1962

Events

January

• January 3: The New Philadelphia football ground opens with an AEK Athens - Barcelona friendly match (0-6) in front of 38,000 spectators - among them, the Greek prime minister Constantine Karamanlis and the future king of Spain Juan Carlos. 41 years later, the stadium, arguably the best Greek football ground of its time, was demolished to make way for a new one.
• January 13: Metropolitan Iakovos III is elected Archbishop of Athens and all Greece
• January 20: The official results of the 1961 Census are released - the population of Greece numbers 8,388,553 people.
• January 25: Iakovos III resigns his post as Archbishop of Athens and all Greece.

February

• February 12: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin visits Athens and utters his famous quote: "In this country, half the people sell lottery tickets and the other half buy them!"

March

• March 28: Takis Loukanidis debuts in a Panathinaikos jersey against AEK. His team win the game at Nea Philadelphia Stadium with two goals by Kostas Toumbelis and one by Mimis Domazos after being down 2-0.

April

• April 1: Takis Loukanidis scores the first goal of his Panathinaikos career in a 5-0 rout of Proodeftiki.
• April 5: Former Communist Party of Greece Secretary General, Nikolaos Zachariadis, requests to return to Greece and stand trial. His request is denied.

May

• May 14: Princess Sofia of Greece marries future King Juan Carlos de Borbon of Spain.
• May 20: AEK score one of the greatest away wins in Alpha Ethniki history as they demolish Panelefsiniakos 8-3. Kostas Nestoridis scores four of the goals, Andreas Stamatiadis two with Aris Tsachouridis and Dimitris Zagylos contributing the other two.

June

• June 27: Greek-American Spyros Skouras resigns as head of 20th Century Fox.
• June 27: The Greek Football Cup final between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos is abandoned on account of darkness, in the 10th minute of extra time. Following the announcement, angry spectators invade the pitch resulting in the Greek Football Federation canceling the return match. There will be no Cup winner in 1962.

August

• August 5: Vasilis Syllis breaks the Greek record for the 400m with a 47.70 performance. The record will stand for 8 years.

September

• September 28: A strong earthquake (6.8 on the Richter scale) strikes Corinth and the surrounding area.

October

• October 11: Cement firm "Titan" begins operations in Thessaloniki.
• October 28: Giorgos Babaniotis breaks the Greek Hammer throw record with a throw of 60.20m. He becomes the first Greek athlete to break the 60m barrier.

November

• November 22: Archbishop Makarios III visits Ankara.

December

• December 15: Manolis Glezos is released from prison. He had been convicted of espionage 4 years earlier.

Births

January

• January 24: Argyris Kambouris, basketball player.

February

• February 17: Giorgos Douros, international referee.

July

• July 27: Theodoros Voutyritsas, footballer

September

• September 24: Nia Vardalos, Greek-Canadian actress and screenwriter.

November

• November 1: Giorgos Mitsibonas, footballer

December

• December 8: Dimitris Koutsoukis, athlete (shot put)

Deaths

January

• January 9: Theocletus II, Archbishop of Athens and all Greece

February

• February 19: Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou, inventor of the Pap smear.
• February 20: Charalambos Katsimitros, World War II general

April

• April 3: Manolis Kalomiris, music composer

December

• December 16: Dinos Andrianopoulos, footballer

Unknown

• Constantine M. Los, shipowner