Editing 1960 (section)

===August===
{{Main|August 1960}}
* [[August 1]] – [[Republic of Dahomey|Dahomey]] (modern-day [[Benin]]) becomes independent from France.
* [[August 3]] – [[Niger]] becomes independent from France.
* [[August 5]] – [[Republic of Upper Volta|Upper Volta]] (modern-day [[Burkina Faso]]) becomes independent from France.
* [[August 6]] – In the [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)]] (later the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]), [[Albert Kalonji]] declares the independence of the Autonomous State of [[South Kasai]].
* [[August 7]]
** The [[Ivory Coast]] becomes independent from France.
** The world's first [[standard gauge]] passenger preserved railway, the [[Bluebell Railway]], opens to the public in southern England.
* [[August 9]] – The government of [[Laos]] is overthrown in a coup.
* [[August 11]] – [[Chad]] becomes independent from France.
* [[August 13]] – [[Ubangi-Shari]] becomes independent from France, as the [[Central African Republic]]. It later becomes the [[Central African Empire]].
* [[August 15]] – [[Middle Congo]] becomes independent from France, as the [[Republic of Congo|Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville)]].
* [[August 16]]
** The Mediterranean island of [[Cyprus]] receives its independence from the United Kingdom.
** [[Joseph Kittinger]] parachutes from a balloon over [[New Mexico]] at an altitude of about {{convert|102,800|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}}. Kittinger sets world records for: high-altitude jump; [[free-fall]] by falling 16.0 miles (25.7 [[kilometer]]s) before opening his parachute; first [[Space diving|space dive]], and fastest speed attained by a human being without mechanical or chemical assistance, about 982 k.p.h (614 m.p.h.). Kittinger survives more or less uninjured. He is also the first man to make a solo crossing of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in a gas balloon, and the first man fully to witness the spherical curvature of the [[Earth]]. ([[Felix Baumgartner]] breaks his space diving record in [[2012]].)
* [[August 17]]
** Newly named English group [[The Beatles]] begin a 48-night residency at the Indra Club in [[Hamburg]], [[West Germany]].
** [[Gabon]] becomes independent from France.
** The trial of American [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]] pilot [[Francis Gary Powers]] begins in Moscow.
* [[August 19]] – In the [[Soviet Union]]:
** [[Cold War]]: American U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is sentenced in Moscow to 10 years in prison for [[espionage]].
** [[Sputnik program]]: The [[satellite]] [[Sputnik 5]] is launched, with the dogs [[Belka and Strelka]] (the Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, two rats and a variety of plants. This satellite returns to Earth the next day and all animals are recovered safely.
* [[August 20]] – [[Senegal]] breaks away from the [[Mali Federation]], declaring its independence.
* [[August 25]] – The [[1960 Summer Olympic Games]] begin in Rome.
* [[August 29]] – [[Hurricane Donna]] kills 50 people in [[Florida]] and [[New England]].