1962

1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1962nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 962nd year of the 2nd millennium, the 62nd year of the 20th century, and the 3rd year of the 1960s decade.

Millennium:	2nd millennium
Centuries:	19th century – 20th century – 21st century
Decades:	1930s  1940s  1950s  – 1960s –  1970s  1980s  1990s
Years:	1959 1960 1961 – 1962 – 1963 1964 1965

Events

• March 16 – Walter Cronkite becomes lead anchor on the CBS Evening News.
• August 6 – Jamaica becomes separate from the United Kingdom.
• August 16 – The Beatles fire drummer Pete Best and replace him with Ringo Starr
• Johnny Carson becomes host of The Tonight Show.
• Punchy, the Hawaiian Punch mascot makes his debut.
• Cuban Missile Crisis

Births

• January 7 – Abigail Johnson, American businesswoman
• January 17 – Jim Carrey, Canadian actor and comedian
• February 6 – Axl Rose, American singer (Guns N' Roses)
• February 7 – Eddie Izzard, British actor and comedian
• February 10 – Cliff Burton, American bassist and songwriter (d. 1986)
• February 11 – Sheryl Crow, American singer
• February 22 – Steve Irwin, Australian animal expert and television personality (The Crocodile Hunter) (d. 2006)
• February 27 – Adam Baldwin, American actor
• March 2 – Jon Bon Jovi, American singer, songwriter, and actor
• March 4 – Lolo Ferrari, French actress (d. 2000)
• March 7 – Taylor Dayne, American singer
• March 21 – Rosie O'Donnell, American comedian, actress and talk show host
• March 25 – Marcia Cross, American actress
• April 23 – Hillel Slovak, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (d. 1988)
• May 17 – Alan Johnston, British journalist
• May 18 – Nanne Grönvall, Swedish singer
• June 3 – Susannah Constantine, English television presenter
• June 8 - Nick Rhodes, English keyboardist (Duran Duran)
• June 10 – Maxi Priest, English singer
• June 11 – Jack Irons, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• June 19 – Paula Abdul, dancer and singer; American Idol judge
• July 3 – Tom Cruise, American actor
• July 31 – Wesley Snipes, American actor
• August 20 – James Marsters, American actor
• August 30 – Alexander Litvinenko, British citizen and ex-KGB (d. 2006)
• September 17 – Baz Luhrmann, Australian movie director
• October 2 – Jeff Bennett, American actor
• October 16, Flea, American musician (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• October 17- Mike Judge, American animator and producer
• October 19 – Evander Holyfield, American boxer
• November 1 – Anthony Kiedis, American singer (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
• November 11 – Demi Moore, American actress
• November 19 – Jodie Foster, American actress and director
• December 9 – Felicity Huffman, American actress
• December 22
  • Andres Cantor, Argentine/American sportscaster
  • Ralph Fiennes, English actor

Deaths

April

• April 10 – Stuart Sutcliffe, English musician (The Beatles) (b. 1940)

July

• July 11 – Polly Adler, Russian writer (b. 1900)

August

• August 5 – Marilyn Monroe, American actress (b. 1926)
• August 9 – Hermann Hesse, German writer (b. 1877)

November

• November 7- Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt (b. 1884)
• November 18 – Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (b. 1885)

Movies released

• Girls! Girls! Girls!
• In Search of the Castaways
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• The Manchurian Candidate
• The Longest Day
• That Touch of Mink
• Lolita (1962 movie)
• Lawrence of Arabia

Hit songs

• "Peppermint Twist" – Joey Dee & the Starlighters
• "The Twist" – Chubby Checker
• "Soldier Boy" – The Shirelles
• "V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N" – Connie Francis
• "Hey Baby" – Bruce Channel
• "The Loco-Motion" – Little Eva
• "Sherry" – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• "Only Love Can Break a Heart" – Gene Pitney
• "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" – Gene Pitney
• "Break It To Me Gently" – Brenda Lee
• "All Alone Am I" – Brenda Lee
• "He's A Rebel" – The Crystals
• "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" – Neil Sedaka
• "Any Day Now" – Chuck Jackson
• "Leah" – Roy Orbison
• "Dream Baby" – Roy Orbison
• "Fortune Teller" – Bobby Curtola
• "Duke Of Earl" – Gene Chandler
• "Telstar" – The Tornadoes
• "Johnny Angel" – Shelley Fabares
• "Go Away Little Girl" – Steve Lawrence
• "Don't Make Me Over" – Dionne Warwick
• "Big Girls Don't Cry" – Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• "Love Me Do" – The Beatles
• "Adios Amigo" – Jim Reeves
• "I'm Gonna Change Everything" – Jim Reeves
• "Wolverton Mountain" – Claude King
• "The Burning Of Atlanta" – Claude King
• "I Can't Stop Loving You" – Ray Charles
• "Let's Twist Again" – Chubby Checker
• "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" – Bo Diddley

New books

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey