Trapped in capsule of the Saturn B-1 rocket on the ground, astronauts Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed when fire sweeps through it. Also that year:

_ The House of Representatives denies Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. of New York his seat for the misuse of House funds. Powell is overwhelmingly re-elected in a special election.

_ Tennessee’s “Monkey Law,” passed in 1925 when school teacher John Scopes is arrested for teaching the theory of evolution, is repealed.