The year 1960 in science and technology included many events, some of which are listed below.

Astronomy and space exploration

• May 15 - Sputnik 4 is launched into Earth orbit.
• August 19 - Sputnik program: The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 5 with the dogs Belka and Strelka (Russian for "Squirrel" and "Little Arrow"), 40 mice, 2 rats and a variety of plants. The spacecraft will return to earth the next day and all animals will be recovered safely.

Medicine

• May 9 - Reproductive rights: The Food and Drug Administration approves sale of the birth control pill.

Meteorology

• April 1 - The United States launches the first weather satellite, TIROS-1.

Awards

• Nobel Prizes
  • Physics - Donald Arthur Glaser
  • Chemistry - Willard Frank Libby
  • Medicine - Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Peter Brian Medawar

Births

Deaths

• May 8 - J. H. C. Whitehead (b. 1904), British mathematician.