January 1962 - January 13, 1962 (Saturday)

January 13, 1962 (Saturday)

• American comedian Ernie Kovacs, 42, was killed in a car accident while driving on Santa Monica Boulevard. Kovacs and his wife, Edie Adams, were driving home separately from a baby shower in honor Mrs. Milton Berle. At 2:00 in the morning, his station wagon skidded and crashed into a utility pole. Kovacs suffered a fatal head injury and died at the scene.
• With the United States having halted its U-2 flights over the Soviet Union, the Republic of China (Taiwan) began regular U-2 surveillance flights over the People's Republic of China, with a group of American-trained pilots nicknamed the Black Cat Squadron.
• Albania allied itself with the People's Republic of China, as the two nations signed a trade pact.
• First Lady Jackie Kennedy brought Charles Collingwood and a CBS News television crew into the White House for an unprecedented look at the American presidential residence. The tape of the visit was edited into the program "A Tour of the White House with Mrs. John F. Kennedy", and shown on CBS and NBC on February 14.
• Born: Trace Adkins, American country music singer, in Springhill, Louisiana