While we were just having the time of our life, there were world events going on. Our fathers and the USAF had their own version of what was important.

1956
21 May - USAF B-52B drops H-bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific; first H-bomb dropped from an airplane.
4 July - Lockheed U-2 makes its first flight over the USSR.
7 September - USAF test pilot Iven Kincheloe makes first manned flight over 100,000 ft. in X-2, and reaches 125,901 ft.
23 Oct. - 4 Nov. - Hungarians revolt against Communist rule, Soviet tanks crush resistance.
October - MATS and Navy aircraft airlift 11,400 Hungarian refugees from Germany to US.
11 November - First flight of Convair B-58, the world's first supersonic bomber.
17 November - Kruschev tells Western diplomats, "We will bury you."

1957
5 January - Eisenhower Doctrine presented to Congress to protect Middle Eastern countries from Communist aggression.
18 January - Gen. Archie J. Old, Jr., leads three Boeing B-52s on the first nonstop,
round-the-world flight by jet-powered aircraft.
30 May - USAF discloses development of the Hughes Falcon air-to-air guided missile armed with a nuclear warhead.
2 June - USAF Capt. Joseph Kittinger ascends to 96,000 ft. in Manhigh I balloon.
19 July - F-89J launches and detonates a Genie, the first nuclear-armed air-to-air missile.
31 July - Joint U.S./Canada "DEW" line becomes operational.
19-20 August - Maj David G. Simmons, USAF, in Manhigh II, sets balloon world altitude record of 101,516 ft.
25 August - Soviet Union announces its first successful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile
(ICBM) test.
4 October - Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.
3 November - Soviet Union launches Sputnik II, which carries a dog into space.
12 December - F-101A sets world speed record of 1,207.34 mph.
17 December - Convair HGM-16 Atlas ICBM makes first launch and flight.

1958
31 January - U.S. launches Explorer I, first U.S. satellite.
27 February - Congressional approval given to USAF to start research and development of Minuteman ICBM.
12 May - North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), activated informally.
7 May - F-104A sets an aircraft altitude record of 91,243 ft. (F-104C)
16 May - F-104A sets an aircraft speed record of 1,409.09 mph.
July - MATS aircraft transport 5,500 passengers and 5,500 tons of cargo on 314 missions in support of U.S. Marines aiding the Lebanese government.
1 August - NORAD is formally activated
August - USAF aircraft transport Tactical Air Command composite air strike force, with
strategic support of 144 MATS C-124 missions to strengthen the Nationalist Chinese forces of Taiwan.
2 September - USAF RC-130A flying along the Turkish-Soviet border shot down by 5
MiGs; six of the 17 RC-130A crew die.
18 December - USAF places small communications satellite in Earth orbit carrying President Eisenhower's Christmas message for the following day. First time a human voice is heard from space.

1959
6 January - Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba.
6 April - Seven men, including USAF Captains Virgil I. Grissom, Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., and Donald K. Slayton, are choosen to be the first Americans in space.
23 April - USAF conducts first flight test of North American GAM-77 Hound Dog
air-launched missile.
9 September - Atlas ICBM becomes operational.
13 September - Soviet Union crashes a spacecraft into the moon's surface.
17 September - X-15 makes first powered flight.
16 November - Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., makes balloon ascent to 76,000 ft. in an
open gondola, Excelsior I, then parachutes to Earth.
14 December - USAF F-104C piloted by Capt. Joe B. Jordan reaches 103,395.9 ft.

1960
1 May - U.S. admits to aerial reconnaissance flights over USSR after U-2 spy airplane is shot down and pilot, Francis Gary Powers is captured.
6 May - USAF conducts first public demonstration of Minuteman ICBM launch.
16 May - East-West summit conference in Paris collapses over U-2 incident.
20 May - Atlas ICBM carries 1.5 ton payload 9,040 miles to Indian Ocean.
24 May - U.S. launches Midas II satellite for military reconnaissance purposes.
21 June - In response to earthquakes and tidal wave in Chile, MATS C-118 and C-124
aircraft transport 851 tons of cargo and 1,020 passengers for relief operations. Cargo
includes two 400 bed field hospitals, 10 helicopters, communications equipment, blankets,
and tents.
20 July - U.N. intervenes in civil war by airlifting supplies, troops, and materiel to the Congo, and evacuating refugees. By January 1964 when airlift ended, MATS had flown 2,128 missions transporting 63,798 passengers and 18,593 tons of cargo.
12 August - X-15 reaches 136,500 ft.
16 August - Capt. Joe Kittinger steps out of a balloon gondola, Excelsior III, at 102,800 ft.
and parachutes to Earth.
20 December - Ho Chi Minh commits National Liberation Front (NLF) in South Vietnam to overthrow of U.S.-supported South Vietnamese government and for unification of Vietnam.

1961
1 February - U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) becomes operational.
3 February - SAC's EC-135 Airborne Command Post begins operations. Dubbed "Looking
Glass," the planes provide a backup for controlling manned bombers and launching ICBMs in event of nuclear attack. (C-135)
17 March - First T-38 jet trainer enters USAF service.
23 March - USAF EC-47 shot down of Plaine des Jarres (northern Laos).
12 April - Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes first man to orbit Earth.
17 April - CIA-backed Cuban exiles launch unsuccessful invasion of Cuba at Bay of Pigs.
21 April - USAF pilot Maj. Robert White makes first X-15 flight at full throttle, reaches
3,074 mph at 79,000 ft., then climbs to 105,000 ft.
11 May - President Kennedy authorizes American advisors to aid South Vietnam against
North Vietnamese forces.
22 May - Gen. Curtis LeMay announced as New USAF Chief of Staff.
21 July - Capt. Virgil Grissom becomes first Air Force astronaut in space on second
Mercury mission.
13 August - East Germany closes Brandenburg Gate in preparation to build Berlin Wall.
9 November - USAF Maj. Robert White attains speed of 4,093 mph at 101,600 ft. in an
X-15.

1962
10-11 January - B-52 sets world record for non-refueled, nonstop flight from Okinawa to
Madrid, 12,532 miles.
12 January - USAF begins Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam, using Fairchild C-123s to
spray defoliating herbicides on vegetation to expose roads and trails used by Viet Cong; most common of the defoliants used is known as Agent Orange from the color of its metal containers.
22 January - USAF exercise, Long Thrust II, concludes during which 5,273 U.S. troops
were flown to Germany in 7 days.
20 February - John Glenn becomes first American to orbit Earth.
26 April - Lockheed A-12 makes first flight which leads to development of SR-71.
7 June - USAF B-52 lands at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, after completing
11,337 mile roundtrip flight to Anchorage, Alaska, setting world closed curcuit distance
record. 
17 July - USAF Major Robert White pilots X-15 to 314,750 ft., first spaceflight (greater than 50 miles from Earth's surface) of a manned aircraft.
14 October - Aircraft photos of Cuba show presence of Soviet missiles; Cuban Missile Crisis begins. U.S. establishes air and sea blockade.
October - MATS and TAC airlift deliver 10,500 passengers and 7,500 tons of cargo in
support of Cuban Missile Crisis deployment of Marine, Army and Air Force units to southern U.S.
28 October - Soviet Union agrees to remove offensive weapons from Cuba.
Oct.-Nov. - MATS C-124s and C-133s airlift nearly 480 tons of relief supplies to Teheran,
Iran, following one of Iran's worst earthquakes.
21 November - U.S. ends Cuban blockade.
November - After Typhoon Karen struck Guam, MATS aircraft transport 1,180 tons of
emergency supplies and evacuate approximately 650 people.

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