevere, Sean Connery as Lancelot, Richard Harris as Galahad, Christopher Lee as Mordred and Ralph Richardson as Merlin.

July
July 1: Indian Army forces begin moving into Persia to replace US and British Airborne troops.
July 2: Rwanda and Burundi are granted independence by Belgium.
July 3: Opening of a new Commonwealth underground nuclear test site in Central Australia.
July 4: French troops in Algeria begin operational use of modified Vickers Victoria side-firing gunships.
July 5: Maiden flight of the Sukhoi Su-17 supersonic fighter-bomber.
July 6: Indonesian special forces successfully land in Western New Guinea, but are struck by a massed rocket strike launched by Dutch troops 46km away.
July 7: The United States conducts the Little Feller nuclear test in Nevada, creating the Sedan Crater, which measures 500ft in depth and over 1800ft across.
July 8: French Premier Charles de Gaulle and German Chancellor Werner von Sternburg attend mass together at Reims Cathedral.
July 9: The United States tests a 2.5 Mt hydrogen bomb at an altitude of 264 miles in the Starfish Prime test shot.
July 10: Britain, France, the United States, Austria-Hungary and Germany sign an agreement lifting all restrictions on the export of armaments by Germany and Austria-Hungary.
July 11: Assassination of the Prime Minister of South Vietnam by a disguised Viet Cong member who explodes a belt of hand grenades concealed beneath a robe.
July 12: The United States Senate passes President Kennedy's proposed Medicare plan by a narrow margin of 52-48.
July 13: Eritrean rebels attempt to assassinate the Ethiopian military commander of the Eritrea Province.
July 14: Emperor Bao Di of South Vietnam appoints Phan Khắc Sửu as caretaker Prime Minister.
July 15: USAF B-47s bomb communist rebel targets in Laos.
July 16: Evidence of increased Soviet troop and aircraft presence in North Vietnam is presented to the United States National Security Council.
July 17: Egypt begins a clandestine programme of missile development.
July 18: Secretary of State Atticus Finch and Defense Secretary Savage arrives in London for urgent discussions regarding the Far Eastern situation.
July 19: A US Army Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile successfully intercepts an Atlas ICBM at Kwajalein Island.
July 20: A meeting of the Pacific Council is called to discuss the development of joint policy towards Vietnam.
July 21: France tests a 16.2 Mt hydrogen bomb beneath the Sahara in Algeria.
July 22: NASA begins the first round of regular launches of Sea Dragon rockets taking materials for the Orion Program to Luna and Minerva.
July 23: An Indonesian junk carrying a crew of commandos en route to Timor is sunk by a patrolling RAN torpedo boat.
July 24: First successful use of a biological valve in open heart surgery in London.
July 25: The US Army establishes its first armed helicopter regiment, equipped with specialised UH-1 Hueys.
July 26: A communique from the dwarven realms in the north of Britain reports increased conflicts with the skrat in the depths of the Underworld.
July 27: RAAF English Electric Canberras strike suspected Indonesian guerilla positions in Western New Guinea with napalm and chlorine trifluoride bombs.
July 28: Creation of the Deutscher Fußball-Liga, an Association Football league of teams across Germany.
July 29: A meeting of the Pacific Council comes to a consensus regarding South Vietnam.
July 30: Henry Cooper defeats Ingemar Johannson at Empire Stadium to take the World Heavyweight Champion title.
July 31: Introduction of the Hawker-Siddeley Star Blazer ramjet spaceplane, designed for shuttle flights between Earth and the orbiting space stations.

August
August 1: Sighting of largest megalodon on record off Hawaii.
August 2: Armstrong-Whitworth unveil the prototype of a new six engine superheavy airliner.
August 3: The Pacific Treaty Organisation announces that it will respond to South Vietnam's requests for military aid.
August 4: First international transmission of images of newspaper text via satellite.
August 5: President Kennedy authorises the reinforcement of USAF and USN forces around South Vietnam, including the deployment of B-52 Stratofortress heavy bombers.
August 6: Trade talks between the Commonwealth and Germany open in Berlin.
August 7: The United States Navy issues a requirement for an anti-submarine warfare escort carrier and requests design submissions from a number of American shipbuilders.
August 8: Arrival of two US Army anti-aircraft battalions in South Vietnam.
August 9: Maiden flight of the X-24 spaceplane from Edwards AFB.
August 10: The Committee of Imperial Defence recommends that the British Army move ahead with the reformation of an experimental cavalry brigade.
August 11: A proposal to limit automobile speed on Italian autostrade to 180km/hr is met with derision.
August 12: Four men are killed in a germ warfare accident at the secretive Porton Down facility in Britain.
August 13: First ascent of the western face of the Matterhorn by Renato Daguin and Giovanni Ottin.
August 14: Armed robbers hold up a US Mail truck near Plymouth, Massachusetts, stealing over $1.5 million and sparking a massive manhunt.
August 15: The RAAF display team, the Red Sales, suffer a horrific accident at RAAF East Sale, with four aircraft being destroyed and six pilots killed.
August 16: USN and IJN destroyers stage a careful search for Godzilla off Okinawa after a suspected sighting.
August 17: The first television broadcast is aired in Indonesia.
August 18: Commissioning of NS Manhattan, the world's largest atomic powered merchant ship.
August 19: The US Marines formally select the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier as their new light attack fighter.
August 20: Australia and Japan sign a commercial treaty at a ceremony in Canberra.
August 21: Beginning of a special long-term undersea mission by the United States Navy off the coast of California.
August 22: Formation of the Military Committee of the Arab Union.
August 23: NASA successfully launches a long-range spaceship on a direct flight to the asteroid belt.
August 24: The US Department of Health begins a series of tests of experimental anti-cancer drugs.
August 25: A Colonial Office White Paper proposes the formation of a South Seas Federation of British colonies in the Pacific.
August 26: The Soviet Foreign Ministry condemns the Commonwealth as arguably "the foremost agency of aggressive imperialist activity against the Communist nations."
August 27: The Mil-8 helicopter enters service with the Red Air Force.
August 28: Justice Felix Frankfurter retires from the U.S. Supreme Court.
August 29: Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General James Gavin, gives a well-received speech in Berlin on the collective defence of Germany and Western Europe.
August 30: Soviet PVO Strany fighters unsuccessfully attempt to intercept and shoot down a U-2 that strays over Soviet airspace over Sakhalin.
August 31: American and British airborne troops begin redeployment from Persia as they are replaced by Indian troops.

September
September 1: A massive earthquake in Northern Persia kills over 12,000 people.
September 2: Typhoon Wanda hits Hong Kong
September 3: Civilian air traffic across the United States is grounded for Operation Skyshield III, which sees over 3000 Air Defense Command and Air National Guard interceptors attempt to intercept 480 USAF and RAF bombers.
September 4: A USN nuclear powered task group lead by USS Enterprise begin Operation Sea Orbit, a circumnavigation of the globe.
September 5: An Indiana town is terrorised by a magically enlarged Labrador for several hours, with fifteen people subsequently hospitalised after enthusiastic licking.
September 6: Discovery of the remains of ships dating back to the Roman period beneath Blackfriars Bridge.
September 7: Filming of Serge Bondarchuk's War in Peace begins in the USSR.
September 8: The Chairman of British Railways gives a notable speech, decrying the notion of any cuts to rail services in Britain as contrary to the long term national interest.
September 9: A Taiwanese reconaissance flight is shot down over mainland China.
September 10: Pravda publishes an article by economics Professor Evsei Liberman that proposes that factory efficiency be judged by their profit rather than their success in meeting production quotas.
September 11: Imperial Airways places orders for 10 Swallow swing-wing airliners.
September 12: President Kennedy reiterates his goal of a successful manned mission to Jupiter and Saturn and an interstellar expedition by the end of the century in a speech at Rice University.
September 13: Unveiling of the Boeing Star Clipper spaceplane in Seattle.
September 14: Death of the Sultan of Araby in Jedda.
September 15: First flight of the Hawker-Siddeley HS.681 VTOL transport.
September 16: Graham Hill wins the Italian Grand Prix
September 17: Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies declares that there will be no changes to the Immigration Restriction Act or associated legislation for the forseeable future.
September 18: The first USMC aerial combat missions in South Vietnam are flown, with A-4 Skyhawks striking at Viet Cong targets in the Central Highlands.
September 19: Death of the Grandfather of the Assassins in Syria
September 20: Introduction of the MGB sports car.
September 21: Return of Igor Stravinsky to the USSR after 48 years abroad.
September 22: The Manchester Guardian reports several incidences of apparent healing by an unknown Church of England cleric.
September 23: The USSR begins development of Global Rocket 1 weapons system
September 24: Large scale fighting breaks out in the north of Yemen.
September 25: An Anglo-American memorandum of understanding on fast large merchant ship design is signed.
September 26: The United States Marine Corps begins a programme of testing new powered armour suits.
September 27: Flash floods in Catalonia kill over 400 people.
September 28: My Fair Lady ends its Broadway run after 6 years and 2717 performances.
September 29: Geelong defeats Essendon 16.11 (107) to 13.12 (90) to win the 1962 VFL Grand Final in front of 110,835 spectators at the MCG.
September 30: Retirement of the Hughes H.4 Hercules from USN reserve service.

October
October 1: Johnny Carson makes his debut as the host of The Tonight Show on NBC.
October 2: Neil Armstrong pilots a modified X-20 Dynasoar in an experimental flight to Liberty Space Station.
October 3: 21 people are killed in a steam boiler explosion in Manhattan.
October 4: Charles de Gaulle's Union Francaise take significant losses at the French general election, but retain control of Parliament.
October 5: American medical researchers announce the development of a definitive cure for leprosy.
October 6: A USMC CH-34 Seahorse crashes south of Tam Ky, South Vietnam, killing all five on board.
October 7: Der Spiegel publishes the first in a series of articles on the state of German defences that are highly complementary.
October 8: The International Revolutionary Army stages a daring bank robbery in Naples, stealing over 900 million lira before escaping in stolen helicopters.
October 9: A T-54 tank of the Polish People's Army strikes a crowd of bystanders at a military parade in Szczecin, killing seven children.
October 10: British forces begin emplacements of new artillery, minefield and missile defences along the Chinese border in Hong Kong.
October 11: The Pope appoints Bishop Karol Wojtyla as Archbishop of Krakow.
October 12: In what is later called the Columbus Day Storm, Typhoon Freda strikes Victoria, British Columbia and the West Coast of the United States, with winds topping 180mph.
October 13: France and Monaco sign a taxation treaty, tightening requirements for Monacan tax status in the first of several international moves against so-called 'tax havens'.
October 14: Beginning of a major Atlantic Pact naval exercise in the North Atlantic, Exercise Moonlight.
October 15: Release of the Aston-Martin DB5 sports car.
October 16: British archaeologists discover the skeletal remains of a giant minotaur at Knossos.
October 17: The General Electric Company begins production of light-emitting diodes.
October 18: Professor Nicola Tesla announces he has made a breakthrough in his research on the wireless transmission of power.
October 19: A mysterious triple murder is solved by retired Honolulu detective Charlie Chan.
October 20: Running of the prestigious Imperial Cup chariot race at the Grand Hippodrome in Constantinople.
October 21: The Soviet Union and the United States both conduct very high altitude thermonuclear tests.
October 22: American intelligence assets within the Soviet Union report the development of a new high performance air superiority fighter.
October 23: The average cost of a new car in Britain reaches 426 pounds.
October 24: Prime Minister Eden announces that the Crown Colony of Singapore will be granted increased autonomy and full domestic self-government over the next three years.
October 25: Sighting of a tremendous kraken just outside of New York Harbor.
October 26: The US Army and USAF begin development of a medium range surface to air missile system to replace the MIM-23 Hawk.
October 27: President Kennedy signs the Medicare Act of 1962 into law at the White House.
October 28: Broadcast of the first episode of the British live action children's television programme Space Patrol.
October 29: The bodies of a number of fallen German airmen are reburied in Cannock Chase German war cemetery.
October 30: Germany commissions its first atomic submarine, amid great controversy domestically and internationally.
October 31: League of Nations Secretary General Daj Hammarskjold calls for the superpowers to make greater efforts in reaching an understanding through negotiations.

November
November 1: Soviet physicist Lev Landau is awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
November 2: First performance of the Royal Australian Ballet.
November 3: Professor Alan Turing begins a lecture tour of the United States on the future of computing.
November 4: The inaugural Mexican Grand Prix is won by Stirling Moss.
November 5: A coal mining accident on Spitsbergen kills 21 miners.
November 6: The Democratic Party retains control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections. Governor Pat Brown of California wins his bid for re-election.
November 7: Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt appears in the final televised edition of My Week, her sophisticated current affairs television discussion show.
November 8: The Korean cabinet authorises a secret atomic weapons programme.
November 9: General Sir Bernard Fergusson is appointed Governor-General of New Zealand.
November 10: Signing of a joint agreement between the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and South Africa regarding cooperation on the development of a new anti-submarine warfare escort ship, with the total number of potential vessels exceeding 100.
November 11: A French merchant vessel runs aground at Land's End, Cornwall, killing eight crew members.
November 12: The Bolshoi Ballet arrives in Washington D.C. under tight security.
November 13: Air Chief Marshal Sir James Bigglesworth is promoted to Chief of the Air Staff.
November 14: Eritrea is annexed as the fourteenth province of the Empire of Ethiopia.
November 15: Anglo-American discussions in Washington regarding cooperation on ABM development come to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
November 16: French police discovery dozens of stolen paintings in a barn in St. Tropez.
November 17: President Kennedy dedicates Taft International Airport outside Washington D.C.
November 18: Renowned Danish physicist Niels Bohr dies at the age of 77.
November 19: Beginning of the 'Strudel Craze' in the Eastern United States
November 20: Unveiling of the first prototype Hawker-Siddeley Concord supersonic airliner in London.
November 21: Sightings of nocturnal processions of elves in the countryside of Western England.
November 22: Opening of the Empire Games in Perth, Australia.
November 23: RCAF Avro Arrows intercept an unarmed Soviet reconnaissance plane that strays close to Canadian airspace off the coast of Alaska.
November 24: General elections are held in Jordan after the King lifts his previous ban on political parties.
November 25: Maiden flight of the Boeing 727 jetliner.
November 26: A tenuous ceasefire is agreed upon by Portuguese military authorities and nationalist rebels in Angola.
November 27: The Postmaster of the United States announces the "Zoning Improvement Plan" to provide for more efficient coding of letters.
November 28: Death of the former Queen of the Netherlands.
November 29: Twenty-five British schoolchildren are saved from a train crash by soldiers of the Free Polish Army.
November 30: Discovery of very large oil deposits off the coast of Newfoundland.

December
December 1: Arrival of the first USAF Thor IRBMs in Britain.
December 2: A severe fog begins in London.
December 3: The Roman Catholic Church confirms Saint Patrick as the patron saint of Ireland.
December 4: Ten Nazi war criminals are sentenced to death by a German court in Frankfurt for involvement in the mass murder of Jews in Occupied Poland.
December 5: Australia win the First Ashes Test in Brisbane by 29 runs.
December 6: A space rocket in China is destroyed in an accidental explosion while being prepared for launch.
December 7: Dedication of the world's most powerful computing engine, the University of Manchester's Atlas.
December 8: An Indonesian-backed mutiny in the Brunei Defence Force is swiftly suppressed by the British garrison.
December 9: World premiere of Lawrence of Arabia in London.
December 10: Four murderers are hanged at Toronto Jail.
December 11: British troops of the 5th Armoured Division begin relocating from bases in Egypt to new facilities in Israel.
December 12: Two Nike Zeus ABMs successfully intercept an Atlas ICBM over the Pacific Testing Grounds.
December 13: Establishment of the Free World Military Assistant Forces in Saigon, Vietnam, coordinating advisory and support contingents, initially from the United States, France, Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa, the Philippines, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Thailand.
December 14: The Mona Lisa is destroyed by an insane vandal who incinerates the famed picture with an incendiary device.
December 15: General Sir Richard Sharpe delivers a report on the British Army of the Rhine to the Committee of Imperial Defence, calling for the fielding of additional multipurpose artillery; doubling of armoured reconnaissance regiments; and an increase in the number of main battle tanks fielded by each armoured regiment.
December 16: Convict John Paul Scott successfully escapes from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary.
December 17: The United States and Soviet Union begin renewed discussions on an open skies agreement.
December 18: Discovery of the lost treasure of Captain Pugwash in the Bahamas.
December 19: The Imperial German Army High Command extends an offer to the United States of an infantry brigade for support service in South Vietnam, reflecting the keen interest of German officials to completely normalise their position in the Western alliance.
December 20: First free elections in the Dominican Republic in over three decades.
December 21: Rondane National Park is established in Norway.
December 22: Last frost-free night in Britain until March 5th, 1963.
December 23: Wildlife biologists remove the North African elephant from the endangered list.
December 24: A replica of the Nina arrives in the Bahamas, taking 47 days longer than Christopher Columbus's own voyage.
December 25: Father Christmas evades NORAD's annual attempt at interception of his sleigh.
December 26: Mongolian and Chinese troops clash along their mutual border.
December 27: U.S. economic growth over the final quarter of the year is estimated at 5.8%.
December 28: Graham Hill wins the South African Grand Prix and clinches the 1962 World Drivers Championship.
December 29: Signing of the Limited Test Ban Treaty in Geneva by the Soviet Union, United States, Britain, France, Canada and China.
December 30: Albert Oshiver becomes the first man to swim the length of the Panama Canal.
December 31: Colonel Percy Fawcett emerges from the Amazon Jungle.

1962 Notes

- There seems to be an earlier push for SETI, driven by the expansion beyond the inner solar system.
- Alamein is one of several 'new' films that have appeared thus far. It is quite a long and spectacular picture, coming in at over three and a half hours.
- British moves to minimise their footprint in Egypt are starting to gather pace, but not to the satisfaction of Egyptian nationalists.
- ODESSA represents a very real group with links to the Space Nazis and a direct threat.
- The alignment of US aircraft designation systems happens a bit earlier.
- The prohibition of lotteries is one aspect of a more Puritan approach to public morality, both from the Conservatives and from the current Labour Party.
- Laos is developing into a very active theatre of a wider Indochina conflict.
- Malta and Gibraltar are now directly incorporated into Britain and won't be the last.
- Argentina wanting new capital ships is one aspect of the broader South American arms race which is entering a new period of intensity.
- The tit-for-tat partial mobilisation and sabre-rattling between Indonesia and Australia does not boil over at this time, but adds to the increased tension...
- Expansion of the Luftverteidigungskraft is an aspect of German defensive rearmament that will have some consequences.
- The reaction to the suggestion of parting the English Channel is an oblique way of showing that any Channel Tunnel is not a working proposition.
- USMC Amphibious Corps make a return, although they may not see action.
- The magic potion will come into play in due course.
- The classification of Project Blue Book is a big indicator of some things to come.
- Aircraft deals between Britain and Germany will have some interesting results.
- Skoda is one of four Austro-Hungarian aircraft manufacturers.
- Sergey Alekseyev will be heard from again.
- The British cabinet reshuffle will have some broad long term consequences.
- The Orion facility in Indiana is a payoff to Montgomery Burns.
- Further British theatre ballistic missiles will join American and French counterparts.
- The lion in the countryside has been seen before. Not a tame lion, though.
- 'The Man Who Could Not Be Killed' is more than just an offhand strange incident.
- Congolese independence is not the end of its troubles
- The TSR-2 flight over the Red Sea finds evidence of something...
- Ecky Thump? Flippin''Eck!
- The Stridsvagn 125 is a long term goal for the Swedish Army, replacing several earlier tanks in conjunction with the Chieftain.
- Dracula visiting Bela Lugosi is one sign of his rather twisted sense of humour. He hasn't tried dropping in on Christopher Lee, though.
- The Great Train Robbers fall afoul of the law in one of their earlier botched robberies.
- An ice station incident is more than what it seems.
- Testing of the MACV continues gradually, but it remains some way off.
- Stanley Barton's idea of the use of a geas on offenders has some merits, but also consequences.
- Elvis moves away from a musical career to a different path in life, although he will be heard from again.
- The Centralia coal mine fire does not last for decades, but is extinguished by a really super fellow.
- Spider Man's arrest is one sign of how superheroes are tolerated only if they work hand in hand with the system.
- Successful escape from Alcatraz
- George Lucas's film-making career looks to be aborted...
- England winning the 1962 World Cup is perhaps the height of their achievement in the 1960s; I'm still researching possible alternate outcomes for 1966.
- The Persian Crisis has the potential to spin out of control, but Britain and America jump on it very hard from the beginning. This seems to be working for now, but is not suited to all problems.
- The assassination of the Prime Minister of South Vietnam leads to escalation in South East Asia. In that respect, it is something of a miscalculation.
- Air strikes on Indonesian guerrillas with poison gas is an indicator of bad things to come.
- There are some indications that the combination of increased hunting by humans and competition with megalodons lead to the great white shark disappearing.
- The Armstrong-Whitworth superheavy transport will be handy.
- American and British moves towards light and escort carriers are signs of the future.
- USMC Harriers will expand their capacity in a variety of ways.
- The horrors of an enthusiastic giant Labrador defy description.
- Hong Kong's border continues to be a chilly place, which works against its role at an entrepot.
- The minotaur skeleton discovered at Knossos is the one slain by Theseus.
- Several successful intercepts by Nike Zeus ABMs occur during the year.
- The initial Free World Military Assistant Forces will be joined by others.
- Sharpe's report is a very interesting and influential one.
- Captain Pugwash's treasure...
- Percy Fawcett reappears after quite a long time, looking not a day older...