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1960 - 1970NewsFor the first time since the foundation of the state, the population of the Republic of Ireland shows a slight increase and now stands at 2,884,000. 1962 - President John F. Kennedy visits Ireland. President Kennedy's ancestors came from Wexford and emigrated to America after the Great Famine. Large crowds turn out to cheer him when he visits Dublin, Cork and his ancestral home in Wexford. President Kennedy is the first American president to visit Ireland. 1963 - President Kennedy is shot and killed while visiting the city of Dallas in Texas. News of his death is greeted with shock all over the world. 1966 - On the 50th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, a bomb explodes and destroys Nelson's Pillar, located close to the General Post Office in Dublin's O'Connell Street. Nelson's Pillar was erected in to honour Admiral Nelson, a famous British seaman who fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. It was one of Dublin's most popular attractions and by paying a fee, people could climb an internal staircase to a viewing tower. 1967 - Quartz watches go on sale in America at a cost of $550!
![]() O Connell Street 1960's Talking PointsHow has O Connell Street changed from the 1950's?
Home Life1961 - Radio Teilifis Eireann (RTE) begins television broadcasting. All television is in black and white and broadcasting is confined to several hours each day. It will be several years before most homes will have a television set. Most homes with a television set have access to just one channel. Dunnes Stores opens a new supermarket at Cornelssourt in South County Dublin. This is one of the largest shops of its type in Ireland at the time. Unlike other shops of the time where people are served from behind a counter, this is a self-service shop. This means that people pick out what they want to buy themselves and then pay for it at a check-out. Because of its lower wage costs, supermarkets can sell items at a cheaper price than other shops. As well as providing light, the advent of electricity has brought other benefits. There are more electrical appliances in the home such as washing machines and irons. These help to take the drudgery out of a lot of house work. More machinery is now being used on farms. Using a milking machine, one farmer can now do the work of many people. The city of Dublin grows. Buildings such as Liberty Hall are built. Many of these new offices are tall and can accommodate hundreds of workers. New suburbs are built to accommodate these workers and their families. With new cars, many people drive to and from work in the city each day. Because there are so few cars on the roads, many people even drive home for lunch each day!
Achievements and Discoveries1961 - Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit the Earth. He is the first person to see for himself that the world is indeed round! 1963 - Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman to go into space. 1965 - Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov becomes the first person to conduct a space walk. 1967 - In South Africa, Dr. Christian Bernard performs the world's first heart transplant operation. 1969 - Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the moon. He is the first person from planet Earth to walk on another planet.
Sport1961 - A record crowd of 90,556 attend the Down versus Offaly All-Ireland football final held in Croke Park. 1962 - First live television coverage of a GAA match. 1964 - Muhammad Ali becomes World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. 1966 - England meet West Germany in the final of the World Cup. England win 4 - 2.
Fashion and EntertainmentKnown as 'The Swinging Sixties'. The Beatles become popular. Longer hair becomes fashionable. In Ireland, showbands are popular. Large crowds attend dances. Radios become more lightweight and portable. They can now be taken to the seaside etc. Pierre Cardin is the first designer to create ready-to-wear lines making the purchase of clothes easier and cheaper. London is the capital of fashion. Mini-skirts, bell bottoms and psychedelic colours are all the rage! The film The Sound of Music is released and becomes the most successful film of the 1960's. Batman goes on television for the first time!
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