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.

The United States Navy SEALs, elite special forces, are activated. SEAL Team One is commissioned in the Pacific Fleet and SEAL Team Two in the Atlantic Fleet. February 10 – Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in Berlin February 20 – Project Mercury: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes. March 16 – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation chartered by the United States Military Air Transport Service and carrying mainly United States Army personnel bound for South Vietnam, vanishes over the western Pacific Ocean with the loss of all 107 on board. No wreckage or bodies are ever found. April 26 – The Ranger 4 spacecraft crashes into the Moon.