The world was never this close to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Events January January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the worst Dutch rail disaster. January 9 – Cuba and the Soviet Union sign a trade pact. January 12 – The Indonesian Army confirms that it has begun operations in West Irian. January 13 – Albania allies itself with the People's Republic of China. January 15 – Portugal abandons the U.N. General Assembly, due to the debate over Angola. January 16 – A military coup occurs in the Dominican Republic. January 19 – A counter-coup occurs in the Dominican Republic; the old government returns, except for the new president Rafael Filiberto Bonnelly. January 22 – The Organization of American States suspends Cuba's membership; the suspension is lifted in 2009 (47 years later). January 24 – The Organisation armée secrète (OAS) bombs the French Foreign Ministry. January 26 – Ranger 3 is launched to study the Moon; it later misses the Moon by . January 27 – The Soviet government changes all place names honoring Molotov, Kaganovich and Georgy Malenkov. January 30 – Two of the high-wire "Flying Wallendas" are killed, when their famous seven-person pyramid collapses during a performance in Detroit. February February 3 – The United States embargo against Cuba is announced. February 4–5 – During a new moon and solar eclipse, an extremely rare grand conjunction of the classical planets occurs (it includes all five of the naked-eye planets plus the Sun and Moon), all of them within 16° of one another on the ecliptic. A total solar eclipse is visible in Asia, Australia and the Pacific Ocean, and is the 49th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 130. February 5 – French President Charles de Gaulle calls for Algeria to be granted independence. February 7 The United States embargo against Cuba comes into effect, prohibiting all U.S.-related Cuban imports and exports. Luisenthal Mine Disaster: A coal mine explosion in Saarland, West Germany kills 299. February 10 – Captured American spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for captured Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, in Berlin. February 11 – The inaugural 24 Hours of Daytona sports car endurance race is run as a 3-hour event, at Daytona Beach, Florida. February 12 – Six