DECEMBER 31, 1962

MONDAY
1962 Coca-Cola advertising artwork
$1,000 INVESTED IN COKE STOCK (KO) IN 1962
WOULD HAVE MADE YOU $1,398,856 IN THE 2025 DATASET
Min Wage Hourly$1.12
Median Home Price$14,240.00
Gas Price Avg$0.32
Bread Price Avg$0.22
Movie Ticket Avg$0.86
First Class Stamp$0.04
Milk Price Avg$1.04
Top Movies From 1962
Show screen release and event cards
1 The Longest Day
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The Longest Day
2 Lawrence of Arabia
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Lawrence of Arabia
3 The Music Man
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The Music Man
4 That Touch of Mink
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That Touch of Mink
5 Mutiny on the Bounty
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Mutiny on the Bounty
6 To Kill a Mockingbird
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To Kill a Mockingbird
7 Hatari!
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Hatari!
8 Gypsy
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Gypsy
9 Bon Voyage!
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Bon Voyage!
10 The Interns
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The Interns
Light in the Piazza
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Light in the Piazza
Term of Trial
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Term of Trial
The Miracle Worker
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The Miracle Worker
Carnival of Souls
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Carnival of Souls
Advise & Consent
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Advise & Consent
Requiem for a Heavyweight
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Requiem for a Heavyweight
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Lonely Are the Brave
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Lonely Are the Brave
The Counterfeit Traitor
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The Counterfeit Traitor
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
The Manchurian Candidate
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The Manchurian Candidate
Billy Budd
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Billy Budd
Cape Fear
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Cape Fear
Lolita
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Lolita
David and Lisa
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David and Lisa
Ride the High Country
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Ride the High Country
Pressure Point
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Pressure Point
The L-Shaped Room
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The L-Shaped Room
Freud
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Freud
The War Lover
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The War Lover
The Notorious Landlady
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The Notorious Landlady
How the West Was Won
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How the West Was Won
The Chapman Report
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The Chapman Report
Judgment at Nuremberg
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Judgment at Nuremberg
The Innocents
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The Innocents
Breakfast at Tiffany's
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Breakfast at Tiffany's
West Side Story
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West Side Story
The Children's Hour
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The Children's Hour
Pocketful of Miracles
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Pocketful of Miracles
The Comancheros
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The Comancheros
Barabbas
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Barabbas
Mysterious Island
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Mysterious Island
Babes in Toyland
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Babes in Toyland

December 31, 1962 Trivia

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Television On December 31, 1962
Perry Mason poster
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Perry Mason
Bonanza poster
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Bonanza
The Twilight Zone poster
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The Twilight Zone
The Flintstones poster
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The Flintstones
The Rifleman poster
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The Rifleman
Lassie poster
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Lassie

Exact-date daily brief

December 31, 1962

On December 31, 1962, United Fruit Company made headlines by electing three new directors, a decision that reflects the company's ongoing influence in Central America. Meanwhile, tensions escalated on the Asian front as Peking acc...

Inventions & Breakthroughs of December 1962

Gadgets, lab surprises, odd bets, and future-shocks from this slice of the calendar.

1 LED (Light Emitting Diode)
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LED (Light Emitting Diode)
2 First Communications Satellite (Telstar)
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First Communications Satellite (Telstar)
3 Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
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Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
4 Integrated Circuit Memory
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Integrated Circuit Memory
5 Modern Contact Lens
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Modern Contact Lens
6 Early Packet Switching
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Early Packet Switching
7 Electric Heart Defibrillator Refinement
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Electric Heart Defibrillator Refinement
8 Satellite Navigation Concept
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Satellite Navigation Concept
9 Compact Audio Amplifier
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Compact Audio Amplifier
10 Automatic Blood Analyzer
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Automatic Blood Analyzer

The Sounds of

Popular recordings and roots/country selections associated with the year

Headlines From December 31, 1962

Full News Archive

  • Headline: United Fruit Company Leadership Changes. Impact: The election of three vice presidents led to an unscheduled chain of events where one of them accidentally invented the concept of 'office politics' during a lunch break, forever changing corporate culture and leading to the rise of passive-aggressive memos. Fact: United Fruit Company was basically the Tinder of its timeβ€”swiping right on bananas and left on democracy!.
  • Headline: China Accuses India of War Preparations. Impact: China's charge against India sparked a series of misunderstandings that resulted in a comical diplomatic back-and-forth, eventually inspiring a hit sitcom where diplomats hilariously misinterpret each other's intentions over tea. Fact: This whole 'unstable cease-fire' thing is just like my last relationship: one minute we're fine, the next we're on the brink of war!.
  • Headline: Presidential Tax Discussions in Sunny Florida. Impact: Tax cuts and suntans became a monumental idea that led to the establishment of an annual beach retreat for politicians, where they brainstormed tax policies while sipping piΓ±a coladasβ€”because who needs serious discussions when there's sun?. Fact: Rumor has it that the tax cuts were actually a ploy to fund Florida's sunbathing economy. Who knew politics could be so tan-tastic?.
  • Headline: Agency Redefines Space Contracts; AGENCY REDEFINES SPACE CONTRACTS Provisions in Contract. Impact: The redefinition of space contracts triggered a cosmic bureaucratic nightmare, resulting in a black hole of red tape that sucked in countless engineers, forever delaying the next moon landing. Fact: NASA's rules about tech managers and hardware suppliers are basically the adult version of 'no sharing your toys on the playground.'.
  • Headline: New Cable Gives Fiji Its First 'Solid' Telephone Link With Outside World. Impact: Fiji's first solid telephone link sparked a mini tech revolution, leading to the invention of the 'phone call'β€”which was initially just a series of yelling across the ocean until someone figured out how to make it more civilized. Fact: Before this phone line, Fijians communicated primarily through carrier pigeons, which were notoriously unreliable and often led to misunderstandings about dinner invitations.
  • Headline: Californians Celebrating Disputed Claim of 'First'; CALIFORNIA FETES MARK 'FIRSTNESS' Some Lawmakers Irked. Impact: California's obsession with claiming 'firstness' eventually led to the creation of a 'Most Populous State Olympics,' where states compete in events like 'Most Traffic Jams' and 'Best Sun Tan.'. Fact: The rivalry between California and New York is basically the historical equivalent of two kids on a playground arguing over who has the coolest lunchbox.
  • Headline: CHANGES IN LABOR LAW?; If the Dock Strike Is Not Settled When Congress Meets, There May Be Talk of Overhaul Rail Strike Feared Is Taft-Hartley Sufficient A McClellan Measure. Impact: The potential changes in labor law spurred a nationwide trend of workers pushing for better rights, ultimately leading to the invention of the 'coffee break'β€”which is still the most productive time of the workday. Fact: The only thing more unstable than a dock strike is Congress trying to settle itβ€”it's like watching a bunch of toddlers negotiate over a single toy.
  • Headline: AIRLINE SERVICE IS CASTRO'S PRICE TO FREE EMIGRES; Says Pan American Must Resume Flights Before He Allows More to Leave KENNEDY IS ATTACKED Havana Radio Ridicules His Speech to Ex-Prisoners at Ceremony in Miami Flights Still Banned Committed to Freedom CASTRO DEMANDS AIRLINE SERVICE. Impact: Castro’s demand for airline service to free emigres inadvertently led to the invention of the 'freedom flight' as a concept, inspiring generations of people to travel abroad for both escapism and cheap vacations. Fact: Pan American Airlines must have felt like they were in a hostage negotiation, only to realize they were just trying to get more business while also playing a game of political chess.
  • Headline: Congo Gains Lift U.S. Hope Of Ending Katanga Schism; U.S. to Wait and See U.S. HOPES BUOYED ON CONGO ACCORD Belgium Asks Cease-Fire British Call for Negotiation. Impact: The hopes for a Congo accord created a ripple effect that inspired numerous peace treaties worldwide, but also led to the unfortunate emergence of 'diplomatic jargon'β€”a language so convoluted, it could confuse even the best linguists. Fact: The U.S. was surprised by fighting in the Congo as if they were expecting a peaceful picnic instead of a geopolitical chess game. Surprise! It's not chess, it's real life.

Wall Street Time Machine

The Right Call: A historical $1,000 investment comparison using the stored long-range dataset.
Rank #2
MO
Philip Morris
Price in 1962
$0.00
Stored value
$23,651,354

Philip Morris - If you invested $1,000 in 1962, it would be worth $23,651,354 today (23651.4x return)

Rank #3
DIS
Disney
Price in 1962
$0.06
Stored value
$1,960,745

Disney - If you invested $1,000 in 1962, it would be worth $1,960,745 today (1960.7x return)

🦸 Top 5 Comics
Amazing Fantasy #15
Amazing Fantasy #15
$1,000,000
Incredible Hulk #1
Incredible Hulk #1
$10,000
Tales to Astonish #27
Tales to Astonish #27
$400
Journey into Mystery #83
Journey into Mystery #83
$30,000
Fantastic Four #5
Fantastic Four #5
$40,000
🧸 Top 5 Toys
Etch A Sketch
Etch A Sketch
$100.00
LEGO Building Sets
LEGO Building Sets
$150.00
Barbie Dream House
Barbie Dream House
$1,200.00
Easy Bake Oven
Easy Bake Oven
$150.00
G.I. Joe Action Figure
G.I. Joe Action Figure
$150.00
⚾ Top 5 Trading Cards
1962 Topps Mickey Mantle #200
1962 Topps Mickey Mantle #200
$250,000
1962 Topps Mars Attacks #1 'Saucer Blast'
1962 Topps Mars Attacks #1 'Saucer Blast'
$200,000
1962 Topps Civil War News #1 'Foreboding Skies'
1962 Topps Civil War News #1 'Foreboding Skies'
$60,000
1962 Salada-Junket Coins #5 Mickey Mantle
1962 Salada-Junket Coins #5 Mickey Mantle
$10.00
1962 Dutch Gum Elvis Presley #13
1962 Dutch Gum Elvis Presley #13
$10.00