Brasília, a newly planned city in the interior, officially replaces Rio de Janeiro as Brazil's capital.
Dictator Fulgencio Batista flees Cuba and revolutionary forces led by Fidel Castro take power.
CIA-backed Cuban exiles land at the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro but are defeated within days.
A 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear missiles in Cuba brings the world closest to nuclear war.
Revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is captured and executed by the Bolivian army in La Higuera.
The Chilean military under General Augusto Pinochet overthrows President Salvador Allende, beginning a 17-year military dictatorship.
The Argentine military overthrows President Isabel Perón and installs a junta associated with the "Dirty War".