January 13, 1961: US Planes Used in Laos Fighting, TV Network Pulls Kennedy Comedy Sketch

"Planes transferred by the United States to Laos and flown by Laotians have strafed and fired rockets at rebel forces the last two days," the New York Times reports today. "The planes, four T-6s, were given under the United States military assistance program, ostensibly for observation. They have concentrated their attacks against the Left-Wing troops of Capt. Kong Le and pro-Communist Pathet Lao guerrillas in the Vicinity of Vang Vieng, sixty-five miles north of here [Vientiane]on the road to Luang Prabang."

"An eight-minute comedy sketch about President-elect John F. Kennedy and his wife, which as to be televised on 'The Art Carney Show,' has been deleted by order of the National Broadcasting Company," The New York Times reported on this day in 1960.

"Mr. Carney and Lee Remick had been scheduled to portray Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy. The setting for the sketch would have been the White House after the inauguration. ... In confirming that N.B.C. had deleted the sketch, a spokesman for the company said: 'We have never shied away from spoofing political figures but we thought it would have been improper to have performers actually portraying the President and his wife. Our decision was based on a matter of good taste.'"

January 12, 1961: A Hat Makes the Man

"You look more of a man with a hat on, and the men who run things have a deeply ingrained executive habit of reserving responsible jobs for those young men who look mature enough to handle them. They may be right, or they may be wrong, but there's no denying that they're in charge. So it pays to humor them. Most business executives we've talked to prefer to hire men who wear hats.

"A little friendly advice to young men in a hurry, published in the selfish interests of the hat industry by the Hat Corporation of America, 530 Fifth Avenue, New York 36, New York."

January 11, 1961: US Lags in Space, Soviets Don't Want War in Laos, Negroes Suspended For Their Safety

A task force today warned President-elect Kennedy that the United States was behind the Soviets missile development and outer-space exploration and said it was "very unlikely that we shall be the first in placing a man into orbit around the earth."

The Soviet Union has indicated to U.S. officials that it does not want to go to war with the U.S. over Laos.

Hundreds of students rioted this evening at the University of Georgia. university officials suspended the two Negro students who were targets of the demonstration for their safety until "it is safe and practical for them to return."

James Reston in his column today called President-elect Kennedy's plans to hold live television news conferences "the goofiest idea since the hula hoop."

January 10, 1961: Business Automates

"The country's retail stores are going in more and more for automatic handling of their work, from the receiving and selling of merchandise to the handling of billings and payments, along with salaries, payments to vendors and other disbursements," the New York Times reports on this day in 1960.