SpongeBob SquarePants premiered on Nickelodeon.
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Fidel Castro banned elections and declared Cuba to be a socialist nation.
Despite running out of oxygen, Jim Whittaker became the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Levi Strauss was founded.
Mr. Potato Head was officially released, originally only consisting of the accessories which were stuck in an actual potato.
Pluto was officially named.
