22 January – President Charles de Gaulle fires General Jacques Massu from Algeria following an interview in a German newspaper where he stated that the army may have made a mistake in returning him to power.
24 January – A major insurrection occurs in Algiers against French colonial policy.
12 April – Eric Peugeot, youngest son of the founder of Peugeot, is kidnapped in Paris. Kidnappers release him 15 April in exchange for $300,000 ransom.
27 April – Togo gains independence from French-administered UN trusteeship.
28 November – Mauritania becomes independent of France.
5 December – Pierre Lagaillarde, who led 1958 and 1960 insurrections in Algeria, fails to appear in a Paris court. He has reportedly fled with his four fellow defendants to Spain, en route to Algeria.[2]
9 December – President Charles de Gaulle's visit to Algeria is marked by bloody riots by European and Muslim mobs in Algeria's largest cities, killing 127 people.
